English Summary
Title: Humanities in My Hand: The Gate of Dream
Korean Original: 내 손 안의 인문학, 꿈의 문
This book is a philosophy book for teenagers, also meaningful for adult readers. Through stories and conversations with philosophers, it invites readers to open the gate of thinking and reflect on fundamental questions of human existence.
Book Summary
A humanities book that helps teenagers develop their thinking skills.
In Seong, the hero of Humanities in My Hand: The Gate of Dream, is a first-grade middle school student. However, physical age does not matter—any reader can be In Seong. Most adults have passed through the first year of middle school, some teenage readers are exactly In Seong’s age, and children will reach it in the future. In this sense, the author says in the epilogue that we are all In Seong.
Various gatekeepers appear throughout the book: Eastern philosophers such as Chuang-tzu and Lao-tzu; Western philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, and Nietzsche; scientists such as Galileo Galilei; explorers such as Columbus; and even fairytale characters such as Alice and Oz. Here, philosophers are not distant figures speaking difficult metaphysical terms, but neighbors who share casual conversations with In Seong.
This book never attempts to infuse philosophical terms or concepts into the reader. With no information-heavy explanations, there is nothing to memorize. Instead, through thinking patterns shaped by both emotion and logic—drawn from the history of Western philosophy—the book helps readers build a thinking system and fill their own “thinking drawer.”
In addition, the book raises fundamental questions about human existence—for example, “Who are we?”—and persistently searches for answers. This reflects the portrait of ourselves embodied by In Seong. In this regard, the book is not only recommended for teenagers but also meaningful for grown-ups who have yet to find where they are going.
The author also writes in the prologue:
“This book has a motto like this: a philosophy book for teenagers, which is also good to read for adults. We guess that adults know better than teenagers. However, this may not be the case for philosophy. Particularly in Korea, teenagers read more than adults because of several realistic circumstances. Therefore, it cannot be said that grown-ups are more knowledgeable about philosophy. Rather, grown-ups may have more preconceptions about it. I hope that grown-ups treat humanities without prejudice like teenagers do. In this regard, this book is a required reading for not only adults but also teenagers.”
Translation supported by the Publication Abstract Translation Grant Program of the Korea Publishing Industry Promotion Agency (KPIPA).