The History of Philosophy

A cerebrally enjoyable survey, written with great clarity and touches of wit . . . The non-western section throws up some fascinating revelations * Sunday Times * Grayling has written a masterful and often entertaining chronicle of the epic intellectual journey we humans have taken, in different periods, countries and cultures, to understand ourselves, our world, and how we ought to live. An extraordinary accomplishment that transcends the usual bounds of academic specialization -- Peter Singer, Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics, Princeton University Accurately offers itself as a successor to [Bertrand] Russell's classic survey . . . No other popular survey possesses this range . . . The History of Philosophy isn't just worth buying; it's worth scribbling in and dog-earing. For a work of scholarship, there can be no higher praise. -- Michael Dirda * Washington Post * He's more historically-minded than Russell, less dogmatic than Dawkins and less in thrall to the charms of his own fluency than Hitchens -- Prospect on The Challenge of Things Undeniably thought-provoking Grayling is particularly good at illuminating the knottiness of moral discourse Lucid, informative and admirably accessible Grayling writes with clarity, elegance and the occasional aphoristic twist Five minutes with any passage will have you contemplating all day I find the clarity of his thinking so refreshing