The One-Minute Philosopher: Quick Answers to Help You Banish Confusion, Resolve Controversies, and Explain Yourself Better to Others

by Brown, Montague

• ISBN13: 9781928832553
• ISBN10: 1928832555
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-04-01
• Publisher: Sophia Inst Pr

Summary

In this handy guide, you'll come to understand and learn how to explain -- in less than a minute each! -- such fundamental notions as:
-- Why truth is more than just someone's opinion
-- What freedom is and how it differs from license
-- The difference between justice and law, judgment and prejudice, equality and fairness, happiness and pleasure ...
-- And over 160 other truths that most of us find hard to grasp and even harder to explain.

With help from this book, you'll soon be able to make better sense of the world and make better decisions in it. This handbook is perfect for parents, teachers, students, politicians, and anyone who wants to understand our world better and live a richer life.

Author Biography

Montague Brown earned a Ph.D. in philosophy from Boston College and is now a professor or philosophy at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire

Table of Contents

Introduction	xi
Topics
Admiration/Envy	2	(2)
Authority/Power	4	(2)
Certainty/Inflexibility	6	(2)
Character/Personality	8	(2)
Chastity/Prudery	10	(2)
Choice/Impulse	12	(2)
Citizen/Resident	14	(2)
Commitment/Fanaticism	16	(2)
Community/Group	18	(2)
Confidence/Pride	20	(2)
Conscience/Feelings	22	(2)
Courage/Rashness	24	(2)
Creativity/Skillfulness	26	(2)
Criticism/Condemnation	28	(2)
Dependency/Subjugation	30	(2)
Discussion/Argument	32	(2)
Error/Fault	34	(2)
Evidence/Intuition	36	(2)
Excellence/Popularity	38	(2)
Fairness/Equality	40	(2)
Faith/Gullibility	42	(2)
Fidelity/Idolatry	44	(2)
Forgiveness/Pardon	46	(2)
Frankness/Rudeness	48	(2)
Freedom/License	50	(2)
Friendship/Fellowship	52	(2)
Genius/Eccentricity	54	(2)
Goodness/Usefulness	56	(2)
Gratitude/Indebtedness	58	(2)
Greatness/Fame	60	(2)
Happiness/Pleasure	62	(2)
Honesty/Naivete	64	(2)
Honor/Flattery	66	(2)
Hope/Wish	68	(2)
Humility/Self-contempt	70	(2)
Impartiality/Indifference	72	(2)
Importance/Excitement	74	(2)
Individualism/Egoism	76	(2)
Joy/Exuberance	78	(2)
Judgment/Prejudice	80	(2)
Justice/Law	82	(2)
Knowledge/Information	84	(2)
Leader/Trendsetter	86	(2)
Love/Lust	88	(2)
Maturity/Adulthood	90	(2)
Mercy/Laxness	92	(2)
Morality/Custom	94	(2)
Mystery/Problem	96	(2)
Norm/Average	98	(2)
Obedience/Servility	100	(2)
Open-mindedness/Indiscrimination	102	(2)
Pain/Evil	104	(2)
Patience/Passivity	106	(2)
Patriotism/Nationalism	108	(2)
Peace/Truce	110	(2)
Politeness/Phoniness	112	(2)
Politics/Partisanship	114	(2)
Profundity/Obscurity	116	(2)
Progress/Change	118	(2)
Proof/Persuasion	120	(2)
Prosperity/Wealth	122	(2)
Prudence/Cowardice	124	(2)
Punishment/Revenge	126	(2)
Questioning/Skepticism	128	(2)
Reality/Matter	130	(2)
Reason/Logic	132	(2)
Reform/Rebellion	134	(2)
Respect/Fear	136	(2)
Responsibility/Restriction	138	(2)
Reverence/Superstition	140	(2)
Right/Want	142	(2)
Ruler/Tyrant	144	(2)
Self-control/Repression	146	(2)
Self-examination/Self-absorption	148	(2)
Self-respect/Self-satisfaction	150	(2)
Simplicity/Foolishness	152	(2)
Sophistication/Snobbishness	154	(2)
Stability/Stagnation	156	(2)
Statesman/Demagogue	158	(2)
Student/Disciple	160	(2)
Tenacity/Stubbornness	162	(2)
Thinking/Imagining	164	(2)
Tolerance/Relativism	166	(2)
Tradition/Past	168	(2)
Truth/Opinion	170	(2)
Virtue/Hypocrisy	172	(2)
Wisdom/Cleverness	174	(2)
Wonder/Bewilderment	176	(3)
For further reading and reflection	179	(20)
Biographical note	199	(2)
Persons quoted	201	(4)
Index	205