Philosophy 101: From Plato and Socrates to Ethics and Metaphysics, an Essential Primer on the History of Thought (Adams 101 Series) Hardcover – October 18, 2013

As someone who has just begun this philosophical journey, I have been overwhelmed and unsure where to start. In my excitement I went out and bought Nietzsche, Freud, Dostoevsky, Jung, Marx, you name it. I then realized that you don't begin running by attempting a marathon, you start with a light jog. I needed to learn the basics and have a background and overview of what I was getting myself into. In comes Philosophy 101. This book is written extremely well in a simple, concise, and logical order that anyone can understand. It breaks down complex topics into bite sized amounts and doesn't feel overwhelming at all. It is also extremely engaging, there's something magical about the way the author articulates his points. This may sound strange but it actually IS a page turnover (you probably weren't expecting that). There is NOTHING boring about this book.If you are newly embarking on this journey of understanding philosophy this is THE place to start. I will say this book is slightly on the smaller side and it first I was concerned it would hinder the reading experience but on the contrary it actually improved it. The text is perfectly legible and sized perfectly, absolutely no difficulty in reading. I actually like the fact it is a little smaller, it makes it so convenient to grab a chair, sit outside, and immerse yourself in the text.*Important note to add I also purchased a book called "The Philosophy Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained" along with this one which proved to be an excellent decision and complements this book perfectly. Philosophy 101 reads more like a traditional book but The Philosophy Book is a larger beautifully illustrated work of art that acts more like a reference book. It covers hundreds of philosophers and each of them has a dedicated section, along with exemplary illustrated examples of philosophical topics. I HIGHLY suggest you buy the hardcover copy of that book as well if you can swing it.As Descartes once said cogito, ergo sum, I think, therefore I am.

I am a science PhD and have an MBA and....I hate philosophy. I had a philosophy class for one semester in my first year of college and I just couldn't deal with it. I thought it was so stupid. Old folk asking dumb questions about trees falling in forests and not making sounds - wow, how exciting (sarcastic). But this introductory book actually explains things exceptionally well, and in a way that is easy to follow and will not put you to sleep (although it could do that too, in a good way, if you were to read it close enough to bedtime). The general structure of the book is chronological, and it holds your hand on a journey through the development of human intellectual thought from several hundred years B.C. to present. It describes how, why, and by whom our level of thinking about existence has progressed during this time period. It's a great little book. I highly recommend this book to all of my fellow human beings.

This book might be good for postmodern audiences with short attention spans, though it is technically not a good introduction to the vast subject of philosophy. Though the author is not a professional philosopher nor does he have any academic degrees in the subject, he is a good teacher and has done his homework. I cannot recommend this book for those who want to study philosophy on an academic level, though it is worthwhile for those looking for a quick overview of some hot topics in philosophy.

Excellent for people who may have scattered attention spans! Condensed so well and palatable. Keeps you in the groove and new information coming while helping you retain what you’ve learned with simplicity.So well put together.

I purchased this book for my 16 year-old son, who expressed an interest in learning about philosophy in general, and a few philosophers, in particular. I browsed through a few books looking for one that offered a comprehensive selection of schools of thought, but was not too heavy reading for somebody new to the topic, and that would basically help my son meet his goal of acquainting himself with the very broad subject of philosophy.My son loved the book, he said that it gave him a walk through all the different points of view and a thorough understanding of the subject throughout history. His only regret was that the book didn't go more in-depth on his favorite philosophers but he understood that it was not its purpose and was very appreciative of my gift.Mission accomplished!

Basically, the book is exactly what it’s cover claims it is – a crash course in philosophy. It does make the strange decision to not present its material in any kind of order, which makes it harder to see the connections between different schools of thought and how different ideas developed. I think by having the whole book be sort of random, it also makes it more difficult to retain some of the information presented.I found the book at its best in two areas 1. when presenting short, three to five page chapters on certain philosophers and their main ideas and 2. the short chapters that clearly explained specific thought problems and paradoxes, such as the trolley problem or Plato’s cave.On the negative side, I would say, so much info is presented is such a brief fashion, sometimes just a couple sentence introduction to a complex idea, that some concepts are pretty difficult to grasp, and not clearly enough explained (for me). Scattered throughout the book, there are also at least several obvious errors, maybe due to lax or rushed proofreading (such as a sentence in the chapter on Bertrand Russell, that as written seems to say he was opposed to nuclear disarmament, when the opposite was true - in fact he was the original president of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament)… which obviously makes me wonder what else the book may have got wrong.Overall though, the book was basically what I hoped it would be, a mostly clear, concise run through the major philosopher’s biographies and philosophical concepts in less than three hundred pages.

Exactly what I expected .