The Philosophy Book

Big Ideas Simply Explained

By: DK

Narrated by: Jason Culp

An essential introduction to the history, concepts, and thinking behind philosophy that demystifies what can often be daunting subject matter, laid out in DK's signature style.

Are the ideas of René Descartes, Mary Wollstonecraft, John Locke, and Thomas Hobbes still relevant today? The Philosophy Book unpacks the writings and ideas of more than 100 of history's biggest thinkers, taking you on a journey from ancient Greece to the modern day. Explore feminism, rationalism, idealism, existentialism, and other influential movements in the world of philosophy.

From Socrates to Confucius to Julia Kristeva, The Philosophy Book breaks down difficult concepts in an approachable style. Cutting through the haze of academia and untangling complicated theories to show how our social, political, and ethical ideas are formed, The Philosophy Book contextualizes the information around time periods, innovative thinkers, method, and philosophical approach.

The Philosophy Book is a perfect and comprehensive introduction to a complicated and fascinating subject.

©2015 DK (P)2019 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"In The Philosophy Book, the ideas and thoughts of more than one hundred of the most influential philosophers from the ancient world through today are presented in a succinct, yet highly readable, format. From all corners of the world and from different traditions and approaches to philosophy and the art of reasoning, the contributors to this excellent book highlight the impact of each philosopher on his society and how it affected the development of subsequent ideas. Students of philosophy or those interested in human thought will thoroughly enjoy this book. This volume is an excellent addition to a general philosophy collection." (Voice of Youth Advocate/VOYA Magazine)

Delightful

fantastic. the only thing was the last section of the book said modern philosophy 1950- so I dont know why they spent alot of time on things before this time and overall i didnt get much from this section that I was hoping for. everything before that was great though.

Enlightening

Thank you for the compilation and well articulated reading. Listened from beginning thru glossary, and now again.

An exhaustive study

An exhaustive study Basically a list of every Philosopher and every Philosophical idea ever published and it’s evolution from origin to present day with a few surprises. Oh, that’s where that saying comes from, interesting

Best listen to familiarize yourself

One of my best listens as I was aiming to get a brief and familiarize myself with the topic as a refresher before delving further; and I'm considering to purchase the hardcopy to keep it as a reference.

Sí te ayuda a entender al mundo de otras maneras.

Muy buen libro si no conoces de filosofía. Es un repaso muy leve de varios filósofos pero aún así aprendes de los conceptos más importantes. Al terminar de leerlo me voy con una, o múltiples, maneras de interpretar al mundo.

Great Narration with a lot of information.

This is a great guideline of Philosophy. It generated a lot of internal thought. It has lead to the purchase of about 50other books so far by philosophers I agreed with. Once I finish this hefty stack of books I’ll listen to this again and how much my thoughts on some of these matters has progressed.

More of a philosopher listing than a philosophy book

Lists out hundreds of philosophers, but only gives a surface level discussion on there contributions.

WHAT'S NEXT

Will Buckingham succeeds in telling the story of philosopher’s big ideas. Buckingham takes listeners on a journey through the ages of philosophy. Beginning in the pre-Julian Roman calendar of 585 BC, Buckingham explains how Thales of Miletus began humanities’ journey from belief in mythology to observation and prediction. Miletus predicted a solar eclipse, presumably based on astronomical observation.

In coming to grips with the number of philosophers noted, one tends to rely on a perceived societal direction. To this listener, the direction is away from God, toward science. This is not to say that science or philosophy excludes God. There are many famous scientists who claim belief in God. Rene Descartes, Isaac Newton, Galileo Galilei, Albert Einstein, Gregor Mendel, and Charles Darwin, to name a few. The irony of that truth is that each of these scientists made discoveries that weaken one’s belief in God because their discoveries offer insight to the origin of life and living without God.

The list of non-believers is as long or longer. Some say Einstein was an Atheist. There is Daniel Dennett, Michael Shermer, Rosalind Franklin, Sigmund Freud, Stephen Hawking, Richard Dawkins, Richard Feynman, Niels Bohr, Francis Crick, Erwin Schrodinger, John Bell, and so on.

“The Philosophy Book” offers more information about philosophers than one may want to know. Nevertheless, it offers a well written overview of belief, if not wisdom, in the world. One may ask themselves, what’s next? Artificial Intelligence seems to offer our best chance of survival if humanity is on its own.

review

I enjoyed the book very informative. breakdown different branches of philosophy. great for general knowledge

Great synopsis

A great synopsis from which I learned a lot. It is very dense via audio so I will listen to it again soon.

For anyone familiar with many of the philosophers, this is a good way to augment the integration of thoughts.