Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Routledge (1999), Edition: 1st, Paperback, 232 pages
Description
Now in its second edition, this ever-engaging, humorous and extremely popular book challenges readers to think philosophically about every day dilemmas. This fully updated new edition includes brand new problems, such as 'A Nasty Transplant' and the 'Three Embryos', from the field of medical ethics, and 'Deep Thought Speaks', which tackles issues in Artificial Intelligence. These new conundrums accompany old favourites, such as the 'Hanging Judge', 'The Unexpected exam', 'The Sentence' paradox and 'Descartes' big problem', all explained and explored in Martin Cohen's clear, witty and individual style. 101 Philosophy Problemswill stimulate hours of lively philosophical debate.
User reviews
LibraryThing member kaelirenee
Oh yeah, that's why I don't read philosophy. It's not the fault of the book (I don't think)-but every single philosophical problem in here just seemed like a stupid riddle from a kid's joke book. It's like "how do I find the trick to make this work." Like I said-this is why I don't read philosophy.
LibraryThing member Steve55
Another book with philosophy in the title but again have no fear, this is no deep philosophical text.
The more I’ve been involved in change the more convinced I've become that the key, or at least a significant part of the key to change is the creation and stimulation of thinking within the
Whilst we might like to believe that we spend our lives thinking, I suspect that there is more than a grain of truth in the view of George Bernard Shaw.
“Few people think more than two or three times a year. I’ve made an international reputation by thinking two or three times a week.”
So to the book. It’s aim is to present 101 prompts to thinking and perhaps seeing things differently and changing our understanding and knowledge. I found it a great book for train journeys where you have a little time to yourself and perhaps the chance to relax and let your mind play with ideas. The good news is that the questions are posed in the spirit of fun and although the title describes them as philosophical problems, this simply means problems to think about. The collection provides a diverse range of questions categorised under 17 different headings. These for example cover paradoxical pictures, problems with numbers, logical loops, ethical issues and many more.
I particularly liked the problems with time and am still trying to think through my understanding of the consequences of the speed of light and the effects of black holes. I also was unaware that light had weight and that 160 tons of sunlight falls on the earth each day - where does it go? You can also try your hand at some of the classical problems which have provided the food to while away the time of philosophers for many years, including Zeno’s paradox of Achilles and the tortoise featured in the ‘Zeno and the Tortoise’ book reviewed elsewhere.
The more I’ve been involved in change the more convinced I've become that the key, or at least a significant part of the key to change is the creation and stimulation of thinking within the
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organisation. If we are to plot our course through a constantly changing world then the application of thinking, rather than unthinking mimicry of what is claimed to be good for us is critically important. Whilst we might like to believe that we spend our lives thinking, I suspect that there is more than a grain of truth in the view of George Bernard Shaw.
“Few people think more than two or three times a year. I’ve made an international reputation by thinking two or three times a week.”
So to the book. It’s aim is to present 101 prompts to thinking and perhaps seeing things differently and changing our understanding and knowledge. I found it a great book for train journeys where you have a little time to yourself and perhaps the chance to relax and let your mind play with ideas. The good news is that the questions are posed in the spirit of fun and although the title describes them as philosophical problems, this simply means problems to think about. The collection provides a diverse range of questions categorised under 17 different headings. These for example cover paradoxical pictures, problems with numbers, logical loops, ethical issues and many more.
I particularly liked the problems with time and am still trying to think through my understanding of the consequences of the speed of light and the effects of black holes. I also was unaware that light had weight and that 160 tons of sunlight falls on the earth each day - where does it go? You can also try your hand at some of the classical problems which have provided the food to while away the time of philosophers for many years, including Zeno’s paradox of Achilles and the tortoise featured in the ‘Zeno and the Tortoise’ book reviewed elsewhere.
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Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1999 (1st edition)
2002 (2nd edition)
Physical description
232 p.; 7.72 inches
ISBN
0415191270 / 9780415191272