Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy

Rating:
Summary: Great Philosophy Introduction
Review: The book's philosophical content spans over 2500+ year of Western philosophy. It provides a great introduction for someone to the many important characters in Western philosophy - Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Stoics, Augistine, Descartes, Hume, Kant, Hegel, Marx, etc... The book is presented in a novel format of a 15 year old teenage girl essentially being taught Western philosophy all the way back before Socrates up until towards the end with existentialism. The philosophy teachings coincide with the marginally compelling storyline of the novel. A great introduction for anyone looking to get a start on Western philosophy and its history.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting
Review: It has good stuff in it. It's flawed and imperfect, but it has good stuff in it.

I, myself, had a bit of a hard time switching from story mode to lecture mode the first time I read it. I wanted to find out the reason of the weird stuff that happened to Sophie, and I wanted the philosophy lessons to be over so Gaarder could get on with the plot. But on the second reading, I already knew what happened, so I felt free to read the philosophy discussions (mostly) in their entirety.

The climax for me was in the middle of the book, after they talk about Berkely, and the rest of the book was falling action, which I read with mild interest.

The phrase that comes to mind now is "involved reading". I found it helpful to take notes while reading the philosophy part because it grounded me and kept me from skimming over things which I tend to do.

I think it's a long term thing, which is why I recommend buying it, and not checking it out from the library.
The writing style isn't ideal. Half the time Sophie does not really seem that involved with the lesson, it's just Alberto talking mostly, and Sophie just asks a question every once in a while. It really annoyed me. The first chapter is easily the best part of the book. The characters were a little undefined, I also thought. That may not be a bad thing, but I guess it is generally thought of that way.

The really good thing was that it got me interested in philosophy for the first time, whereas before I knew nothing about it. It's like a whole other world that was opened up for me that I didn't know anything about. That's not small stuff! And stuff.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent overview!
Review: It's amazing to me how very much my US public school education did NOT cover! SOPHIE'S WORLD is an excellent overview of Philosophy- and if you are anything like me, it's a relief to have a guide that puts everything in a (quirky) summarized timeline.

If one is a person that's not studied philosophy as a subject previously, it seems our knowledge of the subject and the philosophers is a confused smattering bits collected from various works we've read over the years. This filled me in on pretty much all I missed in the broader sense- and now gives me direction on where I'd like to study next.

I have mixed feelings about the whimsical blend of a fantasy story amid the chapters of history. It did breathe life into the subject, forced me to take a break and contemplate what I've studied, and at times gave excellent examples for some of the concepts, but also was "in the way" at times when I just wanted to skip the whimsy and study the philosophies. I'm delighted I came across the book and I'd certainly read the philosophical summaries again, but I doubt I'd read the fantasy story again.

It's definitely worth reading if one has not studied philosophy previously, highly, highly recommended!


Rating:
Summary: Mystery part which is not unlike "MATRIX for children" fails
Review: Mystery part which is not unlike "MATRIX for children" fails, but still a good philosophy textbook.
Pros: Explaining philosophers for children without losing its crux of logic is not an easy job. The author was successful in this respect.
Cons: 1) the mystery part was centered on the question "how to revolt against the God". The author requires readers to invest vast time into this through the book, but simply abandoned to answer the question at last. No twist at the end. 2) To make it "easier", the authors avoid using any basic philosophical terms such as metaphysics, epistemology, a priori synthetic proposition, zeitgeist, whollism etc. This is like explaining baseball with using pitcher, innings, and homerun. 3) Too long. Good editor can condense this book to 200 pages without losing its crux. Especially the first 300 pages are way too slow. Skip it and read from Descartes. Mystery portion reaches its climax at the Berkeley chapter, and nothing really happens after that. 4) The author's perspective is clouded by his personal Christian faith. While he included Jesus Christ as a philosopher, he didn't include anti-Christians such as Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Russell. In that sense, he doesn't take a neutral stance. 5) There is no explanation regarding how the old philosophy are regarded by current major philosophers. For example, Descartes' dualism, Berkeley's idealism, Kant and Hegel's metaphysics are not supported by current philosophers, but readers who are new to philosophy would not notice this from this book. Science-technology revolution of 20th century was a product of philosophy of science, materialism, and empiricism originated from Locke/Hume, but the authors's Christian faith prevents him to give us a clear perspective. 6) No 20th century philosophy except Sartre. Not including structuralism philosopher like Derrida/Foucault is understanble, but omitting Wittgenstein is critical.



Rating:
Summary: Jostein Gaarder - Master of Brevity :)
Review: Sophie's World is an incredible novel that traces the history of philosophy in an easy-to-read manner. Unlike modern educational textbooks, this was written for readers to understand and REMEMBER the major individuals and concepts of ancient to modern philosophy, the ideas and thoughts that are necessary. True, Sophie's World may not be equipped with the miniscule details and reference material that a textbook could provide, but it equips us with a lasting image embossed in our minds.
The underlying plot in this course is about a Norwegian girl, Sophie Amundsen, and her discovery of philosophy through letters she receives mysteriously in the mail. Through this sudden correspondence with someone she has never met, she begins to learn about the fundamentals of philosophy (chronologically). However, when strange events begin to happen in Sophie's life, she must progress through her studies with this unknown (and later known) lecturer in order to find the answers to a complex puzzle wrapped around her and someone else's life. . .
Sophie's World is a challenging book that, if you allow it, will open your eyes to the beauty of our world.

RECOMMEND: Entertaining, interesting and educational, this is an outstanding read for someone interested in life, philosophy, history. . . or just looking for that one great, classic book to sit down with. I would recommend it highly to ANYONE.

AGE RATING: 12 and up for comprehension. Though it's fairly easy to read, the subject matter & complexity may be slightly difficult for some youths to understand and contemplate.
-As always, feel free to contact me if you need further information. ;)
Happy Reading!