Philosophy: Key Texts

Designed for complete beginners, Philosophy: Key Texts is an introduction to philosophy and gives a clear, readable overview of some of the major texts of Plato, Descartes, Hume, Mill and Nietzsche. As well as providing help in how to analyze these sources, the authors encourage the reader to question the arguments and positions presented.

Philosophy can often seem difficult and off-putting to the beginner, who can be intimidated by its jargon and confused by its subtlety of argument. The aim of this book is therefore to act as a no-nonsense guide for the student and general reader, clearly setting out the main arguments and ideas of six of philosophy's most influential texts in such a way that allows the reader to directly engage with them -- for you to do philosophy for yourself. Philosophy: Key Texts looks at Plato's Republic, Descartes's Meditations, Hume's Enquiry,Mill's On Liberty, Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil,and Sartre's Existentialism and Humanism. Each section comes with its own further reading and glossary. This is the second edition of this popular text, and includes additional and updated material. You may also want to check out its companion volume, Philosophy: Key Themes, the second edition of which introduces six of philosophy's central topics.

Preface Acknowledgements Introduction Plato: Republic (c.375 BC) Rene Descartes: Meditations on First Philosophy (1641) David Hume: An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding (1748) John Stuart Mill: On Liberty (1859) Friedrich Nietzsche: Beyond Good and Evil (1886) Jean-Paul Sartre: Existentialism and Humanism (1947) Glossary Further Reading Index