Philosophy Made Slightly Less Difficult: A Beginner's Guide to Life's Big Questions

by Garrett J. Deweese, J.P. Moreland

From time to time we all face life's big questions . . . And as we wrestle with these issues, we may even find ourselves thinking, Perhaps what I need is a good dose of philosophy. It's a shame philosophy is so difficult. Garrett DeWeese and J. P. Moreland understand this frustration and in this book offer help to make philosophy at least slightly less difficult. In straightforward language with everyday examples, they explain the basics needed to understand philosophical concepts and thus bring clarity to discussions of life's big questions. Students, pastors, campus workers and ordinary Christians will all benefit from this user-friendly guide.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Theology, Christian, Christianity, Academic

171 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 2005

Reviews

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit wordy, and probably aimed at a seminary student, but very informative and well-written (aside from a typo or two in my copy). If you're looking to understand philosophy for the very first time, I'd recommend a little preemptive reading and research to understand it better, but once you have a basic foundation, it's a pretty good book for a Christian thinker to understand terminology and the essentials for forming a proper argument. One thing is for sure, this is introductory, but it's certainly not as easy a read as other "introductory" readings usually are, and the chapters are long but few.
I might read it again in the future for review, but I think at a point when I would have time to work at my own pace on it (not right now, where I was reading a chapter a day for two weeks or so) in order to chew on and process concepts better. It taught me that philosophy is more methodical and almost "mathematical" than I initially thought (based on how I've experienced it).

[John Rimmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title pretty much sums it up. This is a good introduction to life's bigger questions, and the philosophical conversations that have sprung up around them through the ages.

[Demetrius · Rating 3 out of 5]

A somewhat decent look at some contemporary philosophy and how a Christian Philosopher would respond to them. Unfortunately it seems to miss a lot of the more nuanced responses to the criticisms that a counter response would entail. This means there is sometimes an almost flippant disregard for differing viewpoints and a rejection of any attempt of synthesizing these with a Christian viewpoint. Essentially saying that unless one were to believe what they are advocating for then they are missing Christianity.

While I find the writing to be adequate I find that there are positions that are not explained well enough and some of the arguments are not properly explained for a non academic person. Essentially it is not 'simple' enough for most people.

[Brian Watson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good introduction to some major branches of philosophy. I think it could have been better if the authors made it either easier to read (making the book more than slightly less difficult) and therefore more introductory, or if they had expanded it so that it was more substantial. They cover metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, science, various views on truth. One of my frustrations was that the discussed various philosophical theories without giving examples of who in history held such views. Adding 50 pages or so would have made this book a better introduction to philosophy.

[Eduardo Garcia-Gaspar · Rating 3 out of 5]

El título lo dice todo. Un repaso de Filosofía que es demasiado pesado para el simple principiante y demasiado superficial para el experto en el campo. Me imagino, una obra destinada a quien tiene interés en el tema y quiere sistematizar sus conocimientos. Es informativa, clara, organizada y útil. A varios chocará que haya sido escrita por cristianos evangélicos que ocasionalmente incuyen su mensaje religioso. Lejos de molestar, sin embargo, ese mensaje es informativo y de ayuda, incluso para el no creyente. Muy recomendable.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are basically two main worldviews that people have one is naturalism where there is no spiritual everything has to be observable and then there's theism where theist believe in a higher power or being. In our current educational system philosophy is taught from a naturalistic point of view it's always good to have two different worldviews one of them would be theism and that is what this book teaches philosophy from a theistic worldview

[Dr. Jeffrey Kran · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an excellent primer for the thinking Christian. It presents important philosophical concepts and issues that have bearing on theology. Every thinking Christian and every Christian who wants to be effective in his witness really should consider having some knowledge of philosophy and this book provides a good introduction.

[Bud Hewlett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent companion for Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview.