How the World Thinks

A Global History of Philosophy

By: Julian Baggini

Narrated by: Julian Baggini

All cultures are different and have different ways of thinking.

In How the World Thinks, Julian Baggini travels the globe to provide a hugely wide-ranging map of human thought. He shows us how distinct branches of philosophy flowered simultaneously in China, India and Ancient Greece, growing from local myths and stories - and how contemporary cultural attitudes, with particular attention to the West, East Asia, the Muslim World and Africa, have developed out of the philosophical histories of their regions.

Interviewing thinkers from all around the world, he asks why, for instance, do our European systems of governments and justice differ so widely from the East? Why can Islam not easily incorporate secular knowledge? How do we understand China? By gaining greater knowledge of how others think, we can become less certain of the knowledge we think we have, the first step to greater understanding.

©2018 Julian Baggini (P)2018 W.F. Howes Ltd

A look at Philosophy of different cultures

Too often we mistake philosophy as a western idea, derived from the great Greek thinkers.

What this book shows is that the history of the world is full of philosophical ideas just as relevant.

This book provides is a perspective of different cultures and religions that have influenced its own strands of philosophy.

Such a wider approach gives insight into how the people’s of the world think and why, something very much needed in this day and age of globalisation.

Good read.

Complex topic

Of course I knew that I would get myself into a complex topic and that the author could only scratch the surface, which he did, but somehow I was not captivated by the jumpy „story-line“. I did appreciate the insights into especially the Asian, Indian, and Arabic philosophy but again, it’s not a page turner.