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Common Knowledge

Gender: male
Nationality: USA
Occupations: Professor
Short biography: Donald Palmer is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the College of Marin in Kentfield, California. He is also author of Kierkegaard For Beginners, Sartre For Beginners, Looking at Philosophy, and Does the Center Hold?

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Reviews

Looking at Philosophy: The Unbearable Heaviness of… by Donald Palmer

An excellent (to my uneducated mind) summary of a bunch of important philosophers and their relation to "the tradition" and their own movements. Does a great job of making some of their major ideas relatively understandable. The drawings are pretty goofy but sometimes do actually help to illuminate the text. Enjoyed it a bunch.

2 criticisms:
- It mentions Freud quite a few times but never really describes anything about him
- Doesn't challenge Western orthodoxy - treats the Dark Ages as, well, "dark" when this isn't true and mostly ignores Muslim works, giving them short shrift even when they're essential to what others wrote… (more)

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tombomp | 8 other reviews | Oct 31, 2023 |

Looking at Philosophy: The Unbearable Heaviness of… by Donald Palmer

A useful overview of some of the major Western philosophical movements. It’s not a complete look, but it is a great place to get a sense of where to go next and who you’ll need to look up and read more of.

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Synopsis2486 | 8 other reviews | May 15, 2023 |

Does the Center Hold?: An Introduction to Western… by Donald Palmer

Humor and drawings make this survey of Western philosophy less of a slog than it would otherwise be. The book is intended as a college textbook. As a result, it covers a lot of material, but not very deeply.

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ritaer | 3 other reviews | Jul 7, 2022 |

Does the Center Hold?: An Introduction to Western… by Donald Palmer

2/27/22

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laplantelibrary | 3 other reviews | Feb 27, 2022 |

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