The Story of Philosophy
by Will Durant, Du Shu Xin Wen She · first published 1926
58% recommend39% neutral3% critical
Why HN recommends it
A light, readable introduction to Western philosophy, one philosopher per chapter, weaving in their lives and historical backgrounds. Suits newcomers choosing which thinkers to read directly.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Includes chapters on Plato, Aristotle, Francis Bacon, Spinoza, Voltaire, Kant, and Nietzsche.
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on “Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?” ↗I found these Wheaton college lectures[0] by Arthur Holmes a while back and watched through them a couple times. And then picked up books depending on what I liked. Will Durant's The Story of Philosophy[1] was also useful as a summary and a starting point to go read philosophers that sounded interesting. [0] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yat0ZKduW18&list=PL9GwT4_YRZ... [1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEK4A9hrVjQ&list=PLez3PPtnpn...
on “Ask HN: Anyone here studying modern philosophy as a hobby?” ↗…sons, Charles and David, decide they don't want to deal with all of this bullshit and start throwing their weight around Silicon Valley? And when they do, what are you going to do about it? [1] The Story of Philosophy, by Will Durant, if you're interested. In fact, I'm in the middle of the chapter on Nietzsche; one of the best comments in this very well-written and quite good book is a footnote following a quote from…
on “A Response to Paul Graham’s Article on Income Inequality” ↗Will Durant's Story of Philosophy is a great start! Bertrand Russell has also written a highly regarded introduction, though I haven't read it.
on “Ask HN: Do you read philosophy?” ↗…for something more substantial. I'm currently revisiting the classics and found a great reading of Plato's Republic. Before this, I had a great time listening to an audiobook of Will Durant's book The Story of Philosophy which is a nice summary of Western philosophy. YouTube seems to have full audiobooks, some of which are of great quality. There's a version of Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra that is highly entertaining…
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite educational non-tech podcasts?” ↗The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant is a good if slightly outdated intro. I also read Sophie's World and would recommend reading that first, but you can skip it if you don't want to read fiction. If you want something that…
on “Ask HN: Learning about philosophy” ↗Philosophy The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the World's Greatest Philosophers, by Will Durant. Written in the 30s, it covers some philosophers who would not be considered influential today, and doesn't do justice to the…
on “Ask HN: Good books?” ↗I agree that Russell's book is good, although Will Durant's Story of Philosophy is even better. :-) Of course there's no reason you can't read both. If you want to read some ancient philosophy directly, Plato's Symposium is a fun start. It is a bunch of guys staying up all night…
on “The Griffin Warrior Tomb Upends What We Know About the Roots of Mycenae” ↗…http://www.worldcat.org/title/outline-of-history-being-a-pla... http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=+au%3Atoynbee+arnold+joseph... http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=au%3Adurant+ti%3Astory+of+c... Will Durant's Story of Philosophy gets at the ideas which have shaped history. James Burke, Connections and The Day the Universe Changed cover similar ground. Both have extensive bibliographies for further reading. http://www.worldcat.org/title/story-of-philosophy-the-lives-...…
on “Ask HN: Which are the best books on history from ancient times to present?” ↗surprised nobody mentioned "The Story of Philosophy" by Will Durant, which not only talks about philosophy, but the lives of the philosophers and the historical backgrounds. philosophy is gradually becoming more literature-like, which is hard to appreciate…
on “Ask HN: Best Philosophical Books?” ↗…prologue about Shannon's time at Bell Labs is an elegant, even beautiful, exposition of information theory's importance. As introductions go, I'd rank it up there with the introductions to Will Durant's "Story of Philosophy"[1] or Andrew Steane's "Quantum Computing" [2]. So far, at least, "The Information" hasn't dug into the technical details of information theory. That's probably fine and does not appear to be Gleick's…
on “Gleick's new book on information theory” ↗Read this book by Will Durant : The Story of Philosophy. Considered a classic and one of the best introductions to philosophy See : http://www.amazon.com/Story-Philosophy-Opinions-Greatest-Phi...
on “Ask HN: Can anyone recommend some philosophy reading?” ↗Apart from Russel's book, Will Durant's _The Story of Philosophy_ provides a fun light introduction. If you'd rather read primary texts there are many choices - the history of philosophy can seem like a summit conference between dazzlingly brilliant but at the same…
on “Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy” ↗"The Story of Philosophy" by Bryan Magee "The Story of Philosophy" by Will Durant These are what you're looking for. You won't regret either of these.
on “Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy” ↗