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Bryan Magee

Confessions of a Philosopher: A Personal Journey Through Western Philosophy from Plato to Popper (Modern Library (Paperback)) Paperback – May 18, 1999

by Bryan Magee (Author)

4.5 73 ratings

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In this infectiously exciting book, Bryan Magee tells the story of his own discovery of philosophy and not only makes it come alive but shows its relevance to daily life. Magee is the Carl Sagan of philosophy, the great popularizer of the subject, and author of a major new introductory history, The Story of Philosophy. Confessions follows the course of Magee's life, exploring philosophers and ideas as he himself encountered them, introducing all the great figures and their ideas, from the pre-Socratics to Bertrand Russell and Karl Popper, including Wittgenstein, Kant, Nietzsche, and Schopenhauer, rationalism, utilitarianism, empiricism, and existentialism.

Print length

496 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Modern Library
Publication date

May 18, 1999
Dimensions

5.2 x 1.06 x 7.99 inches
ISBN-10

0375750363
ISBN-13

978-0375750366
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A restless intellect and independent outlook characterize this candid autobiography, which will richly reward the serious reader."--Publishers Weekly, starred review

From the Inside Flap

In this infectiously exciting book, Bryan Magee tells the story of his own discovery of philosophy and not only makes it come alive but shows its relevance to daily life. Magee is the Carl Sagan of philosophy, the great popularizer of the subject, and author of a major new introductory history, The Story of Philosophy. Confessions follows the course of Magee's life, exploring philosophers and ideas as he himself encountered them, introducing all the great figures and their ideas, from the pre-Socratics to Bertrand Russell and Karl Popper, including Wittgenstein, Kant, Nietzsche, and Schopenhauer, rationalism, utilitarianism, empiricism, and existentialism.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Modern Library; 1999th edition (May 18, 1999)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 496 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0375750363
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0375750366
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.2 x 1.06 x 7.99 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #239,175 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #101 in Philosopher Biographies
- #378 in Philosophy Movements (Books)
- #1,792 in History of Philosophy & Schools of Thought

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4.5 73 ratings

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4.5 out of 5

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Daniel Putman

A personal journey into what the human mind can grasp

Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2019

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This is an unusual book. A chapter called “The Search for Meaning” spends much of the chapter on Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason. That would be tough to find anywhere else. Likewise, few other books that are autobiographies spend several chapters explaining the philosophies of Popper and Schopenhauer. And very few biographies or autobiographies stimulate a reader’s mind as much as this one. Bryan Magee’s self-narrated life history is a challenge not because of the philosophers he discusses but because readers will be forced to ask themselves important questions about their own lives.

Some background in philosophy or European intellectual history seems essential – not a great deal but enough to have a reasonable background in the history of Western thought. Magee does a great job of explaining the ideas of everybody from Plato to Russell but without some appreciation of the intellectual history of Europe it would still be extremely hard to connect the dots. A reader would also benefit from a prior personal interest in philosophical issues and the techniques of philosophers. A person has to care about what Magee is talking about. Finally, the book is almost completely Eurocentric (but that was the author’s life). Given these provisos, the reader will find this book both satisfying and thought-provoking. It may also simulate disagreement but that is exactly what the author is looking for. It is what happens in a good philosophy classroom and Magee is an excellent teacher in this book whether or not you agree with him. Magee is a lucid writer and his prior publishing and radio/television work is apparent. He knows how to present difficult material in a smooth and understandable fashion.

Magee spends a great deal of time criticizing the analytical tradition in 20th century philosophy, especially linguistic analysis. If I have any criticism of the book’s structure, it is that he goes a little overboard on this and is somewhat repetitive. I also did not get much out of the chapter about the writing of his novel, though anybody with an interest in writing fiction might get a great deal out of it. He also argues at length for the ideas of Kant and Schopenhauer which had a profound effect on him. Whether you agree with him or not, Magee does what a good teacher or writer should do, i.e., help the student or reader get past the speaker’s words to the deeper issues the words are trying to grasp. Philosophers sometimes have a problem with that. If Kant’s “noumena” is real and unknowable by concepts alone, then the art of Magee’s writing lets the reader get a glimpse of the critical importance and power of nonconceptual experiences. Like the artists he praises in the book, Magee gets us to consider seriously what is within our mental grasp and what may be beyond our concepts. The book is an intellectual journey well worth taking.

10 people found this helpful

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Keith C.

A Philosopher's Journey

Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2016

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This is the type of book often written by scholars at the end of his career that looks back on their educational journey and shares what they learned along the way. An excellent recent example of this type of work are the reflections of Bernard Lewis.
Magee begins with the thought experiments that he made as a child and takes us on the roundabout journey he made to a formal study of philosophy ( recommending some influential books along the way)
At this point the book begins to become more of a history of philosophic thought ( if you are reading this you have probably read Sophie's World), but it is refreshingly honest in parts - as when he says philosophers pretend to doubt things ( like the existence of others ) which they know perfectly well exist.
I would give the work 5 stars except for Magee's refusal to think about the existence of God. His dismissal of anything outside of the material universe by saying that he simply never gave it any thought is simply lazy and not credible.

5 people found this helpful

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Michael B. Cahill

One of the most enjoyable explorations of the lives and thoughts of the best and brightest.

Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2014

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Bryan Magee's Confessions of a Philosopher is an absolute joy to read and re-read.

Most chapters are written in a comfortable and conversational personal essay form, which appealed to me greatly - as I often felt like I was having a long chat with deeply wise friend. The entire work is plain spoken but always powerful, deep and thought provoking.

His sections on Popper, Russell, Wittgenstein, and most particularly on Kant and Schopenhauer were particularly of interest to me, as I had not explored the latter two in any significant depth previously.

Studiously ignoring Magee's direct advice, I next acquired and absorbed his excellent book dedicated to Schopenhauer rather than following his clear admonition to stick first to the original source material. Magee is very often but not always right, but he always identifies the right questions and issues, which he also rightly states is often the most important and key contribution of many of the greatest philosophers.

This is one of the most enjoyable excursions in my last 40+ years of exploration in the the lives and thoughts of the best and brightest. Many thanks for your efforts.

19 people found this helpful

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MADC

Very interesting journey....

Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2007

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Having read Magee's outstanding book on Popper, I got interested in this "biography"...which I knew was some kind of introduction...I have found his confessions to be very interesting and if you want to say so..they apply in some aspects, mainly in what he says about his midlife crisis, not just to himself, but to a lot of us. Regarding the "introductory" part of the book..the chapters on Kant, Popper, Russell and Schopenhauer are very good indeed, and some of the explanations that he brings forward are very much to the point and very clarifying. This is due to the fact that Mr. Magee is a very good writer and I would add, very honest. The way he puts his ideas in writing are very easy to follow and to digest. Get this book if you are really interested in Philosophy...

3 people found this helpful

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Zen9

A wise guide

Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2021

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This is the late Mr. Magee's intellectual autobiography. We followed similar philosophical paths up to and including Kant; we parted company at Schopenhauer. But I read every word of this book with great interest. In particular, I will always be grateful to Mr. Magee for insisting that I read Popper.

One person found this helpful

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Antony Raymont

It is good to hear the story of a real philosopher trying ...

Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2015

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It is good to hear the story of a real philosopher trying to solve the big problems of human life. I learnt a lot about philosophy - especially Kant and Schopenhauer. What he did not do is consider the impact of Eastern philosophy and spiritual life on the understanding of these issues. This was somewhat surprising given that he casually remarks, somewhere, that Schopenhauer was in the habit of reading the Upanishads...

One person found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Philosophy

Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2019

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not as crisp or new as advertised, spine looks like it was broken into already. But, apart from this oversight not much to review, just got it now.

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Mr. Francois Marcognet

Autobiographie d'un philosophe Popperien

Reviewed in France on April 19, 2012

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Par l'intermédiaire de son autobiographie, Bryan Magee nous fournit un excellent éclairage sur la philosophie occidentale depuis ses origines et plus particulièrement au XXème siècle.
En effet l'autobiographie intellectuelle de l'auteur nous permet de ressaisir l'importance et l'impact du Cercle de Vienne, de la philosophie de Cambridge, puis de celle d'Oxford. Partant d'interrogations philosophiques générales et surtout épistémologiques, c'est grâce à la lecture et à la fréquentation de Karl Popper qu'il a pu dépasser le positivisme logique, la philosophie analytique , l'héritage de la métaphysique, et mieux tirer profit des contributions de Kant et de Schopenhauer. Ainsi avec l'épistémologie de Popper, il a pu répondre à ses préoccupations existentielles (son angoisse) et philosophiques. Nous retrouvons un contenu philosophique fondamental et une grande expérience humaine, tout en reposant les questions philosophiques essentielles de Kant.

One person found this helpful

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Christian Bawa Yamba

that makes the book assessable to the intelligent non-professional reader

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 4, 2016

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Lucid and coherent! As with much of Magee work, presented with a rare pedagogic skill, that makes the book assessable to the intelligent non-professional reader.

One person found this helpful

Ms. R. Wang

One Star

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 5, 2015

Verified Purchase

disappointing, too self-indulgent

2 people found this helpful

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