Socrates to Sartre and Beyond: A History of Philosophy with Free Philosophy PowerWeb

Rating:
Summary: A Fine Survey of Western Philosophical Thought
Review: This book, now in its seventh edition, is one of the better histories of western philosophical thought and development. In this edition, Fieser takes the reins, building upon the work of the late Samuel Stumpf, respected philosopher at Vanderbilt. This is a book that is comprehensive, yet fairly accessible as well. The beginner to philosophy might have difficulty with sections dealing with the more elaborate thinkers like Hegel or even Heidegger, but on balance, I think even a beginner will be able to get a great deal out of this book.

Through careful study of this book, the reader will begin to see how western society has been thoroughly shaped by the philosophies described here. While philosophy is regularly dismissed as irrelevant theorizing that has no bearing on the real world (a criticism that is not altogether invalid), what can be seen from reading this book is that ideas matter, and they have consequences that thoroughly shape the 'real world'.

Stumpf/Feiser begin with the pre-Socratic philosophers, and then devote considerable time to analyzing Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. It is Plato and Aristotle that Western thought owes its inheritance, and this can be seen in the treatment of Augustine and Aquinas and the outworkings of their philosophies/theological approaches and necessities.

Modernist philosophy gets a hard look in this book as well, starting with Descartes and moving up through Kant. Existentialism, both Christian and atheist, are examined through Kierkegaard and Sartre/Camus, and the book also devotes a decent amount of attention to Nietzche and analytic philosophy, the forebears of postmodernism.

In each case, the analyses in this book are solid, and while the treatment is certainly not exhaustive, many of the major ideas of the philosophers mentioned are handled quite well and in mostly understandable and accessible ways.

I will register only 2 minor complaints. The book's citationing approach is not good at all. The book regularly quotes from the works of the philosophers in question, but does not have formal citations. This is very fixable and should be fixed in the next edition, there's no reason why the citations shouldn't be in here. Secondly, postmodernism itself is still not dealt with as comprehensively as it should be. While Rorty's thought is discussed, Foucault, Derrida, and others are not and they should be in order to present an adequate picture of contemporary philosophy. In addition, the work of Plantinga also deserves mention but is excluded.

But overall, this is a fine survey - more advanced than Grenz's survey 'Primer on Postmodernism' (which I would recommend for those wanting a survey treatment on Derrida and Foucault), but still accessible for most anyone interested in a substantive treatment of Western philosophy.

Rating:
Summary: A Fine Survey of Western Philosophical Thought
Review: This book, now in its seventh edition, is one of the better histories of western philosophical thought and development. In this edition, Fieser takes the reins, building upon the work of the late Samuel Stumpf, respected philosopher at Vanderbilt. This is a book that is comprehensive, yet fairly accessible as well. The beginner to philosophy might have difficulty with sections dealing with the more elaborate thinkers like Hegel or even Heidegger, but on balance, I think even a beginner will be able to get a great deal out of this book.

Through careful study of this book, the reader will begin to see how western society has been thoroughly shaped by the philosophies described here. While philosophy is regularly dismissed as irrelevant theorizing that has no bearing on the real world (a criticism that is not altogether invalid), what can be seen from reading this book is that ideas matter, and they have consequences that thoroughly shape the 'real world'.

Stumpf/Feiser begin with the pre-Socratic philosophers, and then devote considerable time to analyzing Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. It is Plato and Aristotle that Western thought owes its inheritance, and this can be seen in the treatment of Augustine and Aquinas and the outworkings of their philosophies/theological approaches and necessities.

Modernist philosophy gets a hard look in this book as well, starting with Descartes and moving up through Kant. Existentialism, both Christian and atheist, are examined through Kierkegaard and Sartre/Camus, and the book also devotes a decent amount of attention to Nietzche and analytic philosophy, the forebears of postmodernism.

In each case, the analyses in this book are solid, and while the treatment is certainly not exhaustive, many of the major ideas of the philosophers mentioned are handled quite well and in mostly understandable and accessible ways.

I will register only 2 minor complaints. The book's citationing approach is not good at all. The book regularly quotes from the works of the philosophers in question, but does not have formal citations. This is very fixable and should be fixed in the next edition, there's no reason why the citations shouldn't be in here. Secondly, postmodernism itself is still not dealt with as comprehensively as it should be. While Rorty's thought is discussed, Foucault, Derrida, and others are not and they should be in order to present an adequate picture of contemporary philosophy. In addition, the work of Plantinga also deserves mention but is excluded.

But overall, this is a fine survey - more advanced than Grenz's survey 'Primer on Postmodernism' (which I would recommend for those wanting a survey treatment on Derrida and Foucault), but still accessible for most anyone interested in a substantive treatment of Western philosophy.