Ultimate Questions: Thinking About Philosophy

by Nils Ch. Rauhut

This inexpensive and brief text examines the main problems in contemporary philosophy and uses more than 100 “Food for Thought” exercises to promote critical thinking and help students become active learners of philosophy. The book is intended for use by professors teaching a problems-oriented course, but is structured to appeal to any reader willing to explore subjects such as free will, personal identity, existence of God, and more.   Ultimate Questions explores how the timeless problems of Western philosophy are located inside our ordinary ways of thinking and being.  It encourages readers to think about philosophy first-hand by using vivid and engaging examples.  It also introduces readers to prominent up-to-date theories being applied to the same problems encountered by contemporary analytic philosophers.  After reading this text, students will gain a better sense of how mysterious their own natures really are. 

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

259 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 2010

Reviews

[Daymian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book helps introduces outstanding philosophers and their systems by examining ethics, political philosophy, metaphysics and philosophy of religion. It will help anyone with an entry-level interest in philosophy develop critical thinking and reasoning skills.

[Jaymes Dunlap · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the analytical approach as well as the technical overview of this book. I typically enjoy works on these types of theories, and especially analytical aspects.

Why only 3 stars? Don't get me wrong, this is a well-composed/considered book, especially for challenging your thinking and understanding philosophy for each subject; but it feels somewhat elementary and superficial when considering the whole text. This may just be because I typically enjoy investigating religions, philosophy, cross-cultural thinking, and psychology, and I have been out of college for a little while before finishing this text. The technical aspects are spot on, and each major theory and sub-theory (such as theory of mind) is well-argued and considered, listing even the disadvantages of each theory. It is not an extensive book on every theory or mode of reasoning.

Would recommend, but think it is best suited for students or someone interested in understanding/reinforcing elementary aspects of this field or reasoning in general.

[George · Rating 3 out of 5]

a great intro to philosophy examining the thinking process in philosophy.How to break down a question, how to form arguements etc

[Payton Schuh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the most enjoyable read, but fairly good as far as textbooks go

[Dylan Derflinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used this book in my PHI 100 Introduction to Philosophy course at a community college. The book does a pretty nice job at explaining the theories in detail. It takes a teacher though to get a grasp on everything and learning little tidbits about the theories themselves. But overall, if you want an overview of philosophy and the more popular theories out there, this is the book.

[Damian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introductory book, not so much on philosophers, rather on many of the problems philosophy has looked at over the course of human history.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the way Rauhut engages the reader to apply philosophical ideas to his or her own thought life and values. It's almost like a college course, without the written assignments.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book with many examples and thorough explanations. I wish the bold vocabulary terms stated their definitions more clearly.