A Dictionary of Philosophical Quotations (Blackwell Reference) [Paperback]

A. J. Ayer (Author), Jane O'Grady (Author)

Book Description

Series: Blackwell Reference | Publication Date: August 16, 1994

The dictionary shows philosophers at their best (and their worst), at their most perverse and their most elegant. Organised by philosopher, and indexed by thought, concept and phrase, it enables readers to discover who said what, and what was said by whom. Over 300 philosophers are represented, from Aristotle to Zeno, including Einstein, Aquinas, Sartre and De Beauvoir, and the quotations range from short cryptic phrases to longer statements.
This Dictionary of Philosophical Quotations will not change your life. It will change your mind.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Here is Sir Karl Popper's reminder that "the history of science is a history of irresponsible ideas... and of error"--which he says is a good thing. Here, too, is Pascal's insight that "man is only a reed... but he is a thinking reed" and Aristotle's advice that "piety requires us to honor truth above our friends." But this is an uneven book. While the late Sir Alfred Ayer's coeditor included three pages of his portentous sayings (and none of his witty ones), John Henry Newman and the Cambridge Platonists are nowhere to be found, the British Idealists are reduced to a mere trace, and Nicolas Malebranche gets only a paragraph. About a third of the book is taken up with recent analytic philosophers, many of whom will be forgotten before the book is out of print. The quotations are organized alphabetically by author, and the general reader--to whom many recent figures will be strange--must work hard to use it. Of course, readers may be better off with the names they do recognize, and Plato, Kant, Aquinas, Aristotle, Descartes, Locke, and Hume are well represented.
- Leslie Armour, Univ. of Ottawa , Ontario
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Everybody should have a copy." Auberon Waugh, The Sunday Telegraph

"The spread of philosophers is huge - more than 330 jostle in the book ... I cannot think of any figure who is missing from this roll-call ... this is not really a book of quotations as we know it but something far more mighty." Literary Review

"The most surprising philosophers do come across. One gets a fair impression of Derrida, and the quotations from Adorno present a whole philosophy in brief digestible form." Times Literary Supplement

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell (August 16, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0631194789
• ISBN-13: 978-0631194781
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #203,639 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The only source for truly useful quotations., November 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Dictionary of Philosophical Quotations (Blackwell Reference) (Paperback)

In the course of competitive debate, there arises a need for quotations to support one's point of view. Reading the actual books and excerpting them takes far more time than is available, so summaries become necessary. This leaves one two options: quote dictionaries or 'beginner's guides.' the latter include few actual quotations, just the voice of some omniscient narrator stating his opinion. quote dictionaries have a diffeent failing: they are full of 'literary merit' and 'popular idiom', but they contain relatively few quotations of actual substance. this book is the answer. it is so well edited that i could follow the philosophers entire train of thought in his own words without parentheticals. it even includes an excellent index and is very modestly priced for a book of this magnitude. if you've ever had the desire to understand all the philosophers, great and obscure, in their own words, then reference them handily, this is the book for you.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an excellent tool for locating & dissecting great minds, May 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A Dictionary of Philosophical Quotations (Blackwell Reference) (Hardcover)

Since the dawn of time there have been many great thinkers who have discussed may great topics. It would take me many more years than I have to find my through all of their readings. Therefore, I have been searching for a tool that can help me to navigate philosophical thought. This text does it well, Alfred Jules Ayer and Jane O'grady, who have already traveled down the same road that I am just starting on, have put together a incomparable piece of literature that can serve as a "roadmap" if you will, of philosophical thought. With this, I can read summaries of many thinkers readings and use the maticulous reference section to obtain the works of the thinkers who have most intrigued me. It also is listed alphabetically by authors name rather than topic which seems to be the standard for most other philosophical reference guides. This will provide the more experienced philosophers an excellent reference guide with a different means of query.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUCH-NEEDED, EXCEPTIONALLY HELPFUL VOLUME, September 23, 2009

By 

Steven H. Propp (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Dictionary of Philosophical Quotations (Blackwell Reference) (Paperback)

The idea to "compile a dictionary of philosophical quotations" originally came from famed analytic philosopher A.J. Ayer (e.g., Language, Truth and Logic), and he spent several months soliciting contributions from his philosophical colleagues (28 "major contributors" and 24 "other contributors"; weighted in favor of English analytic philosophers, which explains a certain "slant" in the selections, that other reviewers have noted) prior to his death in 1989. His literary executors obtained the services of writer Jane O'Grady to complete the project, and she did a fine job.

The selections are arranged alphabetically by author's last name (or ONLY name, as in "Epicurus"), and generally include all quotations from a single book in sequence, before moving on to another book. Book title, section, page number, and in some cases translator citations are given, so that one can look up the quote for oneself (a notable deficiency in most "Famous Quotes" collections).

This is not a "perfect" collection; some well-known quotations are omitted (e.g., Santayana's quote from Reason in Common Sense: The Life of Reason Volume 1 (v. 1), "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it"); some worthy philosophers are virtually omitted (philosopher of science Imre Lakatos is limited to a single quotation), while some "questionable" figures are included (Gurdjieff and Ouspensky get a page each); and one can certainly question the relative amount of space given to some philosophers vis-à-vis others (e.g., Plato gets 11-1/2 pages, while Aristotle gets 7; Nietzsche gets 10 pages, but Kierkegaard only 4; Merleau-Ponty gets 7 pages, while Ryle gets less than 2; Hume and Kant each get about 12 pages).

Such caveats aside, for those of us who ask ourselves, "Now, in which book did Feyerabend say, 'Anything goes'?" or "What is the exact wording of Kant's 'starry heavens above' quote?" you may well find this book indispensable. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!