Rating: 
Summary: Everything I Always Wanted to Know, But Was Afraid to Ask
Review: "A World of Ideas" is an excellent reference book for anyone who wants to know more about philosophies, ideas, beliefs, and perspectives from numerous cultures through centuries of thought. Many of the ideas the author chose are subjects that I've wanted to understand for years. Several times I've found myself reading with my fingers stuck in different parts of the book because there are so many aspects to the entries that I want to find out more about. The entries are clear and very layperson-intelligible.This "dictionary of ideas" is handily presented in alphabetical order, and the cross-referencing is extremely well done. And I love the fact that all of the different and sometimes opposing viewpoints are presented with equal weight -- nothing is put forward as being better or worse or right or wrong. It is truly clear information with no editorializing, no slant to prejudice a reader. It lets us make our own choices, and that is a great gift when it comes to presenting information. The best part about it for me is that when I went to school, I always knew that they didn't offer information about the most interesting stuff, and I never knew where to find it. I've finally found it: "A World of Ideas" satisfies my intense curiosity about the infinitely diverse viewpoints through the centuries and around the world.
Rating:
Summary: Everything I Always Wanted to Know, But Was Afraid to Ask
Review: "A World of Ideas" is an excellent reference book for anyone who wants to know more about philosophies, ideas, beliefs, and perspectives from numerous cultures through centuries of thought. Many of the ideas the author chose are subjects that I've wanted to understand for years. Several times I've found myself reading with my fingers stuck in different parts of the book because there are so many aspects to the entries that I want to find out more about. The entries are clear and very layperson-intelligible. This "dictionary of ideas" is handily presented in alphabetical order, and the cross-referencing is extremely well done. And I love the fact that all of the different and sometimes opposing viewpoints are presented with equal weight -- nothing is put forward as being better or worse or right or wrong. It is truly clear information with no editorializing, no slant to prejudice a reader. It lets us make our own choices, and that is a great gift when it comes to presenting information. The best part about it for me is that when I went to school, I always knew that they didn't offer information about the most interesting stuff, and I never knew where to find it. I've finally found it: "A World of Ideas" satisfies my intense curiosity about the infinitely diverse viewpoints through the centuries and around the world.
Rating:
Summary: Dabble your toes in the fascinating.
Review: 'In order to know me, you must swallow the world, my world'...my adaptation of a saying by Immanuel Kant. The world this book encompasses is particularly easy to swallow, and particularly well done. The definitions are in-depth enough to offer a sense of real substance, but not so cumbersone as to alienate the casual reader.
Rating:
Summary: A great reference book
Review: I bought this for my husband who is a philosophy major and he loves it. It's a really comprehensive overwiew of concepts in political science, religion, philosophy, and socliology. Well worth having on the bookshelf.
Rating:
Summary: I Needed This One Years Ago
Review: I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading or studying - period. I had returned to college after a twelve year absence to study history (I'd studied business before, yuck) and found many concepts, names, and ideas either new to me or fairly well forgotten. "A World of Ideas" became an absolute life-saver and, furthermore, a book that I began to peruse out of enjoyment and interest. Contrary to another review, there is a list of sources for further reading. However, I doubt the mere 28 books listed will satisfy most needs, a fuller more specific listing would have been the icing on the cake. I usually reference "A World of Ideas" to clarify ideas from specific readings. In this case, the book in hand will usually have additional sources available in its notes and bibliography. Also, if you are taking a class, you can ask your professor. They love talking with interested students and can steer you towards appropriate books, or away from less useful ones. I am unable to convey how helpful this book has been for me now, nor how strongly I wish that I had had it when I was in high school, or even before. If you crinkled your brow when Gore said, "... the zeitgeist", or if Hegelian dialectic sounds like a Greek waterway, then get this book.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Reference For Armchair Philosophers
Review: If you're an avid reader of philosophy, history, psychology, science, or even just the New York Times, you're likely to find "A World of Ideas" to be quite helpful. Often I find that I come across a word that I feel I should know, but can't quite remember the gist of it (e.g., "What does 'hermeneutics' mean again?"). This book provides very clear, concise, and helpful summaries (generally ranging from 1/2 to 2 pages long) for all the various "isms" (and other general topics) as well as the people who helped define them. It's organized like a compact encyclopedia, alphabetized by entry name, with copious cross-references to topics by using LARGE TYPE to refer to alternate encyclopedia entries. Entries on people focus on their ideas more than on biographical details. I've found the book to be an invaluable resource in my own informal studies of philosophy, where you come across familiar names but may not be familiar with the details of those thinkers' ideas. The author has done a fine job of distilling the entries down to their essential points, so that you really feel that you've learned the key ideas. The book is useful both as a reference as well as for casual reading (often I find myself looking up one entry and then going off on tangents to follow fascinating threads of cross-references that catch my eye).
Rating: 
Summary: Concise, yet detailed
Review: If you're an avid reader of philosophy, history, psychology, science, or even just the New York Times, you're likely to find "A World of Ideas" to be quite helpful. Often I find that I come across a word that I feel I should know, but can't quite remember the gist of it (e.g., "What does 'hermeneutics' mean again?"). This book provides very clear, concise, and helpful summaries (generally ranging from 1/2 to 2 pages long) for all the various "isms" (and other general topics) as well as the people who helped define them. It's organized like a compact encyclopedia, alphabetized by entry name, with copious cross-references to topics by using LARGE TYPE to refer to alternate encyclopedia entries. Entries on people focus on their ideas more than on biographical details. I've found the book to be an invaluable resource in my own informal studies of philosophy, where you come across familiar names but may not be familiar with the details of those thinkers' ideas. The author has done a fine job of distilling the entries down to their essential points, so that you really feel that you've learned the key ideas. The book is useful both as a reference as well as for casual reading (often I find myself looking up one entry and then going off on tangents to follow fascinating threads of cross-references that catch my eye).
Rating:
Summary: Hnady Reference Tool
Review: If you're struggling with that last-minute paper, and trying to show you understand the basics of key terms and concepts, this is the book for you. Giving you a lot more than any standard dictionary would, this volume summarizes major ideas, thoughts and lives in the mere scope of approximately 500-1000 words. From Rastafarianism to deconstruction, from anomie to sunyata, it's all here and perfectly clear. Easy to read, arranged alphabetically, and with a full index and cross references. Also includes a bibliography for further reading. It should make a great gift for any college student.
Rating:
Summary: Informative if dry
Review: There are a lot of entries about a lot of ideas and thinkers. The information is accurate and presented in a dry informative matter. This can be a useful reference work, but is of limited value to anyone who wishes to understand any of the entries in a deep way. It also is relentlessly even- toned in presentation, an advantage in one sense but in another one which defers continued reading.
Rating:
Summary: Concise, yet detailed
Review: This book should be on everyone's shelf. This book is easy to read and is essentialy a dictionary of various philosophies. You won't get much insight from this book, nor will it maintain your interest very long. It is designed as a dictionary, not to be read from cover to cover. Use it as a reference rather than leisure reading.
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