The Philosopher's Way: Thinking Critically About Profound Ideas

by John Chaffee

Teaching and Learning Classroom Edition

This dynamic volume is designed to teach readers to become critical thinkers as they explore the influential thinkers and central themes of Philosophy from ancient times to the present. In addition to the conceptual and language subject matter, this presentation ignites readers' sense of wonder through an innovative design, substantive readings, innovative writing assignments and thinking activities that provide readers with the opportunity to learn and practice the conceptual abilities needed to think philosophically. The volume examines thinking philosophically about life, consciousness, identity and the soul, freedom and determinism, developing enlightened values, exploring ways of being religious, constructing knowledge and discovering truth, developing an integrated view of reality, understanding creative expression and political forms, as well as social justice, and concepts of utopia. For individuals interested in learning to think philosophically.

Genres: Philosophy, School, Feminism, Textbooks

608 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2004

Reviews

[David Sexton · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a textbook for my course I found this book a great introduction to philosophy. I grasps a few basics but will need to refer to it as I further my understanding of philosophy.

It is not a light read and would be a hard one to read leisurely.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This textbook is satisfactory, even if it gave some weight to thinkers like Ayn Rand, Sigmund Freud, and Karl Marx that I object to. Nevertheless, I learned a lot about philosophy and the philosophers.

This book certainly focuses on individual philosophers too much, even having an entire chapter dedicated to Socrates. It is an easy way to learn philosophy by focusing on people and their ideas rather than the movements they started or were a part of, although my history training has led me to be wary of “Great Man” theories.

A special feature of this textbook I like is the list of books and movies that relate to philosophical topics at the end of each chapter. I have been led to some excellent books and movies that way, although there were some bad recommendations in there like “Crash” (2005) and Ayn Rand books.

This textbook was interesting and I liked it somewhat despite some academic quibbles. I like the literature and film recommendations and how it used excerpts of primary sources of the philosophers. It does have a biased slant, however.

[Jonathanj · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like it overall, good overview, I would have preferred more in the atheism area. I like how the author mentions (though briefly) some more modern thinkers like Daniel Dennett and Paul Churchland, also the book is laid out in more of a topical format.

[El · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was too expensive and is in that horrid textbook format that requires you to read through a lot of boring fluff instead of just giving you the information.

[An upbeat reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read a chapter from this book and can't wait to read the whole thing. It's a must for anyone who is interested in philosophy.