Sharon Kaye

I just finished reading ‘Philosophy- A Complete Introduction’ by Sharon Kaye.

I awarded this book four stars because it provided a simple, easy to understand introduction to fourteen important philosophers and their contributions to the discipline of philosophy. It provides what its title suggests.

Each of the fourteen chapters contains an introductory summary of the philosopher’s key ideas, a thought experiment, quotations from their major works, and some detail of their work.

As a show more newcomer to philosophy I found the book informative and sufficiently challenging to pique interest without being overwhelming. show less

Equal parts lightweight thriller, treatise on Aristotle and his lost works, and hatchet job on Christianity and, in particular, Roman Catholicism. I was expecting the thriller part, and Kaye doesn't disappoint, providing an interesting and fast-moving story. A cozy thriller, in a way. The plot was occasionally implausible and had its awkward moments, but it wasn't bad for a first-time effort at fiction. And as a fan of fiction with a Vatican connection, I enjoyed it. I was also expecting the show more Aristotle part, and some of this was more interesting than the thriller story, including the book's afterword, although I probably only agreed with about half of Kaye's theories and guesses here. (Given the many gaps in the official history of the man, it's nearly impossible to talk about Aristotle without making some guesses along the way.) The hatchet job was disappointing in that there are already too many Dan Brown copy cats out there who have done it far better, and with far more supporting material. For readers who are offended by (or who have simply had their fill of) stories about evil Catholics and killer Cardinals working hard to keep the truth from their simplistic and dimwitted followers at all costs, etc., etc., etc., you'll probably want to skip this one. Unless you have a relatively thick skin and can see that the hatchet isn't being wielded very effectively. show less

Too many twists and turns, and the character of one of the villains (Dana's lover) is just too inconsistent. Dana's success at walking away from two murder scenes and the criminal activity in Russia strikes me a just plain too lucky. The speculation about Aristotle's lost dialogs being atheistic is interesting and the relationship between Christianity and the Dionysian cult is also interesting, but I think I would prefer this in straight scholarly discourse.

I took one course in Medieval Philosophy over 40 years ago and at the time expected to be bored by it, but to my surprise I enjoyed it a great deal, although like all courses at undergrad, I did not work as hard as I might to extract all that I could from it. However, I was left with an appreciation for the subject and on occasion, I have picked up books that dealt with it. This is one of them (that is probably obvious from the title).
I found this book to be a well written, ie not show more simplistic, but not inundating us with professional terminology, which obscures meaning for the beginner and the person returning to the subject but outlining concepts in an interesting way, that makes reading it an intellectual pleasure rather than a chore.
I would recommend it to anyone. show less