An Illustrated Brief History of Western Philosophy, 20th Anniversary Edition

by Anthony Kenny

In 1998, the first edition of Anthony Kenny's comprehensive history of Western philosophy was published, to be met with immediate praise and critical acclaim. As the first book since Bertrand Russell's 1945 A History of Western Philosophy to offer a concise single-author review of the complete history of philosophy from the pre-Socratics to the modern masters of the 20th century, Kenny's work fills a critical gap in the modern philosophy reading list and offers valuable guidance for the general reader of philosophy--an ideal starting point for anyone with an interest in great thinkers and the family lines of philosophical evolution.Widely considered to be one of the most thorough and accessible historical reviews in philosophy, An Illustrated Brief History of Western Philosophy has earned an estimable and distinctive reputation, both for the compelling writing style of Anthony Kenny, one of the most respected and accomplished living philosophers, and for the rich collection of paintings, illustrations, maps, and photos included with every chapter to complement this review of 2,500 years of philosophical thought.Newly revised and expanded for a special 20th anniversary publication, the latest edition of An Illustrated Brief History of Western Philosophy contains all of Kenny's original writings on the history of Western philosophy from ancient to modern, along with new writings on the philosophy of the mid-20th century, covering important contributions from continental philosophers and philosophers of the post-Wittgenstein anglophone tradition, including the work of many women who have too often been neglected by the historical record.

Genres: Philosophy, History, Nonfiction, Reference

464 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 15, 2018

About the author

Sir Anthony Kenny is an English philosopher whose interests lie in the philosophy of mind, ancient and scholastic philosophy, the philosophy of Wittgenstein, and the philosophy of religion.

Reviews

[K.A.L.M · Rating 4 out of 5]

A romp through the ideas and thinking of a vast array of Philosophers. I would say, overall, it presents their work fairly - outlining their key works and how they were received. There seemed to be a more personal approach to the summary of Rorty at the end of the book but it hasn't put me off exploring Rorty's work myself. The book also sparked an interest in Marcuse and Habermas whose works I hope to explore.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I enjoyed this book from a historical perspective, its explanations of various philosophers' thinking often left me wondering what in the world I'd just read. I was surprised, in particular, to find that so much of philosophy seems to be concerned with questions about such minutea as the predicates and subjects of seemingly simple sentences.

Whether my frustrations with this book were due to authorial incompetence is something I can only determine by reading other authors in this field. While I'm still hopeful that there's value to be gained from reading philosophy, this book unfortunately dampened my optimism.

[Parker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kenny does well at distilling the key ideas of philosophers from the pre-socratic era to the twentieth century. As someone only moderately familiar with philosophy, I found everything (except the chapter on Kant) very easy to understand. I found it very helpful, and will probably revisit it in the future.

[SophieJaneK · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to admit I skimmed through this in order to see how accessible and suitable it would be as a course book for my philosophy students.
It does present a reasonably clear background to the main philosophers as a good general background to philosophy. It is divided into manageable sections but still requires alot of concentration to understand the concepts.