Free Downloads About Philosophy (11th Edition)
Four Decades of Student-Friendly Philosophy About Philosophy is an introductory text that covers all the major fields of philosophy in an easy-to-read language, interspersed with short selections from the major philosophers. It has been a best-selling leader in the field for more than forty years and it is written by an internationally recognized author of more than twenty books.
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Pearson; 11 edition (July 21, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0205194125
ISBN-13: 978-0205194124
Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 0.6 x 10 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #76,007 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #19 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Philosophy > Reference #449 in Books > Textbooks > Humanities > Philosophy #22674 in Books > Reference
Wolff's perennial textbook, now in its eighth edition, has faults. This is a given for any book or other work in the print medium, and, for that matter, for any human artifact. Nevertheless, after teaching philosophy for thirty-six years using everything from classic sources to newspapers to novels as texts, I have settled on Wolff's About Philosophy as the best means for introducting the most diverse of all academic disciplines.Naturally, the book reflects the author's interests and preferences, although these are never presented as truths above debate. In fact, Wolff reveals his willingness to revise his own traditional, Western preferences for rationality-based theoretical constructs devised (virtually solely) by those of the male gender. Objectivity, too, comes up for careful scrutiny and, ultimately, rejection as an appropriate property of an acceptable philosophical theory.In the end, About Philosophy is both a highly personal, and yet, a highly accurate documentation of 2500 years of philosophical speculation and research. Its faults may include that, in spite of its thoroughness and clarity, it does not summarize the views of every philosopher and movement in the Western tradition. No volume, introductory or not, could accomplish this, but the ideas selected by Wolff are clearly among thegerminal springboards for the entirety of Western Civilization.
Philosophy can be a rather daunting subject. It requires a lot of self reflection, and Wolff does a fantastic job of describing situations to guide you through learning to be more inquisitive about the world. While this textbook was assigned reading, I felt like I was reading a book for pleasure. I got through the chapters easily.
This book does not explain in plain English the philosophical ideas. All you get summaries and direct quotes but no true explanation. The writer assumes the reader has a solid background on the subject. It was fustrating.
This is one of the worst text books that I have been acquainted with in my forty year teaching career. I feel it fails on most counts as a text for beginning philosophy classes: readability, interest, objectivity, organization, intent... As I was struggling through the first week or two of using this as a primary text, it dawned on me that ABOUT PHILOSOPHY attempts to present philosophy as a social studies subject, which may or may not be acceptable, but since I've always tended toward a humanities approach in my teaching, I find the thrust of this book particularly difficult for me to teach because it is quite weak in suggesting to my students the creative and emotional aspects of mankind which are such important elements in presenting a humanities experience. Thank the heavens for the sources on the internet and from supplementary texts: I managed to make philosophy an interesting experience for many of my students... no thanks to ABOUT PHILOSOPHY... Several of the five star ratings of ABOUT PHILOSOPHY are concerned with the price and 's delivery of the book - and I definitely agree that the bookseller's competency was excellent, but the price - $0.99 - I felt is more than the book is worth but it's an excellent deal for those forced to buy it.
Colleges may use the current 11th or more recent edition, but changes are minimal and this edition still gets the job done. And at a few bucks, it is a most profitable steal.
This book was a textbook for a Philosophy 101 course I took. It presented a lot of ideas, but I feel like it also had a lot of fluff. The author inserted his own views too often as well. I could have done without some of his input.
I loved this book from the beginning to the end! it helped me understand and follow my class just fine, at first I was skeptic about the book but once I started reading it I was impressed with how well the information is arranged and how the author used a tone that made me want to learn more!... I did not know anything about philosophy, and now I feel like an expert thanks to this book!!!
I used this book for a Philosophy 100 course. It was perfect! Very comprehensive with an enjoyable and effective style by the author for learning the concepts presented. I refer to this book regularly for other courses. It's a keeper.
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