An Introduction to Philosophical Analysis

by John Hospers

This book provides an in-depth, problem-oriented introduction to philosophical analysis using an extremely clear, readable approach. The Fourth Edition does not only update coverage throughout the book, but also restores the introductory chapter— Words and the World —the most distinguished, widely acclaimed feature of the first two editions.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Logic, Academic, Reference

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1932

About the author

John Hospers was an American philosopher. In 1972 he was the first presidential candidate of the Libertarian Party, and the only minor party candidate to receive an electoral vote in the 1972 U.S. Presidential election.

Reviews

[WarpDrive]

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

It is a well written, interesting and informative book.
Unfortunately it is a bit uneven (too basic in some parts - only at beginner/intermediate level at best), but overall a nice book.

Some portions of the book are brilliantly executed and thoroughly enjoyable (such as the ones dealing with the hard problem of consciousness and the debate over mind-body duality/relationship, and the ones dealing with issues of causality, predictability, the problem of induction, the concept of "Universal Law", determinism versus indeterminism, and free will).

On the not-so-positive side, the section on logic is average and quite basic in contents, and the section on ethics is quite uninspiring and it even deteriorates (in the sub-section about "social ethics") into a thinly disguised apologism of unfettered laissez-faire economic liberalism.

Recommended as a non-technical, intermediate-level introduction to some typical subjects of philosophical inquiry. Nothing earth-shattering, but a quite solid and interesting, easy and informative read.

[Liquidlasagna]

My opinion is that you use his booklists for your collection, and throw away the book!

Seriously, i'm very impressed with his attempt at trying to make one of the better lists of philosophy books to have on your bookshelf

and is anyone with all the different editions, interested in doing a goodreads list of his titles, one list for every chapter?

one of my my copies, i did a chronological list of all the books, chapter by chapter

and then at the back, a decade by decade number of books in every field of philosophy

[I did similar with Harold Bloom's The Western Canon to see when certain fields or nations were fashionable]

...............

I will illustrate

.................

Knowledge

Greeks - Zero books
1200s - Zero
1600s - 1 book John Locke
1700s - 1 book David Hume
1800s - Zero
1900s - Zero
1910s - 1 book Bertrand Russell
1930s - 1 book Ludwig Wittgenstein
1940s - 1 book Bertrand Russell
1950s - 9 books (one book by Ayer, 2 books by Flew, 2 books by Moore)
1960s - 11 books (2 books by Ayer)
1970s - 4 books (1 book by Ayer)
1980s - 1 book

...........

The Big Authors - Knowledge

4 books by Sir Alfred Ayer
2 books by Anthony Flew
2 books by GE Moore
2 books by Bertrand Russell

30 books total - 20 other books by other people

..................

another illustration

....................

Ethics

Greeks - 7 books
1200s - Zero
1600s - Zero
1700s - 6 books
1800s - 6 books
1900s - 1 book
1910s - 1 book
1920s - 3 books
1930s - 4 books
1940s - 1 book
1950s - 6 books
1960s - 8 books
1970s - 17 books
1980s - 10 books

..........

who were the writers on Ethics?

...........

Ethics

Plato
Aristotle

1739 Hume
1751 Hume
1759 Smith
1783 Kant
1785 Kant
1789 Bentham

1859 Mill
1861 Mill
1865 Mill
1878 Sidgwick
1897 Spencer

1903 Moore

1912 Moore

1924 Rashdall
1925 Dewey
1926 Perry

1931 Ross
1935 Broad
1937 Stace
1939 Ross

1947 Ewing

1950 Hartland-Swann
1950 Hare
1954 Novell-Smith
1955 Russell [yes him!] - Human Society in Ethics and Politics
1955 Edel
1959 Brandt

oh wait you care about the 1960s?

61 Blanshard
62 Zink
63 Von Wright
63 Hare
63 Frankena
64 Hazlitt
66 Rescher
67 Foot

[Ted Morgan]

Original Review: I would have to look at my college transcript to know when I first read this textbook. It was my textbook for Introduction to Philosophy at university. I recall not liking the book that much but I did take it seriously though probably more than I ought to have. I was reading Karl Popper outside of class. I took Popper more seriously. John Hospers was not an Ayn Rand devotee but he admired her and her work. He was a libertarian with a capital "A" and his textbook while not reeking of that nonsense has about it a stench. Still, Hospers was a lucid writer. I still own the textbook. It is somewhere in my apartment.

My state university department of philosophy had strong teachers but also a pervasive positivist cast at certain levels. The head the department thought of philosophy as a social science, not a liberal art which did position to some degree what we studies, though never without some opposition or difference.

A friend was the student instructor in the course. He used this text pretty much as a ground or base for the course. I no longer recall my grade.

On the whole Hospers covered the basic inclinations of Western Philosophy competently and often quite well. He dealt with casualty, determinism, indeterminism, inference, mind/body, and consciousness at what must have been for me at a good introductory level. He discussed much more actually. His political basis was not evident to me at the time and probably expressed my own views at the moment anyway. I was not quite up to grasping Popper at the time anyway. Hospers covered the gap. I was not quite up to Popper at that moment.

I did outside reading during the course. I think Hospers provided background for what I was thinking. I did not really grasp Popper at the time. The dates I read are guesses.

[Deanna]

This book provides a good overview of Western philosophy and the informal writing style adopted by the author enables him to engage with amateurs and beginners. It also serves as a quick-reference to major issues in Western philosophy; e.g. deism, ethics.

[J.J. Rodeo]

خیلی سال پیش خوندمش اما یادمه خیلی نگاهمو عوض کرد. کمک کرد بتونم صریح تر و شفاف تر فکر کنم

[Brian W. Beck]

Put it in the classroom.

[Kyab]

best for beginners of the philosophy!

[Gregory]

Bardzo udana książka, która może być wstępem do filozofowania. Nie jakąś naukową pozycją, ale raczej zbiorem podstawowych zagadnień którymi zajmuje się ta dziedzina wiedzy. Bawiłem się dobrze, mimo braku podstaw merytorycznych. Jeśli interesują cię problemy tego świata, to z pewnością znajdziesz tu coś interesującego do przemyślenia.

[Victor Chizi Ihunda]

I strongly recommend for philosophy initiates and none philosophy initiates. It is an engaging text with beautiful instances to aid your comprehension. Arguably, it is philosophy simplified (surely, not over simplified).

[DDejong]

I read this book between the age of 18 and 20. I did not read it in one go, it was my second book, a book I always had with me and would read waiting for a bus, skipping a class and when I did not have anything else to read at hand.

It was more than 30 years ago that I read it. The edition I read was the Revised Edition. I somehow can remember the books I read as a kid more clearly than books I read 5 years ago. The reason I write this review is that I briefly looked at the latest edition at a sale. The edition I read seems more packed and chapters are not framed in the form of questions. Since I read it for fun, I skipped the exercises. However, I clearly remember how it shaped the way I read and formulate arguments since. I was never a student of the book and did not consider it as a self-help guide to philosophy. As the book progressed through editions it changed with the syllabus/curriculum and now focus on guiding students through an exam. It is very different from the Revised edition written in 1967.

Initially the book guides you through the simplest aspects of philosophy, like the different between words in quotes and words without quotes. And it warns you to take care of your sources of knowledge. Followed by an explanation of how truth is structured and the principles of logic. Then the book explains that the laws, theories or explanations we make have the problem of induction, determinism, freedom, religion and causality.

Here you are at approximately page 500. At this point you realize that philosophy is never going to be absolute, you realize that observation is precision, that you should look at facts very carefully when you draw conclusion and that you should always have an open mind.

Then you will learn about the 'isms (only some, not all) and ethics for another 150 pages.

[Tim]

So far very good, especailly the excellent first chapter on language.

[Farrell]

It was easy enough to understand. I felt that there was some unclear points he made, but it all made sense at the end.

[Duman]

As a guy in a traditional society, this book changed my life!