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Introductions in Seven Sentences
Philosophy in Seven Sentences: A Small Introduction to a Vast Topic
Philosophy is not a closed club or a secret society. It's for anyone who thinks big questions are worth talking about.
To get us started, Douglas Groothuis unpacks seven pivotal sentences from the history of western philosophy--a few famous, all short, none trivial. Included are:
• Socrates—The unexamined life is not worth living.
• Augustine—You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.
• Descartes—I think, therefore I am.
• Pascal—The heart has reasons, that reason knows nothing of.
Protagoras, Aristotle and Kierkegaard round out this quick tour.
Since every philosopher has a story, not just a series of ideas, Groothuis also offers a bit of each one's life to set the stage. The seven sterling sentences themselves, while they can't tell us all there is to know, offer bridges into other lands of thought which can spark new ideas and adventures. And who knows where they might lead?
To get us started, Douglas Groothuis unpacks seven pivotal sentences from the history of western philosophy--a few famous, all short, none trivial. Included are:
• Socrates—The unexamined life is not worth living.
• Augustine—You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.
• Descartes—I think, therefore I am.
• Pascal—The heart has reasons, that reason knows nothing of.
Protagoras, Aristotle and Kierkegaard round out this quick tour.
Since every philosopher has a story, not just a series of ideas, Groothuis also offers a bit of each one's life to set the stage. The seven sterling sentences themselves, while they can't tell us all there is to know, offer bridges into other lands of thought which can spark new ideas and adventures. And who knows where they might lead?
160 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2016
41 people are currently reading
216 people want to read
About the author
Douglas Groothuis
50 books81 followersDouglas Groothuis (PhD, University of Oregon) is professor of philosophy at Denver Seminary in Denver, Colorado, where he heads the Apologetics and Ethics masters degree program. His articles have been published in professional journals such as Religious Studies, Philosophia Christi, Themelios, Christian Scholar's Review, Inquiry, and Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society. He has written numerous books, including Christian Apologetics and, most recently Philosophy in Seven Sentences.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
May 30, 2021
This is quite rare for me, but I couldn't quite finish the book. I bought it hoping for an overview for high schoolers. It promised an examination of seven ideas and seven philosophers across the ages. It does that. However, Groothuis alludes to so, so many other thoughts, quotes, and an excess of metaphors in what I think is meant to be a refreshing, conversational tone that it was too much. Yep, it's probably only me, but the hip academic tone bothered me most.
February 15, 2016
This book is an experience. It takes an impenetrable subject for many and makes it fascinating. I found this volume far superior to a semester-long undergraduate class I took years ago. He makes it relevant, interesting, and all with a Christian guide to take you along. The writing style is engaging, enjoyable, and captivating. I only use the cliche “I couldn’t put it down” because I never dreamed that would be the case.
Taking seven great philosophers along with their most famous statements was a masterstroke in giving an introduction to philosophy in a small compass. Again, I opened the book thinking that would never work, only to discover it did.
He begins with Protagoras, who I knew nothing about, and taught me about using a measurement outside ourselves. He taught something about today. When he used a statement that many agree with, including his students, and then shocked us with the knowledge that it was a philosophy statement of a serial killer, you knew he had something worthwhile to say.
He brought Socrates to life. In fact, I feel I never knew him at all until this book. I learned too how we hear more of a caricature of these philosophers rather than what they really believed. It’s the same with Aristotle. We learn too that if we ignore the basic Law of Noncontradiction we give up everything we could ever know.
He well explained Augustine from a philosophic viewpoint while in no way damaging his theology. He made plain Descartes and Pascal too. He made me realize I had Kierkegard all wrong in that superb chapter.
All in all, this is a masterpiece.
I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
Taking seven great philosophers along with their most famous statements was a masterstroke in giving an introduction to philosophy in a small compass. Again, I opened the book thinking that would never work, only to discover it did.
He begins with Protagoras, who I knew nothing about, and taught me about using a measurement outside ourselves. He taught something about today. When he used a statement that many agree with, including his students, and then shocked us with the knowledge that it was a philosophy statement of a serial killer, you knew he had something worthwhile to say.
He brought Socrates to life. In fact, I feel I never knew him at all until this book. I learned too how we hear more of a caricature of these philosophers rather than what they really believed. It’s the same with Aristotle. We learn too that if we ignore the basic Law of Noncontradiction we give up everything we could ever know.
He well explained Augustine from a philosophic viewpoint while in no way damaging his theology. He made plain Descartes and Pascal too. He made me realize I had Kierkegard all wrong in that superb chapter.
All in all, this is a masterpiece.
I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
May 16, 2019
A really great middle-bottom shelf introduction to several important thinkers. I most appreciated Groothius’ section on Pascal, which might be summarized as “vindicating a misunderstood philosopher.”
September 12, 2018
Dr. Douglas Groothuis wrote this book as an introduction to philosophy, as the title suggests. He does this by examining, in detail, seven sentences that changed the way people think. The seven sentences are:
(Protagoras) Man is the measure of all things
(Socrates) The unexamined life is not worth living
(Aristotle) All men by nature desire to know
(Augustine) You have made us for yourself, and restless is our heart until it comes to rest in you.
(Descartes) I think, therefore I am.
(Pascal) The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing
(Kierkegaard) The greatest hazard of all, losing one’s self, can occur very quietly in the world, as if it were nothing at all.
I was drawn to a couple points in particular. In chapter 2, (“The unexamined life is not worth living”), Dr. Groothuis looks at the idea of acedia. This is a latin term that means, “the unwillingness to pursue worthy goals” and in particular, intellectual goals. The inability of us to think deeply about things is not because we are not capable of doing so; on the contrary, all peoples are able to learn and perfect their craft. But we simply do not because, as Dr. Groothuis points out, we are simply lazy. This has struck a chord with me as of late because not only are we in an election year, but we are in a technologically connected society where we can see what other people think and believe. It’s stunning to see some of what is posted in my facebook feed of people not doing research or just believing anything they read/see. It’s not that we can’t look into whatever we believe, it’s just that we we refuse to. We exercise acedia to the extreme. What this sentence explains, then, is that we possess the capacity to think and reason (as Descartes knew) and yet we choose not to.
Sentence 3 (“All men by nature desire to know) perhaps builds on this. What Dr. Groothuis pulls out of this sentence is the law of noncontradiction. This, in simple terms, states that A cannot both be A and non-A at the same time. If it were, that would be a contradiction. As an example, you can state without falsity that the banana you’re holding is indeed a banana. But it cannot both be a banana and an iphone at the same time (maybe you can imagine the objects closest to me at this point).
Sentence 4 (You have made us for yourself and restless is our heart until it comes to rest in you) is one of my most favorites because Augustine is simply brilliant. Dr. Groothuis tells a story from Augustine’s “Confessions” that I found fascinating: apparently, Augustine had stolen some pears from a tree and fed them to pigs. In reminiscing on this fact, he says,
Thus the soul commits fornication when she is turned from you, and seeks apart from you, what she cannot find pure and untainted until she returns to you. All things thus imitate you— but pervertedly— when they separate themselves far from you and raise themselves up against you. But, even in this act of perverse imitation, they acknowledge you to be the Creator of all nature, and recognize that there is no place whither they can altogether separate themselves from you. What was it, then, that I loved in that theft? And wherein was I imitating my lord, even in a corrupted and perverted way? Did I wish, if only by gesture, to rebel against your law, even though I had no power to do so actually— so that, even as a captive, I might produce a sort of counterfeit liberty, by doing with impunity deeds that were forbidden, in a deluded sense of omnipotence? See this servant of yours, fleeing from his Lord and following a shadow! What rottenness! What monstrousness of life and abyss of death! Could I find pleasure only in what was unlawful, and only because it was unlawful?
This seems a little over the top does it not? But that’s the point: even the smallest of sins creates a gap between holy God and unholy man and the struggle that only finds “rest” when it comes to rest in God.
Sentence 5 (I think, therefore I am) speaks of an age old question: how do you know you exist? Many might balk at this question (you’d be exercising acedia perhaps if you did) but Descartes wanted to know truth about reality. He was skeptical, as we all are at times, and made the “bedrock” of reality in the fact that he was a thinker. Thoughts require a thinker after all! This perhaps flies in the face of empiricism. Empiricism is the idea that everything that is real must be seen, touched, examined, tested etc. for it to be true. But there is a problem with empiricism and the thinker, is there not? Thoughts cannot be seen, they cannot be tested or touched. So empiricism is not a worthy judge on reality. Dr. Groothuis moves onto where God fits into this system. The idea of God is massive and I love the knock on the old adage, “God is like fairy tales, unicorns, and the tooth fairy”; he explains that these things are not in the same category as God, merely invisible things without material existence. No, God is infinite, outside of time and space, immutable, along with a host of other big words that describe Him. What inside of us is unlimited, that is, infinite? No earthly thing, surely, could have manifested this idea, because earthly things are limited in time and space. Our minds need an explanation, and this could only have come: from within our nature, from without, or from our own devising. Since God cannot be explained from without or our own devising, God must exist. To put it another way, since Descartes is a thinking thing, and he possess the idea of an infinite God, God must be the originator of the idea.
Sentence 6 deals with the idea of knowledge and how we gain it. Reason is important, as it is a foundation on which we build many things; but it is not ultimate. I love this sentence from Dr. Groothuis: “Reason needs to be humbled, not destroyed, Reason is one way of knowing. It tests truth claims, but it cannot provide or disclose all truth; neither empirical observation nor theorizing can do so.” Some knowledge comes from the heart: love, as an example, is not scientific or empirical. To quote Dr. Groothuis again, “Reason, [Pascal] claims, is necessary in helping to convince the reluctant unbeliever of Christianity, but it is insufficient in itself to instill in anyone a religious change of life, which is a gift of God and a matter of the heart.”
The most complex chapter, as Mark agrees, is sentence 7: “The greatest hazard of all, losing one’s self, can occur very quietly in the world, as if it were nothing at all.” There are some good insights in here as well, but I think this review is long enough.
I love the conclusion: Dr. Groothuis quotes GK Chesterton when he said, “Even a bad shot is dignified when he accepts a duel.” I feel this way about philosophy in general. I’m still learning but it’s very interesting and I’d encourage you to pick up this book. Dr. Groothuis explains that philosophy needs to be thought upon: read a sentence and if you don’t understand, read it again and again; meditate on some of it to understand what it means. Don’t be the person who spurns intellectual things as so many I know. This is a great introduction for the layperson and if I gleaned excellent things out of it, I’m sure you will too.
As a side note, I believe Dr. Groothuis is a fan of jazz. I very much appreciated his musical analogies and his disgust with Kenny G; a saxophonist who I, too, have much displeasure for.
(Protagoras) Man is the measure of all things
(Socrates) The unexamined life is not worth living
(Aristotle) All men by nature desire to know
(Augustine) You have made us for yourself, and restless is our heart until it comes to rest in you.
(Descartes) I think, therefore I am.
(Pascal) The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing
(Kierkegaard) The greatest hazard of all, losing one’s self, can occur very quietly in the world, as if it were nothing at all.
I was drawn to a couple points in particular. In chapter 2, (“The unexamined life is not worth living”), Dr. Groothuis looks at the idea of acedia. This is a latin term that means, “the unwillingness to pursue worthy goals” and in particular, intellectual goals. The inability of us to think deeply about things is not because we are not capable of doing so; on the contrary, all peoples are able to learn and perfect their craft. But we simply do not because, as Dr. Groothuis points out, we are simply lazy. This has struck a chord with me as of late because not only are we in an election year, but we are in a technologically connected society where we can see what other people think and believe. It’s stunning to see some of what is posted in my facebook feed of people not doing research or just believing anything they read/see. It’s not that we can’t look into whatever we believe, it’s just that we we refuse to. We exercise acedia to the extreme. What this sentence explains, then, is that we possess the capacity to think and reason (as Descartes knew) and yet we choose not to.
Sentence 3 (“All men by nature desire to know) perhaps builds on this. What Dr. Groothuis pulls out of this sentence is the law of noncontradiction. This, in simple terms, states that A cannot both be A and non-A at the same time. If it were, that would be a contradiction. As an example, you can state without falsity that the banana you’re holding is indeed a banana. But it cannot both be a banana and an iphone at the same time (maybe you can imagine the objects closest to me at this point).
Sentence 4 (You have made us for yourself and restless is our heart until it comes to rest in you) is one of my most favorites because Augustine is simply brilliant. Dr. Groothuis tells a story from Augustine’s “Confessions” that I found fascinating: apparently, Augustine had stolen some pears from a tree and fed them to pigs. In reminiscing on this fact, he says,
Thus the soul commits fornication when she is turned from you, and seeks apart from you, what she cannot find pure and untainted until she returns to you. All things thus imitate you— but pervertedly— when they separate themselves far from you and raise themselves up against you. But, even in this act of perverse imitation, they acknowledge you to be the Creator of all nature, and recognize that there is no place whither they can altogether separate themselves from you. What was it, then, that I loved in that theft? And wherein was I imitating my lord, even in a corrupted and perverted way? Did I wish, if only by gesture, to rebel against your law, even though I had no power to do so actually— so that, even as a captive, I might produce a sort of counterfeit liberty, by doing with impunity deeds that were forbidden, in a deluded sense of omnipotence? See this servant of yours, fleeing from his Lord and following a shadow! What rottenness! What monstrousness of life and abyss of death! Could I find pleasure only in what was unlawful, and only because it was unlawful?
This seems a little over the top does it not? But that’s the point: even the smallest of sins creates a gap between holy God and unholy man and the struggle that only finds “rest” when it comes to rest in God.
Sentence 5 (I think, therefore I am) speaks of an age old question: how do you know you exist? Many might balk at this question (you’d be exercising acedia perhaps if you did) but Descartes wanted to know truth about reality. He was skeptical, as we all are at times, and made the “bedrock” of reality in the fact that he was a thinker. Thoughts require a thinker after all! This perhaps flies in the face of empiricism. Empiricism is the idea that everything that is real must be seen, touched, examined, tested etc. for it to be true. But there is a problem with empiricism and the thinker, is there not? Thoughts cannot be seen, they cannot be tested or touched. So empiricism is not a worthy judge on reality. Dr. Groothuis moves onto where God fits into this system. The idea of God is massive and I love the knock on the old adage, “God is like fairy tales, unicorns, and the tooth fairy”; he explains that these things are not in the same category as God, merely invisible things without material existence. No, God is infinite, outside of time and space, immutable, along with a host of other big words that describe Him. What inside of us is unlimited, that is, infinite? No earthly thing, surely, could have manifested this idea, because earthly things are limited in time and space. Our minds need an explanation, and this could only have come: from within our nature, from without, or from our own devising. Since God cannot be explained from without or our own devising, God must exist. To put it another way, since Descartes is a thinking thing, and he possess the idea of an infinite God, God must be the originator of the idea.
Sentence 6 deals with the idea of knowledge and how we gain it. Reason is important, as it is a foundation on which we build many things; but it is not ultimate. I love this sentence from Dr. Groothuis: “Reason needs to be humbled, not destroyed, Reason is one way of knowing. It tests truth claims, but it cannot provide or disclose all truth; neither empirical observation nor theorizing can do so.” Some knowledge comes from the heart: love, as an example, is not scientific or empirical. To quote Dr. Groothuis again, “Reason, [Pascal] claims, is necessary in helping to convince the reluctant unbeliever of Christianity, but it is insufficient in itself to instill in anyone a religious change of life, which is a gift of God and a matter of the heart.”
The most complex chapter, as Mark agrees, is sentence 7: “The greatest hazard of all, losing one’s self, can occur very quietly in the world, as if it were nothing at all.” There are some good insights in here as well, but I think this review is long enough.
I love the conclusion: Dr. Groothuis quotes GK Chesterton when he said, “Even a bad shot is dignified when he accepts a duel.” I feel this way about philosophy in general. I’m still learning but it’s very interesting and I’d encourage you to pick up this book. Dr. Groothuis explains that philosophy needs to be thought upon: read a sentence and if you don’t understand, read it again and again; meditate on some of it to understand what it means. Don’t be the person who spurns intellectual things as so many I know. This is a great introduction for the layperson and if I gleaned excellent things out of it, I’m sure you will too.
As a side note, I believe Dr. Groothuis is a fan of jazz. I very much appreciated his musical analogies and his disgust with Kenny G; a saxophonist who I, too, have much displeasure for.
January 12, 2017
This small book tackles a huge subject. Douglas Groothuis is a professor of philosophy at Denver Seminary. Dr. Groothuis has given us a small snapshot of 7 short sentences. This is no light read, but our author attempts to give you a hint into the mind of 7 men’s minds, and what each of them thinks about God, the universe and humanity in just a few pages. He has used popular thought examples, as well as comparing the various trains of thought on what matters most. It is no easy read, but will add to any library a quick look. Here are the 7 sentences and their authors.
As you can see this list with no explanation of the era, and how they were placed in this role, you have nothing, but our author hopes you will be enough interested to understand the study of philosophy. According to our author you cannot multitask philosophy, you can only unitask it. Truth is worth examining,
I was mildly interested in the whole study of philosophy but couldn’t take the time to spend letting my mind try to unravel from the small number of pages. I could tell he was an engaging educator, passing out a quote by the famous serial killer Ted Bundy, and letting his students think it was Protagoras, and then watching them change their thoughts on the writing. It will challenge your mind and either be enough for an intro, or make you want to read more deeply and muse on the meaning of life.
1. “Man is the measure of all things” Protagoras
2. “The unexamined life is not worth living” Socrates
3. “Man by nature desires to know” Aristotle
4. “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee” Augustine
5. “I think, therefore I am” Descartes
6. “The heart has reasons, that reason know nothing of” Pascal
7. “The greatest hazard of all, losing one’s self, can occur very quietly in the world, as if it were
Nothing at all” Kierkegaard
As you can see this list with no explanation of the era, and how they were placed in this role, you have nothing, but our author hopes you will be enough interested to understand the study of philosophy. According to our author you cannot multitask philosophy, you can only unitask it. Truth is worth examining,
I was mildly interested in the whole study of philosophy but couldn’t take the time to spend letting my mind try to unravel from the small number of pages. I could tell he was an engaging educator, passing out a quote by the famous serial killer Ted Bundy, and letting his students think it was Protagoras, and then watching them change their thoughts on the writing. It will challenge your mind and either be enough for an intro, or make you want to read more deeply and muse on the meaning of life.
1. “Man is the measure of all things” Protagoras
2. “The unexamined life is not worth living” Socrates
3. “Man by nature desires to know” Aristotle
4. “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee” Augustine
5. “I think, therefore I am” Descartes
6. “The heart has reasons, that reason know nothing of” Pascal
7. “The greatest hazard of all, losing one’s self, can occur very quietly in the world, as if it were
Nothing at all” Kierkegaard
May 20, 2023
This book was not what I had hoped - a readable, easily accessible introduction to philosophy by means of several famous quotes, appropriate for students. As I finish it, I find myself a little confused as to who is the intended audience. The language used is often academic and sometimes densely so, as other reviewers have noted. The author also seems to assume that the reader has some familiarity with philosophical terms and movements as well as with great thinkers of history, who are alluded to without explanation in the text. (This happens in a number of places.) This all seems rather at odds with the book billing itself as an “introduction” to philosophy generally.
It might better be described as an introduction to seven different philosophers through the examination of a single well-known quote from each. As such, it is just enough to whet the appetite, providing brief biographical background and a sweeping overview of one or two elements of each man’s philosophy before moving on to the next. It feels neither comprehensive enough on the one hand, nor accessible enough on the other, to be useful in many settings.
It did, however, engage my curiosity about these thinkers and motivate me to seek out their original works for myself. Which, perhaps, was exactly the author’s purpose. It was in places thought-provoking, challenging, and inspiring.
I do wish it had been useful for a high school philosophy class, however. ;)
It might better be described as an introduction to seven different philosophers through the examination of a single well-known quote from each. As such, it is just enough to whet the appetite, providing brief biographical background and a sweeping overview of one or two elements of each man’s philosophy before moving on to the next. It feels neither comprehensive enough on the one hand, nor accessible enough on the other, to be useful in many settings.
It did, however, engage my curiosity about these thinkers and motivate me to seek out their original works for myself. Which, perhaps, was exactly the author’s purpose. It was in places thought-provoking, challenging, and inspiring.
I do wish it had been useful for a high school philosophy class, however. ;)
August 30, 2017
I loved reading this book because it's one of those books that motivates you to read more books. I also enjoyed it because Groothuis allows more of his personality to come through, as opposed to the other books of his I've read: Christian Apologetics (I read the whole book twice) and Truth Decay.
As the subtitle indicates, this is a small introduction to a vast topic, philosophy. Groothuis's aims are modest. He wants to introduce the reader to philosophy by looking at seven sentences, one each from seven philosophers. Groothuis does a lot more than exegete those seven sentences, of course. He briefly introduces the reader to each philosopher, giving something of a brief biography and tour of that person's work, then discusses the sentence in question, what it means, and how we can learn from it.
(Finished on February 28, 2017.)
As the subtitle indicates, this is a small introduction to a vast topic, philosophy. Groothuis's aims are modest. He wants to introduce the reader to philosophy by looking at seven sentences, one each from seven philosophers. Groothuis does a lot more than exegete those seven sentences, of course. He briefly introduces the reader to each philosopher, giving something of a brief biography and tour of that person's work, then discusses the sentence in question, what it means, and how we can learn from it.
(Finished on February 28, 2017.)
April 29, 2020
Good for what it is. The list of philosophers covered is unconventional, which I had expected would be so for a specific reason, but no clear purpose in their selection ever presented itself (at least not one that I felt justified its final form). The book is well written, with approachable style and clear explanation of sometimes daunting topics. Appropriate for readers somewhat unfamiliar with philosophy as an introduction to western philosophy with a focus on the Christian tradition therein. It's fairly light on original source excerpts. The author's attitudes and perspectives greatly shape his presentation of the content, but he's overall decently charitable to his interlocutors.
October 25, 2021
Short, but sweet little introductory book on philosophy. I appreciated the background he gave of each philosopher, the author's humorous writing style, and the nuggets of wisdom I found throughout. There were still some terms one may not be familiar with (some words used I had to look up ha), but I found it a good read. I learned the background and context of several famous quotes, and I enjoyed the whole format of the book.
January 9, 2023
Excellent book in the series "Introductions in Seven Sentences" with interesting personal examples from the author. This one, though, was harder to follow in places but that is the nature of philosophy.
September 3, 2017
Great little book that introduces philosophy in a non-intimidating way. I highly recommend this book if you have any interest in philosophy.
October 6, 2018
A must read!!
December 12, 2024
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January 20, 2018
Glad to learn of and then read this book in our post modern word that removes and redefines words and leaves us in a world barren of meaning. We are called to think deeply on life, its purpose, words and their meaning. Refreshing to benefit from the philosophical legwork the author has done for this basic intro into the subject.
February 19, 2020
I love everything I have read from Dr. Groothuis. His writing displays a rare combination of brilliance and clarity. Philosophy in 7 sentences is no exception.
Training the writings of Socrates, Augustine, Descartes, and more, Groothuis takes some of the most important statements in the history of philosophy and uses them as doorways to guide the reader into compelling explanations on epistemology, self-awareness, the nature of God, and more.
For anyone looking to explore or sharpen their understanding philosophy and it’s relate to thinkers, this book will be at the top of my recommendation list.
Training the writings of Socrates, Augustine, Descartes, and more, Groothuis takes some of the most important statements in the history of philosophy and uses them as doorways to guide the reader into compelling explanations on epistemology, self-awareness, the nature of God, and more.
For anyone looking to explore or sharpen their understanding philosophy and it’s relate to thinkers, this book will be at the top of my recommendation list.
June 29, 2020
Good, but a bit too scattered and selective to be an effective introduction.
March 15, 2016
Short, Light, Compelling Philosophy
Groothuis has written an easy-to-follow study of a meaningful swath of the history of philosophy. He tackles seven key sentences by seven important philosophers from different eras, all in an effort to show that a little serious thought about who and what and why we are repays our time. It's a book that will engage your mind, give you a chuckle, make you want to read and think more, and maybe change (or at least broaden) your perspective.
Groothuis has written an easy-to-follow study of a meaningful swath of the history of philosophy. He tackles seven key sentences by seven important philosophers from different eras, all in an effort to show that a little serious thought about who and what and why we are repays our time. It's a book that will engage your mind, give you a chuckle, make you want to read and think more, and maybe change (or at least broaden) your perspective.
February 24, 2016
Beautifully written short book on seven prominent philosophers. Highly recommended for anyone interested in philosophy.
April 1, 2016
This is a very nice introduction to seven of the most prominent western philosophers, and how their thoughts have shaped western culture.
August 5, 2016
Excellent, helpful, thought provoking, a good read & resource-especially if you or your son or daughter is soon to be exposed to philosophy for the first time.
June 3, 2016
Quick and quotable reference sheets on big picture questions in western philosophy.
May 16, 2017
Well-written book -- fascinating choices for providing an overview of the philosophical endeavor. Would like to read more of this author's output. I confess, though, that I sometimes found myself in over my head...unfortunately.
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