Thales To Dewey

by Gordon H. Clark

"Greek philosophy began on May 28, 585 B.C., at 6:13 in the evening." With this arresting statement, Dr. Clark begins his masterful and unparalleled account of the history of Western Philosophy. Thales to Dewey does not attempt to be an encyclopedia of philosophy, but focuses primarily on the theories of knowledge advanced by the major philosophers. By focusing his book in this fashion, Dr. Clark is able to present the most important ideas of the philosophers clearly and adequately, rather than confusing the reader with cursory accounts of too many ideas. This is the best one-volume history of philosophy in print. No Christian should be without it.

Genres: Philosophy, History, Theology, Nonfiction

564 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Gordon Haddon Clark was an American philosopher and Calvinist theologian. He was a primary advocate for the idea of presuppositional apologetics and was chairman of the Philosophy Department at Butler University for 28 years. He was an expert in pre-Socratic and ancient philosophy and was noted for his rigor in defending propositional revelation against all forms of empiricism and rationalism, in arguing that all truth is propositional and in applying the laws of logic. His system of philosophy is sometimes called Scripturalism.

The Trinty Foundation continues to publish his writings.

Reviews

[BJ Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent work of the history of philosophy with a focus on the major philosophers down through time. For a survey work like this, it is a bit dry and once I moved beyond the early Greeks the reading did seem to slow down quite a bit. Clark brings his Evangelical perspective to his work and while I think often his critiques would be unconvincing to a non-Christian, it is still good to see how a Christian would view and understand various philosophies and he does not cross the line into being dogmatic. Overall, this is a good but not great survey from a perspective unique for this type of writing.

[Myllena Melo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Antes tarde, do que nunca. (2021-2022)

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A FAMED CALVINIST PHILOSOPHER/APOLOGIST'S "HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY",

Gordon Haddon Clark (1902-1985) was an American philosopher and Calvinist theologian, who was chairman of the Philosophy Department at Butler University for 28 years. He wrote many books, such as 'A Christian View of Men and Things,' 'An Introduction to Christian Philosophy,' 'Religion, Reason and Revelation,' 'God and Evil:The Problem Solved,' 'God's Hammer: The Bible and Its Critics,' etc.

He wrote in the Preface to this 1957 book, "The present volume... makes the difficult attempt of bringing the student up to philosophy's level... the number of men discussed has been kept to a near minimum... the subject matter has been restricted. There was not even the temptation to cover all the theories of any one philosopher... The aim here has been to give a fairly thorough comprehension of a few major issues..." He covers the Presocratics; the Sophists, Socrates, and Plato; Aristotle (on pg. 145 he calls Plato and Aristotle "the greatest philosophic genuises the world has ever seen"); the Hellenistic Age; the Patristic Period; the Scholastic Period; 17th Century Rationalism; British Empiricism; Kant; Hegel; Contemporary Irrationalism (up through Dewey and Pragmatism).

He assures us that while the Scriptures do not answer all questions, "there are many points... on cosmology, psychology, philosophy of history, epistemology---not to mention morality and religion---on which the Bible protects the Christian against plausible but false theories." (Pg. 190) He further asserts that "a revealed religion, a religion in which God gives men information about himself and about their salvation, cannot be basically skeptical." (Pg. 207)

He wrote, "Kant had in effect argued that before we investigate the world and God, we must investigate whether the mind is capable of investigating the world and God. But does it not follow with at least equal evidence that before we investigate whether the mind is capable of knowing the world, we must investigate whether we can investigate whether the mind is capable of knowing the world? And so there must be prior and still prior Critiques." (Pg. 434)

This book is, I think, a better "Christian introduction to philosophy" than his "Christian View" book.

[Daniel Lieber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this history of philosophy was very thorough compared to other introductory books on the subject. I will say it does get pretty technical and while it is impossible to recount the issues accurately without getting into subtlety, I do think some concepts could be communicated in a little more accessible way. Clark also mixes critiques seamlessly in his explanations of different systems of thought which can be confusing or easy to miss at times. However, one does come away with a very solid understanding of how each philosophical system is thought out and applied. More importantly, Clark does an exceptional job highlighting the epistemological consequences of biblical revelation. Clark concludes the book with a suggestion that “a choice must be made between skeptical futility and a word from God.” The necessity and inevitability of this choice is very effectively demonstrated through the historical development of philosophy beginning with the Greeks into the Age of Christendom and through the Post-Enlightenment era. The content of this book is excellent; what was wanting for me was more to do with writing style and accessibility.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you don't follow Clark's philosophy, most of his critiques against competing systems of thought falter pretty quickly. While he does make some valid criticisms, if you think one can gain knowledge through inductive means, sense perception, or common sense, then you're likely to dismiss much of his criticisms of non-Christian thought as unhelpful. You're also likely to dismiss may of his criticisms of Natural Theology in the same way. If you are a Clarkian, then you're probably sure to love this book. After all, it's Clark - the greatest theological and philosophical mind God ever graced his Church with. Oh, by the way, if it's not obvious, I'm not a Clarkian. (By the way, I have sent a message to the Good Reads staff to correct the author's middle name. It is "Hadden," not "Madden." If they correct it I will delete this comment.)

[Dan Carey · Rating 3 out of 5]

At the moment, I'm actually just skimming through certain early philosophers. The Greeks fascinate me in a way that most later philosophers simply don't. Not sure why.

This book was my father's college Intro to Philosophy course book. When I was 17 and interested in attending St. John's College (which teaches via its Great Books program), he gave me this to read to see if I was ready for something like that. I never finished the book because I would get sidetracked into reading some of the original source materials. (Plato can be a big time sink, 'cause he's a pretty entertaining writer.)

Anyway, this book has a lot of nostalgic connections for me. Hence, my rating. I think most readers today (even those predisposed to like philosophy) would find it a bit dry.

[Adam T. Calvert · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is cited in a lot of shorter history of philosophy books, and I've found it to be helpful to have a history of philosophy written by a Christian philosopher. But so far, the reading has been a little tedious (yes, even for a "history of philosophy"). Clark is a great teacher, and I appreciate what he has to say. In this book though he seems to take a long time to say one thing - to the point that I get lost in the argument. Of course, that very well could be my own deficiency as a reader (and probably is), but for now it's to the point that I'll have to set this one aside for the time being...

[Tony Calvert · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very challenging read for me. I'll need to revisit several times.

[Seth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not easy reading, but is any history of philosophy going to be? On the reread list.