Philosophy Book Reviews : A History of Western Philosophy , by Bertrand Russell

Link to the main index : Book Reviews - All categories             Link to the philosophy book reviews index
Bertrand Russell , History of Western Philosophy

Click here to display price and shipping information :
 Bertrand Russell , A History of Western Philosophy
(paperback, 895 pages, 31 chapters)

          In this classic of philosophy written in 1945, Bertrand Arthur Russell (1872-1970) moves with great precision and comprehensiveness from the pre-Socratics to the 20th century. The encyclopedic and historically context-sensitive style is required because, Russell explains, "My purpose is to exhibit philosophy as an integral part of social and political life, not as the isolated speculations of remarkable individuals."

          The complete title is: A History of Western Philosophy and Its Connection With Political and Social Circumstances from the Earliest Times to the Present Day

          In my opinion, Russell writes a painfully long section (186 pages) on the philosophy associated with the Catholic Church (Augustine, Aquinas, etc.) Apparently, these concepts were given weight according to the number of centuries the viewpoints ruled, rather than accordance to relevance for a modern reader.

          Readers' reviews on Amazon.com's book description page have an extreme range: either Russell is too biased in favor of positivism, or his book is the greatest thing ever.

          Scroll down about ten inches and you'll see the book's table of contents.
This is an Amazon.com link for Bertrand Russell , A History of Western Philosophy

Also by Bertrand Russell --   [Click on title to display the price] Other authors, about Bertrand Russell --
Link to the main index : Book Reviews - All categories         Link to the philosophy book reviews index

Table of Contents 

Table of Contents for
A History of Western Philosophy , by Bertrand Russell , 1945
Based on the Simon & Schuster reprint, November, 1977,
Paperback, 895 pages

A History of Western Philosophy and Its Connection With Political
and Social Circumstances from the Earliest Times to the Present Day ,
by Bertrand Russell


Preface by Author					  ix
Introduction						  xiii

ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY


    PART I - The Pre-Socratics				  3

	1.  The rise of Greek civilization		  3
	2.  The Milesian school 			  24
	3.  Pythagoras					  29
	4.  Heraclitus					  38
	5.  Parmenides					  48
	6.  Empedocles					  53
	7.  Athens in relation to culture		  58
	8.  Anaxagoras					  61
	9.  The atomists				  64
	10. Protagoras					  73

    PART II - Socrates, Plato and Aristotle		   82

	11. Socrates					  82
	12. The influence of Sparta			  94
	13. The sources of Plato's opinions               104
	14. Plato's Utopia                                108
	15. The theory of ideas 			  110
	16. Plato's theory of immortality                 132
	17. Plato's cosmogony                             143
	18. Knowledge and perception in Plato		  149
	19. Aristotle's metaphysics                       158
	20. Aristotle's ethics                            172
	21. Aristotle's politics                          184
	22. Aristotle's logic                             195
	23. Aristotle's physics                           203
	24. Early Greek mathematics and astronomy	  208

    PART III - Ancient philosophy after Aristotle	  218

	25. The Hellenistic world			  218
	26. Cynics and Skeptics 			  228
	27. The Epicureans				  240
	28. Stoicism					  252
	29. The Roman Empire in relation to culture	  270
	30. Plotinus					  284

CATHOLIC PHILOSOPHY

    Introduction					  301

    PART I - The Fathers				  308

	1.  The religious development of the Jews	  308
	2.  Christianity during the first four centuries  324
	3.  Three doctors of the church 		  334
	4.  Saint Augustine's philosophy and theology     352
	5.  The Fifth and Sixth Centuries		  366
	6.  Saint Benedict and Gregory the Great	  375

    PART II - The Schoolmen				  388

	7.  The Papacy in the Dark Ages 		  388
	8.  John the Scott				  400
	9.  Ecclesiastical reform in the Eleventh Century 407
	10. Mohammedan culture and philosophy		  419
	11. The Twelfth Century 			  428
	12. The Thirteenth Century			  441
	13. Saint Thomas Aquinas			  452
	14. Franciscan Schoolmen			  463
	15. The eclipse of the papacy			  476

MODERN PHILOSOPHY

    PART I - From the Renaissance to Hume		  491

	1.  General characteristics			  491
	2.  The Italian Renaissance			  495
	3.  Machiavelli 				  504
	4.  Erasmus and More				  512
	5.  The Reformation and Counter-Reformation	  522
	6.  The rise of science 			  525
	7.  Francis Bacon				  541
	8.  Hobbes's Leviathan                            546
	9.  Descartes					  557
	10. Spinoza					  569
	11. Leibniz					  581
	12. Philosophical liberalism			  596
	13. Locke's theory of knowledge                   604
	14. Locke's political philosophy                  617
	15. Locke's influence                             641
	16. Berkeley					  647
	17. Hume					  659

    PART II - From Rousseau to the present day		  675

	18. The Romantic movement			  675
	19. Rousseau					  684
	20. Kant					  701
	21. Currents of thought in the Nineteenth Century 719
	22. Hegel					  730
	23. Byron					  746
	24. Schopenhauer				  753
	25. Nietzsche					  760
	26. The Utilitarians				  773
	27. Karl Marx					  782
	28. Bergson					  791
	29. William James				  811
	30. John Dewey					  819
	31. The philosophy of logical analysis		  828

Index							  837
About the Author					  897
This is an Amazon.com link for Bertrand Russell , A History of Western Philosophy
Link to the main index : Book Reviews - All categories         Link to the philosophy book reviews index