The Inescapable Self: An Introduction To Western Philosophy Since Descartes

by Timothy Chappell

How can we be sure of a world outside of our own consciousness? Using this fundamental question as a launching point, Dr. Timothy Chappell takes his readers through a wide-ranging overview of the major themes of Western philosophical thought. Drawing on examples ranging from the great philosophical works of the past to modern pop-culture phenomena like The Matrix , Dr. Chappell provides a stimulating introduction to the issues that have consumed Western philosophers for millennia. Presenting complex arguments in accessible terms, this is the perfect guidebook for the first-year college student, or for anyone intrigued by the mysteries of human existence.

Genres: Philosophy

335 pages, Hardcover

First published October 15, 2005

Reviews

[Jeffrey Dannaldson · Rating 4 out of 5]

All of modern Western philosophy is essentially a response to Rene Descartes. In 1637, Descartes made the famous statement "cogito ergo sum": I think, therefore I exist. I might be a brain in a vat being deceived by an evil scientist or trapped in the Matrix. The external world, and even my own body, may not actually exist. I can doubt everything except my own existence, because I have to be here to do the doubting!

Amazingly, no one since has come up with a completely air-tight case for the existence of the external world. This may sound rather academic, but it has ramifications for every branch of philosophy, and none more so than ethics and morality.

If you'd like to have a crash course in modern Western philosophy, with an emphasis on ethics and morality, this would be a good start. This book is written for the layman, and with a considerable amount of humor.

What better way to finish this review than with this classic joke: Descartes walks into a bar. The bartender asks Descartes if he'd like his usual drink. Descartes replies "I think not" and promptly disappears. I'll be here all night. Try the veal.

[Aden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up in a garage sale for $10. Turns out this was once a pricey text back at the turn of the century, possibly even an academically prescribed one. Not for the faint hearted. This was a true struggle to complete. Chappell explored six or so fundamental intellectual dilemmas about a new favourite term of mine, the 'mind-world' rift. Are we all just brains in vats? Are we trapped by a Cartesian daemon, simulating reality? Is anyone or anything even 'real'. Can you even prove this disturbing illusion of reality exists (or conversely doesn't exist) and if so, how would you do it? Perhaps more usefully - how does one live being unable to rule either outcome off the table?

This range of difficult questions commands a difficult ensuing discussion. Where this text shines is not necessarily on its offering of novel or unique ideas, but rather, its comparative analysis of famous Western philosophers across the ages and what they have to say on the matter. Synthesis and collation - this ends up becoming a deep-dive into the way we formulate knowledge, or 'epistemology'. Is it based in ethics, morals, virtues, something ethereal, or something scientific? Chappell says ethics, and in the end - thats what matters to our human consciousness. My takeaway is that to 'know' includes of course knowing, but also ~knowing~ that you know. And without both, you are left in the vaccuous space between reality and questioning whether any of this is real. A bit of fun, but as Chappell identifies (with a dash of hubris), philosophy is a game of using words for purposes that they were not originally intended. Language has traditionally been used as a tool for information exchange, not for questions that cannot be answered. And this game, 'the Inescapable Self' is full of fancy words and abstract concepts that do justice to the game.

For a book that concludes by placing the reader right back at the start of the intellectual dilemma, I have a quote from TS Elliot that Chappell cited himself which I think summarises the book well: "All there is for us to discover is where we already are: the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time." This book does that well. And I hope for all our sakes that we are not all brains in vats. And if we are, I'll see you in the tank when the show is all over.