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‘Locke (A Very Short Introduction)’ by John Dunn, Oxford University Press

‘Locke: A Very Short Introduction’ by John Dunn is a short commentary on life, political thought and philosophy of John Locke.

Contents of each chapters are below.
First, in chapter 1, John Dunn introduces the life of Locke briefly with the process of his thought, the scientific situation in Europe and the political affairs in Britain. Three large movement affects thought of Locke. The first movement is he was familiar with Christianity. The second is career of the administration and finance. The third is the commitment to philosophical understanding, which made Locke to consider philosophical question of political authority and toleration, of ethics and the theory of knowledge.
In chapter 2, author comments political thought of Locke. Locke’s central conception of government is the idea of trust. Human beings can deserve each other’s trust, they help to hold together the community. Men are so aware of their need to trust one another and because they sense the aid which this concentrated power to execute the law of nature can offer to their lives.
And, in chapter 3, author summarized Locke’s philosophy of knowledge or epistemology. In the ‘Essay Concerning Human Understanding’, Locke attempted to show how men can use their minds to know what they need to know and to believe only what they ought to believe. Human beings are free, they must think and judge for themselves. Reason must be their last judge and guide in everything. Moral ideas were inventions of the human mind, not copies of nature. This contrast is the foundation in modern philosophical thinking of the presumption of a stark gap between facts about the world and values for human beings. The distinction between fact and value is both a product of Locke’s conception of human knowing and the subversion of his beliefs about human values.
Then, in ‘conclusion’, author concludes ‘for Locke the central truths about how men have good reason to live are just as independent of what at a particular time they happen consciously to desire’.

I think this book is not a introduction to John Locke and his philosophy, is a intermediate commentary on them. You must have some degree of preliminary knowledge of history, Christianity, political thought, history of philosophy and philosophy of John Locke. Comments of this book is entirely tough and unclear, and devote many pages to write background and surroundings of his philosophy. But this book helps you to develop a deep comprehension to Locke’s philosophy as second or third commentary.
The most valuable fruits I obtained by this book are I can grasp how Locke illustrated his system of epistemology, and understand Locke was a positive, optimistic, practical and religious thinker, he was not a negative, skeptical and Atheist thinker like David Hume.

Locke (Very Short Introductions)
John Dunn
Oxford University Press, Oxford, 31 July 2003
136 pages £7.99 $11.95
ISBN: 978-0192803948
Contents:
Abbreviations
List of illustrations
Acknowledgements
1. Life
2. The Politics of Trust
3. Knowledge, Belief, and Faith
Conclusion
References
Further Reading
Index

‘Descartes (A Very Short Introduction)’ by Tom Sorell, Oxford University Press

‘Descartes: A Very Short Introduction’ by Tom Sorell is a short introduction to and a commentary on philosophy, thought and life of Descartes for beginners.

Contents of each chapters are below.
1. The fruits of Descartes’s philosophy and thought in many fields, for example physics, mathematics, optics, meteorology, physiology and philosophy especially metaphysics. Descartes bring methods of geometry and physics into metaphysics, and his metaphysics base on austere method by scientific view point and method. The statement ‘Cogito, ergo sum’ is the most enduring and profound intellectual achievement, and is established the modern philosophy continued on Spinoza, Kant and Hegel.
2. Descartes biography of young days. His family background, school days, journey through Europe and coming across with Isaac Beeckman. Meeting with a savant Beeckman realized him his profession is ‘philosophy’ (includes today’s natural philosophy and total science).
3. Descartes’s philosophical method is the unity under mathematics. He planed a master method of scientific discovery by logic, algebra and geometry. And the sciences all dependent on philosophy.
4. Descartes’s consideration to scientific rule by unity and simplicity on ‘Rules for the Direction of the Mind’. The natural power is ‘simplest’ and ‘absolute’. And he applied common rules or ‘common natures’ to each sciences and human knowledge. And the problem of Descartes is, for example, he applied the matter of physics to human mind mechanically.
5. Descartes’s roaming about in Europe is to discover sure principle in philosophy. The aim of his roaming is to remove his prejudices and to rebuild his new rule of phislophy from logic to medicines and morals. But his investigation is not ideal described on ‘Discourse on the Method’, he struggled to get his method in the roaming.
6. End of his journey, he stayed Paris. And the days, he brushed up and built his theory by debates and arguing with Marin Mersenne and other intellectuals, and prepare for serous work.
7. Moved to Holland, Descartes wrote a book of modern physics ’The World or Treatise on Light’, but he didn’t publish it. The only doctrine of the Church was the scholastics from Aristotle at that time.
8. ‘The Dioptics’ ‘The Meteors’ and ‘the Geometry’ are specimens of Descartes’s method. In these books, Descartes reformed and established mathematical method.
9. ‘Discourse on the Method’ is a scholarly autobiography and a simple notice or announcement of the method that would be found by Descartes. In which Descartes demonstrated ‘new logic’. In contrast with the Aristotelian logic, he tied the incontrovertibility of a piece of reasoning not to relations between the forms of premisses and conclusion.
10. Descartes inspected his idea of supremely benevolent God, his geometrical method and the Method of Doubt are adaptable to his metaphysics.
11. In the Meditation, Descartes found out it would be folly to doubt the existence of material objects and the reality of the simple nature. While material object may not be in reality as they appear to the sense, their mathematical properties are clear, distinct and beyond doubt.
12. Descartes’s scepticism in the Meditation caused widespread dispute. But to criticize sense-based beliefs made us capable of modern physical science, is also called rationalism.
13. The controversy aroused to Descartes’s idea of God by Theologians. Descartes’s God is the metaphysical perfect existence laid the foundation for human perceptions his physics and philosophy, and is not opposed to God of Christianity.
14. Descartes’s concept of idea(s) is only things that exist in the mind and represent other things.
15. According to Cartesian Dualism, the mind is one sort of substance, and body another, because it is possible to from a conception of the mind and a conception of body by way of totally separate sets of clearly and distinctly perceivable attributes.
16. A body persists through change in its sensible form. It’s spatially extended, flexible and changeable.
17. ‘The Principles of Philosophy’ was published, part one of the book is the first summarized the main point of Descartes’s metaphysics and part two, three and four were his physics first opened to the public.
18. Descartes’s the tree of philosophy, the roots of which are metaphysics, the branches of which are medicine, mechanics and morals. Morals to Descartes was the study of the passion, strategies for controlling them, and ways of directing the will towards good and evil.
19. Descartes’s published philosophy and physics caused disputes among scholars and intellectuals, and were prohibited in Universities by Churches. Descartes was invited by Queen Christina of Sweden, to take her lessons. But the Swedish severe winter made him ill and he died on 11 February 1650.
20. The Cartesian theory inherited by Gottfried Leibniz and Baruch Spinoza. Also reaction to the Cartesian epistemology brought about British empiricism by John Locke, George Berkeley and David Hume. And philosophers nowadays need accept to lay Descartes’s ghost. The criticism would not have endured if philosophers were not still captivated by Descartes’s task.

This book is a introduction to Descartes’s philosophy that is described along with Descartes’s biography and process of founding his philosophy and scientific practise with thought chronologically. And this book comments many topics of Descartes’s life, philosophy, thought and science. He was not only a philosopher of today’s mean, but also a total scientist from metaphysics and logic to moral, through physics, music and medicine. The Cartesian philosophy brought about the continental rationalism and become a root of the idealism. But he was not only a idealist philosopher like Kant or Hegel. (But Kant had been also a total scientist.)
Sorell explains the basis of Descartes’s philosophy mainly relations to methods, theories and forming processes of his physics especially meteorology, astronomy, mechanics and optics, and mathematics especially geometry and algebra. Descartes’s practise and study of physics and mathematics produced his philosophical method especially metaphysics. Author give many pages to consideration on Descartes’s scientific practises, studies, thoughts and methods, and relations them to his philosophy and morals. For example author deal with Descartes’s geometrical method apply to logic, notion of mind and body, and the problem matching of his science and philosophy with the God he thinks. Descartes was the one of founders of the modern philosophy and science. But they gave rise to problem of mind and body, mechanical thinking to nature, environment and mind.

Author takes a balanced approach of agreement and critic to philosophy and methods of Descartes. So this book is helpful to rethink of and critic to (the thought and principle of) the modern philosophy and the modern science. And also you can read it as a kind of history of science. So I recommend it to widespread readers and students includes students of specializing in science, philosophy of science, analytic philosophy and sociology. But in a philosophical view this book is not much technical and detailed on philosophy especially concerning ‘the Meditation’. This book entirely write about background, basis, process and method of philosophy and science by Descartes to read his text. Then it’s a good preparation to read original texts of Descartes.

Descartes (Very Short Introductions)
Tom Sorell
Oxford University Press, Oxford, 12 Oct 2000
128 pages £6.99 $9.95
ISBN: 978-0192854094
Contents:
Texts and Translations
List of illustrations
1. Matter and Metaphysics
2. The Discovery of a Vocation
3. One Science, One Method
4. ‘Abusolutes’, Simple Natures, and Problems
5. Roaming about in the World
6. Paris
7. The Suppressed Physics
8. The Specimens of a Method
9. A New ‘Logic’
10. The Need for Metaphysics
11. The Meditations 12. Doubt without Scepticism
13. The Theologians and the God of Physics
14. Ideas
15. The Mind
16. Body
17. The Physics made Public
18. The ‘Other Science’
19. Last Days
20. Descartes’s Ghost
Further Reading
Index

‘Plato (A Very Short Introduction)’ by Julia Annas, Oxford University Press

‘Plato: A Very Short Introduction’ by Julia Annas is a commentary and a introduction for beginners to philosophy of ancient Greek philosopher Plato. Annnas takes a critical approach to Plato’s thought and descriptions, renovates Plato’s philosophy and comments it clearly and concisely by the view and thinking of present-day.

First, in chapter 1, Annas introduces a example of Plato’s way of argument by Jury’s problem. Author writes what is the true brief to gain knowledge Plato thought. Knowledge requires that you acquire the relevant belief for yourself. And Plato’s most famous idea is knowledge is really a sort of ‘recollection’ which not required actual experiences. An example of the knowledge is a geometrical proof. Plato’s ‘theory of forms’ suggests what is true thing and what really we can know.
Chapter 2, author writes family and cultural Plato’s background and his life and career briefly. The teach of Socrates especially method of philosophical argument not making grand theory and doctrine, and emphasis of courage, justice, truth and virtue impressed Plato. Socrates’ thought influenced on teaching in the ‘Academy’ founded by Plato. Plato’s Academy was not a rigid ‘academic’ place like today’s university. The Academy is the centre for discussion. On the other hand Plato is the first systematic philosopher divided logic, physics and ethics, and integrated one principle, and made the word ‘philosophia’ (love of wisdom).
Chapter 3, author introduces Plato’s dialectic method (dramatic form) and its mean. In Plato’s dialogues he detached himself, the authority based on philosophical issues or developments of argument not his character. And author introduces history of interpretations of Platon, from ‘dogmatic’ Platonists and Neo-Platonists (Middle Platonists) to 20th century’s philosophers. Plato’s works were described by different approaches, but it shows development of his thought. establishing distinctive philosophy. Also Plato’s dialectic method presented us to questions to think not answers.
Chapter 4, author criticizes the problem of homoerotic love of Platonic love by gender theory. Plato’s view to love and sex are made by a kind of stoicism to philosophy. He thought, his dialectic method are possible only by arguments among noble men. Plato’s concept of platonic love and thinking of women’s social roles have been discussed from women’s movement19th century to the present. Some people have seen Plato as the first feminist.
In chapter 5, Author argues Plato’s happiness and virtue. Plato’s thought of happiness is abnormal. A well-live life, Plato thought, is the intelligent use of health and wealth, not material advantages. And virtue has a special role and special value. Virtue for Plato is the controlling and defining element in our life. happiness, virtue, virtue in the society and state. Plato’s view to state and government is ideal. Good state should be ruled by elite virtuous citizens. Otherwise democracy would be the worst form of government.
Chapter 6, Plato’s answers to questions about the soul. As an animated body, I function as a unity, but I contain distinct sources of motivation. And the good life is one in which reason rules the whole soul. Soul encourage reason to dominate spirit and desire. And, in Plato’s thought, there’s the disadvantage of the body.
Then, in chapter 7, Annas comments Plato’s view to the world, ontology related to his ethics and virtue. Plato’s thinking to God. Real world is the extent to lead the rational structure of Forms. The Craftsman God made the best world possible because he is good and so wanted the made to be as good as it could be. Plato’s God makes the product, which is an excellent one, but he is not responsible for the ‘Necessity’, the inescapable results by the materials. Plato’s basical element of ontology and knowledge is ideal mathematical knowledge. Forms emerge in front of you as knowledge, belief or various shapes. You can only ‘participate in’ the world of Forms. Then the author concluded Plato institutionalized philosophy, it’s total unified endeavour requires both a systematic pursuit of truth and a radical dependence on argument. And the most important message by him is not believing in Forms or the importance of virtue, but is that we should think and argue to pursuit good and virtue.

Annas’ interpretation on Plato’s philosophy in this book is positive and balanced, and takes advantage of and expands good points of Plato. It’s a fresh and practical approach, not a rigorous and formal one. And her description are concise and essential. Her critic and comment grasp historical contexts totally from the ancient Greek though the modern era to today, and can adapt to actual problems of modern society. But she isn’t make full use of her feminist view point to critique Plato’s the problem of homoerotic love of Platonic love.
In this book Annas concentrates on Plato’s way of argument, method of philosophy, thought to knowledge, mind-body problem, ethics and what it is philosophy for him. But she isn’t deal with Plato’s thought of beauty, logic and language.
This book is a commentary to Plato’s philosophy, not Plato’s itself. And she isn’t take up Plato’s whole philosophy and his entire life. Mainly she argues essence of philosophical method, manner and system of Plato rather than the content of philosophy of Plato. (The essence of Plato’s philosophy that we should obtain from is importance of argument and its development, not fixed theory.) It’s a Julia Annas’s interpretation to philosophy of Plato, and a practice of fixed commentary and interpretation. So this book is only a introduction, but very good introduction to philosophy of Plato for beginners.

Plato (Very Short Introductions)
Julia Annas
Oxford University Press, Oxford, 15 May 2003
120 pages £7.99 $11.95
ISBN: 978-0-19-280216-3
Contents:
List of illustrations
1. Arguing with Plato
2. Plato’s name, and other matters
3. Drama, fiction, and the elusive author
4. Love, sex, gender, and philosophy
5. Virtue, in me and in my society
6. My soul and myself
7. The nature of things
Refereces
Further Reading
Index