“To have intellectual conversations with others
“The most basic knowledge you must have”

The first revised and expanded edition of "The Wide and Shallow", a representative humanities textbook of our time.

Read and enthusiastically received by millions of readers, it has been a must-read for humanities students for many years.
The iconic humanities series returns with a new look.

A book that changed the landscape of the difficult and rigid humanities field.
This book became a bestseller immediately after its publication, and went on to sell over 2 million copies, becoming a double million seller, remaining a steady seller for a full five years.
A book that popularized the unfamiliar and difficult to pronounce phrase "지대NPYAP" and even spawned a TV program with a similar concept; a book that allowed ordinary people who were thirsty for basic common sense to discuss things without hesitation, view the news proactively, and take an opinion in elections; a book that was evaluated as being written in an easy and fun way for people of all ages to read, such as a book that started an 80-year-old reader to start self-studying, a middle school student reader to read humanities, and an office worker to form a book club.
All of this is an explanation of 『Broad and Shallow Knowledge for Intellectual Conversation』.


Following the new edition [Zero], a revised and expanded edition has been published for the first time in five years.
The rough and insufficient parts were gently smoothed and filled in.
Old stories have been updated to fit the times.
The stories that author Cha Sa-jang shared with many readers after the book was published helped in revising the book.
The moment you read this meticulously revised edition, you will understand why this book has remained unbroken for the past five years.

A and B are playing chess under a tree.
A listens and puts it down in B's camp.
“It’s Jang-iya.” B is flustered.
A continues speaking politely.
“To win in chess, you have to use your head.
You have to close your eyes, concentrate intensely, and logically predict the horses' next movements.
“The problem is that you don’t use your head.”
B, who had been staring intently at the long board, moves a piece and speaks.
“It’s a bruise.”
A frowns and looks at the chess board.
A's important pieces are in danger because of B's ​​words.
B says.
“You only know one thing and not two.
There are things you can't achieve no matter how much you rack your brain.
Life experiences cannot be gained through thought alone.
The only way to really win in long-term is to just keep trying.
“Through countless mistakes, we learn to master the board.” As B finished speaking, C, who had been sleeping with his back turned near A and B, suddenly woke up.
A and B were surprised.
C turned his face.
I was angry.
A and B were more surprised.
In that state, C walked towards the two and shouted.
"It's so noisy I can't sleep at all! Are you guys playing chess with words? Just don't do it!"
Then he overturned the chess board.

From ancient times to the present, A, B, and C have always been present in the history of philosophy.
There were times when A was dominant, times when B was dominant, or times when C was dominant, but either way, they were always there.
They are the protagonists of philosophy, and at the same time, the protagonists of this entire book, which we will discuss from now on.
Introducing them.
A is absolutism, B is relativism, and C is skepticism.
---From "Three Central Concepts"

Now that we've come to the topic of epistemology, let's first briefly distinguish between ontology and epistemology, which are two very important fields in Western philosophy, and then continue the discussion of modern philosophy.
Ontology and epistemology differ in that they ask different questions about truth and provide their own answers to them.
If ontology asks and answers the question, "What is truth?", epistemology asks and attempts to answer the question, "How do we arrive at truth?"
Let's take an example.
P and Q are talking about aliens now.

P: Are aliens real?
Q: Then, yes.

The conversation between P and Q now is an 'ontological' conversation.
Ontology is a field that discusses the existence or nonexistence of specific beings and their modes of existence.
The important thing here is how you ask the question.
Ontology is expressed in terms of the predicates ‘Is there something?’ and ‘There is something.’
In the history of philosophy, specific topics have been discussed, such as 'Is there God?', 'Is there reason?', 'What is the soul?', 'What is freedom?', 'What is the mode of God's existence?', and 'What is the nature of reason?'
Let's continue listening to the conversation between P and Q.

P: Huh? There are aliens? How did you know?
Q: If you think about it rationally, since the universe is infinite, there must be planets with physical conditions similar to Earth, and if the physical conditions are the same, the conditions for the birth of life must have been similar.
The current conversation is an 'epistemological' conversation.
Epistemology, like ontology, does not ask whether something exists or not, but rather how we can know it.
It is expressed as a predicate of 'How can we know ~?'
Questions such as 'How can we know God's will?', 'How can we arrive at the truth?', and 'How can we prove the existence of the soul?' have been discussed.

---From "Modern Philosophy"