Ancient Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction: Amazon.ca: Julia Annas: Books

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Book Description

The tradition of ancient philosophy is a long, rich and varied one, in which a constant note is that of discussion and argument. This book aims to introduce readers to some ancient debates and to get them to engage with the ancient developments of some themes. Getting away from the presentation of ancient philosophy as a succession of Great Thinkers, the book aims to give readers a sense of the freshness and liveliness of ancient philosophy, and of its wide variety of themes and styles.

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black and white halftones and line drawings

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
Medea, daughter of the King of Colchis, has betrayed her country and family out of love for the Greek adventurer Jason, who has brought her back to Greece. Read the first page

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Customer Reviews

5 Reviews

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Average Customer Review

3.0 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Not As Bad As The Other Reviewers Say, Sep 5 2002

By

Joe J. Kern (Tokyo, Japan) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ancient Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction (Paperback)

This book didn't strike me as great, but I feel I have to offer a dissenting opinion at least. It provided an introduction to many names and events in an easy style. Its true that its a huge subject, but it begs for an introduction because you will miss so much if you only read about Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. But I think some of the other criticisms voiced in these reviews may be legitimate.

And VSI is the best series of introductions I've found. They are mostly easy to read, but not aimed so low as to insult the intelligence of most adults. The one exception to this so far has been the VSI to Socrates by C. Taylor.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Quite Useless, May 18 2002

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Edward Garea "Edward Garea" (Branchville, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ancient Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction (Paperback)

Every once in a great while comes a book that takes what can be a difficult subject matter and melts it into a coherent, readable whole that can be enjoyed by both student and intelligent reader alike, whether in the classroom or on the commuter train to work.

Unfortunately, this book is not one of them.

To be effective, a "short introduction" must not only be concise, but also reader friendly, keeping to the subject as close as possible in langauge terms designed to enlighten and entertain with an eye toward expanding the reader's interest in the subject covered.

Annas conveys none of the above, mainly because she hardly sticks to the subject matter at hand: philosophy. Instead we get a historical-political-sociological treatise that fails on every level to meet the expectations a reader has coming into the book.

Actually, when one applies common sense, this is too large a subject to fit into too small a format. For a couple of dollars more, there is an excellent title called "Greek Philosophy" by the same publisher. Also, for a few dollars more, are the works of popularizers Bryan Magee, Roger Scruton, and Robert Solomon, each of whom will give you way more than your money's worth. Try them; your wallet won't feel used and abused.

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5.0 out of 5 stars the way an intoduction to philosophy should be, Mar 22 2003

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Ian Halloran "umpteenth" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ancient Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction (Paperback)

What is great about this book is that it immeadiately engages you in ancient debates, which is what ancient philosophy is about. Do you really want a list of names and principle doctrines? There are plenty of books like that. There was a different consciousness in ancient times; to read ancient philosophy through our modern consciousness is to misread it. This book helps to engage the reader as the ancients engaged in their philosophy.

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars I Thought This Book Was Excellent
This little pamphlet is the first philosophy work that I have ever read, and Prof. Annas wrote it for people like me. Read more

Published on Mar 18 2003 by Jonathan S. Mark

1.0 out of 5 stars Useless
If you buy this hoping for a quick and easy intro to the names, lives and thoughts of early Greek philosophers, you're going to feel let down. Read more

Published on Aug 15 2001 by Alonzo