Overall, Payne has written a useable introduction to the basic ideas in philosophy for 100-level students.
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Students interested in real-life issues, especially those that deal with race, gender, or class, will not find many solutions in this textbook. As stated earlier, a main problem is his lack of philosophers who deal with social and cultural problems. Payne makes some references outside of Western philosophy, such as a brief exploration into Confucianism, but mainly this book sticks to the classics of the Western canon. While there are some minor grammatical errors, they do not interfere with the overall readability of the text. The information he linked to could have been easily rewritten into his own book rather than linking outside the text to questionable sites. Unfortunately, about half of all links included were either non-secure websites or dead links. Rather than revise charts to fit his text, Payne has included hyperlinks to outside web sources for information. One major problem with this book, however, is its lack of images, charts, etc. Regardless, Payne has organized his text well, and readers can easily navigate it. Shifting the textbook to a third-person narrative would solve this issue.
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While this tactic works well in a classroom setting, it does not work as well in a textbook that other professors will use.
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Payne keeps most chapters to a reasonable and readable length.Īt times, the author refers to his own life as examples. The text is consistent with its organization. Payne does a good job using natural, easy-to-understand language. Too often students new to philosophy can get lost in the jargon. In light of recent world events and uprisings, this text would be more relevant if it took societal analyses into consideration.Ī benefit of Payne’s book is its conversational tone. This omission leaves him struggling to explain atrocities like racism or genocide in individualistic ethical terms, as if these social problems are the cause of individuals with personal bad ethics rather than products of larger-scale structural realities. Additionally, Payne’s lack of Marxist or sociological analysis in his section on social justice is a stark oversight. There are some instances within the book that are dated, such as examples that point to public figures at the time the book was written. Still, he does a good job introducing the basics within his limited space.Īs far as accuracy is concerned, there were no glaring mistakes, although sometimes the author’s personal views are embedded within the text. Additionally, there is no index or glossary with this text. It is a short text, so therefore Payne has left out some key branches of thought, such as aesthetics, structuralism, or critical theory.
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His text covers the core ancient philosophers, basic logical reasoning, explorations in the philosophy of science and mind, and the main branches of ethics. Payne has written a solid introduction to philosophy for students with little to no background in the subject matter. Reviewed by Shalon van Tine, Adjunct Instructor, Thomas Nelson Community College on 4/9/21 Journalism, Media Studies & Communications.