Rating: 
Summary: If You Snoozed through Philosophy 101....
Review: "The Dream of Reason" is a great book for stimulating the memory banks or making up for lost time with one of those subjects that you really ought to be able answer Jeopardy questions about. Journalist Anthony Gottlieb presents a concise and vivid history of western philosophy from the Greeks to Renaissance in this meaty and managable volume. Fully employing the journalist's gifts for the illuminating detail and the efficient description, Gottlieb provides a brisk and interesting outline of central ideas, personalities and events in the history of philosophical thought. Working at deeper level, Gottlieb presents a broad view of "philosophy" as essentially the determinedly inquistive cast of mind. All in all, a solid book that leaves you feeling smarter.
Rating: 
Summary: Did Reason Dream At All During the Middle Ages?
Review: Anthony Gottlieb has presented us with yet another introduction to philosophy. Let's see . . . how many does that make in the last two years? Ah, but Gottlieb's tome is no ordinary introduction, lest we think otherwise. The author boldly informs us in his introduction is that the one thing he learned writing this book on philosophy is that there is no such thing as philosophy. Come again? Upon further inspection we find that the author has mistaken the diversity in philosophical thinking as meaning that there is no such thing as philosophy. First things first, philosophy is not an ideology; it is not monolithic, though all philosophers begin with the same ground rules. Many dishes can be made from ham, does this mean there is no such thing as cooking, or ham? Secondly, the first thing one learns in studying the subject is that the word "philosophy" itself means "love of wisdom. One who loves wisdom will pursue it, and not everyone pursues their loved one in the same manner. Gottlieb also notes that the branches of knowledge we now refer to as sociology, psychology, science, and mathematics were once bundled under the name "philosophy", and that this practice was prevalent during the Middle Ages. This sets up the real cheat in this book: out of its 469 pages, 375 were dedicated to Greek and Roman thought. This leaves 84 pages for the Middle Ages and Renaissance, but, wait a minute. Of the 84 available pages 38 pages are devoted to noes and the index, leaving a scant number to cover two major portions of both the subject at hand and the time periods. And yet the publisher dares to call this "a stunning successor to Bertrand Russell's 1945 classic, 'A History of Western Philosophy'." At least Russell had the good taste, not to mention sense, to include a decent synopsis of both the Middle Ages and Renaissance and devoted more than the half page Gottlieb does to St. Thomas Aquinas. As I have said in relation to other books, if you must have this, wait for the paperback.
Rating:
Summary: An impressive survey of Western philosophy
Review: Anthony Gottlieb is a very talented man. Not only does he have a day job (executive editor of "The Economist," no less!), he has studied and taught philosophy on both sides of the Atlantic. The present book is a marvellously clear survey of the history of Western thought. It updates Bertrand Russell's classic, adds more material, and in fact it is really good fun to read the two books together. I especially enjoyed the detailed history of the largely unknown but critically important theologian, Pseudo-Dionysius. At last I understand how Neoplatonic philosophy got coopted by the Catholic Church: a Syrian monk summarized (and modified) the works of Iamblichus and Proclus, and wrote this down in three or four little books which he signed with the name: Dionysius the Areopagite, allegedly the name of a Greek convert made by St. Paul in Athens. These Greek manuscripts were translated into Latin by Scotus (and others) and became some of the most influential documents of the Middle Ages. The forgery was discovered in the 19th century, but the cosmology and theology had already made their way into Aquinas, Milton, and Dante. Fascinating stuff!
Rating: 
Summary: Good Intro for those interested in Philosophy
Review: For those who have read Bertrand Russell's History of Western Philosophy, this work by Gottlieb might seem similar in structure and style. The analysis of each pholospher (from the pre-Socratic to the Renaissance) provided by the author is by no means complete. Students of philosphy will be deprived of the beauty of classical philosphy if they do not go back and read the original texts of Plato, Aristotle, etc. Gottlieb touched on key themes of each philosopher but, in my opinion, never went far enough. For examples, Plato's allegory of the Cave and Eurothryo. These 2 ideas, I thought, were very influential to later thinkers. One area that I will commend Gottlieb on is his analysis of Aristotle. Aristotle's Philosophy of Biology is the predecessor to Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection and sought to explain the origin of things. Gottlieb was clear and precise in his explanation of this very important and complex area of study, and students specializing in Aristotle will not be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Sketchy General Introduction
Review: Gottlieb is a sharp, smart writer who has done a great job of packaging a big-picture history of philosophy for the general reader. His voice is chatty and personal; this is like getting the story of civilzation from your Uncle Ed on the back porch. How can you not love a book that includes lines like: "There is no denying that philosophers' attempts to think clearly have often rudely backfired. (Any subject that is responsible for producing Heidegger, for example, owes the world an apology)." Gottlieb puts philosophy back into the study of the world, pointing out that philosophy gets a bad rap in part because as soon as a philospoher discovers something useful, such as planetary movement, he's reclassified a scientist. This gives a great overview of some lesser-known philophers and provides a nice, clear picture of better-known thinkers such as Socrates and Plato. He's refreshingly clear of cant and doesn't appear to be intent on selling any particular school or point of view. This is great teaching in book form-- clear, understandable, and direct. This is a great introduction to philosophy up to the Renaissance, and for those who are already familiar with the territory, it's a great work for putting everyone into place in the bigger picture. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Great Education and Very Readable
Review: I cannot imagine studying philosophy. It seems to be such a complex subject that any meaningful study would require intense interest and devotion. Well, not everyone has that ability. For us lazy folk, this book is a great asset. Actually, that designation degrades the quality of this book. While it is true that this book is a great read for anyone, it also offers an extremely intelligent look at the 2,600 history of Western thought from the early Greeks to the Renaissance. The amount of knowledge that I took in from this book is really impressive, just an amazing amount of important education within 440 pages. What makes this brilliant little book even better is the skill and wit of its writer, Anthony Gottlieb. The Dream of Reason is far from a dry, slow tome of historical abstract thinking, it is a very entertaining and readable story of history. People living in the present always take for granted the world around them. Natural processes are so passé now that hardly anyone thinks about how objects break down atomically, or what makes the Sun burn. We feel we have such control over the world that knowledge of it is really meaningless. 2,600 years ago, the world around man was almost totally unknown to humans. The environment was unpredictable and could often bring about devastating destruction. The stars and the planets defied any explanation that ancient man had to offer. To end this mystery, educated men developed extremely different theories in order to explain simple things, such as what the Earth was made up of or how life began. The development of thinking is so interesting to watch, as people devoid of modern instruments struggled to grasp the mysteries of the natural world. All of these men are written of with great reverence and honesty. Many who are thought to be great pioneers in scientist are taken down a peg by Gottlieb?s extensive research. Others benefit from Gottlieb?s fair and educational descriptions. The historical process gets even more interesting as thinkers, somewhat tired of the distant enigmas of the Earth, began to concentrate on the state of man. This included many different fields, including religion, politics, and medical science. It quickly became clear to me that no matter how strange the Earth seems, man himself is probably the greatest mystery historical philosophers have had to tackle. Gottlieb methodically describes the development of these ideas, taking the right amount of time to explain extremely complex problems in plain understandable English. I found Gottlieb?s look at Plato?s Republic to be one of the most interesting chapters I have ever read. This book is perfect for newcomers or serious students of philosophies. An informative and fun read.
Rating:
Summary: Great Education and Very Readable
Review: I cannot imagine studying philosophy. It seems to be such a complex subject that any meaningful study would require intense interest and devotion. Well, not everyone has that ability. For us lazy folk, this book is a great asset. Actually, that designation degrades the quality of this book. While it is true that this book is a great read for anyone, it also offers an extremely intelligent look at the 2,600 history of Western thought from the early Greeks to the Renaissance. The amount of knowledge that I took in from this book is really impressive, just an amazing amount of important education within 440 pages. What makes this brilliant little book even better is the skill and wit of its writer, Anthony Gottlieb. The Dream of Reason is far from a dry, slow tome of historical abstract thinking, it is a very entertaining and readable story of history. People living in the present always take for granted the world around them. Natural processes are so passé now that hardly anyone thinks about how objects break down atomically, or what makes the Sun burn. We feel we have such control over the world that knowledge of it is really meaningless. 2,600 years ago, the world around man was almost totally unknown to humans. The environment was unpredictable and could often bring about devastating destruction. The stars and the planets defied any explanation that ancient man had to offer. To end this mystery, educated men developed extremely different theories in order to explain simple things, such as what the Earth was made up of or how life began. The development of thinking is so interesting to watch, as people devoid of modern instruments struggled to grasp the mysteries of the natural world. All of these men are written of with great reverence and honesty. Many who are thought to be great pioneers in scientist are taken down a peg by Gottlieb?s extensive research. Others benefit from Gottlieb?s fair and educational descriptions. The historical process gets even more interesting as thinkers, somewhat tired of the distant enigmas of the Earth, began to concentrate on the state of man. This included many different fields, including religion, politics, and medical science. It quickly became clear to me that no matter how strange the Earth seems, man himself is probably the greatest mystery historical philosophers have had to tackle. Gottlieb methodically describes the development of these ideas, taking the right amount of time to explain extremely complex problems in plain understandable English. I found Gottlieb?s look at Plato?s Republic to be one of the most interesting chapters I have ever read. This book is perfect for newcomers or serious students of philosophies. An informative and fun read.
Rating:
Summary: "Newer" Doesn't Mean "Better"
Review: In spite of what one may gather from watching commercials on tv, the fact that something is new does not automatically mean that it is better. This recent book is a dramatic case in point. Gottlieb begins this introduction to the history of philosophy by proclaiming that there is no such thing as the subject of philosophy. (His argument is that since people have used the term in a variety of ways over the years, nobody can state for sure what the term actually means today.) Besides leaving the reader clueless as to what he is going to be introduced _to_, this fundamental error leads to many others--making this new introduction anything but better. The error denies Gottlieb from presenting a compelling reason to study the subject (by, of course, reading the book). After all, if "there is no such thing as philosophy," what sort of evidence could one offer in an attempt to show that it is worth learning? The answer is that _none_ could be offered because such evidence would have to rely on a definite subject, offering a definite value to mankind. But this is exactly the type of evidence Gottlieb can not offer, not as long as he believes that philosophy is an indefinable subject at least. Instead, he is forced to rely on making "witty" comments or analogies every few paragraphs in order to keep the readers attention--a style which gets old quickly. The error of not defining the subject also leads to a host of tangents into realms totally outside the bounds of what is actually philosophic material. Because philosophy is not delimited at the outset, the author has no way of selecting what material ought to be included and what is irrelevant to knowing the history of philosophy's progression. Even more important though is the fact that the reader who is attempting to understand the subject will finish this book not knowing what it actually consists of--one of the most important things a person should get out of an introductory text (besides learning _why_ the subject ought to be studied at all). These errors--stemming nontheless from a _new_, modernized philosophic outlook on the subject and its problems--make the book a bad read and a hopeless guide to actually learning the history of philosophy. For a better introduction to this subject, get Gordon H. Clark's _Thales to Dewey_ or _The History of Western Philosophy_ series by W.T. Jones.
Rating:
Summary: Highly readable survey of philosophy
Review: In the "Dream of Reason," Gottlieb tells the story of philosophy from its origins through the Renaissance in a warm, entertaining and cogent way. This book is a wonderful read. I have always wanted to understand the broad sweep of philosophy, but have found the books that try to provide this information to dense and unreadable. I have to admit I never made it through Bertrand Russell's famous "History of Western Philosophy." Finally, there is book that is both entertaining and informative. In Gottlieb's book I never felt like I was "getting stuck" in minutiae. Clearly, the challenge for Gottlieb was deciding what to leave out, and while I am by no means an expert, from the areas I do know well I found his focus fair and informative. This book is a treat.
Rating:
Summary: Why this book is a collectors item
Review: Quite simply, amongst the best books I have read. Gottlieb is a good book to read if you have just read Will Durant's story of Philosophy. Its the book you would read once you have a broad idea of the various philosophies and their timelines, and are now ready to step into the story of the men behind it. It is the book you would read before you start reading Plato's Republic... or dialogues. The story begins with the Greeks and shows us what each person behind the philosophy was, it speaks of the love Plato had for Aristotle, the greatness of Pythagoras, the cynics, the epicureans... and just about every other greek school of thought that existed, from there on - it briskly moves to philosphical schools and thoughts at the time of the renaissance. It is a book I have bought, and it proudly adorns my shelves along with other classics. Go ahead and buy it now, before it becomes 'out of print' ...
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