Spring/Summer 2005 - University of Toronto Press Publishing

GENERAL INTERESTPlato’s SunAn Introduction to PhilosophyAndrew LawlessWriting an introductory text for philosophy is anexceedingly difficult task. The discipline has spent acentury or more in existential crisis with the attackon metaphysics dating back at least to Nietzscheand carried forward in different ways by Heidegger,Wittgenstein, and Derrida, to name a few. Thisconstant upheaval has precipitated a climate of selfdoubtthat goes to the core of philosophy, the resultbeing a strange discipline with many of its mostillustrious names proudly announcing its demise.In Plato’s Sun, Andrew Lawless takes on thechallenge of creating an introductory text for philosophy,arguing that such a work has to take intoaccount the strangeness of the field and divulge it,rather than suppress it beneath traditional certaintiesand authoritative pronouncements. Lawlesswrites within the shadow of post-modern antimetaphysicalscepticism, introducing some of theprincipal areas of philosophy: metaphysics, epistemology,logic, ethics, and language.Lawless’s concern is not to resolve the issues heraises so much as to set them out in a way that letsthe reader experience something of the philosopher’sstruggle. In so doing, Lawless holds fast tothe Socratic vision of philosophy as a process ofinquiry that values questions above answers, pushingthe inquirer beyond his or her answers. Withnumerous pedagogical features including glossariesof names and key terms, suggested readings, andshort chapter summaries, Plato’s Sun will be anessential text to new students of philosophy and animportant aid in teaching the subject.Andrew Lawless is a professor in the Department ofHumanities at Vanier College.‘An excellent introduction to philosophy for anyone interestedin the area, be they students or not, Plato’s Sun is not just abook about philosophy, it is philosophy. Readers engage the textby doing philosophy, even if they aren’t aware they are. AndrewLawless’s comprehensive review of the Western philosophicaltradition, including the ideas of most major philosophers isenjoyable and easy to read. This is truly a first rate text.’Christopher D. Viger, Department of Philosophy,University of Western OntarioOf related interest:InroadsPaths in Ancient and Modern Western PhilosophyMurray Miles0-8020-8531-8 / £25.00 / $42.95 / 2003PHILOSOPHYApprox. 290 pp / 6 x 9 / May 2005Cloth ISBN 0-8020-3873-5 £40.00 $60.00 EPaper ISBN 0-8020-3809-3 £20.00 $29.95 CPhotograph courtesy photos.com.13