Overview

In Uncommon Sense, Andrew Pessin leads us on an entertaining tour of philosophy, explaining the pivotal moments when the greatest minds solved some of the knottiest conundrums-by asserting some very strange things. But the great philosophers don't merely make unusual claims, they offer powerful arguments for those claims that you can't easily dismiss. And these arguments suggest that the world is much stranger than you could have imagined: *You neither will, nor won't, do certain things in the future, like wear your blue shirt tomorrow. *But your blue shirt isn't really blue, because colors don't exist in physical objects; they're only in your mind. *Time is an illusion. *Your thoughts are not inside your head. *Everything you believe about morality is false. *Animals don't have minds. *There is no physical world at all. In eighteen lively, intelligent chapters, spanning the ancient Greeks and contemporary thinkers, Pessin examines the most unusual ideas, how they have influenced the course of Western thought, and why, despite being so odd, they just might be correct. Here is popular philosophy at its finest, sure to entertain as it enlightens.

Full Product Details

Author:   Andrew Pessin
Publisher:   Rowman & Littlefield
Imprint:   Rowman & Littlefield
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.50cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.327kg
ISBN:  

9781442216099

ISBN 10:   1442216093
Pages:   228
Publication Date:   03 February 2015
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Stop Making Sense Chapter 1: Plato / More Than What Meets the Eye Chapter 2: Aristotle / Neither You Will Nor You Won't Chapter 3: Augustine / Forced to Be Free Chapter 4: Anselm / God is Not Just a Good Idea Chapter 5: Maimonides / Keeps Going, and Going, and Going ... Or Not? Chapter 6: Thomas Aquinas / God Has Not Been on Vacation Since the Original Creation Chapter 7: Rene Descartes / A Monstrous Thesis Chapter 8: John Locke / True Colors Chapter 9: Nicolas Malebranche / On Honoring Leeks and Vegetables Chapter 10: G. W. Leibniz / Synchronicity Chapter 11: George Berkeley / To Be Is to Perceive, or Be Perceived Chapter 12: David Hume / Stercus Accidit Chapter 13: Friedrich Nietzsche / Philosopher, Psychologist-Antichrist? Chapter 14: John McTaggart / Time Does Not Fly Even When You're Having Fun Chapter 15: Ludwig Wittgenstein / The Voice In My Head is Speaking Nonsense Chapter 16: Hilary Putnam / Thinking Outside the (Cranial) Box Chapter 17: David Lewis / The Incredulous Stare Chapter 18: Thomas Nagel, David Chalmers / Mind and Matter, Together Again at Last (Sort of)!

Reviews

Andrew Pessin's Uncommon Sense is an uncommonly good introduction to philosophy, unpretentious in its style, and unerring in its sense of humor. It will provide both entertainment and insight to those seeking wisdom from philosophy's most incredible theories. As a philosophical tour guide for the uninitiated, Pessin is unbeatable. -- Sandy Goldberg, Northwestern University Uncommon Sense is the fruit of a brilliant idea carried out with panache. The ideas explored are esoteric in the extreme, but Andrew Pessin's explanations are clear, down to earth, entertaining, and accessible. This book is an absolute goldmine for general readers curious about philosophy. -- Gregg Osborne, Washington and Jefferson College

Andrew Pessin's Uncommon Sense is an uncommonly good introduction to philosophy, unpretentious in its style, and unerring in its sense of humor. It will provide both entertainment and insight to those seeking wisdom from philosophy's most incredible theories. As a philosophical tour guide for the uninitiated, Pessin is unbeatable. -- Sandy Goldberg, Northwestern University Uncommon Sense is the fruit of a brilliant idea carried out with panache. The ideas explored are esoteric in the extreme, but Andrew Pessin's explanations are clear, down to earth, entertaining, and accessible. This book is an absolute goldmine for general readers curious about philosophy. -- Gregg Osborne, Washington and Jefferson College

Author Information

Andrew Pessin is professor of philosophy at Connecticut College, although he is perhaps best known for his appearances as The Genius on the Late Show with David Letterman. He is the author of The God Question: What Famous Thinkers From Plato To Dawkins Have Said About the Divine and The 60-Second Philosopher: Expand Your Mind on a Minute or so a Day!.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions