A little history of philosophy / Nigel Warburton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Warburton, Nigel, 1962-

Series:

Little Histories

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Philosophy--History.

Philosophy.

Philosophers.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (288 p.)

Place of Publication:

New Haven ; London : Yale University Press, c2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Philosophy begins with questions about the nature of reality and how we should live. These were the concerns of Socrates, who spent his days in the ancient Athenian marketplace asking awkward questions, disconcerting the people he met by showing them how little they genuinely understood. This engaging book introduces the great thinkers in Western philosophy and explores their most compelling ideas about the world and how best to live in it.In forty brief chapters, Nigel Warburton guides us on a chronological tour of the major ideas in the history of philosophy. He provides interesting and often quirky stories of the lives and deaths of thought-provoking philosophers from Socrates, who chose to die by hemlock poisoning rather than live on without the freedom to think for himself, to Peter Singer, who asks the disquieting philosophical and ethical questions that haunt our own times.Warburton not only makes philosophy accessible, he offers inspiration to think, argue, reason, and ask in the tradition of Socrates. A Little History of Philosophy presents the grand sweep of humanity's search for philosophical understanding and invites all to join in the discussion.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

1. The Man Who Asked Questions

2. True Happiness

3. We Know Nothing

4. The Garden Path

5. Learning Not to Care

6 Who Is Pulling Our Strings?

7. The Consolation of Philosophy

8. The Perfect Island

9. The Fox and the Lion

10. Nasty, Brutish, and Short

11. Could You Be Dreaming?

12. Place Your Bets

13. The Lens Grinder

14. The Prince and the Cobbler

15. The Elephant in the Room

16. The Best of All Possible Worlds?

17. The Imaginary Watchmaker

18. Born Free

19. Rose-Tinted Reality

20. What if Everyone Did That?

21. Practical Bliss

22. The Owl of Minerva

23. Glimpses of Reality

24. Space to Grow

25. Unintelligent Design

26. Life's Sacrifices

27. Workers of the World Unite

28. So What?

29. The Death of God

30. Thoughts in Disguise

31. Is the Present King of France Bald?

32. Boo!/Hooray!

33. The Anguish of Freedom

34. Bewitched by Language

35. The Man Who Didn't Ask Questions

36. Learning from Mistakes

37. The Runaway Train and the Unwanted Violinist

38. Fairness Through Ignorance

39. Can Computers Think?

40. A Modern Gadfly

Index

Notes:

Includes index.

ISBN:

1-283-30919-X

9786613309198

0-300-17754-2

OCLC:

759397366