The Everything Philosophy Book: Understanding the Basic Concepts of Great Thinkers-Socrates to Sartre

by James Mannion

If you’ve always wanted to learn about philosophy but were too intimidated to get past the first word ending in “ism,” The Everything Philosophy Book provides simple explanations guaranteed to make philosophic ideas and concepts easy to understand.

This entertaining book offers a broad overview of many diverse schools of thought—from antiquity up through the present day. In plain English, author James Mannion explains all of the great philosophies—and even provides contemporary examples to put them in perspective. Interspersed are fascinating sidebars that offer helpful hints toward understanding complex concepts and little-known facts about the lives of great philosophers.

The Everything Philosophy Book delves into the minds of such philosophers
-Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle
-Augustine and Aquinas
-Buddha and Confucius
-Spinoza and Descartes
-Locke and Hume
-Voltaire and Rousseau
-Mill and Nietzsche
-Russell and Sartre

Endlessly fascinating—and always clear and concise— The Everything Philosophy Book will be welcomed by anyone who wants to broaden his or her outlook on life.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2002

Reviews

[Kyrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh, it's better than the complete idiot's guide on the same subject, but it wasn't what I was hoping. The early parts were good, the latter part not so much. When he got to the parts where Star Trek and other scifi shows were being presented as philosophies I was glad the book was ending. I like Star Trek a lot but I don't see it as a way to live my life.

[Em · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was ok. It offered a great overview of different schools of thought, but at the expense of detail. It would be a good book for someone who is trying to figure out what team they're playing for, philosophically.

[Sameer Alshenawi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't like the last sections of the book regarding Star Trek, and other TV series .

[OliviaF · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have liked this book a lot more if it didn't have so many outdated stereotypical references. Towards the end of the book the author makes the galling assertion that women 'should' be following Emma Peel as an example of how to be an empowered woman 'without losing their femininity by 'trying' to 'adopt the characteristics of men'. It really isn't the author's place to influence young minds about what feminism 'should' look like especially as he is a man and therefore has no direct experience of advocating for his rights as a woman. The book is meant to be an objective overview of philosophers throughout the ages, not for him to intervene with parenthetical nonsense. He also often refers to supermodels being 'anorexic' more than once - what exactly has this opinion got to do with philosophy??

Throughout the entire book, only two female philosophers are mentioned, and one condescendingly so - Mary Shelley Wollstonecraft who 'doesn't really qualify' but we'll include her anyhow because she had some interesting things to say about feminism. No - she should unequivocally be included.

The last chapter on Star Trek is a bizarre ramble of disconnected ideas to say the least...for those who have never watched any of it, it fails to connect with the average person. We don't need a whole chapter dedicated to his fan-boy science fiction and then end it by telling us 'women should be feminine and action orientated' like Emma Peel.

The final thorn is the appendix with the list of all philosophers mentioned in the book, which hasn't been edited to read well. It's a big cut and paste from the various chapters throughout the book. As such, the paragraphs appear entirely out of context and don't give you a simple overview of who's who.

The book is a great concept, but a little less indulgence on the part of the author would have elevated it to a higher rating.

[Jan Notzon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This treatise does a good job of boiling down the major developments in philosophy (as much as I know about it). How accurate or thorough it is I don't know enough philosophy to really judge. At any rate, as a philosophical novice I can say that Mannion makes each philosophers' take on this absurd thing called "life" that we share quite comprehensible. Has he simplified it to the point that it really doesn't reflect the profundity of their observations? I wouldn't venture to guess.
But if you want a quite digestible take on philosophy and its history that puts many of its conclusions in the modern vernacular, I highly recommend it.