Publisher's Synopsis
"Philosophy: The Basics" is an introduction to philosophy for anyone coming to the subject for the first time. It takes a topic-based approach, each chapter considering an area of philosophy and outlines a number of key philosophical issues associated with the area. The chapters end with suggestions for further reading. The reader is encouraged to think philosophically. The book introduces important philosophical questions and the various responses that have been made to them. Though major philosophical figures are mentioned, the emphasis throughout is on the arguments for and against every idea discussed. In this way readers can follow the course and development of a philosophical position and critically assess that position for themselves. The book begins by asking the questions "What is Philosophy?" and "Why Study Philosophy?". At the end of this short book, by way of six chapters that intervene (God, Right and Wrong, the External World, Science, Mind and Art), the reader should have come to his or her own answers.;This book should be of interest to students and teachers of philosophy at introductory level.
