A. C. Grayling

While I appreciated the sentiment and most content, the lack of source citations for the individual writings was frustrating. I tried googling select quotes a number of times with limited success. I would have liked to have easy access to the source material. Also, the length of the histories seemed outsized compared to the other types of writings selected. I realize that this format mimics the bible itself well, but most readers of the bible that I know use bibles with footnotes and cross references. And i shudder to say that I would have liked to see the versification which is available in standard editions of most of the selections.… (mer)

I was very disappointed with this book. My experience with the Oxford University Press “Very Short Introductions” series is that they are understandable by the general public. Sometimes bits here and there are more challenging but they are usually generally suitable for a lay reader. The first 30 or so pages of this book fall into that category, as do the last 30 or so pages. But the middle 60 pages were, to me, completely incomprehensible.

I’m mystified that there are so many good reviews for this book on Goodreads. I would really like to know if *anyone* found the middle of this book understandable - not counting those who already have some pretty good background in analytic philosophy, or had covered Wittgenstein in a college course already, or had already spent some considerable amount of effort studying him already. Fine if this book makes people in those categories happy - but it shouldn’t have been included in a series that purports to make ideas available to “anyone” (OUP’s term, in the front matter of the book).… (mer)