The Greek Philosophers: From Thales to Aristotle

I am an untrained, untaught person who is mildly interested in philosophy, or at least the origins of such thinking. For the most part I have always thought it a lot of impractical nonsense. Until I read this book. Guthrie begins from the beginning and explains in such a way that even I am now interested. I was afraid this would be a slog, but at times it was difficult to put down. I won't claim to have understood it all perfectly, but I can say that it gave me a new appreciation for philosophy in so much as that I now am curious to read about how it developed in other cultures around the world.

Does a very good job of establishing the easily forgotten difference and remoteness of the ancient Greek cultural and intellectual background. Also a good synopsis of the Pre-Socratics and their concerns, putting Socrates, Plato and Aristotle in appropriate context, plus a good explanation of key Greek terms and concepts. Some of these can’t really be translated directly, so this is pretty valuable. Guthrie knows his subject well and packs a lot into 175 pages. It’s also an easy and pleasant read.

12/6/21

El pensamiento griego tiene un valor eterno, no sólo porque es el punto donde arrancan las más vigorosas corrientes de la filosofía occidental, sino por la importancia que por sí mismas tienen todavía muchas de las soluciones que dio a los problemas esenciales del pensamiento abstracto.

Librería 6. Estante 3.