A Brief History of the Ideas of Western Philosophy: Sensations, Necessity, Knowledge, and God

by Russell Hasan

This book is a survey of the most important ideas in the history of Western philosophy. The idea is stated, along with the name of the philosopher who first or most famously articulated it, a brief explanation and analysis of the idea is provided, and then the book moves on to the next idea. By the end of this book, you should have a sense of all the most important ideas in philosophy, as well as a scheme for how those ideas all fit together and relate to each other, forming a comprehensive, simple, elegant, and powerful, vision of philosophy.
The book is divided into the following sections, based around the historical phases of philosophy: Modern philosophy, featuring Locke, Hume, Descartes, Berkeley, Kant, Schopenhauer, and Hegel, followed by a special section with an analysis of Karl Marx as Left-Hegelian and Ayn Rand as Right-Hegelian; Ancient philosophy, featuring Heraclitus, Parmenides, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Thomas Aquinas; Post-Modern philosophy, featuring Wittgenstein, Sartre, Heidegger, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche; ethics and moral philosophy, featuring Utilitarianism, Pragmatism, Augustine, Kant, Karl Marx, and Ayn Rand; political philosophy, featuring Rousseau, Hobbes, Karl Marx, Ayn Rand, Rawls, and Nozick; and lastly there is a section on the author Russell Hasan’s own philosophical ideas, and how they fit into the narrative of the history of the ideas of Western philosophy.
I must caution my reader that my methods in writing this book are, perhaps, more the methodology of a lawyer than that of a philosopher, as I was taught in law school the system for the analysis of case law, that, for a case, instead of focusing on the language of the case and specific quotes of what the judge said, you summarize the entire case into one single sentence, which is the proposition that the entire case stands for as a whole. As ambitious as this is, in this book, I have at times taken some of the greatest philosophers in human history and summarized them in one sentence.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

Kindle Edition

Published October 6, 2022

About the author

Russell Hasan was born the son of a white Jewish mother and a dark-skinned Muslim father—and that isn’t the strangest thing about him. His father had ties to the mafia—nope, not the weirdest thing about him. He thought he was a gay man for many years before realizing he is agender asexual—relatively normal compared to what truly makes him strange. Do you want to know what the weirdest, strangest thing about Russell is?

He's a WRITER.

Yes, that’s right. He writes. Why? How? Why would he want to do that to himself? How could he allow this to happen to himself? He is still trying to figure that one out. Therapy can cure lots of things and alcohol and drugs can cure other things, but the only cure for being a writer is to write, so he writes. He’s not into BDSM, yet for some reason he has chosen to punish himself by having a passion for writing and a need to write. Despite having made the huge mistake of choosing to be a writer, his books have sold over 10,000 copies, so perhaps it was not the worst mistake he ever made after all. He does not have one particular bestseller but has instead spread those 10,000 sales across many books he wrote. His magical journey of self-torture begins when he has the idea for a new book, and then continues when he wakes up at 6am to write from 6am to 8am before work every day (he has a day job—he’s not insane! His day job is being a lawyer, the most boring, evil job in the world, by the way), and, after many cups of Starbucks matcha tea and Coca Cola (never Pepsi—yuck!) he somehow puts words onto a page. He has written 30 books, both nonfiction and fiction, but, as something of a twist on the traditional successful indie author model, he is known more for his indie nonfiction, not his fiction. But he does write fiction. Some of his fiction is good too, probably, he hopes.

Reviews

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book in a goodreads drawing.

Sort of a Cliff's Notes version of Western philosophy, only without sample essays. Not bad, for one dipping a toe into the field.

[CatherineA · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book gives a rough outline of some philosophical ideas from people such as Kant, Marx, Ayn Rand, and others. However, it was very difficult to read. Most sentences were 50+ words, making it challenging to follow the progression of each idea. The author jumped from modern to ancient to post-modern. Since no time frame was indicated, I needed to do more research to get a clear timeline. This followed no logical sequence, making it even more difficult to read.

"The entire history of philosophy just simply and utterly got it wrong." This is how the author begins the last 25% of the book before talking about his own philosophy. Since he indicated at the end that his research was based solely on Wikipedia, I question the credibility of what was written.

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
A Brief History of the Ideas of Western Philosophy is a fascinating and accessible exploration of key philosophical concepts that have shaped Western thought. I loved how it broke down complex ideas into clear, engaging discussions, making philosophy feel both approachable and thought-provoking!

[Mike Harnish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great little book for a fast synopsis of the different Philosophers, including the author. No matter who you like (or dislike), they are all briefly listed. Whether you agree with Russell Hasan, you can decide who feel you want to study further. I have read a number of these people, and this would have been a great means of getting a feel if this is someone, I wanted to learn more about.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good starting point

This is a concise collection of philosophers and their beliefs. This is great for people new to philosophy. It talks about the viewpoints of all major philosophers in a clear and easy to understand manner.

#GoodreadsGiveaway

[Beth Carr · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

I took philosophy I college and struggled. I enjoyed this quick read. It simplifies the different philosophical theories in a brief yet detailed account. I find that some sentences are a little long and feel like runons. I did enjoy this read, however.

[Sage · Rating 1 out of 5]

oozing sophomoric hubris throughout. a short reductionist synopsis of a small segment of western philosophy.

[Stef · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't find this book (presentation and voice) interesting. After 2 chapters I gave up. This wasn't a book for me, but you might like it.

[Alvaro Alcocer Sotil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este texto ofrece un breve repaso de las ideas clave en la filosofía occidental, abordando temas como las sensaciones, la necesidad, el conocimiento y Dios.