The Big Think Book: Discover Philosophy Through 99 Perplexing Problems

by Peter Cave

Peter Cave’s best-selling trio of humorous philosophy titles — What’s Wrong With Eating People?, Can a Robot be Human?, and Do Llamas Fall in Love? — brought together in one big book.

What makes me, me – and you, you?

What is this thing called ‘love’?

Does life have a point?

Is ‘no’ the right answer to this question?

Philosophy transports us from the wonderful to the weird, from the funny to the very serious indeed. With the aid of tall stories, jokes, fascinating insights and common sense, Peter Cave offers a comprehensive survey of all areas of philosophy, addressing the big puzzles in ethics and politics, metaphysics and knowledge, religion and the emotions, aesthetics and logic. Replete with a smorgasbord of amusing and mind-boggling examples, The Big Think Book is perfect for anyone who delights in life’s conundrums.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Psychology, Unfinished

544 pages, Paperback

First published November 10, 2015

About the author

Peter Cave lectures in philosophy for The Open University and New York University (London). He frequently contributes to philosophy magazines and journals, lectures around the world, and has scripted and presented philosophy programmes for the BBC. He is the author of eight books on philosophy, including Humanism: A Beginner’s Guide and the bestselling Can a Robot be Human?: 33 Perplexing Philosophy Puzzles.

Reviews

[Pierce Burnette · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very good, if basic, introduction to philosophical thinking. Cave articulates the multiple sides of an argument well, and all of the problems are well thought out and easy to understand

[YHC · Rating 3 out of 5]

food for thoughts!

第一章 伦理观：我们该做什么？
1 逃跑：这对熊公平吗？
2 我们只是在救自己
3 我被创造出来了，对不起
4 应该拔掉小提琴家的管子吗？
5 你无视而过的乞丐
6 沙漠之歌与无辜的凶手
7 女孩、笼子和猩猩
9 令人伤感的面纱
10 刽子手的工作
第二章 政治与社会 ：为什么要遵守法律
11 我们凭什么关心暴徒？
12 正义能被调和或干预吗？
13 柏拉图和争吵不休的水手们
14 投票！投票！投票？
15 做人还是做羊？
16 警长、土匪与因果链
17 比较有钱
18 男女真的平等吗？
19 医生、良心和豁免权
20 一切都是相对的吗？
第三章 逻辑 ：道理也太多了吧
22 如何不赢得公主垂青
24 谁会变成小鸡？
25 别看这个告示
26 当“是”意味着“否”
27 醒美人
28 瞪羚、树懒和鸡赛跑
29 小丑、罗素与集合悖论
30 无穷数与希尔伯特酒店
31如何得到你想要的
32 出老千的骆驼卡梅尔
第四章 形而上学：谈谈现实之外
34 语言时态中的矛盾
35 鸡尾酒、河流和爵士的长统袜
36 有间隔的山羊
37 时男时女的大卫
38 大头针掉了
39 当下是什么，现在是什么
40 如何数清楚海滩上的沙子
41 是我们制造了星星吗
第五章 知识：淹没在怀疑的汪洋大海
42 指羊为驴
43 别告诉他，派克！
44 安慰剂：你只能拒绝的提议
45 假如信念出了错
46 矮胖子与火鸡小姐
47 你怎么知道你不是在做梦
48 不会被绞刑的洛
49 懒惰的树懒和蝴蝶翩翩
50 嘴上有奶油的哲学家
51 卧室里的动物学研究
52 “兰色”和“缕色”
第六章 自我 ：我是什么？
53 美好意愿和奶油面包
54 玛丽、玛丽，就不服气
55 谦虚的人知道自己谦虚吗
56 我是牛顿，别提苹果了
57 机器人能变成人吗
58 是什么让我成为独一无二的我
59 大脑，或者“我”在哪里？
60 有滑轮的男人
61 一捆苦恼和驴子悖论
62 狐狸、刺猬与生活灵药
63 青蛙、蝎子和上帝
第七章 宗教： 放眼世界之外
64 世上并没有圣诞老人
65 伟大的奇迹都是真的吗
66 上帝、巧克力和宝盒
67 你永远无法进入天堂
68 没人疼爱的魔鬼
69 无罪之地与帕斯卡赌注
70 汉娜和阿米娜
71 全知全能，到底知道多少？
72 在很久很久以前
第八章 人际关系：人类是什么？
73 食人族有错吗？
74 谢天谢地，都结束了
75 售：瓶中精灵
76 从武器交易到桃色交易
77 我爱的人是我的
78 明天，你依然爱我吗？
79 从“我思，故我在”到个别语法
80 口哨和女人
81 美洲羊驼会坠入爱河吗？
82 我正在告诉你一个真相
83 应该生个什么样的孩子？
第九章 美学：艺术有什么好处？
84 美人、窃贼和围观者
85 绘画如何描绘现实事物
86 虚构是一种什么感觉
87 我们讨论的是谁
89 眼见一定为实吗
90 音乐，一种超越的语言
91 人是最脆弱的生物
第十章 价值观:生命更重要的是什么
92 幸灾乐祸会是好事吗
93 我们应该拯救跳鼠吗？
94 无论我们做什么，似乎都是错的
95 长生不老有什么好的？
96 生活总是容易的
97 逻辑是没有尽头的
98 当心野蛮人
99 这就是生命的意义吗？
结语 没有终点的终点

[Lebogang Madise · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is brilliant, challenges one's thinking and how we view the world, it talks about the grass on both sides, why its greener if indeed it is greener and if what we really want is greener or just the fascination of life being better if circumstances were different. Btw this is my interpretation thus far. I love it. I find it to be both amusing and thought provoking.

[Ryan Darnell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tedious and glossary

[Paddy Reddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting concepts explored in this book. Excellent.

[Jack Oatley · Rating 4 out of 5]

If only philosophy was all like this..

[Lauren M.]

Interesting intro to philosophy. Addresses a lot of big questions I casually think about.

Cave's attempt in Chapter 80 to reverse the dominant (and oft-violent, according to some feminist theorists) view of penetration by comparing the vagina to that which "engulfs" or "envelopes," while beautiful and literary, is laughable from the female perspective (i.e. my own perspective), given my knowledge of historical gender dynamics and my own lived experiences. Not to mention his clinging to the existence of consent as proof that such dynamics do not exist.

A silly chapter which destroyed his credibility. My interest waned for the rest of the book. Still worth the read, I think.

[Jason Lawless · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember picking this book up in Waterstones and spotting a lateral thinking question on one of the first pages I scanned. I went away, solved the problem and came back the next day to buy the book, thinking that I would have another 98 puzzles to solve. It wasn't quite what I expected. This was my first foray into the world of philosophy and I found it hard work. The book is well written with humour, but just not what I was expecting. I know it says philosophy on the cover, so I should have known what I was getting myself into or at least sought some reviews before buying the book.

[Ben Chalmers]

meh