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jazzy_daveJostein Gaarder "Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy" (Orion)
This is such a readable book and the third time I have reread it. In fact, it turns out to be a wonderful journey into the history of philosophy.
A 14-year-old Norwegian schoolgirl, Sophie, comes home from school and finds in her mailbox, an unstamped letter addressed to her contains a note that just asks "Who are you?". A couple of minutes later, she finds another letter in her mailbox addressed to her, containing yet another note with a simple question "Where does the world come from?. And still yet later on in the day, she finds in her mailbox, a postcard addressed to someone named Hilde, but in care of her address.
And so the letters prick Sophie's curiosity and get her to start thinking about who's sending these letters to her, what they mean, and really.... where DOES the world come from?
A few days later, Sophie receives a package, and therein begins her introduction to philosophy. We are taken on a journey tracing the history of philosophy from the natural philosophers in Greece back in about 500B.C., to Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, the moving through the ages and continents to St Thomas Aquinas, Descartes, Hume, Kant, Kierkegaard, Marx, Darwin, and Freud.
For anyone looking for an easy way to learn philosophy or interested in a refresher course in philosophy, this is a good book to pick up. Sophie's child-like wide-eyed curiosity and eagerness to explore new ways of thinking put a fresh new face on the subject.
And by the way, who's Hilde and why is someone sending postcards for her to Sophie? The answer to this puzzle is quite a surprise.
This is such a readable book and the third time I have reread it. In fact, it turns out to be a wonderful journey into the history of philosophy.
A 14-year-old Norwegian schoolgirl, Sophie, comes home from school and finds in her mailbox, an unstamped letter addressed to her contains a note that just asks "Who are you?". A couple of minutes later, she finds another letter in her mailbox addressed to her, containing yet another note with a simple question "Where does the world come from?. And still yet later on in the day, she finds in her mailbox, a postcard addressed to someone named Hilde, but in care of her address.
And so the letters prick Sophie's curiosity and get her to start thinking about who's sending these letters to her, what they mean, and really.... where DOES the world come from?
A few days later, Sophie receives a package, and therein begins her introduction to philosophy. We are taken on a journey tracing the history of philosophy from the natural philosophers in Greece back in about 500B.C., to Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, the moving through the ages and continents to St Thomas Aquinas, Descartes, Hume, Kant, Kierkegaard, Marx, Darwin, and Freud.
For anyone looking for an easy way to learn philosophy or interested in a refresher course in philosophy, this is a good book to pick up. Sophie's child-like wide-eyed curiosity and eagerness to explore new ways of thinking put a fresh new face on the subject.
And by the way, who's Hilde and why is someone sending postcards for her to Sophie? The answer to this puzzle is quite a surprise.
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