A History of Western Philosophy: From the Pre-Socratics to Postmodernism

by C. Stephen Evans

Plato. Aristotle. Augustine. Hume. Kant. Hegel.

These names and the philosophies associated with them ring through the minds of every student and scholar of philosophy. And in their search for knowledge, every student of philosophy needs to know the history of the philosophical discourse such giants have bequeathed us.

Noted philosopher C. Stephen Evans brings his expertise to this daunting task as he surveys the history of Western philosophy, from the Pre-Socratics to Nietzsche and postmodernism—and every major figure and movement in between.

Genres: Philosophy, History, Nonfiction, College

600 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2018

About the author

C. Stephen Evans (b. Atlanta , Georgia) is an American historian and philosopher, he is one of the United States' leading experts on Søren Kierkegaard having published six books on Kierkegaard over 25 years. He is currently Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Humanities at Baylor University. He holds a B.A. with High Honors (philosophy), from Wheaton College, an M.Phil. (philosophy) from Yale University, and a Ph.D. (philosophy) from Yale University.

He has won numerous awards, and reviews manuscripts for several university presses, including Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Princeton University Press, as well as Harper and Rowe. He does the same for several academic journals. He was curator of the Howard V. and Edna H. Hong Kierkegaard Library. He has organized several major conferences. He served five years on the the editorial board for Kierkegaard Monographs and for the International Kierkegaard Commentary Series. He is a past president of the Society of Christian Philosophers and the Søren Kierkegaard Society.

Reviews

[ally · Rating 4 out of 5]

NEW REVIEW (OCTOBER 2021)

♫i'm stan and i was wrong
i'm singing the stan wrong song♫

i read this for some background knowledge, essentially for fun, about six months ago
i WAS orignally bothered at the authors religious opinions sprinkled about here and there and was hoping for something a bit more objective

HOWEVER

this is a very strong and thorough resource for all things western philosophy and is absolutely saving me in my studies

get this if you're taking a western philosophy course




OLD REVIEW (FEBRUARY 2021)

[*quotes sermon from the bible to summarize nietzsche*

"nietzsche does not actually quote from the sermon of the mount but he COULD have"

thanks but no thanks ]

[Jack W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great review of western philosophy since the ancients. Evans is even handed throughout while writing as an Evangelical Christian. He is weak in two areas: 1) he says very little on political philosophy 2) seems to have clear preference for Philosophers after Decartes. Ancient and Medieval philosophers are considered, but in less detail.

The book has three winners:

1) George Berkley, mega chad Anglican Bishop who casually writes book that says only ideas exist when he's like 25, and breaks Europe.

2) David Hume, the atheist who undermines his own skepticism with dogmatic, cringy anti-religion takes

3) Alpha male Thomas Reid, who reads Hume one day and then retires early from pulpit ministry to say "Why should I believe your stupid ideas if you're so stupid you can't believe your own eyes" and then literally all of America is built on him.

[Brian Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read a few one-volume histories of philosophy and, so far, this is my favorite. Evans gives a tour of western philosophy from the Pre-Socratics through the end of the nineteenth century. (He stops there, for the most part, and gives a few comments on the twentieth century. His rational seems to be, "Hey, this book has to end somewhere, and I may write a volume on the twentieth century if I have time," and, "It's best to wait a few generations before analyzing philosophical trends.")

Evans doesn't spend much time on biography and history. He is more interested in getting to the heart of significant philosophers' ideas and giving brief, though insightful, analysis from a Christian perspective. I think this book would be profitable for non-Christians, since Evans works hard to accurately present each philosopher's ideas. His Christian reflects are often quite short.

The only weaknesses of the book, as far as I'm concerned, are that he doesn't spend enough time with some philosophers, such as Plato and Aristotle, and that he doesn't cover every significant thinker in history. He devotes about twenty pages to Plato, Aristotle, and Augustine, though he gives Kant over forty pages. He devotes significant time and space to Marx, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche, so it seems his interest and expertise regards the nineteenth century. But he also covers Anselm, Aquinas, Descartes, and many others.

One note on the form of the book: IVP has produced a very attractive hardcover. Many such books have pages crammed with text (perhaps 450-500 words per page). I estimate that the pages of this book have about 350 words per page. That makes a 600-page book easier to read. It's easier on the eyes, and it makes the book more enjoyable. So, kudos to IVP.

[Liam Prato · Rating 4 out of 5]

Annual history of philosophy book completed (gotta stay fresh). Wanna read more Marx, but Hegel before Marx, but then Kant before Hegel, but then Hume before... What the FUCK is a logical positivist? Optimistic mathematician ass.
Anyways this is great. I read it on the beach at Ao Nang. Written by a St. Olaf professor - today my sister declared she's going to college at St. Olaf, what are the odds? But yeah he's a Christian and covers the Middle Ages theology and its relationship with classical philosophy far better than, say, A.C. Grayling's "The History of Philosophy" (which covers a far wider range of thinkers and also doesn't relegate itself strictly to "the West").
I still don't know what Kierkegaard was on about. I'm big on dialectics. I do not care about Nietzsche.

[Justin Sassard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was assigned for my philosophy of religion course. Coming into the book I did not know much about philosophy and this books served as a great introduction to all the major philosophers. The author did a great job of explaining philosophy in a simple way but also didn’t seem to dumb it down. It was also nice to be guided through philosophy by a Christian author.

[Chloe W · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful overview of Western philosophy.

[Mason Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so impressed and thankful for this book. It is very readable and very fair. This year has been sort of an introduction to philosophy for me, and I cannot imagine a better history of philosophy to begin with.

[Chase Luka · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a remarkable overview on the history of Western philosophy. Evans walks through the primary characters and views of the major philosophies that make up what is putatively "Western" philosophy in a delightfully clear and abridged way. He does this through a Christian perspective (more on what this means below), which is very refreshing and engaging. The page lengths are also a very good size with nicely scattered breaks throughout the chapters which find a nice balance between absorbing enough information without being worn out; this made it all very pleasant to read. Therefore, this is certainly worth reading if you're looking for a fresh and enjoyable perspective on Western philosophy.

Throughout his work, Evans employs two primary assumptions in his examination of these philosophers. Firstly, the concept of the transcendent is not only ubiquitous for nearly every philosopher since the pre-socratics, it is also immensely present and sometimes foundational in the development of their philosophies. Even atheists such as Hume or Nietzsche attempted to developed many of their theories in order to explain the world specifically without God or anything like him (which just goes to show how big of a mark the idea of the transcendence has had on Western thought). Secondly, Evans assumes that all of these philosophers and their time periods were not primitive and ignorant, a common post-enlightenment theme, but rather that they were intelligent, curious, and brilliant scholars ancient only in time. What these two primary assumptions provide is a more accurate and rich exploration of the views of these men (and women).

Now, Evans is a Christian philosopher writing in a "Christian perspective" and he makes no attempt to hide this fact, but he is excellent in giving an objective insight into the philosophies. Where his Christian perspective can be seen is after laying out a full and accurate picture of someone's arguments and then simply expressing to the reader where and if this lines up with Christian doctrine. Likewise, when he adds objections to all of the philosophers, he doesn't object on the assumptions held by the Christian, instead he uses popular objections to the argument. However, he does make a particular effort to provide extended objections to those arguments that would challenge the existence of God or that might pose some serious problems to Christianity. This might seem like an area to critique Evans, but I do not think in doing so he detracts from the content of the arguments in question. Indeed he presents the full and fair picture of each individual, often expanding on their arguments to make them stronger. This is especially seen in his chapter on Hume, which was my favorite chapter for these very reasons.

If there would be anything to critique, It would have to be the minimal amounts of examples given to explain many of these abstract theories. I'm assuming many examples were excluded due to the length of the book already. However, it can be at times a lot to sift through and require you to formulate your own examples to understand the material.

Although a decent length and at times arduous in content, this is certainly an insightful and enjoyable look at Western philosophy that assumes a few foundational principles that really set this apart from other contemporary works on the subject. All done in fair and loving kindness to the views presented: a truly Christian perspective.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Philosophy, notoriously, can be abstract and obscure. Yet philosophy is also a noble effort to grapple with some of the most difficult and pressing questions humans can face. What is the good? What is real? How can we know and be certain?

C. Stephen Evans provides a model of conciseness and clarity in telling the story of Western philosophy from the days before Socrates to the present. As much as is possible Evans uses plain language to briefly tell the story of each key figure and of their ideas.

Evans does not offer these in isolation but shows how each person built on and often reacted against those who came before. Key turning points and emphases are highlighted as well. Socrates shifted the conversation from “What is real?” to “What is the good?” Descartes inaugurates modern philosophy by seeking to start from ground zero and focus on “How can I know?” And “modern philosophy may begin with doubt, but ancient philosophy clearly began with wonder” (p. 577).

He rounds up the usual suspects for major attention (Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Descartes, Hume, Marx, Neitzsche). Yet Evans gives good consideration to Philo, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Rousseau, Wollstonecraft, Hegel, Mill, and many other lesser known figures.

Another virtue is the even coverage he gives. The Middle Ages, for example, are not ignored. Not only does Aquinas get his due but so also do Bonaventure, Scotus, and Ockham. While some would separate religion from philosophy, Evans argues that their concerns have always intertwined whether Greek, Christian, or atheist. So throughout he tells that story as well. Besides even coverage, he is evenhanded—never disparaging while showing strengths and weakness of each person and viewpoint.

Evans shows where his own thinking leans by devoting chapters each to Thomas Reid and Soren Kierkegaard. While they are quite different they overlap substantially in that they recognize the limits of reason while also having a certain confidence in what can be known.

The final chapter offers a number of helpful summaries and evaluations of the whole philosophical enterprise, especially in the last hundred years. While we must give up the quest for absolute, objective certainty, this need not lead to despair or skepticism. As with Reid and Kierkegaard, hope for drawing close to truth remains.

-----

Disclosure: While I invited Evans to write this volume for IVP Academic, I had retired before the volume was completed and was not involved in its development, revision, or final form. I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

[Joel Wentz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really, really fantastic introduction to a massive subject. Evans puts his "cards on the table," and makes it clear that he is endeavoring to simply provide a summary of Western thinking through an explicitly Christian lens. Non-Christians shouldn't let that put them off, however, as his explicitly Christian commentary is pretty minimal, and Evans' attempt to recover some of the downplayed Christian elements of philosophers like Locke is extremely helpful to anyone interested in the real contours of their thinking. His writing throughout is very accessible, even to the uninitiated (though the occasional chapters get dense, like the section on Kant, for example), and the reader truly does grasp some of the major themes and threads that connect the postmodern movement to the ancients.

I personally found his discussions of Thomas Reid, Hegel, Marx, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche very enlightening. The way he explains the shift in focus on philosophical method around the Enlightenment, and how that draws a clear distinctions from ancient thinkers, was also super helpful, and his breakdown of the continental/analytic divide really helps to place specific thinkers in their various contexts. I would have loved a bit more commentary post-Nietzsche, but as Evans admits, the book had to stop somewhere!

Overall, I found it quite interesting and helpful, and will absolutely be returning to specific chapters to brush-up on certain thinkers. Lastly, IVP really did do a good job producing this. It could have been a terrible, textbook-like reading experience, but is quite attractive. It's a very worthy book for anyone interested in Western thought (Christian or not) to have on their shelf.

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Evan’s history is an excellent overview of the major developments of philosophy in the western world. He begins naturally with the Pre-Socratics and works all the way through to Mill and Nietzsche. As a Christian professor in Baylor University’s Department of Philosophy, Evans’ commitment to foundational truths of Christianity are evident, especially in what could easily be titled (following Kierkegaard) “Concluding Unscientific Postscript.” Thus Evans provides a uniquely Christian view on western philosophy and explores how it has impacted our faith and our culture and how we can meaningfully interact with the history of ideas as faithful believers.

While not in-depth in every area, A History of Western Philosophy is an excellent overview of key ideas and thinkers up to the twentieth century (noticeably absent is detailed discussion [and critique] on Russell, Heidegger, Wittgenstein, and philosophies of language and film, as well as contemporary philosophy [LGBT, women’s, black, etc.]). But despite these omissions, the book is written to be engaging and is not nearly as dry, dusty, nor boring as other history books. I’d recommend it if you’re looking for a good summary of key philosophical thinkers.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be an excellent, thorough, and well-balanced account of the history of philosophy. Evans works hard to put you into the shoes of each philosopher that he covers so that you can understand them on their own terms. At times he'll offer a little bit of his own commentary (from a Christian point of view), but he does it in a way that I found helpful rather than distracting. Highly recommended for anyone wanting to dig into the history of philosophy.

My only disappointment was that his covering of 20th-century philosophy (found in the conclusion chapter) was rather abbreviated (as Evans notes, this century is much too recent to cover with any kind of objectivity and could fill a book of its own). Though brief, his reflections on the history of western philosophy as a whole and on the direction of philosophy today were helpful and encouraging.

Now to go back and actually reflect on all of this...

[nabilly _eilish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gak Bikin Tipus, Kalau dibandingin sama versinya Bertrand Russell yang bahasanya "dewa" dan berat banget, buku ini jauh lebih santai. Penjelasannya luwes, jadi konsep yang tadinya kelihatan ribet malah jadi gampang nyangkut di otak.

Sumpah, tiap ganti bab pasti ada aja ilmu baru yang bikin melongo. Dari mulai bahas filsuf zaman purba (Pra-Sokrates) sampai ke Postmodernisme, semuanya dijelasin dengan cara yang seru.

Wawasan Barunya Banyak banget insight tentang filosof yang sebelumnya cuma denger namanya doang, tapi di sini jadi paham "kenapa sih mereka mikir gitu?". Berasa dapet upgrade otak tiap abis baca satu bab.

Intinya, Buat yang mau belajar filsafat tapi takut pusing duluan, gas baca buku ini. Jauh lebih ringan, to-the-point, dan bikin kita ngerasa pinter tanpa harus ngerutin dahi tiap halaman.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5 I Softly Recommend

I do not envy what Evans attempted to do in this volume. Summarizing all of Western philosophy while attaching a Christian perspective to each chapter is a daunting task. Yet, despite this volume being just shy of six hundred pages, it feels lacking. Sometimes more is not better, but I think this volume certainly needed more. While I read this for seminary, meaning I was forced to move through the material quickly, that does not negate the fact that the book itself moves quickly.

Moreover, I could hardly see myself using this book if I were a professor of philosophy. This is not to say that the book is not worth its salt, but I think a two-volume work attempting to do the same thing would have been far more sufficient for the task at hand.

[Crabbygirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

read this with a group of women over the course of a few months as an introduction to philosophy. this might have been a bad idea as Evans expects the reader to already be familiar with the philosophers and seems more intent on slotting the influences of each on the other within the chronology. So I was often confused about the actual ideas presented (which makes sense, if a philosopher could be summarized in 8 pages what really could they have contributed to human knowledge?) Evans was upfront about viewing this history with a Christian lens, and the moments that he grounded the material with his belief system were actually easier for me to comprehend.

[Holland Johnson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Book was so bad I took a speed reading class to get through it faster. Not only did it still suck, but I failed 3 quizzes. If you like really boring philosophy books with pretty covers, I would recommend buying a different book. Because I would like this man to get no money for his work.

Maybe if I was an old man with a pipe and a fireplace who just sat and read philosophical lexicons all day, I could better enjoy this book.

[Nick Katenkamp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Evans’s book isn’t meant to be a deep dive on every philosopher he covers, but it’s comprehensive enough to give a conversational knowledge on all the greatest philosophical minds of Western Civilization. Evans’s book is both highly readable and unbiased, making it a great introduction to the subject.

[Aga Theles · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was skeptical of the Christian theological undertones at first. But honestly, this is one of the best comprehensive introductions to Western philosophy out there. It’s approachable, an appropriate size, and covers great ground. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to get a grounding in philosophy.

[Michael Wu · Rating 4 out of 5]

A succinct and entertaining survey of the most influential thinkers in the Western. A delightful introduction to those seeking to familiarise themselves with the philosophical ideas that have shaped the history of the West.

[Benjamin Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a good overview of Western Philosophy and philosophers. Would recommend.
4 stars because I occasionally disagree with the author's own philosophy as well as his writing style. Not really qualified to critique his actual history.

[Joshua Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stellar introduction to the history of philosophy. Very readable.

[Robert Tessmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written "History".

[Theodore Stegall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I only read from Descartes to Nietzsche but all that I read was helpful.

[Laney Dugan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good flyover look at Western Philosophy from a Christian perspective… and while it wasn’t necessarily the most thrilling book to read, it seems like a great resource to have on hand.

[Mr Michael Grivas-Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best one-volume history of philosophy period. Ironically probably because he writes so clearly from an Evangelical standpoint and so really evaluates and weighs different arguments instead of just describing them vaguely and without understanding from a neutral standpoint.