Wonder and Critical Reflection: An Invitation to Philosophy - Couverture souple

Christenson, Tom

 
9780130400413: Wonder and Critical Reflection: An Invitation to Philosophy

Synopsis

For use as the first text in Introduction to Philosophy courses.

Using honesty, enthusiasm, and humor, this text addresses and answers questions posed by students new to the study of philosophy―about how critical philosophy is, the kinds of questions it raises, its cultural and social value, and the applicability of philosophy to their lives. Philosophy gives examples of a wide variety of thinkers from the ancients―Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Diogenes, Guatama Siddhartha, up to twentieth-century thinkers including Wittgenstein, Sartre, deBeauvoir, Roger Scruton, and Iris Murdoch. Each chapter contains a brief summary of major themes, an introductory student-voiced dialogue, a clarifying discussion, and questions for further reflection. The upbeat tone encourages students to begin thinking philosophically about issues of personal interest, such as the nature of freedom and the understanding of the self.

Les informations fournies dans la section « Synopsis » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

À propos de la quatrième de couverture

What is philosophy? Who pursues it, and why? Aren't people who study it sort of weird? How is philosophy connected to wonder? How is it connected to being critical? What good does it do? How is it like / unlike psychology or history? What kinds of questions do philosophers pose? Do they ever answer them?

These are the kinds of questions perplexed students often ask when first encountering philosophy as an academic discipline, and these are the kinds of questions this text takes seriously and attempts to answer. Designed to be a first encounter with philosophy, this text includes:

  • Dialogues that provoke and engage students in philosophical thinking.
  • Discussions that clarify and explain issues and introduce the "discipline" of philosophy.
  • Inquiries pursued with seriousness and a sense of humor.
  • Brief introductions to a variety of thinkers from Socrates and Diogenes the Cynic to Iris Murdoch and Suzi Gablik.
  • Philosophical theorizing about human freedom, the nature of the self, the ends and means of education, the way language shapes thinking, why we often think in clichés and stereotypes, etc.
  • Questions at the end of each chapter designed to encourage students in critical reflection and writing.

Les informations fournies dans la section « A propos du livre » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.