7anooch's review against another edition
3.0
A nice summary of philosophical history. As a newcomer to philosophy though I kind of felt lost at times.
grifen87's review against another edition
3.0
It was at least a thought provoking collection. It stated that one of the primary purposes of philosophy is to alleviate our anxiety about death and the afterlife, which I think somewhat limited the scope. But it at least made me curious to study more. The part about Nietzsche and contemporary humanism was interesting, saying that:
“Contemporary humanism does have values, but these values center on life itself. These new transcendent values are not vertical, like patriotism, but horizontal. Contemporary humanists take a collective view of humanity, and their values center upon their fellow human beings, not abstract ideas “superior” to them.” (Blinkist summary)
“Contemporary humanism does have values, but these values center on life itself. These new transcendent values are not vertical, like patriotism, but horizontal. Contemporary humanists take a collective view of humanity, and their values center upon their fellow human beings, not abstract ideas “superior” to them.” (Blinkist summary)
chlkvnck's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
reflective
medium-paced
tabsfchnr's review against another edition
5.0
Unreal. From start to finish, 267 pages of gold. As an introduction to philosophy and a history/ explanation of the main “philosophical systems”, I can’t imagine anything better. What’s more is the stance Luc takes personally, combining elements from past and contemporary philosophers, is credible and to me makes a lot of sense.
chelseasofia's review against another edition
4.0
Decent overview and explanation of the major philosophical movements. I had hoped for a little more in-depth breakdown of contemporary or post-modern thought, but it was still an enjoyable book and gave me a good understanding of the bigger arguments.
_head_full_of_books_'s review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
edgeworthstan2000's review against another edition
4.0
This is a great introduction to philosophy, though the chapter on Nietzsche drags a lot. I haven't read a lot of philosophy but i think its approach is pretty unique -- it presents philosophy as a search for salvation, though this approach is only really in the foreground in the first and last chapters.
At the end Ferry tries to get away from the "corrosive clarity" of deconstruction and talks about what a new philosophy might look like -- "immanence within transcendence" -- which is almost like a New Testament philosophy minus God: "to develop, on one's own account, without any illusions, something resembling a 'wisdom of love' -- as well as a love of wisdom." Which rings a little hollow. Still, there are a lot of good insights in the main part of the book & helpful summaries of major ideas
At the end Ferry tries to get away from the "corrosive clarity" of deconstruction and talks about what a new philosophy might look like -- "immanence within transcendence" -- which is almost like a New Testament philosophy minus God: "to develop, on one's own account, without any illusions, something resembling a 'wisdom of love' -- as well as a love of wisdom." Which rings a little hollow. Still, there are a lot of good insights in the main part of the book & helpful summaries of major ideas