Big ideas sometimes come from the strangest places. In this wide ranging
introduction, James M Russell takes the fear out of philosophy and selects
seventy-six works - from Plato, Descartes and Wittgenstein to Philip K Dick and
the Moomins as well as contemporary thinkers such as Peter Singer and John
Rawls. Dividing into accessible sections - history, contemplation, happiness,
and -isms, Russell gives us the lives as well as the lessons of the great
thinkers, including a digest of their key ideas. A perfect antidote to the
complex life. The topics and books covered include: Traditional Philosophy: The
Republic, Plato; The Confessions, St Augustine; The Leviathan, Thomas