A Brief History of Western Philosophy - Softcover

"The author not only has a remarkable grasp of the broad sweep of philosophical ideas, but is also an authority in his own right. The fluency and elegance of the writing, and the sensitivity to cultural and historical context, together with the eminence of the author, will ensure a wide international readership." John Cottingham, University of Reading "The 22 chapters of this history are lucidly written and with enough humour in them to cheer up the educated general reader even in the midst of the most arid of philosophical discussions." Shabbir Akhtar, Times Higher Education Supplement "The book's great merit is its lucidity and approachability, and it probably does convey some of the excitement which Kenny claims belongs to the subject." David Hamlyn, Times Literary Supplement "This is simply a jolly good read, with pithy historical and biographical scene-setters, authoritative accounts of how successive philosophers have contributed to the development of Western thought, and often brilliant single-sentence summaries." Church Times "A Brief History of Western Philosophy is a stimulating, impressive work by one of Britain's leading philosophers. It is valuable both as an introduction to the history of ideas as well as a record of a distinguished philosopher's mature reflections...It is a richly detailed, critical look at philosophy, displaying both Kenny's love for philosophical engagement and for good history...Kenny's style is unpretentious, effective, and at times wonderfully informal and amiable." Charles Talifierro, the Review of Metaphysics

In this lucid and masterful work, the eminent scholar Anthony Kenny offers an indispensable resource - the most concise and compelling story of the complete development of philosophy available.Spanning 2,500 years of thought, this superb volume provides essential coverage of the most influential philosophers of the Western world, including Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Jesus, Augustine, Aquinas, Machiavelli, Descartes, Hobbes, Spinoza, Berkeley, Hume, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Marx, Mill, Nietzsche, Darwin, Freud, Frege, Russell, and Wittgenstein, amongst many others.Unrivaled in its authority and range, the book is ideal for anyone with an interest in Western thought.