Customer Reviews

An Introduction to Philosophy: The Perennial Principles of the Classical Realist Tradition

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I strongly disagree with the negative review. This is the best introduction to philosophy there is. The great Professor Sullivan of Fordham produced a masterful summary of the Aristotelian-Thomistic system which manages to touch on virtually every important issue in philosophy while remaining highly readable and accessible to beginners. Although published in 1956, the book remains fresh, lively, and authoritative. It is becoming increasingly hard to find an introductory philosophy textbook which shows sympathy for religious belief. Sullivan goes well beyond that; in the spirit of genuine philosophy, he builds a majestic synthesis of human thought which culminates in the view of the whole of reality in light of a single principle--Uncreated Being. Along the way are fascinating treatments of human nature and human knowing, the passions, natural law ethics, the problem of personal and political freedom, and on and on. If you compare this book with Jacques Maritain's introductory philosophy text you will see that Sullivan has followed Maritain's presentation closely, but made it more easily understandable. If you are a person of faith in search of understanding, buy this book, you will love it!!

We often read about essences, substances, virtues or natural law, but yet we may only have a hazy notion of what they actually mean. How much do you know about Plato, Aristotle or Thomas Aquinas? If you have read their works then this book will be too basic for you, but for interested beginners, welcome to the world of realist philosophy!

This book first published in 1957 has been reprinted by Tan books as an attractive paperback with a Catholic audience in mind. It is made up of 29 short chapters and a cracking booklist - featuring all the famous names of the day - Maritain, Gilson and Adler amongst others.

The book is divided into 5 main parts
1. A Survey of Greek Philosophy
2. Anthropology - The study of man and Epistemology - The study of knowing
3. The good life, moral and social philosophy
4. The Aristotelian philosophy of nature (the shortest section!)
5. Ontology - the study of being

It successfully covers the realist ground rules; neither sense nor intellect knows but man through both (p.70), concepts are a means by which we know (p.74), the first step in knowing is a simple receiving (p.81), man has free choice (p.96), man is not only his soul (p.111), body as matter and form (p.189) and permanence beneath the tides of change (p.251).

The book can be read from cover to cover, but I strongly recommend that Chapter 27 (on the divisions of being) be read first and revisited throughout the book in order to gain a better understanding of the realist keystone.

Overall, I think this book serves as a good *second* book to read in this area, but I think readers should first consult at least one of the further reading below in order to ignite their realist passion.

To quote Gilson:
"The first step on the path to realism is to realise that one has always been a realist; the second is to recognize that, however much one tries to think differently, one will never succeed; the third is to note that those who claim that they think differently, think as realists as soon as they forget to act a part. If they ask themselves why, their conversion is almost complete."

Further Reading:

The Unity of Philosophical Experience by Etienne Gilson

Means to Message: A Treatise on Truth by Stanley L. Jaki

Ten Philosophical Mistakes by Mortimer Adler

The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton, Volume 2 : The Everlasting Man, St. Francis of Assisi, St Thomas Aquinas

... to classical philosophy. Readable and enjoyable. It gives a great overview and makes difficult concepts easy to understand. There's a reason this is still in print! It's an enjoyable read as well as informative. This is a textbook for my graduate introduction to philosophy class, but it is undergraduate level and very accessible to anyone interested in the subject. The footnotes give lots of good suggestions for further reading. If you want to know why classical philosophy has not been superseded by newer, stranger views of reality, this is a great place to start. It culminates with Thomas Aquinas, so it is also a great introduction to Catholic theology.

My son had to have this book for his class at college. the price at the bookstore was about 6X higher. Very happy with book, speed of mailing and savings...

This is an excellent introductory text about, as the title notes, the "Perennial Principles of the Classical Realist Tradition." It could be highly useful, e.g., for introductory courses in philosophy at the high school or undergraduate level, particularly those offered at Catholic institutions.

There are three ways of knowing truth: Revelation, Experience, and Abstraction - reasoning from the first two. This is called "Philosophy". Over the centuries, as the expression of Dogma developed, so too did Philosophy, creating where necessary the proper language to express the Church's teaching. False philosophy held by Catholics inevitably results in heresy. In this clear and easy to follow book, the main outlines of the philosophy held by orthodox theologians down through the centuries is made accessible to the average reader. Especially useful for saving the faith and reason of college students confronted by strange philosophical ideas.

This work of Daniel J. Sullivan is certainly not what it purports to be, an introduction to the very important discipline of philosophy. Rather, it is more in the genre of a simple survey of ideas, some of them pertaining to philosophy. Most assuredly, it does not well represent philosophia perennis, philosophy as wisdom.

Any serious presentation of the discipline of philosophy must be founded on the discipline of logic. And perhaps the major failing of Sullivan's work is that it totally neglects this important foundation. Even more, effective grammar ought to be informed by logic. And Sullivan's grammar, his writing in attempting to describe the very deep thoughts pertinent to philosophy, is sadly weak, because not so informed. In particular, his section on the very important concept of the analogy of being is so poorly written and evidently ill conceived as to be virtually unintelligible.

We found this book in our favorite Catholic book store. And it is published by our favorite Catholic publisher. So, we are doubly disappointed. Those who seek an excellent introduction to the very important discipline of philosophy from a truly Catholic perspective would be much better served by reading "Philosophia Perennis: An Introduction to Philosophy as Wisdom" by Brother Francis Maluf, M.I.C.M.