Ancient Philosophy: A New History of Western Philosophy, Volume 1 1st Edition by Anthony Kenny (PDF)

Description

Sir Anthony Kenny tells the fascinating story of the birth of philosophy and its remarkable flourishing in the ancient Mediterranean world. This is the first of four volumes in which he unfolds a magisterial new history of Western philosophy. Specially written for a broad popular readership, but serious and deep enough to offer a genuine understanding of the great philosophers, Kenny’s lucid and stimulating history will become the definitive work for anyoneinterested in the people and ideas that shaped the course of Western thought.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐`Ancient Philosophy’ is the first 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. While Kenny’s writing and scholarship is of a high standard I have mixed feelings about the text.One the one hand, it is the best single-author overview of Western philosophy of which I am familiar, more readable than Copleston and more evenhanded than Russell. Undertaking a history of Western philosophy is a daunting task. Such a vast subject can be approached chronologically, by subject matter or in a mixed manner. Kenny takes the latter mixed approach, providing a chronological survey of the period in the early part of the book then delving into specific subject areas in latter portions.On the other hand, I am uncertain if it will find a ready audience. Those with sufficient background to follow the discussion may pass on the book, while those unacquainted with ancient philosophy will likely find much of text rather arcane and opaque. Additionally, from a physical perspective the paper is glossy, giving the text a bit of a `fluffy’ feel as well as making it difficult to read it certain lightening conditions (reflection).Overall, an ambitious undertaking by an excellent philosopher. Despite my mixed feelings, I will likely pick up the subsequent volumes.

⭐Michael Tracy indicates that John Douglas, gardener at Lincluden, was born to Andrew Douglas and Sarah Thomson and traces this family through to John. However this is incorrect as the death certificate of John, which is included in the book, shows that John was born to Robert Douglas and Janet Edgar. The traditional Scottish naming pattern at that time was that the first son was named after the father’s father. Hence John’s first son was names Robert. There are no children of John who are named Andrew or Sarah.

⭐I’ve had this volume on my shelf for some time, but read it now to prep for a class in the subject that I will teach this fall. Didn’t expect much, but frankly I thought this book was a really wonderful discussion and history of ancient philosophy. He condenses the actual history, and spends most of the volume discussing the progress of the major areas of philosophy. What is notable is how readable this book is for the average person. I heartily recommend it.

⭐School book. Was fine

⭐First philosophy/history book I’m reading and I’m enjoying it. It doesn’t have tons of info but that’s mainly because it is a smaller and briefer history of philosophy suited for beginners. Recommended.

⭐I loved the passion of the subject matter that is shining through this book. It is very well written and with a sense of humor that is infectious. I can’t wait to read more by the same author. I bought several copies for Christmas presents for people I know who are interested in modern theory and philosophy but have not yet delved into its origins and I know they will be fascinated in the clearly defined structure of this book. Highly recommend it.

⭐I am a big fan of books published by Oxford, especially their history, philosophy and Very Short Introductions series. I have read several selections and have usually found them to be well written. Imagine my surprise when I began reading the Kindle edition of this book to discover typo after typo. They all seem to be word substitution errors like “he” instead of “be”. Oxford, you really need to fix the Kindle edition of this book it is well below your standards.

⭐Awesome book,it contains A LOT of information about ancient philosophy and about the philosophers themselves. Basically everything I’ve ever studied in high school about ancient philosophy I can now understand better in this book and more. Recommend it.

⭐The prints are outstanding

⭐At the time of writing, this series of books had no reviews. I bought the first three in paperback (the fourth wasn’t available) after hearing an interview with Anthony Kelly on Philosophy Bites. He said he aimed to be a better read than Father Copleston and more accurate than Bertrand Russell, and admitted that, perhaps, that wasn’t aiming too highly. Maybe better to have been more accurate than Copleston and more entertaining than Russell. Whatever. This is a good read. I’m only 50 pages into the first book but it’s already a winner. The book’s divided into two tracks – historical and philosophical. You could go for either or (as I expect most readers will do) both tracks. The intro says it’s aimed at second and third year undergraduates but anyone with a brain will enjoy it. In fact, from what I’ve read so far, it won’t be out of reach of any thinking person, whatever age.

⭐Excellent

⭐Straightforward and easy to read outline of a difficult subject. I was borrowing it so often from the library that I decided to buy it.

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