Philosophy: Mirrors of the Human Mind

As its title suggests, Philosophy: Mirrors of Human Nature introduces the subject of philosophy by providing an historical survey of the most significant themes in the writings of many famous western thinkers, emphasizing their contributions to the idea of human nature and the extent to which each author addresses what the English philosopher Francis Bacon called the Idols of the Mind. Included are chapters devoted to Plato, Aristotle, Christian Philosophers St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, Descartes, Hume, Rousseau, Kant, Marx, Freud, and the two 19^th century pioneers of existentialism, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche. Each chapter provides an overview of the historical context preceding the development of the thought of the thinker in question, an examination of the ideas of the thinker himself, and an assessment of the thinker’s theory in terms of Bacon’s Idols of the Mind. The book’s conclusion finds common ground between each author through the principle of ancient Greek thinker, Heraclitus, that “War is the father of all things.”

Included at the end of each chapter are work sheets with topics for further discussion and assignment suggestions, each of which have the aim of generating more interactive and creative engagements with the material covered in the book that go beyond mere memorization. Moreover, the design of the book has the intent of providing a thorough overview of the history of philosophy in a way that not only does not overwhelm students but establishes the practical consequences of philosophical ideas throughout history in addition to their value in everyday life and their relevance to contemporary problems.