Philosophy: The Basics [Paperback]

Nigel Warburton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 23, 1999 | ISBN-10: 0415146941 | ISBN-13: 978-0415146944 | Edition: 3

Philosophy: The Basics is the book for anyone coming to philosophy for the first time. Nigel Warburton's best selling book gently eases the reader into the world of philosophy. Each chapter considers a key area of philosophy, explaining and exploring the basic ideas and themes.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Nigel Warburton deserves much congratulation: he has produced an absolutely ideal guide for anyone who is about to start, or has recently started, formal or informal study in philosophy. [..] -- Ashley Frank in The Philosopher, Spring 1998 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Nigel Warburton is Lecturer in Philosophy at the Open University. He is the author of the many books, including Philosophy: The Classics (Routledge 1998).

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 3 edition (June 23, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415146941
• ISBN-13: 978-0415146944
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,274,423 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nigel Warburton (1962 - ). Nigel Warburton is a senior lecturer at the Open University and bestselling author of several popular introductory Philosophy books including Philosophy: The Basics, Thinking from A to Z, Philosophy: The Classics, Philosophy: Basic Readings, Freedom: An Introduction with Readings, and The Art Question. He is an Honorary Associate Research Fellow of the Institute of Philosophy and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He can be found blogging, podcasting and twittering via his popular philosophy blog, Virtual Philosopher.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Short Introduction to the Way Philosophers Think, February 23, 2004

By 

ctdreyer (NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Philosophy: The Basics (Paperback)

I discovered this book as a high school student with some interest in philosophy, and I'm glad that I did. Warburton's book is essentially a textbook on philosophy for the absolute beginner, and it's a very good one. Indeed, I can't think of any introductory philosophy book I've read that provides one with a better example of what the study of philosophy is like.

Other introductions to philosophy are usually of two sorts. One provides you with a fairly superficial account of the main ideas of the most famous philosophers, and the other consists of a philosopher presenting his or her own views in such a way that they're accessible to those without prior knowledge of philosophy. Books of both these sorts have value to those coming to philosophy for the first time, but neither gives an accurate picture of what it's like to study philosophy. Those of the first sort suggest that the study of philosophy is part of the study of the history of ideas, and this isn't the case. Philosophers are concerned with the work of great historical figures in their field. But they're concerned with this work as a repository of ideas and insights that are worthy of being defended today, and not only as evidence of historical trends in the study of their subject. And books of the second sort often fail to provide one with a sense of the range of arguments and positions available on any philosophical topic. The writers of these books are usually more interested in introducing the reader to their own views than in introducing the reader to philosophical thinking, and they're knowledgeable enough to know where the weaknesses in their views are and how to hide them (or at least avoid topics that are likely to bring these weaknesses to the reader's attention). Moreover, works of this sort tend to suggest that philosophy is a body of widely accepted views about certain subjects, and that is very misleading.

Basically, the study of philosophy is the study of arguments, and this is a book about the sorts of arguments philosophers study. But what sorts of arguments are philosophers interested in? For the most part, they're interested in arguments people have given on topics where it's not clear we have the ability to settle disputes by scientific means. That is, philosophy tries to help us understand the world just by thinking about it. Or, at least, philosophy asks and responds to questions that are so general and abstract that it's not clear we can discover answers to them by going out into the world and observing something or conducting an experiment. (For better of worse, questions about what, exactly, philosophers study and what methods they should employ are questions that it seems only philosophy itself is suited to answer. And while philosophers tend to agree about which questions they should be thinking about, they disagree about just why those are the right questions and how one can go about answering them (if they think there are such answers).) What sorts of questions are these? Warburton focuses on the following: Does God exist? What is the nature of right and wrong? Can we know anything about the world outside our minds? How is the mind related to the body? What reasons, if any, do we have for thinking that science provides us with a true account of the physical world?

Warburton's book discusses some of the most important and influential arguments philosophers have developed on these subjects along with the most important and influential objections to those arguments. The book's structure is actually rather simple: Warburton introduces a topic; he presents an argument for some important view on that topic; he then presents some objections to that argument; this is followed by the introduction of a new view that develops in response to those objections; he then presents arguments for this second views; then objections to this second view; and so on.

What is especially exciting about this book is that everything extraneous is removed from its presentation of the ideas under consideration. It's one hundred and fifty pages of really interesting ideas (and other really interesting ideas formed in response to those ideas) presented as clearly and succinctly as possible, and it's extensive enough in its coverage to give you some sense of the range of possible that are available to people thinking about these questions. In less than an hour with this book, you can get an introduction to the most significant arguments philosophers have developed concerning, say, the existence of God. The book gives you just enough information to whet your appetite for more and to prepare you for study of these issues in more detail. Furthermore, and importantly, the book aims to introduce the reader to many of the major areas of philosophy, including including metaphysics, epistemology (the theory of knowledge), ethics, and political philosophy.

I'd recommend this book to anyone looking for an introduction to philosophy.

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Guide to Philosophical Thinking, July 24, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Philosophy: The Basics (Library Binding)

What is philosophy? Can we prove that God exists? What is right and what is
wrong? Is the world really like we think it is? What makes up science? How
do body and mind differ from each other? Can we define art?

Haven't you ever contemplated some or all of these questions? Yes, you
certainly have. And so have I. These are basic questions we are all eager to
find answers to, after all. And these are the basic problems of philosophy,
too. Philosophy--a subject that I have always been interested in, but never
found the time to study thouroughly. There are so many great philosophers
and they all wrote so big and important books. Where should I begin? Whom
should I read first? Should I begin with the Greek philosophers of the
antiquity, or just jump into Heidegger right away? Won't they confuse me?
Will I be able to decide who is right? Ok, philosophers wrote a lot of
highly interesting things during the centuries. But what's the outcome? Are
we cleverer now than the old Greeks were? How do today's philosophers think
about all those big questions I mentioned? I asked myself these questions
and it seemed to me that I needed a guide to philosophy badly.

And then I incidentally stumbled on Nigel Warburton's book, Philosophy:
The Basics. I just glimpsed the table of contents and I immediately knew
that this was the book I had been looking for. It's short and concise. It's
clear and often entertaining, avoiding highly technical language. It deals
with most of the important questions of philosophy. Its chapters are
organized around specific subjects, such as God, right and wrong, the
outside world, the scientific method, mind, and art. Each chapter presents
all the important philosophical positions and viewpoints (the various
'-ism's) concerning its subject, briefly summarizing the main arguments of
every school of thought, including the counter-arguments, critiques and
refutations given in reply to arguments of other schools. All opinions and
arguments presented in the book are valid today, and they are presented
without bias. No idea is set forth without telling the reader about its weak
points and main critiques. It is up to you, the reader, to decide which view
is the right one for you--or invent your own special opinion!

That is actually the major advantage of this book: it makes you think! I
guarantee you won't get away with reading this book without learning to
think on your own, and enjoying it! Having been supplied with all the major
ideas and viewpoints about the most basic questions of philosophy, you will
feel the urge to formulate your own personal opinion. I have succeeded with
this, and I have also learned how to support my opinions with good
arguments!

After having read this book, you will feel informed about all the major
schools in philosophy, concerning the subjects covered in the book. However,
you won't be able to associate the schools with the names of well-known,
great philosophers. That is a point where Warburton's book may fall short of
your expectations. It is not a book about the history of philosophy and it
is not a book that presents the great philosophers. It describes various
philosophical ideas but it rarely tells you which philosophers are the
originators of them. You won't find a word about Socrates, St. August,
Descartes, Hegel, Heidegger or Wittgenstein in it--though it presents some
of their ideas. So when you have read this book, the next step would
certainly be to find a book about the history of philosophy--and I'm sure
you will be interested enough to do that! To this end, Warburton's book has
a list of recommended literature for further study, starting with Bryan
Magee's 'The Great Philosophers'.

I heartily recommend Warburton's book to anyone. While it is basically a
book about philosophy and philosophical thinking for beginners, I'm sure
that advanced learners of philosophy can also use it well. There are hardly
any books that give such concise and unbiased summaries of the essential
arguments and critiques in the various branches of philosophy. You could use
Warburton's book when preparing for your next philosophy exam...

Andras Szilagyi

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!, June 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Philosophy: The Basics (Paperback)

This book is an excellent introduction to philosophy. I had already studied a considerable amount of philosophy in different areas. This book explained the basic concepts in the best terms and with the best examples I have seen. He is brutally unbiased however and rarely proclaims one thing as wrong or right. This book was well worth the money .