The chapter on free will discusses the possibility of a predetermined fate like voiced in countless religious texts: Do we have a choice in what we do or is it only the result of cultural conditioning? Can we really blame a murderer for killing someone if he had a depression? In this chapter I first encountered the belief that reducing people to predetermined and conditioned factors objectivies them, taking away their humanity. The following chapter deals with the mind: When I see the colour blue, do others see it the same way as I do? Is the relation between events and the feeling I feel totally random? Or might there only be one option for this relation, all other options being made impossible by physical facts such as is the case with our perception of colour? the belief that we do not need one single foundation for all our reasoning. This chapter introduced me to the concept of coherentism, i.e. Blackburn points out the possibility of the “Cartesian circle”, namely assuming god’s existence in order to prove his existence.

In the first chapter “Knowledge”, he describes Descartes famous ‘proof’ of the existence of the world, in which Descartes reasons that god exists (both the trademark argument and the ontological argument are given for his existence) and is not evil – so he would not deceive mankind and therefore the world exists. You really have to!īlackburn groups the philosophical arguments into different categories of reasoning, allowing the reader to grasp the chains of reasoning in one particular field before understanding the relations between different philosophists and their cultural/religious background. There is a reason the book’s title is “Think”. While evaluating these arguments, he conveys his fascination with philosophy to the reader.īefore continuing with a more detailed description of the book’s contents, let me warn those of you who want to read this book passively, consuming its contents like the superficial plot of a bad work of fiction: This will simply not do. Blackburn uses his experience and education as a philosopher to give a basic overview of the central arguments in each popular field of philosophy. Though slightly arrogant, the sub-title of the book is the best description of its contents: ‘A compelling introduction to philosophy’. If you are one of the latter – and I certainly am – this is a book for you. Who am I? What is the world? Does god exist? Do I have a free will? These are questions every single one of us has asked himself in the course of his life: some only to consider them as unimportant and forget about them, others countless times, dwelling on possible answers and becoming more and more fascinated with them.

The author of the bestselling “Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy” offers a coherent, non-intimidating introduction to the challenging and fascinating landscape of Western philosophy

Think simon blackburn chapter summary