The Story of Philosophy：The Lives and Opinions of the World's Greatest Philosophers

Dr. Durant's outline includes not only lucid explanations of the great philosophies, but the careers of the philosophers and interpretations based upon the two-fold view, together with a host of good tales and merry quips by and about famous scholars from Socrates to Professor John Dewey.

American historian and essayist Will Durant was born in North Adams, Massachusetts. He earned his undergraduate degree at St. Peter's College in New Jersey and went on to earn a Ph.D. in philosophy in 1917 from Columbia University. While teaching at the libertarian Ferrer Modern School in New York, he had as a pupil a young woman named Ada Kaufman, whom he later called Ariel. She became his wife---and his coauthor. In 1917 Durant published his first work, his doctoral dissertation, Philosophy and the Social Problem . In 1926 he published another work, The Story of Philosophy. The following year, he began writing the comprehensive history of civilization on which he was to spend much of the next 30 years of his life, the massive Story of Civilization. By the time the seventh volume was published in 1961, Ariel Durant's diligent assistance on the project had earned her title-page recognition as coauthor. The Durants made several world tours to visit the countries they treated in their history and received countless honorary degrees. In 1968 they received the Pulitzer Prize for Rousseau and Revolution, the tenth and final volume of their story. Explaining why they stopped at this point in history, they wrote: "We find ourselves exhausted on reaching the French Revolution. We know that this event did not end history, but it ends us." The Durants brought popular history to the intelligent lay reader, a fact that Orville Prescott noted:"To introduce and to popularize is not less worthy an enterprise than to unearth some hitherto unknown facts or to present some new and controversial theory. Many professional historians believe that it is, and some have looked down their noses at the Durants. The truth is that the art of history includes both kinds of writing and needs both. The scholar who delves into obscure archives is essential; without him ignorance would prevail. But the writer who can make history available to the general reader is necessary too.

Preface to the Second Edition

To the Reader

Introduction: On the Uses of Philosophy

Chapter 1: Plato

　I. The Context of Plato 1

　II. Socrates

　III. The Preparation of Plato

　IV. The Ethical Problem

　V. The Political Problem

　VI. The Psychological Problem

　VII. The Psychological Solution

　VIII. The Political Solution

　IX. The Ethical Solution

　X. Criticism

Chapter 2: Aristotle and Greek Science

　I. The Historical Background

　II. The Work of Aristotle

　III. The Foundation of Logic

　IV. The Organization of Science

　　1. Greek Science before Aristotle

　　2. Aristotle as a Naturalist

　　3. The Foundation of Biology

　V. Metaphysics and the Nature of God

　VI. Psychology and the Nature of Art

　VII. Ethics and the Nature of Happiness

　VIII. Politics

　　1. Communism and Conservatism

　　2. Marriage and Education

　　3. Democracy and Aristocracy

　IX. Criticism

　X. Later Life and Death

Chapter 3: Francis Bacon

　I. From Aristotle to the Renaissance

　II. The Political Career of Francis Bacon

　III. The Essays

　IV. The Great Reconstruction

　　1. The Advancement of Learning

　　2. The New Organon

　　3. The Utopia of Science

　V. Criticism

　VI. Epilogue

Chapter 4: Spinoza

　I. Historical and Biographical

　　1. The Odyssey of the Jews

　　2. The Education of Spinoza

　　3. Excommunication

　　4. Retirement and Death

　II. The Treatise on Religion and the State

　III. The Improvement of the Intellect

　IV. The Ethics

　　1. Nature and God

　　2. Matter and Mind

　　3. Intelligence and Morals

　　4. Religion and Immortality

　V. The Political Treatise

　VI. The Influence of Spinoza

Chapter 5: Voltaire and the French Enlightenment

　I. Paris: ?dipe

　II. London: Letters on the English

　III. Cirey: The Romances

　IV. Potsdam and Frederick

　V. Les Délices: The Essay on Morals

　VI. Ferney: Candide

　VII. The Encyclopedia and the Philosophic Dictionary

　VIII. ?crasez l'Infame

　IX. Voltaire and Rousseau

　X. Dénouement

Chapter 6: Immanuel Kant and German Idealism

　I. Roads to Kant

　　1. From Voltaire to Kant

　　2. From Locke to Kant

　　3. From Rousseau to Kant

　II. Kant Himself

　III. The Critique of Pure Reason

　　1. Transcendental Esthetic

　　2. Transcendental Analytic

　　3. Transcendental Dialectic

　IV. The Critique of Practical Reason

　V. On Religion and Reason

　VI. On Politics and Eternal Peace

　VII. Criticism and Estimate

　VIII. A Note on Hegel

Chapter 7: Schopenhauer

　I. The Age

　II. The Man

　III. The World as Idea

　IV. The World as Will

　　1. The Will to Live

　　2. The Will to Reproduce

　V. The World as Evil

　VI. The Wisdom of Life

　　1. Philosophy

　　2. Genius

　　3. Art

　　4. Religion

　VII. The Wisdom of Death

　VIII. Criticism

Chapter 8: Herbert Spencer

　I. Comte and Darwin

　II. The Development of Spencer

　III. First Principles

　　1. The Unknowable

　　2. Evolution

　IV. Biology: The Evolution of Life

　V. Psychology: The Evolution of Mind

　VI. Sociology: The Evolution of Society

　VII. Ethics: The Evolution of Morals

　VIII. Criticism

　　1. First Principles

　　2. Biology and Psychology

　　3. Sociology and Ethics

　IX. Conclusion

Chapter 9: Friedrich Nietzsche

　I. The Lineage of Nietzsche

　II. Youth

　III. Nietzsche and Wagner

　IV. The Song of Zarathustra

　V. Hero-Morality

　VI. The Superman

　VII. Decadence

　VIII. Aristocracy

　IX. Criticism

　X. Finale

Chapter 10: Contemporary European Philosophers

　I. Henri Bergson

　　1. The Revolt Against Materialism

　　2. Mind and Brain

　　3. Creative Evolution

　　4. Criticism

　II. Benedetto Croce

　　1. The Man

　　2. The Philosophy of the Spirit

　　3. What Is Beauty?

　　4. Criticism

　III. Bertrand Russell

　　1. The Logician

　　2. The Reformer

　　3. Epilogue

Chapter 11: Contemporary American Philosophers Introduction

　I. George Santayana

　　1. Biographical

　　2. Scepticism and Animal Faith

　　3. Reason in Science

　　4. Reason in Religion

　　5. Reason in Society

　　6. Comment

　II. William James

　　1. Personal

　　2. Pragmatism

　　3. Pluralism

　　4. Comment

　III. John Dewey

　　1. Education

　　2. Instrumentalism

　　3. Science and Politics

Conclusion

Glossary

Index