Sophie's world: a novel about the history of philo

by Gaarder, Jostein

• ISBN13: 9780425152256
• ISBN10: 0425152251
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1996-03-01
• Publisher: Berkley

Summary

A page-turning novel that is also an exploration of the great philosophical concepts of Western thought. In order to answer two existential questions, Sophie must use the philosophy she is learning--but the truth turns out to be far more complicated than she could have imagined.

Author Biography

Jostein Gaarder was born in 1952 in Oslo, Norway. He made his literary debut in 1986 with a collection of short stories, which was soon followed by two young adult novels. In 1990 he received the Norwegian Literary Critics' Award and the Ministry of Cultural and Scientific Affairs' Literary Prize for his book The Solitaire Mystery. Sophie's World, Gaarder's first book to appear in the English language, occupied the #1 spot on Norway's bestseller list for three years. Now published in 30 countries, the novel has also enjoyed #1 bestseller status in Great Britain, Germany, and France, and has appeared on bestseller lists in Italy, Spain, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, and the United States. Mr. Gaarder, who taught high school philosophy for eleven years in Norway, is now a full-time writer. He lives with his wife and two sons in Oslo.

Table of Contents

THE GARDEN OF EDEN ...at some point something must have come from nothing...	1	(9)
THE TOP HAT ...the only thing we require to be good philosophers is the faculty of wonder...	10	(11)
THE MYTHS ...a precarious balance between the forces of good and evil...	21	(7)
THE NATURAL PHILOSOPHERS ...nothing can come from nothing...	28	(13)
DEMOCRITUS ...the most ingenious toy in the world...	41	(6)
FATE ...the "fortune-teller" is trying to foresee something that is really quite unforeseeable...	47	(9)
SOCRATES ...wisest is she who knows she does not know...	56	(16)
ATHENS ...several tall buildings had risen from the ruins...	72	(6)
PLATO ...a longing to return to the realm of the soul...	78	(16)
THE MAJOR'S CABIN ...the girl in the mirror winked with both eyes...	94	(10)
ARISTOTLE ...a meticulous organizer who wanted to clarify our concepts...	104	(17)
HELLENISM ...a spark from the fire...	121	(19)
THE POSTCARDS ...I'm imposing a severe censorship on myself...	140	(9)
TWO CULTURES ...the only way to avoid floating in a vacuum...	149	(16)
THE MIDDLE AGES ...going only part of the way is not the same as going the wrong way...	165	(23)
THE RENAISSANCE ...O divine lineage in mortal guise...	188	(28)
THE BAROQUE ...such stuff as dreams are made on...	216	(17)
DESCARTES ...he wanted to clear all the rubble off the site...	233	(14)
SPINOZA ...God is not a puppeteer...	247	(10)
LOCKE ...as bare and empty as a blackboard before the teacher arrives...	257	(10)
HUME ...commit it then to the flames...	267	(15)
BERKELEY ...like a giddy planet round a burning sun...	282	(5)
BJERKELY ...an old magic mirror Great-grandmother had bought from a Gypsy woman...	287	(16)
THE ENLIGHTENMENT ...from the way needles are made to the way cannons are founded...	303	(19)
KANT ...the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me...	322	(20)
ROMANTICISM ...the path of mystery leads inwards...	342	(18)
HEGEL ...the reasonable is that which is viable...	360	(12)
KIERKEGAARD ...Europe is on the road to bankruptcy...	372	(13)
MARX ...a spectre is haunting Europe...	385	(19)
DARWIN ...a ship sailing through life with a cargo of genes...	404	(25)
FREUD ...the odious egoistic impulse that had emerged in her...	429	(18)
OUR OWN TIME ...man is condemned to be free...	447	(24)
THE GARDEN PARTY ...a white crow...	471	(14)
COUNTERPOINT ...two or more melodies sounding together...	485	(19)
THE BIG BANG ...we too are stardust...	504	(11)
INDEX	515