Nigel Warburton is Senior Lecturer at the Open University and author of a number of popular books about philosophy.
Warburton received a BA from the University of Bristol and a PhD from Darwin College, Cambridge and was a lecturer at the University of Nottingham before joining the Department of Philosophy at the Open University in 1994.
He runs a popular philosophy weblog Virtual Philosopher and with David Edmonds regularly podcasts interviews with top philosophers on a range of subjects at Philosophy Bites. He also podcasts chapters from his book Philosophy: The Classics.
Nigel Warburton's book gently eases the reader into the world of philosophy. Each chapter considers a key area of philosophy, explaining and exploring the basic ideas and themes.
What is philosophy? Can you prove God exists? Is there an afterlife? How do we know right from wrong? Should you ever break the law? Is the world really the way you think it is? How should we define Freedom of Speech? Do you know how science works? Is your mind different from your body? Can you define art?
Questo libro non 猫 semplicemente un bigino di filosofia. L'autore ha adottato un approccio infrequente, se non apertamente criticato in Italia, cio猫 l'approccio per argomenti, non storicistico. Ogni capitolo 猫 dedicato a un'area del pensiero filosofico e assume la dinamica di una disputa incalzante. Esempio. Sul capitolo Etica (che Warburton chiama, mi sembra, "il bene e il male"), l'autore racconta come il problema del bene e del male sia stato affrontato, da Platone fino ai giorni nostri, passando per Kant e finendo con il relativismo. Lo stesso per l'epistemologia, la politica, l'arte. Il libro ha il grande pregio della chiarezza e della sintesi propria degli autori anglosassoni. Il linguaggio 猫 secco, antipoetico, chiaro e privo di inutili tecnicismi, il che non 猫 affatto scontato. Galimberti, ad esempio, in un libro su Heidegger, ripropone pari pari la terminologia di Heidegger, senza spiegarla. A che diavolo serve un libro del genere? Dietro questo atteggiamento, c'猫 la convinzione che il pensiero di un'autore come Heidegger non sia riducibile a qualcosa di pi霉 chiaro, che cercare di semplificarne la comprensione, traducendo dall' heideggerese, implichi un completo snaturamento. All'estremo opposto Bertrand Russel, il quale sosteneva che al netto dei paroloni incomprensibili, la filosofia di Heidegger era tutto fumo, per貌 la sua "traduzione" suonava paradossale. Warburton 猫 estremamente rispettoso del fumo altrui, ma non rinuncia mai a proporre un'interpretazione accessibile.
On an irrelevant note, I think that books like this should be titled 'western philosophy', not only philosophy. Presupposing the whole philosophical thought as only of a western nature is a serious error, from which the West has not still freed itself.
This is an ideal introduction to philosophy! Instead of approaching the subject from a historical perspective, the author presents philosophy by examining some of the most important philosophical questions and thereby introducing the branches of study associated with them.
The style is incredibly light and concise, which almost makes it an easy read. There is also no patronising and snobbish use of obscure language, which I appreciate a lot. It doesn't surprise me, since the author stresses the importance of logic and clarity in philosophical discourse.
This short book is very easy but entertaining read, and it is quite helpful in its own way. It introduces the readers to the range of questions subject to philosophic enquiry. The limitations are that is focused on anglo-american tradition and it does not consider logic. Good point to start in terms of the scope of the discipline; but not in terms of the history of philosophy or comparative views from around the globe (even France is not represented bar Descartes).