An excellent little book for new philosophers | Entertainment - Patheos
Paul Copan's "A Little Book for New Philosophers" should be read by everyone, according to Dr. Coyle Neal,
co-host of the City of Man Podcast and Associate Professor of Political
Science at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, MO.
We have to feel a little bit sorry for philosophers writing popular
introductions to their profession. They always have to begin by
defending their own existence in a way that most other disciplines
don’t. A book introducing a broader or ‘more practical’ discipline
called A Little Book for New Engineers or A Little Book for New Biologists or A Little Book for New Political Scientists wouldn’t
have to spend the first half of the book explaining why one would want
to be a Engineer, Biologist, or Political Scientist in the first place.
[Note to IVP: If you’re looking for someone to write A Little Book for New Political Scientists, I’m happy to offer my services…] A book introducing a narrower discipline, even if less practical, called A Little Book for New Literary Critics or A Little Book for New Equestrians likewise
would not need such an introduction, as it would be unlike to be picked
by anyone who isn’t already interested in the topic. Philosophy, for
better or worse, is a large enough discipline that everyone has at least
heard of it, but its nuts and bolts are not very well known and are perceived as “impractical.” As a result, the discipline is often perceived as needing extra defense.
Paul Copan gives this extra defense skillfully in A Little Book for New Philosophers.
The first half of the book is even called “Why Study Philosophy?” But,
in the course of giving a thoughtful answer to that question, Copan also
presents an introduction both to the subject matter of philosophy as a
whole and to some of its major subcategories. The second half of the
book, “How to Study Philosophy”, outlines the various settings in which
philosophy operates, including the personal obligations of philosophers
to be virtuous themselves, the community in which philosophy happens,
the criteria for proper skepticism, and some guiding questions to help
us decide if philosophy is something we ought to be intentionally (or
even professionally) pursuing...
All that to say that A Little Book for New Philosophers is an
excellent book those who want to know whether or not to pursue
philosophy. It also happens to be an excellent book for everyone else
too.
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Source: Patheos