"Each of these little books is witty and dramatic and creates a sense of time, place, and character....I cannot think of a better way to introduce oneself and one’s friends to Western civilization."—Katherine A. Powers, Boston Globe. "Well-written, clear and informed, they have a breezy wit about them....I find them hard to stop reading."—Richard Bernstein, New York Times. "Witty, illuminating, and blessedly concise."—Jim Holt, Wall Street Journal. These brief and enlightening explorations of our greatest thinkers bring their ideas to life in entertaining and accessible fashion. Philosophical thought is deciphered and made comprehensive and interesting to almost everyone. Far from being a novelty, each book is a highly refined appraisal of the philosopher and his work, authoritative and clearly presented.
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
David Hume (1711-1776), writes Paul Strathern, is "the only philosopher whose ideas remain plausible to us today." Hume's most substantial contribution to philosophy could be simplified as the denial of the existence of anything but our own perceptions--or it could be more subtly described as a realization of the contingency of our knowledge of the world, where any explanation for phenomena--be it rooted in religion, science, or some other discipline--is uncertain. Strathern's short volume puts Hume's "extreme empiricism" and the rest of his career into perspective with the author's usual dry wit--as when he summarizes Hume's positions on miracles and suicide as "no such thing" and "up to you."
Review
Well-written, clear and informed, they have a breezy wit about them...I find them hard to stop reading. (Bernstein, Richard New York Times )
Witty, illuminating, and blessedly concise. (Jim Holt Wall Street Journal )
Each of these little books is witty and dramatic and creates a sense of time, place, and character...I cannot think of a better way to introduce oneself and one's friends to Western civilization. (Katherine A. Powers Boston Globe )
A godsend in this era of the short attention span. (Daryl Royster Alexander New York Times )
Strathern offers a concise, expert account. (Library Journal )
Witty, illuminating, and blessedly concise. (Jim Holt Wall Street Journal )
Each of these little books is witty and dramatic and creates a sense of time, place, and character...I cannot think of a better way to introduce oneself and one's friends to Western civilization. (Katherine A. Powers Boston Globe )
A godsend in this era of the short attention span. (Daryl Royster Alexander New York Times )
Strathern offers a concise, expert account. (Library Journal )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A History lesson on Hume,
By A Customer
This review is from: Hume in 90 Minutes (Philosophers in 90 Minutes Series) (Paperback)
The sole purpose of the "90 minute" book seris is to give the reader a firm understanding of the subject at hand. Hume was a philospher so I was expecting "Hume in 90 minutes" to deal soley with Hume's philopshy. This was not always the case. The book reads more as a history lesson of Hume's life and the world around him, namly Britian in the eighteenth-century. I found the most informarive part of the book (where Hume's philosphy is discussed) is the last section where there contains excerpts of what Hume wrote about concerning different subjects and topics. Strathern does a good job in showing the reader WHO Hume has influenced and HOW they have been influenced by him. The way Strathern shows the effects that Hume has had on modern scienece is also very successful. Overall, "Hume in 90 minutes" is a good way of learning about Hume's life but it lacks the philosopical insight that I was hoping to find before I read the book. The book is an enjoyable read and I recommend the "90 minute" seris to anyway that wants to learn more about the lives and times of differnt philosophers.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Humane and human Hume kills off Philosophy,
By Shalom Freedman "Shalom Freedman" (Jerusalem,Israel) - See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER) (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)
This review is from: Hume in 90 Minutes (Philosophers in 90 Minutes Series) (Paperback)
I have read a good share of Strathern's short works on the great philosophers. I have the feeling that the more interesting the life and character of the philosopher discussed the better the volume. For some reason Hume is for me a very interesting, and admirable character even though religiously I am totally on the other side of the fence. i.e. Strathern claims that Hume is the first philosopher who has the guts to come and say out and out that he is an atheist. I am a person who believes that without God not only I, but all of Humanity is lost.In any case Strathern does a very good job of describing Hume's demolition of the idea of causality(There is sequence, before and after, without necessary connection between them) of continuity of objects, of induction( The fact that there has been night and day, night and day for so long as we know does not necessarily mean that the sun will come up tomorrow). He also does a wonderful job of providing the background to Hume's life in eighteenth century England. Hume whose greatest passion despite him in later years belonging to a group called 'The Eaterei' and being immensely corpulent was for ' literary fame' His first great work 'The Treatise on Human Nature' contained his major ideas but did not bring him the prize he sought.But by the time he wrote an'Enquiry on Human Understanding' he attained it. Also the author of a popular History of England Hume was that rare creature who achieves in his life precisely what he wanted to, and was famed, honored, celebrated and justly so. This short work is a very good account of the life and clear exposition of those ideas, ideas which will make us forever think twice about, whether our world, and we ourselves are ' real 'or not. But of course ' we are' and ' I wrote this review' and someone named 'Paul Strathern wrote a very good book ' about Hume.
4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Plenty of gossip; little information,
By Jmark2001 (Florida) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Hume in 90 Minutes (Philosophers in 90 Minutes Series) (Paperback)
Well, Strathern is certainly entertaining, if not informative. He gives us the dirt on each philosopher, tells us who was overweight, cheap, pushed people around, etc. This would be great if we were reading about movie stars or politicians but I bought these books in order to understand something about what these philosophers thought. He does reserve a few pages at the end of each volume to tells us one or two of their ideas and gives us a handful of quotes. A total waste of money unless you hate your philosophy classes so much that you want to hear how awful the personal lives of the philosophers were. A new low in publishing.
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