An Invitation to Philosophy: Essays and Talks on the Love of Wisdom

by Will Durant, John R. Little (Editor)

It comes from the Greek words meaning "love of wisdom." In English, it is called philosophy - the study of the most important and enduring questions of the human race. Questions like, "What is reality?" "Is there a God?" "What happens when I die?" (among others) have intrigued mankind for millenniums and continue to pique the interest of eager seekers after truth. Perhaps more so than any other discipline, philosophy is best understood as a dialogue between ourselves and the great minds of the past - a dialogue that has endured for thousands of years. Drawing upon Pulitzer-Prize winner Will Durant's essays, as well as never-before-published talks and dialogues on philosophy and philosophers, "An Invitation To Philosophy" presents a magnificent introduction to philosophy with an overview of its major branches, their problems and capabilities, as well as brief profiles of four of the discipline's most inspirational representatives (Confucius, Socrates, Plato and Giordano Bruno). "An Invitation to Philosophy" is a compass and guide to navigating the moral ocean of the human soul, in addition to being the definitive presentation of the philosophy of Will Durant, who makes an eloquent case for the very need of philosophy in our daily life: "Without philosophy, without that total vision which unifies purposes and establishes the hierarchy of desires, we fritter away our social heritage in cynical corruption on the one hand, and in revolutionary madness on the other; we abandon in a moment our pacific idealism and plunge into the cooperative suicide of war; we have a hundred thousand politicians, and but a single statesman. We move about the earth with unprecedented speed, but we do not know, and have not thought, where we are going, or whether we shall find any happiness there for our harassed souls. We are being destroyed by our knowledge, which has made us drunk with our power. And we shall not be saved without wisdom." -- Will Durant (from Chapter Eight)

Genres: Philosophy, Essays

108 pages, Paperback

First published August 14, 2003

About the author

William James Durant was a prolific American writer, historian, and philosopher. He is best known for the 11-volume The Story of Civilization, written in collaboration with his wife Ariel and published between 1935 and 1975. He was earlier noted for his book, The Story of Philosophy, written in 1926, which was considered "a groundbreaking work that helped to popularize philosophy."

They were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for literature in 1967 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977.

Reviews

[Miss Ravi · Rating 3 out of 5]

این‌جوری حس می‌کنم که ویل دورانت حتا اگه قسمت تاریک دنیا رو درک کرده باشه، باز هم حرف‌هاش و چیزی که به عنوان دعوتی به فلسفه ارائه می‌ده پُر از خوش‌بینیه؛ طرفدار افلاطون و دوست‌دار زندگی.

[Farkhondeh Nazarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

برای منی که هیچی از فلسفه نمی دونم و تازه اولِ اول راهم، این کتاب پر از سوالا و نکات جذاب بود؛ انگیزه ایجاد کرد بیشتر بخونم. واقعا اسم "دعوت به فلسفه" برازنده این کتاب بود.
نگاه ساده ی ویل دورانت به زندگی، در مقابل سوالای سخت و پیچیده ی همسرش منو یاد این شعر سهراب مینداخت: "زندگی شستن یک بشقاب است، زندگی یافتن سکه دهشاهی در جوی خیابان است ..."

پ ن: واسه شروع خیلی خوب بود :))

[Arianne X · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Invitation to Join the Great Conversation and Widen your Views a Thousand-Fold

Durant’s epigrammatic style is a great treat for the reader. The book contains many great Durant quotes.

The only disappointment is that Chapter Eight (What Is Philosophy?) in 'An invitation to Philosophy' is the same as Chapter Three (Has Philosophy Lost Its Meaning?) in the book 'Adventures in Philosophy'. This Chapter Eight, (What is Philosophy?) is written as a dialogue, primarily between Will and Ariel Durant. In it we see find that there is no single correct, complete and fully explanatory meaning to life as sought by Ariel but we also find that this does not result in there being no meaning in life. As Herman Melville put it, we must learn to lower our conceit for attainable felicity.

[Hadi Rostamzadeh Kalkhoran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who likes philosophy or is interested in it should be started from this book.