Will be of particular usefulness for anyone seeking an accessible overview of the more modern philosophers (Joseph Campbell was a surprise; the treatment here of Derrida is as close as I'd ever want to get). Not necessarily always an easy read -- in order to cover some of the personalities accurately, the discussion must veer dangerously close to the obscure paths of the originals -- but well worth the effort. The historical details are often of particular usefulness to put the thinking into proper context. ( )

Some part of this book are mad genius, others fell flat for me. Also, I didn't notice until nearly the end, but this could be just as easily called Boys' Own Philosophers - there are almost no women (I know, partly a problem with the discipline itself), and the few women included are MUCH more likely to be portrayed with more attention to their love affairs than their ideas, compared to the men - I mean, seriously, Ayn Rand's comic is all about the Nathaniel Branden thing, but the Sartre story doesn't even MENTION Simone de Beauvoir??? Once??? C'mon...

_You're a Good Man, John Stuart Mill_ still has me chuckling though.

( )

Somewhat Philosophy 101, Something a history lesson on subversive ideas having to overcome great adversity to be renowned (or in the rare case becoming a saint for them) this is an irreverent approach to the basics of philosophy told in a comical graphic novel way illuminating the lives of the great's including Plato, Bodhidharma, Hume, Nietzsche, Freud, Thomas Jefferson, and Kant. ( )

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