- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: Scribner (3 Mar 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0743231791
- ISBN-13: 978-0743231794
- Product Dimensions: 20.2 x 13.6 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,010,426 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| ||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
McGinn is a distinguished philosopher, and a professor at Rutgers in New York. This elegantly reticent memoir is an autobiography of sorts - though one which is more interested in ideas than in self-revelation. We do get an account of him moving from a working-class childhood in Gillingham and Blackpool to the rarefied world of Oxford academia and beyond. But what McGinn is most interested in doing is providing an account of his journey through ideas - a kind of 'growth of the philosopher's mind'. He does this with unusual and admirable clarity, in a way which makes the book accessible without condescension. It's written with dry flashes of wit, and a certain amount of engaging self-deprecation.
Stephen Pinker
'McGinn is an ingenious philosopher who thinks like a laser and writes like a dream'
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Towards the end (p. 222) of this head-banging autobiography, the author explains his reputation as a tough reviewer of other books. I'd love to imitate him, but cannot avoid giving him five stars, for five reasons.
First, I literally read this book at one sitting - OK lying down on my bed, for four hours 5 minutes, not even one trip to the loo. Most credit for page-turnability must go to the writing; but some also to fine contributions by the editorial and design teams.
Second, accuracy. He describes so well the Oxford I knew, like him, as an Oxford B. Phil (Philosophy) student a few years earlier and from a non-Oxbridge background.
Third, doggedness. This "Wilde Reader in Mental Philosophy at the precocious age of thirty-three" failed his 11-plus. His greatest intellectual achievement was learning Italian from scratch.
Fourth, stimulation. This is not a crash-course in philosophy. However, I found enough said sufficiently clearly on metaphysics - oddly, a word never mentioned - and on moral philosophy to stir my own flaccid philosophical loins.
Fifth, anecdotal warmth. I enjoyed the accounts of philosophers behaving generously or pettily. It's a book that humanizes philosophy.
First, I literally read this book at one sitting - OK lying down on my bed, for four hours 5 minutes, not even one trip to the loo. Most credit for page-turnability must go to the writing; but some also to fine contributions by the editorial and design teams.
Second, accuracy. He describes so well the Oxford I knew, like him, as an Oxford B. Phil (Philosophy) student a few years earlier and from a non-Oxbridge background.
Third, doggedness. This "Wilde Reader in Mental Philosophy at the precocious age of thirty-three" failed his 11-plus. His greatest intellectual achievement was learning Italian from scratch.
Fourth, stimulation. This is not a crash-course in philosophy. However, I found enough said sufficiently clearly on metaphysics - oddly, a word never mentioned - and on moral philosophy to stir my own flaccid philosophical loins.
Fifth, anecdotal warmth. I enjoyed the accounts of philosophers behaving generously or pettily. It's a book that humanizes philosophy.
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Colin McGinn is a master at getting his point across whether you’re philosophically enlightened or not. McGinn has a gift for both clarity of thought and expressing these thoughts.
I often find philosophy books disorientating but I just couldn't put this book down. This book is a philosophical autobiography, traversing his voyage through philosophy and how he arrived at his own philosophical opinions, he often sidesteps away from conceptual thought and lightens the mood with witty anecdotes and I think he strikes a healthy balance. I found this a comforting, light relief from the occasionally weighty philosophical concept. He knows when to push an idea, how to push it, how much to push it, and just as your on the verge of being swamped under overwhelming weight of it all.....he backs off and fills you in on some of his youthful undertakings. Literary Genius! a truly unique book.
A 'must read' for anybody approaching philosophy for the first time or anybody willing to test the water of philosophy.
If like me you find philosophy enthralling and inpirational but all too often get bogged down by heavy philosophical texts, then this is the book for you.
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I came across this book having read an article on him in a newspaper. I bought it, and have never been so interested by a book. It is truly thought provoking.
I am a complete novice when it comes to philosophy. The joy of this book is that it takes you through many philosophical topics: the mind and the brain, linguistic philosophy and the existence of God, whilst not getting too heavy! The philosophical discussions are dispersed with light biographical recollections to easethe brain after a bit of serious thought.
I would recomend this book to anyone with even a minor interest in philosophy, regardless of their previous philosophical experience!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Popular philosophy?
It is only on the page before last we find the author's intentions: to make philosophy "intelligible to the layperson. Read more
Published on 1 Aug 2007 by stevieby
intersting autobiograpy, uninspiring philosophy
This book lends itself readily to comparison with Bryan Magee's 'Confessions of a Philosopher' since it follows a similar line - a sense of exasperation with analytic philosophy... Read more
Published on 11 Feb 2004 by Sam Nico
Entertaining the mind
Having previously never heard of Colin McGinn, I was extremely pleased to discover one of his books. Read more
Published on 31 Oct 2003 by Benjamin Dell
A great introduction to the man, and the philosophy.
Initially picking up this book, I was a little apprehensive as to what would be inside, but Colin McGinn's elegance in conveying exactly what he wants to say drew me in. Read more
Published on 31 July 2003 by Stu
boring
this is just boring. i did the philosophy of science at university and quite liked it - no thanks to this book. Read more
Published on 4 July 2003 by "dan_zai"
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
