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Big Ideas for Curious Minds: An Introduction to Philosophy
Children are, in many ways, born philosophers.
Without prompting, they ask some of the largest questions about time, mortality, happiness and the meaning of it all. Yet too often this inborn curiosity is not developed and, with age, the questions fall away.
This is a book designed to harness children's spontaneous philosophical instinct and to develop it through introductions to some of the most vibrant and essential philosophical ideas of history. The book takes us to meet leading figures of philosophy from around the world and from all eras - and shows us how their ideas continue to matter.
The book functions as an ideal introduction to philosophy, as well as a charming way to open up conversations between adults and children about the biggest questions we all face.
Without prompting, they ask some of the largest questions about time, mortality, happiness and the meaning of it all. Yet too often this inborn curiosity is not developed and, with age, the questions fall away.
This is a book designed to harness children's spontaneous philosophical instinct and to develop it through introductions to some of the most vibrant and essential philosophical ideas of history. The book takes us to meet leading figures of philosophy from around the world and from all eras - and shows us how their ideas continue to matter.
The book functions as an ideal introduction to philosophy, as well as a charming way to open up conversations between adults and children about the biggest questions we all face.
156 pages, Hardcover
Published September 3, 2019
222 people are currently reading
2431 people want to read
About the author
The School of Life
173 books3,127 followersThe School of Life is a global organisation helping people lead more fulfilled lives.
We believe that the journey to finding fulfilment begins with self-knowledge. It is only when we have a sense of who we really are that we can make reliable decisions, particularly around love and work.
Sadly, tools and techniques for developing self-knowledge and finding fulfilment are hard to find – they’re not taught in schools, in universities, or in workplaces. Too many of us go through life without ever really understanding what’s going on in the recesses of our minds.
That’s why we created The School of Life; a resource for helping us understand ourselves, for improving our relationships, our careers and our social lives - as well as for helping us find calm and get more out of our leisure hours. We do this through films, workshops, books and gifts - as well as through a warm and supportive community.
We believe that the journey to finding fulfilment begins with self-knowledge. It is only when we have a sense of who we really are that we can make reliable decisions, particularly around love and work.
Sadly, tools and techniques for developing self-knowledge and finding fulfilment are hard to find – they’re not taught in schools, in universities, or in workplaces. Too many of us go through life without ever really understanding what’s going on in the recesses of our minds.
That’s why we created The School of Life; a resource for helping us understand ourselves, for improving our relationships, our careers and our social lives - as well as for helping us find calm and get more out of our leisure hours. We do this through films, workshops, books and gifts - as well as through a warm and supportive community.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 161 reviews
October 7, 2019
Big Ideas for Curious Minds: An Introduction to Philosophy is a superb way to capture a child's imagination in an accessible and clearly explained book, and it certainly wasn't a surprise to me when I learned this was a bestseller; it deserves all the acclaim it's received. Having been fascinated by Philosophy from a young age I had often wondered when someone would write a book that would pique a youngsters interest in this complex area. The adult texts I have are far too dense and heavy for a child to enjoy, so that's where this exquisite little non-fiction title comes in. I simply cannot express how amazing this is and the quirky, unique accompanying illustrations broke up the text nicely. One thing I have learned over the years is that children ponder life's big questions too; not just us adults. The book will stimulate young minds into considering many thought-provoking questions and answers are given throughout.
We encounter some of the most renowned and influential thinkers from a variety of eras - these include Friedrich Nietzsche, Adam Smith, Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre to name just a few. Each philosopher is given their own chapter and the short, pithy structure and length of the chapters entice you to keep reading. Well written and presented in an engaging way, this is a must-read for a parent wishing to broach these topics with their child/ren. Alongside extensively researched biographies of the thinkers we are introduced to their "big ideas", and I specifically liked the concise, child-friendly explanations. Although aimed at children I feel many adults could learn a lot from this book also. It should be in every library and school bookshelf. An absolute must-read. Unreservedly recommended. Many thanks to The School of Life for an ARC.
We encounter some of the most renowned and influential thinkers from a variety of eras - these include Friedrich Nietzsche, Adam Smith, Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre to name just a few. Each philosopher is given their own chapter and the short, pithy structure and length of the chapters entice you to keep reading. Well written and presented in an engaging way, this is a must-read for a parent wishing to broach these topics with their child/ren. Alongside extensively researched biographies of the thinkers we are introduced to their "big ideas", and I specifically liked the concise, child-friendly explanations. Although aimed at children I feel many adults could learn a lot from this book also. It should be in every library and school bookshelf. An absolute must-read. Unreservedly recommended. Many thanks to The School of Life for an ARC.
July 25, 2022
Good stuff about the book:
I love this book, everything about it is amazing, well, except for some parts in the content. But most of the things about it, the cover, the illustration, the description, the design, it's just so... abstract and clean. I've never seen such a clear and clean book like this. I could easily comprehend what the ideas were, which is what I love most. Finished this book in 2 days, speedrun! (Inspectional Reading, will read again! This time analytically.) The last chapter is also really interesting, it shows all the famous thinkers throughout history, so it's an easy encylopedia for curious to-be philosphers in the future. 4/5 clean rating!
Sorta bad stuff:
What I didn't really like was that it didn't include ALL the examples for a certain chapter which I will not mention for spoiler reasons. But that is fine, sort of, as writers are humans and not everone gets the same ideas, at least not at the same time. So this is an acception. There are still some other problems for ME, which may not apply to others, as it is a personal opinion.
I love this book, everything about it is amazing, well, except for some parts in the content. But most of the things about it, the cover, the illustration, the description, the design, it's just so... abstract and clean. I've never seen such a clear and clean book like this. I could easily comprehend what the ideas were, which is what I love most. Finished this book in 2 days, speedrun! (Inspectional Reading, will read again! This time analytically.) The last chapter is also really interesting, it shows all the famous thinkers throughout history, so it's an easy encylopedia for curious to-be philosphers in the future. 4/5 clean rating!
Sorta bad stuff:
What I didn't really like was that it didn't include ALL the examples for a certain chapter which I will not mention for spoiler reasons. But that is fine, sort of, as writers are humans and not everone gets the same ideas, at least not at the same time. So this is an acception. There are still some other problems for ME, which may not apply to others, as it is a personal opinion.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 2, 2024
أفكار كبيرة لعقول متعطشة - #آلان_دو_بوتون
كتاب فلسفة للناشئين😍 بجد حاجة نادرة جدا ماعدتش عليا قبل كدة
٢٦ فكرة فلسفية مبسطة خاااالص وورا كل فكرة نبذة عن فيلسوف يكون اتكلم عن الفكرة دي أو كان مهتم بيها.. كله مختصر بشكل لطيف ومش ممل خالص والله (٢٥ فيلسوف)
حتى الأمثلة راعاها وكانت معظمها عن أفكار بسيطة ممكن تيجي جوة دماغ الواحد أو عن الوالدين مثلا .. عن الكبار ممكن يكونوا بيحسوا بكذا.. كدة
بجد تحفة تحفة ٥ نجوم قليل عليه
أي حد نفسه إبنه يعرف جزء بسيط عن الفلسفة من غير كلاكيع يخليه يقرأ الكتاب ده
أرشحه وبقوة 🤩 وهكمل سلسلة مدرسة الحياة دي أشوف بقية الكتب بيقول فيها ايه♥️
كتاب فلسفة للناشئين😍 بجد حاجة نادرة جدا ماعدتش عليا قبل كدة
٢٦ فكرة فلسفية مبسطة خاااالص وورا كل فكرة نبذة عن فيلسوف يكون اتكلم عن الفكرة دي أو كان مهتم بيها.. كله مختصر بشكل لطيف ومش ممل خالص والله (٢٥ فيلسوف)
حتى الأمثلة راعاها وكانت معظمها عن أفكار بسيطة ممكن تيجي جوة دماغ الواحد أو عن الوالدين مثلا .. عن الكبار ممكن يكونوا بيحسوا بكذا.. كدة
بجد تحفة تحفة ٥ نجوم قليل عليه
أي حد نفسه إبنه يعرف جزء بسيط عن الفلسفة من غير كلاكيع يخليه يقرأ الكتاب ده
أرشحه وبقوة 🤩 وهكمل سلسلة مدرسة الحياة دي أشوف بقية الكتب بيقول فيها ايه♥️
April 5, 2019
RATING: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 superb!
REVIEW: I’ve been very excited to write a review about this book right since I started it! What a read it was!! This book is aimed at children and young adults and aims to introduce them to some of the more famous philosophical ways of thinking. As an adult, I found this book to be equally beneficial for myself. It provides relatable examples of real life situations where this way of thinking could apply. I feel this book would help children and adults alike to improve in areas such as understanding and patience when it comes to other people. It helps you to understand why people may act the way they do even when it’s not right. I feel this book would give the reader confidence to ask questions and realise the importance of asking ‘why?’ I highly recommend this book!!! I think it’s an excellent source of reference for many different aspects of life, for children and adults. This book should be considered essential reading for everybody. Kindle version of book needs adjusting and the cover is a bit dull but the content is 👍 👍 👍
REVIEW: I’ve been very excited to write a review about this book right since I started it! What a read it was!! This book is aimed at children and young adults and aims to introduce them to some of the more famous philosophical ways of thinking. As an adult, I found this book to be equally beneficial for myself. It provides relatable examples of real life situations where this way of thinking could apply. I feel this book would help children and adults alike to improve in areas such as understanding and patience when it comes to other people. It helps you to understand why people may act the way they do even when it’s not right. I feel this book would give the reader confidence to ask questions and realise the importance of asking ‘why?’ I highly recommend this book!!! I think it’s an excellent source of reference for many different aspects of life, for children and adults. This book should be considered essential reading for everybody. Kindle version of book needs adjusting and the cover is a bit dull but the content is 👍 👍 👍
August 24, 2021
We got this book on a recommendation for my daughter who was going to take Philosophy as one of her subjects in her Sixth Form. I ended up reading it too, so did my little daughter. We all enjoyed. There is something for everyone to learn from this book. It covers some deep and profound ideas in a very simple language.
May 19, 2021
به شدت حس خوبی داشت خوندنش و بهم آرامش داد
ممنون از کسانی که هدیهش دادن 😁🥰
ممنون از کسانی که هدیهش دادن 😁🥰
January 8, 2025
جميل، لكنه مخصص للأطفال.
November 12, 2024
Burvīgs ceļvedis, kas rosina aizdomāties par sevi, pasauli un dzīves lielajiem jautājumiem. Šī grāmata ir tikpat vērtīga pieaugušajiem kā bērniem — tā ļauj iepazīt ne tikai pasauli, bet arī pašam sevi.
Grāmata ietver 26 gudras domas un filozofu atbildes uz tām — sākot no pašizziņas līdz pat dziļākām pārdomām par dzīves jēgu un mūsu vietu pasaulē. Tajā tiek apskatīti jautājumi, kas rosina domāt, piemēram:
Iepazīsti pats sevi,
Kāpēc mēs prokrastinējam?
Kā izteikt to, kas prātā?
Kad otram ir dusmas, varbūt tu nemaz neesi vainīgs,
Cilvēki nav ļauni, tikai nelaimīgi,
Varbūt tu vienkārši esi noguris,
Kāpēc ir grūti saprast, ko iesākt ar savu dzīvi?
Kāpēc jūtamies vientuļi?
Kāpēc daži saņem lielāku algu nekā citi?
Kāpēc pieaugušo dzīve ir grūta?
Šīs ir tikai 10 domas no 26 grāmatā ietvertajām — katra no tām ir noderīga. Izlasīju šo grāmatu ar lielu interesi un bieži šķiru lapas vēlreiz, lai atgrieztos pie kādas no domām.
Iedomājos, kāda būtu pasaule, ja bērni jau no mazotnes sāktu domāt par šīm dzīves atziņām un vērtībām.
Grāmata ietver 26 gudras domas un filozofu atbildes uz tām — sākot no pašizziņas līdz pat dziļākām pārdomām par dzīves jēgu un mūsu vietu pasaulē. Tajā tiek apskatīti jautājumi, kas rosina domāt, piemēram:
Iepazīsti pats sevi,
Kāpēc mēs prokrastinējam?
Kā izteikt to, kas prātā?
Kad otram ir dusmas, varbūt tu nemaz neesi vainīgs,
Cilvēki nav ļauni, tikai nelaimīgi,
Varbūt tu vienkārši esi noguris,
Kāpēc ir grūti saprast, ko iesākt ar savu dzīvi?
Kāpēc jūtamies vientuļi?
Kāpēc daži saņem lielāku algu nekā citi?
Kāpēc pieaugušo dzīve ir grūta?
Šīs ir tikai 10 domas no 26 grāmatā ietvertajām — katra no tām ir noderīga. Izlasīju šo grāmatu ar lielu interesi un bieži šķiru lapas vēlreiz, lai atgrieztos pie kādas no domām.
Iedomājos, kāda būtu pasaule, ja bērni jau no mazotnes sāktu domāt par šīm dzīves atziņām un vērtībām.
June 13, 2022
definitely a kids book but i enjoyed it so much. the philosophers they mentioned had a surprising amount of diversity, there were people of colour and women which was awesome, although european men made up the majority. the art style was cute. a very easy enjoyable read overall :)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 22, 2023
4.5⭐
Mudiniet šo brīnišķīgo grāmatu lasīt bērniem, lasiet to kopā ar viņiem vai vienkārši ielieniet kādā klusākā vietā (ar kādu šokolādes batoniņu) un lasiet vienatnē.
Šis ceļojums filozofijas pasaulē ļauj apjaust, ka līdzīgi domājošie (un jūtošie) ir mums visapkārt.
Mudiniet šo brīnišķīgo grāmatu lasīt bērniem, lasiet to kopā ar viņiem vai vienkārši ielieniet kādā klusākā vietā (ar kādu šokolādes batoniņu) un lasiet vienatnē.
Šis ceļojums filozofijas pasaulē ļauj apjaust, ka līdzīgi domājošie (un jūtošie) ir mums visapkārt.
December 1, 2020
A children's book that many grown-ups need to read.
December 2, 2020
Wish I read this when I was a kid
November 28, 2024
على الرغم من أن الكتاب موجه للأطفال والناشئة، ولكنه ممتع للكبار ايضا. على الرغم من عدم تصنيفه ككتاب تربوي. أرى أنه كذلك بجدارة
November 30, 2025
جيد ونافع للمراهقين والناشئين
لكن كان بالإمكان أفضل مما كان
لكن كان بالإمكان أفضل مما كان
November 4, 2020
This book is a persistent attack on the possibility of social norms. To call something abnormal, the authors claim, is to harm others “Just because they are Different”, and everyone is different, so we are all the same in being different, therefore nothing is abnormal (and youre a bigot if you think that someone’s preferences or actions could be abnormal). The authors also conflate Normal with Common or Usual, and thus construct a strawman argument to reach their skewed ideological conclusion.
I contend that we need social norms in order to be able to resolve disagreements without violence. Some norms are functional, grounded in biology or in the purpose of the relevant social context, others are more traditional, but we need them nevertheless for harmonious co-existence. We can dislike or idolise things for being different ‘in a particular way’, but never just because they are different. To be different simply means, trivially, to be something. Equating difference with social good or normality is both logically false (category mistake) and socially harmful; equating assertions of abnormality with harm or bigotry is equally destructive, as it undermines the basis of human judgement between right and wrong. This kind of indoctrination could have a catastrophic effect on child psychology, presenting them with an abyss of complexity instead of helping them to find a way (the opposite of what the book purports to aim for).
The book also stigmatises the unity of the body and the self, asserting that the body is something you are “dumped into”. This is conditioning kids to disassociate from the body.
The authors tell us not to aim high so that we can be happy with the little that we achieve, but genuine satisfaction comes from overcoming our limitations, from aiming high, otherwise achievement has no value. The equality of underachievers is the opposite of personal fulfilment.
Philosophers are cited out of context and without considering any objections. This is the opposite of Philosophy; dogmatism.
A representative example of how philosophy is abused by the authors to drive their ideological agenda is the use of Camus ‘The Stranger’ to show that normality is a way of unjustly judging people. In the story, the protagonist is a postcard existentialist, disillusioned, numb, emotionally dead outsider. He is falsely accused of murder. Camus then constructs his ‘normal’ characters as messed up, insecure, neurotic and superstitious. The Outsder is found guilty, primarily because one witness reports that he did not show any emotion at his mother’s recent funeral. So what does the story really teach us? I suggest that it shows that by rejecting social norms, by becoming de-moralised in the literal sense of the term, by disassociating ourselves from the society, we are inviting hell; we not only lose our meaning but undermine the meaning of others. Another existentialist monument relevant here is Sartre’s ‘The Room’ (a theatre play). Here the author tires to convince us that Hell is Other People. A group of strangers wake up in a hotel room (after their death). The space is comfortable, and the Devil is an attentive and polite Concierge at their service. They lack nothing except that they are not allowed to leave each other’s company, and so they relations progressively disintegrate to mutual hatred, forever. What Sartre fails to consider is what it would be like to be locked up in a hotel room all by yourself for all eternity... An individual cannot exists apart from society, we are social beings and need reflexive relations with others to be ourselves.
I contend that we need social norms in order to be able to resolve disagreements without violence. Some norms are functional, grounded in biology or in the purpose of the relevant social context, others are more traditional, but we need them nevertheless for harmonious co-existence. We can dislike or idolise things for being different ‘in a particular way’, but never just because they are different. To be different simply means, trivially, to be something. Equating difference with social good or normality is both logically false (category mistake) and socially harmful; equating assertions of abnormality with harm or bigotry is equally destructive, as it undermines the basis of human judgement between right and wrong. This kind of indoctrination could have a catastrophic effect on child psychology, presenting them with an abyss of complexity instead of helping them to find a way (the opposite of what the book purports to aim for).
The book also stigmatises the unity of the body and the self, asserting that the body is something you are “dumped into”. This is conditioning kids to disassociate from the body.
The authors tell us not to aim high so that we can be happy with the little that we achieve, but genuine satisfaction comes from overcoming our limitations, from aiming high, otherwise achievement has no value. The equality of underachievers is the opposite of personal fulfilment.
Philosophers are cited out of context and without considering any objections. This is the opposite of Philosophy; dogmatism.
A representative example of how philosophy is abused by the authors to drive their ideological agenda is the use of Camus ‘The Stranger’ to show that normality is a way of unjustly judging people. In the story, the protagonist is a postcard existentialist, disillusioned, numb, emotionally dead outsider. He is falsely accused of murder. Camus then constructs his ‘normal’ characters as messed up, insecure, neurotic and superstitious. The Outsder is found guilty, primarily because one witness reports that he did not show any emotion at his mother’s recent funeral. So what does the story really teach us? I suggest that it shows that by rejecting social norms, by becoming de-moralised in the literal sense of the term, by disassociating ourselves from the society, we are inviting hell; we not only lose our meaning but undermine the meaning of others. Another existentialist monument relevant here is Sartre’s ‘The Room’ (a theatre play). Here the author tires to convince us that Hell is Other People. A group of strangers wake up in a hotel room (after their death). The space is comfortable, and the Devil is an attentive and polite Concierge at their service. They lack nothing except that they are not allowed to leave each other’s company, and so they relations progressively disintegrate to mutual hatred, forever. What Sartre fails to consider is what it would be like to be locked up in a hotel room all by yourself for all eternity... An individual cannot exists apart from society, we are social beings and need reflexive relations with others to be ourselves.
March 10, 2025
This book was one of the most factual books about everyday life and how we can over see things I just realy enjoyed this book so I recommend it to you if you want to read ps. I got my head teacher into this book
January 31, 2022
My dad got me this a few years ago and I decided to read it finally, It wasn't that good. For me at least I have already thought about most of the stuff this book talked about but also the book was not fun to read. It was clearly aimed at younger kids but the writing style seemed aimed for older then what should read this. Some of the things in here where not good advice unless you dived more into it. I felt like a child being scolded/given a pep talk while reading this and I didn't like that so that's why I'm giving it 2 stares. Overall I didn't really like this book (mostly bc it wasn't aimed for me and it was pretty patronizing) and I'm not sure why my dad got me this. Probably because he got me this when I wasn't younger.
December 12, 2023
تقييم الكتاب ⭐️⭐️⭐️
عنوان الكتاب: "أفكار كبيرة لعقول متعطشة" للكاتب آلان دو بوتون - ترجمة إيهاب عبدالحميد
عدد الصفحات: 165 صفحة
دار النشر: دار التنوير
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رأيي:
"كتاب خفيف ولطيف يعتبر مدخل للفلسفة موجه لليافعين يعطي القارئ بعض الافكار عن كيف يفهم الحياة او كيف يتعامل مع بعض المواقف في الحياة. تضمن الكتاب مواضيع منوعة عبارة عن 26 فكرة منها (اعرف نفسك، تعلم ان تقول ما يدور في عقلك، صعب ان نعرف ما نريده بحق، لا ترفع سقف توقعاتك أكثر من اللازم، لماذا تشعر بالوحدة؟) وبين فكرة وفكرة وضع فاصلاً جميلا تحدث فيه عن احد المفكرين تطرق لحياته وفكره بشكل مبسط من هؤلاء (بوذا، أرسطو، سقراط، كونفوشيوس، ابن سينا، موسى بن ميمون، زيرا يعقوب، ماتسو باشو). تم طرح الأفكار بأسلوبك سلس ، كما تضمن الكتاب على رسومات توضيحية."
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ملاحظة:" الترجمة جيدة جداً."
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عنوان الكتاب: "أفكار كبيرة لعقول متعطشة" للكاتب آلان دو بوتون - ترجمة إيهاب عبدالحميد
عدد الصفحات: 165 صفحة
دار النشر: دار التنوير
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.
رأيي:
"كتاب خفيف ولطيف يعتبر مدخل للفلسفة موجه لليافعين يعطي القارئ بعض الافكار عن كيف يفهم الحياة او كيف يتعامل مع بعض المواقف في الحياة. تضمن الكتاب مواضيع منوعة عبارة عن 26 فكرة منها (اعرف نفسك، تعلم ان تقول ما يدور في عقلك، صعب ان نعرف ما نريده بحق، لا ترفع سقف توقعاتك أكثر من اللازم، لماذا تشعر بالوحدة؟) وبين فكرة وفكرة وضع فاصلاً جميلا تحدث فيه عن احد المفكرين تطرق لحياته وفكره بشكل مبسط من هؤلاء (بوذا، أرسطو، سقراط، كونفوشيوس، ابن سينا، موسى بن ميمون، زيرا يعقوب، ماتسو باشو). تم طرح الأفكار بأسلوبك سلس ، كما تضمن الكتاب على رسومات توضيحية."
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ملاحظة:" الترجمة جيدة جداً."
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Read
October 31, 2023الكتاب موجه إلى فئة الأطفال و المراهقين ...
خيبت املي الكبرى كانت مقدمة الترجمة العربية الذي إن قرأتها ستعتقد ان هذا الكتاب امتداد لكتاب "مفكرون عظماء" من نفس السلسة .. وانه موجه للكبار ....
ايضا غلاف الترجمة العربية ... طبعة الكتاب الأصلي جاءت بغلاف طفولي (اكتشفت ذلك بعد اغتناء الكتاب) لذلك بمجرد رؤية الغلاف الأصلي سوف تعلم الطبقة التي تستهدفه ... لكن بالمقابل طبعة الترجمة العربية جاءت مختلفة تماما وكأنه كتاب عادي ليس كتابا للأطفال ...
خيبت املي الكبرى كانت مقدمة الترجمة العربية الذي إن قرأتها ستعتقد ان هذا الكتاب امتداد لكتاب "مفكرون عظماء" من نفس السلسة .. وانه موجه للكبار ....
ايضا غلاف الترجمة العربية ... طبعة الكتاب الأصلي جاءت بغلاف طفولي (اكتشفت ذلك بعد اغتناء الكتاب) لذلك بمجرد رؤية الغلاف الأصلي سوف تعلم الطبقة التي تستهدفه ... لكن بالمقابل طبعة الترجمة العربية جاءت مختلفة تماما وكأنه كتاب عادي ليس كتابا للأطفال ...
March 26, 2025
ماكنت اعرف ان هذي السلسلة موجهه للناشئة لذلك اقتنيت هذا الكتاب ولكن بعد قراءته اشوف ان السلسلة راح تكون رائعة ومناسبة للبيت الي يحتوي فيه اطفال وناشئين الافكار مطروحة بشكل بسيط وواضح ومدعم بصور ورسوم توضيحية ويجاوب على كثير من الأسئلة الي تؤرقهم في هذا العمر ويربطها بالفلسلفة
July 4, 2021
Cute intro to philosophy via outlining what other philosophers have said, done or thought about.
4 women in a book of 26 philosophers and thinkers particularly not ideal.
4 women in a book of 26 philosophers and thinkers particularly not ideal.
July 23, 2021
This was just so lovely. Definitely recommend for anyone- kids, teens, adults- with any small interest in philosophy.
March 25, 2023
will be purchasing for my future children.
March 3, 2025
Definitely will read it to my kids in the future
June 4, 2025
I know it’s a book for kids, and it’s explaining complex questions with simple answers, but some of the simple answers seemed a bit biased/ off. Idk, probably done this way to make it more understandable for kids
June 24, 2022
An amazing lively introduction to diverse philosophical, psychological, and societal topics like boredom, conflicts, procrastination, loneliness, meaning of life, fairness, advertising, desires, etc, accessible for a six year old, and still insightful after forty. Covers a lot of the "common sense" never actively taught anywhere, which you are expected to grasp from your life experience, but then you wish you learned earlier.
December 4, 2024
Interesting and attractive from the first to the last page. The book cover and illustration are also really nice.
This book is a great choice for children and adults who want to take the first step to philosophy.
If you are someone who is always curious about life, about how things happen or you just simply want to explain what’s going on inside you and how to deal with those feelings wisely, this book might have something for you.
What I like about this book is the positive energy it bring about. It’s not just about the knowledge, it’s about how you use the knowledge to understand yourself, understand people and make a better connection with the world you’re living in.
.
.
.
Finally for the first review, thanks to my best friend Ken Ken Troc, who still agree to lend me books after months (or years) not giving them back. =)))
She’s one of my biggest reading inspiration.
HCM, 22.4.2023 (10 days after finishing the book).
Ha.
This book is a great choice for children and adults who want to take the first step to philosophy.
If you are someone who is always curious about life, about how things happen or you just simply want to explain what’s going on inside you and how to deal with those feelings wisely, this book might have something for you.
What I like about this book is the positive energy it bring about. It’s not just about the knowledge, it’s about how you use the knowledge to understand yourself, understand people and make a better connection with the world you’re living in.
.
.
.
Finally for the first review, thanks to my best friend Ken Ken Troc, who still agree to lend me books after months (or years) not giving them back. =)))
She’s one of my biggest reading inspiration.
HCM, 22.4.2023 (10 days after finishing the book).
Ha.
April 28, 2019
Big Ideas for Curious Minds is a delightful book to introduce (young) readers to philosophy.
I would have loved to read this as a child, and I could really see how this book teaches to be patient with situations or people you might not understand straight away. Furthermore, it introduces well-known thinkers in a very accessible way, which was not boring at all!
My rating for this book is 3.5 out of 5 stars. I received a digital review copy of this book from The School of Life in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are entirely my own
I would have loved to read this as a child, and I could really see how this book teaches to be patient with situations or people you might not understand straight away. Furthermore, it introduces well-known thinkers in a very accessible way, which was not boring at all!
My rating for this book is 3.5 out of 5 stars. I received a digital review copy of this book from The School of Life in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are entirely my own
January 2, 2024
The word ‘philosophy’ itself gives us a bit of a clue as to why the subject matters. It’s originally a word from Ancient Greek: the first part, philo, means ‘love’ (philately means the love of stamps). The second part, which comes from the word sophia, means ‘wisdom’. So, when you put the two parts together—philo-sophy—it literally means ‘the love of wisdom’.Philosophy helps us to live wise lives. But what does ‘wisdom’ mean? It’s not very obvious, at first. Is being wise just about being clever? No, it’s much more than that. It’s about being sensible, kind, calm and accepting of how life can sometimes be (which isn’t always perfect, and sometimes really quite hard).
There are lots of situations where you can see the difference between unwise and wise ways of dealing with stuff that happens. There are lots of problems, both big and small, in everyone’s life—including yours, too, of course. We can never get rid of them entirely (though we try hard), but we can all get better at how we deal with our problems. We can try not to get angry so often, try to shout less, and try not to panic or hurt the people we love. Philosophy tries to help us act more wisely when facing the problems in our lives that we can’t do much about.
Know Yourself- You can get better at knowing yourself. The best way to do this is by asking yourself questions about what you feel. You can ask: what happened earlier that bothered me? Where has my upset come from—maybe not in the last three seconds, but earlier today, or even yesterday?
Philosophy is one of the ways that we deal with the difficulties of life.
One of the main ways that it helps us is by giving us information about things before we desperately need it, so that we can be prepared. Rather than only concentrating on what is happening right now, we have to be brave and look quite carefully at the things that will happen in life later on —and to see what might go wrong. We don’t have to deal with those things straight away, but one day we will. So there’s no point in pretending they will not happen.We’re not doing this to make ourselves miserable now, though. It’s not trying to ruin the happiness we have at the moment by realising that we might have a bad time later. Actually, it is the opposite. If you have an idea of the challenges you’ll face early on, you can start to develop the skills you will need to cope with them. It’s a bit like climbing a very high mountain. If you think it’s going to be easy and fun, you will be shocked to find out that actually, it’s pretty difficult. “But if you train beforehand by walking up lots of smaller mountains, and you talk to people who’ve done it already (and who have made plenty of mistakes along the way), you can learn from what’s happened to them and prepare yourself. You need a kind of mountain-climbing friend who can give you information in advance and teach you the skills you need.
Philosophy is rather like this—but obviously it’s not got anything to do with climbing mountains. Philosophy is about how we face the normal difficulties of adult life. It’s not frightened about how tricky life can be —it’s got loads of experience, and has done it all before.
In this way, philosophy is a kind of ‘life-friend’. It is not a person—it’s a whole group of people and their ideas. They’ve faced a lot of troubles and tried to learn how to deal with them. This book tries to give you some ideas about how you can understand life, and how to make it a bit easier than it sometimes turns out to be. That’s what philosophy tries to do, too.
You might feel like you’re the only one who feels lonely sometimes, but remember that this isn’t actually true. Almost everyone feels a bit lonely, even adults: they just do not mention it, sometimes because they are embarrassed to admit it. There’s nothing to be ashamed about though. Everyone is looking for people to understand them, so that they don’t feel lonely. We need to remind ourselves that there are people out there that we can feel close to. We might not have found the kind of people we need right now, but they will be out there, and we will find them—especially if we can dare to admit (to ourselves at first) that we are lonely.
Asking ‘What is the meaning of life?’ sounds serious. People sometimes think it’s a slightly mad question, or imagine that the answer must be very complicated. Actually it’s a very important question and the answer isn’t too hard to understand.The meaning of life is about what makes your life feel interesting and good. It’s as simple as that. And to achieve this, what mainly counts is fixing things. When you fix something, you solve a problem that matters to you. You use your intelligence and skill to put something right, to stop it bothering or annoying you. It’s nice doing this even in quite small ways. For example, maybe your room is messy and you fix it by tidying it up—it feels lovely when it’s done. Or maybe you’ve had an argument with your mum and you fix it by giving her a hug. What makes life bad is problems, so it makes a lot of sense that fixing problems is the thing we have to do to make life good and give it meaning.
Education becomes very exciting when you feel like you need to learn something because it’ll help you fix an important problem.
So, the meaning of life is not something big or scary. It’s just the feeling that you are making progress in solving the problems that most interest you—even if you haven’t got it all sorted out just yet.
There are lots of situations where you can see the difference between unwise and wise ways of dealing with stuff that happens. There are lots of problems, both big and small, in everyone’s life—including yours, too, of course. We can never get rid of them entirely (though we try hard), but we can all get better at how we deal with our problems. We can try not to get angry so often, try to shout less, and try not to panic or hurt the people we love. Philosophy tries to help us act more wisely when facing the problems in our lives that we can’t do much about.
Know Yourself- You can get better at knowing yourself. The best way to do this is by asking yourself questions about what you feel. You can ask: what happened earlier that bothered me? Where has my upset come from—maybe not in the last three seconds, but earlier today, or even yesterday?
Philosophy is one of the ways that we deal with the difficulties of life.
One of the main ways that it helps us is by giving us information about things before we desperately need it, so that we can be prepared. Rather than only concentrating on what is happening right now, we have to be brave and look quite carefully at the things that will happen in life later on —and to see what might go wrong. We don’t have to deal with those things straight away, but one day we will. So there’s no point in pretending they will not happen.We’re not doing this to make ourselves miserable now, though. It’s not trying to ruin the happiness we have at the moment by realising that we might have a bad time later. Actually, it is the opposite. If you have an idea of the challenges you’ll face early on, you can start to develop the skills you will need to cope with them. It’s a bit like climbing a very high mountain. If you think it’s going to be easy and fun, you will be shocked to find out that actually, it’s pretty difficult. “But if you train beforehand by walking up lots of smaller mountains, and you talk to people who’ve done it already (and who have made plenty of mistakes along the way), you can learn from what’s happened to them and prepare yourself. You need a kind of mountain-climbing friend who can give you information in advance and teach you the skills you need.
Philosophy is rather like this—but obviously it’s not got anything to do with climbing mountains. Philosophy is about how we face the normal difficulties of adult life. It’s not frightened about how tricky life can be —it’s got loads of experience, and has done it all before.
In this way, philosophy is a kind of ‘life-friend’. It is not a person—it’s a whole group of people and their ideas. They’ve faced a lot of troubles and tried to learn how to deal with them. This book tries to give you some ideas about how you can understand life, and how to make it a bit easier than it sometimes turns out to be. That’s what philosophy tries to do, too.
You might feel like you’re the only one who feels lonely sometimes, but remember that this isn’t actually true. Almost everyone feels a bit lonely, even adults: they just do not mention it, sometimes because they are embarrassed to admit it. There’s nothing to be ashamed about though. Everyone is looking for people to understand them, so that they don’t feel lonely. We need to remind ourselves that there are people out there that we can feel close to. We might not have found the kind of people we need right now, but they will be out there, and we will find them—especially if we can dare to admit (to ourselves at first) that we are lonely.
Asking ‘What is the meaning of life?’ sounds serious. People sometimes think it’s a slightly mad question, or imagine that the answer must be very complicated. Actually it’s a very important question and the answer isn’t too hard to understand.The meaning of life is about what makes your life feel interesting and good. It’s as simple as that. And to achieve this, what mainly counts is fixing things. When you fix something, you solve a problem that matters to you. You use your intelligence and skill to put something right, to stop it bothering or annoying you. It’s nice doing this even in quite small ways. For example, maybe your room is messy and you fix it by tidying it up—it feels lovely when it’s done. Or maybe you’ve had an argument with your mum and you fix it by giving her a hug. What makes life bad is problems, so it makes a lot of sense that fixing problems is the thing we have to do to make life good and give it meaning.
Education becomes very exciting when you feel like you need to learn something because it’ll help you fix an important problem.
So, the meaning of life is not something big or scary. It’s just the feeling that you are making progress in solving the problems that most interest you—even if you haven’t got it all sorted out just yet.
October 20, 2018
Clear and thoughtful children's philosophy book with wonderful illustrations.
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