A man with silver hair

Last year, the book Ten Western Philosophers appeared, with texts following lectures given for the Studium Generale of the University of Amsterdam. These texts introduced the reader to a dozen important Western thinkers, who chose to emphasize their ethical positions. In this way, a slight exchange of ideas could be offered between these thinkers, although other topics could easily have been chosen. Also, very different people could have been brought to the fore, because in the few thousand years fi loso fi history many have struggled over the same problems. In addition, it is typical of the fi loso fi e that there may be a main line in its history here and there, but that relatively 'insignificant' authors have also made significant contributions. It is not uncommon for a thinker to count on an interest he had never (dared) anticipate long after his death. All in all, a proper choice had to be made in this regard. The limitations that a series of readings once had, in size and in complexity, later proved to be precisely the readability of the volume.