Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
history of philosophy which breeds armchair philosophers, 5 Jul 1997
By A Customer
Lavine's survey of philosophy, "From Socrates to Sartre: The Philosophic Quest," is wonderfully successful at many things. First of all, it lets a new reader, who has never dabbled in philosophy, learn what the classical thinkers have thought. Much of the true philosophical works out there, from Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason" to Sartre's "Being and Nothingness," are quite dense and almost incomprehensible to even a well read reader. Lavine does a splendid job of taking these huge works and condensing them for the reader, expressing the main points. However one should not think that I am insinuating that this is a "dumbed down" book of philosophy, not by any means. Lavine respects her reader's intelligence and lets it grow through taking very abstract philosophical ideas from centuries ago and making them very practical today. Lavine also successfully shows the reader that no philospher, not Plato, Descartes, Hume, Hegel, Marx, nor Sartre, was successful in devising a philosophy that withstood criticism. Lavine shows the reader the holes in each philosophy. More importantly, however, is Lavine mangages to make the reader think for themselves about what their personal philosophy is, and how it affects their lives. I never thought of myself as I great thinker before reading this book, but afterwords I am armed with the ideas and the conundrums to debate with any other armchair philosopher. This book makes a great introduction to philosophy while still teaching very specific ideas of each philosopher. A wonderful book.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fantastic introduction to and survey of philosophy, 29 Jul 1998
By A Customer
Lavine's thoughtful and easy-to-read book got me hooked on philosophy. So hooked, in fact, that I became a philosophy minor. It primarily focuses on six major thinkers (Plato, Descartes, Hume, Hegel, Marx, and Sartre), but still gives a good overview of western philosophical thought. Plus, it doesn't read like a boring college textbook. Get it now!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable and makes the reader think., 12 Jul 1998
By A Customer
I have always found books on philosophy very difficult to understand. Thelma Z Lavine has helped me make some progress. The way she weaves the different philosophical ideas against the historical backgrounds of each era makes the road easier for the reader. To be quite honest, this is the best philosophy book I have ever read. I have tried other books where the author promised to get across the basic ideas of philosophy with ease. For me they have failed. I have given this book to several friends who like myself have found philosophy difficult and they all came back to tell me how much they enjoyed this book. Need I say more? Ms. Lavine please write some more books like this one.
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by F.M. Dostoevsky
by Naomi Klein
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
