The Greek Philosophers

by Rex Warner

an allegorical novel whose young hero is faced with the disintegration of his certainties about his loved ones and with a choice between the earthy, animalistic life of his home village

Genres: Philosophy, History, Nonfiction

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

Rex Warner was an English classicist, writer and translator. He is now probably best remembered for The Aerodrome (1941), an allegorical novel whose young hero is faced with the disintegration of his certainties about his loved ones and with a choice between the earthy, animalistic life of his home village and the pure, efficient, emotionally detached life of an airman.

Reviews

[Walter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most books about the Greek philosophers follow this format; there is a short introduction about the pre-Socratics, followed by extensive discussion of Plato and Aristotle, followed by a short epilogue about all of the Greek philosophers after Aristotle. In this book, Rex Warner, a popular British classicist and novelist of the 1950s and 60s, follows a different approach. Warner does spend a significant amount of time discussing Plato and Aristotle of course. But Warner reminds us that Christian philosophy has emphasized these two philosophers, while in fact in the ancient world Plato and Aristotle were not the dominant philosophical schools. In order to understand the mind of the ancient Greeks and Romans, you have to understand the other schools, such as those of the Pythagoreans, the Cynics, and especially the Stoics. Very few of the prominent Greek and Roman pagan thinkers were influenced by Plato or Aristotle, but rather by the other schools. Nobody can understand the thinking of the great Roman emperors without understanding the Stoics. And it is difficult to understand the rise of neo-Pagan thought without understanding the philosophy of Plotinus and his Neo-Platonists.

"The Greek Philosophers" is a great treatment of the entire range of Greek philosophy, from Thales in the 7th Century BC to Plotinus in the 3rd Century AD. Warner's prose is great and he makes the philosophical schools come alive for the modern readers. More than that, he puts the various philosophies squarely in the context of the ancient world and the cultures of the ancient Greeks and Romans.

While this is a great treatment of the ancient Greek philosophers, there are a couple of flaws with this book. For one thing, Warner is admittedly an atheist, and he gives short shrift to metaphysics, which is a huge component to many of the Greek philosophical schools. This makes some of his discussions about the schools a bit less understandable. The other flaw with this book is that Warner includes lengthy excerpts from the works of the philosophers without commentary. It is almost as though Warner saw this volume as a collection of the writers of the Greek philosophers with short introductions. This books is only a little over 200 pages, and probably 100 pages of it are excerpts from the philosophers. This seems to me to be a lazy way to write a book.

Still, this book is a very good introduction to the Greek philosophers. I would recommend it to anyone interested in classical philosophy.

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good introduction to the subject though I don't think the author intended the book to be a thorough in depth investigation. It was on the history reading list when I was at preparatory school in the early 1960's which is quite imaginative when I look back now.

[Garth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rather dry and dated but still a decent book for ancient philosophy

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Warner's survey text is an excellent general introduction to Greek Philosophy.

[Jeroen Van de Crommenacker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dry and quite dusty. Only recommended in small doses.

[Basil Miller · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really tried but I was hardly interested enough to start and it isn't interesting or inspiring enough to finish. I understand this was a supposed to be a brief summary of the early greek philosophers but I kept feeling shortchanged at the end of each person's description. But it certainly gave alot for Plato and Aristotle, seeming almost unbalanced. I dont know if it was from a lack of sources but I do know it was an unsatisfying read for me.

Maybe in the future I will finish the final chapters but I see it unlikely. The book is really just an introduction to greek philosophers, so it is best to treat it as such. Though I am sure there are better books are better introductions.

[Eoghan Ó Tuile · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice introduction to the Pre-Socratics, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, & Stoicism. Just the tip of the iceberg though, don't expect a thorough analysis.