An Intelligent Person's Guide to Philosophy [Paperback]

Roger Scruton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1999

"Philosophy--the 'love of wisdom'--can be approached in two ways: by doing it, or by studying how it has been done," so writes the eminent philosopher Roger Scruton. In this user-friendly book, he chooses to introduce philosophy by doing it. Taking the discipline beyond theory and "intellectualism," he presents it in an empirical, accessible, and practical light. The result is not a history of the field but a vivid, energetic, and personal account to guide the reader making his or her own venture into philosophy. Addressing a range of subjects from freedom, God, reality, and morality, to sex, music, and history, Scruton argues philosophy's relevance not just to intellectual questions, but to contemporary life.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In An Intelligent Person's Guide to Philosophy, Roger Scruton aims to present neither a history nor a survey of the subject (goals he's already met in his Modern Philosophy and A Short History of Modern Philosophy). Rather, he attempts to make philosophy interesting by showing why it is interesting to him. Thus the book's 12 short chapters deal not only with philosophy's old standards--truth, time, freedom, God--but also with topics that not all philosophers would regard as central, such as sex and music. The views of other philosophers peek through from time to time: several pages are devoted to savaging the French historian Michel Foucault and the American jurist Richard Posner, while the influences of Scruton's philosophical heroes, Kant and Wittgenstein, are detectable everywhere. Still, Scruton's primary concern is to present the problems and lay out their possible solutions as he sees them. True to the standards of the Anglo-American tradition of philosophy to which he declares allegiance, Scruton writes clearly, precisely, and honestly. At times he can be unnecessarily cagey: there is no telling, for example, on the basis of his chapter on God whether he in fact believes in God. But for the most part he is forthright, even when espousing controversial positions, such as claiming a uniquely privileged moral status for heterosexual monogamy. All in all, the intelligent person who reads Scruton's book can expect to learn how another intelligent person, who has thought long and hard, views philosophy. --Glenn Branch --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Scruton, a don at London University and a British TV personality, sets out to do philosophy rather than talk about it. He succeeds to a large extent in making the subject accessible, engaging the reader in philosophic thinking. Scruton inquires into truth, time, God, freedom, morality and even sex, carefully explaining who he believes is right and who is wrong in their opinions on the subjects. For instance, he warns against Nietzsche and Michel Foucault, and champions everyone who believes in persons with souls and free intentions, and who believes in the sacred and enchantment in the world. In addition to such authoritarian judgments, Scruton sometimes gets caught up in fighting internecine battles, especially against the view that genuine knowledge can only be scientific; then the clarity of his writing suffers. For example, "since the origin of both self and not-self is the act of self-positing, nothing on either side of the barrier is anything, in the last analysis, but self." When he philosophizes more freely, he puts the reader in a better mood: "This idea has recurred so often as to suggest that there is truth in it or a permanent need to believe so." In the final analysis, Scruton accomplishes his aim of using philosophy as therapy for our modern confusions, although mental health for him lies in more conservative thinking.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); First Printing, Underlining edition (February 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140275169
• ISBN-13: 978-0140275162
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #276,164 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terribly Interesting, Un-Put-Down-Able and Flawed, July 21, 2002

By 

Greg Feirman (Sacramento, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Intelligent Person's Guide to Philosophy (Paperback)

Roger Scruton's "An Intelligent Guide to Philosophy" is a fantastic book with a tremendous amount of interesting things to say but which at times is very hard to understand.

The first chapter "Why?" delves into that word which gives rise to philosophy. We can answer that question by giving a cause, a reason (which might also be a cause) or something that makes an action intelligible, according to Scruton. Science gives causes of the first kind while philosophy, in the way the world currently is, "attempts to justify the other kinds of 'Why?' - the 'Why?' which looks for a reason, and the 'Why?' which looks for a meaning" (pg 25). This plays into a constant theme of Scruton's, "If this book has a message, it is that scientific truth has human illusion as its regular by-product, and that philosophy is our surest weapon in the attempt to rescue truth from this predicament" (pg 8).

The next three chapters "Truth", "The Demon" and "Subject and Object" deal with truth, language and skepticism about the external world (and maybe some other subjects as well). This addresses Descartes's evil demon and the skepticism about the external world that has plagued modern philosophy since Descartes's "Meditations on First Philosophy" (1630).

After dealing with these metaphysical/epistemological subjects, Scruton turns to questions of human nature and ethics in chapters 5 through 10. He has some very interesting things to say about what distinguishes humans from animals (language is important) and about the crucial need that religion has addressed for human beings. I can't resist: ".... the rational being lives in a condition of metaphysical loneliness" (pg 89). "The 'first person plural' of the religious rite overcomes this isolation and creates, for a brief but necessary moment, the sense that we stand together outside nature, sharing the subjective viewpoint which otherwise we know only as 'mine'" (pg 90). The chapter on morality has interesting things to say but I'm not sure it is philosophically sound. There is a chapter on "Sex" where he brings to bear the subject/object distinction that he has used since the beginning and which is very interesting.

All in all, this book has, in my opinion, alot of wisdom and truth in it, alot of material in a small amount of space, but it is also difficult to follow at times (i.e. the chapters on "Time", "Morality" and "Music"). In the end, I couldn't put the book down because Scruton gets so much right, is surely brilliant and has clearly studied these subjects long and hard. And I also sympathize with his general aim (quoted above).

------ Greg Feirman

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Introduction, December 1, 2002

By 

Steve Jackson "stevejackson100atyahoocom" (New England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Intelligent Person's Guide to Philosophy (Paperback)

Roger Scruton is one of the UK's best-known philosophers, and a conservative to boot. Unlike many philosophers, Scruton writes well. He alternates between weighty tomes and books for the common man. Like his other works pitched to the level the common man, AN INTELLIGENT PERSON'S GUIDE TO PHILOSOPHY is simple, but not simplistic.

This work is a joy to read. Scruton - whose primary intellectual debt is to Kant and Wittgenstein - discusses a number of the central themes in philosophy. It is something of an "opinionated introduction." While Scruton wants to explain the issue and give an overview to the debate, he wants to provide answers as well. Take for example the question of skepticism. Introductory works on philosophy often go into excessive detail about spoons in water, color blindness, placing your frozen hand in hot water, etc. Skepticism becomes the "default" position. Scruton turns the tables. As he notes, as long as one starts from the Cartesian "inside out" approach to the mind, it is extremely hard to "connect" the mind to an external world. However, Wittgenstein's argument against "private language" provides a cogent rejoinder: how could one speak of sensations if there is not some public language? Whether Wittgenstein's thought leads to a different kind of subjectivism is another question. (I'm no expert on Wittgenstein, but I'm reading a work by Brand Blanshard who refuses to discuss the later Wittgenstein on the ground that his jottings are open to so many understandings that not even the experts can confidently expound them.)

This is an excellent introduction to philosophy, which will encourage readers who have minimal philosophy training to study more. I think Searle's MIND, LANGUAGE AND SOCIETY; and Gilson's THE UNITY OF PHILOSOPHICAL EXPERIENCE would make excellent follow-up works. Scruton's MODERN PHILOSOPHY: AN INTRODUCTION AND SURVEY covers similar ground as the book under review, but in much more detail.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fine Introduction, March 7, 1999

By A Customer

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This review is from: An Intelligent Person's Guide to Philosophy (Paperback)

For a novice to the writings of philosophy, this volume turned out to be an excellent introduction. Dense, lucidly written, requiring no prior familiarity with the subject but a willingness to focus on difficult concepts, it was a fascinating read. It made me want to read more, particularly by this author. Only the section on "Music" was weak, lacking the rigor found elsewhere in this terrific volume.