(Translated by Paulette Møller)

In brief: Fourteen-year-old Sophie Amundsen is eagerly looking forward to her 15th birthday. As she teeters on the brink of young adulthood and of losing her child’s sense of wonder, the arrival of a mysterious letter jolts her wide awake. Jostein Gaarder’s playful novel leads Sophie, and its readers, through a history of Western philosophy, scattering questions throughout and awakening, or reawakening, a curiosity and determination to find out more about the world and the way it works.

In detail: Sophie’s World is not a simple straightforward novel with a plot, a cast of characters and a resolution. It is an introduction to the history of Western philosophy wrapped up in a story which is, itself, a philosophical puzzle. The novel asks a multitude of questions and requires a good deal of concentration from its readers but repays dividends for those prepared to read it with an open and attentive mind.

On her way home from school Sophie Amundsen checks her mailbox and finds an envelope addressed to her. In it a slip of paper bears the intriguing question ‘Who are you?’ Soon another note appears asking ‘Where does the world come from?’ Sophie becomes determined to find out who has left these missives and what the questions mean. So begins her journey through the world of philosophy from Democritus to the present day guided by Alberto Knox and his dog Hermes. But is Sophie’s world all it seems? She begins to find postcards and messages for Hilde (a young girl who shares the same birthday as Sophie) written by her father, a major serving with the UN in Lebanon. As Sophie learns about Socrates and Plato, Descartes and Spinoza, the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, Marx, Darwin and Freud, her curiosity is further aroused by the puzzle of Hilde’s identity until the two girls’ lives begin to overlap as Hilde reads her father’s birthday present to her: a history of Western philosophy which he hopes will stimulate her curiosity and make her think analytically. All is brought to something of an Alice in Wonderland-like conclusion with the end of Alberto’s philosophy course, Hilde’s father’s homecoming and Sophie’s realisation that her world is even more of a puzzle that she had thought.

About the author

Jostein Gaarder was born in Oslo on 8 August 1952. He studied Scandinavian languages and philosophy at the University of Oslo, and taught philosophy to schoolchildren for 11 years before becoming a full-time writer. Two novels for young adults swiftly followed his debut short story collection published in 1986. In 1990 he received the Norwegian Literary Critics’ Award and the Ministry of Culture and Scientific Affairs Literary Award for his novel The Solitaire Mystery. Sophie’s World was published to great acclaim in Gaarder’s homeland in 1991 where it remained at the top of the bestseller charts for three years. It has since become an international bestseller. Jostein Gaarder lives with his wife and two sons in Oslo.

For discussion

• How does Sophie’s way of thinking change as she progresses through her course? Did you find your own way of thinking changing and if so how?
  Alberto explains that it is central to the course that Sophie understands the difference between a sophist and a philosopher. What is the difference and why is it so important?
• Why is Lego ‘the most ingenious toy in the world’ (page 36)? What would Democritus have thought of it?
• What is the basis of Socrate’s philosophy?
• How would you describe Plato’s philosophy? What was the basis of his ideal state? What did Aristotle make of Plato’s ideas? How did Aristotle’s philosophy differ from Plato’s?
• What were the philosophical questions that preoccupied the Hellenistic philosophers?
• How did the scientific discoveries of the Renaissance affect philosophy?
• In what ways do science, religion and philosophy interact? Philosophy and science both require rigorous thought while religion also requires a leap of faith. How compatible are philosophy and religion?
• Alberto describes Descartes as ‘the first significant system-builder’ (page 195). How does Alberto illustrate this? How does Spinoza’s work relate to Descartes’ philosophy?
• Who were the three British empiricists and how important are they to modern thinking? How did they differ from each other?
• What do you make of the chapter ‘Berkely’?
• How did philosophy change with the French Enlightenment? What was its effect on religious belief? How important was the Enlightenment in shaping the modern world?
• How did Romanticism differ from both Kant and the Enlightenment philosophers? What were its characteristics? In what ways was it different from previous schools of philosophy?
• How did Hegel’s philosophy counteract the excesses of the Romantics? What was Kierkegaard’s reaction to both Hegel and Romanticism?
• What was Marx’s ‘philosophy of action’? ‘Certainly no other philosopher had greater significance for practical politics. On the other hand, we must be wary of identifying everything that calls itself Marxism with Marx’s own thinking.’ (page 326). In what ways do Marx’s ideas differ from the way in which they have been implemented?
• Neither Darwin nor Freud is commonly thought of as a philosopher. Why do they merit chapters to themselves?
• ‘Existentialist philosophy has radical significance for many people all over the world. As we saw, its roots reach far back in history through Kierkegaard and way back to Socrates’ (page 383). Can you trace those roots? ‘The twentieth century has also witnessed a blossoming and a renewal of the other philosophical currents we have discussed.’ (page 383) What constitutes that ‘blossoming’ and ‘renewal’?
• What did you think of the book’s conclusion?
• How effective did you find Alberto’s philosophy course? How well did you think Jostein Gaarder brought the subject alive by using the novel form?
• ‘The only thing we require to be good philosophers is the faculty of wonder’ (page 10). Did Sophie’s World reawaken a sense of wonder for you? Are you keen to learn more about philosophy?
• How important is philosophy? How do you see it applied in the modern world?
• Where does the world come from?
• Who are you?

Suggested further reading

Fiction
A Visit from Voltaire by Dinah Lee Küng
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Non-fiction
The Consolations of Philosophy by Alain de Botton
Philosophy: A Beginner’s Guide by Jenny Teichman and Katherine C. Evans
Socrates by Anthony Gottleib
Plato: A Very Short Introduction by Julia Annas
Aristotle: A Very Short Introduction by Jonathan Barnes
Descartes: A Very Short Introduction by Tom Sorrell
Spinoza: A Very Short Introduction by Roger Scruton
Berkeley by David Berman
The Enlightenment by Norman Hampson
Hume: A Very Short Introduction by Alfred Ayer
Hegel: A Very Short Introduction by Peter Singer
Kierkegaard for Beginners by Donald Palmer
Darwin: A Very Short Introduction by Jonathan Howard
Freud: A Very Short Introduction by Anthony Storr
Marx: A Very Short Introduction by Peter Singer