Rating: 
Summary: Sweeping but not always deep
Review: A sweeping encounter with Western philosophy, dealing more with the history of the philosophers rather than deeper with the ideas. Presented is a sense of progress in philosophy (perhaps for example from St Augustine, to Anselm's ontological argument, to Kant's denial, to Kierkegard's leap of faith). The interplay between the philosopher's ideas and the artist, writers, and scientists of the day is well introduced. The small section on Eastern and Western Philosophy is interesting, dealing with the two parallel civilizations approach to the problem of existence and the interplay between philosophy and religion. This book is weak in developing the ideas and process of philosophy. For example, after discussing Anselm's ontological argument about existence of God, when talking about Kant he misses a change to show how Kant "disproved" it. The ample photos and sidebars keep the text moving and the subject interesting. I used this book as a springboard to reading more about the philosophers that interested me.
Rating: 
Summary: an excellent book
Review: At first sight, this book may appear as a colorful, photo-packed elementary book on philosophy but it is much more. Bryan Magee elegantly and, most important, fairly presents the philosophers, their beliefs, their influence, and the 'eternal' questions they left us.
Above the excellent summarization and presentation, the great feature of the book is he clearly traces the development of ideas through generations of philosophers. Even for someone like me, who has taken philosophy courses at University level, this book is a great way to get a quick overview. The pictures and side boxes also add the historical context to the formation of the philosophers' ideas.
Rating:
Summary: A superb introduction to philosophy.
Review: Bryan Magee has compiled a wonderful book on both the history and the actual tenets of philosophy throughout, mostly, the western world. Starting from the earliest Greek philosophy right up to the present day although current philosophers are not considered given their, as yet, unknown claims to fame, to be decided by future generations. It is a beautifully illustrated book with many paintings, photos and descriptions of the meaning of philosophical concepts spread throughout to aid clarity and ensure the ideas are firmly based on the real world. Apart from the main outstanding philosophers and the main trends in philosophy he also includes small excursions onto related thinkers/poets/writers of the era concerned, this certainly illuminates the ideas as well as giving them historical perspective, a subtle indication of the influence of the time (Zeitgeist) on the ideas and vice versa. The major philosophers include Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, Heraclitus, St Augustine, Descarte, Husserl, Hegel, Fichte, Popper, Hume, Berkely, Locke, Schopenhauer, Bergson, Sartre and so on, exploring the whole gamut. Included in terms of major trends is pragmatism, phenomenology, empiricism etc. All in all a superb book which is hard to put down even for people often bewildered by complex ideas and usually not willing to explore them seriously. Luckily Magee keeps the sections relatively short and prevents this fading of attention. This is yet another good aspect of the book. In addition he makes the reader fascinated and interested in further reading in depth of the central ideas. The book is also enclosed in a very hardwearing soft cover with overlapping ends and so keeps from falling apart, this is especially useful for infrequent readers or for multiple reading of the book by many, something I found out as I went through it. To call it a coffee table book does not do it justice since it is much more than this and does not look out of place on a philosophical bookshelf. Even though the book covers mainly western philosophy it also takes an aside into Buddhist thought because of its deep philosophical foundations and influence all over the world eg on Schopenhauer. Taoism is not discussed and neither is Confucism but this is not a real drawback. A superb introduction to philosophy.
Rating:
Summary: "Lord, make me chaste, but not yet." -- Saint Augustine
Review: Bryan Magee intended for this book to be an accessible and extensive overview of the history of philosophy. In my opinion, his THE STORY OF PHILOSOPHY accomplishes exactly that. From the standpoint of being an overview, it covers trends in philosophy and the individuals who influenced these trends from the early Greek philosophers to the present day. From the standpoint of accessibility, he uses language, thoughts, and anecdotes that are easily understandable without ever stooping to condescension. Yes, the book is lavishly illustrated and could be an attractive "coffee table" book, but it is much more than just that. I found it both interesting and informative. Like so many good books of this nature, it gives enough information to create interest in following up on any of a number of subjects discussed in whatever depth one might choose. It also contains a good list of more detailed books on many of the great thinkers down through history who have been discussed here, coupled with the suggestion that one ought not to just read about them, but should also read their actual works. In Magee's discussion of Saint Auguztine, he (Magee) shows Saint Augustine to be a real person with pain and desires just like the rest of us. He mentions that when Augustine was young and not yet reconciled to Christianity that he used to pray to God to "make me chaste, but not yet." How much more human could a future Saint be? I mention this because I found it fascinating and because it is indicative of many other special insights one can get from this book. I found his section on Bertrand Russell to be particularly interesting. When Russell gives two slightly different versions of the same statement and discusses how one version goes against known fact and is therefore false, but the second version is without any factual basis and therefore cannot be proved to be either true or false he provides much food for thought. There are discussions of everyone from Socrates to Kant; from French Philosophy to German Philosophy; from the early Greek world to the world of the 20th century; and more, much more. There is also a handy glossary to explain the special nuances of many terms. All in all, I think that Magee has done an admirable job of writing a very readable book that meets his goal of accessibility coupled with a fairly comprehensive overview of his subject.
Rating:
Summary: An Illustrated, Cursory Look at Philosophy
Review: Bryan Magee is a philosophy professor who has used the medium of television to spread the word about philosophy. He hsoted a minseries on the history of philosophy for the BBC constructed much in the same manner as Sir Kennth Clarke's history of art, "Civilization," and the dozens of imitators that have since followed. Magee also hosted a series called "The Great Philosophers," in which academics discuss a particular philosopher with Magee. (For instance, Martha Nussbaum on Aristotle; Frederick Copleston on Schopenhauer.) The Story of Philosophy is much in the style of Bertrand Russell's book, The Wisdom of the West, which is also a cursory look at philosophy, albeit Western philosophy, but also lavishly illustrated. Magee's book, on the other hand, reads almost like a companion to the history of philosophy series Magee hosted. It boasts many lush illustrations and cursory summaries of major thinkers categorized into television-esque chapters, such as "The Great Rationalists," "The Great Empiricists," "A Golden Century of German Philosophy." As such it is better aimed at high school students or beginners rather than those mote familiar with philosophy. But if you can't keep away from those illustrations, most of which are gorgeous, and want a coffee table-type book to stimulate discussion, or simply show off, this is quite a good book to have to your disposal. It's a lot of fun and sure to start a conversation or two.
Rating:
Summary: Delightful introductory book for the philosophy novice...
Review: First, this is a DK book and like all DK books, it reinforces and supports a spare narrative with many photos, illustrations, lists, etc.
That said, this is really a great book for a person who wants an introduction to the "big ideas" (and thus, the "big philosophers") in the history of western philosophy. Magee succinctly summarizes some grand philosophical ideas while telling us about the philosophers themselves.
The many illustrations and graphics help relate the philosophical ideas to works of art, to other disciplines (notably music and literature), and -- ultimately -- to our daily lives.
Obviously, this book is not meant to be a comprehensive view of any philosopher or philosophical approach. But it is a thoughtful, engaging, entertaining, and READABLE book -- a very rare find in any philosophy book.
Any reader of STORY OF PHILOSOPHY will learn enough to know, at the least, if they would like to continue exploring philosophy or not.
Rating:
Summary: Available though Quality Paperback Book Club
Review: Great book. You can get it through the above club at 800-348-7128
Rating:
Summary: Philosophy for dummies
Review: Great book... You may want to pick up Russel's History of Western philosophy to fill in the gaps. It also would've been nice to have more contemporary tendencies (constructivism in particular)
Rating:
Summary: Another communication breakthrough from DK Publishing
Review: I have read several books published by DK Publishing, including The Complete Guitarist, Amsterdam, the oversize Religions book, the big Religions book, and The Story of Philosophy. DK Publishing has mastered the effective integration of fine multimedia page layout with top-notch writing, resulting in effective presentation of information. I have read several introductions to Philosophy -- this book finally brought it all together in my mind. That's partly because my reading techniques have improved and my base of knowledge has improved, but the excellence of the format and content and writing style surely deserve most of the credit. The book completely achieves what it sets out to do. I recommend the wonderful full-scale hardcover version of this book. Whether you are intensely focused on philosophy or are casually interested, I strongly recommend reading this introduction before others. I think the DK series amounts to a breakthrough in effective presentation of information. I am looking forward to books by this publisher on more topics, and am looking through their catalog to buy more books related to history, philosophy, and religion. These books also make excellent gifts, and when I need a gift book on a subject, I look first to DK: for example, their 2001 catalog shows no book about Judaism, so I had to look around for a "D&K-style" presentation by another publisher on the subject. D&K has become a high standard by which to compare other publishers, particularly for presenting solid, useful introductions to non-fiction subjects. The word "introduction" is inadequate: the D&K approach to presenting information effectively provides the main, central enlightenment about a subject, in a rich multimedia way that stays vivid and fresh after finishing the book. The DK Publishing approach to presenting information has proven that text content does not need to be compromised when integrated with graphic content, and has shown how pictures and text can work together to build up comprehension and clarity.
Rating:
Summary: Another communication breakthrough from DK Publishing
Review: I have read several books published by DK Publishing, including The Complete Guitarist, Amsterdam, the oversize Religions book, the big Religions book, and The Story of Philosophy. DK Publishing has mastered the effective integration of fine multimedia page layout with top-notch writing, resulting in effective presentation of information. I have read several introductions to Philosophy -- this book finally brought it all together in my mind. That's partly because my reading techniques have improved and my base of knowledge has improved, but the excellence of the format and content and writing style surely deserve most of the credit. The book completely achieves what it sets out to do. I recommend the wonderful full-scale hardcover version of this book. Whether you are intensely focused on philosophy or are casually interested, I strongly recommend reading this introduction before others. I think the DK series amounts to a breakthrough in effective presentation of information. I am looking forward to books by this publisher on more topics, and am looking through their catalog to buy more books related to history, philosophy, and religion. These books also make excellent gifts, and when I need a gift book on a subject, I look first to DK: for example, their 2001 catalog shows no book about Judaism, so I had to look around for a "D&K-style" presentation by another publisher on the subject. D&K has become a high standard by which to compare other publishers, particularly for presenting solid, useful introductions to non-fiction subjects. The word "introduction" is inadequate: the D&K approach to presenting information effectively provides the main, central enlightenment about a subject, in a rich multimedia way that stays vivid and fresh after finishing the book. The DK Publishing approach to presenting information has proven that text content does not need to be compromised when integrated with graphic content, and has shown how pictures and text can work together to build up comprehension and clarity.
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