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A sparkling, original tour through 2,500 years of Western thought, from Socrates to Derrida, from happiness and love in ancient Greece to truth and forgiveness in the twentieth century. Twenty-seven of today's leading philosophers each introduce and explore ideas from one of history's greatest minds.
"Engaging and accessible... Readers can enjoy each chapter individually or read the entire book for an understanding of major figures of Western philosophy. As was the first, this book is highly recommended for all general readers with an interest in philosophy." --Library Journal
"Thought-provoking... Illuminating." --Publishers Weekly
"As a fan of the Philosophy Bites podcast, I'm very pleased to see this publication of conversations with leading scholars on major figures in the history of philosophy. The result is not only a good introduction to that history, but a rare chance to read top-level philosophers speaking extemporaneously about the subjects they know best. Even regular listeners to the podcast will be glad to have this written version of highlights from the series."--Peter Adamson, King's College London
Introduction ix
Who is your favourite philosopher? xi
1 Mary Margaret McCabe on Socrates and the Socratic Method 1
2 Angie Hobbs on Plato on Erotic Love 10
3 Terence Irwin on Aristotle's Ethics 20
4 Anthony Kenny on Thomas Aquinas' Ethics 29
5 Quentin Skinner on Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince 37
6 Sarah Bakewell on Michel de Montaigne 51
7 A. C. Grayling on René Descartes' Cogito 61
8 Susan James on Baruch de Spinoza on the Passions 70
9 John Dunn on John Locke on Toleration 81
10 John Campbell on George Berkeley's Puzzle 89
11 Peter Millican on David Hume's Significance 97
12 Nick Phillipson on Adam Smith on What Human Beings Are Like 106
13 Melissa Lane on Jean-Jacques Rousseau on Modern Society 115
14 Richard Bourke on Edmund Burke on Politics 124
15 A.W. Moore on Immanuel Kant's Metaphysics 132
16 Robert Stern on G. W. F. Hegel on Dialectic 143
17 Richard Reeves on John Stuart Mill's On Liberty 156
18 Clare Carlisle on Søren Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling 164
19 Aaron Ridley on Friedrich Nietzsche on Art and Truth 172
20 Peter Singer on Henry Sidgwick's Ethics 182
21 Robert B. Talisse on The Pragmatists and Truth 190
22 Barry C. Smith on Ludwig Wittgenstein 201
23 Hugh Mellor on Frank Ramsey on Truth 214
24 Mary Warnock on Jean-Paul Sartre's Existentialism 223
25 Chandran Kukathas on Friedrich Hayek and Liberalism 230
26 Jonathan Wolff on John Rawls on Justice 238
27 Robert Rowland Smith on Jacques Derrida on Forgiveness 250
Notes on Contributors 259
Further Reading 265
Winners of the Twitter Competition 273
This is a must-have read for those who are not familiar, have never liked, or just want more philosophy in their lives. This book covers twenty-seven different philosophic topics from history’s most beloved and hated philosophers and breaks down some of their most famous thoughts by today’s philosophers. The author easily showcases this by translating these oftentimes complex thoughts into layman’s terms easily understood by all level of readers and enlightening their life’s work for all to enjoy.
“[On Aristophanes] There were three different sexes of proto-human beings: male, female, and hermaphrodite. And these beings were initially spherical. They were completely round, with four arms, four legs, two heads, two faces, and two sets of genitalia, and they rolled around the surfaces of the earth like acrobats.”
From Plato, on erotic love, to Machiavelli, and his book The Prince, all ranges of topics are covered with a fresh new light shone upon these philosophers. Edmonds approaches each chapter with an introduction and follows up with an in-depth discussion to inspire the reader to think deeply and formulate his or her own thoughts.
While not all philosophers touched on in this book will be known to all readers, and each chapter might not catch the same values and meanings from person to person, there just might be something here to motivate you into finding your own favorite philosopher.
*You can view the original review at City Book Review
Overview
A sparkling, original tour through 2,500 years of Western thought, from Socrates to Derrida, from happiness and love in ancient Greece to truth and forgiveness in the twentieth century. Twenty-seven of today's leading philosophers each introduce and explore ideas from one of history's greatest minds.