- Paperback: 896 pages
- Publisher: Harcourt College Publishing; 6th edition (1993)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0155030388
- ISBN-13: 978-0155030381
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 15.7 x 3 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,168,163 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Review
"Strikes a nice balance between commentary and original sources. Accessible to students at different levels."--W.B. Hepburn, College of Charleston, SC
"This book is fascinating because it has great depth but also a simplicity for the first-year student."--Rev. Dale J. Pritchard, Jefferson College
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
"This book is fascinating because it has great depth but also a simplicity for the first-year student."--Rev. Dale J. Pritchard, Jefferson College
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Description
Written by a well-known and respected scholar, this best-selling introduction to philosophy has a student-friendly style without sacrificing rigor and thoroughness. Introducing Philosophy offers the best of both worlds: readings from original sources plus substantial, helpful commentary from the author. The wide range of topics and the organization give the instructor flexibility in creating his or her course. A thorough editing and reorganization of the book and the readings makes this text more accessible to students and instructors.
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First Sentence
Well over three thousand years ago, philosophers in India, in the Rg Veda (the oldest of those holy books called the Vedas), contemplated the nature and origins of the whole of reality ("Brahman"), concluding, with considerable skepticism, that reality as such was not, or at least not normally, known by us, and perhaps it could not be known at all. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Well over three thousand years ago, philosophers in India, in the Rg Veda (the oldest of those holy books called the Vedas), contemplated the nature and origins of the whole of reality ("Brahman"), concluding, with considerable skepticism, that reality as such was not, or at least not normally, known by us, and perhaps it could not be known at all. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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10 reviews
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Superb Introduction to Philosophy
28 July 2002
Format:Paperback
Robert C. Solomon's "Introducing Philosophy" is a superb introduction to philosophy. I have the 6th edition published in 1997 but this (the 5th edition) is the only one I could find on Amazon. This book is so good because it takes a Topical approach but integrates excerpts from the great philosophers. Historical introductions don't give you the intelletual excitement of great thinkers across time addressing the great problems which is why I like a topical approach (another good topical approach is Tom Morris's "Philosophy for Dummies"). But the great thing about this book is that it integrates selections from philosophers throughout history, in manageable chunks, so that one gets to read some Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, Descartes, Locke, Hume, Kant, Stuart Mill, Bertrand Russell and more.
The chapters are also very well organized and build on each other. The introduction introduces us to Socrates and the philosophic tradition and some logic. Then we deal with Reality, Knowledge, Truth, Necessary Truth (mathematics, logic), Religion, Personal Identity, Mind and Body, Freedom, Ethics, Political Philosophy and Aesthetics. So everything is covered and there are excerpts from all the relevant thinkers on these topics. This book is a fantastic way to get a really good feel for the issues of philosophy and some of the great writings in philosophy. Highly recommended.
Greg Feirman (...)
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Excellent textbook, with one problem...
20 Jan 2009
Format:Paperback
Just finished the first semester of a philosophy degree and we used this as one of our textbooks. As a beginner, I found it very good. Solomon explains the extracts from philosophers in a very clear way. It is presented by topic, e.g. a chapter on Freedom, a chapter on Knowledge, with each chapter containing extracts from a number of philosophers on the subject.
The only problem I found with the book is that the extracts Solomon uses are not cited with page numbers, in the ninth edition at least. This is problematic when writing papers and essays, as once you find what you're looking for, if you want your referencing to be correct you need to get the original book and vainly attempt to find which page in the original text that the extract in Solomon came from. He gives all relevant details in his citations except for page numbers. As a student, I would argue that the page number is much more important to me than the name of the publisher.
But besides that... the book is genuinely good. It will certainly always have a place on my shelf.
The only problem I found with the book is that the extracts Solomon uses are not cited with page numbers, in the ninth edition at least. This is problematic when writing papers and essays, as once you find what you're looking for, if you want your referencing to be correct you need to get the original book and vainly attempt to find which page in the original text that the extract in Solomon came from. He gives all relevant details in his citations except for page numbers. As a student, I would argue that the page number is much more important to me than the name of the publisher.
But besides that... the book is genuinely good. It will certainly always have a place on my shelf.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Comprehensive; tells how to think about Philosophy without telling what to think
2 July 2007
Format:Paperback
Back when I took Intro. to Phil. (when dinosaurs still walked the Earth), the text used was Joel Feinberg's "Reason and Responsibility". Professor Feinberg's book (current and past editions are available from Amazon) takes a thematic approach with discrete readings and relatively little commentary from the editor. By contrast, the readings in Professor Soloman's book are short fragments woven throughout his text. To me, this gives the book a somewhat choppy feel; but for a someone encountering the subject for the first time or engaged in self-study, this connective tissue will probably be helpful in explaining passages that may not be entirely clear and placing them in their proper context.
One of the great virtues of this book is its sheer breadth. Readings are included from African, Indian, and East Asian cultures. There are some well-chosen excerpts presenting feminist perspctives that many students will probably not be familiar with (except perhaps as conservative caricatures).
My own favorite part of the book was the section dealing with philosophy of mind. Despite the immense advances in cognitive psychology and neurophysiology over the past thirty years, the precise nature of human consciousness still remains elusive (see philosopher Colin McGinn's "The Mysterious Flame" for good reasons why this is likely to remain the case). Questions of personal identity and free will are inextricably mixed with this, and Professor Soloman does a good job of disentangling these controversies and giving them a through airing.
To conclude, it is sad to report that Profesor Soloman died suddenly in Zurich airport while awaiting a flight in January of this year with his wife by his side. It later emerged that he had a congenital (and inoperable) heart defect which he was aware of and knew could potentialy prove fatal. Professor Soloman was, by all accounts, a gifted teacher who decried what he called "thinking thin" and believed that Philosophy was not merely a parlor game of puzzle-solving, but had a powerful contribution to make to 'real life'. My sincere condolences to his wife, family, and students, past and present.
"If death was truly an evil, than Socrates would have told us as much."--Epictetus, "Enchiridon"
One of the great virtues of this book is its sheer breadth. Readings are included from African, Indian, and East Asian cultures. There are some well-chosen excerpts presenting feminist perspctives that many students will probably not be familiar with (except perhaps as conservative caricatures).
My own favorite part of the book was the section dealing with philosophy of mind. Despite the immense advances in cognitive psychology and neurophysiology over the past thirty years, the precise nature of human consciousness still remains elusive (see philosopher Colin McGinn's "The Mysterious Flame" for good reasons why this is likely to remain the case). Questions of personal identity and free will are inextricably mixed with this, and Professor Soloman does a good job of disentangling these controversies and giving them a through airing.
To conclude, it is sad to report that Profesor Soloman died suddenly in Zurich airport while awaiting a flight in January of this year with his wife by his side. It later emerged that he had a congenital (and inoperable) heart defect which he was aware of and knew could potentialy prove fatal. Professor Soloman was, by all accounts, a gifted teacher who decried what he called "thinking thin" and believed that Philosophy was not merely a parlor game of puzzle-solving, but had a powerful contribution to make to 'real life'. My sincere condolences to his wife, family, and students, past and present.
"If death was truly an evil, than Socrates would have told us as much."--Epictetus, "Enchiridon"
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