Kenneth Shouler - The Everything Guide to Understanding Philosophy: Understand the basic concepts of the greatest thinkers of all time

1. Aristotle: Men are good in one way, but bad in many.

2. Albert Camus: Man stands face to face with the irrational. He feels within him his longing for happiness and for reason. The absurd is born of this confrontation between the human need and the unreasonable silence of the world.

3. Socrates: The unexamined life is not worth living.

4. Plato: Philosophy begins in wonder.

5. Bertrand Russell: Every proposition which we understand must be composed wholly of constituents with which we are acquainted.

6. David Hume: The life of man is of no greater importance to the universe than that of an oyster.

7. Jeremy Bentham: A full-grown horse or dog is beyond comparison a more rational, as well as a more conversible animal, than an infant of a day, or a week, or even a month, old. But suppose the case were otherwise, what would it avail? The question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?

8. Immanuel Kant: Nothing can possibly be conceived in the world, or even out of it, which can be called good, without qualification, except a good will.

9. Soren Kierkegaard : A crowd in its very concept is the untruth, by reason of the fact that it renders the individual completely impenitent and irresponsible, or at least weakens his sense of responsibility by reducing it to a fraction.

10. Jean-Paul Sartre : Man is condemned to be free.

IF YOU ARE a student of philosophy seeking an introductory reference to the subject, then this book is for you. Philosophy is not easy when you first take it on. You may have to read paragraphs over before you can begin turning pages. Reading history, science, and literature is much easier. But philosophy it's a different matter altogether.

Philosophy takes nothing for granted. Philosophy turns reality upside down and shakes out its pockets. The answers that others assume are correct in discussing God, morality, political issues, medicine, art, business, and sports are scrutinized more thoroughly by philosophers. In this way, they hope to arrive at a deeper understanding of some issue.

Even for people who have been teaching for years philosophy is not easy. If philosophy seems easy to you at some point, it might be that you're missing something. Maybe your'e not raising one more essential question, or you've failed to consider another way of examining an important issue. While on trial for his life Socrates said The unexamined life is not worth living. It may well be the most recognizable sentence in the history of philosophy. Not everyone would give up his life rather than cease philosophizing. Even so, Socrates' seven-word thought captures the spirit of philosophy.

If you are just getting started in philosophy, then this book should work for you. Key ideas are explained thoroughly, leaving nothing to chance. The book is also complete enough for you to get a history of the subject, as most of the major figures are covered.