The Story of Philosophy By Will Durant

Description

The Story of Philosophy, which came out for the first time in 1926, is still a great way to learn about the lives and thoughts of the most important philosophers. Will Durant makes complicated ideas clear, adds narrative flair, and adds human warmth to them. He turns abstract arguments into dramatic stories of intellectual bravery, personal hardship, and cultural change.

Durant starts with Socrates, the annoying philosopher from Athens whose constant questioning and moral seriousness formed the framework for Western ethics. Durant shows how pursuing the truth might require the ultimate cost by showing how Socrates defended himself in court and then drank hemlock. He also shows how Socratic inquiry lives on in every critical mind.

The book then moves on to Plato, Socrates’s ardent student, whose writings combine metaphysics, epistemology, and political philosophy into a lasting picture of an ideal republic ruled by philosopher-kings. Durant gives a detailed picture of Plato’s life during the Peloponnesian War and discusses the Cave allegory, which is a story about enlightenment that still speaks to modern readers about how we see things and what is real.

Durant’s next close examination is of Aristotle, who was Plato’s most famous student. He shows how Aristotle’s methodical methodology, which included logic, ethics, natural science, and poetry, set the stage for empirical research. Durant’s easy-to-understand outlines of Aristotelian virtue ethics and the Golden Mean explain how Aristotle looked for practical knowledge by saying that the excellent life comes from reasoned moderation.

Durant next takes us to the medieval synthesis of St. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas. Their attempts to bring together Christian doctrine and Greek philosophy had a big impact on theological and philosophical discussions for hundreds of years. He compares Augustine’s internal battle with original sin to Aquinas’s strict five proofs for the presence of God. This shows how deeply the medieval mentality believed that reason and revelation could work together.

Next are the Renaissance and Enlightenment thinkers: Francis Bacon, Spinoza, Voltaire, and Kant. Each one is given a profile that takes into account the time period in which they lived. Durant explains how Bacon’s scientific method went against the rules of scholasticism, how Spinoza’s pantheism went against religious orthodoxy, how Voltaire’s humor and support for civil liberties led to calls for free speech and tolerance, and how Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason changed the way we think about the limits and possibilities of human knowledge by saying that space and time are forms of our intuition, not things that exist outside of us.

In the last few chapters of the book, Durant writes about big people from the 1800s and early 1900s. Hegel’s dialectic, which sees history as the unfolding of Spirit through thesis, antithesis, and synthesis, represents the beginning of modern idealism. Schopenhauer’s pessimistic philosophy of the Will shows that pain lies at the heart of what it means to be human. Nietzsche’s extreme criticism of morality, God, and the “slave revolt in morals” urges readers to “become who you are” by adopting the idea of the Übermensch. Henri Bergson’s idea of élan vital and his view of time as duration, not just succession, are early examples of existential and process philosophies that came along in the twentieth century.

Durant weaves in biographical details throughout, such as the duels of ideas, personal rivalries, moments of insight, and the social changes that affected each thinker’s work. His beautiful writing brings even the most complicated metaphysical ideas to life by connecting them to issues that are important today, such ethics in public life, the role of science, the desire for personal freedom, and the search for meaning in a world that is hard to understand.

The Story of Philosophy is both a broad overview and a close friend. Durant’s synthesis gives you the context, clarity, and human dimension you need to bring the great figures of Western thought to life, whether you’re a student fresh to philosophy or a lifelong learner looking for historical perspective. By the end of the journey, you’ll understand how ideas change, how they affect society, and how the philosophical quest shows our own hopes, fears, and goals.

About the Author

Will Durant (1885–1981) was an American writer, historian, and philosopher best known for The Story of Civilization, a groundbreaking 11‑volume study co‑authored with his wife, Ariel Durant. Awarded the Pulitzer Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Durant dedicated his life to making the humanities accessible to general readers, championing the idea that understanding history and philosophy is essential for a free and enlightened society.

Product Details

• Title: The Story of Philosophy 
• Author: Will Durant 
• ISBN-13: 9780671739164 
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster 
• Published: 1926 (latest edition 1991) 
• Pages: 480 
• Binding: Paperpack