Mr. Durant is a thoroughly inadequate philosopher and oft’ incompetent interpreter of philosophic text, but I must applaud him for his charming story telling and noble (though wiggish) attempt to bring philosophy down to the everyday man. Any pedant frustrated by inaccuracy should avoid this book. For those who just want a charming gloss on the history of philosophy it is far more accessible to newcomers than Bertrand Russell’s history. ( )

Sure this book has a bunch of good background and serves a as nice background to philosophy...but its ideological bias is strong and unacknowledged.

The writer is an academic...and, of course, there is nothing wrong with this. But he seems wholly unaware of how his view totally shapes his reading and critic of the great minds.

For example, Plato suggests a society run by the elite who have been schooled in the correct management of a state. This, of course, is a very logical proposition. Durant finds many things to criticize with Plato's proposed society, but seems blissfully ignorant of that the power in Plato's society would reside within university walls since the one who shapes the training of our leaders holds as much power as the leaders themselves...but in fairness, I wouldn't expect someone who comes from the institution to critize a system that would give more power to people like himself.

This may seem like a minor critic, and I guess it is, but Durant's book is full of such elitist and academic assumptions. So when combined with page after page of such assumptions and bias, it gets harder and harder to glean fact from his elitist opinions.

After reading this book I get the sense that this author hasn't been shaped by the day-to-day performance of real work in the real world, but rather lives in his ivory tower where eloquent speech and high ideals take precedence over "mundane" things like the raising of a family and the struggle of the working class.

Finally, Durant seems to revel in anti-Christian assumptions. He fails to give real criticism of some of the horrendous morals promoted by early philosophers (for example, a passing nod to the sanctity of life and the abhorrence of infanticide would have been nice). And his jumping from Aristotle to Francis Bacon seems to be his way of sticking his nose up to great Christian philosophers like Augustine, who, although a theologian, wrote great and influential treatises on subjects like time, truth, and free will. The Greek philosophers' writings were about God and the ultimate reality as well...so why are they included while great Christian thinkers are not? Readers beware. ( )

This book is amazingly cheap priced for the wisdom is bestows. I remember- Me and C bought a copy each and started the reading sessions alternating with discussions during long walks, drives and evening teas during our internship days. I’m yet to find a better primer for philosophy than this book written by the delicately humorous Durant and whole-heartedly recommend it to anyone who wishes to acquaint themselves with the schools in philosophy.Personally I cherish my copy with all the wild and illegible scribbles and highlighting.It is a symbol of growth and a visage of what a concerted and collective human exploration means. ( )

A little dry at places but not too bad. I read as far as the chapter on Francis Bacon, then for some reason never got around to finishing it. ( )

This was my first general guide to philosophy. It packs a lot in. This is the book that let me understand Kant and helped me realize how much I like Spinoza. ( )