Rating: 
Summary: History Through a Christian Lens
Review: After completing the first and second volumes in this nine volume series, I had to stop. This series is average when it comes to historical detail, but the real problem is that it is incessantly Christian-Apoligetic in nature. The vast majority of statemenst attributed to ancient philosophers are interpreted with a Christian slant and in many cases statements like "..although this is what he said, he could only have meant (insert some statement supporting Christan doctrine here)...".
To be fair, it reads on the back cover that the series was written for Catholic seminary students, presumably as part of the indoctrination process. If this is what you are looking for in your study of the historical development of philosophy, then I recommend this series. If, on the other hand, you are interested in a clear, unbiased, scholarly exposition, then I strongly recommend the ten volume Routledge History of Philosophy, which is outstanding and should be considered the new standard.
Rating: 
Summary: Respectable but Lackluster
Review: Copleston's history is the third book that I've read on ancient philosophy, and though in many points I found it respectable, overall I didn't enjoy it as much as the histories of Bertrand Russell and Anders Wedberg. If you just want to learn about the major lines of thought in ancient philosophy, then I think the 500 pages of this book qualify as definite overkill of the subject. What I find interesting about philosophy is the depth and reasoning behind the thoughts advocated by philosphers. I don't find dogmatic opinions interesting. Both Wedberg and Russell do a much better job at showing the interesting aspects of reasonings. Wedberg, in my opinion the most interesting, takes you through the ratiocinations of the philosophers. Russell briefly discusses the novel ratiocinations. Copleston, however, is more content to just tell you an opinion without going into the logical steps. This causes you to see the opinion as dogmatic when it may not be. He only seems to go into the logical steps when he perceives some dissonance within a philosophers system. The one thing that Copleston's book has going for it is the fact that he outlines some of the scholarly debates concerning interpretation of the philosophers. I found this mildly interesting but not interesting enough to counterbalance the long passages that simply list the ideological differences between Neoplatonists. The bottom line is that in 500 pages of reading you can choose to read Copleston or you can read both Russell's section on ancient philosophy in his History of Western Philosophy and Anders Wedberg's volume 1 on ancient philosophy. Wedberg and Russell are both more interesting and more lucid. If you read them instead of Copleston, the only thing you'll miss out on are some issues of scholarly debate.
Rating: 
Summary: Yes, I agree, too many language quotes
Review: I agree with the reviewer below, entitle "Translations Needed.." I got really annoyed with the use of all the languages without any translations. This made for some awkward reading and points, and left the reader wondering "What the....", if you will. Also, a little verbose. Maybe that is just the writing style of the day, his cultural background, or whatever. However, his books are not a "smooth" read. They are extremely interesting and educational, though. I do enjoy them immensely.
Rating:
Summary: Yes, I agree, too many language quotes
Review: I agree with the reviewer below, entitle "Translations Needed.." I got really annoyed with the use of all the languages without any translations. This made for some awkward reading and points, and left the reader wondering "What the....", if you will. Also, a little verbose. Maybe that is just the writing style of the day, his cultural background, or whatever. However, his books are not a "smooth" read. They are extremely interesting and educational, though. I do enjoy them immensely.
Rating: 
Summary: The Academic Standard
Review: I've heard some people say that Copleston's writing is a bit on the dry side. Sometimes, but remember; this is philosophy we're talking about here. I recommend getting the Oxford Dictionary of philosophy if you are having trouble understanding the writing. If you are a philosophy student, this entire series is a must. Regardless of what any individual may think about the author or the series, this series is the academic standard for history of philosophy. A student cannot really get through a good philosophy degree without reading the entire series. Bottom line: Layman beware-this may be over your head! Philosophy students-this entire series is a must read.
Rating:
Summary: The Academic Standard
Review: I've heard some people say that Copleston's writing is a bit on the dry side. Sometimes, but remember; this is philosophy we're talking about here. I recommend getting the Oxford Dictionary of philosophy if you are having trouble understanding the writing. If you are a philosophy student, this entire series is a must. Regardless of what any individual may think about the author or the series, this series is the academic standard for history of philosophy. A student cannot really get through a good philosophy degree without reading the entire series. Bottom line: Layman beware-this may be over your head! Philosophy students-this entire series is a must read.
Rating:
Summary: The Finest and Most Complete History of Western Philosophy
Review: The first volume of Frederick Copleston's monumental history of philosophy was published more than a half century ago with the intention, in the author's words, "of supplying Catholic ecclesiastical seminaries with a work that should be somewhat more detailed and of wider scope than the textbooks commonly in use and which at the same time should endeavor to exhibit the logical development and interconnection of philosophical systems." Copleston certainly attained his goal, not only for seminarians, but also for everyone interested in the history of Western thought. He ultimately produced nine brilliant volumes which still stand as the finest and most complete summary of Western philosophy from the earliest Pre-Socratics to modern Existentialists and Structuralists (the last of the volumes covering Sartre, Camus and Levi-Strauss, among others). The first volume, which covers the conception of Western philosophy in the seed of the early Ionian thinkers, through the gestation of Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Zeno, Anaxagoras, and the Sophists, ultimately culminating in the birth of Western philosophy in the axis of Socrates-Plato-Aristotle and its post-Aristotelian Roman afterbirth, is a detailed and analytical discussion of the origins of Western thought. Complete in itself, it provides a comprehensive introduction to the beginnings of Western rationalism and a useful starting point for a general study of the history of philosophy in the West or a more detailed exploration of the ancient thinkers from the Pre-Socratics to Plotinus. If any criticism can be made of Copleston's work, it is that his analyses are dominated by an overriding scholasticism, by Copleston's adherence to traditional, Thomist perspectives on these thinkers. This criticism is difficult to make, however, because he never minces words in disclosing his point of view and because, despite his own Jesuitical intellectual predilections, his treatment is always comprehensive, thoughtful and genuine.
Rating:
Summary: Translations needed...
Review: The first volume of Frederick Copleston's monumental history of philosophy was published more than a half century ago with the intention, in the author's words, "of supplying Catholic ecclesiastical seminaries with a work that should be somewhat more detailed and of wider scope than the textbooks commonly in use and which at the same time should endeavor to exhibit the logical development and interconnection of philosophical systems." Copleston certainly attained his goal, not only for seminarians, but also for everyone interested in the history of Western thought. He ultimately produced nine brilliant volumes which still stand as the finest and most complete summary of Western philosophy from the earliest Pre-Socratics to modern Existentialists and Structuralists (the last of the volumes covering Sartre, Camus and Levi-Strauss, among others). The first volume, which covers the conception of Western philosophy in the seed of the early Ionian thinkers, through the gestation of Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Zeno, Anaxagoras, and the Sophists, ultimately culminating in the birth of Western philosophy in the axis of Socrates-Plato-Aristotle and its post-Aristotelian Roman afterbirth, is a detailed and analytical discussion of the origins of Western thought. Complete in itself, it provides a comprehensive introduction to the beginnings of Western rationalism and a useful starting point for a general study of the history of philosophy in the West or a more detailed exploration of the ancient thinkers from the Pre-Socratics to Plotinus. If any criticism can be made of Copleston's work, it is that his analyses are dominated by an overriding scholasticism, by Copleston's adherence to traditional, Thomist perspectives on these thinkers. This criticism is difficult to make, however, because he never minces words in disclosing his point of view and because, despite his own Jesuitical intellectual predilections, his treatment is always comprehensive, thoughtful and genuine.
Rating:
Summary: An outstanding, one of a kind history of philosophy.
Review: There is little sense in recommending this massive work to those who are only moderately interested in the history of philosophy (such people should check out Richard Tarnus' Passion of the Western Mind), but for those who have a passion for historical philosophy.... this is it. For those who seek a well-informed, sometimes painstakingly insightful, evaluation of the history of western philosophy, Copleston's nine volume series (and this first volume in particular) is unparalleled. His word choice is technical and his pages are often filled with foreign language, but such is the price of knowledge. His complexity is most often his criticism (his vocabulary alone is one of a kind), but in my opinion it is rare to find him unnecessarily complex. Copleston cogently presents the full scope of each particular thinker's systems in a brilliant progression from the Pre-Socratics to Plotinus.
Rating:
Summary: A Remarkable Accomplishment
Review: This is the first volume in Copleston's ambitious nine-volume history of philosophy. It begins with pre-Socratic philosophy and stretches through post-Aristotelian philosophy, including the Cynics, the Sceptics, and Jewish-Hellenistic philosophy. It also covers two of the most brilliant philosophers the world has known, Plato and Aristotle. Two aspects of Copleston's work make it especially masterful. First, he provides an excellent context for the material: He provides an engaging portrait of the era in which these philosophers lived, a brief biographical sketch about each philosopher, and a survey of their intellectual influences. Second, he provides an excellent analytic portrait of each philosopher's arguments, including a fairly comprehensive sketch of their positions, well-reasoned criticism, and a discussion of how the various philosophers' views interact. While Copleston is a Thomist, he is up-front about his philosophical leanings, and they are not detrimental to his presentation. The reading is at times dense, and readers unfamiliar with Greek may find his penchant for including Greek terms and even phrases in the text confusing. Despite that, this book will be very rewarding for a reader committed to learning about ancient philosophy, who is willing to invest the time and energy it takes to get the most out of this book.
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