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A History of Philosophy, Vol. 1: Greece and Rome From the Pre-Socratics to Plotinus

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The first volume of Frederick Copleston's monumental history of philosophy was published more than a half century ago with the intention, in the author's words, "of supplying Catholic ecclesiastical seminaries with a work that should be somewhat more detailed and of wider scope than the textbooks commonly in use and which at the same time should endeavor to exhibit the logical development and interconnection of philosophical systems." Copleston certainly attained his goal, not only for seminarians, but also for everyone interested in the history of Western thought. He ultimately produced nine brilliant volumes which still stand as the finest and most complete summary of Western philosophy from the earliest Pre-Socratics to modern Existentialists and Structuralists (the last of the volumes covering Sartre, Camus and Levi-Strauss, among others).

The first volume, which covers the conception of Western philosophy in the seed of the early Ionian thinkers, through the gestation of Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Zeno, Anaxagoras, and the Sophists, ultimately culminating in the birth of Western philosophy in the axis of Socrates-Plato-Aristotle and its post-Aristotelian Roman afterbirth, is a detailed and analytical discussion of the origins of Western thought. Complete in itself, it provides a comprehensive introduction to the beginnings of Western rationalism and a useful starting point for a general study of the history of philosophy in the West or a more detailed exploration of the ancient thinkers from the Pre-Socratics to Plotinus.

If any criticism can be made of Copleston's work, it is that his analyses are dominated by an overriding scholasticism, by Copleston's adherence to traditional, Thomist perspectives on these thinkers. This criticism is difficult to make, however, because he never minces words in disclosing his point of view and because, despite his own Jesuitical intellectual predilections, his treatment is always comprehensive, thoughtful and genuine.

The volume is "the first volume of a complete history of philosophy". (p.v) Although to "mention a "point of view" at all, when treating of the history of philosophy, may occasion a certain lifting of eyebrows" (p. v), the author has "no hesitation in claiming the right to compose a work on the history of philosophy from the standpoint of the Scholastic philosopher"(p. vi) as "no true historian can write without some point of view, some standpoint, if for no other reason than that he must have a principle of selection, guiding his intelligent choice and arrangement of facts." (p. v) Scholastic philosophers study philosophy as the "philosophia perennis". (p. 2)

Modern philosophers, especially since René Descartes (A.D. 1596 - A.D. 1650) and Immanuel Kant (A.D. 1724- A.D. 1804), divorce thought from reality and start like Descartes from Consciousness, from the fact that man has innate ideas in his mind.

This is not the starting-point of Copleston and others who study philosophy as the perennial philosophy. They start from Being, not from Consciousness, and for them it is reality which imposes its structures on the mind, not like Kant, the mind imposing its structures on reality.

This perennial philosophy has been outlined by Plato (428 B.C. - 348 B.C.) and Aristotle (384 B.C. - 322 B.C.) and elaborated by St. Thomas Aquinas (c. A.D. 1225 - A.D. 1274). For Copleston, perennial philosophy is Thomism in a wide sense. The Thomist system is however not closed at any given historical epoch and incapable of further development in any direction. (p. 7)

Most intellectuals today, on the one hand, view Plato as interested in ideas and Aristotle as interested in things and they maintain, on the other hand, that Plato separated the Form from the objects of which it is the Form, whereas Aristotle argued that to the universal in the mind, there corresponds the specific essence in the object.

Plato's and Aristotle's philosophies are therefore diametrically opposed, they say, some even going so far as to label Plato as a neo-Kantian. Copleston demonstrates that Plato is not a neo-Kantian. Copleston concludes that Platonism and Aristotelianism "should not be considered as two diametrically opposed systems, but as two complementary philosophical spirits and bodies of doctrine." (Volume I, p. 275) After having argued that a synthesis between the Platonic Theory of Forms and the Aristotelian view of the universal was needed (Volume I, p. 203), Copleston will demonstrate in Volume II how St. Thomas Aquinas achieved this synthesis and harmonised the synthesis with Christian theology. This is why, as mentioned earlier, for Copleston, perennial philosophy is Thomism in a wide sense. This also explains why for Copleston, the first three volumes of his History - Greece and Rome, Medieval Philosophy, and, Late Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy - form only one volume, why Volume III ends with "A Brief Review of the First Three Volumes" and why this review cannot but contain references to Volumes II and III.

A quick review of the history of Western thought will suffice to bear out the constant presence of Plato's and Aristotle's philosophies. In philosophy and in everyday life, the questions "What do you mean?" and "How do you know?" will be constantly present. It was therefore important to demonstrate that there is no contradiction between the Platonic and Aristotelian bases of the principles we need to answer these questions, Aristotle's principle of non-contradiction saying that the same attribute cannot at the same time belong and not belong to the same subject and in the same respect. This is Copleston's achievement in the present Volume I, which therefore also contains its own "Concluding Review".

Copleston will conclude the final volume of his History, Volume XI, by saying that, for him, the problem of God is THE metaphysical problem par excellence. One can criticise this conclusion but one should also recognise that the argument is consistent with one of the conclusions of the present Volume I wherein Copleston argues that Greek philosophy was a preparatory intellectual instrument for Christianity, a "preparatio evangelica." (Volume I, p.502).

In his own critique of the present Volume I, Copleston writes on p. 408 of Volume III of the History that he does "not think ... that one is justified in interpreting the pre-Socratics as nothing more than speculative forerunners of science." (Volume III, p. 408)

Many readers complain about the quotations in languages other than English. Those readers seem to forget that the book is not "An Introduction to Philosophy" but "A History of Philosophy". They also seem to forget that in the present Internet age, search engines and translation programs are available at no cost. When looking up the translation, you learn a lot. As Copleston puts it: "Mental effort and perseverance are no doubt required in order to penetrate the riches of Greek thought, but any effort that is expended in the attempt to understand and appreciate the philosophy of these two men of genius, Plato and Aristotle, is amply rewarded." (Volume I, p. 486)

I've heard some people say that Copleston's writing is a bit on the dry side. Sometimes, but remember; this is philosophy we're talking about here. I recommend getting the Oxford Dictionary of philosophy if you are having trouble understanding the writing.

If you are a philosophy student, this entire series is a must. Regardless of what any individual may think about the author or the series, this series is the academic standard for history of philosophy. A student cannot really get through a good philosophy degree without reading the entire series.

Bottom line: Layman beware-this may be over your head! Philosophy students-this entire series is a must read.

I originally picked up this book with the best of intentions: to read all nine (or eleven) volumes, in belated "revenge" for not having majored in philosophy. Those intentions are now being stretched over a longer period of time.

I have no doubt that this is the "academic standard" in the history of philosophy. You can tell, because Father Copleston makes a habit of citing foreign languages without translation. This used to be (and still may be) the distinguishing mark of an academic: just put it down in French, German, Latin, or Greek, and if the unwashed masses don't get it, tough. In particular, I would highly recommend that you learn the Greek alphabet before embarking on this adventure. Not the Greek language, mind you, but just enough of the alphabet to spell out all the Greek words which Copleston throws at you.

The book is a major accomplishment; the fruit of a titanic intellectual effort. Still, there is competition in this rather small niche, most obviously Bertrand Russell's "History of Western Philosophy" (in one volume!) and Anthony Gottlieb's "The Dream of Reason." Quite frankly, for readers who are not professional philosophers (or students of philosophy) I might recommend one of those two books. Bertrand Russell's book gives you a bonus, in including huge swathes of real history to put his philosophical history in context, while Gottlieb is smart, diverting, and original.

Father Copleston (a Jesuit) is smart as a tack, but had no intention of being diverting or original. It is really an advantage that Copleston's bias is openly declared: he is a Catholic who holds that the true philosophy is the Scholastic philosophy of the Middle Ages --- properly modernized, of course. So you won't expect him to dwell on people like Pseudo-Dionysius. And his essay on Plato's "Doctrine of the Forms" is, indeed, a major intellectual undertaking. It is so good that the acute reader can spot Plato's errors all over the place, such as Plato's assumption that the only real knowledge was of things that are eternally true and unchanging. That, if you stop to think about it, is a whale of an assumption. To take a trivial example, we all generalize from the frogs we have seen to an "Ideal Frog" --- it's part of recognizing reality. But it really plays havoc when we try to understand evolution, and must realize that there is no "Ideal Frog," or recognize that the "Ideal Frog" is constantly changing, over a period of time which we may not be able to comprehend. So Plato made it hard for humankind to understand evolution.

And then, later on, in the chapter on "The State," you understand it when Copleston enthusiastically joins Plato's demands for censorship of the arts, and the rule of the Philosopher-King. After all, I am not the first person to have seen the Catholic Index of Prohibited Books --- and the Papacy --- as attempts to bring Plato's ideas about the state to fruition.

I guess, in the end, I would like to describe a choice for the reader who is interested in the history of philosophy.

Choice A would be Lord Bertie, who squeezes it all into one magisterial volume: A History of Western Philosophy.

Choice B would be Anthony Gottlieb:The Dream of Reason: A History of Philosophy from the Greeks to the Renaissance. The drawback here is that Gottlieb is only half-done.

Choice C would be to go whole hog and get the entire set by Copleston. You are not required to read every word, but the whole vast and detailed panorama is at your fingertips. If you're on a budget, you could always buy one volume a month, or something like that. :-)

Good luck, and happy reading!

Warning: Frederick Coplestone's history of philosophy is not for the faint of heart. This is not an introduction to philosophy: this is an in-depth, nuts and bolts, throw in every last detail you could ever possibly want to know about the subject kind of book! That said, I have to admire the man's frightening strength of will, to complete his nine volumes as he did. The first, about the Greek and Roman poets, is an excellent place to follow up a basic introduction like Will Durant's classic volume, "The Story of Philosophy." Coplestone covers all the bases, and always presents his own Jesuit philosophical stance as a clear bias, without letting it prejudice his reading. Understanding Plato and Aristotle is still an essential requirement for the civilized mind; even if their arguments have largely been disproved by science, they have still remained the starting place for any discussion of philosophy, as well as any discussion of western culture and literature.

This is the first volume in Frederick Copleston's classic nine volume A History of Philosophy. Like all the volumes in this series, it is an exhaustive study of the period covered and presents the development of the philosophical thought of the period as an interrelated whole where trends ebb and flow as ideas are introduced and synthesized within the systems of the great thinkers of the time.

All of this is done within a framework where Copleston, as a professor in a Catholic seminary, is mindful of pointing out the elements that would become adopted within the framework of Christian philosophy and theology. Even though Copleston has a seminary audience in mind, he does not attempt to "Christianize" those who were not Christian nor launch polemical attacks against those ideas at odds with the Christian faith. He presents the philosophical ideas thoroughly and fairly and gives both the supporting evidence cited by supporters and the critiques by opponents. Also pointed out in detail is how each philosopher's work influenced contemporaries and later thought with, of course, special consideration of the influence for good or bad on Christianity.

In this volume, the subject is the philosophy of Greece and Rome. Copleston divides the book into five parts covering pre-Socratic philosophy, the Socratic period, Plato, Aristotle, and post-Aristoelian philosophy. A strength of his treatment is that the figures of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle no longer seem isolated giants but are shown to arise from the action and reaction in a whole line of Greek thinkers of which they are the most illustrious examples. And though they are deservedly given the greatest emphaisis, the work of other Greek philosophers are also given extensive coverage that is rarely found elsewhere.

When dealing with the three giants, Copleston thoroughly covers how each in succession influeced the other and how each in turn fleshed out ideas in their teacher and took them in a direction that would not have found favor with their mentor. The development of Socrates' questioning to Plato's ethereal world of forms to Aristotle's reaction in a more observationally based direction demonstrates the volatile mix of ideas as various thinkers fleshed out their theories in an intellectually stimulating environment.

There are also fascinating items in the lesser known philosophers of the period. Since Socrates did not author any works himself, his philosophy has primarily been communicated to us by his student Plato. It is interesting to note other students of his also wrote of his philosophy and much of the details present a somewhat different figure from that given in the Platonic corpus. Also of interest is the work in the post-Aristotelian philosophy where a mix of Neo-Platonism, Aristotelianism, and the philosophy of Hellenized Jews formed a basis for the exposition of the Christian faith in the precise technical language that would come to be used in the Ecumenical Councils.

For a thorough investigation of the history of Western philosophical thought and a wrestling with the great thinkers of the Western philosophical tradition, there is no better choice that Copleston's A History of Philosophy. For the Christian, in particular, who wishes to understand the interaction of philsophy and Christian theology, this work is unparalleled.

As the prior reviewers indicate, this book is fantastic as a summary of early philosophy. Copleston is extremely intelligent, as his breadth of knowledge, ability to synthesize information, and his familiarity with several foreign languages attests; nevertheless, he writes very clearly and states his thoughts in an organized fashion. I would not recommend this book to the average (i.e., half-educated) American since Copleston assumes a basic knowledge of concepts and words that far outpace what is generally taught in our schools today, but the well-read person interested in an overview of philosophy will find the book very enjoyable reading. As noted above, knowledge of Latin and especially Greek is very helpful.

The first volume of Frederick Copleston's monumental history of philosophy was published more than a half century ago with the intention, in the author's words, "of supplying Catholic ecclesiastical seminaries with a work that should be somewhat more detailed and of wider scope than the textbooks commonly in use and which at the same time should endeavor to exhibit the logical development and interconnection of philosophical systems." Copleston certainly attained his goal, not only for seminarians, but also for everyone interested in the history of Western thought. He ultimately produced nine brilliant volumes which still stand as the finest and most complete summary of Western philosophy from the earliest Pre-Socratics to modern Existentialists and Structuralists (the last of the volumes covering Sartre, Camus and Levi-Strauss, among others).

The first volume, which covers the conception of Western philosophy in the seed of the early Ionian thinkers, through the gestation of Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Zeno, Anaxagoras, and the Sophists, ultimately culminating in the birth of Western philosophy in the axis of Socrates-Plato-Aristotle and its post-Aristotelian Roman afterbirth, is a detailed and analytical discussion of the origins of Western thought. Complete in itself, it provides a comprehensive introduction to the beginnings of Western rationalism and a useful starting point for a general study of the history of philosophy in the West or a more detailed exploration of the ancient thinkers from the Pre-Socratics to Plotinus.

If any criticism can be made of Copleston's work, it is that his analyses are dominated by an overriding scholasticism, by Copleston's adherence to traditional, Thomist perspectives on these thinkers. This criticism is difficult to make, however, because he never minces words in disclosing his point of view and because, despite his own Jesuitical intellectual predilections, his treatment is always comprehensive, thoughtful and genuine.

Copleston's series, "The History of Philosophy", is quite possibly the best introduction to the history of philosophical thought that has ever been published and certainly the best currently in print.

You will be hard pressed to find a better collection of solid philosophical surveys in one place. The beauty of the series is that Copleston has clearly done his research on each period and each thinker of Western philosophy.

I cannot recommend this series any more highly. It is a must-have collection for anyone who is a scholar (professional or casual) of philosophy, theology or any of the arts.

If this isn't on your bookshelf, it should be!

Mr Copleston provides the reader in this volume with thorough compact descriptions of the life, era and philosophy of the philosophers discussed. And compared with most histories of philosophy that are on the market today this is by far the best, yet... a serious flaw is Mr Copleston's assumption that the reader posseses at least some basic knowledge of a handful of languages and as such his quotations in Greek/Latin/German/French become obstacles in his otherwise excellent telling. What surprises me is that even though it must be known to the publisher that it is very unlikely that the majority of readers posses such language skill, they still haven't made a point of providing the reader with translations of those quotes in the form of footnotes; something that would be a significant improvement of the readability of an otherwise excellent narrative of early western philosophy.