Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder is an introduction to Philosophy. The original book, called Sofies verden, was written in Norwegian. I read the English translation.
The book assumes you are a beginner in Philosophy. It starts with the Pre-Socratics, Socrates, Aristotle, and their contemporaries. Reading these parts, I was in awe of how much they questioned at the time, and how their questioning paved the path to what we know today. Then, it talked about religion and its influence on philosophy. Then, modern philosophers like Descartes and Hume were discussed. Ideas like Marxism were also introduced.
The stories of each philosophy were short; perfect for an introductory book. It explains the ideas well, without going too much into details. In short, this book helps discover the philosophical ideas you want to learn next (Darwinism was my choice).
What I adored the most was not the philosophy, but the underlying story, which I would prefer not to spoil. But, it’s just… mind-blowing. Is there a Sophie?
I highly recommend this book if you wish to learn philosophy.
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