The Love of Wisdom

philosophy + science fiction

Rather than achieve breadth at the expense of depth, a selective approach is adopted which allows greater investigation of certain themes and ideas. It is not about knowledge at all, but intelligence, the ability to think about and think through problems. The principal concern of philosophy is not to find a branch, a school or a philosopher and ingest a whole body of thought, proceeding to defend it against all comers, but to develop a critical outlook and orientation with respect to the material - to have the courage to think for oneself.

The main purpose here has been to link certain key thoughts and thinkers together in a broad theme that indicates the enduring importance of philosophy. Accordingly, comments and explanations are brief.

The bulk of these ideas are complex and require an essay, a chapter or a book in themselves to do them justice. There is not the space to do this here. Thus, apart from aiming to be inspiring and informative, the purpose of the book is to encourage further investigation and further thought. As will become clear in the section on Socrates, the purpose is not to learn philosophy, but to do it.

A narrow definition of what philosophy is, as a systematic, technical approach to certain issues and ideas, produces an academically-approved list of those deemed 'true' philosophers. There are good reasons for the narrow definition, giving students the substantial boy of work to cohere around. But an expansive definition comprising thoughts of philosophical import wherever they come from makes for a lively and pertinent approach. I read this for my philosophy class this past semester and found it fascinating. It's the type of textbook I would read for fun. My only complaint would be the pop culture references--way too many!

I realize that I'm the odd one out in that I know very, very little about pop culture but I really shouldn't have to do google searches to figure out the examples. They just went a little overboard. However, one of those was LotR. Oct 30, Joseph rated it liked it. This book gives a wonderful introduction of the overarching themes of Philosophy and its influence and permeations into theology.

This book's strength is in putting philosophy in its historical context and being fair to the major and minor players. A good read for the beginner theologian as well as a good refresher for the experienced. Jan 13, J Yakel rated it liked it Shelves: This is the first introduction to philosophy book I have read and as such it seems pretty good.

My only disagreement is that it doesn't develop a biblical view in the various areas but comments on which secular views are the most biblical. Jan 01, Logan Vlandis rated it really liked it Shelves: Great textbook that systematically presented philosophical theories in consistent schema.

Nov 27, Keith Brooks rated it it was amazing. Took way too long to finish. This is the best Philosophy intro text I've read - definitely better than the one by Moreland and DeWeese. Rafael Salazar rated it really liked it May 02, Kevin Stilley rated it liked it Nov 11, Justin rated it really liked it Jan 20, Hayden rated it really liked it Dec 29, Natalie rated it did not like it Jan 22, Logan Carrigan rated it really liked it Apr 03, Augustine rated it it was amazing Apr 26, Elizabeth rated it liked it Feb 13, Jordan Carlson rated it liked it Dec 14, Chris Andrade rated it it was amazing Feb 20, Caleb Campbell rated it it was amazing Sep 17, Matt A rated it really liked it May 01, We are told every day what we want, what we need, and what we should do.

Yet without context or connection, knowledge means nothing. Knowledge is not equivalent to wisdom. Wisdom cannot be told to you. It cannot be found on the Internet. It can only be gained through a personal quest to acquire it. Philosophy is that quest. Others may define it otherwise, but to me, wisdom is the synthesis of knowledge and experiences into insights that deepen our understanding of the meaning of life.

Both are required because theories without experiences can prove false, and experiences without theories can fail to be universal.