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junyan's review against another edition
4.0
interesting and easy to read! if you love dogs and philosophy you would love this book
mcddcm's review against another edition
challenging
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
reenelim's review against another edition
5.0
5/5 brilliant stars! i stopped for awhile, due to a reading slump, but when i picked it up again, i had that remarkable reading speed once more!
it was hilarious, insightful, and wondrous. Anthony McGowan truly is a fantastic philosopher and author!
it was hilarious, insightful, and wondrous. Anthony McGowan truly is a fantastic philosopher and author!
amyisabookworm's review against another edition
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
2.5
emily_e_h's review against another edition
challenging
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
swt's review against another edition
4.0
Engaging, humorous, educational, and just plain fun to read. Philosophy presented in a very approachable way.
breeze3662's review against another edition
4.0
[4.5]
Excellent peek into the world of philosophy. Anthony Mcgowan takes on a journey through various branches of philosophy including but not limited to ethics, free will, metaphysics, epistemology and the philosophy of science. The book is well written keeping a layman's perspective in mind and the author does a really good job of presenting a number of influential philosophers as well as theories proposed in western philosophy. I would definitely recommend it, as it will either help you find sub-branches of philosophy that truly interest you, or you can confidently say nothing in the world of philosophy interests you (although I doubt it would be the latter).
It is not a perfect book, and there definitely are a few negatives. For instance, I felt that a few major sub-branches of philosophy that the author almost completely skips like political philosophy, aesthetics, etc. deserved a place in this book. At various instances, the author can be seen fanboying over Kant and does have a bit of bias towards Socrates, Plato, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer etc. However, overall the book does a pretty good job of what it's supposed to be, a 'pamphlet' for the world of philosophy.
Excellent peek into the world of philosophy. Anthony Mcgowan takes on a journey through various branches of philosophy including but not limited to ethics, free will, metaphysics, epistemology and the philosophy of science. The book is well written keeping a layman's perspective in mind and the author does a really good job of presenting a number of influential philosophers as well as theories proposed in western philosophy. I would definitely recommend it, as it will either help you find sub-branches of philosophy that truly interest you, or you can confidently say nothing in the world of philosophy interests you (although I doubt it would be the latter).
It is not a perfect book, and there definitely are a few negatives. For instance, I felt that a few major sub-branches of philosophy that the author almost completely skips like political philosophy, aesthetics, etc. deserved a place in this book. At various instances, the author can be seen fanboying over Kant and does have a bit of bias towards Socrates, Plato, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer etc. However, overall the book does a pretty good job of what it's supposed to be, a 'pamphlet' for the world of philosophy.
emmkayt's review against another edition
4.0
A terrific little introduction to Western philosophy. McGowan goes on a series of walks with his dog, Monty, a Maltese terrier (note: NOT as pictured in the cover art! I'm a cat person, but even I can tell that's not a Maltese terrier), systematically explaining to his pooch how philosophers have grappled with questions of ethics, metaphysics, epistemology, the philosophy of science, and the meaning of life. Big stuff, but doggo seemed up for it (some very intelligent interjections, Monty!), so I tried to keep up as well. There's gentle humour, good explanations, and some poignancy. I really liked it, and think I'll buy a copy, so that when I feel up for it I can return to some of the bits that my slowish brain had trouble grasping. 4.5.
agnexperience's review against another edition
4.0
This was pretty fun and I understood some concepts way better than before. But note that I just don't really take to philosophy very easily at all, so it's not some sort of revelation for most people with a basic grasp of Western philosophy.
I really enjoyed the dog part, of course. Go dogs!
Really well executed for what it is.
I really enjoyed the dog part, of course. Go dogs!
Really well executed for what it is.
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