History of Western philosophy

778 Pages·2004·2.6 MB·english

by  Russell

History of Western Philosophy
‘Remains to this day the most lucid introduction to European
political thought.’
The Times
‘A survey of Western philosophy in relation to its environ-
ment, of such sweep and acuteness, alive in every nerve ... a
masterpiece of intellectual energy ... the Socrates of our
time.’
A.L. Rowse
‘This work possesses outstanding merits; it is throughout
written in the beautiful and luminous prose of which Russell
is a great master; the exposition and the argument are not
merely classically clear but scrupulously honest.’
Isaiah Berlin
‘Bertrand Russell’s remarkable book is, so far as I am aware,
the first attempt to present a history of Western philosophy
in relation to its social and economic background. As such,
and also as a brilliantly written exposé of changing philo-
sophical doctrines, it should be widely read.’
Sir Julian Huxley
‘It is certain of a very wide audience, and is, in my opinion,
just the kind of thing people ought to have to make them
understand the past ... It may be one of the most valuable
books of our time.’
G.M. Trevelyan
‘Enough ideas on each page—shocking, expansive, heretical,
profound, comic—to broaden one’s mind to bursting point.’
Good Book Guide
‘Should never be out of print.’
The Evening Standard
‘History of Western Philosophy remains unchallenged as the
perfect introduction to its subject. Russell writes with the
kind of verve, freshness and personal engagement that
lesser spirits would never have permitted themselves. This
boldness, together with the astonishing breadth of his gen-
eral historical knowledge, allows him to put philosophers
into their social and cultural context ... The result is exactly
the kind of philosophy that most people would like to read,
but which only Russell could possibly have written.’
Ray Monk

Bertrand
Russell
History of Western Philosophy
London and New York
First published 1946
by George Allen & Unwin Ltd, London
First published in Routledge Classics 2004
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
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© 1996 The Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation Ltd
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 0-203-48797-4 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-57418-4 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0–415–32505–6(Print Edition)
C
ONTENTS
Preface x
Introduction 1
BOOK ONE Ancient Philosophy 11
PART I The Pre-Socratics 13
1 The Rise of Greek Civilization 15
2 The Milesian School 33
3 Pythagoras 38
4 Heraclitus 46
5 Parmenides 55
6 Empedocles 60
7 Athens in Relation to Culture 65
8 Anaxagoras 68
9 The Atomists 71
10 Protagoras 80
PART II Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle 87
11 Socrates 89
12 The Influence of Sparta 99
13 The Sources of Plato’s Opinions 108
14 Plato’s Utopia 111
15 The Theory of Ideas 121
16 Plato’s Theory of Immortality 132
viii contents
17 Plato’s Cosmogony 142
18 Knowledge and Perception in Plato 148
19 Aristotle’s Metaphysics 157
20 Aristotle’s Ethics 168
21 Aristotle’s Politics 179
22 Aristotle’s Logic 188
23 Aristotle’s Physics 195
24 Early Greek Mathematics and Astronomy 200
PART III Ancient Philosophy after Aristotle 209
25 The Hellenistic World 211
26 Cynics and Sceptics 220
27 The Epicureans 230
28 Stoicism 241
29 The Roman Empire in Relation to Culture 257
30 Plotinus 269
BOOK TWO Catholic Philosophy 281
Introduction 283
PART I The Fathers 289
1 The Religious Development of the Jews 291
2 Christianity During the First Four Centuries 305
3 Three Doctors of the Church 314
4 St Augustine’s Philosophy and Theology 329
5 The Fifth and Sixth Centuries 341
6 St Benedict and Gregory the Great 349
PART II The Schoolmen 361
7 The Papacy in the Dark Ages 363
8 John the Scot 374
9 Ecclesiastical Reform in the Eleventh Century 380
10 Mohammedan Culture and Philosophy 390
11 The Twelfth Century 398
12 The Thirteenth Century 409
13 St Thomas Aquinas 418
14 Franciscan Schoolmen 428
15 The Eclipse of the Papacy 439
contents ix
BOOK THREE Modern Philosophy 449
PART I From the Renaissance to Hume 451
1 General Characteristics 453
2 The Italian Renaissance 457
3 Machiavelli 465
4 Erasmus and More 472
5 The Reformation and Counter-Reformation 481
6 The Rise of Science 484
7 Francis Bacon 497
8 Hobbes’s Leviathan 501
9 Descartes 511
10 Spinoza 521
11 Leibniz 531
12 Philosophical Liberalism 544
13 Locke’s Theory of Knowledge 551
14 Locke’s Political Philosophy 563
15 Locke’s Influence 583
16 Berkeley 589
17 Hume 600
Part II From Rousseau to the Present Day 613
18 The Romantic Movement 615
19 Rousseau 623
20 Kant 637
21 Currents of Thought in the Nineteenth Century 652
22 Hegel 661
23 Byron 675
24 Schopenhauer 681
25 Nietzsche 687
26 The Utilitarians 698
27 Karl Marx 706
28 Bergson 714
29 William James 723
30 John Dewey 730
31 The Philosophy of Logical Analysis 738
Index 745