The History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Well, I slogged through this one. It wasn’t Russell’s writing style that made it a slog; it was the content. Philosophy is a complicated thing. I had to re-read many sections of this book two or three times to get the gist of what the psycho… er, I mean philosopher was trying to get across.
Philosophy is a very complicated thing. There are many different kinds of philosophy; science/nature based, religious-based, politics-based, etc. There’s even a philosophy of philosophy. Russell is writing from a historian’s point of view in this book, but he still goes quite in depth to explain the basics of the systems these men (all are men, it seems) expounded upon.
I’m no philosophy neophyte; neither am I anything one would describe as an expert. I’ve had a taste for it for many years, and have studied some “masters”… Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, etc. Russell covers pretty much everyone of any importance in this book. It’s a difficult read, though. I’m not sure if it should be the first book on philosophy that someone reads.
My conclusions after this are going to disappoint many hardcore philosophy fans, but it is what it is. I feel that some of these fellows were true and groundbreaking thinkers. I think that the majority, though, were slightly unhinged men who probably would have come up with much better theories on everything had they drank more wine and smoked weed back then.
No complaints about Russell, though. His writings are always a educational and a joy to read.
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Nocturnal Slacker v2.0 
Speak of synchronicity. Last night I was watching an interview with Russell on YouTube in 1952. He was 80 years old at the time. Terry
Yes, the ol’ fellow was a very smart man and I’ve enjoyed reading quite a few of his books over the years. This book above was written in ’43 and published in ’45, but it’s basically timeless.
I tried reading Russell in 1965 when I was 15 years old. I am sure that I would get much more out of trying to read him again. Terry
Yes. Sometimes, you’re just not ready for a book. I’ve learned that as I’ve aged. 🙂
I responded at the end of the post not above the line.
On Fri, Jul 9, 2021 at 10:58 AM Nocturnal Slacker v2.0 wrote:
> V. T. Eric Layton posted: ” The History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand > RussellMy rating: 4 of 5 starsWell, I slogged through this one. It wasn’t > Russell’s writing style that made it a slog; it was the content. Philosophy > is a complicated thing. I had to re-read many sections of ” >