Description
Book SynopsisWhat am I? What is consciousness? What is the difference between past and future? Does the world presuppose a creator? Do we always act out of self-interest? This is a book about the big questions in life: knowledge, consciousness, fate, God, truth, goodness, justice. It is for anyone who believes there are big questions out there, but does not know how to approach them. Written by the author of the bestselling Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, Think sets out to explain what they are and why they are important. Simon Blackburn begins by putting forward a convincing case for the study of philosophy and goes on to give the reader a sense of how the great historical figures such as Plato, Hume, Kant, and Descartes have approached its central themes. Each chapter explains a major issue, and gives the reader a self-contained guide through the problems that philosophers have studied. The large range of topics covered range from scepticism, the self, mind and body, and freedom to ethics and the arguments surrounding the existence of God. Written in a lively and approachable manner, this book is ideal for all those who want to learn how the basic techniques of thinking shape our existence.
Trade ReviewThink offers a tour of philosophical thinking . . . central to our understanding of the world and our position in it. * Sunday Times 29/04/01 *
highly recommended * TLS 27/04/01 *
The one book every smart person should read.' - Time Magazine, 10.4.99
'Simon Blackburn's lucidly elegant essay is a guide to the most central concerns of philosophy... A beautifully clear account of the chief arguments in each debate. Blackburn is an accomplished philosopher, which makes this a valuable little book.' Sunday Times, 7.11.99
Table of ContentsPART ONE: SETTING THE SCENE ; 1. Descartes's Demon ; PART TWO: BEGINNING TO THINK ABOUT OURSELVES ; 2. Consciousness, Zombies, and Permutants ; 3. Freedom, Determinism, Fate ; 4. The Conscious Self ; PART THREE: BEGINNING TO THINK ABOUT THE WAY THINGS ARE ; 5. Good God? ; 6. Wrestling with Idealism ; 7. Why do Things Keep on Keeping On? ; 8. The Arts of Intellectual Hygiene ; PART FOUR: BEGINNING TO THINK ABOUT WHAT TO DO ; 9. Behaving Well ; 10. Pulling Together
