The Philosopher's Toolkit

Second edition of this highly informative compendium of philosophical concepts and methods introducing the conceptual toolkit required by any systematic thinker. As one of the reviews points out, the book is ideal for introductory courses in philosophy as well as for anyone interested in methods of argument, criticism and assessment. As such, it can also be used by IB students as a way into their theory of knowledge paper. There are nearly 100 sections divided into a number of tools for argument, assessment, conceptual distinctions and radical critique along with tools of historical schools and philosophers, which includes Hume's Fork and Occam's Razor. Each of the entries is cross-referenced with a short reading list at the end. It is an ideal way of getting to grips with important philosophical distinctions and concepts such as necessary/sufficient, circularity, false dichotomy and genetic fallacy, not to mention an entertaining introduction to logic and the validity of arguments.