Customer Reviews

Story of Philosophy

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REVIEW: It's not often that I refer to a book as "beautiful", but that's the first word that comes to my mind for this book. I wish more books that tackle serious subjects were written in this style. It opens up learning of the subject to a broader audience. Magee's book seems almost perfect as an introduction, overview, and rough history of philosophy. It should make an excellent introduction and light reference book to the non-expert reader.

I have often read books (e.g. books by Peter Drucker) that refer to various philosophers and their writings and I typically felt I had an inadequate understanding since I had very little knowledge of philosophy. So I borrowed this book from a library and enjoyed it so much that I decided to purchase it. I especially like the way the book is organized into small, easy to read chapters with many graphics, and short sidebars. Magee also does an excellent job of tying the philosophers into the context of the art, religion, and history of each period (in a basic, not too detailed way).

STRENGTHS: Easy to read; very well organized; lots of supporting graphics (e.g. photos of period art) and sidebars; excellent index and list of suggested further readings for each philosopher; just the right level of detail for an introduction.

WEAKNESSES: Academics or those more knowledgable of philosophy may find the book too simple, or even childish (easy to read and lots of pictures).

WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK: Those who do not have an existing knowledge base of philosophy and who are looking for an easy to read general introduction, overview, or history of philosophy.

[feedback welcome]

My father found this book in the trash where he works, and he took it out. I know people buy and sell things like this, and my father gave it to me when someone else had discarded it, but to me it is priceless! There have been nights when I've fallen asleep and this book was next to me, and I believe I dreamed of all the glorious thoughts which have come before me. To consider that someone must have been the first to think of the fact that nothing is constant in this world, that we can't know this or that for certain... I myself have come up with some ideas, on my very own, which I have found to have been original in past centuries. This book will give anyone who cares a deeper understanding of where their own ideas originated. All these ideas which we so take for granted were NEW at one time or other. This book will only make the curious mind long for more. The author does a wonderful job of making something very confusing easy to comprehend, and the supplemental information shows how thought and the rest of the world are inseparable. This book is a treasure. And to think someone actually threw it away...

Not to be confused with the Will Durant book of a similar title, this glossy book packed with color illustrations and photographs is an introductory book to the major movements of western philosophy. Beginning with the Greeks, Magee takes the reader through the ideas of early Christianity and early modern science, following the natural progression into the rationalists and the empiricists. French, German, and early American philosophy follow in separate sections detailing the basic ideas of philosophers such as Descartes, Hume, Rousseau, and Hegel. Magee ends with twentieth century philosophy, offering predictions for future trends in philosophical thought.

This book makes a fine touchstone to remind one of certain schools of philosophy or to learn about the most famous thinkers of western civilization. This book is far too slender to include some of the more intricate ideas or lesser known individuals who have nonetheless made contributions to the field. Regardless, this attractive book makes a good reference tool when navigating major trends of thought.

Philosophy is a subject that influences our lives on a daily basis, yet how many of us have time to sit around in a coffee shop and think about enlightenment or to wonder and ask "why?" This is a book about fundamentals we normally take for granted.

Has anyone ever asked you: "Yes, but what do we actually mean by freedom?" If we are all free to do exactly what we want, will that not lead to the loss of freedom for some.

These types of questions intrigue me to no end. Denis Diderot said that freedom has no meaning. Jean-Jacques Rousseau said that man was born free and everywhere he is in chains. He also believed man was naturally good. Immanuel Kant seems to disagree and says that out of the crooked timber of humanity no straight thing can ever be made.

When people start to talk like this, they are beginning to think philosophically. They embark on a journey of thought that opens the mind and allows us to see the mind of another. You will find a soul mate philosopher within the pages for sure. How you think could in fact be linked to the thoughts of a philosopher whose views are presented here.

"Philosophy begins in wonder." -Plato

The Story of Philosophy will entice your mind into reading the entire work! Not, however in one sitting, but as the need arises. First, I wanted to see if I would actually use this book in discussions...and sure enough, within a few days I had already discussed humanism at a discussion board. It was helpful to know how humanism has evolved from the philosophy of Epicurus. As in: "Is he (God) willing to prevent evil, but not able?" or "Is he both able and willing?" .....then "Whence then is evil?" They note that the to us now, Epicureanism is very similar to the liberal humanism of the 20th century.

Art is a highlight of Bryan Magee's work and spaces out some rather deep concepts. This is not light reading, but rather aimed towards those willing to spend the time to discover the record of philosophy through the ages.

First The Greeks and their World chapter presents the views of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, The Cynics, The Sceptics, The Epicureans and The Stoics. Christianity and Philosophy is followed by a chapter on The Beginnings of Modern Science.

The thoughts of Isaac Newton, Machiavelli, Francis Bacon, Saint Augustine, Boethius, Thomas Aquinas, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Burke, Voltaire, Diderot, Rousseau, Kant, Schopenhauer, Fichte, Schelling, Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, Rusell and Bergson and others....are found in this work.

Quotes are sprinkled throughout and many of the pictures have an information block to explain how they relate to the discussion.

A fascinating look at how we have evolved as thinkers. As I always have said: When you find truth, you will know it for what it is. This work contains truth AND ideas that are false. It is for you to decide what you will believe! ;>

Professor Bryan Magee was educated at Oxford University, England. he took a degree in History and Philosophy. he left his academic life to become an independent writer, critic and broadcaster. He has also authored: Confessions of a Philosopher, Men of Ideas and The Great Philosophers.

You might also enjoy: The story of Christianity by Michael Collins & Matthew A. Price and Brush Up Your Shakespeare by Michael Macrone just for fun reading.

~The Rebecca Review

At first sight, this book may appear as a colorful, photo-packed elementary book on philosophy but it is much more. Bryan Magee elegantly and, most important, fairly presents the philosophers, their beliefs, their influence, and the 'eternal' questions they left us.

Above the excellent summarization and presentation, the great feature of the book is he clearly traces the development of ideas through generations of philosophers. Even for someone like me, who has taken philosophy courses at University level, this book is a great way to get a quick overview. The pictures and side boxes also add the historical context to the formation of the philosophers' ideas.

I had seen a copy of this book prior to purchase in an older edition. I liked it very much. It contains a lot of useful information laid out in a very readable fashion; however, I purchased a paperback copy. That was a big mistake! The type in the paperback edition is tiny. Reading this edition is difficult, and a lot of the impact of the creative layout is lost with the small pages. In retrospect, I would seek a larger format than the edition that measures 8.9 x 7.3 x 0.7 inches.

Bryan Magee has compiled a wonderful book on both the history and the actual tenets of philosophy throughout, mostly, the western world. Starting from the earliest Greek philosophy right up to the present day although current philosophers are not considered given their, as yet, unknown claims to fame, to be decided by future generations.

It is a beautifully illustrated book with many paintings, photos and descriptions of the meaning of philosophical concepts spread throughout to aid clarity and ensure the ideas are firmly based on the real world. Apart from the main outstanding philosophers and the main trends in philosophy he also includes small excursions onto related thinkers/poets/writers of the era concerned, this certainly illuminates the ideas as well as giving them historical perspective, a subtle indication of the influence of the time (Zeitgeist) on the ideas and vice versa.

The major philosophers include Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, Heraclitus, St Augustine, Descarte, Husserl, Hegel, Fichte, Popper, Hume, Berkely, Locke, Schopenhauer, Bergson, Sartre and so on, exploring the whole gamut. Included in terms of major trends is pragmatism, phenomenology, empiricism etc. All in all a superb book which is hard to put down even for people often bewildered by complex ideas and usually not willing to explore them seriously. Luckily Magee keeps the sections relatively short and prevents this fading of attention. This is yet another good aspect of the book. In addition he makes the reader fascinated and interested in further reading in depth of the central ideas. The book is also enclosed in a very hardwearing soft cover with overlapping ends and so keeps from falling apart, this is especially useful for infrequent readers or for multiple reading of the book by many, something I found out as I went through it. To call it a coffee table book does not do it justice since it is much more than this and does not look out of place on a philosophical bookshelf.

Even though the book covers mainly western philosophy it also takes an aside into Buddhist thought because of its deep philosophical foundations and influence all over the world eg on Schopenhauer. Taoism is not discussed and neither is Confucism but this is not a real drawback.

A superb introduction to philosophy.

Philosophy Populariser Bryan Magee has come up with what can best be described as a 'Philosophy for Dummies' book. It is an excellent introduction to philosophy and philosophers, starting with the great Greek thinkers such as Socrates and Plato through to modern 20th-century analytic and existential philosophy. The book is marvellously illustrated, swathed with beautiful paintings and fascinating sidelights on famous scientific, literary and political figures. Magee also, unlike Russell in his famous 'History of Philosophy', recognizes the fundamental importance of Immanuel Kant to philosophy, as well as the greatness of Kant's follower and critic, the 'pessimist' Schopenhauer. Magee also doesn't misunderstand or attack the philosophies of Hegel and Nietzsche, something many philosophers unfortunately tend to over-react to in a negative manner.

There is little to whine about so far as this wonderful book is concerned, apart from one or two minor flaws. One let-down was the rather superficial discussion of some key movements in 20th century philosophy, such as the existential movement, phemenology, analytic philosophy and continental philosophy, which is extremely important to much of contemporary thought and work in the arts. Also dissapointing was the omission of important philosophers of science, such as Kuhn and Feyerabend. Magee also tended to swideswipe the rather important and difficult questions raised by 'postmodernism' about the possibility of truthful, factual and eternal truths and knowledges, and also tended to leave out important feminist thinkers, or only give them cursory examination.

Aside from this the book remains an excellent introduction and overview to the seemingly arcane and difficult subject of philosophy, and Magee excellently shows that rather than being a pointless armchair exercise in speculation or self-indulgent worldviews, philosophy is something profoundly human and bound up intimately in everything in life.

A book that any dabbler in philosophy will love. Bryan McGee brings his enviable expositiory style to bear on many of the most exciting ideas of western philosophy. This book is meant for the interested layperson, but there is no dumbing down here; one feels fully satisfied at getting a pretty good introduction to things. Most of all, this book is a visual feast, a trademark of the DK series. Beautiful layout of text, magnificent all-colour reproductions of paintings and photos, informative thumbnail snippets at the margins, famous quotes in large font, all make sure that you spend as much time taking in the beauty of the book as you do in reading the text. The publishers have put in a lot effort in eye-catching presentation that is also so much fun to read.

Bryan Magee intended for this book to be an accessible and extensive overview of the history of philosophy. In my opinion, his THE STORY OF PHILOSOPHY accomplishes exactly that.

From the standpoint of being an overview, it covers trends in philosophy and the individuals who influenced these trends from the early Greek philosophers to the present day.

From the standpoint of accessibility, he uses language, thoughts, and anecdotes that are easily understandable without ever stooping to condescension.

Yes, the book is lavishly illustrated and could be an attractive "coffee table" book, but it is much more than just that. I found it both interesting and informative. Like so many good books of this nature, it gives enough information to create interest in following up on any of a number of subjects discussed in whatever depth one might choose. It also contains a good list of more detailed books on many of the great thinkers down through history who have been discussed here, coupled with the suggestion that one ought not to just read about them, but should also read their actual works.

In Magee's discussion of Saint Auguztine, he (Magee) shows Saint Augustine to be a real person with pain and desires just like the rest of us. He mentions that when Augustine was young and not yet reconciled to Christianity that he used to pray to God to "make me chaste, but not yet." How much more human could a future Saint be? I mention this because I found it fascinating and because it is indicative of many other special insights one can get from this book.

I found his section on Bertrand Russell to be particularly interesting. When Russell gives two slightly different versions of the same statement and discusses how one version goes against known fact and is therefore false, but the second version is without any factual basis and therefore cannot be proved to be either true or false he provides much food for thought.

There are discussions of everyone from Socrates to Kant; from French Philosophy to German Philosophy; from the early Greek world to the world of the 20th century; and more, much more.

There is also a handy glossary to explain the special nuances of many terms. All in all, I think that Magee has done an admirable job of writing a very readable book that meets his goal of accessibility coupled with a fairly comprehensive overview of his subject.