topics: |  philosophy | history | comic

Short and pithy and humorous, this book provides a lightning sweep through
Western philosophy nonetheless.

While it is of course very shallow and incomplete, it still remains
one of the more useful summaries of philosophy I've read.
Closely followed in interestingness would be Russell's History of western
philosophy, but Russell is much more opinionated (q.v.  his trashing of
Aristole's notion of "category").

The narrative runs through the key personalities in Western philosophy;
traces a history of the major ideas through brief bios (focusing on
eccentricities) of about 200 philosophers and groups.  Samples many of the
key ideas and presents this in a humourous garb.

Opens with a cartoon on "how to recognize a philosopher in the street" - a
couple with baby in pram are observing a hooded cloaked man, walking
briskly by while reading a book.  A feminist stance in an opening cartoon
about what is philosophy, and also in the closing section (post-Derrida).
Picks out the most interesting, and sharpest delineation of the ideas -
e.g. Kant's rationalist ethics - his Categorical Imperative, leads to the
conclusion that "To tell a falsehood to a murderer who asked us whether our
friend, of whom he was in pursuit, had taken refuge in our house, would be
a crime."  It is these distilled gleanings that make it so un-put-downable
for a philosophy text - full of new, interesting ideas on every page,
though the illustrations are also great - e.g. see the picture of the
capital like a tongue awaiting its human morsels (p.104). - AM

Quotations

Sophists (just before Socrates) p.11:

Protagoras: Man is the measure of all things.
Essentially a practical man, Protagoras thought real knowledge was not
possible.  What mattered was "useful opinion" == Deep skepticist position,
disagreements cannot be decided by an appeal to the truth. p.10

Socrates (470-399BC):  An unexamined life is not worth living p.11
	 (ho de anexetastos bios ou biôtos anthrôpôi)
	 [in Apology 38a, Plato - account of Socrates' trial,
	  Refusing to accept exile from Athens or a commitment to silence as
	  his penalty, he maintains that public discussion of the great
	  issues of life and virtue is a necessary part of any valuable human
	  life.]
Knowledge is virtue - what makes man sin is lack of knowledge; overriding
cause of Evil was ignorance.  [un-Christian stance in ethics]

Plato (428-354BC) :
Engraved on his academy: "Let no one ignorant of geometry enter here"

Hobbes, Leviathan: In "State of nature", "Man is a wolf to man", fighting
each other viciously for resources.  But man is also rational, so they
renounce certain rights and form a social contract, and form a commonwealth w
a sovereign who is the "sum of the individuals".  The ruler is absolute, and
Man has no right to rebel - p.87.  This view opposed by

Locke: 2nd Treatise on Government, 1690 (attacking Hobbes)
"The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges every
one; and reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind who will but consult
it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his
life, health, liberty or possessions." - p.88