Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy
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- Create Date：2023-01-01 09:54:32
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Simon Blackburn
- ISBN：0192854259
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Reviews
Bara Irinel
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"Introduction to Philosophy"？ After reading this， I might give up on what other people think about philosophy。 Sometimes you have to adopt "I don't care that he has a degree in that subject"。 2 stars only because I don't want to offend the personalities of the book （: "Introduction to Philosophy"？ After reading this， I might give up on what other people think about philosophy。 Sometimes you have to adopt "I don't care that he has a degree in that subject"。 2 stars only because I don't want to offend the personalities of the book （: 。。。more
Dennis Delaney
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I must confess that I was placed en garde at the reading of the sub-title of the book。 Professor Blackburn has reviewed his own work as compelling。 A flag that waves red regardless of one's sense of color。 'Think' is an apt title。 'Teach' would not be。 A significant amount of panning for gold is required to separate the nuggets from the sediment。 The nuggets are indeed gold， but be prepared to get covered in mud and muck。 Philosophers struggle to be good teachers。 They are never hired by Hollywo I must confess that I was placed en garde at the reading of the sub-title of the book。 Professor Blackburn has reviewed his own work as compelling。 A flag that waves red regardless of one's sense of color。 'Think' is an apt title。 'Teach' would not be。 A significant amount of panning for gold is required to separate the nuggets from the sediment。 The nuggets are indeed gold， but be prepared to get covered in mud and muck。 Philosophers struggle to be good teachers。 They are never hired by Hollywood producers to tell a "compelling" story。 If you needed driving directions to the nearest hospital， it is sad to say， you would die long before arriving。 Cogito ergo sum defatigatus。。。 。。。more
Katie Welch
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Glad I read， but quite dense。 Read about 4/5 and skimmed 1/5。 Helpful to determine areas to read further into because it covers a lot in a shorter book！
Farjam
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Don’t let the subtitle of this book fools you。 This is an “introduction” in a sense that it discusses basic ideas of philosophy NOT an introduction that you can enjoy at the beginning of your journey into the world of philosophy。 It is by no means an easy read。 In fact， the quotes from Hume and Locke in the book are easier to read than the book itself。 The topics of the book could be expressed in a simpler language。 Maybe it was aimed at more serious readers than me。 I learned a lot from this bo Don’t let the subtitle of this book fools you。 This is an “introduction” in a sense that it discusses basic ideas of philosophy NOT an introduction that you can enjoy at the beginning of your journey into the world of philosophy。 It is by no means an easy read。 In fact， the quotes from Hume and Locke in the book are easier to read than the book itself。 The topics of the book could be expressed in a simpler language。 Maybe it was aimed at more serious readers than me。 I learned a lot from this book， but for those who are looking to read the same material with a simpler explanation， I recommend Nigel Warburton’s books， especially “Philosophy: The Basics”。 。。。more
Matthias Dicktwister
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Zu schwer für mein erbsenhirn
Socrate
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Iată acum câteva dintre întrebările pe care ni le-am putea pune în mod firesc în legătură cu noi înşine: Ce sunt eu？ Ce este conştiinţa mea？ Aş putea oare să continui să trăiesc chiar şi după moartea corpului meu fizic？ Pot fi sigur（ă） că ceilalţi oameni au experienţe şi senzaţii la fel ca ale mele？ Dacă nu pot împărtăşi experienţele altor oameni， mai am， totuşi， posibilitatea de a comunica cu ei？ Este oare adevărat că acţionăm intotdeauna numai din propriul interes？ Nu cumva， în pofida impresie Iată acum câteva dintre întrebările pe care ni le-am putea pune în mod firesc în legătură cu noi înşine: Ce sunt eu？ Ce este conştiinţa mea？ Aş putea oare să continui să trăiesc chiar şi după moartea corpului meu fizic？ Pot fi sigur（ă） că ceilalţi oameni au experienţe şi senzaţii la fel ca ale mele？ Dacă nu pot împărtăşi experienţele altor oameni， mai am， totuşi， posibilitatea de a comunica cu ei？ Este oare adevărat că acţionăm intotdeauna numai din propriul interes？ Nu cumva， în pofida impresiei noastre cum că am lua decizii pe baza liberului arbitru， suntem de fapt nişte simple marionete programate să se comporte într-un anume fel？ Iată， în schimb， nişte întrebări referitoare la lume: De ce există ceva mai degrabă decât nimic？ Care este diferenţa dintre trecut şi viitor？ De ce cauzalitatea funcţionează intotdeauna numai dinspre trecut înspre viitor - are vreun sens să ne gândim că viitorul ar putea influenţa intr-un fel trecutul？ De ce fenomenele din natură continuă， cu regularitate， să se desraşoare la fel ca până acum？ Este adevărat că lumea noastră presupune existenţa unui Creator？ Şi dacă da， putem noi să inţelegem în ce scop a făurit lumea acest Creator （ori， poate， această Creatoare sau chiar aceşti Creatori）？ 。。。more
Lo
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It was a struggle to get through this one。 Kept loosing my train of thought。 I didn’t get much out of this one。 I have read other Philosophy books that had me thoroughly engrossed。
Nazim Rabouhi
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I was looking for an introduction to the domain of philosophy and I was not disappointed。 The main philosophical ideas were discussed and the arguments for and against various subjects were presented in fair objectivity。
Ritik Gautam
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Certainly， not an introduction to Philosophy。 Well， let me rephrase that， the book is presented as an introduction to philosophy， but hardly does a good job at it。 Don't get me wrong， the content is there， but the simplicity with which a introduction is to be written is lacking。 The book certainly does a good job at presenting the key ideas which philosophers are debating to this day， but the author has a very weird way of communicating the ideas。 It's sometimes very convoluted， garnering your a Certainly， not an introduction to Philosophy。 Well， let me rephrase that， the book is presented as an introduction to philosophy， but hardly does a good job at it。 Don't get me wrong， the content is there， but the simplicity with which a introduction is to be written is lacking。 The book certainly does a good job at presenting the key ideas which philosophers are debating to this day， but the author has a very weird way of communicating the ideas。 It's sometimes very convoluted， garnering your attention to go through the same passage again and again before you start chiseling small bit of understanding from the big whole。 Not saying that's especially wrong when dealing with a complex subject as philosophy， but well 。。。 isn't this supposed to be an introduction？？ Maybe I lack the mental faculties to grab the ideas。The author also sometimes， appears to be heavily biased towards certain philosophies。 At times， before even introducing an idea thoroughly， he slowly starts inserting his own biases toward certain philosophies， before even completing the introduction。 Noticed that it was extremely present in the chapters relating to Free Will and God。 。。。more
Shavauna
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I expected an introduction to basic themes and ideas， which I got。I expected a bit of arbitrary gloating about his own philosophies and opinions。 This was there as well。I expected to read both sides of arguments and the philosophies that support them… and this was far far off on the horizon。Not a bad introductory read， but i would have liked to get a better picture of both sides （for and against free will， God， and the Self specifically）。
Jaryl
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My general thoughts about this book， not a discussion of its contents: I was apprehensive about buying this book because I had read and even watched interviews of Simon Blackburn and decided that I don't agree with his line of thought when I realised what his position on certain things was。 But then then I had an intuitive feeling to just buy it， for both the Open University and the University of Cambridge recommend it to students。 I don't know about the reading lists of other departments of Phi My general thoughts about this book， not a discussion of its contents: I was apprehensive about buying this book because I had read and even watched interviews of Simon Blackburn and decided that I don't agree with his line of thought when I realised what his position on certain things was。 But then then I had an intuitive feeling to just buy it， for both the Open University and the University of Cambridge recommend it to students。 I don't know about the reading lists of other departments of Philosophy in the UK but it's highly likely that many of them include this book。 I thought to myself regardless of what I know of Simon Blackburn's views， the intelligent thing for me to do is read his book myself and critique it afterwards， not before， and even if I don't like everything in it， I'll probably get something out of it。 Well， that's exactly what happened， but before I get into that I want to start off by saying that this book really is geared towards Philosophy students and prospective Philosophy students as an academic discipline， so if you're not studying the subject formally， you may get something out of it， but it's really a rally for the importance higher education and Philosophy as an academic subject in particular。 I have rate this book based on how helpful it is and not just whether I like it or not， which I in fact do。 The things that Blackburn covers in it are things that will appear on a university curriculum， so if you read it you're putting yourself in a better position to absorb or recap/revise your degree course materials。 Some have commented on the author's writing style， but the truth is that he's simply writing like a Philosopher。 Philosophers write in a philosophical way， and I realised that this maybe isn't a "beginner level" book — many things in it will require contemplation and re-reading， but that's the nature of this discipline。 Reading philosophical texts is a skill in itself and often requires reading sentences and passages numerous times before they make any sense。 The fact is that Philosophy is simply hard to do and is mentally laborious， and this book is meant to make the subject less intimidating but it still retains it hallmark features。 People have also mentioned that Blackburn has used this book as an opportunity to promote his own views， and while I agree that books should have as little subjectivity as possible， at the end of the day he has worked his way into a position where he's a globally respected Philosopher and his book is on university reading lists， so if he wants to say what he personally thinks about things in his own book， then he can， because it's his book。 Philosophy is about laying out （or conceptually engineering） the reasoning process and thoughts you went through to arrive at a particular philosophical position， and Blackburn does this。 If we are Philosopher's， we should be able to read his views and agree or disagree with them and be able to point out why and support our own position， so there's no reason to be upset or intimidated by his position on certain philosophical matters。 The other thing as well is that it's important to just hear what people have to say and retain what resonates and reject what doesn't， because no one says everything that you'll 100% agree with。 Someone can say many things that you disagree with but one or two things that you agree with or are actually right， and I think it's important and intelligent to not dismiss that。 This book doesn't include existentialism， which is a type of philosophy that I don't subscribe to but I like， but then again， Philosophy is for independent minds， not for those who want to be spoonfed。 So concepts not mentioned in this book is one's own responsibility to discover and explore。 One thing I wanted to mention is the topic of God in this book。 Blackburn doesn't shy away from using the word and I think he tries to keep an open mind about the existence of God， but you can see that he's clearly disdainful of at least traditional ways of thinking about God — an anthropomorphic mysterious invisible being/man in the sky。 I think he's not wrong to be sceptical of this， even though I'm personally not an atheist and think that atheism is the root cause of all of humanity's problems， but when I say atheism I don't mean the lack of belief in the type of God I just described， I mean the lack of acknowledgement of a transcendent reality and lack of understanding of the relationship between the seen and the unseen， the lack of spiritual understanding and lack of depth perception and expansion of awareness。 For example there is no God in Eastern religous systems like Taoism or Buddhism， but I don't lump them into atheism because they acknowledge the transcendent plane of existence and are expressions of or contain threads of perennial or primordial spirituality。 The thing is that since the subject of God is so ambiguous and there is no unanimous agreement on it's definition， it often murks the situation to introduce it into rational philosophical inquiry and investigation。 Simon Blackburn thinks this， so he very subtly steers the reader from doing it。 To be honest I don't think he got the balance too bad although he's clearly an atheist。 I found it quite an enjoyable read and even humerous at times。 I found myself laughing out loud at some parts。 Philosophy is one of those things that is actually so serious in nature and so mentally stressful that the only way to get through it is to have a strong sense of humour and at least try to turn it into something fun。 It's a bit like during brutal physical training sessions when your body is suffering to the point where you're having an existential crisis， asking yourself why you were born and why you are doing this to your body， and the only thing to relieve your suffering is to joke around and introduce a playful element to it。 My overall rating of this book is no less than 3 stars but no more than 4， so probably somewhere in between， or both。 Recommended to those doing academic Philosophy。 。。。more
Essien Allan
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A book beyond reading。 Highly recommended for studying。 Thinking is an art。
Jay
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DON’T GET THE AUDIOBOOK This little book is more challenging than it appears。 While it's readable， it's much more cerebral and academic than one would expect out of a book marketed as an introduction to philosophy。 Some chapters were heavy as the topic was difficult to follow （esp。 the chapter on Reasoning， which presents logic as mathematical formulae）。 Other chapters， like those on Free Will and God， were more accessible， although your comprehension will depend on your interest in the topic。 DON’T GET THE AUDIOBOOK This little book is more challenging than it appears。 While it's readable， it's much more cerebral and academic than one would expect out of a book marketed as an introduction to philosophy。 Some chapters were heavy as the topic was difficult to follow （esp。 the chapter on Reasoning， which presents logic as mathematical formulae）。 Other chapters， like those on Free Will and God， were more accessible， although your comprehension will depend on your interest in the topic。 。。。more
Gene
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Good way to approach this stuff， not doing things temporally or geographically。 Wish it was a bit deeper， but I learned some stuff。 I seem to agree largely with the author about the big stuff anyway too。
ifonly
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Great content， but can talk past you if you’re not paying very close attention and/or don’t already have an understanding of some philosophical concepts。Also， says therapy is bad at the end but then describes something that is not therapy。 Maybe it was different in 1999， but therapy today does not fit his description and therefore his denouncement。
Jadenpaul Albay
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I think Blackburn has done a good job of gathering together many of the various philosophical perspectives of all time here in this book。 It's a good jumping off point for future in-depth exploration。 I think Blackburn has done a good job of gathering together many of the various philosophical perspectives of all time here in this book。 It's a good jumping off point for future in-depth exploration。 。。。more
Elizabeth
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1
Allen Martin
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I had some trouble with this book。 I think some of the writing is unduly dense。 I’ll probably put it on my shelf and come back to it at some point
Matthew William
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Good book。 Kind of hard to read but I really enjoyed the depth of information。
Kevin Raney
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A great introduction to philosophy and how a philosopher thinks。 It is a heavy read but that should be expected for a great philosophy book。 Enjoy 😊
Roxy
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SLAY THE HOUSE
Lotous Michalopoulou
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A 'must read。' Very well written and brief summary of Western philosophy。 A 'must read。' Very well written and brief summary of Western philosophy。 。。。more
Will Carlson
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Solid read along with my modern Phil class。 It’s an overview so it’s not going to be super in depth， and for that reason it really works best as kind of a companion to reading the Descartes through Kant canon。
Nikhil Kilari
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A perfect book to start your journey with philosophy。 But I felt the book to be too overwhelming for a beginner。 The chapter which explains about reasoning is too boring。 All in all， it's a good book which introduces you to philosophy at a high level。 A perfect book to start your journey with philosophy。 But I felt the book to be too overwhelming for a beginner。 The chapter which explains about reasoning is too boring。 All in all， it's a good book which introduces you to philosophy at a high level。 。。。more
Jerfus
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3。5 stars。 It was in general a good and enjoyable read although some sections where too hard to follow （like that on logic where I found the explanation was too barebones） and those ‘attacks’ （for lack of a better word） on therapy where totally out of place and very poorly sustained。
Jared Friedl
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A good introduction to philosophy， at the level of a reader nearing or at college age。 While pretty technical at points， that’s pretty much unavoidable with some topics， even in introductory material。 Blackburn covers a lot of ground， dipping our toes into the traditional introductory philosophical topics all in just under 300 pages: Mind， Body， Free Will， God， Logic， Ethics… He sticks to the thoughts of a select group of philosophers on most topics - Descartes， Locke， Hume， Kant， Wittgenstein。 A good introduction to philosophy， at the level of a reader nearing or at college age。 While pretty technical at points， that’s pretty much unavoidable with some topics， even in introductory material。 Blackburn covers a lot of ground， dipping our toes into the traditional introductory philosophical topics all in just under 300 pages: Mind， Body， Free Will， God， Logic， Ethics… He sticks to the thoughts of a select group of philosophers on most topics - Descartes， Locke， Hume， Kant， Wittgenstein。 Reading “Think” again made me enthusiastic to revisit and expand my philosophical reading。 。。。more
Jaime Alvarez-Valdes Coca
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I don't know why anyone would call this book an introduction。Sure it briefly sums up some of the key points of philosophy but it's by no means written for someone who knows nothing about it。I had to work hard to get through this book and gave up on it （and philosophy as a result） on numerous occasions。In the end it was actually quite interesting。 But， I can't possibly give it more than 3 stars for （as mentioned before） it's certainly no '（compelling） introduction'。 I don't know why anyone would call this book an introduction。Sure it briefly sums up some of the key points of philosophy but it's by no means written for someone who knows nothing about it。I had to work hard to get through this book and gave up on it （and philosophy as a result） on numerous occasions。In the end it was actually quite interesting。 But， I can't possibly give it more than 3 stars for （as mentioned before） it's certainly no '（compelling） introduction'。 。。。more
Renato
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Unfortunately I read the portuese translation which is terrible making what are naturally complicated subjects even more difficult to understand。 Still I would say it’s a good introduction to philosophy， it covers a lot of areas and should be a good starting point for someone trying to discover what subjects interest them before diving deeper。If possible read the english original I imagine it’s much better。
Matthew Barotz
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i think it had a good introduction to a large variety of philosophical topics while still being able to keep the writing concise and pretty easy to understand， but i still found it hard to absorb some of the information in the book。 i don’t think that means the book is bad， but maybe it’s not right for people who are complete newbies to the entire concept of philosophy。 it did make me interested in the topics though and i would be excited to read more about philosophythe logic chapter was also e i think it had a good introduction to a large variety of philosophical topics while still being able to keep the writing concise and pretty easy to understand， but i still found it hard to absorb some of the information in the book。 i don’t think that means the book is bad， but maybe it’s not right for people who are complete newbies to the entire concept of philosophy。 it did make me interested in the topics though and i would be excited to read more about philosophythe logic chapter was also eerily similar to my 9th grade math class （i never thought i would hear about tautologies again） 。。。more
Masoud Piramoun
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