The Philosophy Book - Will Buckingham

   2011; 774 pages.  Full Title: The Philosophy Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained.   New Author? : Yes.  Genres : Philosophy; Biographies; Non-Fiction; Reference.  Overall Rating: 9*/10.

 

    Quick, what exactly is the definition of the word “Philosophy”?  My best try would be something like “Trying to know the Unknowable”, which is both oxymoronic and pretty useless.

 

    The Philosophy Book, by Will Buckingham has a better answer, and it comes in both a long and a short version.  The long one is:

 

    “Any sustained rational reflection about general principles that has the aim of achieving a deeper understanding.”  That’s not much better than mine.  The short one is:

 

    “The love of wisdom.”

 

    I like that one much better.

 

What’s To Like...

    The subtitle of The Philosophy Book is worth noting: Big Ideas Simply Explained.  At 774 pages, this book introduces the reader to an incredible array of philosophers and philosophies from all parts of the world (not just Western civilization) and down through the ages (from 750 BCE to the present).  Altogether, 107 philosophers are examined, and in a roughly chronological order.

 

After an introductory overview, the book is divided into six sections:

    01. The Ancient World  (700 BCE – 250 CE)

    02. The Medieval World  (250 – 1500)

    03. Renaissance and the Age of Reason  (1500 – 1750)

    04. The Age of Revolution  (1750 – 1900)

    05. The Modern World  (1900 – 1950)

    06. Contemporary Philosophy  (1950 – present)

 

    The template for presenting each philosopher is:

First Page

    Catchy Aphorism

    Philosopher’s Name, Year Born, Year Died

Second Page

    Branch of Philosophy

    Approach

    Those “Before” who influenced the philosopher

    Those "After" who were influenced by the philosopher

Text

    Introduction to the philosopher

    Flow Charts (usually)

    Quotations (occasionally)

    Discussion of philosopher’s main tenets

    Biography

    Key Works

    “See Also”

    Pictures (usually)

 

    Additional sections in the back include a Directory (great for looking up any philosopher, famous or obscure), a Glossary (great for looking up any of the -isms, -ologies, and other technical terms coined in the book), and Contributors, which lists all those who helped Will Buckingham write this book.  All of the writers are English, so you occasionally run across spellings like: sceptical, judgement, defence, furore, no-one, artefact, and fulfil.  But curiously, some effort seems to have been made to Americanize the text, with spellings such as judgment and color.

 

    I liked that the book didn’t limit itself to European and American philosophers; there were a sizable number of Arab, Eastern Asian, and African philosophers included.  Ditto for Women and Black philosophers, at least when we got to modern times.

 

    “Felicific Calculus” made me chuckle; it’s an algorithm by which you can supposedly calculate happiness.  I loved reading about Rumi and Sufism with the “Whirling Dervishes”.  Mozi was new to me, but his thoughts resonated with me.  I enjoyed getting reacquainted with the mystic Moses Maimonides, whose works I read way back in my Metaphysical Days.  And I was amazed to read that the first Atomic Theory was developed strictly through reasoning and put forth in the fifth century BCE!

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.6/5 based on 3,237 ratings and 583 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.17/5 based on 4,779 ratings and 364 reviews

 

Excerpts...

    We may think it is not “good” to make a fool of ourselves in public, and so resist the urge to dance joyfully in the street.  We may believe that the desires of the flesh are sinful, and so punish ourselves when they arise.  We may stay in mind-numbing jobs, not because we need to, but because we feel it is our duty to do so.  Nietzsche wants to put an end to such life-denying philosophies, so that humankind can see itself in a different way.  (loc. 4270)

 

    In the introduction to The Second Sex de Beauvoir notes society’s awareness of this fluidity: “We are exhorted to be women, remain women, become women.  It would appear, then, that every female human being is not necessarily a woman.”  She later states the position explicitly: “One is not born but becomes a woman.”

    De Beauvoir says that women must free themselves both from the idea that they must be like men, and from the passivity that society has induced in them.  Living a truly authentic existence carries more risk than accepting a role handed down by society, but it is the only path to equality and freedom.  (loc. 5626)

 

Kindle Details…

    The Philosophy Book sells for $8.99 at Amazon right now.  Will Buckingham has at least 10 other e-books available, in a wide variety of subjects, including Philosophy, Self-Help, and Children's Tales, ranging in price from $3.99 to $46.50.

 

“When one thinks like a mountain, one thinks also like the black bear, so that honey dribbles down your fur as you catch the bus to work.”  (loc. 5763)

    It’s hard to find things to nitpick about in The Philosophy Book.  Some reviewers groused about the lack of depth in the book, but hey, if you’re going to cover 2,700 years and 100+ philosophers in the book, I am happy the text limited itself to just the basics.

 

    The flow charts and pictures added a nice touch to the book, but that came at the cost of a huge file size.  Amazon lists it as being 192,824 kilobytes.  Think twice about downloading this if your Kindle is almost full, maybe opting for the paperback version which right now is only a couple dollars more than the e-book.

 

    My last nit to pick is a personal one.  How come Martin Buber wasn’t included in the 107 philosophers selected??  His magnum opus, “Ich und Du” (“I and Thou” in English) was required reading in a Sociology class I took in college, and the professor’s favorite reference book.  To be fair, Buber does get mentioned in The Philosophy Book, but only in passing.

 

    Enough quibbling.  The Philosophy Book is a fantastic reference source for anyone who wants to learn more about what all those thinkers have been thinking about for the past 27 centuries, but who don’t want to have to wade through their voluminous tomes.  That was me, and I am totally glad I read this.

 

    9 Stars.  We’ll close with an excerpt that, in a way, illustrates why I don’t read a lot of books about philosophy.  We’re quoting directly from the Glossary of The Philosophy Book.

 

 Metaphilosophy: The branch of philosophy that looks at the nature and methods of philosophy itself.

 

    How perplexingly tautological.