Classics of Philosophy

Select works of several prominent philosophers ranging from antiquity (Plato) to modern times (Bertrand Russel) are presented in a highly readable, user-friendly manner with concise notes from the authors explaining key concepts at the beginning of each larger section of text. Two-column layout makes it easy to find a passage. Explanations are very brief but informative. An overview of each philosopher and the context of his work is presented before his writing. Thin, non-glossy pages are readable in any lighting. Book is paperback and bulky, so covers will bend and corners will quickly deteriorate if the book travels at all. Because of the thickness, photocopying is impossible unless the spine is broken at the precise section to which one wishes to open the pages, but the pages are approximately the right size to fill a photocopied page without much "black space" if one is determined to do so.

This is a massive and invaluable book for the student of philosophy. It has over twenty complete works of classical philosophy. Including many of the great works by Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Kierkegaard, Hume, Mill and many, many more. And it also includes fragments from the presocratics and careful abridgments of over forty more works from a full spectrum of philosophers, ancient to modern. All of this comes in one large yet manageable volume. So it is ideal for a student or someone who wants a single volume philosophy reference. I highly recommend it.

I use this work as the sole text for my Survey of Philosophy course. Both the breadth and depth of the readings are impressive, and the book lends itself to any number of combinations of readings, which makes this work uniquely versatile in my experience as a philosophy professor.I also believe that the earlier reviewer was overly harsh in his disparagement of the introductions and summaries to each philosopher's work. While some of the introductions and summaries are indeed rather weak (although even these are generally adequate), others are quite good, and it is in any case the part of the instructor to guide students through these works. A novice instructor with insufficient background in the history of philosophy would indeed find this text difficult to use. The text is poorly edited in parts, with any number of rather glaring errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar, but these are minor when compared to the overall usefulness and versatility of this text.