A Brief History of Analytic Philosophy: From Russell to Rawls

by Stephen P. Schwartz

A Brief History of Analytic Philosophy: From Russell to Rawls presents a comprehensive overview of the historical development of all major aspects of analytic philosophy, the dominant Anglo-American philosophical tradition in the twentieth century.
Features coverage of all the major subject areas and figures in analytic philosophy - including Wittgenstein, Bertrand Russell, G.E. Moore, Gottlob Frege, Carnap, Quine, Davidson, Kripke, Putnam, and many others Contains explanatory background material to help make clear technical philosophical concepts Includes listings of suggested further readings Written in a clear, direct style that presupposes little previous knowledge of philosophy

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, History

368 pages, Paperback

First published March 12, 2012

Reviews

[William Nist · Rating 4 out of 5]

A refresher course (for me at least being a Phil major) on the last 100 years of Analytic Philosophy. Breezily written yet it can not escape the dense nature of, say, the philosophy of language. Since it has been a long while since I graduated, I wanted to see what has happen this century in Philosophy and this book will bring you up to date.

It certainly helps immensely if you know who the Logical Positivists and the Vienna were, understand British Empiricism and Ordinary language philosophy, and are familiar with Wittgenstein through Rawls, but if not, while difficult, this book is still readable and may inspire you to investigate these thinkers and schools further.

Excellent recommended readings and end of chapter capsule summaries of the most salient philosophical issues of the chapter.

[AnnaRose · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book touches on some great theories and people. However, the author inserts his thoughts too often. Also, some parts are very wordy and technical while others are very simple and enjoyable to read for people of all backgrounds. Still, if you are interested in philosophy or history, this is an interesting book.

[Ege · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must book for everyone who is interested in analytic philosophy, especially philosophers like Wittgenstein, Quine, Putnam and Kripke.

[Daniel Solomon · Rating 4 out of 5]

From a non-expert with interests in learning more about modern rational empirical philosophy perspective:
This has been an excellent summary of the history and main ideas of different theories and ideas of analytic philosophy. Explanations of complex concepts were clear and I felt I learned a lot from this book, together with some original texts like Ayer's or Wittgenstein's and reading more complicated entries in SEP. I can imagine how actual analytic philosophers may see the explanations as rather shallow and not very deep in parts, but that's just right for a book aimed at beginners.

Overall, the book gives a good overview of analytic philosophy in the 20th century. I think it doesn't really go far into recent research, but that's to be expected given the difficulty of judging what's historically important among the most recent ideas. The author suggests that much/most of analytic philosophy is basically merging with more theoretical cognitive/social and even physical science, with exceptions for e.g teaching/analysing classic philosophy. This seems like a natural evolution to me and presumably to those of a more naturalist orientation, but is controversial I think.

[Ramon Picarello · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has completely changed my view of philosophy as a whole. I recommend anyone who knows basic propositional logic to read this book.

[Chant · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books to give a brief overview of what we consider 'analytic philosophy'. I knew most of the philosophical thoughts of the philosophers presented in this book were presented in a fairly ordinary sense for the educated lay person to get a basic idea of what analytic philosophy and the development from logical atomism to analytic metaphysics.

PS. In a possible world, this book is complete garbage.

[CM · Rating 2 out of 5]

The two philosophers in the title has given a snapshot of the topics in this book, the mathematico-logical Russell and the politico-ethical Rawls(plus several philosophers of language in the text) presenting readers a brief intro to this lessor known tradition in philosophy.

Writers of a historical work on any discipline should find their own answer regarding the balance between the historical and the disciplinary knowledge. Here the author appears to focus more on the latter with an emphasis on breadth, not depth. A fine choice in itself, it can make the linkage between ideas(or chapters) less clear. The presentation of these 9 chapters, except Chapter 6, is accessible, if disappointingly dry, to readers new to this area. Putting multiple text-boxs (to give context to terms) at the back of a chapter is probably a bad idea but it is only a minor offence when compared to writing a boring history of philosophy.

[Alejandro Nogara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wittgenstein's thinking isn't explained very precisely.

[A. B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent overview of Analytic philosophy. Learnt a lot. Goes through all the main names and ideas -- giving a clear, succinct overview of the field.

[Mills College Library]

146.409 S3998 2012