Great Philosophers

Philosophy has been underway for more than 2,000 years. The Great Philosophers traces the biggest and most influential thoughts in philosophy’s long stride through history, beginning with the ancient Greeks and early Romans, the first philosophical thinkers in the West, to whom much is owed. How their concerns became the concerns of those who followed is clearly laid out, as is the way their answers shaped what we now recognize as philosophy.

If you've ever pondered your existence over your morning coffee or considered the nature of crime and punishment, you're an amateur philosopher. In Philosophy For Dummies, Dr. Tom Morris delivers a refreshing and engaging exploration of the fundamentals of philosophy and shows you that philosophy can be fascinating and fun at the same time. You'll be introduced to topics like the meaning of life, religious belief, and ways to live in the most satisfying ways. You'll also learn about the insights of some of history's greatest philosophers.

You have probably heard about Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. When it comes to ancient minds who created foundations in philosophy, science, and math, these three names would automatically come up. But what exactly did they do to warrant immense respect and admiration? Well, your fifth grader will soon find out from this biography book.

Wisdom is a much-needed quality these days. We have selected for you 100 of the wisest sayings ever pronounced. They are taken from various cultural backgrounds to demonstrate that wisdom transcends frontiers. Let yourself be led with them into a journey around the world, across cultures and continents: you will find here deep quotes from the Talmud, efficient ones from Ancient Greek masters like Plato or Sophocles, poetic wise sayings by Indian sages, and numerous examples of Persian and Ancient Chinese Wisdom.

Many of us tend to live as though Jesus represents the "spiritual part" of our lives. We don't clearly see how he relates to the rest of our experiences, desires, and habits. How can Jesus, the Bible, and Christianity become more than a compartmentalized part of our lives? Highly regarded New Testament scholar and popular teacher Jonathan Pennington argues that we need to recover the lost biblical image of Jesus as the one true philosopher who teaches us how to experience the fullness of our humanity in the kingdom of God.

Humanly Possible is a wide-ranging, personal, thought-provoking and entertaining journey through the battle of ideas over some 700 years of history—mostly, but not exclusively, in Europe. Through a mixture of biography and philosophy, Bakewell seeks to understand what humanism is, why it has continued to flourish despite opposition from fanatics, mystics, tyrants and cultural pessimists of all kinds, and exactly why we should value and defend it in the 21st century.

The Age of Genius explores the eventful intertwining of outward event and inner intellectual life to tell, in all its richness and depth, the story of the 17th century in Europe. It was a time of creativity unparalleled in history before or since, from science to the arts, from philosophy to politics. Acclaimed philosopher and historian A. C. Grayling points to three primary factors that led to the rise of vernacular (popular) languages in philosophy, theology, science, and literature.

In The Philosophy Cure: Lessons on Living from the Great Philosophers, scholar and expert on Cartesian philosophy, Laurence Devillairs has stripped away the convoluted language, translating the core ideas and wisdom of some of the most prominent philosophers into simple concepts for modern listeners. She skillfully reveals that far from being impractical or distantly academic, philosophy is, at its heart, a deeply useful discipline ultimately concerned with what it means to live a good and fulfilling life.

Marcus Aurelius was a Roman Emperor, the last of the Five Good Emperors, and one of the most important Stoic philosophers, along with the slave Epictetus. Marcus Aurelius wrote the Meditations while in a military campaign; it was a series of notes written for no one but himself in his quest for self-improvement. Stoicism is the attitude allowing one to free oneself from the unnecessary suffering that arises from anxiety about events that are beyond our control; therefore, it can be of tremendous importance in one's life.

Sir Francis Bacon had a tremendous impact on science and philosophy during the scientific revolution in XVIIth-century England. He was the first to argue for a skeptical and methodical approach in science, based on careful observation of events in nature, and founded on induction. His work, firmly grounded in empiricism to prevent projection of one's preferred hypothesis, made him the father of scientific method. This was a groundbreaking turn of events at the time, and is still the basis of the scientific framework today.

Montaigne might well be one of the most sympathetic writers ever known. He is known for popularizing the essay as a literary genre; his style merges casual anecdotes and autobiography with deep intellectual insights. His "Essays" are among the most influential ever written; one can recognize Montaigne's direct influence on great literary figures all over the world, from René Descartes to Nietzsche, Isaac Asimov, and possibly William Shakespeare.

David Hume (1711-1776) is perhaps best known for his ideas about cause and effect and his criticisms of religion, but he is rarely thought of as a philosopher with practical wisdom to offer. Yet Hume's philosophy is grounded in an honest assessment of nature - human nature in particular. The Great Guide is an engaging and eye-opening account of how Hume's thought should serve as the basis for a complete approach to life. Julian Baggini masterfully interweaves biography with intellectual history and philosophy to give us a complete vision of Hume's guide to life.

Alfred North Whitehead once noted: "the safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato." Plato is indeed considered the most pivotal figure in the development of philosophy, along with his teacher, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle. But his writings are often light, fresh and funny; it was Plato who invented the dialogue in philosophy, which makes a point very easy to follow and the occasion of various scenic arrangements.

Born in Paris, Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) was largely raised by his mother and his maternal grandparents after his father died when he was two. He attended the renowned École Normale Supérieure, where he studied psychology, philosophy, ethics, sociology, and physics. In 1929, he met Simone de Beauvoir, who went on to become a celebrated feminist writer and philosopher, with whom he had a lifelong intellectual and romantic relationship.

From the Introduction: "Every biography is a story of adventure. The energetic personalities of the world represent an adventure in living. The philosophical personalities, on the other hand, represent an adventure in thinking. And when we examine the lives of the philosophers we find that the procession of a man's thoughts can be as exciting a spectacle as the pageantry of a man's deeds."

Pupil of the great Plato, teacher of Alexander the Great, Aristotle is a massively influential figure in Western philosophy. Cicero described his literary style as "a river of gold". Modern ethics are based on his ideas about virtue; his writings literally encompassed all the scientific knowledge of the time and beyond, so much that many of his findings were still considered cutting-edge many century afterwards. Aristotle also shaped modern logic, and put his mark on all subsequent philosophy and theology. We have selected for you 100 of his most profound and influent quotes, so that you can see for yourself how modern these fundamental ideas still are. Nourish your daily life with Aristotle's Ethics, strengthen your thoughts with his Logic, and adopt his scientific ways for a clearer life.

Epictetus was born a slave, and became one of the most influent Stoic philosophers. Stoicism is the attitude allowing one to free oneself from the unnecessary suffering that arises from anxiety about events that are beyond our control; therefore, it can be of tremendous importance in one's life. According to Epictetus, our own actions and attitudes are the only thing in our control; whatever else happens, we should examine calmly and dispassionately, because no amount of suffering will change the impact of external events.

Nietzsche is a major figure in Western philosophy. His work is radical, sometimes violent, often ironic; it fascinates anyone bold enough to delve into it, exerted a profound influence on modern intellectual history, and covers a wide range of subjects. Nietzsche's writings border on the poetic; his aphorisms are particularly well-known for conveying all the radicality of his thinking in a intense but light, sometimes amusing manner.

In The Lives of Michel Foucault, David Macey quotes the iconic French philosopher as speaking “nostalgically...of 'an unforgettable evening on LSD, in carefully prepared doses, in the desert night, with delicious music, [and] nice people'". This came to pass in 1975, when Foucault spent Memorial Day weekend in Southern California at the invitation of Simeon Wade - ostensibly to guest-lecture at the Claremont Graduate School where Wade was an assistant professor, but in truth to explore what he called the Valley of Death.

Carl Jung was the founder of analytical psychology who revolutionized the way we approached the human psyche. Drawing on Eastern mysticism, mythology and dream analysis to develop his theories, Jung proposed many ideas which are still influential today, including introversion, extroversion and the collective unconscious.