
The Philosopher's Toolkit
A Compendium of Philosophical Concepts and Methods
by Julian Baggini, Peter S. Fosl · first published 2003
10mentions
8recommended by
8HN commenters
2010–2025first – last mentioned
100% recommend
Why HN recommends it
A compact reference covering philosophical concepts, methods, logic, and fallacies. It serves as an accessible introductory compendium for undergraduates and anyone looking to sharpen their argumentation.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.







The Philosopher's Toolkit: A Compendium of Philosophical Concepts and Methods by Baggini and Fosl. Mathematical logic, fallacies, etc. written by two famous philosophers. It's a great textbook for undergrads. Also Statistical…
on “Ask HN: Books that teach you to think” ↗…on their own, but hadn't seen together in list form before. If you enjoyed this, you might find Daniel Dennett's "Intuition Pumps and Tools for Thinking" interesting [1]. I would highly recommend "The Philosopher's Toolkit: A Compendium of Philosophical Concepts Methods" by Julian Baggini and Peter Fosl as well [2]. - [1] Link to Talk at Google By Dennett: https://youtu.be/4Q_mY54hjM0 - [2] Link to pdf: http://www.mohamedrabeea.com/books/book1_10474.pdf
on “Concepts for Your Cognitive Toolkit” ↗…a lot of punch: Philosophical Devices: Proofs, Probabilities, Possibilities, and Sets. https://www.amazon.com/Philosophical-Devices-Proofs-Probabil... A much more detailed and introductory book: The philosopher's toolkit : a compendium of philosophical concepts and methods. https://www.amazon.com/Philosophers-Toolkit-Compendium-Philo...
on “Philosophy tool kit” ↗…rest on the move. Overall, the number one most valuable skill in my opinion, and the one that I keep coming back to over the years is critical thinking. For that, I love Understanding Arguments, the Philosopher's Toolkit & Ethics Toolkit by Baggini & Fosl, and anything "legal", which sharpens your critical thinking, like Farnsworth's Legal Analyst or even Intro to American Law on Coursera. But those three books on basic…
on “Ask HN: Best business advice for software developers” ↗I really like The Philosopher's Toolkit: A Compendium of Philosophical Concepts and Methods by Baggini & Fosl.
on “Ask HN: Best books written on “How to think”?” ↗Peter Bevelin's Seeking Wisdom. The other day someone on here recommended The Philosopher's Toolkit, and I ordered a copy based on that recommendation. I've only started to dip into various parts, but I can already confirm that it is a good introductory compendium of the basics of philosophy, logic,…
on “Ask HN: What books have been worth your time?” ↗The Philosopher's Toolkit by Julian Baggini and Peter S. Fosl (Wiley-Blackwell)
on “Ask HN: Books that teach you logic building skills” ↗The Philosopher's Toolkit by Julian Baggini and Peter S. Fosl
on “Ask HN: Books that teach you logic building skills” ↗Given that philosophy as practiced in academia is as much about creating arguments as about the ideas themselves, I suggest "The Philosopher's Toolkit" as a useful reference. For what I'll call "hard philosophy" I put my votes for books by Hilary Putnam and John Dewey. As a rationalist seeking a solid basis for ethics in the physical world, I've found…
on “Ask HN: Best Philosophical Books?” ↗It's not necessarily a book, but I can recommend "The Philosopher's Toolkit: How to Be the Most Rational Person in Any Room", by the Great Courses on Audible. I decided to get it with a remaining Audible credit I had, and found it to be informative and easy to understand for…
on “Ask HN: Learning about philosophy” ↗