“shud i read this book?i am afraid of opening it as its abt philososphy”
“a kind of a review i wrote on this book,it is still my all time favorite.Will Durant (1885-1981)"s"The Story of Philosophy" is recommended tobe read by every human being under the sun white or black,wise or foolish,old or young,rich or poor.It is a delicacy that comes once in a century.We cant to afford to miss it. The Woyager -1 " The Story of Philosophy"Wd's first book touched down to the readers in 1926, the shuttle had come to earth after fullfilling it's misson to trace the story of thought ,man's mostsublime function.And the result we can all read it and become wiser.The iIlumination starts with the Preface "God knows there is no shortcuts to knowledge"is a reminder that the path of knowledge is notsimple.All that said,the book is written in a style of its own makingit rereadable a hundred times over.The author reminds us that that the book is just a start to the whirlpool of philosophy,the message isloud and clear if you have read the book ....good and if u stillassume that u know nothing....very very good.Plato, ARISTOTLE,FRANCIS BACON ,spinoza,VOLTAIRE,IMMANUEL KANT,hebertspencer,NIETZCHE,Schopehauer,Bergson,russell,santyana,james and dewey figure in this classic,those marked in Caps are hisWill's Favorites.Critics may say the book is shallow and flowery,The art of luring people to its fold is what durant does and acheives.A wonderful orchestra of Western philosophy with lingustic tones to boot.Has he missed anything?The Answer would be yes.......and who?Karl marx....There is little doubt that Marx has been one of the most influential philosophers ever......and did contribute more to theconcept of welfare state than any one before or after.All modern,workers legislation can be traced to Marx.Suprising that he does nothave a place.That apart a great book.Wd does give importance more to intensity of thought more thancompetence,committment to philosophy appealed more to him.The book should be a part of every graduate college student's syallabi,it fosters free thought.They say that a book is successful ifit has set the reader thinking in 's own lines.WD set's one intothinking about thought,no doubt.The books starts with Socrates,the father of philosophy ,plato and arsistotle......"Every school of social thought originatedhere".Socrates ..Philosophy..Plato.....political theory..Aristotle.....science and logic were the main contributions in the glory thatwas Greece. Francis Bacon syombolised The modern scientific age,where knowledgestarted becoming powerful "as knowledge grew feardecreased" Bacon "Rang the bell that called the wits together andannounced thatEurope had come of age" and to him bacon who proclaimed that man could do the impossible with knowledge in hand.Spinozafollows ,"all in one and one in all like advaita,God is one.To Voltaire ,who "worked harder and accompilshed more than than anyman in his epoch",his trade was to say what he thought,and along with Ruossoeau,taught the French to think and the bourbon dynasty thusended in 1789.Immanuel kant ,the most profound philosopher of alltime,Kant had shown once and for all that ,the external world is knownto us only as a sensation, the mind is a positive agent selecting and reconstructing experience as experience arrives.Hegel,s "Real being rational follows"not a detailed description ,just a note.Schopenhauer on the importance of instinct in thought .Spencer andhisbiological method of studying society out of which sociology wasborn.and finally Nietzche and his superman ,the genius who choppedMorality into minced meat.Aristotcracy got a new dimension and lifewith Nietzche.These are the contributions of these geat philosophersaccording to WD.There are small descreptions of philosophers like ruseel,santyana aresmall notes and and not comphrensive.To end a beautiful book ...."And then what style"* .......................................................................”
