Does anyone know of any good books that serve as an introduction to philosophy in general, but more specifically, to the many different outlooks there are–such as nihilism or solipsism?
For a general overview, try Bertrand Russell’s History of Western Philosophy.
There’s also about a million books entitled What is Philosophy? I suggest Deleuze and Guattari’s edition, but you might also be interested in Ortega y Gasset’s. Heidegger’s book isn’t too terrible, either.
The reason I ask is that I took a philosophy course in college, but it was more of a history class than anything else. The philosophy itself ended up being a complete sidenote in the book we used. What little was there I found extremely fascinating.
Sophie’s World by Justein Gaardner is a pretty good little summary of Western philosophy. Not great if you are looking for depth, but if you are looking for an overview, it does an apt job of discussing the major figures, and the major threads of discussion. It’s written for a bit of a younger audience than a college student, though, but I think it might be what you are looking for.
When I was first began to seriously consider philosophical themes, I bought a book on the 100 most important philosophers in the western world. It gave me a pretty good starting point, and a similiar volume might be something to look into (sorry, but I can’t for the life of me remember the exact title of the book I am talking about.)
I agree with JoeTheMan, Bertrand Russell’s History of Western Philosophy is a very well written book but a little daunting for a beginner. I recommend reading something like Teach Yourself Philosophy by Mel Thompson as a first book before tackling anything bigger. It’s short, includes a glossary and also includes chapters on Eastern Philosophy which act as a good contrast to the Western approach and gives a broader view of the subject. Once you’ve read that go on to Russell’s.