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Name:   Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy
Author(s)
 
 
Gaarder, J.
Topics
 
 
Social Studies, Non-Fiction
Source
 
 
Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Inc ISBN: 0425152251
Copyright
 
 
1994
Description
 
 
One day Sophie comes home from school to find two questions in her mail: Who are you? and Where does the world come from? Before she knows it, she is enrolled in a correspondence course, covering Socrates to Sartre and beyond, with a mysterious philosopher. But Sophie is receiving a separate batch of equally unusual letters. Who is Hilde? And why does her mail keep turning up in Sophie’s world? To unravel this riddle, Sophie must make use of the philosophy she is learning. But the truth is more complicated than she could have imagined. This unique book combines a comprehensive history of western philosophy intertwined with compelling mystery, experienced through the life and learning of a 14-year-old Norwegian schoolgirl.
Average Rating
 
 
Last Updated
 
 
6/28/2007
 
Comments

Contributed by: Parent of Davidson Young Scholar  
Rating:
My son and I read Sophie's World together as an introductory philosophy course. The novel's playful premise made it accessible and engaging all the while delivering clear, deep historical accounts of 3000 years of philosophical inquiry. Both of us thoroughly enjoyed learning philosophy in this context. This book was not only an enjoyable read, but also it provided many great launching points for further exploration and discussion about the history of philosophical thought and what it means to be human.
 
Contributed by: Davidson Young Scholar  
Rating:
This is an excellent book that teaches philosophy in an interesting way. I highly recommend it.
 
Contributed by: Parent of Davidson Young Scholar  
Rating:
This is a fun and interesting way to introduce philosophy disguised as a novel. The philosophy lectures embedded in the story are fundamentally sound. The plot is pretty thin and only serves to provide a diversion from the philosophy, but there are a few surprises. Parental warning - I read this book to a 7 year old and had to edit on the fly while reading the chapter on Freud. Also, the ending "garden party" chapter has a number of inappropriate innuendoes that are out of pattern with the rest of the book.
 
Contributed by: Davidson Young Scholar  
Rating:
This is my current favorite book. Sophie's World is the story of a girl who is approaching her fifteenth birthday (entry into adulthood) who begins a correspondence with a philosopher through her mailbox. Sophie also begins to receive letters addressed to a mysterious girl named Hilde, and then some of Hilde's belongings end up in Sophie's world. As Sophie learns about the history of philosophy and the concept of reality, Hilde emerges as a girl who is reading about Sophie in a book her father wrote. This book really tested my concept of what is real and the countless people who have looked up at the stars and questioned our universe. I would recommend this book to everyone, especially gifted youth who are coming of age!
 
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