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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
notwithoutwitness's review against another edition
4.0
A brief overview of philosophy which seeks to answer the question of salvation: how are we saved from the certainty of death? Ferry looks at Greek Stoicism, Christianity, Kantian Humanism, Nietzsche and Postmodernism, and Contemporary Philosophy (Heidegger). Ferry seeks to offer his own way forward in answering the question of salvation. A focus on enlarging our thought to include the perspective and lives of others. To uproot ourselves from our own egocentrism. At the end this view only seems to soften death. It’s still coming and with such a focus on the present at the neglect of the past and failure to care about the future, there isn’t much hope - in fact there is no reason for it. I grew a bit confused toward the end as he rambled more. Makes mention that Christianity is the best option, but he just doesn’t believe in it.
lola_rennt's review against another edition
2.0
Ich würde dieses Buch nicht gerade als "philosophische Gebrauchsanweisung" bezeichnen, sondern eher als groben Überblick über die Geschichte der Philosophie. Empfehlenswert finde ich es lediglich für Menschen, die sich in ihrem Leben noch nie mit Philosophie auseinandergesetzt haben. Im Gegensatz zum Autor bin ich allerdings nicht der Meinung, dass es sich auch für jüngere Leser (in meinen Augen Jugendliche ab ca. 16+) eignet, da Ferry an vielen Stellen durchaus komplizierte Formulierungen verwendet.
decadent_and_depraved's review against another edition
4.0
The last chapter, named "After Deconstruction: Contemporary Philosophy" is simply a disaster.
Everything else is pretty solid.
Everything else is pretty solid.