Talking Philosophy Dialogues with Fifteen Leading Philosophers [Paperback]

Based on a highly successful BBC television series, this book presents fifteen dialogues between author and broadcaster Bryan Magee and some of the most important thinkers of the twentieth century.

Isaiah Berlin considers the fundamental question, What is philosophy?, A. J. Ayer reviews logical positivism, and Iris Murdoch talks about the relation between philosophy and literature. Moral philosophy, political philosophy, the philosophy of language, and the philosophy of science are all treated in depth by the thinkers who have shaped these fields--including Noam Chomsky, W. V. O. Quine, and Herbert Marcuse. Written in an informal, conversational style, even the most difficult philosophical ideas are made accessible to the general reader.

Preface,Bryan Magee
1. An Introduction to Philosophy,Isaiah Berlin
2. Marxist Philosophy,Charles Taylor
3. Marcuse and the Frankfurt School,Herbert Marcuse
4. Heidegger and Modern Existentialism,William Barrett
5. The Two Philosophies of Wittgenstein,Anthony Quinton
6. Logical Positivism and its Legacy,A. J. Ayer
7. The Spell of Linguistic Philosophy,Bernard Williams
8. Moral Philosophy,R. M. Hare
9. The Ideas of Quine,W. V. O. Quine
10. The Philosophy of Language,John Searle
11. The Ideas of Chomsky,Noam Chomsky
12. The Philosophy of Science,Hilary Putnam
13. Philosophy and Politics,Ronald Dworkin
14. Philosophy and Literature,Iris Murdoch
15. Philosophy: The Social Context,Ernest Gellner
Suggestions for Further Reading

Review from previous edition: Intellectual instruction and entertainment of a high order --Observer

Bryan Mageehas held academic positions at Yale University, King's College London, and Oxford University. He is an independent writer, critic, and broadcastlľ