Product Description

From Socrates To Sartre presents a rousing and readable introduction to the lives, and times of the great philosophers. This thought-provoking book takes us from the inception of Western society Plato's Athens to today when the commanding power of Marxism has captured one third of the world. T.Z. Lavine, Elton Professor of Philosophy at George Washington University, makes philosophy come alive with astonishing clarity to give us a deeper, more meaningful understanding of ourselves and our times. From Socrates To Sartre discusses Western philosophers in terms of the historical and intellectual environment which influenced them, and it connects their lasting ideas to the public and private choices we face in America today From Socrates To Sartre formed the basis for the PBS television series of the same name.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #141518 in Books
• Published on: 1985-02-01
• Released on: 1985-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

Customer Reviews

A Masterful Journey Through the Realm of Philosophy
Having struck out in previous efforts to connect with philosophy, I could not have been happier to discover this magnificent work. Professor Lavine combines an intellectual mastery of her subject with an unfailing (and no less important) connection to her reader as she introduces the breathtaking accomplishments and historical context of the great philosophers.

Trifling are criticisms of her failure to mention every philosopher of significance or place equal emphasis on the many (at least a dozen) whose work she does address. The book would lose infinitely more than it would gain by so doing.

Professor Lavine is an extraordinary guide for an extraordinary journey. I am energized and excited by the experience of reading this book.

Great Introductory Book
This was one of the first philosophy books I read and it turned out to be very helpful for my introductory philosophy classes.

This book doesn't cover all the famous philosophers in depth, but that is not a problem beacause the book follows a nice theme and is clearly written.

The themes that stick their head out are the status of concepts and how we know them. Concepts are given by different names, such as forms, but they are basically the same, depending on what you subscribe to. However, seeing them as concepts will make for easier reading.

Starting from Socrates and Plato we get the idea that concepts have their existence in some other world, neither in our mind nor the spatialtemporal reality. We come to know these concepts by reasoning using the socratic method.

Aristotle counters with the idea that concepts exist in the objects we observe and neither in our mind or some Platonic world.

Eventually we get to Kant who says that concepts are in our mind and existed there since we were born and are necessary for us to even experience reality itself.

Hegel takes the idea of concepts even further and uses them to explain just about everthing.

The idea of concepts eventually are no longer in the world or a Platonic world nor even permantely in our mind, but are nothing more than just concepts that are made up and constitute language.

We come to know these concepts by learning their meaning from the culture we are a part of.

I gave a very simple synopsis, but you will see these themes too and will make for better reading if you keep them in mind.

There are many other themes that are weaved throughout this book, but all these other themes are related to concepts. For example, ethics revolves around values and their justification, but when one examines ethical values we come back to an examination of concepts. This is also true with political and social themes that run through this book and philosophy. In politics there is an examination of values too, called liberty, justice, equality etc, which in the end are just concepts that are examined and eventually justified or so it seems.

A solid survey, but a bit brief
Thelma Lavine's _From Socrates to Sartre_ provides a good introduction to the major western philosophers, and a truly outstanding summary of their ideas; however there were a number of thinkers I wish she had discussed in more detail.

Her survey begins with a brief discussion of the pre-Socratic thinkers and does a fantastic job of summarizing Socrates before giving a truly outstanding overview of Platonic and Aristotlean logic. This, (and her later overview of Existentialism) were real highlights of the book.

The contributions of St. Ausustine and Thomas Aquinas are touched upon, before providing a lengthy analysis of Descartes - it, too, is first rate, although I found myself wishing she had given more detail to Sir Francis Bacon's empricism. Lavine next turns her attention to the Enlightenment and Hume - the treatment of his ideas and general philosophy is good, although again, I wish greater attention was given Immanuel Kant.

Her sections on Hegel and Marx were solid - I particularly enjoyed her biography of Marx, but again, more information on Feurbach and his influence on Marx would have been helpful.

In discussing the predecessors to Existentialism, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche are discussed, but I had hoped for a deeper explaination of their ideas about the human condition. I was disappointed that Heidigger was scarcely mentioned at all.

The last 100 pages detail Existentialism in general and Sartre in particular, which is the strongest part of the book. The ideas behind Existentialism and its influences are very well explained, and were very insightful.

For a book on philosophy, its accessable for the layperson (such as myself) and provided a good overview of a few of the major western thinkers. Her lists of recommended readings are also helpful - but I kept finding myself wanting to know more. This, of course is the measure of a good survery, as it serves to whet the readers appetite for deeper material.