Softcover

ISBN 10: 1551114933 ISBN 13: 9781551114934

Publisher: Broadview Press, 2002

Martin provides fascinating discussions of each problem or puzzle, and appends suggestions for further reading. Where the puzzle or problem admits of a right answer, Martin provides it in a separate section. But he also often ends with a question; as this book richly and entertainingly demonstrates, philosophy is as much the search for the right questions as it is for the right answers. There are many new entries in this edition, including "God as the Tortoise on the Bottom," "Free Beer," "How to Win a Camel Anti-Race," "Watch out for Extreme Politeness," and "The Enormous Tiddly-Wink Tournament."

About the Author:

Robert M. Martin is a professor in the philosophy department at Dalhousie University. His other works include The Meaning of Language (MIT Press), The Philosopher's Dictionary (Broadview Press) and Scientific Thinking (Broadview Press).

Review:

"A delightful catalogue of over 250 philosophical puzzles - ranging from entertaining pastimes to deep philosophical problems." (Peter Vallentyne)

"Proving the pleasures of philosophy has never been so easy, thanks to Martin's compendium of philosophical conundrums; it will serve as an irresistible enticement to philosophical reflection." (Geoffrey Sayre-McCord)

"An excellent sourcebook, which demonstrates in interesting ways the connections between these puzzles and the great issues that philosophers have debated." (Peter van Inwagen)

"If I could do it all over again, I wish that the first book on philosophy I had read was this one. It would have saved me a lot of false starts, and made philosophy even more intriguing than it turned out to be." (Roland Puccetti)

"A delightful collection of brain-teasers and puzzles! There is a lot of nourishment here for the imagination, and for the philosophical intelligence." (John M. Dolan)