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How To Be A Philosopher: or How to Be Almost Certain that Almost Nothing is Certain

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Do life's big questions perplex you? This book, now available in paperback, will give you answers to some of them while revealing that others have no answer. A humorous but informed instruction manual to questions philosophers have been asking and attempting to answer for centuries, How to Be A Philosopher will help • Think, talk, argue and persuade like a philosopher.• Win every agument by tying people in philosophical knots.• Ask questions and raise doubts about things most people take for granted.• Realise that almost nothing is certain.• Get the absolute final word on that question about a falling tree.A practical guide to philosophising, the book explains philosophical ideas with examples drawn from such great works as Family Guy, Monty Python's Flying Circus, The Matrix and Red Dwarf. The book also argues that learning to philosophise will help you think more clearly and honestly about your own life. The book even gives practical advice on how to make a living from philosophy!

144 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 9, 2010

19 people are currently reading
306 people want to read

About the author

Gary Cox

56 books39 followers
Gary Cox is a British philosopher and biographer and the author of several books on Jean-Paul Sartre, existentialism, general philosophy, ethics and philosophy of sport.

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5 stars
45 (26%)
4 stars
69 (40%)
3 stars
49 (28%)
2 stars
7 (4%)
1 star
1 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
Profile Image for Melina.
23 reviews24 followers
April 25, 2020
This little book is a dream come true for anyone who's just started getting into philosophy.
Unlike other introductory books, it doesn't include a handful of tiring biographies, or become too generic. On the contrary, it offers some very useful definitions of important philosophical movements and concepts, adding useful and simple examples in order to understand the differences between them, while mentioning little but crucial information on some of philosophy's biggest minds.
1 review
July 27, 2015
Covered a lot of important and interesting topics in a way that was funny and easy to understand. I would definitely recommend this to someone who was getting into philosophy; this is a great place to start. This book is very entertaining and I definitely felt like I learned a lot.
Profile Image for Sinan.
125 reviews
July 14, 2022
Kitapçıda ilk gördüğümde biraz garipsemiş hatta magazinsel bir yönü olabileceği önyargısıyla alıp almamakta kararsız kalmıştım.
İyi ki almışım…
Çok keyifli ve pratik yaşama yönelik bir felsefi denemeydi.
Tavsiye ederim.
11 reviews
September 24, 2025
Este es un libro que compré en el 2016 cuando me fui de viaje a Europa. Recuerdo perfectamente donde lo compré. En una librería a unis pasos de —— en el Vaticano.
Me emocionaba la idea de leerlo, pensaba que me iba a resolver muchas preguntas y me iba a hacer muy culta. me sentí muy intelectual al comprarlo, pero nunca lo leí. Le tenía miedo a destruir esa idea de lo que podía ser si no le entendía.

Cuando me mudé, me reencontré con este libro. Después de haber estado en varias clases de psicóloga, filosofía, epistemologia, antropología, pensé que podría ser una gran oportunidad para repasar conceptos y finalmente probarme que, si le entendería.

A mi sorpresa, todo estaba mucho más digerido de lo que imaginaba. A pesar de ya conocer muchos conceptos, me encantó repasarlos y recordar que un buen filósofo puede hacer algo muy complicado, muy sencillo, interesante y divertido. Creo que despertó el amor que tengo por la filosofía ( a pesar de no ser muy buena) y continuar retándome a convertirme en una filósofa no oficial.
Profile Image for Bianca.
41 reviews
February 26, 2018
Het is voor het eerst dat ik mij gericht verdiep in filosofie.
Aanvankelijk las ik het boek met interesse, want ik kwam allerlei concepten tegen waar ik nog nooit eerder van gehoord had. Het laatste hoofdstuk echter was een domper: De kost verdienen als filosoof.
Daardoor begreep ik de heldere, bijna kinderlijke woordkeus van de schrijver opeens een stuk beter!
Mijn advies voor wie weinig van filosofie weet en dit boek wil lezen: ga vooral je gang, maar sla vooral het laatste hoofdstuk over.
16 reviews3 followers
March 5, 2022
I'd been looking for an introduction into key philosophy concepts and authors for a long time, and this was the first that is easy and fun to read but ALSO explains difficult stuff really well (e.g. ontological argument of god, what is epistemology etc).
His story about Descartes was so passionate I really started to feel for the guy (4 centuries later...) and I was in stitches about Kant (and how difficult is that!?).
5 out of 5 stars!
Profile Image for Yolanda Paptie.
Author 5 books2 followers
February 27, 2017
Picked this one up at a bookstore in Amsterdam, along with some travel guides for France and Italy.
Finished reading it on the plane home.
I was hardly interested in the methodology for forming an argument and more intrigued by variety.

This book remains a valuable reference.
Profile Image for Kendal.
394 reviews5 followers
June 3, 2024
I'm not sure how to peg this book. I'd recommend this not as an intro to philosophy, but an approach to skepticism, as the full title indicates. So, if that's your bag, go for this book.

But I'm reminded of Søren Kierkegaard's observation:

"Aristotle’s view that philosophy begins with wonder, not as in our day with doubt, is a positive point of departure for philosophy. Indeed, the world will no doubt learn that it does not do to begin with the negative, and the reason for success up to the present is that philosophers have never quite surrendered to the negative and thus have never earnestly done what they have said. They merely flirt with doubt."

This of this contrast in terms of the Law of Identity. We build, not on the deep pit of a negative, but profound platforms of the positive.

Also, Cox takes a glib, breezy approach that many UK philosophers have adopted (IE The Four Horsemen, or Andy Bannister's "The Atheist Who Didn't Exist: Or the Dreadful Consequences of Bad Arguments."). This grates on me and is a negative. However, this approach makes the murky mists of metaphysics more accessible to people, so if it helps, go for it.

One plus, and I am 100% in favor of using pop culture as a heuristics device. TV and movies bridge the relevance gap.

This is a screwy-wumpus review--more of a comment. It's a good book and give Dr. Cox a chance.
Profile Image for Μιχάλης Τράμπας.
4 reviews
June 9, 2020
Αποδεχόμενος την ελλειπή γνώση μου περί φιλοσοφίας, δηλώνω ενθουσιασμένος για την μεταδοτικότητα του cox. Σε λίγες για το αντικείμενο σελίδες, τελειώνεις και χάνεσαι αναζητώντας παραπομπές για την φιλοσοφία των μεγάλων φιλοσόφων. Από το μεσαίωνα με Σωκράτη, Πλάτωνα και Αριστοτέλη, 17ο-19ο αιώνα Ντιντερό, Σοπενχάουερ, Βολταίρο,Μαρξ για μια σύντομη εισαγωγή στην φιλοσοφία τους. Δεν αρκεί σαν βιβλίο από μόνο του αλλά συνοψίζει αρκετά για την γενική εικόνα της ουσίας της φιλοσοφίας. Ίσως να προτιμούσα την αποφυγή της προσωπικής άποψης και θέσης για τις επιρροές που έχει ο συγγραφέας και καθηγητής φιλοσοφίας.
Profile Image for Matthieu Wegh.
863 reviews24 followers
July 16, 2025
? Ik was op zoek naar een aardige inleiding die mij aanspreekt en mijn nieuwgierigheid omtrent filosofie nog verder aanwakkert...dus dit boekje was een begin.
🤔 De definities van filoseren waren mij duidelijk, maar de ideeën van de behandelde filosofen kwamen er voor mij niet duidelijk uit.... Misschien moet je dan toch nog wat meer basiskennis hebben om dit boekje goed te kunnen begrijpen.....of is het is niet mijn ding, dat kan ook ;-)
=> Ik heb verschillende andere boeken nog liggen over filosofie; de interesse is er nog steeds, maar misschien ga ik toch eerst weer een zijpad bewandelen of zo...
MW7/9/21
Profile Image for James.
249 reviews7 followers
August 6, 2011
An excellent and witty primer for all those who are interested in thinking philosophically.
187 reviews
July 26, 2012
The only thing I am certain of is the fact that I know nothing. In other words, this is a good introduction to philosophy.
Profile Image for Outdoors Nerd.
373 reviews3 followers
August 13, 2015
Funny, irreverent and able to explain without the seemingly pointless philosophical naming of things that already have names.
Profile Image for Tony.
269 reviews
August 19, 2015
Pretty good read. Cox skates over Descartes and Kant, Hume and Locke and does so in an engaging and entertaining manner. I would certainly read more by him.
Profile Image for Quentin Thomas.
16 reviews
January 20, 2016
I'm giving this a generous 4 because it is objectively a good introduction to philosophy. I already have a certificate in the subject, but I was just curious about Gary's POV. Good intro.
Profile Image for Haozhe Xu.
2 reviews
November 21, 2016
It is actually a very interesting book and I will strongly recommend it to anyone!
Profile Image for Laurent Franckx.
251 reviews88 followers
July 31, 2016
What this book lacks in scope, is gained in its unique combination of accessibility, relevance, depth and fun. The best extremely-short introduction to philosophy I have read so far.
Profile Image for Santo.
56 reviews
October 4, 2016
Bel libro!ottima introduzione alla filosofia e alle sue diverse tematiche.consigliato
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews

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