Philosophy in Minutes (In Minutes (Quercus)) by Marcus Weeks

in Minutes

by Marcus Weeks

Philosophy in Minutes distils 200 of the most important philosophical ideas into easily digestible, bite-sized sections.

The core information for every topic - including debates such as the role of philosophy in science and religion, key thinkers from Aristotle to Marx, and introductions to morality and ethics - is explained in straightforward language, using illustrations to make the concepts easy to understand and remember.

Whether you are perplexed by existentialism or pondering the notion of free will, this accessible small-format book will help any reader to quickly grasp the basics of this highly nuanced subject.

Chapters include: Truth and logic, Marxism, Communism and Socialism, Ontology, Philosophy and literature, Existence of God, Feminist theory, Consciousness, The future of philosophy.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Reference, History

Paperback

First published January 2, 2014

About the author

Marcus Weeks é colaborador frequente de enciclopédias e livros de referência, atuando também como consultor de vários títulos da editora britânica Dorling Kindersley. É autor de diversos livros, como Se liga na filosofia e O livro da psicologia.

Possui uma vasta lista de talentos e interesses. Quando não está escrevendo, é professor de música, dá aulas de inglês para estrangeiros, administra uma galeria de arte, afina e restaura pianos, é editor de música, arranjador, compositor, entre muitas outras coisas. Mora em Hastings, na Inglaterra.

Ele também escreve sob o pseudônimo: Nicholas D. Satan

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yeah, in over 200 minutes... what a bad way to learn complex integrated ideas. Well, I dunno what you'd think if this was all brand-new to you, but I've had a couple of courses and read a few other introductions, and this just frustrated the heck out of me. I tried the first third at a pace of 1-3 pp at a time, kept losing track of what I'd already been taught. Read the last 2/3 in one afternoon and retain nothing of that beyond what I already knew.

Notably, I'm frustrated not only by the lack of cohesion and coherence, but the strange emphases. Either call it "The History of Western Philosophy in Minutes" or develop modern and world philosophy better. A handful of pages cover all of Eastern religions and philosophies! And a few vague platitudinous pp purport to speak to the value of philosophy today.

And what's up with the absence of women? Three pp total, and two are actually about the Rights of Women (emancipation and liberation). The third is actually about 'gender and philosophy' and doesn't even name anyone. Is Meeks a 'blind' white male? Or are there no female philosophers worth writing about? And if not, why not? (Is it because we women are so busy with just plain living that we don't have time for this BS? ;)

I chose to read this because I have always wondered what's so 'key' about philosophy that it gets books like this. I still don't know. And I'm pretty sure I no longer care.

[Srini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simplified and easy to grasp, I'm using this book to make notes on philosophy. Really helpful!

[Hana · Rating 2 out of 5]

در مقایسه با کتاب های زیادی که در رابطه با فلسفه به صورت موضوعی و تاریخ فلسفه نوشته شده این کتاب اصلا کامل و جامع نیست. اگر میخواهید این کتاب را بخوانید یا باید آنرا بعنوان اولین کتاب فلسفی خود بخوانید که کمی با فلسفه آشنا شوید و یا بعنوان کتابی بعد از کتاب های دیگر برای یادآوری.
البته خلاصه گویی کتاب و جامع نبودن آن در نام آن ذکر شده. در کل، خواندنش بی فایده نبود.

[Hayri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Felsefenin ilk yıllarından günümüze hangi problemler üzerinde tartışıldığı, ana kavram ve akımların neler olduğu gibi sorular hakkında fikir sahibi olmak için faydalı bir kitap. Fakat detay ve yeterli seviyede bilgi içermediğinden, belki tüm felsefi konulara bir 'icindekiler' sayfası olarak bakılabilir.

[Nic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personal response
I thought that the book was amazing it truly made me think about things. I received a good understanding of philosophy from this book. It was a book that could have been read over again or whenever the reader wanted to. It was a great book to just read a page a day. This book can teach the reader a lot.

Plot
The plot of the book was exactly how the title made it sound. It informed the reader as to what philosophy was, when it started, and how it is used. It started by explaining how the Greeks and Asians first came about with the idea. How the first question on “How do we know that?” came to be. Then it challenged the read to then think for his or herself. As the book presented topics like ontology which was the study of us as beings and categorizing what exists and what doesn't exist. In ontology they ask questions like “where did we come from?” Or “why are we here?” The book also showed how philosophy, even branched into science with studies like natural science or more commonly know as astrophysics. It also informed the reader of political philosophy, like the ideas of Karl Marx with socialism and Vladimir Lenin with his idea of communism. In the branch of metaphysics philosophers argue as to how space works. This was where ideas like time travel and faster than light travel got their beginning. Like any process of problem solving the reader must first find the question. Metaphysics focused on questions about space. In all, this book covered how philosophy is used in almost everything.

Characterization
Through the book discussed major Greeks like Aristotle and Plato and others .The book briefly covered the works of multiple people that influenced philosophy throughout time. Confucius all the way to Steven Hawking. All these people had one thing in common - they challenged old ways of looking at things.

Setting
There was no setting to the book other than the reader's mind. The book will touch and go on some things like Ancient Greece, Rome and China, to medieval Europe up to Soviet Russia and Modern America. For the most part, a setting was not irrelevant. The book took place in the current day.

Theme
The theme of the book was to encourage thinking for yourself. The book explains the many different types of philosophy, leaving the reader to choose a way of thinking for themselves. The book educated the reader on philosophy. It gave examples as to how philosophy has changed history. The overall theme was to educate the reader on philosophy.

Recommendation
This book, I feel, was great for everyone who can comprehend the message given. Both males and females will love the book. The reader may need to be older than 16 to understand some of the topics the book talks about. A general understanding of history is also required to read the book.

[John Mcgeorge · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be fair, I wanted to give this 3.5 stars, but it's hard to do fractional stars on here.

The author's knowledge of philosophy far outstrips my own, so all due respect for what I learned from this book, which was a lot. And I recommend this series for acquiring a good foundation of general knowledge.

What keeps me from giving four or five stars is because the author, often enough to be distracting, either too aggressively asserts his own opinion into matters, omits important points to fit a narrative/agenda, or makes sweeping statements for which there's not enough room to elaborate on further, and so opinion or generalizations can be perceived as facts.

So, I wouldn't talk anyone out of reading this, but, as with studying any topic, I would avoid the pitfall of thinking that any one book contains the "truth."

[Negin Hdzdh · Rating 1 out of 5]

من همیشه از این کتاب های خیلی خلاصه شده بیزار بودم و این دفعه چون یک دوست عزیزی از این نسخه تعریف کرده بود به هر مکافاتی که بود تمومش کردم و صد البته این کتاب هم نتونست حتی ذره ای حس و نگرش من به خلاصه ها رو تغییر بده. در دو مورد این کتاب میتونه برای من قابل مراجعه مجدد باشه، اول در مورد ترتیب زمانی ، مثلا اگر یادم نباشه کدوم فیلسوف قدیمیتر از اونیکی بوده و کی بعد از کی تو تاریخ فلسفه پیداش شده با یک تورق ساده تو این کتاب یادم میفته و دوم اینکه اگر کسی مثلا ازم بپرسه نکته اصلی یا مهم‌ترین نکته تفکر فلان فیلسوف چیه و من هی فکر کنم که خوب به نظر من ۵تا نکته مهم داره ، با یک مراجعه ساده به این کتاب نکته اصلی رو پیدا میکنم چون کلا بیشتر ار ۱۰خط راجع به هر فیلسوف ننوشته.

[Mehdii · Rating 2 out of 5]

۱)اگر قبلاً فلسفه خوانده باشید و به سراغ این کتاب بروید احتمالاً کتاب را ناتمام کنار بگذارید. چون از همان صفحاتِ اول متوجه سطحی بودن و به شدت ناقص بودنِ کتاب میشوید.
۲)اما اگر فلسفه نخوانده باشید و بخواهید با این کتاب شروع کنید بازهم دچار مشکل میشوید. چون نویسنده هر فیلسوف و نظراتش را در یک جمله خلاصه کرده و سریع رد شده.پس قطعاً اگر فلسفه نخوانده باشید این نظرات را متوجه نمیشوید. در واقع کتاب یک تاریخ فلسفه بصورتِ خیلی کلی و خلاصه شده است.

[Parinaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

این کتاب رو با ترجمه آقای مهدی رعنائی خوندم که به نطرم خیلی روان نبود ولی خواندش خالی از لطف نبود.

[Hassan Albather · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was brilliantly written, extremely educational, and simplified. I never felt bored, whenever I read I was 100% engaged. I loved it

[Basia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t think it’s for people who are completely new to philosophy, but it’s a good overview.

[DoCong Nguyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nếu bạn nào không khoái câu chuyện trong Thế giới của Sophie hay thấy Plato và thú mỏ vịt quá rời rạc, hoặc chỉ đơn giản bạn muốn bắt đầu với triết học, thì cuốn này là một sự lựa chọn tốt (mình chưa đọc Tôi là ai hay mấy cuốn khác nên cũng không so sánh được). Lối viết khá dễ hiểu (dù nhiều từ mình không biết), có đôi chỗ hơi khó vì khuôn khổ mấy trăm chữ không cho phép trình bày cụ thể hơn, cơ mà về cơ bản mình vẫn khá hài lòng. Đơn giản, cuốn sách trình bày theo trình tự thời gian, một dạng lịch sử triết học cơ bản - nhập môn, cùng với các tư tưởng nổi bật của thời đó. Đọc xong mình có được cái nhìn khá toàn cảnh và nhất là theo dõi được xu hướng, quá trình phát triển của triết học, hiểu được tại sao triết học lại dẫn tới trạng thái như hôm nay, và vai trò, vị trí của nó thời điểm hiện tại, một điều mà Thế giới của Sophie còn thiếu. Một điều nữa là bổ khuyết cho bức tranh đang còn thiếu mảnh ghép về triết học của mình.

[Sebastian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book as preparation for taking philosophy as a school subject. Originally, I would have read something by Friedrich Nietzsche, because he was the most philosophery philosopher I could think of at the time.

Being unable to find the exact work by Nietzsche my philosophy-teacher-to-be had recommended me upon my request, I found Philosophy in Minutes instead. No regrets!

This handbook briefly explains about 200 concepts of philosophy with an illustration each, which I found to help me understand. Surely, I will not be able to remember all these after having read just this book and just this once…

However, I would recommend this to philosophy beginners, as it familiarizes you with general concepts and the names of great thinkers.

[Elif · Rating 5 out of 5]

Temel felsefi kavramlar hakkında kısa bilgilerin yer aldığı bir kitap. Felsefeyi tarihsel gelişimi bakımından sınıflandırarak anlatmış. Böylece geçmişten günümüze bir yolculuk halinde devam ediyor. Bir çırpıda okunacak gibi durmasına rağmen bilgilerin sindirilmesi için yavaş ilerliyor. Felsefe alanında fazla okuma yaparak kendini geliştirmiş kişiler okurken sıkılacaktır. Ancak beni felsefede ne kadar eksik olduğum konusuyla yüzleştirdi.

[Salam Nasrallah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, I read it to establish my english language in this field, but I found it useful for my knowledge as it was for my language. Illustrating basic starting points to understand philosophy by very simple language.

[Enrique Mañas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a bad book (short and concise). Too concise in my opinion, which is an obvious consequence of the format. Missing many key aspects.

[Kadir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oldukça kısa ve genel olarak Felsefe tarihini özetlemiş. Felsefe dallarını kısaca açıkladıktan sonra Miletli Thales ile Felsefe tarihini başlatmış. Yunan Felsefe ile başlayan bu bölümde, Sokrates, Platon ve Aristotales'e geniş yer verilmiş. Knikler, Şüpheciler, Epikurosçular ve Stoacılar'a yer verdikten sonra Doğu Felsefesi konu edinilmiş. Hristiyanlık ve felsefeyi içeren bölümde, önemli Hristyan felsefecilere ve tantının varlığı ile ilgili argümanlara yer verilmiş. İslam felsefesi konusunda İbni Sina ve İbni Rüşt'e yer verilmiş. Bu bölümden sonra Rönesans ve günümüze kadar olan felsefe konu edinmiş. Burada yer verilen isimler; Machiavelli, Bacon, Voltaire, J.J. Rousseau, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Thomas Hobbes, Locke, George Berkeley, David Hume, Edmurd Gettier, Auguste Comte, Darwin, Edmund Burke, Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, İsaiah Berlin, Kant, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Schopenhauer, Hegel, Feuerbach, Marx, Nietzsche, Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, William James, John Dewey, Richard Rorty, Gottlob Frege, Bertrand Russell, Lutwig Wittgenstein, Noam Chomsky, Alan Turing, Karl Popper, Paul Feyerabend, John Rawls, Slovoj Zizek, Henry Thoreau...

[Tanaporn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading in English, sometimes feel it's hard to understand but still enjoy!

For me, 'Philosophy in Minutes' is recommended for the starter who would like to see the wide picture of basic philosophy, esp. english speakers. Other languages speakers may take time to seek for a meaning of Technical terms, but for me, it's worthy!

จบแล้ว😭

ดองเค็มมานานมาก เดือนครึ่ง (ถือว่านาน) เป็นหนังสืออังกฤษเต็ม ๆ เล่มแรกที่ได้อ่านหลังจากที่ลุงฝรั่งมาจุดประกายโดยบังเอิญ ทำให้เรากล้ากลับไปอ่านหนังสือภาษาอังกฤษ โดยเฉพาะเล่มที่ขยาดอย่างเล่มนี้อีกครั้ง

แรก ๆ โอเคอยู่ แต่ช่วงกลางเรื่องคือไม่เข้าใจอะไรเท่าไหร่ ประกอบกับตอนนั้นมีงานรัว ๆ ก็ไม่ได้อ่านต่อ ก็ทำใจไว้หน่อยว่าอาจจะอ่านไม่จบ

แต่ไป ๆ มา ๆ ใจมันไม่ยอมแพ้

กลับมาต่อ บอกตัวเองว่าฉันจะอยู่กับแกจนจบนะไอหยก สู้เขา!

และก็สู้มาได้จนหยดสุดท้าย

ชอบมาก ๆ ตรงที่หนังสือเล่มนี้ทำให้เราเห็นภาพรวมของแต่ละแนวคิด ซึ่งอ่านจบ จำไม่ได้หรอกว่าใครเป็นเจ้าของ แต่สิ่งที่ได้มาคือ บนโลกนี้มีความคิดที่แตกต่างกันไปหมด และแม้แต่ความคิดที่ดูโง่เง่าและไม่น่ามีใครคิดแบบนี้ก็ยังมีคนคิด ทำให้รู้ว่า มีเราก็มีเขา คือเราคิดแบบนี้ แต่เขาอาจคิดอีกแบบ และอย่าไปดูถูกความคิดใคร เพราะบางความคิดโง่ ๆ นั่นแหละที่มีคนเห็นต่าง พอเห็นต่าง ก็ก่อให้เกิดการถกเถียง และเกิดพัฒนาการมาเป็นความคิดเจ๋ง ๆ ในปัจจุบัน

อีกเรื่องคือไม่น่าเชื่อว่าเล่มนี้ทำให้เราเข้าใจคอนเซปต์ของพระพุทธศาสนา คือเขียนไว้สั้นมาก ๆ แต่อ่านแล้วเข้าใจมากขึ้นเลย (รู้สึกไม่ถึง 5 หน้า เมื่อเทียบกับแนวคิดอื่นนี่คือบางมาก) และชีวิตเปลี่ยนไปเลย (แบบ enlighten ชั่วขณะ😂) เพราะพอเข้าใจจริง ๆ แล้วเราจะนำไปประยุกต์ใช้ เอาไปพัฒนาตัวเองและมีความสุขขึ้นด้วย

[Cem Yüksel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the title gives the perception of a starting level reading , there is a good attribute about the flow of philosophical thought evolution. The ancient philosophy history is more like the perception but the connection and evolution of the approaches from mid age to recent times is good to follow chronological flow of different schools of thought and their relations.

Kitabın ismi başlangıç seviyesi bir okumayı çağrıştırıyorsa da , düşünce tarihinin gelişimini gösteren iyi bir akışı var. Başlangıçtaki ilk çağ felsefesi başlığa daha uygunsa da , sonrasında ortaçağdan yakın zamana olan kısım felsefeye yaklaşımların evrimini ve düşünce okullarının birbirinden nasıl etkilendiğini gösteren bir içeriğe sahip.

[Burak Ö · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yunan ve doğu felsefesinden başlayarak yirminci yüzyıl siyaset felsefesine uzanan 200 başlıkta felsefe.
Batı felsefesindeki birçok şey gibi ''felsefe'' kelimesi de Yunan kökenlidir ve filozof (philosophia) bilgelik sevgisi anlamına gelmektedir. Bilinen ilk filozoflar MÖ 6. yüzyılda bugün Türkiye sınırları içinde yer alan Milet'te ( Didim/AYDIN ) ortaya çıkmıştır. Özünde felsefe, düşünmektir: eşyanın neden olduğu biçimde olduğunu, hayatlarımızı en iyi şekilde nasıl yaşamamız gerektiğini, bildiklerimizden nasıl emin olabileceğimizi ve varlığımızın, bir anlamı varsa, ne anlama geldiğini düşünmek gibi. Aynı sorular din ve bilim tarafından da sorulur ancak din inanç veya imana dayalı cevaplar verirken felsefe düşünceyi kullanır ve bilimin tanım yaptığı yerde felsefe açıklama peşine düşer.
Dünya neden yapılmıştır, ahlak felsefesi, siyaset felsefesi, ampirizm, varoluşçuluk gibi konu ve terimlerin temellerinden çok sıkmadan bahsedildiği bir dakikalar içinde serisi kitabı.

[Dalan Mendonca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Breezy walk-through of 2500 years of philosophy. I keep bumping concepts into from philosophy and need something that can give me a quick overview, this was it. Of course, all the introductions are quite short and you feel like you're reading Tinder bios as you go through the book; but it serves it's purpose.

[John Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

At the least, it does its job of dumbing down ideas into minute lessons. Though with evident biases leading to the oversimplification of certain ideas and stronger defenses of the author’s obvious inclinations, the book is probably a decent introduction to the history of philosophy for a sophomore high school student.

[Firat Fidan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Varoluşçuluk, Marksizm, İdealizm, Stoaizm, Aristo, Plato, Nietzche, Sokrates ve felsefeyle alakalı daha bir çok şey… Tabi ki felsefeyi 200 sayfada özetleyemezsiniz ama genel anlamda bilgi pekiştirilmesi açısından güzel ve kronolojik bir derleme olmuş. Felsefe seviyorsanız zevkle okuyun ama ben yine de her bir akımın veya öncünün teker teker kitaplarını okumanızı öneririm.

[Tess ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just love philosophy, and I think this is a great way to be introduced to some of the more complex topics that philosophy has to offer. I do think that some of the explanations could’ve been more simple, especially for first time philosophy readers, but all in all this was a great book. Very interesting !! (And I do love a book you can just flip through instead of reading start-to-finish)

[Maha Al-Salehi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have enjoyed reading this book, it’s like an overview of philosophy, it starts from the greek one until today and gives few information about the concepts.
Usually the descriptions are short, so you will need to have google besides you to dig further into the topics/philosophers. I recommend this book for those outside the field of philosophy to have an insight on the different concepts. :)

[Shishir · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short concise book outlining the big thoughts and ideas from many of the giants from the world of philosophies. Though a small book it contains much depth and requires the reader to have some prior knowledge of the subject.

[Tony Britt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe minutes to read, but hours to digest, days to comprehend, & a lifetime to ponder. Nice compilation of theories, including share of unknowable rabbit holes. Fun to use in clarifying my own beliefs.

[Abouzar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even if you are not interested in philosophy, you can read this book. The author provides readers with valuable information that opens the human eye to the evolution of philosophy and even psychology and sociology. Definitely worth reading.

[Michael Badger Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good little refresher that you can blow through in an hour or so. Just introductions to key concepts, nothing in depth, but you can expand your knowledge on anything that piques your interest with wider reading.

[Radwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think it'd be more beneficial for those who are already aware of a lot of philosophy terminology and concepts, and the book is just collecting the history in a nutshell.
but it's not helpful if you want to understand a lot about the history and development of philosophy.