Ancient Philosophy: From 600 BCE to 500 CE

The History of Philosophy #1

by Brian Duignan (Editor)

Even before the spread of Christianity throughout Europe, individuals began to demand a systematic way to view the world—a way to substitute order for chaos. Supplanting mythical explanations with those based on observation, early Greeks and some of their contemporaries sought to comprehend worldly phenomena in terms of more universal truths. This book introduces readers to the figures instrumental in implementing this refined way of thinking, including Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. It also examines the effect of these thinkers on the major religions of the time, namely, Judaism and Christianity.

Genres: Philosophy, History

211 pages, Library Binding

First published August 1, 2010

Reviews

[Đoàn Duy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is ok for beginners because of plain and simple writing style as well as use of words. But it's so brief as to render some passages vague. It gives me a clear-cut outline regarding ancient philosophy from pre-Socratic to late Roman period. However, it's also due to its sheer broad generalization, then I'm unable to acquire more insight into philosophers' thoughts without digging into other philosophy books.

[Luis Velasquez · Rating 1 out of 5]

“Ancient Philosophy” edited by Brian Duignan is not a good read due to its overlook of the philosophers ideas, the lack of information of philosophers ideas, and its repetitive nature.There is a monotone perspective in this book it’s as if the author just summarized everything and regurgitate it back out.
The first part of the book is able to capture the attention of the reader. The book starts off by giving a specific location to the birth of philosophy , “...a few inhabitants of the Greek city of Miletus... began to think about the world in a new way.” This captures the reader's attention by giving them free reign over what this city looks like, but the author delves further into the history of this city instead of focusing on the subject of the book, ancient philosophy.
Another factor that categorizes this book as bad, is the inadequate amount of information given about the philosopher. This book gave one socratic quotation in the whole chapter that was devoted to him. Considering that the chapter was at least one sixth of the books two-hundred and eleven pages it’s outrageous that only one quote was given.
Also, the books repetitive template of every chapter exhausts the reader. The basic outline of every chapter is: give the era and the philosopher, explain his ideas, and delve into his life and how he affect the era he lived in. It is boring once the reader finish a couple of chapters.

[Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading like a series of very long encyclopedia entries, this book provides a nice background on key ancient philosophers and their ideas. While not comprehensive - that's not the goal - readers are given a good glimpse into the history of philosophy and how varying philosophers built on the ideas of others. This isn't a very compelling read (it's on the dry side), but the information is presented nicely and is easy to understand. This is especially helpful for a book on philosophy, since philosophers' ideas tend to be dense.

[Simon · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit basic and unconvincing, but well written and maybe a fine introduction to further study of the ancients. I was pleasantly surprised by the chapter on Platonic and Aristotelian influence on Christian thinking.

[Karl · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible. Had only one quotation in a span of 100 pages covering the pre-Socratics, Socrates, Plato, and some of Aristotle. Footnotes are non-existent. The "Further Reading" section in the back is helpful for those interested in ancient philosophy.