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Loading... The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the World's Greatest Philosophers (1926)by Will Durant, Ariel Durant (Author)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Dramatic and opinionated review of the great thought-leaders of the Western canon. Misinterpreted Hellenistic philosophy schools, in my mind. Nevertheless, presents history and philosophical questions with a flourish and entertaining style. ( ) A mammoth book that covers much of the landscape of philosophy - in the Western world at least - from the Ancient Greeks up to the Americans Dewey and James. There's a huge amount here, but the book is well-written and never lags - while I can't say I learned a great deal from this brief survey of philosophic luminaries (the fault is mine, btw), I have become far more interested in the field, and feel ready to approach some of the original texts.
To sum up, then, Dr. Durant's book deserves a wide reading, but it lacks the continuity, the historical scope that a history of philosophy must have. As an appetizer, The Story of Philosophy should be unstintingly recommended, but twenty-five hundred years of thought cannot be popularized in such small compass; and the danger is that the majority of readers will think that they have now traversed the vast field of speculative thought since antiquity. Not being intended as a contribution to original scholarship, but rather as a work of art, the book deserves something better than a meticulous picking of flaws which are half the time mere differences of interpretation and emphasis. Dr. Durant reaches real eloquence in the chapters of Spinoza, Bacon, Voltaire, Spencer, and Nietzsche, men for whom he feels a real enthusiasm and of whom he writes with evident gusto. If we mistake not, many readers will admire the book for these chapters alone. ContainsVan Socrates tot Bergson : hoofdfiguren uit de geschiedenis van het denken. - 3: Van Spencer tot Bergson by Will Durant Van Socrates tot Bergson : hoofdfiguren uit de geschiedenis van het denken. - 1: Van Plato tot Bacon by Will Durant Distinctions
A brilliant and concise account of the lives and ideas of the great philosophers--Plato, Aristotle, Bacon, Spinoza, Voltaire, Kant, Schopenhauer, Spencer, Nietzsche, Bergson, Croce, Russell, Santayana, James, and Dewey--The Story of Philosophy is one of the great books of our time. Few write for the non-specialist as well as Will Durant, and this book is a splendid example of his eminently readable scholarship. Durant's insight and wit never cease to dazzle; The Story of Philosophy is a key book for any reader who wishes to survey the history and development of philosophical ideas in the Western world. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)109Philosophy and Psychology Philosophy Historical and collected persons treatment of philosophyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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