Yokuwakaru Tetsugaku Shiso (Guide to Philosophy and Thoughts)

Philosophy and thought are attracting a great deal of attention in our society and are expected to provide guidance for the various problems we face today. Many simple introductory illustrated books were published on philosophy recently, and on the other hand, there are also highly specialized books and translations. While these two kinds of books are widely distributed, there are very few books at the level that fill the lacuna between them. Therefore, for those who want to go one step further from the beginner's stage and learn more about philosophy, some books for a complete knowledge on philosophy have been expected. This book is a general guide on philosophy designed to meet such demands. It follows the tradition of philosophical thoughts from ancient times to modern times, mainly on Western philosophy, and discusses basic themes facing modern philosophy.
 
I specialize in western ancient philosophy and I have edited this book in association with Tatsuya Higaki (Osaka University), who has published many books centered on modern and contemporary French philosophy, and Tatsuya Kashiwabata (Keio University), a representative researcher of contemporary British and American analytical philosophy. It reveals the high level of Japanese contemporary philosophy, written by bringing together younger researchers (twenty-five experts and three editors) and provides explanations as concisely and clearly as possible based on the latest knowledge. It contains 103 items in total, and two pages of explanations are provided for each topic, including photos and references.
 
The history of philosophy spans from ancient Greek philosophy to modern thought in the second half of the 20th century. The various problems of philosophy include classical themes such as “life and death”, “god” and “theory of justice”. It also covers a wide range of topics, including contemporary topics such as “philosophy of care”, “STS (science, technology and society)”, “Philosophy for Children”, and “Quia, LGBT”. Through these subjects, you can learn about the whole area of ​​philosophy and individual issues, in a balanced and logical manner.
 
The target audience of this book are both university students of liberal arts and specialized curriculum, and people in general who are interested in philosophy. Those who became interested in philosophy and thought through high school’s Ethics class can learn advanced philosophy and gain a deeper knowledge of philosophy through this book, and can read books on philosophy and translations of Western philosophers by themselves. You can browse effortlessly through the topics you are interested in, however you can also get an overview of philosophy by reading the book. This book can also be used as a dictionary. Please enjoy learning about philosophy by using this book.
 

(Written by NOTOMI Noburu, Professor, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology / 2019)