
Uncommon Sense
The Strangest Ideas from the Smartest Philosophers
Andrew Pessin(Author)
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Published on 3. February 2015
Book
Paperback/Softback
228 pages
978-1-4422-1609-9 (ISBN)
Description
In Uncommon Sense, Andrew Pessin leads us on an entertaining tour of philosophy, explaining the pivotal moments when the greatest minds solved some of the knottiest conundrums-by asserting some very strange things. But the great philosophers don't merely make unusual claims, they offer powerful arguments for those claims that you can't easily dismiss. And these arguments suggest that the world is much stranger than you could have imagined:
You neither will, nor won't, do certain things in the future, like wear your blue shirt tomorrow. But your blue shirt isn't really blue, because colors don't exist in physical objects; they're only in your mind. Time is an illusion.Your thoughts are not inside your head.Everything you believe about morality is false.Animals don't have minds. There is no physical world at all.In eighteen lively, intelligent chapters, spanning the ancient Greeks and contemporary thinkers, Pessin examines the most unusual ideas, how they have influenced the course of Western thought, and why, despite being so odd, they just might be correct. Here is popular philosophy at its finest, sure to entertain as it enlightens.
You neither will, nor won't, do certain things in the future, like wear your blue shirt tomorrow. But your blue shirt isn't really blue, because colors don't exist in physical objects; they're only in your mind. Time is an illusion.Your thoughts are not inside your head.Everything you believe about morality is false.Animals don't have minds. There is no physical world at all.In eighteen lively, intelligent chapters, spanning the ancient Greeks and contemporary thinkers, Pessin examines the most unusual ideas, how they have influenced the course of Western thought, and why, despite being so odd, they just might be correct. Here is popular philosophy at its finest, sure to entertain as it enlightens.
Reviews / Votes
Andrew Pessin's Uncommon Sense is an uncommonly good introduction to philosophy, unpretentious in its style, and unerring in its sense of humor. It will provide both entertainment and insight to those seeking wisdom from philosophy's most incredible theories. As a philosophical tour guide for the uninitiated, Pessin is unbeatable. -- Sandy Goldberg, Northwestern University Uncommon Sense is the fruit of a brilliant idea carried out with panache. The ideas explored are esoteric in the extreme, but Andrew Pessin's explanations are clear, down to earth, entertaining, and accessible. This book is an absolute goldmine for general readers curious about philosophy. -- Gregg Osborne, Washington and Jefferson College A key to understanding this book is furnished by the author's claim that 'common sense is what we believe about things when we haven't given them much thought.' So Pessin (Connecticut College) turns to what he calls strange claims of philosophers to introduce such topics as free will, God, morality, minds, and reality. The usual names appear--Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Anselm, Maimonides, Aquinas, Descartes, Locke, and Hume. Also featured are Malebranche and Leibniz on the question of mind-body interaction, Berkeley on the nature of the external world, and Nietzsche's program for rewriting the grounds of morality. Pessin also includes contemporary philosophers John McTaggart on time, Wittgenstein on private language, Hilary Putnam on the nature of thinking, and David Lewis on possible worlds theory. The last of 18 chapters considers the view of Thomas Nagel and David Chalmers that something like mind permeates all reality. The chapters are short, the writing clear, and the tone entertaining. Each chapter contains primary and secondary sources, and the book has a good index. Looking for a book to give to someone to create interest in philosophy? This is it. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower- and upper-level undergraduates; general readers. * Choice Reviews *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
387 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4422-1609-9 (9781442216099)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
06/2012
1st Edition
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
€28.99
Available for download

E-Book
06/2012
1st Edition
Bloomsbury eBooks US
€28.99
Available for download
Person
Andrew Pessin is professor of philosophy at Connecticut College, although he is perhaps best known for his appearances as The Genius on the Late Show with David Letterman. He is the author of The God Question: What Famous Thinkers From Plato To Dawkins Have Said About the Divine and The 60-Second Philosopher: Expand Your Mind on a Minute or so a Day!.
Content
Introduction: "Stop Making Sense"
Chapter 1: Plato / More Than What Meets the Eye
Chapter 2: Aristotle / Neither You Will Nor You Won't
Chapter 3: Augustine / Forced to Be Free
Chapter 4: Anselm / God is Not Just a Good Idea
Chapter 5: Maimonides / Keeps Going, and Going, and Going ... Or Not?
Chapter 6: Thomas Aquinas / God Has Not Been on Vacation Since the Original Creation
Chapter 7: Rene Descartes / "A Monstrous Thesis"
Chapter 8: John Locke / True Colors
Chapter 9: Nicolas Malebranche / On Honoring Leeks and Vegetables
Chapter 10: G. W. Leibniz / Synchronicity
Chapter 11: George Berkeley / To Be Is to Perceive, or Be Perceived
Chapter 12: David Hume / Stercus Accidit
Chapter 13: Friedrich Nietzsche / Philosopher, Psychologist-Antichrist?
Chapter 14: John McTaggart / Time Does Not Fly Even When You're Having Fun
Chapter 15: Ludwig Wittgenstein / The Voice In My Head is Speaking Nonsense
Chapter 16: Hilary Putnam / Thinking Outside the (Cranial) Box
Chapter 17: David Lewis / The Incredulous Stare
Chapter 18: Thomas Nagel, David Chalmers / Mind and Matter, Together Again at Last (Sort of)!
Chapter 1: Plato / More Than What Meets the Eye
Chapter 2: Aristotle / Neither You Will Nor You Won't
Chapter 3: Augustine / Forced to Be Free
Chapter 4: Anselm / God is Not Just a Good Idea
Chapter 5: Maimonides / Keeps Going, and Going, and Going ... Or Not?
Chapter 6: Thomas Aquinas / God Has Not Been on Vacation Since the Original Creation
Chapter 7: Rene Descartes / "A Monstrous Thesis"
Chapter 8: John Locke / True Colors
Chapter 9: Nicolas Malebranche / On Honoring Leeks and Vegetables
Chapter 10: G. W. Leibniz / Synchronicity
Chapter 11: George Berkeley / To Be Is to Perceive, or Be Perceived
Chapter 12: David Hume / Stercus Accidit
Chapter 13: Friedrich Nietzsche / Philosopher, Psychologist-Antichrist?
Chapter 14: John McTaggart / Time Does Not Fly Even When You're Having Fun
Chapter 15: Ludwig Wittgenstein / The Voice In My Head is Speaking Nonsense
Chapter 16: Hilary Putnam / Thinking Outside the (Cranial) Box
Chapter 17: David Lewis / The Incredulous Stare
Chapter 18: Thomas Nagel, David Chalmers / Mind and Matter, Together Again at Last (Sort of)!