Name: What Does It All Mean?
Rating: 3.692307692307693 (13 reviews)
ISBN: 9780195174373

Thomas Nagel

In this cogent and accessible introduction to philosophy, the distinguished author of Mortal Questions and The View From Nowhere sets forth the central problems of philosophical inquiry for the beginning student.

A Very Short Introduction to Philosophy

What Does It All Mean?

What Does It All Mean? A Very Short Introduction to Philosophy

Hannah Yang

I think everyone who wants to study philosophy or enjoys thinking should read What Does It All Mean? at least once. I'd also recommend it to people who think that they don't like philosophy, or who think philosophy is uninteresting or difficult to understand. Although many of the concepts introduced in the book were already familiar to me, it was a well-presented, easy-to-read refresher, and I wish I had read it earlier. 

Nagel discusses nine interesting and popular philosophical questions in a surprising amount of depth for the length of this book, guiding readers through the assumptions and logic behind different claims and commonly-held viewpoints about each question. The language is accessible and abstract concepts are grounded in fun examples. Overall, the book is exactly what it promises: a very short introduction to philosophy.

Omar AlHashmi

Really nice starting point for philosophy. Gives out some important questions in philosophy and provides some of the popular theories around them. Hopefully this book is able to allow me to enter into the world of philosophy easier.

arden

Apurva Chitnis

ماذا يعني هذا كله؟ مقدمة قصيرة جدا إلى الفلسفة

Asma

Magnus Dahl

Sasuga

Anas mohamad sobhi

Hussein Mahran

Nicole Dykeman

Should the hard questions of philosophy matter to ordinary people? In this down-to-earth, nonhistorical guide, Thomas Nagel, the distinguished author of Mortal Questions and The View From Nowhere, brings philosophical problems to life, revealing in vivid, accessible prose why they have continued to fascinate and baffle thinkers across the centuries.Arguing that the best way to learn about philosophy is to tackle its problems head-on, Nagel turns to some of the most important questions we can ask about ourselves. Do we really have free will? Why should we be moral? What is the relation between our minds and our brains? Is there life after death? How should we feel about death? In a universe so vast, billions of light years across, can anything we do with our lives really matter? And does it matter if it doesn't matter? These are perennial questions we ask about the human condition, and Nagel probes them, and others like them, thoughtfully, clearly, and with humor. He states his own opinions freely but with refreshing modesty, always leaving it open to readers to entertain other solutions, encouraging them to think for themselves.Nagel is eminently qualified to introduce the uninitiated to the world of philosophical inquiry. Singled out by the Chicago Literary Review as "one of the sharpest analytic philosophers in America today," he has been praised in the New York Times Book Review for writing "sensitively and elegantly" and in the Times Literary Supplement for his ability, rare among philosophers, to combine "profundity with clarity and simplicity of expression."Never rarefied, What Does It All Mean? opens our eyes to a side of the world we rarely consider, demonstrating that philosophy is no empty study but an indispensable key to understanding our lives. It challenges us to think hard and clearly, to ask questions, to try out ideas and raise possible objections to them--in short, to become philosophers ourselves.

What Does It All Mean? A Very Short Introduction to Philosophy

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