A History of Western Philosophy

There's a throwaway remark in this book which has haunted me ever since I read it some time in the mid-70s. Russell is talking about Socrates, and he wonders if Socrates actually existed. Maybe Plato made him up. "I don't think many people would have been able to make up Socrates," muses Russell. "Bu......more

A Critical (& Patronizing) Survey of Western Philosophy Russell is consistently opinionated throughout his presentation and it might confuse some of the readers that he is so casual in writing off some of the major philosophers and their key ideas. This is because the book is not a mere history of ph......more

I stole this off my father's shelves many years ago. The indications on the inside cover was that he read it in Finland in 1959 - I think he once missed a train there and the next one wasn't for a week. It's true that this is in many respects a heavy, dry, and testing read. On the other hand it's ful......more

I enjoyed this a bit too much. The History of Western Philosophy is exactly my kind of book, and so this review will be biased. This, however, illustrates my first point. One’s opinion of this work will largely depend on one’s opinion of Russell. This is because he frequently injects his views, ideas......more

Bertrand Russel rocks the entire history of Western Philosophy like a boss! Long but, oh so worth it!......more