Customer Reviews

The Philosophers Toolkit: A Compendium of Philosophical Concepts and Methods (CourseSmart)

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REVIEW: This book, while sometimes reading like a condensed encyclopedia, is an excellent resource for anyone interested in Philosophical thought and Logic. It is an excellent introduction as well as a reference book. And while the title and binding may detract from it's apparent academic credibility, I assure you it is there.

The book covers several sections, beginning with basic argumentation (Fallacies, Premises, etc...) and expanding out into complex ideas such as Hume's Fork, Leibniz's Law of Identity, Ockham's Razor and similar concepts. It is also very well cross-referenced, providing an almost instantaneous ability to further investigate topics. Additionally, it has a section devoted to Philosophical Resources on the Internet. While this might not be of use in a few years, it definitely is of use now. Finally, the book also includes a small section of "Recommended Readings" at the end of every section that is very useful.

STRENGTHS: Excellent content and superb explanation of the content. The author does a wonderful job of explaining complex philosophical ideas in a clear and concise manner. It also very well thought out, cross-referencing and suggesting additional readings on every topic.

WEAKNESSES: The book is not exactly stimulating in any contemporary manner. It is written more like an encyclopedia rather than a novel and is therefore a bit dry. Also, it's appearance detracts from the seriousness of it's subject matter.

WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK: Those interested in understanding philosophical arguments and/or logic. This book is also helpful to Philosophy Majors/Minors as a refresher or a reference book.

FOR SIMILAR/RELATED TOPICS, CONSIDER: Informal Logic: A Handbook for Critical Argument by Douglas Walton and A Rulebook for Arguments by Anthony Weston

This Toolkit is such a good, smart idea, I wonder why nobody wrote a book like this before. Consisting of a series of connected brief entries (many of them quite witty), it explains important philosophical concepts and shows how we can use them to help us makes sense of life's big questions. It makes an excellent dictionary of basic philosophical concepts, but, unlike a dictionary, it is also designed to be read straight through. And it practices what it preaches: The Principle of Charity, for instance, is consistently applied. The Toolkit, along with Simon Blackburn's delightful dictionary and Roger Scruton's lucid (if rather biased) Short History, got me through several tough college philosophy courses.

If you're new to modern philosophy and want to know what it's about, read Baggini & Fosl's "Philosopher's Toolkit" (along with Thomas Nagel's "What Does It All Mean?") and you'll have a very good idea of the basic questions & methods involved. (Be warned: philosophy is highly addictive stuff and you might find that it changes the way you see everything.)

This is an execellent introductory text for neophyte philosophers as well as a decent resource for those who have more experience in philosophy. It has a unique format among introductory books, one which is better suited to the material.

This book could be used as a reference guide, introductory text, or as a textbook for a philosophy class. Lets you know everything you need to get started with philosophy. This book starts with the simple concepts and moves on to continually more advanced ideas.

I have read many books on argumentation, rhetoric and reasoning but this book encapsulates the most comprehensive presentation yet. It is a gem of a guide to effective reasoning which applies to more than just philosophy. Some of the ideas presented are ones I have experienced in arguments but this author was the first to explain them.

Baggini and Fosl have provided an excellent reference resource for those interested in Philosphy and also those who which to argue better. The presentation of the "tools" aids the clear understanding of each of the concepts, with examples that are easy to comprehend. One of the few books around that gives a comprehensive and readable account of these "tools". A must buy.

I had completed a bachelors in philosophy when I read this book, and I have to say it is simply the best text around:

-as a prerequisite for anyone who wants to dabble in philosophy or is thinking about doing it as a major

-for understanding how to apply philosophy; since this is a compilation of all the basics, it is an useful means of understaning analysis and argumentation, even if you are familiar with it. This book was great in addition to or without my logic class.

-for anyone who wants to review the breadth of philosophical subcategories.

I think as people tend to go through their academic (personal or professional) career they forget to justify to themselves, what they are studying and why. This text gives a clear putline to the question of 'What exactly is philosophy?'. By the way the answer is not the 'love of wisdom'! That is a translation not an answer, anyone who uses that as a definition obviously does not understand the subject-matter.

Instead of wasting our time with introduction to the history of philosophy...pick up this book, then go read the actual philosophy books, with a reading program. This book will make it easier.
Goodluck!

This is a great book. It gives you snippets of information about various tools employed by philosophers. It would serve as a great reference to have around while writing philosophy papers.

The only bad thing about it is the ugly cover design.

I've been reading philosophy for about 6 years now, and in many cases I would have to modify that verb with "valiantly trying to". I could probably count on one hand the number of times that, coming across an unfamiliar term or concept, one of my three philosophy dictionaries has clarified the issue for me and allowed me to continue with the text with the same level of confidence I had had before I came across the term.

Take for example Kant's analytic/synthetic. The dictionary will tell you what it means. But you still might not understand it. Either the dictionary defines it using other terms and references you don't understand, sending you winding through scores of other entries on a goose chase and only ending up with a web of interconnected ideas floating somewhere above the current state of your understanding and no bridge between, or the dictionary gives you a perfectly good definition, but no context as to why anyone would care to make a distinction that really just seems so obvious, and then write a book about it.

The Philosopher's Toolkit is the bridge I've needed. The ideas are stated in much simpler language than any dictionary, and also give a context for every idea so you can understand why it matters. I even bought a couple of books from the recommended reading lists at the end of each section (starred for how easy they are to understand). I'd call this volume essential.

At the time of this review, there were 11 reviews, all of them 5-star. This is the 12th. Enough said.

I have read many introductions to philosophy aimed at laymen & this is by far the best I've seen. Everything is explained very clearly, referencing the relevant concepts after each explaination, great book recommendations, even some great online references. This one does just about everything right.