think a compelling introduction to philosophy

“In this splendid book Michael Gill gives a forthright and penetrating account of the unified moral and aesthetic philosophy of Anthony Ashley Cooper, the 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury. Gill gives us a marvelous book that is engaging and thoughtful about what constitutes beauty and why we need it.'-Lee Trepanier, The Russell Kirk Center And, as Gill shows, this view had a huge impact on the development of natural religion, moral sense theory, aesthetics, and environmentalism.Ĭombining captivating historical details and flashes of humor, A Philosophy of Beauty not only rediscovers and illuminates a fascinating philosopher but also offers an inspiring reflection about the role beauty can play in our lives. But Shaftesbury argued that nature, religion, virtue, and art can all be truly beautiful, and that cherishing and cultivating beauty is what makes life worth living. In A Philosophy of Beauty, Michael Gill presents an engaging account of how Shaftesbury’s thought profoundly shaped modern ideas of nature, religion, morality, and art-and why, despite its long neglect, it remains compelling today.īefore Shaftesbury’s magnum opus, Charactersticks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times (1711), it was common to see wilderness as ugly, to associate religion with fear and morality with unpleasant restriction, and to dismiss art as trivial or even corrupting. Harness your natural curiosity to develop the ability to think more broadly and deeply.At the turn of the eighteenth century, Anthony Ashley Cooper, the third Earl of Shaftesbury (1671–1713), developed the first comprehensive philosophy of beauty to be written in English. The philosopher Anthony Quinton wrote in 2005 that very short books such as Think form part of a recent new development 'in the field of popularization by professionals.' Blackburn to follow up with Being Good, a guide to the philosophy of ethics'. The writer Peter Edidin wrote in The New York Times that the book 'found a sizable audience', noting that more than 30,000 hardcover copies had been sold and that 'Oxford has asked Mr. Sainsbury described the book as well-written, but criticized Blackburn's discussion of knowledge.

Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy received a positive review from the philosopher Mark Sainsbury in Mind. The book was published as an Oxford University Press Paperback in 2001. Think: A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy was first published by Oxford University Press in 1999.

He also defends the value and importance of philosophy. Blackburn covers subjects such as epistemology, philosophy of the mind, free will, and philosophy of religion, discussing them on an introductory level.

Think a compelling introduction to philosophy