2003
First Published
3.93
Average Rating
108
Number of Pages
It comes from the Greek words meaning "love of wisdom." In English, it is called philosophy - the study of the most important and enduring questions of the human race. Questions like, "What is reality?" "Is there a God?" "What happens when I die?" (among others) have intrigued mankind for millenniums and continue to pique the interest of eager seekers after truth. Perhaps more so than any other discipline, philosophy is best understood as a dialogue between ourselves and the great minds of the past - a dialogue that has endured for thousands of years. Drawing upon Pulitzer-Prize winner Will Durant's essays, as well as never-before-published talks and dialogues on philosophy and philosophers, "An Invitation To Philosophy" presents a magnificent introduction to philosophy with an overview of its major branches, their problems and capabilities, as well as brief profiles of four of the discipline's most inspirational representatives (Confucius, Socrates, Plato and Giordano Bruno). "An Invitation to Philosophy" is a compass and guide to navigating the moral ocean of the human soul, in addition to being the definitive presentation of the philosophy of Will Durant, who makes an eloquent case for the very need of philosophy in our daily life: "Without philosophy, without that total vision which unifies purposes and establishes the hierarchy of desires, we fritter away our social heritage in cynical corruption on the one hand, and in revolutionary madness on the other; we abandon in a moment our pacific idealism and plunge into the cooperative suicide of war; we have a hundred thousand politicians, and but a single statesman. We move about the earth with unprecedented speed, but we do not know, and have not thought, where we are going, or whether we shall find any happiness there for our harassed souls. We are being destroyed by our knowledge, which has made us drunk with our power. And we shall not be saved without wisdom." — Will Durant (from Chapter Eight)
Avg Rating
3.93
Number of Ratings
14
5 STARS
21%
4 STARS
50%
3 STARS
29%
2 STARS
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Author
Will Durant
Author · 44 books
William James Durant was a prolific American writer, historian, and philosopher. He is best known for the 11-volume The Story of Civilization, written in collaboration with his wife Ariel and published between 1935 and 1975. He was earlier noted for his book, The Story of Philosophy, written in 1926, which was considered "a groundbreaking work that helped to popularize philosophy." They were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for literature in 1967 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977.
