Hello! I read a couple of philosophy books in the past, some proved to be more difficult than others. What I would like to read now, is like an overview of world philosophies. If such a book exists, I feel like reading it now. I have at home The World's Religions by Huston Smith so if there's anything like that on philosophy, I would be grateful for your recommendations. More precisely, I'm looking for a book that covers the world history of philosophy. Thanks.
I really enjoyed a pair of books by Anthony Gottlieb: The Dream of Reason: A History of Western Philosophy from the Greeks to the Renaissance The Dream of Enlightenment: The Rise of Modern Philosophy If you prefer a single volume, the classic is: A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell These cover only Western philosophy. I know nothing about philosophy outside of the West.
Hey, thank you! Hopefully some other member will have recommendations for more global or at least non-western philosophy. I heard about Russell's book, and that it's quite difficult. Didn't hear about the first two. I'll check them out.
I'd be careful about Russell's book - would recommend it but with an asterisk. He put a lot of his own thoughts and biases into it. Russell is good with ancient philosophy (I think he gets Plato wrong, mind, but he's good with Aristotle) and Medieval philosophy (even if I'm slightly irritated he didn't give Dante his own section - De Monarchia is worth a chapter on it) but when it comes to the moderns he's nowhere near as good. In places he's just inaccurate, and overly opinionated. He flat out did not understand Nietzsche. Given the time he wrote it, yes, I'd say that's understandable - and that is another thing to keep in mind too. It's an old text now, it was written in the 1940s. There is a 'New History of Western Philosophy' by Anthony Kenny. I've not read it but heard it's pretty good. There is also 'History of Philosophy Without any Gaps' which is both a series of books and a podcast being released right now that is honestly far more comprehensive and more interesting. Buying all the volumes is a serious money commitment, but the podcast is free and I really recommend it.
I remember hearing about Russell's book that it might be outdated (and quite difficult). This series you mentioned looks interesting, I'll look into it. I saw there are five books thus far. No Asian yet, do you maybe know if the series is done or are there still books to be published?
The Philosophy Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained Lectures on the Philosophy of History (Not exactly what you're looking for but... Hegel). and of course: Philosophy For Dummies There's also a novel Sophie's World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy This also seems promising: How the World Thinks: A Global History of Philosophy
I never found Russell's book difficult - just a bit boring in places to be honest. History of Philosophy without Gaps are releasing books with the podcast more or less, having covered African philosophy just recently the book of that season is out now.
@Lemex there is one review on Goodreads that says (at least the first one) History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps is “way way better than the podcast”. So it might be worth checking it out!
