50 Philosophy Ideas You Really Need to Know

50 Ideas You Really Need to Know

by Ben Dupré

Have you ever lain awake at night fretting over how we can be sure of the reality of the external world? Perhaps we are in fact disembodied brains, floating in vats at the whim of some deranged puppet-master? If so, you are not alone - and what's more, you are in exalted company. For this question and other ones like it have been the stuff of philosophical rumination from Plato to Popper. In a series of accessible and engagingly written essays, "50 Philosophy Ideas You Really Need to Know" introduces and explains the problems of knowledge, consciousness, identity, ethics, belief, justice and aesthetics that have engaged the attention of thinkers from the era of the ancient Greeks to the present day.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Reference, Science, Ebooks, History, Brain

208 pages, Hardcover

First published August 2, 2007

About the author

Ben Dupré read Classics at Exeter College, Oxford, before pursuing a career in publishing. Until 2004 he was children's reference publisher at Oxford University Press.

He is the author of Places of Destiny (published in the US as Where History was Made), 50 Big Ideas You Really Need to Know, 50 Political Ideas You Really Need to Know and the bestselling 50 Philosophy Ideas You Really Need to Know.

A devotee of baseball and early music, Ben lives in Oxford with his family.

Reviews

[Paul Bryant · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve read a few of these fifty essential ideas now and even with the nice big print and quotations in boxes and timelines and all these great ideas bite-sized and right-sized and fun-sized and slipping down my throat like lozenges made of mentholated wisdom, I’m beginning to think that philosophy is bollocks. I already know theology is bollocks. History is bollocks too. Economics is bollocks. Opera is astonishingly expansively expensively convincingly bollocks. Space opera is bollocks everywhere except the fifth dimension. Ballet is so bollocks it makes bollocks ashamed to be bollocks. Jazz is face-grindingly bollocks (except for the stuff that people who like jazz don’t regard as jazz). Politics is bollocks. Television is the uttermost of bollocks and can't even be rescued by white kryptonite, which can rescue everything. Okay, that might be a bit harsh, there’s The Wire.

So given all of that I thought philosophy should have been the antidote. But it wasn’t. So you can’t tell if you’re A BRAIN IN A VAT? Who gives a shit. Okay, I'm a brain in a vat. I can't see the damned vat, and the bills still need paying. Do I know if I’m in a metaphorical cave and my reality is just the dancing shadows cast by the metaphorical fire? Nope. Do I care? Nope. Horse is the horseness of all horse? Okay, I can get behind that. Drunk is the drunkenness of all drunks. It could catch on. Thanks, Plato or whatever your name is. That one I like.

Here’s Bertrand Russell (we should imagine a short, attenuated man with a face like a crow who is in the process of trying to smarm his way into the good graces of the daughter of the society heiress who he hopes will pay for his incomprehensible book on mathematics and by good graces I mean shagging):

If we enumerated the things that are bald, and then the things that are not bald, we should not find the king of France in either list. Hegelians, who love a synthesis, will probably conclude he wears a wig.

This gets them rolling around at the Philosophers’ Lap Dancing Club. He goes on

There is an entity such that it alone is now the king of France.

Philosophers come out with this stuff all the time – at bus stops, in bed, in the checkout queue -

Suppose everyone had a box with something in it : we will call it The Box. Suppose further that no one can look into anyone else’s box.

I can do this too :

Suppose you erected a bus stop outside your house and stood every day at 9.30 at your bus stop as if waiting for a bus. Suppose other people began to join you.

Suppose philosophers all ate each other.

Suppose suppose is the suppository of all suppose.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating - and more to the point, enjoyable - collection of 50 essays, each spanning 4 pages and accompanied with various sidepanels, quotations and notes. From slippery slopes to the prisoner's dilemma, from the cosmological argument to animal rights, Dupré brings a welcome clarity to questions that we should all care about. If you're looking for an accessible introduction to the ideas of Plato, Descartes, Hume and other influential thinkers throughout history, and if you don't know your consequentialist from your deontologist, this is a superb starting point.

[Tevfik · Rating 4 out of 5]

İyi bir zihin jimnastiği yapmak istiyorsanız işe yarayacak bir kitap. Tavsiyem okumayla sınırlı kalmamak, belki de her bir meseleyi arkadaşlarla tartışmaktır, zira o kadar insanlığa ait 50 fikir ki, var olduğunu hiç bilmesek de pek çoğu zaten yaşamımız boyunca en az bir kez aklımıza gelmiştir; bu yüzden de zevkle tartışılabilir.

[sfogliarsi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vi è mai capitato di stare svegli tutta la notte, assillati da pensieri del tipo: come facciamo ad essere sicuri della realtà del mondo esterno? Forse non siamo altro che cervelli senza corpo, fluttuanti in una vasca, in balìa dei capricci di qualche scienziato pazzo. Questo tormentoso interrogativo e i tanti altri simili ad esso sono stati oggetto di riflessione e congetture filosofiche da Platone a Putnam. Attraverso 50 brevi saggi, accessibili nel contenuto e brillanti nella scrittura, lo scrittore ci spiega questioni importanti e cruciali relative alla mente, alla conoscenza, alla coscienza, all’identità, all’etica, alla giustizia, ai diritti, al linguaggio, alla logica, al significato, al senso, all’estetica, alla religione: si tratta di questioni che hanno sempre animato il dibattito filosofico, dagli antichi Greci a oggi.

[Aravena · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be honest, there were times when studying or reading about philosophy feels like a gigantic waste of time and overexertion of precious brain cells. It's a bit difficult to shake off that feeling when you're forced to ponder questions like 'are we really living, or we simply assume that we are?', 'do we really know anything about everything?', or everyone's favorite, "what's the meaning in all this?" A lot of discussion seems to boil down to tedious semantic, and you're constantly bombarded with abstraction jargon, -isms, and a bunch of quotes from people who all seem to think their opinion is the Only Right One..

Still, as a whole I find it stimulating and deceptively useful. Philosophy has helped me to make peace with some aspects of the reality and universe, apply critical thinking on things that I took for granted, and even get a better understanding on myself and what I need to do to achieve happiness. Like many other things, finding use in philosophy is just a matter of having a good platform and someone who can explain and discuss these ideas to you in clear and engaging manner. Through this book, Ben Dupré is doing a pretty fine job of that.

This list of 50 philosophical ideas is not comprehensive or even a suitable alternative to Philosophy 101 class, but it's a good primer nonetheless. Dupré presented each idea in 4 pages of summary, analogy, quotes, and occasional pop culture references, with layout that looks easy on the eyes. Still, although the book is marketed as a crash course in philosophy and Dupré indeed took pains to convey these thoughts in layman's terms, I still hesitate to recommend this to someone completely unfamiliar with the subject. At the very least, you should already have some rudimentary knowledge on the basic concepts being discussed and the most influential philosophers; otherwise, it's easy to get lost amid the sea of quotes from Plato, Hume, Descartes, and Russell, or lose your spirit at the passage dissecting the validity of a single sentence/claim for a full page.

It gets easier once you're past the first section (which discusses the concept of self, consciousness, and perception) and has moved on to the more directly applicable issues, where abstraction started to form into concrete shapes. It poses challenging questions in the likes of ethics, animal rights, and war, helpfully explains common logical fallacies like 'slippery slope' and 'gambler's fallacy', explicates on the issue of morality and our perception of 'good' and 'bad', and effectively illustrates just how philosophy/science and religion are a match made in hell.

Plenty of food for thought here in spite of its 'basic' vibe, and if you're someone of many interest and spend plenty of time thinking about profoundly abstract things, you may find this book a treat. As is philosophy in general.

[Majed AlShehri · Rating 3 out of 5]

الكتاب عبارة عن جزء من سلسلة تحت مسمى ( خمسين فكرة يجب أن تعرفها عن ... ) بحيث يناقش في كل كتاب تخصص معين في المعارف العامة ..

هذا الكتاب يعتبر تلخيصي للكتب الأخرى فهو يناقش أفكار في الفلسفة والأديان والأقتصاد والسياسة والعلوم مما يعتبره الكاتب أفكارا غيرت العالم ..

حقيقة فكرة الكتاب ممتازة من ناحية تقديم معلومات سهلة وجاهزة عن مواضيع مختلفة ومفيدة للثقافة العامة..

تميز الكتاب بفكرة الخط الزمني لنمو كل فكرة من الأفكار ، وأيضا تميز بإفراد الاقتباسات المهمة على جانب الصفحة بخط عريض ..

الكتاب مصمم بطريقة التصميم الشجري في الشكل العام بدلا عن الطريقة السردية ، وأعتقد أن هذه الطريقة مفيدة في استغلال المساحات ..

مشكلة الكتاب كانت في التباين في مستوى الترجمة ، فبعض الأجزاء كانت جيدة وبعضها كانت في غاية السوء !!

الكتاب يعطي مدخل فقط و غير مناسب لدراسة الأفكار بشكل متوسع ..


حصلت على مجموعة مختارة من السلسلة من أحد الدور الليبية في معرض الكتاب الماضي ، ولاحظت توفر السلسلة في أغلب دور النشر من المغرب العربي ..

[Dimitar Iliev · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es un libro sencillo que plantea 50 cuestiones filosóficas, tal como dice el título. En cuanto a contenido no es gran cosa, las referencias a autores son superficiales y el trato a su contenido superficial. Pero era de esperar puesto que su foco no son dichos autores.

He de admitir que fue entretenido. El hecho de que no fuera pesado y usara un estilo neutro ayuda a la lectura, y como son temas tratados por encima tampoco hay mucho en lo que indagar.

Es interesante si te aburres y te gusta la filosofía o pensar preguntas peculiares y demás. En mi caso me aportó poco, la gran mayoría de temas que aporta los conocía de antemano, pero no quita que fuera una lectura agradable.

Nota final: 6.5

[Ozan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beklediğimden daha iyiydi.

Her bir düşünceye 4 sayfa ayrılmış olması ve her düşünceyi tartışmak için benzer bir şablon kullanılması okumayı kolaylaştırıyor. Dili anlaşılır ve sade.

Tanrı-İnanç konusundaki “fikir” sayısı biraz fazlaydı, bu sayıyı azaltıp başka önemli düşünceler seçilebilirdi diye düşünüyorum. Benim için olumsuz yanlarından bir diğeri ise kitaptaki fikir’lerin önemli bir kısmına aşina olmamdı. Yine de onlarda bile ilgimi çeken bilgilerle karşılaştım.

İlgi çekici ve uyarıcı bir kitaptı, bir yerde “Eureka!” dedim.

[Poncho González · Rating 4 out of 5]

es un libro muy entretenido ya que presenta 50 ideas sobre las cuales uno puede debatir internamente o con otras personas, y estas ideas no ocupan mas de 5 hojas, por lo tanto su sencillez es muy simple para que la podamos entender y si nos interesa, posteriormente profundizar en el tema por nuestra cuenta.

mas que ideas filosóficas encontré con tópicos, los cuales algunas veces nos hemos preguntado en nuestra vida y si no lo hemos hecho, esta muy bien hacerlo, se presta al debate, en ningún momento afirma o niega algo, simplemente se presente el tema, te dice cosas buenas o malas, teorías, personas que han investigado sobre eso y se intenta llegar a una conclusión, que al final la conclusión que el lector se haga sobre el tema va a ser la mejor, ya que si en cientos de años no se ha podido dar una respuesta clara, menos lo vamos a hacer nosotros, pero sirve mucho para pensar este libro.

el inconveniente que le veo es que en algunos capitulo llegan a ser muy científicos todos sus términos que utiliza, y como deben de ser muy breves estos capítulos, muchas veces no se puede profundizar en tan pocas paginas y resulta algo complicado de entender. y por lo mismo de la brevedad de los capítulos, muchas veces hace falta mas de contexto histórico o científico que permitan entender mayor el tópico que se esta tratando, otro inconveniente es que muestra muchas viñetas y frases sueltas por el libro, parece mas una revista, y resulta un poco confuso saber donde leer, si el texto o la viñeta ya que muchas veces no tienen mucho que ver y te llegas a perder en la lectura.

en general me gusto, es de esos libros de divulgación científica, donde al abrirlo sin importar la pagina, puedes tener un tema interesante sobre el cual opinar y debatir internamente o con otras personas, en general no te da ninguna postura o respuestas, simplemente abre los temas para que posteriormente tu los desarrolles personalmente, investigando a profundidad o haciéndote preguntas y sacando tus propias conclusiones.

en general es muy recomendable para sacar ideas y profundizar en las que mas te gusten e investigar por tu cuenta, teorías y experimentos que hablen sobre ese tema, pero de igual manera no se me hace un libro tan sencillo para muchas personas, en especial si no te gusta profundizar y hacerte preguntas sobre las cosas que nos rodean.

[Hala · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started this in 2016??????
I overall liked it. There were some ideas completely new to me, others I were a little familiar with but I definitely learned a lot.
Something that bothered me was the little boxes in the middle of the page: I didn't know if I was supposed to read them after I was done with the paragraph, or before, or in the middle. It sounds silly but it was quite annoying.
Other than that it was mostly a fun read.

[ریچارد · Rating 5 out of 5]

ایده ها و مسائل به خوبی مطرح میشن، نظرات مختلف درباره شون بیان می‌شه، این نتیجه گرفته می‌شه که ما راهی برای دونستن اینکه کدوم بهتره نداریم و در نهایت در انتهای فصل مسائل قبل و بعدی لیست میشن

[Tiago F · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite familiar with philosophy, and decided to just read the parts I was unfamiliar with. That ended up being very little, but nevertheless I encountered several ideas that I haven't read or thought about for a good while, and I read them anyway.

A lot of bad or mixed reviews here, but not sure why. I found the book well written. It has 4 pages per idea, and it explains it well in most cases. Of course, it can't go very in-depth, but surely no one expected otherwise for a book title "50 philosophy ideas you really need to know".

I think a lot of the reviews are against philosophy rather than the book since this is often an introduction to people who never encountered it before. And that's fine of course, philosophy isn't everyone's cup of tea. But don't judge the quality of the book on it, it is fine as an introduction to the topic. The selection was good as well, going over the main ideas that are usually discussed and beginner-friendly.

[Bill P · Rating 2 out of 5]

Entry level exposure to philosophical concepts and skepticism, yet in an attempt to identify a given philosophy's weakness, the author is quite prone to using fallacious arguments which in turn reveals his unwanted biases (or ignorance)

[Tara Ravi · Rating 3 out of 5]

What's good about it is that it gives you enough introductory information that you can start understanding and contributing to philosophical discussions. Most discussions of each of the 50 "ideas" include decent perspectives from philosophers who both support and criticise the argument.

What is not good is the author's blatant bias against theism. None of the discussions in the faith section are balanced, and are lucky to have two sentences acknowledging the argument that there is a God or otherwise divine entity in the universe. It was a disappointing end to an otherwise decent book.

In general, I would say that most people don't need to know more about philosophy than what is in this book. It is not one that you can whiz through in one or two sittings, though. If you're interested in a summarised version, I made my own notes for the first 30 ideas, under the cut.

...
Glossary glossed
Absolutism: certain actions are right or wrong no matter what, and no matter the consequences. Deontologists like Kant love this.
Consequentialism: actions should be assessed purely by their consequences.
Determinism: every event has a prior cause, hence every state of the world is necessitated by a previous state. There is no free will.
Dualism: the soul and body are two different things.
Empiricism: all knowledge is based on, or at least tied to, experience derived from the senses.
Utilitarianism: a consequentialist system that believes actions are right or wrong based on the greater good.

1. The brain in a vat: our brains are in a vat.
2. Plato’s cave: you are chained to a wall in a cave for your entire life. All you have ever seen are shadows projected on the wall by a fire. Imagine you are released, and walk around the cave, and understand the origin of the shadows that you thought were the real deal. Finally you go outside and are SHOOK by the fullness of reality. The cave is our realm of becoming, or the visible world of our everyday experience. Captives live in a world of conjecture and illusion, while the walker gets the most accurate view of reality possible within the realm of becoming. However, what is outside the cave is the realm of being, which is the intelligible world of truth.
3. The veil of perception: human understanding is like a “closet wholly shut from light, with only some little openings left, to let in external visible resemblances, or ideas of things without.” – John Locke.
4. Cogito ergo sum: I think, therefore I am [exist]. “Je pense, donc je suis.” – René Descartes, 1637
5. Reason and experience: do we know things through reason or experience?
6. The tripartite theory of knowledge: A person, Dude, knows proposition, Fact, if and ONLY IF: Fact is true. Dude believes Fact. Dude is justified in believing Fact.
7. The mind-body problem: mind? Body? Shook
8. What is it like to be a bat: Yeah, but what is it really like?
9. The Turing Test: Can AI think without people knowing they’re AI and not… actual I?
10. The ship of Theseus: If you take the parts out of a ship one by one, replacing them with new parts as you go, and make a new ship out of the old parts, which is the original ship?
11. Other minds: how do I know what’s in your mind? How do I know that someone who is brain-dead cannot think? How do I know that an ant does not think?
12. Hume’s guillotine: Nothing to do with an actual guillotine. Trying to bridge the gap between what we think we ought to do, and what we actually do.
13. One man’s meat: We think eating our dead is wrong. Some think burying their dead is wrong. Who’s to say who is right or wrong? Are right and wrong just based on our beliefs, or are they absolute?
14. Divine command theory: God says this is good and that is bad, so this is good and that is bad and that’s that.
15. Boo/hoorah theory: good and bad are based on our feelings (emotivism).
16. Ends and means: Some say the end justifies the means. Some (Kant) say that good and bad are absolute.
17. The experience machine: if someone could give you the experience of doing something amazing, would you do it, knowing that it is not real?
18. Categorical imperative: Kant says you must not lie. If a murderer wants to know where your friend is (to murder them), you must tell the murderer the truth because you must!!!!!!!! I Kant even with this guy
19. The golden rule: “What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others.” – Confucius, c. 500 BC
20. Acts and omissions: sit back and let three people die, or purposely kill one person?
21. Slippery slope: if you let two MEN marry each other, soon you’ll be letting a DOG marry YOUR COUSIN. Wait
22. Beyond the call of duty: supererogatory acts are those that we don’t blame you for not doing, but laud you for doing. For example, delivering a letter to the addressee, even though you are shot during the trip.
23. Is it bad to be unlucky: or is it unlucky to be bad? If two drunk drivers get behind the wheel and one gets home safely, while the other kills someone, is the second one badly unlucky, or was it unlucky that they were bad? Wait what
Okay, this is saying that the one who got home safely was careless, but the one who killed a man was criminal. The difference is their luck. Fortune favours the good. I think. Don’t write your essay on this one bucko
24. Virtue ethics: virtuosity is a thing you are, not a series of actions.
25. Do animals feel pain: is animal cruelty a thing? Yes, we are still debating this. Also, what’s it like to be a bat?
26. Do animals have rights: the basis of animal rights is that animals can feel pain; the world is a better place is pain is not inflicted unnecessarily; therefore, unnecessary pain should not be inflicted on animals.
27. Forms of argument: deduction – all dogs are animals; all beagles are dogs; therefore all beagles are animals. Induction – I have seen lots of mammals give birth to live babies, therefore all mammals do so. This kind of argument can never be valid because the conclusion doesn’t follow its premises by necessity. For example, platypi are mammals that lay eggs.
28. The barber paradox: In a village, there lives a barber who shaves all and only the people who do not shave themselves. So, who shaves the barber? If he shaves himself, then he does not, but if he does not shave himself, then he does.
Logically, a man fitting this description cannot exist. So, there is no such barber! Deal with it!
29. The gambler’s fallacy: a six is no more likely after you’ve just thrown 10x threes or 10x sixes.
30. The sorites paradox: One grain of sand is not a heap. 100,000 grains of sand are a heap. Exactly how many sand grains does it take either side to make a heap?

[Aleksander Prifti · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a concise and accessible introduction to some of the most fundamental concepts in philosophy. The book provides readers with a wide-ranging overview of philosophical ideas, from ancient to contemporary, in a format that is both informative and engaging. Nigel Warburton's clear and straightforward explanations make complex philosophical concepts approachable for readers of all backgrounds, whether they are newcomers to the subject or seasoned philosophers. Each idea is presented with brevity and clarity, making it an excellent resource for those seeking a quick grasp of key philosophical principles. With its diverse coverage of topics ranging from ethics and metaphysics to political philosophy, this book serves as an excellent starting point for anyone interested in delving into the world of philosophical thought.

[Michal Lukáč · Rating 4 out of 5]

Presne taký typ knihy, ktorý všetci ľudia žijúci v spoločnej domácnosti so mnou nenávidia. :D Hneď po prečítaní sa ich totiž pokúšam vtiahnuť do siahodlných filozofických debát, o ktorých sám neviem, ktorú stranu konfliktu vlastne zastávam.

Dosť dobrý “úvod” do filozofie. Niekedy by som síce ocenil trochu hlbšiu analýzu daných problémov, ale pokiaľ nechcete filozofiou spáliť veľa času a chcete sa ňou len trochu pobaviť, táto kniha pre vás bude dobrá.

[Diego Treviño · Rating 3 out of 5]

Muy bueno para quién quiere empezar a conocer sobre filosofía. Me hubiera servido bastante cuando empecé a conocer de la filosofía para animar y conocer de las diferentes ramas. Habla de religión, de política, de moral y algunos otros puntos claves de la filosofía y te pone ambos lados de la discusión que te ayudan mucho a cuestionar te lo que crees. Recomendado para los interesados en la filosofía

[Urendy Sinaí · Rating 3 out of 5]

¡Qué difícil me resulta la filosofía!

[Joe Westall · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice compact account of various philosophical ideas. Good to be reminded of them.

[Enol Orviz · Rating 4 out of 5]

50 pildorines que me metieron el gusanín de la filosofía.
Hai delles (les que menos) un poco denses y que me queda un poco grandes. Implica lleer varies vegaes pa siguir el filu. De toes maneres esti llibru metiome más ganes de estudiar filosofía en profundidá.

[Mohammed Abouda · Rating 3 out of 5]

The editing is horrible and the content is written in a disgraceful manner...

[Hien · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thực ra ý tưởng của quyển sách rất hay, đưa ra tổng quan các lý thuyết, trường phái triết học nổi tiếng nhất lịch sử thế giới được phân loại theo từng lĩnh vực tôn giáo, nghệ thuật, chính trí, vấn đề về đạo đức, tinh thần, v.v...
Bản dịch tiếng Việt đọc khoảng 40% là không thoát ý, rất khó hiểu @@ có chỗ dịch term chưa chính xác (ví dụ justice thì nên dịch là công lý - khác với "công bằng" là equality). Cảm giác người dịch chưa có background nhiều lắm về triết học :( Trình bày sách cũng là một vấn đề, các box thông tin chèn giữa các paragraph và các trang khiến mình không thể follow mạch của cả chương ._. không biết bản tiếng Anh có bị như thế không.

[Giota]

«50 φιλοσοφικές θεωρίες για τη ζωή και τον κόσμο»: Για κείνους που «την ψάχνουν»…
Όσοι έχουν διαβάσει τις «50 μεγάλες ιδέες που άλλαξαν τον κόσμο» του Ben Dupré από τις εκδόσεις Διόπτρα το βρήκαν ένα μεστό βιβλίο που απευθύνεται σε όλους, παρουσιάζοντας όλο το θεωρητικό πλαίσιο της ανθρώπινης νόησης.
Σε συνέχεια αυτού, ο συγγραφέας επανέρχεται με τις «50 φιλοσοφικές θεωρίες για τη ζωή και τον κόσμο», ένα βιβλίο που σε πάει λίγο παραπέρα, θέτει προβληματισμούς, αλλά και απαντήσεις για πολλά από τα υπαρξιακά προβλήματα της ζωής και του κόσμου.
Θέματα όπως η θανατική ποινή, η αρνητική και θετική ελευθερία, το φάντασμα του Ράιλ, ο εγκέφαλος στη γυάλα, το δίλημμα του φυλακισμένου, η αρχή της διαφοράς, η θεωρία των παιγνίων, οι θεωρίες τιμωρίας πάντα θα τραβούν το ενδιαφέρον. Στο βιβλίο, εκτός από αυτά, μπορεί να διαβάσει κανείς γρίφους, που απασχολούν αρκετούς φιλοσόφους και φιλοσοφικά ρεύματα ανά τους αιώνες.
Πρέπει η γνώση να είναι ακατάλυτη;
Γιατί αποτελεί φιλοσοφικό ερώτημα το «πώς είναι να είσαι νυχτερίδα»;
Θα κάνατε ποτέ το τεστ Τούρινγκ;
Πόσα γνωρίζετε για τη «λαιμητόμο του Χιουμ» ή αλλιώς για το χάσμα που χωρίζει το «είναι» από το «πρέπει»;
Νιώθουν τα ζώα πόνο; Έχουν δικαιώματα ως έμβιοι οργανισμοί;
Γνωρίζετε το παράδοξο του κουρέα;
Έχετε υποπέσει ποτέ στην «πλάνη του τζογαδόρου»;
Χρησιμοποιείτε στη ζωή σας το «ξυράφι του Όκαμ»; Ταΐζετε τον όνο του Μπουριντάν;
Η τιμωρία πατσίζει το έγκλημα;
Και βέβαια πιστός στον τρόπο γραφής του, ο Ben Dupré παραθέτει χρονολογίες, συμπέρασμα και εύστοχα παραδείγματα, αρκετά από τον κινηματογράφο, προκειμένου να γίνεται κατανοητός.
Μια εξαιρετική επιλογή για όποιον αρέσκεται στη φιλοσοφία, αλλά και στην «έξυπνη» γνώση…

https://www.clevernews.gr/50-filosofi...

[Cha.Me · Rating 1 out of 5]

كتاب سطحي وسخيف ولا اعتبره ابدا يمت للفلسفة بصلة موضوعية بل هو تفلسف وهرتلة فقط ، بعض الأقتباسات والمصطلحات هي ما ابقاني على قيد الحياة وأنا أقرأ !!!! من البداية كنت اشك في نزاهة الترجمة حتى حصلت الطامة وتأكدت ففي احدى الاقتباسات كان منسوب حسب تعبير الكاتبة سيدنا محمد !!!!!!! والكاتب مسيحي اصلا ولم تكتفي بذلك بل زادت عليه الصلاة والسلام !! واقتباس اخر ليسوع لنجدها تكتب عيسى عليه السلام!!!! هذا عدا عن الأقواس اللتي تؤكد فيها على هويتها الأسلامية في المواضيع البائسة لهذا الكتاب لدرجة انني كنت في حالة حيرة هل هذا كلامها ام كلام المؤلف خصوصا في المواضيع التي ناقشت الأديان وهي من اسخف المواضيع التي قرأتها وبعدا ذلك قفزتها قفزا تجنبا للمرض فالمؤلف او المترجمة !!! كان منحاز وغير موضوعي بالمره في الطرح وهذا كتاب محسوب ع الفلسفة فعليه ان يكون محايد حتى لو كان مؤمن وبالنسبة لبعض المترجمين المسلمين فأنا فعلا لم أرى مثل غبائهم ووقاحتهم ثمة فتوى تقول ناقل الكفر ليس بكافر ألا تعرفوها وغير ذلك اذا كنتم ترون المادة كفرية فلا تترجموها من الأساس وتفرضون وصايتكم الدينية عليها ، ترجموا ما يتوافق مع مبادئكم وعقائدتكم وكونوا مهنيين وتمتعوا بقليل من الأمانة على الأقل

[Ana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up a physical copy of this book on a whim in a lovely little book shop and I'm really glad I did. I think it's an excellent introduction to philosophy. It presents each of its 50 ideas in the same structure of 4 pages with a timeline to place the concept, practical examples, the idea itself and counter-arguments, as well as quotes and little boxes with related information. It's this consistency and structure that I really appreciate, it never feels patronizing, confusing or subjective, just informative in a clear, unassuming way.
I've recently started to look into philosophy, having taken an intro course on Coursera (which I also really recommend), so this concise overview is a perfect starting place to look into the ideas that seem the most interesting. I do wish the book had clearer references for further reading, but it definitely achieves its purpose of providing a good base.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took my ages to finish this book, but it was a great experience. I learned a lot and gained insight into main philosophical debates and ideas. It also has an excellent reference section, and I will definitely do some more reading on some of the theories. Great book to broaden your general knowledge.

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the best introductory text on key philosophical concepts and ideas I have come across.

Definitely recommend for both budding and seasoned readers of philosophy.

[Hossam · Rating 3 out of 5]

هذا الكتاب خلصته في الطيارة، يتكلم عن أفكار كثيرة عن الفلسفة وللمعلومية له سلسلة كتب كثيرة عن مواضيع مختلفة زي التاريخ والدين وغيره. مرة مفيد لأنه يعطيك أفكار عن كل شيء، يلخصها لك في كتاب واحد.

[Fran Winandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A proposta do autor de trazer respostas para nossas principais indagações filosóficas é interessante, assim como a forma de apresentação dos capítulos, mas não atende às expectativas.

[Sarah Al-Jishi · Rating 1 out of 5]

الترجمة سيئة وبصعوبة جدا تستطيع إستيعاب مواضيع فلسفية بهذه الترجمه
لم اقرأ منه إلا القليل ولم استطع إكماله