For Durant, philosophy was the quest for a —seeing things from the perspective of the whole. It remains a powerful starting point for anyone wishing to understand the development of Western thought in an accessible, pleasurable way. Ready to Start Your Philosophical Journey?
Durant had a gift for the pithy, quotable summary. Exclusive to his style is the ability to reduce Kant’s "Critique of Pure Reason" into a single, digestible metaphor, or to summarize Nietzsche’s superman theory without losing its terrifying beauty. He famously wrote: story of philosophy by will durant exclusive
To read The Story of Philosophy today is to feel Durant’s hand on your shoulder. He writes as a teacher who remembers the confusion of a first encounter with Kant’s categories or Schopenhauer’s will. He writes with wit: “Logic is the art of making truth a habit.” He writes with sorrow: “We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world.” For Durant, philosophy was the quest for a
Throughout the text, Durant reveals his bias toward and a synthesis of science and spirit. His gentle treatment of Spinoza and his reverence for Aristotle betray his own desire for a secular morality. Durant is not a neutral observer; he is a guide trying to lead the reader away from dogmatic religion and toward a scientific yet reverent view of the universe. Durant had a gift for the pithy, quotable summary
Structure and Major Contents