A New History of Western Philosophy: In Four Parts

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In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Hegel, Mill, Nietzsche, Freud, and Wittgenstein again transformed the way we see the world. Kenny also looks closely at each of the main areas of philosophical exploration: knowledge and understanding; science; metaphysics; mind and soul; the nature and content of morality; political philosophy; and God. With over fifty books published in his career, his most recent works are The Enlightenment: A Very Short History (2017) and a memoir, Brief Encounters, to be published in September 2018.

And this brings us to Wittgenstein, because Wittgenstein was able to affect a certain resolution of the problems between the analytical and the continental traditions.

Though the chapter does not take in anything routinely associated with the continental tradition, it is hardly monolithic. It would have been recommended to cut down parts of the medieval philosophy to make room for the existentialism of Heidegger and Sartre. Kenny explained that a reader who is concerned with intellectual history can look at the chronological survey in the first section. This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use.

Far better to read a Stanford Encyclopaedia article on the philosophers individually, in conjunction with overviews of periods that interest you.Some parts of the book were superficial in explanation which sometimes leaves you with more questions (and I used some other online sources for more clarification). Physics is no longer a stand-alone philosophical subject after Newton and accordingly Kenny was silent on it in Modern Philosophy. This book is no less than a guide to the whole of Western philosophy--the ideas that have undergirded our civilization for two-and-a-half thousand years. a b "Kenny, Sir Anthony (John Patrick), (born 16 March 1931), Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Oxford University, 1984–2001 (Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Development, 1999–2001); Warden, Rhodes House, 1989–99; Professorial Fellow, St John's College, Oxford, 1989–99, now Emeritus Fellow; Master of Balliol College, Oxford, 1978–89".

With this complaint, though, I am straying awfully close to Kenny's 1975 cut-off, as that is the original publication date of Putnam's "The Meaning of 'Meaning'," and so Kenny can be forgiven the omission, at least to a far greater degree than he can be for downplaying the contributions of 20 th century continental philosophers, which, after all, were made well within his declared timeframe. Within each part are two sections, one devoted to the historical narrative and flow of ideas, the other devoted to an analysis of the key ideas within the period as they fall under the various sub-disciplines of philosophy. Kenny finds all the arguments wanting: in each case, at least one premise is questionable if not downright false or some logical fallacy has been committed. This book is no less than a guide to the whole of Western philosophy-the ideas that have undergirded our civilization for two-and-a-half thousand years.

While intellectual history is a bird’s eye view of the intellectual landscape, a history of philosophy is a x-ray version of that landscape. A textbook detailing the history of western philosophy by breaking it apart into digestible and accessible parts. From 1964 until 1978, he was a Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford and Senior Tutor during the periods 1971–72 and 1976–78.