Western Philosophy: An Anthology

I give this book 5 stars because it is exactly what it sets out to be - a comprehensive introduction to the great thinkers of Western Philosophy, broken into subject categories (i.e. the mind, free will, ultimate reality, etc.), with small excerpts from each thinker to portray their thinking on said subject. Thinkers in each category range from Ancient Greek to the 20th century, making for a nice sweep of the history of the topic. Cottingham's introductions to each excerpt are lucid and helpful to the the neophyte, though they are quite concise. As a 100-level survey course textbook, you can't go wrong. If you really want to dig deeper into any of the individual thinkers, though, you'll need more specialized texts. This is what it says - an anthology only.

We use this book for our Introduction to Philosophy text in a California high school. It's a brilliant anthology with a wide variety of Western authors. His brief introduction at the beginging of each selection help make each reading more accessable.

This book is a God send. It covers all the major figures of Western Philosophy and their thoughts on various subjects central to philosophy. As a student of philosophy this is a great compilation and reference book. This will help manage all the minutia of thought from the major philospers; just simple reminders of where they are coming from and where they intend to conclude.

I am senior majoring in Philosophy. I am taking comps in a few months. This book is great to prepare for the comps. Gives you a good general overview in selected areas.