An illustrated brief history of western philosophy

The second edition of this book, originally published in 1992, has been updated primarily with 50 illustrations, 16 of them in color. English philosopher Kenny (The Unknown God: Agnostic Essays) describes philosophy as providing "not knowledge, but understanding." He explains that the role of philosophy is not to give us new information but to help us gain a clearer understanding of concepts and theories. Kenny considers this a strength of philosophy and uses history to show the general educated reader how philosophy has contributed to our understanding of the world and of ourselves. Chapters cover either a specific time period in philosophy or a major philosopher. Plato, Aristotle, Ren? Descartes, Immanuel Kant, and Ludwig Wittgenstein have their own chapters, while individuals who have influenced philosophy, like Jesus, Charles Darwin, and Sigmund Freud, have sections within their respective time period. Kenny begins each section by explaining the philosopher's ideas and reasoning, then critically analyzes that person's conclusions. While he has not written a complete history of Western philosophy, Kenny does achieve his goal of presenting the ideas of past philosophers in a very easy-to-understand yet engaging way. Highly recommended for both public and academic libraries, though libraries owning the 1992 edition may want to pass. Scott Duimstra, Capital Area Dist. Lib., Lansing, MI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.