The Traveller's Guide to Classical Philosophy

by John Charles Addison Gaskin

This is the perfect primer for anyone interested in the foundation of Western thought and a unique companion for visitors to Greek and Roman sites. John Gaskin unfolds the thinking about nature, life, death and other worlds that informed the culture and society of the classical world still visible in todays cityscapes and archaeological sites and draws out its relevance and interest for the modern reader. The author associates each philosopher and his ideas with a particular tourist destination, and a gazetteer describes the sites and notes the people and ideas connected with them.

Genres: Philosophy, Greece

188 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2011

Reviews

[Chandler · Rating 2 out of 5]

wow. this sucks so hard. i actually read it pretty quickly but i just put it down with like three pages to go....about a month ago. lmao.

anyway, he tries way way way too hard to be comprehensive in a way that he has to know is impossible. that is, he'll touch on, say, some school's philosophy -- here's something about ethics! ooh, maybe physics! and then it's just "as for the logic, well, that may be the most interesting part -- but i'm afraid there's no room for me to even sum it up. it is worth reading about on your own." i'm reading YOUR book, jackass! probably 12-15% of the entire text is "i don't have room to talk about this."

not to mention how much he sucks off aristotle. he shares the unfortunately too common view that classical antiquity was the peak of civilization and it was downhill until like 1700s europe but man the extent...at the very end he picks like the best out-of-context quote of aristotle being like "knowledge is good...buh....and it's nice to live a good life" and he puts it with likewise the worst out-of-context quote from st. augustine and the conclusion is just "look how awful the medieval period gets!" (yeah, the MEDIEVAL period). aristotle. real champion of humanity there. true mensch.

anyway, i'm just still cranky since when i rediscovered this i thought the last three pages couldn't mess with me but he gives tips on appreciating the historical site of troy and he's like "don't bother trying to picture the wooden horse -- that's not even in the iliad, after all, dohohohoho" like OKAY? should I not "picture" the fall of Troy at all? what if i, like, idk, choose to acknowledge the ODYSSEY (like a goddamn MADMAN) -- THEN can i picture the wooden horse? it's in THERE!! does THAT count?? aaaaaaggggghhhhh this sucks so much

[Roisin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating book for those interested in classical literature, particularly Greek classical culture, who may want to know more or refresh one's knowledge on this topic. The start gives a short, quick break down of classical history, Greek and Roman. It goes on to look at different topics, looking at theatre, sex, temples, etc and examines, beliefs, ideas, philosophy, the nature of things and science. Each topic within the chapters offer useful recommendations and sources to read and has interesting examples throughout, which make you want go to the original sources. At the end, the book lists various cities, what they became known for, notable writers, philosophers, scientists who came from those places with recommended literature. Definitely, worth a read.

[Mehmet · Rating 5 out of 5]

While reading about Ancient Greece what I generally encounter is an isolated view of philosophers, i.e. isolated from where they live, political situation surrounding them etc. I was always looking for some book that can help me place the philosophers to a context including their connections to their surroundings. This book helped me a lot in this manner.

Given the short length of the book, one should not expect a full analysis of the philosophers (References are provided for people who want to dig deeper). Rather it gives a chronological story of the philosophers including details of the cities they were born and how their works were obtained (or lost). Who was the ruler when they were creating their mind blowing works. It presents ancient cities, noting how that city contributed to the legacy of ancient greek philosophy. Gaskin also tries to give you a picture of how the life was back then (e. g. wine, sex, politics, family, religion, architecture) in order to better understand in what circumstances philosophy was born.

Now I am dreaming of a road trip to these ancient cities, and thanks to Gaskin, what I shall see will mean something to me. I will think about Thales while I am walking in Miletus, or I will think about what "change" meant to Heraclitus while gazing at the Library of Celsus.

[Miguel Pinto · Rating 4 out of 5]

its good story, I totally recommend it.
the author creates a journey thru out the history of philosophy, not being too detailed to explore all intricacies of each philosopher but allows you to have a view on the school of thought and also created on me the desire to know more.
for such a small book i think i got a good experience.

[Banbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good outline of the philosophers and their philosophies of the classical world. The suggested readings for more depth look promising.

[Daphne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brief explanation of the development of classical philosophy. So brief that it was frustrating to read because it simply did not do justice to the individuals and ideas which were being discussed. I enjoyed the author's choice to present the relationship between philosophers and places.