Modern Philosophy: From the French Revolution to Sartre, Camus, and Lévi-Strauss

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." "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 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"--Back cover

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.

I. To us the French revolution is an historical event, the causes and development and effects of which can be investigated in a dispassionate manner.