Category: Philosophers

Something to Prove: philosophy, community of inquiry & creative thinking

Something to Prove is an introduction to philosophy and the practice of community of inquiry (COI). Researched and written specifically for young adults and their teachers, it pokes an exploratory finger into the areas of metaphysics, epistemology, aesthetics, political ideology, formal reasoning, ethics, culture, freedom, and more. The book employs contemporary story-telling techniques, informal language, […]

Examined Life

DVD of eight philosophers giving separate ten minute monologues on what a meaningful life is. Cornel West on truth, failure and meaninglessness. Avital Ronell on meaning, ethical anxiety, and responsibility for the other. Peter Singer on how we spend money, using animals, the rise of applied ethics, and failing to help. Kwame Anthony Appiah on […]

Introducing Plato

Introducing Plato is part of a series which includes books on all sorts of philosophical and other topics. The whole series is graphic non-fiction, so it is meant to resemble a comic strip. It is one of those books that presents some ideas very simply so young readers could understand them, but other ideas are […]

Eastern Philosophy: Key Readings

This anthology brings together an impressive range of excerpts from Eastern philosophical texts, categorized under many different topics. Some excerpts are a lot harder to read than others. The readings below have been picked out because they were thought to be easier for high school students and cover a wide range of topics, but there […]

Introducing Political Philosophy

This book introduces some of the main issues in political philosophy. It is focused on the ideas of particular thinkers (rather than on the ideas to which various thinkers have contributed); it also makes an attempt at historical narrative. Students would find this book – replete with illustrations – relatively easy to engage with, although […]

The Greeks: an introduction to their culture

Title: The Greeks: an introduction to their culture Author: Sowerby, Robin Publisher: Routledge Date: 2009 ISBN: 0-415-46937-6 NOTES: Chapter 5 of this book (pp.142-168) is a comprehensive overview of Greek philosophy. The writing is clear and straightforward but more appropriate for older students, preferably those who already have some background knowledge of the ancient Greeks.

Sayings of Confucius

Title: The Sayings of Confucius Editor: Ware, James R. Publisher: New American Library Date: 1955 Although this translation of the Analects of Confucius is quite old, it is still very good. Even compared to some more recent translations, it stands up as being readable and poetic and somehow seems to capture more the spirit of […]

Six questions of Socrates

Title: Six questions of Socrates Editor: Phillipps, Christopher Publisher: W W Norton & Company Date: 2004 ISBN: 0-393-04956-6 In The Six Questions of Socrates, Christopher Phillipps travels the world asking a whole range of people what virtue, moderation, justice, goodness, courage and piety are, following Socrates method of inquiry. The result is a fascinating insight […]

Plato for Beginners

Title: Plato for beginners Editor: Cavalier, Robert Publisher: For Beginners LLC Date: 1998 ISBN: 1-934389-08-0 Part of the “For Beginner” series which includes some philosophy titles, this is a comic book style guide to Plato’s works. Although it uses plenty of pictures and simple language, the concepts are advanced and intended for deep reflection.