History of Philosophy, Volume 4
| Date: 05 May 2011, 14:52
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History of Philosophy, Volume 4 (Modern Philosophy)
By Frederick C. Copleston
* Publisher: Image
* Number Of Pages: 384
* Publication Date: 1993-12-01
* ISBN-10 / ASIN: 038547041X
* ISBN-13 / EAN: 9780385470414
* Binding: Paperback
Product Description:
Conceived originally as a serious presentation of the development of philosophy for Catholic seminary students, Frederick Copleston's nine-volume A History Of Philosophy has journeyed far beyond the modest purpose of its author to universal acclaimas the best history of philosophy in English.
Copleston, an Oxford Jesuit of immense erudition who once tangled with A.J. Ayer in a fabled debate about the existence of God and the possibility of metaphysics, knew that seminary students were fed a woefully inadequate diet of theses and proofs, and that their familiarity with most of history's great thinkers was reduced to simplistic caricatures. Copleston set out to redress the wrong by writing a complete history of Western philosophy, one crackling with incident and intellectual excitement - and one that gives full place to each thinker, presenting his thought in a beautifully rounded manner and showing his links to those who came after him.
Summary: Interesting
Rating: 4
After the modern philosophers shed Aristotlianism and Platonism at least to a large extent, things got a lot more interesting when they started espousing their theories. The first principles of their arguments became more divierse, and many times lead to some very different metaphysics. How much you enjoy a philosopher probably says a lot about what your own mentality is.
I personally liked Descartes, that, though still more or less a dualist, he came from the existential principles of experience. Some of his thought was flawed, like being able to espouse metaphysics without sufficient empirical study to back it up, but he most certainly was on the right track.
Spinoza, on the other hand, I could not stand. He just replaces Nature with the word God and hopes nobody notices he's not saying anything at all. I hate people who deny any sort of freedom then espouse how one can live a virtuous life. Hey Spinoza, it's all either matter in motion or it's not.
Liebniz was downright headache inducing at points, and his theory of monads was wonderfully goofy. That being said, his theory of knowledge was excellent. Can't say I ever thought of the universe the way he did.
As always, Copleston is even handed, probably too even handed for some of the sillier things they said. Then again, as a layperson with no formal training, maybe I missed something too that he saw. Still, I'd prefer Copleston's fairness to the in your face bashing of Russell anyday.
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