Aimed at the beginning student, it presents the ideas of the major philosophers and their schools of thought in a readable and engaging way, highlighting the central points in each contributor's doctrines and offering a lucid discussion of the next-level details that both fills out the general themes and encourages the reader to pursue the arguments still further through a detailed guide to further reading.
Whether John Shand is discussing the slow separation of philosophy and theology in Augustine, Aquinas and Ockham, the rise of rationalism, British empiricism, German idealism, or the new approaches opened up by Russell, Sartre, and Wittgenstein, he combines succinct but insightful exposition with crisp critical comment. This new edition will continue to provide students with a valuable work of initial reference.
Price: $32.95
Pages: 352
Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
Imprint: McGill-Queen's University Press
Publication Date:
18 September 2002
ISBN: 9780773524460
Format: Paperback
BISACs:
PHILOSOPHY / General
"Shand writes with great clarity and simplicity, with sparing use of jargon. His methods will make it easy for beginners to identify a plausible outline of what is going on in a particular philosopher's arguments, so that they can go on to other books for more detail and for presentation of the problems with some usable idea of which way is up. A useful addition to the first-year reading list." Philosophical Quarterly "A concise and readily surveyable account of the history of Western philosophy . . . it succeeds in being both an illuminating introduction to the history of philosophy for someone who has little prior knowledge of the subject and a valuable source of guidance to the more experienced student." Times Literary Supplement "Succeeds in nimbly tying autonomous episodes of Western thought into a coherent whole ... the selected philosophers and their work are examined rigorously and evenhandedly, including explanations of the standard objections and counterarguments." Philosophical Books
