History of Western Philosophy (Routledge Classics)

Product Information

On the other hand it's full of interesting anecdotes about the philosophers themselves, from the earliest of ancient Greeks to Russell's contemporaries in the 20th century.

Russell interessantemente não embarca, antes expõe o problema como um dos maiores da filosofia: paradoxalmente os pensadores mais racionalistas eram quem mais acreditava numa entidade externa, já que ao definirem o universo como um sistema lógico, em que tudo tinha de obedecer a um conjunto de regras perfeitas, matematicamente puras, os tornava reféns de uma entidade superior, a única capaz de gizar tal molde.In nature, at least according to Rousseau, human beings were peaceful and frivolous: as long as our bellies are full and our sexual appetites are whetted, nothing bad happened. Social cohesion is a necessity, and mankind has never yet succeeded in enforcing cohesion by merely rational arguments. Repare-se que aquilo que Russell apresenta e aquilo que ignora não é fruto de falta de espaço, Russell chega a dedicar um capítulo a Byron, um poeta.

He takes the opportunity to address nearly every aspect of philosophy: ethics, epistemology, metaphysics, political philosophy, etc. If we could all live solitary and without labour, we could all enjoy this ecstasy of independence; since we cannot, its delights are only available to madmen and dictators. Muitas vezes me vi obrigado a parar o audio, para poder mais tarde retomar a leitura no papel e em maior sossego para confrontar e compreender as ideias.

A permanent just settlement of the refugees in their homeland is an essential ingredient of any genuine settlement in the Middle East.

To understand an age or a nation, we must understand its philosophy, and to understand its philosophy we must ourselves be in some degree philosophers. The book ends by saying that a consistent philosophy that takes into consideration Quantum Theory is still to be written - as little as I know of modern philosophy, I would imagine the intervening 60 years have done little to correct this want. A great philosopher's lucid and magisterial look at the history of his own subject, wonderfully readable and enlightening.

Como se depreenderá, este cenário faz de Russell um racionalista, e é exatamente por isso que precisamos de ler todo o livro com algumas cautelas.