A review of "Story of Philosophy" by Bryan Magee.
I have this
book in Swedish, and I agree with the other reviewers. It's not a book for
philosophy students or philosophers, being far too simple. However, it's an
excellent, popularized introduction to the history of Western philosophy for
those who don't know anything at all about the subject (the majority). Besides,
I don't think the texts are as short as several reviewers have indicated.
The book is lavishly illustrated, often with reproductions of artwork (not necessarily from the periods in question, however). I take it Bryan Magee is an art lover, or at least his editor is, because many of the artworks are very cleverly chosen. Thus, Kant's philosophy is illustrated by "The Blind Girl" by Millais, and the chapter on existentialism features Edward Munch's "The Scream". Schopenhauer's pessimistic ideas come to life in a dramatic painting of a lion attacking a horse!
Inevitably, some chapters are better than others. The introductory chapters on Greek philosophy in general, and Plato and Aristotle in particular, are quite good. So are the chapters on Schopenhauer, Nietzsche and Kant. The sections dealing with Husserl, Heidegger and Wittgenstein are weak, but then, their philosophies are very difficult to fathom even for advanced students! Most of the other chapters fall somewhere in between. Obviously, all writers on matters philosophical are biased, and so is Magee. He seems to like Nietzsche and Machiavelli, which may be controversial, and he is also fascinated by Schopenhauer, devoting a quite extensive chapter to this thinker, perhaps undeservedly. (Apparently, Magee is an expert on Schopenhauer's philosophy.) His interpretation of Kant is "religious", which could also be controversial. Personally, I think he deals too much with Popper, as if that man was some kind of zenith in the history of ideas. And what on earth happened to the Renaissance?! A positive thing, however, is that the author mention such frauds as Derrida and Foucault only in passing, and Ayn Rand not at all.
Beginners might also feel frustrated by the fact, that the book never answers the eternal questions! The message of this book is rather that philosophy is a never ending quest, perhaps a quest without a termination point.
For popularizing a tricky subject, and for making a coffee table book (!) about philosophy, Bryan Magee and his publisher deserves five stars.
But the quest goes on...
PS. This review is based on the Swedish translation, so it's possible that some of the illustrations are different in the original edition.
The book is lavishly illustrated, often with reproductions of artwork (not necessarily from the periods in question, however). I take it Bryan Magee is an art lover, or at least his editor is, because many of the artworks are very cleverly chosen. Thus, Kant's philosophy is illustrated by "The Blind Girl" by Millais, and the chapter on existentialism features Edward Munch's "The Scream". Schopenhauer's pessimistic ideas come to life in a dramatic painting of a lion attacking a horse!
Inevitably, some chapters are better than others. The introductory chapters on Greek philosophy in general, and Plato and Aristotle in particular, are quite good. So are the chapters on Schopenhauer, Nietzsche and Kant. The sections dealing with Husserl, Heidegger and Wittgenstein are weak, but then, their philosophies are very difficult to fathom even for advanced students! Most of the other chapters fall somewhere in between. Obviously, all writers on matters philosophical are biased, and so is Magee. He seems to like Nietzsche and Machiavelli, which may be controversial, and he is also fascinated by Schopenhauer, devoting a quite extensive chapter to this thinker, perhaps undeservedly. (Apparently, Magee is an expert on Schopenhauer's philosophy.) His interpretation of Kant is "religious", which could also be controversial. Personally, I think he deals too much with Popper, as if that man was some kind of zenith in the history of ideas. And what on earth happened to the Renaissance?! A positive thing, however, is that the author mention such frauds as Derrida and Foucault only in passing, and Ayn Rand not at all.
Beginners might also feel frustrated by the fact, that the book never answers the eternal questions! The message of this book is rather that philosophy is a never ending quest, perhaps a quest without a termination point.
For popularizing a tricky subject, and for making a coffee table book (!) about philosophy, Bryan Magee and his publisher deserves five stars.
But the quest goes on...
PS. This review is based on the Swedish translation, so it's possible that some of the illustrations are different in the original edition.
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