A history of western philosophy, and its connection with political and social circumstances from the earliest times to the present day

Hailed as “lucid and magisterial” by __The__ __Observer__, this book is universally acclaimed as the outstanding one-volume work on the subject of Western philosophy. Considered to be one of the most important philosophical works of all time, the __History of Western Philosophy__ is a dazzlingly unique exploration of the ideologies of significant philosophers throughout the ages—from Plato and Aristotle through to Spinoza, Kant and the twentieth century. Written by a man who changed the history of philosophy himself, this is an account that has never been rivaled since its first publication over sixty years ago. Since its first publication in 1945, Lord Russell’s __A History of Western Philosophy__ is still unparalleled in its comprehensiveness, its clarity, its erudition, its grace, and its wit. In seventy-six chapters he traces philosophy from the rise of Greek civilization to the emergence of logical analysis in the twentieth century. Among the philosophers considered are: Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Empedocles, Anaxagoras, the Atomists, Protagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Cynics, the Sceptics, the Epicureans, the Stoics, Plotinus, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, Benedict, Gregory the Great, John the Scot, Aquinas, Duns Scotus, William of Occam, Machiavelli, Erasmus, More, Bacon, Hobbes, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, the Utilitarians, Marx, Bergson, James, Dewey, and lastly the philosophers with whom Lord Russell himself is most closely associated—Cantor, Frege, and Whitehead, coauthor with Russell of the monumental __Principia Mathematica.__ \*\* Review **‘A precious book....a work that is in the highest degree pedagogical which stands above the conflicts of parties and opinion’** – __Albert Einstein__ **'Remains unchallenged as the perfect introduction to its subject ... exactly the kind of philosophy that most people would like to read, but which only Russell could possibly have written.'** - __Ray Monk, University of Southampton, UK__ **'Beautiful and luminous prose, not merely classically clear but scrupulously honest.'** - __Isaiah Berlin__ **'It is a witty bird's-eye view of the main figures in Western thought enlivened by references to the personalities and quirks of the thinkers themselves.'** - __The Week__ **'A great philosopher's lucid and magisterial look at the history of his own subject, wonderfully readable and enlightening.'** - __The Observer__ About the Author **Bertrand Arthur William Russell,** 3rd Earl Russell, Viscount Amberley, born in Wales, May 18, 1872. Educated at home and at Trinity College, Cambridge. During World War I, served four months in prison as a pacifist, where he wrote __Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy.__ In 1910, published first volume of Principia Mathematica with Alfred Whitehead. Visited Russia and lectured on philosophy at the University of Peking in 1920. Returned to England and, with his wife, ran a progressive school for young children in Sussex from 1927-1932. Came to the United States, where he taught philosophy successively at the University of Chicago, University of California at Los Angeles, Harvard, and City College of New York. Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950. Has been active in disarmament and anti-nuclear-testing movements while continuing to add to his large number of published books which include __Philosophical Essays__ (1910); __The ABC of Relativity__ (1925) __Human Knowledge: Its Scope and Limits__ (1948); __Why I Am Not a Christian__ (1957); and __The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell__ (1967). For a chronological list of Russell's principal works see __The Basic Writings of Bertrand Russell__ (Simon and Schuster).

Since its first publication in 1945? Lord Russell's A History of Western Philosophy has been universally acclaimed as the outstanding one-volume work on the subject — unparalleled in its comprehensiveness, its clarity, its erudition, its grace and wit. In seventy-six chapters he traces philosophy from the rise of Greek civilization to the emergence of logical analysis in the twentieth century. Among the philosophers considered are: Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Empedocles, Anaxagoras, the Atomists, Protagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Cynics, the Sceptics, the Epicureans, the Stoics, Plotinus, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, Benedict, Gregory the Great, John the Scot, Aquinas, Duns Scotus, William of Occam, Machiavelli, Erasmus, More, Bacon, Hobbes, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, the Utilitarians, Marx, Bergson, James, Dewey, and lastly the philosophers with whom Lord Russell himself is most closely associated — Cantor, Frege, and Whitehead, co-author with Russell of the monumental Principia Mathematica.

Universally acclaimed as the outstanding one-volume work on its subject - unparalleled in its completeness, clarity, erudition and wit.

[The author's] purpose is to exhibit philosophy as an integral part of social and political life: not as the isolated speculations of remarkable individuals, but as both an effect and a cause of the character of the various communities in which different systems flourished.-Pref. Ancient philosophy: The Pre-Socratics Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle Ancient philosophy after Aristotle Catholic philosophy: The fathers The schoolmen Modern philosophy: From the Renaissance to Hume From Rousseau to the present day This book offers the remarkable opportunity to examine the great traditions that have shaped western civilization from the point of view of one of the greatest of modern philosophers