Hadn't heard of it, but I think now I must have a copy of the "Bluffer's Guide." Thanks for the tip.
"And so, to actually describe the course of a real human journey - - which is partly logic, partly will, partly heart and so on - - is more logical because it is the description of reality, rather than those whose arguments are purely logic in a narrow sense. And very few human beings live on pure logic alone, even philosophers."
~ Author Os Guinness
The Bluffer's Guide to Philosophy
By Jim Hankinson
Extracts from the book
Historical forces
No-one knows why philosophy started when it did: ambitious bluffers of a Marxist bent could try to account for it in terms of an inexorable dialectic of historical forces, but we wouldn't recommend it.
This and that
Of course, any sensible theory is neither one thing nor the other; and it's generally safe to say something to that effect without fear of having to say just how much of one, or the exact proportion of the other.
The pleasure principal
The Epicureans, named after their founder Epicurus (342-270), held that pleasure was the End and that this consisted in the satisfaction of desires, which was a good start. But then they had to foul things up by arguing that this didn't mean a lot of pleasure was a good thing: rather, one should limit the number of desires one had, so you didn't get left with as many unsatisfied ones...
Kant or can't
One should be very careful about committing oneself in regard to Kant, or indeed any other German philosopher.
Contemplation
It is never out of order to remark, with an air of deep seriousness, that you will have to give the matter more thought. This is a doubly effective technique, in that it both does away with the obligation to say anything that might commit you to something, and also in that it tends to make your adversary feel intellectually inferior.
http://www.ovalbooks.com/bluff/Philosophy.html#top
the ghosts of many famous philosophers were asked what they think of this book:
http://morrisinstitute.com/bluffers.html
"What do I think? What do you think? I'll ask the questions here."
--Socrates
"This is the Ideal Guide to Philosophy."
--Plato
"It may not be ideal, but it's practical."
--Aristotle
"It is my one consolation."
--Boethius
"This is the Greatest Possible Book about philosophy."
--St. Anselm
"Empirically adequate, logically tight, and jolly good fun."
--David Hume
"Phenomenal!"
--Immanuel Kant
"If a lot of people like it, it's got to be good."
~ John Stuart Mill
"The author should take a leap."
--Kierkegaard
"Every class should have it."
--Karl Marx
"I refuse to speak to anyone who believes in ghosts."
--Bertrand Russell
"This book makes me sick. Of course, so does everything."
--Jean Paul Sartre
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