The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the Greater Philosophers

"...So much of our lives is meaningless, a self-cancelling vacillation and futility; we strive with the chaos about us and within; but we would believe all the while that there is something vital and significant in us, could we but decipher our own souls. We want to understand; 'life means for us constantly to transform into light and flame all that we are or meet with'..."

The Story of Philosophy (1926) is a groundbreaking work of creative nonfiction written by Pulitzer Prize winner, Will Durant. Chronicling the ideas--and lives--of Plato, Aristotle, Bacon, Spinoza, Voltaire, Kant, Schopenhauer, Spencer, Nietzsche, Bergson, Croce, Russell, Santayana, James, and Dewey; Durant explores the influence of one great thinker on the next, contextualizing the evolution and development of philosophical thought in the Western world.

Praised for helping to popularize philosophy to the general reader, Durant's writing shines as he effortlessly weaves together history, philosophy, and biography, cumulating in a work that both encourages and celebrates a genuine love and pursuit of wisdom. Considered by many to be the one of the best introductions to the study of philosophy, The Story of Philosophy is an insightful in-depth look at over a dozen great minds and the environments that created them.