History of Philosophy, Volume 8 (Modern Philosophy) 8

Conceived originally as a serious presentation of the development of philosophy for Catholic seminary students, Frederick Copleston's nine-volume "A History of Philosophy" has journeyed far beyond the modest purpose of its author to universal acclaim as the best history of philosophy in English. -- From publisher's description

Conceived originally as a serious presentation of the development of philosophy for Catholic seminary students, Frederick Copleston's nine-volume A History Of Philosophy has journeyed far beyond the modest purpose of its author to universal acclaim as the best history of philosophy in English.

Copleston, an Oxford Jesuit of immense erudition who once tangled with A. J. Ayer in a fabled debate about the existence of God and the possibility of metaphysics, knew that seminary students were fed a woefully inadequate diet of theses and proofs, and that their familiarity with most of history's great thinkers was reduced to simplistic caricatures. Copleston set out to redress the wrong by writing a complete history of Western philosophy, one crackling with incident and intellectual excitement — and one that gives full place to each thinker, presenting his thought in a beautifully rounded manner and showing his links to those who went before and to those who came after him.

The result of Copleston's prodigious labors is a history of philosophy that is unlikely ever to be surpassed. Thought magazine summed up the general agreement among scholars and students alike when it reviewed Copleston's A History of Philosophy as "broad-minded and objective, comprehensive and scholarly, unified and well proportioned... We cannot recommend [it] too highly."

Conceived originally as a serious presentation ofthe development of philosophy for Catholic seminary students, Frederick Copleston's nine-volume A History Of Philosophy hasjourneyed far beyond the modest purpose of its author to universal acclaim as the best history ofphilosophy in English. Copleston, an Oxford Jesuitof immense erudition who once tangled with A. J. Ayer in a fabled debate about the existence of Godand the possibility of metaphysics, knew thatseminary students were fed a woefully inadequate dietof theses and proofs, and that their familiaritywith most of history's great thinkers was reducedto simplistic caricatures. Copleston set out toredress the wrong by writing a complete history ofWestern philosophy, one crackling with incident andintellectual excitement -- and one that gives fullplace to each thinker, presenting his thought in abeautifully rounded manner and showing his linksto those who went before and to those who cameafter him. The result of Copleston's prodigious labors is a history of philosophy that is unlikely ever to be surpassed. Thought magazine summed up the general agreement among scholars and students alike when it reviewed Copleston's A History of Philosophy as "broad-minded and objective, comprehensive and scholarly, unified and well proportioned... We cannot recommend [it] too highly." Title ......Page 1 Contents ......Page 3 Preface ......Page 7 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ......Page 9 1. THE UTILITARIAN MOVEMENT (I)......Page 13 2. THE UTILITARIAN MOVEMENT (2) ......Page 37 3. J. S. MILL: LOGIC AND EMPIRICISM ......Page 62 4. EMPIRICISTS, AGNOSTICS, PosmvisTS ......Page 105 5. THE PHILOSOPHY OF HERBERT SPENCER ......Page 133 6. THE BEGINNINGS OF THE MOVEMENT ......Page 158 7. THE DEVELOPMENT OF IDEALISM ......Page 177 8. ABSOLUTE IDEALISM: BRADLEY ......Page 199 9. ABSOLUTE IDEALISM: BOSANQUET ......Page 231 10. THE TURN TOWARDS PERSONAL IDEALISM ......Page 249 11. INTRODUCTORY ......Page 266 12. THE PHILOSOPHY OF ROYCE ......Page 280 13. PERSONAL IDEALISM AND OTHER TENDENCIES ......Page 301 14. THE PHILOSOPHY OF C. S. PEIRCE......Page 316 15. THE PRAGMATISM OF JAMES AND SCHILLER ......Page 342 16. THE EXPERIMENTALISM OF JOHN DEWEY ......Page 364 17. REALISM IN BRITAIN AN D AMERICA......Page 392 18. G. E. MOORE AND ANALYSIS ......Page 414 19. BERTRAND RUSSELL (I) ......Page 437 20. BERTRAND RUSSELL (2) ......Page 467 21. BERTRAND RUSSELL (3) ......Page 483 EPILOGUE......Page 507 APPENDIX A: JOHN HENRY NEWMAN ......Page 522 APPENDIX B: A SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 538 INDEX......Page 565 1. THE philosophy of David Hume, which represented the culmination of classical British empiricism, called forth a lively reaction on the part of Thomas Reid and his successors.