The Philosophy Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

A compendium of sketches, 1 to 6 pages each, of the work of 108 of the world's philosophers from 700 BCE to the present, plus a "directory" of one-paragraph descriptions of 59 additional philosophers. One striking thing, to my mind, is how "dark" the period from 250 CE to 1500 CE really was, with most Western philosophy being religion-drenched junk -- the Renaissance and Age of Reason arrived not a moment too soon. As far as relatively recent philosophy of science is concerned, there are no parts delving into interpretations of quantum physics or the concept of structural realism. Another shortcoming, I'd say, is the relentless referencing of centuries "ordinalistically" (e.g. "the 18th century" instead of "the 1700s") -- just because a show more practice is standard and commonplace doesn't mean it isn't also annoying and perverse. show less

Good solid introduction to philosophers and their key contributions to philosophy. It's very broad and therefore not very deep but does recommend key works which is very helpful. A good starting point if you want an overview on a specific philosopher.

This book gives a great overview of philosophy. I was a philosophy major in college and this book covers many of the ideas I learned at school. However, my only grievance is that it leaves some ideas out like Kantian ethics. But other than that I highly recommend this to people who like philosophy or want to learn more about it.

Like all DK books, this one covers a lot of territory, a lot of philosophers, and is a good quick reference for many ideas.

The Philosophy Book by DK has over six contributors. It covers content from the ancient and medieval world, renaissance, the age of reason and revolution, and modern and contemporary times. Throughout its pages these philosophers debate and dialogue, bisected the existence of knowledge, logic, and language, morality, art, politics, and religion, in the East and West.
Much of the philosophy was shaped by Classical Greek thinking and thinkers of Eastern philosophies. These were well-known philosophers who set the stage for philosophical development. The early philosophers were Thales of Miletus, Pythagoras, Confucius, Buddha, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Ptolemy.
Following in their footsteps were philosophers who lived in periods after show more them like Moses Maimonides, Benedictus Spinoza, Rene Descartes, John Locke, Immanuel Kant, Charles Darwin, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Jean-Paul Satre. In more modern times there were Friedrich Nietzche, Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Bertrand Russell, Frantz Fanon, and the feminist Simone de Beauvoir. show less

A nice illustrated introduction for student

See my review of World War II published by DK Publishing for comments about DK books.