How the World Thinks: A Global History of Philosophy
Product ID: 213914280
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*SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER* 'There to fill the Sapiens-size hole in your life' Observer In this groundbreaking global overview of philosophy, Julian Baggini travels the world to provide a wide-ranging map of human thought. One of the great unexplained wonders of human history is that written philosophy flowered entirely separately in China, India and Ancient Greece at more or less the same time. These early philosophies have had a profound impact on the development of distinctive cultures in different parts of the world. What we call 'philosophy' in the West is not even half the story. Julian Baggini sets out to expand our horizons in How the World Thinks, exploring the philosophies of Japan, India, China and the Muslim world, as well as the lesser-known oral traditions of Africa and Australia's first peoples. Interviewing thinkers from around the globe, Baggini asks questions such as: why is the West is more individualistic than the East? What makes secularism a less powerful force in the Islamic world than in Europe? And how has China resisted pressures for greater political freedom? Offering deep insights into how different regions operate, and paying as much attention to commonalities as to differences, Baggini shows that by gaining greater knowledge of how others think we take the first step to a greater understanding of ourselves. Review: must-read on how to avoid self-destructive international conflicts of interest - anyone who's learned a second language enough to dream in it has experienced a moment (or more) of identity shift—where you feel like a different 'you' when you're thinking or speaking it. reading baggini's thoughtful survey of culturally alternate realities will give you the same feeling; and it's not always a great feeling. that said, if you want to bargain, prevent escalation, or resolve a conflict of interest across these great cultural/philosophical traditions, you'll want to survey the perspectives offered here. Review: So close! But still really good. - Oh man, I wish I could give it 4.5 stars because 4 is a little low but it's closer to 4 than 5. This is NOT the book that is advertised. It's not how the world thinks. It's basically how India, China, and Japan think... and a little bit of Western Philosophy. He goes into SO much detail regarding Indian, Chinese, Japanese and Middle Eastern philosophy and you can tell the author really loves those philosophies and the book serves as a great starter guide to many of their ideas. Unfortunately, I bought the book because I wanted philosophies from around the world, not just Asia. The book is approximately 30% China, 25% India, 15% Japan, 20% Western (including the US), 2% African, 2% Russia, 6% Other (including Australia)A grand total of ZERO PERCENT South America or Central America. That's so weird! 3 out of 6 habitable continents are less than 5% of the book. He mentions it somewhat (particularly in regards to Russia) that talking about how many of the world philosophies are difficult to pin down but... I would have liked an attempt. Ubuntu is a *somewhat* major philosophy in African and REALLY connects to a lot of Asian philosophies but he doesn't dedicate any more than 1 or 2 pages to it. South America has MANY philosophers but they are never mentioned. As another review mentioned, I honestly think he mentions maybe one female philosopher but doesn't go into feminist philosophy at all. BUT It's still a very great and interesting read with a lot of love towards the material and towards philosophy in general. It's just not the book you might have been looking for. If you find Indian or Chinese philosophy fascinating then BUY this book. But that's mostly what it is.
| Best Sellers Rank | #235,003 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #1,294 in Eastern Philosophy (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.4 out of 5 stars 599 Reviews |
E**R
must-read on how to avoid self-destructive international conflicts of interest
anyone who's learned a second language enough to dream in it has experienced a moment (or more) of identity shift—where you feel like a different 'you' when you're thinking or speaking it. reading baggini's thoughtful survey of culturally alternate realities will give you the same feeling; and it's not always a great feeling. that said, if you want to bargain, prevent escalation, or resolve a conflict of interest across these great cultural/philosophical traditions, you'll want to survey the perspectives offered here.
V**N
So close! But still really good.
Oh man, I wish I could give it 4.5 stars because 4 is a little low but it's closer to 4 than 5. This is NOT the book that is advertised. It's not how the world thinks. It's basically how India, China, and Japan think... and a little bit of Western Philosophy. He goes into SO much detail regarding Indian, Chinese, Japanese and Middle Eastern philosophy and you can tell the author really loves those philosophies and the book serves as a great starter guide to many of their ideas. Unfortunately, I bought the book because I wanted philosophies from around the world, not just Asia. The book is approximately 30% China, 25% India, 15% Japan, 20% Western (including the US), 2% African, 2% Russia, 6% Other (including Australia)A grand total of ZERO PERCENT South America or Central America. That's so weird! 3 out of 6 habitable continents are less than 5% of the book. He mentions it somewhat (particularly in regards to Russia) that talking about how many of the world philosophies are difficult to pin down but... I would have liked an attempt. Ubuntu is a *somewhat* major philosophy in African and REALLY connects to a lot of Asian philosophies but he doesn't dedicate any more than 1 or 2 pages to it. South America has MANY philosophers but they are never mentioned. As another review mentioned, I honestly think he mentions maybe one female philosopher but doesn't go into feminist philosophy at all. BUT It's still a very great and interesting read with a lot of love towards the material and towards philosophy in general. It's just not the book you might have been looking for. If you find Indian or Chinese philosophy fascinating then BUY this book. But that's mostly what it is.
A**N
Satisfied
I like this book. Didn't cost me more than expected but has everything that I was looking for and is serving it's purpose.
S**1
Multiple Views
A wider perspective on a widely discussed topic. The criticism of Western Civilization in recent years requires a basis for comparison.
M**S
Still a Western view of Eastern thinking
Much of Eastern thinking is experiential so a description is generally irrelevant. No real comparison. But there are Western monastic practices that are relevant but not discussed.
K**M
Great book. Ignore the negative review 2 star review.
A very good, pleasant-to-read, introduction to philosophy beyond the west. The point of the book is to expand our west-centric understanding of philosophy, so please ignore the unfair comment by Rich which completely misses the point.
K**N
Too many big words, redundant, long-winded
I didn't enjoy reading it . It sounded pretentious with too many big words being added unnecessarily to get to a point. Ideas are repeated to achieve a higher word count? It is a good reference book but it could have been presented more directly.
R**I
Consider this reader disappointed.
That this book, which bills itself as a “global history of philosophy,” gives a scant one line to the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas, one of the pillars of Western thought, is indicative of its overall thrust. It isn’t so much a global history as a presentation of the author’s observations of philosophy, observations skewed towards Eastern mysticism. Consider this reader disappointed.
R**R
One of my favourite books
Incredibly well researched, incisive and fascinating book summarising different religious and philosophical traditions.
P**O
Un excursus sulla filosofia alla maniera anglosassone.
UN LIBRO MOLTO INTERESSANTE.
A**R
Great resource for school
Affordable resource for school
P**R
The WorldView to shapeour ids
The book is a global history of Philosophical ideas.This is a novel approach.Being an Engineer,my affinity for Philosophy of Science involvement-trying to answer the why question as I went deeper into many concepts.Besides,I had the chance to read the views of Indian and Western Philosophers.I always told my Philosopher friends,why you use so difficult terminology.This is a book which is free form jargons.
B**L
Spannende Lektüre
Kluges und großartiges Werk
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