Customer Reviews

The Great Conversation: A Historical Introduction to Philosophy

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A professor of mine in college assigned this book for a class, and it quickly became my favorite book of all time and remains so a decade later. I have what I would consider a sizable passion for philosophy, but I found taking a survey of the great philosophers rather difficult. Reading the primary, original texts are often opaque and dense at best (and there is no way one can read everything, even by a single philosopher), but many books that claim to be "introductions" to the greats are often very terse and rarely get too deep into the material.

This book is just-right. It introduces you to the the major philosophers neither by overly simplifying them or batting you over the head with their details.

Finally, as the title of the book suggests, Melchert wonderfully connects these philosophers together showing how they influenced each other and how different philosophers attempt to answer the same fundamental questions.

I've now used three different editions of Norman Melchert's The Great Conversation in intro philosophy classes over the past few years, and I know of no better textbook for an introductory course. The new edition contains only minor updates and introduces a little bit of color to the the text (but not much), but the tweaks are minor because in its sixth edition, the book is quite "mature" in the sense that it has been honed into a very stable overview of philosophy.

Not only is the text itself very thorough, I've discovered that Melchert has a bit of a dry sense of humor that comes across now and then. I often see this more easily than my students. Melchert is an interesting individual whom I've corresponded with a couple of times. For those of us with faith concerns, he treats religious ideas with respect which is appreciated.

The textbook also has a website at the publisher's domain with study materials for students as well as notes and a test bank for instructors.

My copy didn't come from Amazon, but from the publisher since I get a free deskcopy. However, I'd gladly purchase my own copy if it came in a Kindle edition. This is Oxford's doing, not Amazon's, as I've talked to them (Oxford) repeatedly about the need for an ebook edition.

The only REASON I'm giving this book four stars instead of five is its lack of a Kindle version. The text itself really deserves five stars. I would encourage everyone reading this to click the link telling the publisher you'd like to read it on a Kindle.

This book provides a highly readable and accessible introduction to some of the major participants and their important contributions to the historical and ongoing conversation that is philosophy. Philosophy, as it developed in the Western tradition, is not a set of doctrines or ideas; it is, rather, a kind of ongoing conversation that began with the ancient Greeks and continues into the present. It turns out there are certain basic questions, that keep coming up, but that always call for a reasoned response that is both attentive to the specific context in which they arise and aware of the ways in which the question has been addressed before, in other contexts. Contemporary discussions on philosophical topics cannot fully be understood in isolation from this "great conversation."

Reading this would be a good way for the undergraduate philosophy student to "fill in the gaps" in their grasp of the context for the topics they are interested in; while it is no substitute for going through the primary texts, it does include several excerpts from primary texts and manages to represent the dominant concerns of most thinkers included in a way that is clear and accessible without oversimplification. The primary value of this text would be to provide an outline of the main thinkers and issues and methods, that would serve as a basis for more thorough exploration. The book does include helpful guidance for the reader who wants to explore a particular thinker or topic further. One might quibble about what is left out in this overview -- I wish there were a chapter on Rousseau, for example -- but what is astonishing is how much he manages to cover in a single volume. He covers nearly all of the major "canonical" movements and thinkers from the time of the ancient Greeks to contemporary analytic and continental philosophy. It is quite an accomplishment and a rewarding read. Highly recommended.

This book is THE WORST BOOK I have ever read! I felt like stabbing myself every time the teacher gave me an assignment. The author is a terrible writer. It is very difficult to follow. Though I did get an A in this class, it was strictly through a lot of effort, reading, rereading and suffering.

Do not order this book unless its for a college class.

The seller I purchased from sold me an awesome condition used book for an awesome price. I recommend the seller I purchased this from.

It has been 15 years, or so... since last I took a college course. I was overwhelmed by the cost of textbooks. After reviewing every avenue possible, I found Amazon to have what I needed at an amazingly affordable price. Even though it is an older edition, the textbook is precisely what I need and has everything the newer editions have. Thank you for making my transition to a new school experience possible!

The book arrived earlier than expected. I will continue buying used books and trust the owner's criteria about its condition.

Once I obtained the correct book, it came in great condition, with no damage, in a timely manner. However, I primarily ordered the same book cheaper through amazon, though with a different supplier and they sent the completely wrong book.

But I had no problems with the supplier I used the second time around, and I'm enjoying the course. The book is generally easy to follow, and really breaks down what each philosopher's core values and opinions were. It does a good job of shifting your thinking in such a way as to understand the point of view that best helps to understand the concepts.

Melchert explains philosophy in a modern way that grabs your attention and holds it. Using this for my college philosophy really helped me enjoy and understand the subject. I like that his opinion is in no way forced upon you, he gets straight to the point and uses only facts. He tells it exactly how the philosophers he wrote about told it.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in or studying philosophy.

This isn't really a book on the history of philosophy. . . it has a chief focus on epistemology. That's fine if you like epistemology, or if you feel undergraduates taking an introductory philosophy course care much about the search for certainty, belief, knowledge, etc. I don't think undergraduates find these topics compelling. Instead, they're more likely to get hooked on philosophy through ethics and politics.

It's wonderfully written, and thus enjoyable to read, even for PhDs! But this is useful for teaching the history of epistemology. Were I to use it again, I pull out a lot of supplemental material in ethics, logic and aesthetics.

If you are interested in digging into classical philosophy, this is a good start. Some of the earlier chapters are very dry, but it is helpful to understand who came before Socrates. If you only want to take "intro to philosophy" this book is not for you.