A
awatkins69
Guest
All these academic philosophy books are in the $100-200 dollar range, even though they aren’t any larger than normal books. Does anybody know why they cost so much? How can I get them cheaper?
- Status
J
JohnDamian
Guest
Buying second hand books is always a good practice. Generally speaking the price of a book is determined by it’s rarity rather than it’s length or quality; I have paid over a thousand sterling for a book that is only one hundred and fifty pages long; which went out of print around 1900…
If books are recent; or standard books for students you can usually get them cheap secondhand; but if a book is rare or out of print; particularily if it went out of print decades ago.
Luckily however; most modern philosophy books are well; modern. So just try and find recent graduates or students who might be able to sell you the books cheaper; although many people like to deface books with scribblings but that is a price worth paying for an eighty percent discount
If books are recent; or standard books for students you can usually get them cheap secondhand; but if a book is rare or out of print; particularily if it went out of print decades ago.
Luckily however; most modern philosophy books are well; modern. So just try and find recent graduates or students who might be able to sell you the books cheaper; although many people like to deface books with scribblings but that is a price worth paying for an eighty percent discount
A
awatkins69
Guest
Goodness! That is a lot of money for one book! That must have been very valuable!
One of the books I’m looking at is about 60 GBP. Another is about double that. Unfortunately, there aren’t many students who have these or who have used them.
This proves it. Analytic philosophy is elitist and only available to the nobility.
One of the books I’m looking at is about 60 GBP. Another is about double that. Unfortunately, there aren’t many students who have these or who have used them.
This proves it. Analytic philosophy is elitist and only available to the nobility.
C
ChadS
Guest
I really doubt analytic philosophy is only for the elite or the nobility.
It’s a pretty rarefied field with a few practioners and even fewer fans or curious onlookers. The books you would like to read are probably being published by an academic press that feels a responsibility to publish important and notable works regardless of their ability to sale. Most likely the high price is due to the fact that perhaps a few thousand libraries around the world will order a copy and then the hundred or so specialists in that field will want a copy. Within a year the majority of people that will want to read the book will have a copy of it. The publisher needs to make up the costs associated with the publication as quickly as possible so as not to see a loss or hope for a small profit.
As a lover of books and someone that occasionally seeks out rare or hard to find books the price of new ones can be daunting, especially if it’s coming from a high end academic publisher or is an import. If you can’t get it new maybe 2nd hand from something like Amazon will work or you can interlibrary loan. I feel your pain, though.
ChadS
It’s a pretty rarefied field with a few practioners and even fewer fans or curious onlookers. The books you would like to read are probably being published by an academic press that feels a responsibility to publish important and notable works regardless of their ability to sale. Most likely the high price is due to the fact that perhaps a few thousand libraries around the world will order a copy and then the hundred or so specialists in that field will want a copy. Within a year the majority of people that will want to read the book will have a copy of it. The publisher needs to make up the costs associated with the publication as quickly as possible so as not to see a loss or hope for a small profit.
As a lover of books and someone that occasionally seeks out rare or hard to find books the price of new ones can be daunting, especially if it’s coming from a high end academic publisher or is an import. If you can’t get it new maybe 2nd hand from something like Amazon will work or you can interlibrary loan. I feel your pain, though.
ChadS
- Status