Confessions of a Philosopher : A Personal Journey Through Western Philosophy from Plato to Popper (Modern Library (Paperback))

Rating:
Summary: First Class Personal Introduction to Philosophy
Review: Bryan Magee, well known for his previous works and popularisations, gives in this account an 'insider's look' into not just into how philosophy was practised in the 20th century, but also gives key insights into some of the greatest thinkers in the history of philosophy: St Augustine, Bertrand Russell, Karl Popper, the Greek philosophers, but most notably, Kant and Schopenhauer.

Like his other book 'The Story of Philosophy', 'Confessions of a Philosopher' outlines the historical development of philosophy from the time of the Greeks too the present. Magee brilliantly expounds the incredible influence this has had on civilisation and on the immense importance of the great thinkers. But most importantly, in my view, he recongises the tremendous importance of the German philosopher Immanuel Kant, whose ideas were as revolutionary to philosophy as those of Plato and Aristotle before him.

Magee clearly understands the importance of Kant, but goes one step further and explains the most difficult yet important aspects of Kant's philosophy, such as his distinction between 'appearance' and 'reality', his view we can only understand what we can percieve and 'order' according to our minds, the fact that God's existence (or nonexistence) can no longer be proved rationally, and so on, in beautifully clear and vivid prose. Magee is not just a acute philosopher, but is also a first class writer and populariser; something that is rare in philosophy.

Magee utterly destroys the old stereotype of philosophy as being either pointless pedantry over words (something he correctly attributes to the excessive focus on linguistics by many contemporary analytic philosophers) or as air-headed speculative metaphysics with no connection to the real world.

Magee argues, quite convincingly, that like science, philosophy is not merely about clarifying concepts or analysing our language, but about understanding our world, our place in it, and indeed, the universe as a whole. He pulls no punches, blasting postmodernism, some aspects of continental philosophy, and the Anglo-American tradition of 'analytic philosophy' as being utterly useless, and as giving philosophy a bad reputation.

The other interesting facet of Magee presentes in his book is the fascinating autobiographical material, including his encounters with great thinkers such as Bertrand Russell and Karl Popper, his views on Wittgenstein, his deep thoughts about the nature of time, and his immense reverence for Kant and Schopenhauer. Especially interesting is his recognition of the importance of Schopenhauer, one of the greatest philosophers of the 19th century whose extremely important work was overlooked because of the popularity of Hegel.

Magee's book is also refreshingly sprinkled with positive references to science. It seems fashionable these days in the humanities to either denounce science as either some 'social construction' designed to enforce some ideaology, or to ignore it altogether. Magee rightly demolishes this view as the height of stupidity and arrogance, borrowing liberally from great philosopher/scientists like Kant, whilst at the same time not falling into a naive scientism that the positivist movement seemed to get trapped in.

Magee's book ends with a poignant and wrenching view of the question of death. He illustrates his own struggle with his knowledge that he, like the rest of us, will eventually die, fully aware that in the shadow of Kant all attempts to prove the existence of God and an afterlife are futile exercises in speculation. Magee grasps this existential dilemma to its fullest extent and masterfully argues we may have an immaterial component to our being that survives death. Like all true philosophers, Magee doesn't force any dogmas down your throat but only asks you to consider the possibility, and even then, only tentatively. Although I cannot regard his arguments as proof any conciousness survives our death, he certainly makes you think about it.

Several critics have derided this book and Magee himself as pretentious. I must disagree. If anything, Magee did the most anyone ever did to open my eyes to the wonder of philosophy and to the importance of great thinkers like Plato, Kant and Schopenhauer. Magee's anguishing and intensely personal accounts of his attempts to find knowledge and understanding echo deeply within one's soul, and so easy and conversational is his prose is that you identify and empathise with him without even knowing it, feeling as though he is guiding you every step of the way. He lacks the pretension of Russell, the arrogance of Popper, the blind ideaological stupidity of many 'postmodern' thinkers, and the annoyingly dismissive attitude towards metaphysical questions typical of some science writers. He communicates the deepest and most important human endeavour-philosophy, in clear and concise terms and in doing so avoids the sophisty and intellectual self-congratulation one finds in so many academic writings. If you want to dig deeper into philosophy, then this is a good place to start.

Rating:
Summary: Join The Great Discussion
Review: Finishing this book, I more deeply understood a quote from Bertrand Russell --"There is a communion of philosophers as well as saints and it is largely that that keeps me from feeling lonely." I strongly recommend this excellent book if you just feel like kicking your shoes off in the privacy of your own house, and informally enjoy what Plato termed 'that dear delight' of philosophy with one of the keenest and most erudite philosophical minds of whom I am aware. Magee shares in lucid and at times beautiful prose his life of struggle with the enduring existential problems, and in so doing summons the reader to join him and the countless other great minds who have spent a lifetime in the sustained and systematic attempt to understand the world through Reason. Reading it, I felt a deep, spiritual-like pleasure as if I myself were taking part in a gab session with Magee, Kant, Schopenhauer, Popper, Wittgenstein et. al. Is there a more compelling reason to read than to achieve this sort of communion?

The major theme running throughout is an assault on the unbounded arrogance of Analytic Philosophy. Magee hammers home page after page how the fundamental 'raison d'etre' of Philosophy was betrayed by the contented gameplayers of Oxford and Cambridge during the 20th century. Although not as elevating as other parts of the book (and also conspicuously causing Magee to depart from the dispassionate and wise philosopher/narrator role), nonetheless this theme should find sympathetic ears from all those who think And feel that there are in fact 'real' problems that run deeper than just grammar and language; and moreover who think that it is somehow around the grappling with these problems that we are to ultimately gain our humanity.

Mr. Magee, thank you for sharing your life. You have helped me to better understand myself.

Rating:
Summary: Clear and deep
Review: I'll admit that I was originally turned off by the corny title and cover of the book, but once I got past that, I realized that few minds have grasped the real meaning and import of western philosophy like Magee's has. Magee is the best kind of philosopher--exhibiting disciplined thinking with an incredible grasp of the material's meaning. His critique of modern analytic philosophy is profound and displays incredible insight. His grasp of the mystery of existence is deep and his ability to convey that mystery to the reader is his shining accomplishment. Magee makes it clear that you don't need to be religious to really feel that mystery. His general criticisms of both religionists and humanists are right on. Religious people tend to be smug about and uncritical of their inherited ideas, and humanists tend to lose the sense of the crushing mystery of why there is anything at all rather than nothing.

I can honestly say that no book has hit me so profoundly than this one (other than Schopenhauer's _The World as Will and Representation_, which Magee addresses with great skill in his book).

Rating:
Summary: Well-written but pretentious
Review: In "Confessions of a Philosopher," Bryan Magee traces his personal development regarding philosophy. Magee often is very astute and is a good writer. His sections on Kant brim with passion as does his section on the God question. Although this book is not a technically a survey of philosophy, it does introduce the concepts of many philosophers, especially Kant, Wittgenstein and Schopenhauer, in very readable prose. I also enjoyed the chapter on Magee's mid-life "existential" crisis and his dealings with the existentialists, especially Nietzsche.

Magee, however, is pretentious. He repeatedly demeans Bertrand Russel's "History of Western Philosophy" by calling it a text for "adult education." Unlike Magee, however, most people don't have the advantage to attend Yale and Oxford. His chapter on writing novels is particulary self-serving and has almost no purpose within the text. He constantly chastises academics for their own unchecked egos, but falls into much of the same elitist mindset that he complains about.

I would recommend this book for anyone interested in a personal journey through the eyes of a "professional" philosopher. For a true survey of western philosophy, however, I recommend Russell's "History of Western Philosophy."

Rating:
Summary: Seen from the inside
Review: This is not a polularization /adult-education style presentation. Magee sees things form the inside; it is his own formation of philosophical ideas & techniques that we witness.
Magee was close enough to Popper to present us with his ideas first-hand (nobody reads Popper; people read about him). He also debunks a few idiotic myths about Wittgenstein as an atomist (Magee read W and realized that people read commentary on him rarely the original).
Magee writes with the remarkable clarity of the English philosophers/thinkers.