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Introducing Philosophy by Robert C. Solomon
Introducing A Text with Integrated Readings, Eighth Edition, insists that philosophy is very much alive today and that it is deeply rooted in the past. Accordingly, it combines substantial original sources from significant works in the history of philosophy and current philosophy with detailed commentary and explanation that help to clarify the readings. The selections range from the oldest known fragments to cutting-edge essays in feminism, multiculturalism, and cognitive science. At the end of each chapter is a summary, a list of review questions, a glossary, and a bibliography with suggestions for further reading. Important philosophical terms are introduced in the text and also summarized at the end of each chapter, and brief biographies of the philosophers are provided at the end of the book.
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First published January 1, 1989
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About the author
Robert C. Solomon
124 books171 followersRobert C. Solomon (September 14, 1942 – January 2, 2007) was a professor of continental philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin.
Early life
Solomon was born in Detroit, Michigan. His father was a lawyer, and his mother an artist. After earning a B.A. (1963) at the University of Pennsylvania, he moved to the University of Michigan to study medicine, switching to philosophy for an M.A. (1965) and Ph.D. (1967).
He held several teaching positions at such schools as Princeton University, the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Pittsburgh. From 1972 until his death, except for two years at the University of California at Riverside in the mid-1980s, he taught at University of Texas at Austin, serving as Quincy Lee Centennial Professor of Philosophy and Business. He was a member of the University of Texas Academy of Distinguished Teachers. Solomon was also a member of the inaugural class of Academic Advisors at the Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics.
His interests were in 19th-century German philosophy--especially Hegel and Nietzsche--and 20th-century Continental philosophy--especially Sartre and phenomenology, as well as ethics and the philosophy of emotions. Solomon published more than 40 books on philosophy, and was also a published songwriter. He made a cameo appearance in Richard Linklater's film Waking Life (2001), where he discussed the continuing relevance of existentialism in a postmodern world. He developed a cognitivist theory of the emotions, according to which emotions, like beliefs, were susceptible to rational appraisal and revision. Solomon was particularly interested in the idea of "love," arguing against the notion that romantic love is an inherent state of being, and maintaining, instead, that it is instead a construct of Western culture, popularized and propagated in such a way that it has achieved the status of a universal in the eyes of many. Love for Solomon is not a universal, static quality, but an emotion, subject to the same vicissitudes as other emotions like anger or sadness.
Solomon received numerous teaching awards at the University of Texas at Austin, and was a frequent lecturer in the highly regarded Plan II Honors Program. Solomon was known for his lectures on Nietzsche and other Existentialist philosophers. Solomon described in one lecture a very personal experience he had while a medical student at the University of Michigan. He recounted how he stumbled as if by chance into a crowded lecture hall. He was rather unhappy in his medical studies at the time, and was perhaps seeking something different that day. He got precisely that. The professor, Frithjof Bergmann, was lecturing that day on something that Solomon had not yet been acquainted with. The professor spoke of how Nietzsche's idea asks the fundamental question: "If given the opportunity to live your life over and over again ad infinitum, forced to go through all of the pain and the grief of existence, would you be overcome with despair? Or would you fall to your knees in gratitude?"
Solomon died on January 2, 2007 at Zurich airport. His wife, philosopher Kathleen Higgins, with whom he co-authored several of his books, is Professor of Philosophy at University of Texas at Austin.
Early life
Solomon was born in Detroit, Michigan. His father was a lawyer, and his mother an artist. After earning a B.A. (1963) at the University of Pennsylvania, he moved to the University of Michigan to study medicine, switching to philosophy for an M.A. (1965) and Ph.D. (1967).
He held several teaching positions at such schools as Princeton University, the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Pittsburgh. From 1972 until his death, except for two years at the University of California at Riverside in the mid-1980s, he taught at University of Texas at Austin, serving as Quincy Lee Centennial Professor of Philosophy and Business. He was a member of the University of Texas Academy of Distinguished Teachers. Solomon was also a member of the inaugural class of Academic Advisors at the Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics.
His interests were in 19th-century German philosophy--especially Hegel and Nietzsche--and 20th-century Continental philosophy--especially Sartre and phenomenology, as well as ethics and the philosophy of emotions. Solomon published more than 40 books on philosophy, and was also a published songwriter. He made a cameo appearance in Richard Linklater's film Waking Life (2001), where he discussed the continuing relevance of existentialism in a postmodern world. He developed a cognitivist theory of the emotions, according to which emotions, like beliefs, were susceptible to rational appraisal and revision. Solomon was particularly interested in the idea of "love," arguing against the notion that romantic love is an inherent state of being, and maintaining, instead, that it is instead a construct of Western culture, popularized and propagated in such a way that it has achieved the status of a universal in the eyes of many. Love for Solomon is not a universal, static quality, but an emotion, subject to the same vicissitudes as other emotions like anger or sadness.
Solomon received numerous teaching awards at the University of Texas at Austin, and was a frequent lecturer in the highly regarded Plan II Honors Program. Solomon was known for his lectures on Nietzsche and other Existentialist philosophers. Solomon described in one lecture a very personal experience he had while a medical student at the University of Michigan. He recounted how he stumbled as if by chance into a crowded lecture hall. He was rather unhappy in his medical studies at the time, and was perhaps seeking something different that day. He got precisely that. The professor, Frithjof Bergmann, was lecturing that day on something that Solomon had not yet been acquainted with. The professor spoke of how Nietzsche's idea asks the fundamental question: "If given the opportunity to live your life over and over again ad infinitum, forced to go through all of the pain and the grief of existence, would you be overcome with despair? Or would you fall to your knees in gratitude?"
Solomon died on January 2, 2007 at Zurich airport. His wife, philosopher Kathleen Higgins, with whom he co-authored several of his books, is Professor of Philosophy at University of Texas at Austin.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 17, 2025
1990s???: for better or for worse this was my first long general philosophy text (at 23) and it is hard to be judging when sentiment gets in the way. aggh, i was so young once! i remember this text well, remember reading about hume’s radical skepticism that seemed to undercut all physics i knew, this depressed me severely, until i read kant’s categories of experience… and then i was so happy! i do not know why i did not switch automatically to Phil then (i think they taught analytic and that did not interest me), but then my interest in phil went underground for years on years, only re-emerging when another emotional crisis hit and i started reading texts feverishly…
November 17, 2013
One of the best philosophy professors of our generation (University of Texas) writes a brilliant into to philosophy book. Since being issued this in PHIL 101 in college I have accumulated as many Solomon lectures I can find.
March 14, 2022
Very comprehensive intro, ties many important thinkers and theories together within clearly outlined chapters dedicated to disciplines but too much of a focus on existential and liberal political nonsense for my liking.
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May 26, 2019This has been the main text for my Philosophy 101 course. I've found it generally pretty useful, but I prefer things to be written in order rather than by topic. By this I mean that I would much prefer a text that goes through the various types of philosophy throughout time in chronological order. Once the text goes through the ancient Greeks, I would prefer then to move on, instead, this book goes back and forth. For me, it makes it feel scattered and hard to follow because I feel as if I don't fully understand one strain of philosophy before moving onto the next.
May 22, 2021
I got this book because of an interest in philosophy that I wanted to pursue, and went through the book in order to learn about these different philosophies, how they have developed over the years, and how the more recent philosophies and philosophers are influenced by these ideas from the past. I really enjoyed the learning experience that this book brought, and was amazed by not only the amount of different philosophies that were covered, but also the depth in which they were covered. I also really enjoyed the way in which the text was organized - each chapter started off with an overview of what was to be expected as well as some main ideas and as the chapter went on, there were not only explanations by Solomon about these different philosophies and how they function, but also really in depth excerpts and readings from various philosophers themselves so that we could see exactly what ideas that philosophers had and how they conveyed them, in their own words. Some of the basic philosophies and ideas that the text included that I enjoyed reading about included the basic structures of arguments and how they function, different ideas like determinism and fatalism, ethical theories such as deontology and utilitarianism, interesting concepts like cartesian skepticism, and much more. I would recommend this book to anyone that has any sort of interest in philosophy and wants to learn more, as this book offers the perfect way to get an in depth, but also coherent explanation of some of the most important philosophies that exist.
May 9, 2016
Accessible and clear writing, unfortunately the text has used websites like istockphoto to excess in an attempt to make the pages more visually appealing. Were the choice of images better, or had the points being illustrated actually benefited from diagrams it might have been less irritating. As it is, the deluge of irrelevant and uninspiring photos and artwork detract from the text and leave the reader thinking; Were these added to use up a set budget for licensing? Did the original manuscript not meet a minimum required page count? Are the images being used to pad the text or did the author/editor/designer really think they added value? On that note, why are the margins so wide? I suspect the book would have been significantly cheaper had they stuck to black and white text and left the pretty pictures to the fine arts and photography textbooks.
Students are (generally) very poor. I wish textbook manufacturers actually bothered to pay attention to things like that. Cutting costs by removing pointless images is beneficial because then the students may actually be able to afford the book, thus do the required reading (and pass their subjects) without resorting to piracy. Not to mention the practical benefit of reducing the size and weight of the physical book for students who are already carrying mountains of stationary, other textbooks, and laptops around.
This book comes in at $122-167 on Book Depository (depending on the edition) which is relatively modest when compared to textbooks for some other subjects, but the price could easily have been cut by utilising the space on each page better and excluding the images. The majority of the readings included are in public domain so it seems unlikely that licensing would have cost all that much for the production of the minus the images. Indeed, so much in this book is in the public domain that a canny educator with spare time on their hands (sadly, very few) could put together their own completely free reading pack and match this textbook in quality of content.
I understand there is an industry standard for the price point of a text book, but this is an outdated and worthless system that is doing the industry more harm the longer the industry holds on to it. This textbook is a perfect example of how arbitrary the pricing system is.
Students are (generally) very poor. I wish textbook manufacturers actually bothered to pay attention to things like that. Cutting costs by removing pointless images is beneficial because then the students may actually be able to afford the book, thus do the required reading (and pass their subjects) without resorting to piracy. Not to mention the practical benefit of reducing the size and weight of the physical book for students who are already carrying mountains of stationary, other textbooks, and laptops around.
This book comes in at $122-167 on Book Depository (depending on the edition) which is relatively modest when compared to textbooks for some other subjects, but the price could easily have been cut by utilising the space on each page better and excluding the images. The majority of the readings included are in public domain so it seems unlikely that licensing would have cost all that much for the production of the minus the images. Indeed, so much in this book is in the public domain that a canny educator with spare time on their hands (sadly, very few) could put together their own completely free reading pack and match this textbook in quality of content.
I understand there is an industry standard for the price point of a text book, but this is an outdated and worthless system that is doing the industry more harm the longer the industry holds on to it. This textbook is a perfect example of how arbitrary the pricing system is.
November 23, 2008
Used as the textbook for my college philosophy course for three years. I really appreciate the late Dr. Solomon and his many books. This particular text is especially beneficial for introducing the intro student to the original writings in small portions.
February 23, 2013
This is an excellent intro or refresher text due to the integrated readings and reflective questions. I also like the versatile course track suggestions and suggestions to students on how to make effective philosophical arguments.
March 29, 2011
Still reading it...so much to absorb!
March 9, 2013
I abandoned it because I dropped the course.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews