Philosophic Classics, Vol 2: Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy

by Walter Kaufmann (editor), Forrest E. Baird (Editor)

The abundant selections in this anthology of medieval philosophical readings helps the reader put philosophical inquiry into context and features some of the best translations available today. KEY The readings in this anthology represent the towering medieval thinkers-Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and William of Ockham-discussing a variety of topics, including questions on the nature of universals, the nature and essence of God, the relationship of God to time and creation, and the ability of humans to know God and creation. For anyone who wants a readable and accessible collection of metaphysical and epistemological selections from medieval philosophy.

Genres: Philosophy, History, Nonfiction, Religion, Classics

552 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Walter Arnold Kaufmann was a German-American philosopher, translator, and poet. A prolific author, he wrote extensively on a broad range of subjects, such as authenticity and death, moral philosophy and existentialism, theism and atheism, Christianity and Judaism, as well as philosophy and literature. He served for over 30 years as a Professor at Princeton University.

He is renowned as a scholar and translator of Nietzsche. He also wrote a 1965 book on Hegel, and a translation of most of Goethe's Faust.

Reviews

[Bruce]

In the case of these excerpts from the great philosophers, when I say I've read them, I mean I've scratched the surface of their thought. I plan on going back to these texts again and again. This has been a great introduction to these thinkers, and from my perspective at the moment, the most interesting aspect of my journey was witnessing the progression from the hard-headed common sense of Francis Bacon to the -- one could say -- hard-headed mysticism of Immanuel Kant, who concludes that we can have no real knowledge of reality.

[Lauren Wild]

Turns out medieval philosophy is not my thing