The Story of Philosophy

Will Durant

Apr 2022 · Courier Dover Publications

About this ebook

Pulitzer Prize–winning author Will Durant chronicles the lives and ideas of several key philosophical thinkers throughout history in this informative and eminently readable text. Beginning with Socrates and Plato and concluding with Friedrich Nietzsche, with twelve other prominent philosophers in between, the author builds a history of philosophy by showing how each thinker’s ideas informed and influenced the next generation. An essential read for anyone fascinated by the development of Western philosophy.

About the author

Will Durant was born in North Adams, Massachusetts on November 5, 1885. He received an undergraduate degree at St. Peter's College in New Jersey and a Ph.D. in philosophy from Columbia University. His first book, Philosophy and the Social Problem, was published in 1917. His other works include The Story of Philosophy, The Mansions of Philosophy, and the ten-volume The Story of Civilization. By the time the seventh volume was published in 1961, his wife Ariel Durant was listed as a coauthor for her diligent assistance on the project. In 1968 they received the Pulitzer Prize for Rousseau and Revolution. The husband and wife team also wrote A Dual Autobiography in 1977. He died on November 7, 1981.