The Bedside Book of Philosophy: From the Birth of Western Philosophy to The Good Place: 125 Historic Events and Big Ideas to Push the Limits of Your Knowledge

by Gregory Bassham

A fascinating exploration into the 125 most important milestones in philosophy, all in one handy book perfect for keeping on your bedside table or carrying wherever you go.

Now is the perfect time to expand your knowledge and learn something new or delve deeper into a topic you’ve always been interested in. With 125 concise, informative, and entertaining entries,  The Bedside Book of Philosophy  explores the key theories, great insights, thought-provoking questions, influential personalities, and seminal publications in the field over the millennia. Gregory Bassham covers a wide range of topics and cultures—from Confucian ethics and Plato’s theory of forms to Occam’s Razor, Hume’s  A Treatise of Human Nature , existentialism, feminist philosophy, Social Darwinism, and  The Good Place —all in an accessible, conversational voice. Includes 75 black-and-white illustrations throughout.

Genres: Philosophy

272 pages, Hardcover

Published March 16, 2021

Reviews

[Molly Trammell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an ARC Review. Many thanks to Sterling and Edelweiss.

The Bedside Book of Philosophy is a concise, simple, and exceptionally readable intro to philosophy by an experienced author and collegiate philosophy professor. It explores philosophy, as claims the title, from the Greeks to "The Good Place" and (almost) everything in between. While the title makes it seem like the book would focus on Western philosophy, I was pleasantly surprised to find it encompasses much Eastern philosophy as well, such as Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism.

The chapters are pretty short and, had I not read the introduction, I would have considered that a mark against the book as a whole. However, Bassham states early on that this book is a "shortened version" of an earlier philosophy book of his, and that it "makes no pretense to completeness and is by no stretch an entire 'history of philosophy,' concise or otherwise." That said, its short and surface-level discussion of philosophy through history is surprisingly thorough for such a (relatively) slim volume. I found myself enthralled, but not overwhelmed, by the amount of valuable information included in this book. Bassham is clearly an expert and he knows exactly what to include and what to leave out in each section in order to both inform readers and whet the appetite for independent research.

If you are a philosophy novice, or perhaps just need a quick refresher course, this book would be a great "bedside" companion. Read a section per night, or devour it quickly; you will likely be surprised by how much you learn.

[John Matthew IV · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book that presents a history of philosophy from the beginning to modern times in bite-sized pieces. It is a perfect book to read before going to sleep as you think about philosophy as you doze off.

It has a huge suggested reading section to prompt more reading.

It also presents philosophers who disagreed on topics, so you can see how philosophy has evolved over time.

Finally, it discusses philosophers from all over the world and not just Europeans.

Highly recommended.

[Rob Roy · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the past few months, I have been reading two of the events in this book each evening. It has been an enjoyable journey into the history, big ideas, and personalities of Philosophy. I took Philosophy and Religion, a freshman-level course, back in college, and have had an interest ever since. I will readily admit, there are large parts that are beyond me, and most of the philosophers were poor writers. This is not the case with this book. A nice evening read.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's good that it gives an overview of the philosophers of the ages, however I believe the modern philosophers needs more mentioning than 2 pages, since their ideas affected our society more. It will whet your appetite to read the originals.

[Christoph Weber · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. This is a book for non-readers, or at least, people who don't read much. Two pages per person or philosophy just so you can say "I've read about that guy".

Not really worth it.

[Cashie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great simplistic overview of the greatest thinkers in history!

[Seeker · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who regrets not taking philosophy in college, this was an enlightening overview of the major themes and schools of thoughts within philosophy (e.g. reading this book gave me a much better understanding of ideas such as "postmodernism" and "feminism" or philosophers such as Heidegger). True to its title, the book was perfect for bedside reading: each unit was bite-sized and written for a lay person; however, on more than a few occasions, the emphasis was more on the life of a philosopher than their ideas and it was frustrating to see that some of the ideas were vaguely summarized and not adequately fleshed out. Still, a worthwhile read for anyone who is new to philosophy and looking for a fairly simple introduction to the discipline.