The author wrote this book as he was aware philosophy is no longer considered to be part of an educated person’s “General Knowledge”. Luc Ferry thinks this is not acceptable. This book is designed to allow the reader to study a little philosophy.

Philosophy is important because without it, it’s extremely difficult to make sense of the world. This is because most of our thoughts and values have meaning within views of the world that have been developed over the course of history. Without an understanding of these views, people can become fearful and discouraged.

A familiarity with texts of philosophy can allow us to live in a better and freer way, in a more meaningful way.

This books covers certain philosophers in some detail, but as a Brief History of Thought, it can’t cover all of them in great detail. There are enough examples from the history of philosophy for interested readers to branch out and discover more for themselves.