The Story of Philosophy - Hardcover

Magee, Bryan

4.15

1,435 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 024124126X ISBN 13: 9780241241264

Publisher: DK, 2016

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The Story of Philosophy is the ultimate exploration of 2,500 years of Western philosophy. From the Ancient Greeks to modern thinkers, The Story of Philosophy brings a stunning and simple approach to tackle history's biggest ideas.Professor Bryan Magee takes you from the origins of philosophy to the present day, from Plato to Popper and into the future. This essential guide is fully updated to include thoughts on our modern society, exploring science and democracy, and posing the question: where do we go from here? Celebrate the world's most revolutionary concepts and understand how these ideas continue to shape our world., Develop your own perspectives and explore relevant issues such as modern logic and religion with this wonderfully comprehensive illustrated guide. In a world of evolving ideas, The Story of Philosophy is a fantastic resource to revisit again and again.Previous edition ISBN 9781405353335

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Review:

As a bright adolescent, Magee discovered--see his Confessions of a philosopher --that the kind of thinking he liked to do was called "philosophy". The great disappointment of his life was the realisation that, incapable of great original thoughts, he was condemned to be a populariser all his life. His loss is our gain, and this admirable illustrated book is his very partial account of philosophy for other adolescents and adults who need a handy crib. This is Whiggish history, in which everything leads to a selective group of 20th-century Greats--Wittgenstein, Russell and Popper--two of whom were Magee's personal friends; contemporary French thinkers like Foucault and Derrida are relegated to the sidelines and linguistic analysis treated as a slightly irrelevant game. It is also Eurocentric history in which we leap from Stoics and Epicureans to Thomas Aquinas taking in only Saint Augustine on the way--Muslim thinkers are no more than mentioned and the Buddha is only here as an influence on Schopenhauer. Illustrations and sidebars give a useful cultural context; Magee writes well about his intellectual heroes and this is a personal enough book to be both more and less than a mere introduction. --Roz Kaveney

Review:

"This gloriously illustrated and accessible book enables readers to embark on an adventure in philosophy.Young adults will find that the often closed doors of philosophy are now open and inviting." School Library Journal

"Lavishly illustrated." Library Journal"

"Lavishly illustrated." -- Library Journal

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