Philosophy: From the Ancient Greeks to Great Thinkers of Modern Times

by Anne Rooney

The unexamined life is not worth living
- Plato (c.427-347BC)

This book traces the historical development of philosophical thought from the Ancient Greeks through the Enlightenment to the present day. It explores the five main branches of philosophy - metaphysics, epistemology, logic, ethics, and aesthetics - and includes biographies of significant philosophers and accounts of important texts. It is an accessible and fascinating account of the preoccupations of some of the world's greatest thinkers.

Topics include:
• The nature of being and reality
• The existence of God
• Free will and predestination
• Ethics in daily life
• How we might make a good society

ABOUT THE SERIES: Arcturus Fundamentals Series explains fascinating and far-reaching topics in simple terms. Designed with rustic, tactile covers and filled with dynamic illustrations and fact boxes, these books will help you quickly get to grips with complex topics that affect our day-to-day living.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 15, 2020

About the author

Anne Rooney gained a degree and then a PhD in medieval literature from Trinity College, Cambridge. After a period of teaching medieval English and French literature at the universities of Cambridge and York, she left to pursue a career as a freelance writer. She has written many books for adults and children on a variety of subjects, including literature and history. She lives in Cambridge and is Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the University of Essex.

Reviews

[Addy Orangutan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually really enjoyed this one.

[Brandon Westlake · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such an accessible and thought-provoking book for anyone who is looking for an introduction to schools of philosophy. Many times, I feel that such introductions end up watering down great thinkers' ideas, to the point of them being incorrect. This does not suffer from such a problem.

It can be read it order, or in a different one, depending on what your goal is. Rooney does a great job including philosophers several times. For instance, Heidegger is brought up with regards to both metaphysics and epistemology, so readers won't pinhole each thinkers as belonging to a specific branch.

There are really great quotes sprinkled throughout each chapter, which helps readers really think about the words that are written, without having to digest pages of incomprehensible writing. Furthermore, Rooney does a nice job with specific thought experiments, either ones created for the book, or significant ones from the literature.

I think this is a great source to use for teachers in the classroom, who are hoping to build student inquiry and help them critically think, but do so in a way that they can interact with ideas in a straightforward way. It also is great if you are just interested in giving your mind a mental workout but don't know where to begin, or if you want to know what is so significant about names like Descartes or Socrates.

[joyce w. laudon · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this title’s introduction, Anne Rooney points out that philosophy is about the big questions in life. She notes that the kinds of issues that we grapple with today are, in many ways, the same as those that the ancient Greeks wrestled with. Over the centuries, beginning with the Greeks, philosophers have engaged with concepts related to being, justice, beauty, ethics, politics and more.

If you are a person who thinks about life’s deepest issues this book will be sure to engage you. The author’s style is readable and the topics that she covers are broad and interesting. Read with her as you think about whether there is a god, how should we live, what makes a good society and more.

I recommend reading this book slowly so that there is time to engage with the concepts and issues raised. It will be time well spent.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

[Bob Connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's exactly appropriate for a 250ish page overview that aspires to be broad. Sometimes the way it was written was very elegant, it's got a lot of quotes and blurbs and extra context that break up the text, and it was an easy read that also managed to cover a lot of ground.

[Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good intro to philosophy.

[AJA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably not the best place to start for someone that has had no exposure to these topics. It was very readable for sure and interesting but hard for me to extract major themes or ideas.

[milana waller · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book is evidence of my goal to read more nonfiction