Best introductory philosophy book?

Reply to John McMannis Bertrand Russell's History of Western Philosophy. It has plenty of critics but as a popular intro it is quite good. The way he weaves the narrative historical thread between individuals and periods of history is very good in my opinion, as it opens up the perspective of the 'history of ideas', which is technically a different subject to philosophy but very much linked with it.

Reply to John McMannis Good luck. :up:

I recommend these introductions:

(if only these two were available when I'd started out ...)

• The Philosopher's Toolkit: A Compendium of Philosophical Concepts and Methods (3rd Ed), Peter S. Fosl and Julian Baggini
• Peter Adamson's podcast & book series A History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps (5 volumes so far)

(otherwise, some oldies but goodies which did the job admirably way back when.)

• The Great Philosophers: An Introduction to Western Philosophy by Bryan Magee
• An Outline of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell
• The American Evasion of Philosophy: A Genealogy of Pragmatism by Cornel West

Reply to John McMannis Real philosophy is not about knowledge of theories, so summaries and introductions spoil the point, which is to listen to how you react when you read the original texts. The result is to change who you are and how you think so there is no shortcut. Don't start with Nietszche, or Descartes, or anyone modern because they usually have an axe to grind. Plato or Aristotle are good because they form the reference for most everyone after. Mill and Hume and Hobbs and Rouseau are all fairly easy to read, which might be the best place to start (do not attempt Kant or Hegel or Heidegger).

Reply to John McMannis
Jostein Gaarder: Sophie's World
Terry Eagleton: The Meaning of Life

The Book of Dead Philosophers.

Reply to Banno :smirk:

"What does it all mean? - a very short introduction to philosophy" by Thomas Nagel, OXFORD

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The book that Thales Of Miletus (the first philosopher) read :point: Egyptian Geometry Texts. Don't even think of saying what Thales did with those books, found a separate discipline (philosophy), was/is easy peasy. To go from geometry to philosophy is a huge conceptual leap, not something an ordinary person can do.

Philosophy is a snake pit we are all trying to escape; and here is someone asking how to fall into it!

Reply to John McMannis
I am not sure how people rate it as being one of the best, but one of my own favourites is 'A History of Western Philosophy', by Bertrand Russell.

If you're looking for something not too long, but quite compact and lucid, you can't go wrong with any of Bryan Magee's books. For a first timer, I'd suggest his The Story of Philosophy: A Concise Introduction to the World's Greatest Thinkers and Their Ideas.

After that his Confessions of a Philosopher is a much more in depth study of many key philosophers.

Then you can go to Russell or Copleston, etc.

Since you like the SEP which attempts to introduce readers to issues and has a wealth of references to dig deeper, I would start with R.A. Blank, Overcoming the 5th-Century BCE Epistemological Tragedy: A Productive Reading of Protagoras of Abdera (2014, U. of So. Florida). a recent Masters dissertation of a neglected controversial but germane topic. After that, I would jump into more standard historical intros recommended in this thread.

Reply to John McMannis
The first book that really grabbed me was The Republic by Plato.

When I was younger, my mother bought me "Looking at Philosophy," which was fun. I like "Story of Philosophy" by Durant, as well. Those are fine for anyone new. A lot of other good suggestions on here as well. The hard part will be picking from all of them!

Reply to unenlightened are you saying the practise of philosophy is an escape? Or the opposite?

Quoting The Opposite

are you saying the practise of philosophy is an escape?

Yes. it is the attempt, at least, to escape confusion, contradiction and folly. Thus I do not recommend philosophy to anyone who is not already mired in these things. I call it a snake pit because the problems of philosophy are long and involved, entangled, and usually poisonous.

Reply to unenlightened :up:
"Escape?" – or recovery? – from foolery ...

There are three poisons, but nothing covert from me...

Thank you everyone!

I think I’ll start with Bertrand Russell. So far that’s received the most recommendations and I do know who he is … or was. But I now have a good starting list. Thanks again!

Philosophical investigations

Quoting unenlightened

Thus I do not recommend philosophy to anyone who is not already mired in these things.

Everyone's born in the mire

Quoting Wayfarer

Bertrand Russell's History of Western Philosophy. It has plenty of critics but as a popular intro it is quite good. The way he weaves the narrative historical thread between individuals and periods of history is very good in my opinion, as it opens up the perspective of the 'history of ideas', which is technically a different subject to philosophy but very much linked with it.

That book will take many days to finish, if not many weeks. It is almost similar amount of pages as the Bible. Still a great book.

Quoting Corvus

"What does it all mean? - a very short introduction to philosophy" by Thomas Nagel, OXFORD

Anyone can read this book in an hour or two. Yet, it covers most main topics in philosophy. After that, move on to the next books.

Quoting Wittgenstein

Philosophical investigations

I looked through that, but it's way too advanced for me I think. Thank you for the suggestion though, but I think it's lost on me. Hopefully in time I become less dumb haha

Reply to John McMannis Plato’s The Republic is as good a place as any to start. In terms of fiction 1984 is also a very nice window into philosophy.

Overall I think an eclectic interest is more useful than than a direct ‘introduction’ to philosophy. If you are interested enough in the sciences, history, film/theatre, literature, language, psychology, economics, politics and art (or most of them) then you should have a good base to start from. If you’re not interested in most of those philosophy probably isn’t worth your time right now but might tickle our fancy more in the future.

Reply to John McMannis

Confessions of a Philosopher by Bryan Magee

Reply to John McMannis Sophie’s world if you’re looking for something more lightweight or entertaining.

Reply to John McMannis

Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologica. I like the way he organizes his thoughts.

I liked The Penguin History of Philosopy by D.W. Hamlyn. The reviews though are not favourable. lol.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/166553.The_Penguin_History_of_Western_Philosophy

I still think the best way is through an introductory course, taught to you live. Even though it might be shallow, it gives you an overview, something to work with and you are motivated to work your way through the texts. Philosophy is still very dialogical I feel.

Quoting john27

Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologica. I like the way he organizes his thoughts.

Really? That was what a prof. told me once... I think he tried to murder me or at least keep me fro contacting him ever again. Here is a link to every 9453 pages ... good luck! ;)

Quoting Tobias

. Here is a link to every 9453 pages ... good luck! ;)

Too bad, I've already read it all :cool:

It was meant to provide a kick start to @John McManis! ;)

Reply to Tobias

Oh, oops.

(Also, I was lying about reading it all. I read like 10 pages and went ehh I think i get the gist of it.)

Quoting john27

(Also, I was lying about reading it all. I read like 10 pages and went ehh I think i get the gist of it.)

:rofl: :cool:

Reply to Tobias

Thanks!

Depends on your age. Mental progression, rather. Which is succinct from intelligence or capacity for it.

Best introductory book on philosophy.

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Nobody knows what love (Philo) & wisdom (Sophia) are, but there are books on love of wisdom (philosophy). Go figure!

Reply to John McMannis A Concise Introduction to Philosophy by William Halverson. It was my Philosophy 101 textbook from the University of Georgia in 1985. I've kept it. I remember being amazed that every original philosophical thought I ever had already had a name and an argument disproving it.

Deleuze - différence and repetition. Dive in at the deep end I say.

The Tao of Pooh.

Reply to Hanover thanks!