Customer Reviews

Great Thinkers A-Z

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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Over a hundred snapshots of people who have shaped Western thought from ancient to modern times are distilled in Great Thinkers A-Z, a guide packing in an overview of both Western philosophy and its creators. Each great thinker receives several pages summarizing his life, the premise of his philosophy, and suggested readings of his primary works and the major critical works revolving around them. An excellent reference evolves.

Literally what it claims to be: a concise compendium of the great Western thinkers, mostly philosophers. It provides the grammar, the people and their respective vocabularies for the philosophically uninitiated and wannabes like myself. On occasion it forces one to go to original sources for more in-depth understanding. However, it is a must for those hoping to gain a kind of quick facility with philosophical concepts, content and history. It is organized alphabetically, by people. It gives a brief biographical sketch of the person and their key ideas, which are discussed in proportion to their notoriety.

I am forced to reread this volume from time to time just to get the important and basic concepts to stick to my brain. It is a valuable intellectual tool for those who keep forgetting what a "logical-positivist" is. Five stars

Philosophy isn't the most interesting of subjects, but in this book, there are interesting essays on the 100 greatest thinkers in Western philosophy. Of course, there will be debate about whether certain people were left out, but for the most part, the title holds true. As it is Western philosophy, Eastern philosophers such as Confucious aren't included. Ghandi is, though.

I learned much from this book.