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Title: The Story of Philosophy: Library Edition by Will Durant, Frederick Davidson ISBN: 0-7861-8968-1 Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks Pub. Date: 01 May, 2003 Format: Audio CD Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $39.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.74 (43 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Few books change the way you see the world - this is one.
Comment: If you believe that philosophy is about complex theorizing, and not your cup of tea - think again, in fact dont think - just read Will Durants book. The title says it all so wonderfully elegantly, that it makes one feel almost emotional about the book after it is over - this book is a story. It is a story of a science, of a subject, and the people who made it. It is a tale that will move you with the love Plato shows for Socrates, that will bring you to tears as you read the Excommunication Curse pronounced on the young Spinoza, and will make you shake your head with its force of ideas as it explains Descartes and Kant.
Once you are through with this book, and you lift your head again from its pages, the world will not seem the same. Few books can have so profound an effect on its reader - and this book does that. To the keen and curious, Durant lays bare about 2000 years of human thought, and puts in simple terms, some of the most baffling and complex of ideologies - and in doing so, the reader is left with a path to follow. The path of genius, the path of wisdom, and the path of enlightenment by reading the various books and philosophies of those mentioned here.
Read this book, own it, treasure it, and pass it on to your children, this is heritage... this is a work of art.
Rating: 5
Summary: Intellectual coathooks
Comment: Rather than a systematic and extensive survey of the history of philosophy, Pulitzer-prize winner Will Durant tells a story. His work is a survey of the life and teachings of some of the western world's most important philosophers: Plato, Aristotle, Francis Bacon, Spinoza, Voltaire, Kant, Schopenhauer, Herbert Spencer, and Nietzsche. Durant also includes a chapter on contemporary European philosophers (Bergson, Croce, Russell) and contemporary American philosophers (Santayana, James, Dewey). Originally written in 1926, Durant is a little slim on 20th-century philosophy, particularly existentialism. But Durant is an excellent writer and an effective guide. He provides intellectual coathooks for readers to use to extend their reading into other areas of philosophy. *The Story of Philsophy* would be a good book to introduce high school or beginning college students to some of the great ideas of the western tradition.
Rating: 5
Summary: Best introduction to Philosophy
Comment: Durant, in this masterpiece, explains the history of Philosophy from before Socrates all the way to Santayana, James and Dewey. His combination of wit, insights into life and encyclopedic knowledge of the subject makes this book a page turner.
He may have popularized philosophy but he hasn't lost the essence as some other authors have done by watering down the messages. It's still there in its original form but he doesn't use pretentious prose to appear learned. You know he knows what he is talking about without him having to resort to the 'specialized' language that other authors speaking about philosophy turn to.
This is one great expositor, and he will get you interested in the subject if you were only lukewarm about it before. He explains how a Philosopher develops; he describes the personal influences as well as the societal. You understand by reading him that philosophies do not appear in a vacuum, they are an answer to previous questions and philosophies and the problems most pressing at that time. So you have Durant explaining Schopenhauer's lack of affinity with women and those around him and his almost schizophrenic fear having an effect on his philosophical views. You also understand why Kant wrote the Critique of pure reason and who it was in response to. I found it hard to understand Kant before, but Durant has made his main ideas so lucid that I will now attempt to read _The critique of pure reason._
You also get to know the philosophers in a personal way; you feel with Plato the sorrow of losing a master, who goes stoically to his death because he believes in his philosophy. Only a great author can make you feel for someone who lived thousands of years ago.
I must make a note to the Christian reader. Many of the philosophers discussed by Durant were Atheists and many of their philosophies were a reaction to the dominant Christian theology at the time. I found though that some of these philosophers were not attacking Christianity per se, but the organized religion that had called itself by that name. I read this book keeping in mind that these philosophies, although very illuminating, are man made and fallible. I think if you are strong in your faith, you can read this book and take some of their bitter attacks against Christianity as their personal views about the subject, without worrying yourself too much. The greatest thing this book did is introduce Philosophy to me in a straightforward way. I would highly recommend this book to anyone with even a fleeting interest in Philosophy. The writing is so plain and clear that the only things that may be difficult to understand are the philosophies themselves rather than the prose. Good luck to you.
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Title: The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time by Will Durant ISBN: 0743235533 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 29 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title: Basic Teachings of the Great Philosophers by S.E. Frost ISBN: 038503007X Publisher: Anchor Pub. Date: 01 September, 1962 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: The Lessons of History by William James Durant, Will Durant, Ariel Durant ISBN: 0671413333 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: August, 1968 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
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Title: How to Read a Book by Charles Van Doren, Mortimer J. Adler ISBN: 0671212095 Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: 15 August, 1972 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Heroes of History: A Brief History of Civilization from Ancient Times to the Dawn of the Modern Age by Will Durant ISBN: 0743226127 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 13 November, 2001 List Price(USD): $27.50 |
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