A History of Western Philosophy

A one-volume history of Western philosophy from the Pre-Socratics to the early twentieth century, which grew out of lectures Russell gave at the Barnes Foundation in Pennsylvania during the Second World War. Its subtitle promises to connect philosophy with political and social circumstances, and Russell does so throughout. Book One covers ancient philosophy, from Thales and Pythagoras through Plato, Aristotle, the Hellenistic schools and Plotinus. Book Two, on Catholic philosophy, runs from the Church Fathers and Augustine to Aquinas and the decline of scholasticism. Book Three moves from the Renaissance and Machiavelli through Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Hume, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Byron, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, the utilitarians, Marx, Bergson, James and Dewey. A final chapter defends Russell's own method of logical analysis. The writing is clear and often witty, and Russell openly judges the thinkers he describes. Critics note that his treatment of some figures, such as Hegel, Nietzsche and the medieval thinkers, is brief or unfair.

It remains the most readable single-volume tour of Western thought, and it shows a major philosopher arguing with his predecessors rather than merely reporting them.