A New History of Western Philosophy

Anthony Kenny

New History of Western Philosophy

1,088 pages | 234x156mm

978-0-19-958988-3 | Hardback | 26 August 2010

Also available as: Paperback

Price: £30.00

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The first major single-author narrative of the history of philosophy for several decades
Reveals the origins of many modern ideas and issues
Perfect for undergraduate use
Written for anyone who wants to learn about the intellectual development of mankind — no prior knowledge of philosophy assumed
Brings to life the great minds of the past
Kenny is the perfect author: the only person who has made major contributions to the study of ancient, medieval, modern, and contemporary philosophy

This book is no less than a guide to the whole of Western philosophy — the ideas that have undergirded our civilization for two-and-a-half thousand years. Anthony Kenny tells the story of philosophy from ancient Greece through the Middle Ages and the Enlightenment into the modern world. He introduces us to the great thinkers and their ideas, starting with Plato, Aristotle, and the other founders of Western thought. In the second part of the book he takes us through a thousand years of medieval philosophy, and shows us the rich intellectual legacy of Christian thinkers like Augustine, Aquinas, and Ockham. Moving into the early modern period, we explore the great works of Descartes, Hobbes, Locke, Leibniz, Spinoza, Hume, and Kant, which remain essential reading today. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Hegel, Mill, Nietzsche, Freud, and Wittgenstein again transformed the way we see the world.

Running though the book are certain themes which have been constant concerns of philosophy since its early beginnings: the fundamental questions of what exists and how we can know about it; the nature of humanity, the mind, truth, and meaning; the place of God in the universe; how we should live and how society should be ordered. Anthony Kenny traces the development of these themes through the centuries: we see how the questions asked and answers offered by the great philosophers of the past remain vividly alive today.

Anyone interested in ideas and their history will find this a fascinating and stimulating read

Readership: General readers and students interested in philosophy or the history of human thought.

The specification in this catalogue, including without limitation price, format, extent, number of illustrations, and month of publication, was as accurate as possible at the time the catalogue was compiled. Occasionally, due to the nature of some contractual restrictions, we are unable to ship a specific product to a particular territory. Jacket images are provisional and liable to change before publication.

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