Philosophy: the Basics - Nigel Warburton

Philosophy: The Basic is an introduction to philosophy. The author, Nigel Warburton, of the book is a philosophy lecturer with the Open University. The book is very much designed as a guide to someone who is actively studying philosophy rather than someone who is looking for an interesting read. The book has chapters on God, Right and Wrong, Politics, The External World, Science, Mind and Art. Each chapter considers a number of arguments or points of view. Immediately after the argument one or more counter arguments are presented. Following this it moves onto another point or argument. There ... more

Warburton's "Philosophy: The Basics" is currently in it's fourth edition and is becoming something of a modern classic as starter texts go. Warburton is a reasonably good descendant of the Bertrand Russell school - get straight to the point, leave out the tedious verbiage and cover a broad range of topics providing impetus for the beginner to start exploring rather than being put off by the word crimes of some of philosophy's greatest. The book is split in to chapters on God, ethics ("Right and Wrong"), Politics, epistemology (Warburton substitutes "The external world" in it's place), Science ... more

This is a great introduction to philosophy - it touches on most of the major areas of the subject, but rather than just skimming over difficult questions, it poses them anyway and encourages the reader to begin to think philosophically for himself. A great read if you're considering studying philosophy - the sorts of stuff it covers is probably the kind of thing you will study. If you are intrigued or annoyed by any of the stuff in here, the subject might be for you. On the other hand, if none of it interests you at all, then maybe consider studying something else! Don't ignore this book if ... more

This smallish book is an excellent introductory read for anyone who is starting out in philosophy. It covers all the main areas of philosophy, such as Ethics, Politics, Metaphysics, Epistemology, etc. and all in very plain English. Nigel Warburton is well- known for producing really good introductory and beginner's guides to philosophy, as well as some more advanced stuff. Another good book by Nigel Warburton for those starting out in philosophy is "Philosophy- The Classics", which gives a chapter to each of about twenty really major works of philosophy, all the way from Aristotle to ... more