The Presocratic Philosophers: A Critical History with a Selection of Texts [Paperback]

G. S. Kirk (Author), J. E. Raven (Author), M. Schofield (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521274559 | ISBN-13: 978-0521274555 | Publication Date: February 24, 1984 | Edition: 2

Beginning with a long and extensively rewritten introduction surveying the predecessors of the Presocratics, this book traces the intellectual revolution initiated by Thales in the sixth century B.C. to its culmination in the metaphysics of Parmenides and the complex physical theories of Anaxagoras and the Atomists in the fifth century it is based on a selection of some six hundred texts, in Greek and a close English translation which in this edition is given more prominence. These provide the basis for a detailed critical study of the principal individual thinkers of the time. Besides serving as an essential text for undergraduate and graduate courses in Greek philosophy and in the history of science, this book will appeal to a wide range of readers with interests in philosophy, theology, the history of ideas and of the ancient world, and indeed to anyone who wants an authoritative account of the Presocratics.

Editorial Reviews

Book Description

Beginning with a revised introduction surveying the predecessors of the Presocratics, this new edition traces the intellectual revolution initiated by Thales in the early 6th century B.C. to its culmination in the metaphysics of Parmenides and the physical theories of Anaxagoras and the Atomists of the fifth century.

Product Details

• Paperback: 516 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 2 edition (February 24, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521274559
• ISBN-13: 978-0521274555
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #150,403 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

74 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The definitive collection of pre-socratic philosophy., April 4, 2000

By 

Craig G Cram - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Presocratic Philosophers: A Critical History with a Selection of Texts (Paperback)

I first read Kirk and Raven's `Presocratic Philosophers' as an undergrad. I was being taught pre-socratic philosophy by a Cambridge Classical Greek philosopher. Since then it has become one of my favourite and most valuable philosophy texts. Kirk and Raven present us with all the credible `fragments' of presocratic philosophy as quoted in later philosophers. They present the original greek and a (most times) definitive english translation and analysis. Although, what I learned through my professor via Kirk and Raven is that you sift or decant yourself through these most ancient and profound fragments - more akin to an approach to the `I Ching' and poetry than contemporary analytic philosophy. Kirk and Raven present us with the `holy' text of western philosophy which never fails to produce the wonder of thinking - a true thinking that is rare and primordial. Even if you usually don't like reading philosophy, the presocratics are really `post-modern' and poetic in their fragmentary and oracular collages of meaning. T.S. Eliot's `The Four Quartets' is soaked with pre-socratic philosophy.

The Pre-socratics deserve more attention because `all', and I mean all, of the basic philosophic and scientific positions are contained within these seeds of the western tradition.

93 of 101 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Read the Real Fragments - GET THE 1ST EDITION, February 7, 2005

By 

eurydike (Santa Cruz, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Presocratic Philosophers: A Critical History with a Selection of Texts (Paperback)

Don't buy this edition. Get the first edition, put together by the original editors, G.S. Kirk and J.E. Raven (ISBN 0521091691), which is readily available through Amazon. The current edition has been hopelessly corrupted by M. Schofield, who has edited out crucial fragments in order to support his own "Analytical Philosophy" take on the Presocratics. As an example, he has removed crucial fragments which link Parmenides with the Pythagoreans.

So make sure you acquire the 1st Edition of this crucial sourcebook which was edited in an honest fashion by G.S. Kirk and J.E. Raven, and ignore any later edition which has been corrupted and invalidated by M. Schofield.

Also, take a look at Peter Kingsley's trilogy of books on Parmenides and Empedocles: "Reality," "In the Dark Places of Wisdom," and "Ancient Philosophy, Mystery, and Magic: Empedocles and Pythagorean Tradition." These books will give you the real fragments, and provide you with a real take on why scholars with the intellectual dishonesty of an M. Schofield will rewrite and even abandon the original texts in order to further their own misguided agendas.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First Edition, My first professional Philosophy book, June 27, 2005

By 

B. Marold "Bruce W. Marold" (Bethlehem, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Presocratic Philosophers (Paperback)

'The Presocratic Philosophers' edited by G. S. Kirk and J. E. Raven is, on a personal level, dear to me as it is the very first book I bought when I began studying philosophy as my major in college. This trade paperback cost but $3.95. For the philosophical amateurs who may have stumbled over this review while plowing through my cookbook reviews, the most dramatic aspect of this book is how little we actually have of what these great men who invented philosophy actually wrote. For the very first figure, Thales of Melitis (a town on the Asia Minor coast), we have practically nothing except second hand reports from Diogenes Laertius, Herodotus, Plutarch, and others. Also for amateurs is the great introductory essay on the difference between mythical cosmology and the beginnings of philosophy.

If you happen to have a strong amateur interest in the history of ideas and can pick up an inexpensive early edition (I have one from 1962), I recommend you give this a look.

For serious professionals, the most important aspect of this original text is the very scholarly presentation of the fragments in the original Greek with excellent translations and commentary on the sources.