Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy - Simon Blackburn Audiobook

Written by Simon Blackburn
Read by Norman Dietz
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps

· Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins

This is an audiobook about the big questions in life: knowledge, consciousness, fate, God, truth, goodness, justice. It is for anyone who believes there are big questions out there, but does not know how to approach them. Think sets out to explain what they are and why they are important. Simon Blackburn begins by putting forward a convincing case for the study of philosophy and goes on to give the listener a sense of how the great historical figures such as Descartes, Hume, Kant, and Wittgenstein have approached its central themes.

Each chapter explains a major issue, and gives the listener a self-contained guide through the problems that philosophers have studied. The large scope of topics covered range from skepticism, the self, mind and body, and freedom to ethics and the arguments surrounding the existence of God. Lively and approachable, this audiobook is ideal for all those who want to learn how the basic techniques of thinking shape our existence.

Gertrude Stein observed of Ezra Pound that he was a village explainer, and very good to have around if one happened to be a village. Simon Blackburn merits the same level of praise. This book’s stated intention is to give readers some sense of how philosophers approach the really big questions of knowledge, free will, God, reasoning, and so on. That’s a tall order. Think is better appreciated as a chrestomathy of thought-provoking quotations and asides. The book’s strongest points are its useful tips on formulating and analyzing arguments. Incidentally, the politically correct reader will be delighted at Blackburn’s bows to gender-neutral language, his digs at the religious right and his sly elbow in the dead ribs of Edmund Burke. getAbstract recommends this book for anyone interested in philosophy but short of time, or merely out to impress friends, colleagues and clients by dropping names of celebrity philosophers into conversations or sales pitches.