A History of Philosophy, Vol. 1

Conceived originally as a serious presentation ofthe development of philosophy for Catholicseminary students, Frederick Copleston's nine-volume A History Of Philosophy hasjourneyed far beyond the modest purpose of its author touniversal acclaim as the best history ofphilosophy in English.
Copleston, an Oxford Jesuitof immense erudition who once tangled with A. J.Ayer in a fabled debate about the existence of Godand the possibility of metaphysics, knew thatseminary students were fed a woefully inadequate dietof theses and proofs, and that their familiaritywith most of history's great thinkers was reducedto simplistic caricatures. Copleston set out toredress the wrong by writing a complete history ofWestern philosophy, one crackling with incident andintellectual excitement -- and one that gives fullplace to each thinker, presenting his thought in abeautifully rounded manner and showing his linksto those who went before and to those who cameafter him.