A Passion for Wisdom: A Very Brief History of Philosophy
Readers eager to acquire a basic familiarity with the history of philosophy but intimidated by the task will find in A Passion for Wisdom a lively, accessible, and highly enjoyable tour of the world's great ideas. Here, Robert Solomon and Kathleen Higgins tell the story of philosophy's development with great clarity and refreshing wit.
The authors begin with the most ancient religious beliefs of the east and west and bring us right up to the feminist and multicultural philosophies of the present. Along the way, they highlight major philosophers, from Plato and the Buddha to William James and Simone de Beauvoir, and explore major categories, from metaphysics and ethics to politics and logic. The book is enlivened as well by telling anecdotes and sparkling quotations. Among many memorable observations, we're treated to Thomas Hobbes' assessment that life is "nasty, brutish, and short" and Hegel's description of Napoleon as "world history on horseback." Engaging, comprehensive, and delightfully written, A Passion for Wisdom is a splendid introduction to an intellectual tradition that reaches back over three thousand years. |
Contents
Is There Ultimate Truth?
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3 |
Whence the World? Early Philosophy in India
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9 |
The Hebrews Their God and the
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15 |
Confucius Taoism and
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22 |
How Should We Live? Socrates and the Sophists
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33 |
After Aristotle
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43 |
Faith and Reason
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51 |
The Rise of Islam
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57 |
Enlightenment
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80 |
Adam Smith and the New World of Commerce
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87 |
Hegel and History
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94 |
Kierkegaard Feuerbach and Marx
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101 |
Philosophy in America
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108 |
Wittgenstein Freud and Weber
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116 |
Positivism and Existentialism
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122 |
A Brief Bibliography
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129 |
Other editions - View all
A Passion for Wisdom: A Very Brief History of Philosophy Robert C. Solomon,Kathleen M. Higgins No preview available - 1999 |
Common terms and phrases
according Ahura Mazda American ancient argued arguments Aristotle Aristotle's basic become believed Buddhists called Camus century Christian Church conception concerned Confucian Confucius consciousness context defended defined Democritus Descartes Descartes's developed divine emphasis empiricism Enlightenment eternal ethics Europe evil existence existentialism experience faith famous freedom German God's Greek Hebrews Hegel Heidegger Heraclitus Herder Hobbes human Hume Husserl idea ideal important individual insisted Islam Jainism Jewish Kant Kant's Kierkegaard knowledge Leibniz living logic Maimonides metaphysics method mind modern philosophy Montaigne moral mystical nature Neoplatonic Nevertheless Nietzsche notion objects one's Parmenides Phenomenology phers philo philoso Plato Plotinus political problem problem of evil question Qur'an rational reality reason rejected religion religious Renaissance revolution Rousseau Russell Scholasticism Schopenhauer scientific sense skepticism social society Socrates soul Spinoza Spirit Stoics substance Taoist theory things thinking thought tion tradition truth Übermensch ultimate universe virtue vision Western philosophy Wittgenstein Zoroastrianism