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Bertrand Russell - The Problems of Philosophy
by harwoodjp 9y ago
Bertrand Russell - The Problems of Philosophy
- mark-wagner 9y agoI would recommend against that book. Through slightly changing claims he's "established" he concludes for the need for "sense data" which is nonsense. Also, white paper looks yellow under a yellow light because it white. White is the color of the paper.
- harwoodjp 9y agoThe book is an example of philosophy being done in a lucid, beginner-friendly manner. It's opinionated and conclusions are drawn. You might not agree with them. It's a fine introductory text for getting a sense of argumentative form and a decent sampling of contemporary philosophical debates.
- gowld 9y agoWha's wrong with "sense data" ?
- Analemma_ 9y agoAlso by Russell: A History of Western Philosophy. It has various critics, for good reasons, but it's as good a walkthrough of philosophical developments in the West as anything you'll find.
- dmreedy 9y agoI want to second this one, if for nothing else than the fact that in addition to being a wealth of information about the philosophies themselves, it's also a fascinating (granted, biased) perspective about how philosophical developments might map to political and cultural developments, and vice versa. Again, with a nod to its critics. Also, Russell is, as always, a charmingly witty writer.
- pmoriarty 9y agoI like Russell. He's a witty and entertaining writer. But anyone reading his work should be aware that he's heavily biased towards an Analytic perspective. Unfortunately, I don't know of any summary from the Continental perspective that's remotely as well written as Russell's. Maybe you could start with reading through some of those comic-book style "Introduction to..." books about various philosophers. They seem to do a decent enough job for a taste of what the philosopher in question is about. But, really, there's no substitute for taking an intro to philosophy course. Philosophy isn't just meant to be read and pondered. It's critically important to discuss it and the ideas and questions it provokes in you with others who are also encountering this material along with you. A philosophy course is ideal for that. Though, once again, the Analytics dominate such courses in the English-speaking world (and increasingly in the rest of the world as well). So it's pretty hard to find philosophy courses where you can get an Continental perspective.
- marnett 9y agoThird vote for this book! Amazingly knowledgeable man who is quite the succinct writer.
- aphextron 9y ago>Also by Russell: A History of Western Philosophy. It has various critics, for good reasons, but it's as good a walkthrough of philosophical developments in the West as anything you'll find. There's also the entire audiobook on YouTube, which is fantastic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0fK0ZuAcbU&list=PL6BE82595ACD1864A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0fK0ZuAcbU&list=PL6BE82595A...
- howeyc 9y agoI thoroughly enjoyed this book. Anyone aware of something similar for the last century?
- Analemma_ 9y agoPart of what makes Russell's book good (or at least useful) was that it connected philosophical developments to later historical events. With that in mind, I think it would be really hard to have an equivalent for 20th century philosophy - we don't have enough historical perspective yet. And that's without even getting into whether you could find a writer capable of understanding and fairly treating both sides of the analytic/Continental divide. But if I'm wrong and someone does know of a useful work like this, I would also love to see it.
- corporateslaver 9y agoThis book is extremely opinionated. When I first started reading philosophy it seemed great, once I learned about a few philosophers in depth I lost all respect for Russel.
- aphextron 9y agoSeconded for Russell