The Great Philosophers: From Socrates to Foucault

by Jeremy Stangroom (Editor), James Garvey (Editor)

The Great Philosophers is a lavishly illustrated collection of essays, each devoted to one of history's greatest philosophers.

From the Greek triumvirate of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, whose light shines down the centuries to reach us even now, to the social theorist Michel Foucault, the greatest names of philosophy are represented here. Each essay gives a biographical background for its subject and a description of the main strands of their thought, together with summaries of their major works.

The thirty-four chronologically-organized essays are a comprehensive introduction to Western philosophy's major figures.

Dr Jeremy Stangroom is a founding editor of The Philosophers' Magazine, one of the world's most popular philosophy publications. He has written and/or edited numerous books, including: New British Philosophy, What Philosophers Think and Great Thinkers A-Z (all with Julian Baggini); The Dictionary of Fashionable Nonsense and Why Truth Matters (with Ophelia Benson); and What Scientists Think. He is a frequent contributor to New Humanist magazine, and he is also the editor of the Royal Institute of Philosophy web site.

James Garvey teaches philosophy at the University of Nottingham and is Secretary of the Royal Institute of Philosophy.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, History, Reference, Biography

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Jeremy Stangroom is a British writer, editor, and website designer. He is an editor and co-founder, with Julian Baggini, of The Philosophers’ Magazine, and has written and edited several philosophy books. He is also co-founder, with Ophelia Benson of the website 'Butterflies and Wheels'.

Reviews

[Mehdii · Rating 2 out of 5]

۱)شرحِ زندگی و اندیشه ی ۳۷ فیلسوف در این کتاب 160صفحه ای آمده. نویسنده خواسته فلسفه ی هر فیلسوف را در سه چهار صفحه به صورت قابلِ فهم توضیح دهد که در موردِ برخی فیلسوفان هم موفق بوده ولی جایی که میرسد به فیلسوفانی مانند هگل یا کانت کار از دستش در میرود که البته نمیشود خُرده گرفت چون امثالِ هگل یا کانت در سه صفحه نمی گُنجند.!
۲)در انتهای هر بخش کتابهایی که به زبانِ فارسی در موردِ همان فیلسوف نوشته یا ترجمه شده آمده که برای ادامه ی راه مفید است.

[Biff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good armchair overview of the heavy hitters of philosophy. Also includes some biographical info that helps explain each philosophers historical context. Good way to get back up to speed on the basics. Easy read. The authors don't refrain from commenting on the inherent problems and contradictions that each philosopher faced in developing their theories.

[Chronics · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a rather bland book that doesnt really capture the imagination or hold your attention, but then, that is not the purpose of this book. Its purpose is to introduce the reader to the great western philosophers, and to give them a primer on their core theories, the authors accomplish their goal.

The premise is simple, state the main ideas of the subject, then attempt to explain these ideas in simple terms to the reader. This happens for each of the philosophers chosen, with each being given maybe a dozen or so pages (on mobile phone kindle reader). At the end of each chapter their major works are listed and summarized. The authors work off the presumption that the reader does not have any background in philosophy, which allows them to explain simply their opinions on the theories, as someone without a background in philosophy I couldnt help feeling that while the explanations were clear they are very much "the authors interpretation", although there isn't anything that can be done about that.

One aspect the book does a great job at is to provide just enough information for the reader to know which philosophers they want to research and learn more about, for example, I will look more into David Hume as his ideas about "self" and human nature have intrigued me, as has Rosseau's Social Contract. It is noticeable that there are no female philosophers in this book, it does not seem like an omission from the authors but rather a statement on the historical position of women and the attitudes of both sexes in at least western society. The astute reader will also pickup on the numerous contradictory philosophical beliefs across the ages, which ones you choose to believe in is not easy if you intend to not be self contradictory. Overall I view it as a solid primer into the most well known western philosophers.

[M. I · Rating 5 out of 5]

هذا كتاب الغرض منه هو تعريف القارئ بالفلاسفة الغربيين العظماء، وإعطائهم تمهيدا لنظرياتهم الأساسية. يتم سرد افكارهم وفلسفتهم وأعمالهم الرئيسية .
أحد الجوانب التي يقوم فيها الكتاب هو توفير معلومات كافية للقارئ لمعرفة الفلاسفة الذين يريدون البحث عنهم ومعرفة المزيد عنهم، والعديد من المعتقدات الفلسفية المتناقضة على مر العصور. بشكل عام أنه كتاب تمهيدي صلب عن الفلاسفة الغربيين الأكثر شهرة الذين أثروا في العالم .

[Christoph Meyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice book. From the cover I thought it would be geared towards young adults but it's for adults. Each philosopher gets 4 pages of about one-third biography and two-thirds philosophy. Simple broad intro to philosophy.

[Garrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good jumping off point for western philosophy, but contains a major blind spot in my opinion with no women philosophers represented. What gives?

[Alexander Cauguiran · Rating 3 out of 5]

if you spend a lot of time picking a movie on Netflix then (y)

[Davy Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a nice summary book, but I must deduct a star for ignoring Bill O'Reilly.

[Troy Parfitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It’d been a while since I’d read anything about that nebulous area called philosophy and this is a nice little compendium. From Socrates to Foucault, you get a bit about the lives of some of the world’s most renowned thinkers in addition to their key philosophical ideas and greatest works. Indeed, the recommendations for further reading came in handy, and I went on to get books by John Stuart Mill, Nicolai Machiavelli, and David Hume. The writing is engaging and the criticisms balanced, e.g. the authors note what critics say about certain philosophers and then what adherent say. My only complaints are that the book has too many typos and in one section the text just ends. Also, a good rule of thumb in writing is to speak in the affirmative as opposed to the negative. I felt the authors were over reliant on the sentence stems, “(Philosopher) was nothing if not (adjective)” and “(Philosopher) not only (A), but also (B).” If this were my book, I would have limited those structures to one or two apiece. Besides that, The Great Philosophers by Jeremy Stangroom and James Garvey is a great introduction or refresher.

Troy Parfitt is the author of Why China Will Never Rule the World as well as War Torn: Adventures in the Brave New Canada.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book does what it sets out to do, which is to give a brief introduction to important philosophers. A potted biography is followed by an exposition of main themes in the philosopher's work and a reading list of key works. It is not an easy task to summarize key ideas of western philosophy in a few pages but Stangroom makes a valiant attempt to do so and, in some cases, stimulates the appetitie for more, which is presumably the intention. I found the occasional flippancy, presumably interjected to provide a lightness of tone, irritating, but it may be more acceptable to others. Rather than the photos, one for each philosopher, I would have appreciated more analysis in many cases, but again, that is a personal preference. Overall this works as a first stepping stone in the path towards an understanding of western philosophy.

[Upom · Rating 3 out of 5]

A concise and well written primer of the major philosophers in the Western Canon. It covers biographical information as well as basic tenets of the 37 philosophers profiled. Of particular interest were the profiles of 19th century and 20th century thinkers, the philosophers who I'm least familiar with. Also includes a list of the major works of each philosopher. This book is a quick read, and a good introduction to Western philosophy.

[Colette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yummy. Really enjoyed the condensed, concise, cohesive, chronological description of western philosophy from 'beginning' to near present. It's great read whether or not you have interest in philosophy. Reader friendly. Good for perspective on 'western' humans and we relate the present to the past...some pretty incredible ties we have with the past though we may not realize it.

[Gibb · Rating 2 out of 5]

Same old stuff, in fact a bit of a disappointment. And it's a very NARROW - is it english?- view of philosophy, not really opening your mind so much as training in being a dinner party bore! But great pictures! Cheap too.

[Dan DalMonte · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives clear if brief descriptions of the lives and thoughts of many of the great philosophers throughout history. It is geared towards the beginner in philosophy and helps to whet the appetite to pursue the discipline in greater depth.

[Dale Muckerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good review of the major philosophers. I am sure other people might have picked a few different philosophers, but it was fun to see which ones he picked. Stangroom gives nice brief biographical backgrounds for each philosopher and also indicates how the chosen philosophers were influential.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just bought the hardcover/coffee table edition of this book and I'm in love with it. It offers very thorough summaries and biographies of all the major philosophers. I highly recommend it.

[Priscilla]

amazon.com

[Kimberly Hallahan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a very challenging read. I'm relieved to be moving on to Great Mathematicians.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good little survey with an easy format for a real neophyte like me. I bought a hardcover copy in the library bookstore for, I believe, $3.00.

[Aras · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://electric-pages.livejournal.com...

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very very superficial survey of Western philosophy. Each philosopher's main ideas are explained then put in context of those who had come before as well as those who followed. An excellent introduction for me who loves philosophical ideas but don't want to study philosophy.