Quote:
Originally Posted by hidari
Have to a agree Russel's book is a good intro to Philosophy..I have read it twice over the years. Also, for a quick good light overview...Maybe Geoff and others would like
Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder.... A novel about the history of philosophy..Not perfect but very good...
http://www.amazon.com/Sophies-World-...5977111&sr=8-1
Also, Oxford produces the Very short introductions, or VSI. Those include some philosophers as well. Back to Russell. Another Book like his is Will Durant's History of Philosophy. Also a good general overview of Western Philosophy. |
While Russell's book is worth reading, it is hardly a good introduction to Western Philosophy. It is more his personal rant about which philosophers are worthy and which are not. He really fails to understand Nietzsche, I think, and this may be due to the fact that he was writing against the backdrop of WWII. I also feel that his assessment of Aristotle is off-base. The book is also dated. There have been many important developments and trends in Philosophy since WWII, notably the ascendancy of Wittgenstein in the Anglophone world, the rise of Existentialism and Phenomenology, and the rise of the New Left and Post-Modernism. I enjoyed the book, don't get me wrong: I wore the thing down till it was falling a part. But I wouldn't take it as a fully objective study of the subject.
Luqman