The title of book should have been "The story of western philosophy", since it deals with "the lives and opinion of the world's greatest philosophers from Plato to John Dewey". Irrespective this is a great book and a perfect introduction to the subject.
Will Durant has attempted to capture the lives, thoughts and contributions of some of the key philosophers.
Socrates - his simple truth which agitated Greek youth and upset the rulers - his enlighted disciple circle
Plato - his solution to all phases of life - Utopia - The Philosopher King
Aristotle - Greek Science - Great zoological garden - Prime mover
Francis Bacon - After Aristotle - A great believer of mankind - Man first
Spinoza - well versed in medieval philosophy - his transformation from Jew - Active nature and passive nature = God and the world
Voltaire - his pen and plays - liberty - encyclopedia
Rousseau - man of action and revolution
Immanuel Kant - Critique of Pure Reason - Came when scepticism prevail - transcendental esthetic
Hegel - undisputed Philosopher
Schopenhauer - Will - instinct - will to reproduce
Spencer - Post Darwin and Lamarck - Unknowable - evolution - life long work
Nietzsche - Wagner - Zarathusthra - Death of God - The Superman - Aristocracy - inequality in men
Henri Bergson - Creative Evolution
Croce - Man an artist as soon as he forms image in mind
Bertand Russell - The logician - The pacifist
George Santayana - Animal faith - Catholic and not a Christian
William James - Pragmatist - "What are its consequences ? and turns the face of the thought to action and the future" - At the end " ... no advice to be given. Farewell"
John Dewey - Reformation of education - Distrusted the state and wished for a pluralistic order - Old problems have lost their meaning - Philosophy must stay on the earth
After reading Hegel, I assumed that there won't be any more interesting philosophy on its way. Then comes Schopenhauer. And the same with Nietzsche.
For a theologist, Spinoza is an interesting read.
Anyway there is no better way to understand, reading the original works than summaries. But do I have time ?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
-
Linux Command Line and Shell Scripting Bible, 4th Edition, by Richard Blum and Christine Bresnahan is a complete guide for software profess...
-
Its an award winning documentary depicting the new world order, the latest phenomenon of our age, the new world citizen - The corporation. T... -
This novel in Malayalam is from an eminent writer and activist Sara Joseph. It has got Kendra Sahithya Academy award. The characters illustr...
No comments:
Post a Comment