You can use a knife to prepare food, but you can use the same knife to slit
a throat – the same goes for most things in life I guess, whether knifes,
History, whatever and yes, even Philosophy. And today, the relevance of
everything is being questioned. But philosophy is not only concerned with that
which holds the key to material wealth, which is probably why for many it is a useless
pursuit.
Not being too clued up with Philosophy myself, I set myself the target of trying to find out more – and what a journey it has been. Rich in historical insights and general intellectual delights – Philosophy now enjoys the status of – ‘the subjects that frees your mind’, this despite it’s obvious shortcomings, of which later, more.
Grayling’s book is not an introduction to Philosophy. It merely reflects on some of the most important themes, crossing many boundaries and many civilizations. The title is thus very applicable, since no time is wasted on long pieces of historical background and the like. He gets straight to the point indeed. But what is even more refreshing is the subtitle of the book, namely, the application of philosophy in our modern times. And this, Grayling stretches, is very important. Philosophy is all the more relevant in the world of the 21st century, since our world is as complex as it ever was, and since there are many and many questions that science fail to answer us, however much we think we can turn to science to solve all our problems as human beings.
Obviously Philosophy has its shortcomings. At times it is abstract, and one wonders in what way is this or that specific argument applicable to reality. It is also such that many historical studies of the development of Philosophy include a mass of seemingly useless historical information, only valuable to a professional philosopher. For the most of us, we need to get to the heart of things as quickly as possible, in order to retain our interest in Philosophy. We need information on the subject of Philosophy that is both interesting and useful to our daily lives. It is precisely that that this delightful book has to offer.
The Heart of things is insightful. It makes Philosophy accessible to anybody, with or without any prior knowledge of the subject, and is as good an introduction to Philosophy for the amateur as any other source. It proves that studying Philosophy is worthwhile, especially today, and that those who disagree are possibly losing out on a lot.
Not being too clued up with Philosophy myself, I set myself the target of trying to find out more – and what a journey it has been. Rich in historical insights and general intellectual delights – Philosophy now enjoys the status of – ‘the subjects that frees your mind’, this despite it’s obvious shortcomings, of which later, more.
Grayling’s book is not an introduction to Philosophy. It merely reflects on some of the most important themes, crossing many boundaries and many civilizations. The title is thus very applicable, since no time is wasted on long pieces of historical background and the like. He gets straight to the point indeed. But what is even more refreshing is the subtitle of the book, namely, the application of philosophy in our modern times. And this, Grayling stretches, is very important. Philosophy is all the more relevant in the world of the 21st century, since our world is as complex as it ever was, and since there are many and many questions that science fail to answer us, however much we think we can turn to science to solve all our problems as human beings.
Obviously Philosophy has its shortcomings. At times it is abstract, and one wonders in what way is this or that specific argument applicable to reality. It is also such that many historical studies of the development of Philosophy include a mass of seemingly useless historical information, only valuable to a professional philosopher. For the most of us, we need to get to the heart of things as quickly as possible, in order to retain our interest in Philosophy. We need information on the subject of Philosophy that is both interesting and useful to our daily lives. It is precisely that that this delightful book has to offer.
The Heart of things is insightful. It makes Philosophy accessible to anybody, with or without any prior knowledge of the subject, and is as good an introduction to Philosophy for the amateur as any other source. It proves that studying Philosophy is worthwhile, especially today, and that those who disagree are possibly losing out on a lot.
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