Customer Reviews

The Rise of Modern Philosophy: A New History of Western Philosophy Volume 3

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Kenny's books are as accurate as they are perceptive. This is no rush through the early stages of modern philosophy, but an accurate summary of what each of the major figures had to say, and then a perceptive analysis of the philosophical consequences. Kenny makes reading the history of philosophy great fun.

`The Rise of Modern Philosophy' is the third of four volumes in Anthony Kenny's `A New History of Western Philosophy' recently published by Oxford University Press. For those unfamiliar with the author, Kenny is a leading contemporary scholar that has previously written noteworthy texts on Aquinas, Descartes, and Wittgenstein amongst others. It is the second text in the series that I have read (I previously read Volume 1).

On the positive side it is the best single-author overview of Western philosophy of which I am familiar, more readable than Copleston and more evenhanded than Russell. Kenny is a talented writer with an impressive knowledge of the Western tradition, able to tell the story of philosophy is an integrated and insightful manner. As is becoming popular in introductory texts Kenny blends a chronological and subject matter approach, over viewing the period chronologically in the first third of the book then looking at specific subjects in more detail in the latter part (e.g. ethics, epistemology, metaphysics). This would seem to be a helpful approach to the newcomer; providing some important historic context before delving into specific material in detail.

On the less positive side, while I feel Kenny's work deserves a wide audience I am uncertain if it will readily find one. Those with sufficient background to follow the discussion may pass on the book, while those unacquainted with philosophy may find that the text moves too fast and somewhat opaque. Indeed given the tremendous amount of great thinkers in this period and the limited space available some important thinkers get rather short shrift (e.g. Hegel). Finally, from a physical perspective the paper is glossy, giving it a `fluffy' feel and making it difficult to read it certain lightening conditions (reflection).

Overall, this is a good work by an excellent philosopher. Despite some drawbacks it is a helpful book and I will likely pick up the remaining two volumes.