History of Western Philosophy

First published in 1946, History of Western Philosophy went on to become the best-selling philosophy book of the twentieth century. A dazzlingly ambitious project, it remains unchallenged to this day as the ultimate introduction to Western philosophy. Providing a sophisticated overview of the ideas that have perplexed people from time immemorial, it is 'long on wit, intelligence and curmudgeonly scepticism', as the New York Times noted, and it is this, coupled with the sheer brilliance of its scholarship, that has made Russell's History of Western Philosophy one of the most important philosophical works of all time.

ISBN 0415325056   Volumes 1 ISBN13 9780415325059 (What's this?)   Weight (grammes) 936 Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd   Published in London Imprint Routledge   Series title Routledge Classics Format Paperback   Previous ISBN 9780415228541 Publication date 02 Feb 2004   Height (mm) 216 Library of Congress B72 \.R8 2004   Width (mm) 138 DEWEY 190.9   Spine width (mm) 43 DEWEY edition DC22   Academic level General, Professional / Scholarly, Tertiary education Pages 778

		Preface
		Introduction		1
Bk. 1		Ancient Philosophy		11
1		The Rise of Greek Civilization		15
2		The Milesian School		33
3		Pythagoras		38
4		Heraclitus		46
5		Parmenides		55
6		Empedocles		60
7		Athens in Relation to Culture		65
8		Anaxogoras		68
9		The Atomists		71
10		Protagoras		80
11		Socrates		89
12		The Influence of Sparta		99
13		The Sources of Plato's Opinions		108
14		Plato's Utopia		111
15		The Theory of Ideas		121
16		Plato's Theory of Immortality		132
17		Plato's Cosmogony		142
18		Knowledge and Perception in Plato		148
19		Aristotle's Metaphysics		157
20		Aristotle's Ethics		168
21		Aristotle's Politics		179
22		Aristotle's Logic		188
23		Aristotle's Physics		195
24		Early Greek Mathematics and Astronomy		200
25		The Hellenistic World		211
26		Cynics and Sceptics		220
		More...

'Remains unchallenged as the perfect introduction to its subject ... exactly the kind of philosophy that most people would like to read, but which only Russell could possibly have written.' - Ray Monk, University of Southampton, UK 'Beautiful and luminous prose, not merely classically clear but scrupulously honest.' - Isaiah Berlin 'It is a witty bird's-eye view of the main figures in Western thought enlivened by references to the personalities and quirks of the thinkers themselves.' - The Week 'A great philosopher's lucid and magisterial look at the history of his own subject, wonderfully readable and enlightening.' - The Observer

Unsurpassed in its breadth, simplicity and easy writing style. Plenty in the book has been superseded by now, and Russell gives the impression that most philosophical questions have been settled by his time, nevertheless a magnificent effort and still a great introduction to philosophy. - Panos Attallah

The book gave to me a clear outline of Western philosophy. In particular it explained to me how Greek philosophy formed the origins of Judaism and then Christianity. - Dr Robert A Foster



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