Reading Philosophy will appeal to both those beginning their study of philosophy at a university and to those who want to engage with the subject on their own. Unlike introductory books which tell the reader about the subject, this one requires the reader to do philosophy. Its direct approach makes the book valuable both for students and other readers. The book can be used as the set reading in seminars in introductory courses: each chapter can act as a focal point for extended discussion week by week. But it is also well adapted for self-sufficient use by individuals working without a teacher.
The book provides some samples of high-quality philosophical writings - eighteen texts in all, spread over nine philosophical topics. The topics covered are Doubt; Self, Mind and Body; Tragedy; Equality; Moral Dilemma; Personal Identity; Free Will; Causality; Qualities. The texts include writings by Descartes, Boyle, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Schopenhauer and J.S.Mill, as well as eight written by philosophers in the late twentieth-century. Each chapter contains an introduction to the problem, introductions to the texts and their authors, and interactive commentaries on the texts.

Reading Philosophy will appeal to both those beginning their study of philosophy at a university and those who want to engage with the subject on their own. Unlike introductory books which tell the reader about the subject, this one requires the reader to do philosophy. Its direct approach makes the book valuable both for students and for other readers. It can be used as the set reading in seminars in introductory courses: each chapter can act as a focal point for extended discussion week by week. But it is also well adapted for self-sufficient use by individuals working without a teacher.The volume provides eighteen examples of high-quality philosophical texts, covering nine philosophical topics: Doubt: Self: Tragedy: Equality: Dilemma: Identity: Freedom: Causality: Qualities. The texts include writings by Descartes, Boyle, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Schopenhauer and J. S. Mill, as well as eight written by philosophers in the late twentieth century. Each chapter contains an introduction to the problem, introductions to the texts and their authors, and interactive commentaries on the texts.

Samuel Guttenplan is a Reader in Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London. He is the author of The Languages of Logic (second edition. Blackwell, 1997), editor of A Companion to the Philosophy of Mind (Blackwell, 1994) and executive editor of the journal Mind & Language.

Jennifer Hornsby taught philosophy at Oxford from 1978 to 1994, when she moved to Birkbeck College, as Professor. Her chief areas of publication are philosophy of mind, action and language. She has also written about the impact of feminism on philosophy.

Christopher Janaway was educated at Oxford and has taught for the past 20 years at Birkbeck College, where he is currently Professor of Philosophy. His chief areas of publication are aesthetics, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche.

2006-11-27 A great place to start philosophy

This is an excellent book. It takes a structured learning approach that gets you "doing philosophy" right from the start. Writen as part of the External Diploma coarse of the University of London the book uses a variety of philosophical texts and guides the student through them with questions and points of reflection at approriate places in the arguments. I used this book myself and have moved on to the degree coarse. The topics covered are varied and if you find one a little dry there will be others that catch your interest.