The Dream of Reason

Name: The Dream of Reason
ISBN: 9780393049510

by Anthony Gottlieb · first published 2000

3mentions

2recommended by

2HN commenters

2018–2020first – last mentioned

100% recommend

Philosophy

"The Dream of Reason illustrates how the story of philosophy is more the history of a sharply inquisitive cast of mind than of a sharply defined discipline. We engage immediately with both the personalities and the arguments of every major philosopher from Ancient Greece to the birth of modern philosophy in the seventeenth century; the modern era will be addressed in a second volume. Among a large cast of curious individuals, we encounter Thales, perhaps the first philosopher, certainly the first of a long line of absent-minded professors; Empedocles, who in the fourth century BC invented a th

BuyBookshop.org Amazon

Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

View on Open Library ISBN 9780393049510

Mentions per year

What Hacker News says

woodandsteel · Apr 17, 2018 · Recommends

I would recommend The Dream of Reason by Anthony Gottleib, and his followup, The Dream of Enlightenment. And if that gets you interested, then the 5 volumes on the history of Western philosophy by W.T.Jones. As for Copelston, which some…
on “Eminent Philosophers Name the Most Important Philosophy Books from 1950-2000” ↗
ZoomZoomZoom · Dec 6, 2020 · Recommends

…philosopher (who still values objectivity and holds to high standards of reasoning). The language is wonderful and historical bits to set the context are great. I also recommend Anthony Gottlieb's "The Dream Of Reason" and "The Dream of Enlightenment", as the second and third book (if you liked the first one). They are more recent and sometimes expand on some things Russel deemed of lesser importance. Again, exceptionally…
on “Ask HN: Learning about philosophy” ↗
woodandsteel · May 7, 2018 · Recommends

The Dream of Reason by Anthony Gottlieb is a good introduction to Greek philosophy. You really should start there, since everything since then is a response to what they had to say.
on “Philosopher Bryan Magee remains wonder-struck by the ultimate questions” ↗