Customer Reviews

Classics of Philosophy

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I use this work as the sole text for my Survey of Philosophy course. Both the breadth and depth of the readings are impressive, and the book lends itself to any number of combinations of readings, which makes this work uniquely versatile in my experience as a philosophy professor.

I also believe that the earlier reviewer was overly harsh in his disparagement of the introductions and summaries to each philosopher's work. While some of the introductions and summaries are indeed rather weak (although even these are generally adequate), others are quite good, and it is in any case the part of the instructor to guide students through these works. A novice instructor with insufficient background in the history of philosophy would indeed find this text difficult to use.

The text is poorly edited in parts, with any number of rather glaring errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar, but these are minor when compared to the overall usefulness and versatility of this text.

This is a massive and invaluable book for the student of philosophy. It has over twenty complete works of classical philosophy. Including many of the great works by Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Kierkegaard, Hume, Mill and many, many more. And it also includes fragments from the presocratics and careful abridgments of over forty more works from a full spectrum of philosophers, ancient to modern. All of this comes in one large yet manageable volume. So it is ideal for a student or someone who wants a single volume philosophy reference. I highly recommend it.

I was told to buy this book for my philosophy classes, I have had to use this book for three classes: Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, Modern Philosophy and Contemporary Philosophy. This is a very good introduction to a wide range of philosophers. If you want to read many philosophers without having to spend hundreds of dollars on reading their many works, this book will save you money and give you the introduction to many of the major philosophers and their works.

I have brought many philosophers original works through reading this book for my classes. From Plato and Aristotle to Nietzsche and Heidegger. I paid over 35.00 for this book and have read over 80% of the works written here over the last ten years, and it is a book I have turned to when I wanted to get an introduction to a philosopher I was looking into.

There is over 1,000 pages to this book and it is not a book you can just sit down and read through, even many of the works that he has in the book, may take several readings, both in content and in length. Many of theses works are not easy readings, they can be complex in thought, especially, the complete writings he has in the book, like Mill. Others are short and can be read in a few minutes, like Nietzsche.

I recommend this book, this will be a source for anyone interested in philosophy, for the serious student.

Select works of several prominent philosophers ranging from antiquity (Plato) to modern times (Bertrand Russel) are presented in a highly readable, user-friendly manner with concise notes from the authors explaining key concepts at the beginning of each larger section of text. Two-column layout makes it easy to find a passage. Explanations are very brief but informative. An overview of each philosopher and the context of his work is presented before his writing.

Thin, non-glossy pages are readable in any lighting. Book is paperback and bulky, so covers will bend and corners will quickly deteriorate if the book travels at all. Because of the thickness, photocopying is impossible unless the spine is broken at the precise section to which one wishes to open the pages, but the pages are approximately the right size to fill a photocopied page without much "black space" if one is determined to do so.

This book is a waste of your money. Like two other reviewers said, this text offers nothing useful but the primary texts--a closet full of context-absent clips of writings from philosophers ranging many centuries, but nothing useful on any author, movement, or issue. Since that is the case, the only question that would remain is whether it is worth fifty-four bucks for these primary texts. It is not; not in the slightest!

One can buy all the direct reading an "intro" student should ever do, via a handful of approx. ten dollar books, and come up with better readings, better introductions, more to read, and twenty bucks left over. For instance, if you want to cover the presocratics, then get a seven dollar book with all of their works. If you want to add Plato or Aristotle, again, a seven dollar book would match the quality of the primary texts here, plus have good introductions and a more complete collection. You can say the same for the empiricists, or anything else.

To add insult to injury, the book takes up space with original philosophical writings by the authors themselves and their friends--works by nobody you nor anyone else will ever care about.

Is the point of an "intro" class to get you to misunderstand as many philosophers as possible in a misunderstood context? If so, and you want to waste money, then this is your book. Otherwise, avoid this textbook.

the book was just like new! not a single bent page or highlighted word. i am more than satisfied with it. great sale.

The textbook arrived in very good condition for a used book. I have ordered books through amazon before and it used to take less time for them to arrive. This one arrived in about 9 days.

I was afraid this would be the wrong book for my class.. but I compared this book with the book in the bookstore on campus, and its the exact same. Plus this was my first time using amazon and I saved a lot for a new book on here than I would in the bookstore.

this is an incredible anthology of philosophical works. it unfortunately lacks the textbook approach needed in a classroom. the anthology includes an incredible number or work by every philosopher from Plato to Russell, including some obscure philosophers.if you want an anthology of works, a source of documents, this is not a bad bet.

however, an intro to philosophy requires understanding and interpretation beyond the philosophical texts, which this book unfortunately does not offer. its summaries are a joke. its partial works sometimes barely suffice in class. and its organization does not even deserve the name.

overall, i would not buy this work if you have the choice. i only give it three stars because it offers an incredible variety of philosophical texts, crammed up into one book.