The Cartoon Introduction to Philosophy

This is an excellent book for introducing fundamental ideas in philosophy. It is presented in a fun and unique way that will engage younger readers. The book is separated into chapters which deal with the different branches of philosophy and is narrated by Hericles, a pre-Socratic philosopher. He introduces different philosophers and their ideas through the book as he paddles his canoe down the river of philosophy. I feel like I must defend this book against the one star reviews that refer to this literature as “atheist propaganda.” This is an unfair assessment. The chapter on God offers two arguments for the existence of God and two rebuttals, that point out the logical inconsistencies in these arguments. I feel that because the chapter ends with these rebuttals, that people assume the author is endorsing the ideas. This is simply not the case, and anyone who makes this claim is plainly being intellectually dishonest. The author must start with the positive claim (God exists) before he can move to the arguments against it. This is consistent with the burden of proof. If I claim to possess an invisible dragon in my garage, it is up to me to prove it is there, it is not up to the other person to prove it is not. While I can understand that anyone who is indoctrinating their children might find the act of encouraging them to think for themselves detrimental to their goal, this book does not favor atheism over any other world view. Each idea is represented accurately and in a very engaging way. Perhaps the people who called this book atheist propaganda shoud have followed Heracles’ advice on page 14 and exited through the dogmatism door since they can not handle having their beliefs challenged.

First off, DO NOT believe the reviews claiming this is atheist propaganda. It isn't. The book covers philosophy and some of the famous philosophers in history, to include religious and atheist philosophers. This is an introductory book on philosophy and it does show because it doesn't go deep into many topics. But this is okay, because it is meant to inspire and teach future philosophers. The book is very fast paced, fun, and accurate. Not much time is wasted on faulty arguments which is nice, but could make people who aren't familiar with logic think the book is one-sided. It isn't, it just doesn't waste time.

This is a cute book that manages to cover 2,000+ years of philosophical thought. The book covers: logic, perception, minds, free will, God, and ethics. The book does a reasonably good job of just stating the facts and the principle arguments of the principals though there is a secular humanist slant that shines through. The cartoons are cute, and given that you are trying to survey two thousand years of debate in less than 200 pages the book is a great start to begin your philosophical journey. In some causes, like Kant's categorical imperative and Nietzsche's view of the fundamental drive, the book misses it, but overall the book does well. If you are looking for a basic survey of western philosophy that is fun to read and stays fairly neutral then this book is a good pick.

I can't desire better, more fun, easy-to-follow, captivating, visual and big-picture-type of introduction to the most fundamental and the most sensitive subject one must learn - philosophy. "Philosophy is an integrated view of existence. As a human being, you have no choice about the fact that you need philosophy. Your only choice is whether you define your philosophy by a conscious, rational, disciplined process of thought and scrupulously logical deliberation, - or let your subconscious accumulate a junk heap of unwarranted conclusions, false generalizations, undefined contradictions, undigested slogans, unidentified wishes, doubts and fears, thrown together by chance, but integrated by your subconscious mongrel philosophy and fused into a single, solid weight: self-doubt and low self-esteem, like a ball and chain in the place where your mind’s wings should have grown.” Ayn Rand, 1974

If you are, or if you're not, familiar with philosophy, this book is an amazing flowing guidance of thought. The simplicity, the core thoughts with core arguments presented swiftly, strongly enforced with the visuals facilitates comprehension, wonder and reflection of these ideas. The speed that is possible to keep up, greatly eases the flow of my thoughts. It's like being given wings, and light as a bird, you fly above the landscape, swiftly piecing the puzzle together, instead of running down some rabbit-hole. Accurate, enlightening and a great facilitator for reflection and understanding of main arguments on the river of ideas over time. If you think it has some kind of an 'atheist-agenda', you need to read it not one time more, but 10 times more. If God exists, he gave us brains to think with, there is no danger, no evil in questioning how and what we experience, "God" is a word (see Locke, Berkeley, Leibniz? go with your thoughts, reach beyond and see where you end up. The only point made in this book is that during earlier centuries (and especially when risking one's life when those in power who used the word God to protect their undue power and terror, was questioned) great thinking was often stopped with a sweeping general explanation with "God". As this book makes clear what "God" is, is not something that is easily grasped or captured in words, so we can't shy away from questioning and reflectiing further, that would be, if anything an insult to "God": we're not doing a good job currently with living in peace and harmony with one another or with nature, greater understanding is the key to improving all of that, to see clearly. Let's do just that, w/o being blind-folded - what "God" is needs to be explored deeply if you're a believer, not just stop your thinking, that is embracing "God", which is exactly the message in this book.

I'd recommend this book for both young and old. If you're into graphic novels, this book makes for a fun and educational read. It's interesting how the author uses Heraclitus to guide us through the book and introduce us to all the other philosophers. The illustrations are fantastic and do a wonderful job of enhancing the narrative. NOTE: For anyone interested in the study of philosophy, critical thinking, fallacies, biases, and the like, be prepared to have your personal beliefs sacrificed on the altar of truth. Such is the path of contemplation and inner-awakening. I have spoken.

It always dismays me that in our modern society we have decided that philosophy is not worth teaching in schools. My guess is that this happens because most people would prefer that kids stick to religious dogma instead of teaching them to question religious dogma. If we were to question this dogma even in a secular education setting there are a bunch of crazy people out there that would get really upset really quickly. However I don't want this for my kids because I don't want them to be intolerant adults who grow up believing whatever random thing they want because they were taught that all it takes is faith to make something true. I read this to my kids (6 and 9) thinking they would get bored and wander off to do something else, but they love it and we have read it multiple times. I'm very glad to have this as a small way I can encourage kids to think about their place in the universe without the need to cop out and join a church or engage in some other form of superstition.

Yes, this book is the flavor of the day: antireligion, pro-physicalism, pro-determinism, etc. The author is fair to an extent, but the bias is clear. This is inevitable in mainstream books. However, it could be worse. The explanations are good, the organization is well thought out, and the characters and art are entertaining. It's great at making the material accessible. I recommend giving it to your kids and telling them that it's a good introduction but is biased.