An Intelligent Person's Guide to Philosophy by Roger ScrutonMy rating: 0 of 5 stars
I don't think I'm in any position to give this book a rating. It basically reinforced my opinion that philosophy isn't my cup of tea. To be frank much of it didn't seem like philosophy at all. There is a discussion about how if, say, an apple falls off the branch of a tree on my head and I ask "why?" then you can say that the branch was weak and the weight of the apple applied too much pressure, etc. But if you throw an apple on my head and I ask "why?" you wouldn't answer "because impulses in my brain made my muscles move in such and such a way". (I don't remember the exact wording and can't find the page right now). But that's just distinguishing between cause and reason, which to me is just semantics. He goes on to say that it's more than semantics, but to be honest he lost me.
The section on music lost me completely.
I suspect that, if I want to learn about philosophy, I should probably do so in a classroom setting, so I can interact, ask questions, etc. etc. Unfortunately I can't do that with a book.
Some interesting quotes:
"All rational beings have an interest in acquiring courage, since without it they can achieve what they really want only by luck, and only in the absence of adversity"
The quote by Masaryk re: "half-education" (too long to quote verbatim, but on page 14)
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