Product Description

Beginning with the death of Socrates in 399 BC, and following the strand of philosophical inquiry through the centuries to recent figures such as Bertrand Russell and Wittgenstein, Bryan Magee's conversations with fifteen contemporary writers and philosophers provide an accessible and exciting account of Western philosophy and its greatest thinkers. With contributions from A. J. Ayer, Bernard Williams, Martha Nussbaum, Peter Singer, and John Searle, the book is not only an introduction to the philosophers of the past, but gives an invaluable insight into the view and personalities of some of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #226308 in Books
• Published on: 2001-01-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

From Library Journal
Magee has taught philosophy at Oxford, and in each of these volumes he attempts to make philosophy understandable to the lay reader. The DK book devotes just a few pages to each of the major thinkers and is lavishly illustrated. It would be suitable for high school, college, and public libraries. Great Philosophers is a series of conversations with important contemporary philosophers about the major historical figures, originally produced for the BBC. Confessions is an autobiographical excursion through Western philosophy.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Bryan Magee is a Visiting Professor at King's College London and has published sixteen other books including Modern British Philosophy, and Creators of Contemporary Philosophy.

Customer Reviews

Philosophy made interesting
I must admit I usually struggle to enjoy philosophy. The "philosophy made easy" books are too simplistic, but the original writings are very difficult. It's tempting to dismiss it all, particularly as philosophers are still trying to resolve problems raised by the ancient Greeks.
But this book is different. Magee debates the ideas of various legends with modern day experts. After the debate the experts were allowed to revise their replies to ensure intellectual rigour.
The result is fascinating. The structure forces the philosophers to express their ideas in plain English, and for the first time I understand the importance of many ideas which had rather passed me by.
I am now determined to try some philosophy in its original texts. If only all philosophers could be subjected to Magee's plain English test.

Great, but...
Anyone interested in philosophy should read this book. It is very interesting and very hard to put down. However, the main factor that makes this book unique has a negative effect, and hence the four stars. The book is basically a dialogue between Magee and other philosophers. This is a very interesting approach and the result was a great book. The problem is that I don't think that the best way to introduce philosophy is to have two philosophers talk about it. Magee always tries to clarify things when he feels that the discussion is getting a bit too complicated and succeeds most of the time, but some times this didn't pay off. I found the chapters concerning the philosophers that I had a little background information of much easier than those concerning philosophers that I knew nothing of. I know that this is logical, but in a book that is meant to be an introduction, the novice reader should find it easy to read about what he/she does not know. Apart from this little difficulty, the book is an amazing one. Magee is a great host and his guests are extremely knowledgeable about their subjects. The most important thing is that this book covered most great philosophers as the title promises.

Excellent Intro/Refresher for the Philosophical Layman


Composed of a series of interviews, each with a scholar distinguished in his field, *The Great Philosophers* provides an overview of the major Western thinkers from Socrates to Sartre. Bryan Magee does an excellent job in guiding each discussion in such a way that one gains a good overview of the philosopher under consideration and manages to clarify most of the more abstruse concepts and lines of argument.

Each interview is allotted between 15 to 20 pages so the discussions stay pretty focused, cover the major points, and what you necessarily lose in detail, you gain in not being completely overwhelmed. The dialogue format is also a great aid to comprehension and keeps things lively, especially if you're like me ((and my deepest sympathies if that's the case)) and find your eyes glazing over and that you're daydreaming about what to have for lunch when reading large expository blocks of type about someone like Hegel. *The Great Philosophers* is also an excellent book if you've always confined your study to one or two favorite philosophers but have neglected centuries of philosophical thinking because you just can't stomach the idea of plowing through anything by Thomas Aquinas, for instance, even though you know it's important to have at least some grasp of medieval philosophy in order to understand philosophy as a whole. This is what *The Great Philosophers* does best, I think: fill in the blanks in your philosophical education just about as efficiently and enjoyably as possible.

For the most part, the discussions are relatively easy to understand, although I did have some trouble with some of the later chapters dealing with Russell, Wittgenstein, and the Pragmatists, but then logic and mathematics is admittedly something I have absolutely no aptitude for and I'd be lucky to understand even an Idiot's Guide to the topic. Most likely a person of even average intelligence would understand the discussions here; after all, I found the treatment of even someone like the aforementioned Hegel completely decipherable.

In short, an excellent book that inspires one to read even deeper into the subject, *The Great Philosophers* is particularly suited to students, writers, artists, and anyone else, who, though not a professional philosopher, has an interest in the history of the seminal thinkers and the ideas that have shaped our culture.