A New History of Western Philosophy: In Four Parts

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It should be reminded, however, that one should be prepared to read this work with patience and diligence. This book is intended as a critical exposition of the arguments for God's existence presented by Aquinas in the Summa Theologiae. In October 2006, Kenny was awarded the American Catholic Philosophical Association's Aquinas Medal for his significant contributions to philosophy. But then I found that, when reading Kant and Hume and Berkeley for example, that there are better lecture series and books on any particular time period or topic than what I find in here.

Unrivaled in its authority and range, the book is ideal for anyone with an interest in Western thought. He starts with a brief history of the people of a period in the first couple chapters of each volume and then, discusses their ideas in greater depth in successive chapters by discipline. In the Introduction, Kenny recounts his struggles with determining a suitable cut-off point for inclusion in the book: Can the philosopher in question still be living?During the 2000s Kenny wrote a history of Western philosophy, released in four parts from 2004 to 2007; the four books were released together as A New History of Western Philosophy in 2010. This book feels far too dense for what its worth- Kenny focuses far too much on breaking down the works of philosophers rather than showing how this movement begat that.

Kenny also looks closely at each of the main areas of philosophical exploration: knowledge and understanding; science; metaphysics; mind and soul; the nature and content of morality; political philosophy; and God. The middle ages saw a great flourishing of philosophy, and the intellectual endeavour of the era reaches its climax in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, with the systems of the greatschoolmen such as Thomas Aquinas and John Duns Scotus. After reading Bertrand Russell's history, it was a welcome change to see so much of philosophies history treated with respect and dignity. Sir Anthony John Patrick Kenny FBA (born 16 March 1931) is a British philosopher whose interests lie in the philosophy of mind, ancient and scholastic philosophy, the philosophy of religion, and the philosophy of Wittgenstein of whose literary estate he is an executor.With Peter Geach, he has made a significant contribution to analytical Thomism, a movement whose aim is to present the thought of St. There’s another book by the same author that is a bigger volume and provides a more detailed history of philosophy which I’d recommend more (especially by this author). Having received his DPhil from the University of Oxford ( St Benet's Hall) in 1961, he also worked as an assistant lecturer at the University of Liverpool (1961–63).

Kenny finds all the arguments wanting: in each case, at least one premise is questionable if not downright false or some logical fallacy has been committed.The book′s great merit is its lucidity and approachability, and it probably does convey some of the excitement which Kenny claims belongs to the subject. g.: into empirical, rational and idealist components (that had been fully coherent and united under Aquinas). During 1963–64, Kenny was a lecturer in philosophy at Exeter and Trinity Colleges, Oxford, and he served as University Lecturer 1965–78.

I should note at the outset that I have not read the preceding three volumes and so I cannot comment on the extent to which the present volume dovetails with the previous ones, nor can I judge its success at bringing the series to a conclusion. Replete with over 60 illustrations - ranging from Dufresnoy’s The Death of Socrates, through to the title page of Thomas More’s Utopia, portraits of Hobbes and Rousseau, photographs of Charles Darwin and Bertrand Russell, Freud’s own sketch of the Ego and the Id, and Wittgenstein’s Austrian military identity card - this lucid and masterful work is ideal for anyone with an interest in Western thought. Consideration of that era in philosophy was included in the third volume ( The Rise of Modern Philosophy). Without wishing to make a virtue of my ignorance of Kenny's broader efforts, judging the work in this way does serve a purpose, as many readers, owing to their interests or their coursework (Kenny advertises the book as written for "an audience at the level of second- or third-year undergraduate study" [xv]), are likely to want or need to read one volume to the exclusion of the others. Hasker notes, however, that (in the book's final chapter) Kenny "considers seriously the possible existence of a God who, while differing somewhat in his attributes from the God of traditional natural theology, could still be identified with the saving God of theistic faith.The dude has a sense of humor, and he predigests the ideas of many fine philosophers, and this allowed me to plow through the book in bits and pieces over a few months. That this is the fourth volume of a comprehensive history of Western philosophy makes Kenny's achievements in this particular book even more astonishing. The individual volumes of Sir Anthony Kenny's acclaimed History of Western Philosophy have been hailed as "wonderful, authoritative, hugely rewarding" (Times Higher Education Supplement) and "genial and highly accessible" (London Review of Books). He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1974 and served as a member of the Council of the Academy 1985–88, as Vice President 1986–88 and President 1989–93.