ancient philosophy a new history of western philosophy volume 1

Kenny then backtracks to look closely at each of the main areas of philosophical exploration in this period: knowledge and understanding the nature of the physical universe metaphysics (the most fundamental questions there are aboutĮxistence) mind and soul the nature and content of morality political philosophy and God. It is ideal as the first thing to read for someone new to this wonderfully creative period.

Kenny first tells the story of modern philosophy chronologically: his lively, accessible narrative brings the philosophers to life and fills in the historical and intellectual background to their work. The great minds we meet include Ren Descartes, traditionally seen as the founder of modern philosophy the great British philosophers Hobbes, Locke, and Hume continental thinkers such as Spinoza, Liebniz, and Hegel and the towering figure of Immanuel Kant, who perhaps more than any other made philosophy what it is today. Kenny introduces us to some of the world's most original and influential thinkers and helps us gain an understanding of their famous works. The Rise of Modern Philosophy captures the fascinating story of the emergence, from the early sixteenth to the early nineteenth century, of the great ideas and intellectual systems that shaped modern thought. He examines the development of logic and reason, ancient ideas about physics ('how things happen'), metaphysics and ethics, and the earliest thinking about the soul and god.Sir Anthony Kenny's engaging new multi-volume history of Western philosophy now advances into the modern era. Kenny offers an illuminating account of the various schools of thought, from the Pre-Socratics to the Epicureans. Thus we do not simply get an overview of Aristotle, for example, but a penetrating and insightful critique of his thought. Instead of an uncritical, straightforward recitation of known facts-Plato and his cave of shadows, Aristotle's ethics,Īugustine's City of God-we see the major philosophers through the eyes of a man who has spent a lifetime contemplating their work. The book's great virtue is that it is written by one of the world's leading authorities on the subject.

Ancient Philosophy spans over a thousand years and brings to life the great minds of the past, from Thales, Pythagoras, and Parmenides, to Socrates, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, and Augustine. This is the initial volume of a four-book set in which Kenny will unfold a magisterial new history of Western philosophy, the first major single-author history of philosophy to appear in decades. Sir Anthony Kenny here tells the fascinating story of the birth of philosophy and its remarkable flourishing in the ancient Mediterranean world.

Ancient philosophy a new history of western philosophy volume 1