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Ten Great Works of Philosophy

Author Various
Mass Market Paperback
4.21"W x 6.74"H x 1.29"D   | 12 oz | 36 per carton
On sale Mar 01, 2002 | 592 Pages | 9780451528308

In its vast scope, this book presents the continuum of Western philosophy. Ranging from ancient Greece to nineteenth-century America, it traces the history of our civilization through the seminal works of its most influential thinkers. Each philosopher in this volume made intellectual history; each created a revolution in ideas; each reaffirmed man’s view of himself as a sentient being capable of creating order out of the baffling contradictions of existence. And the most powerful reflections and speculations of each are represented here.

  • Plato: Apology, Crito and the Death of Socrates, from Phado

  • Aristotle: Poetics

  • St. Ansem: The ontological Proof of St. Ansem, from Proslogium

  • St. Thomas Aquinas: St. Thomas’ Proofs of God’s Existence, from the SummaTheologica

  • René Descartes: Meditations on the First Philosophy

  • David Hume: An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding

  • Immanuel Kant: Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics

  • John Stuart Mill: Utilitarianism

  • William James: The Will to Believe

  • Daniel Hahn is an award-winning translator, writer and editor. His 2026 books include If This Be Magic: the unlikely art of Shakespeare in translation, and translated novels from Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Peru and Guatemala.

    Padma Viswanathan is author of three novels and a memoir, published in eight countries and shortlisted for the Pen Center USA Fiction Prize, the Scotiabank Giller Prize and others, and has translated four books from Brazilian Portuguese. View titles by Various
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    Ten Great Works of Philosophy Introductory Remarks to the Reader
    Plato: Apology; Crito and the Dath of Socrates, from Phaedo
    Aristotle: Politics
    St. Anselm and St. Thomas Aquinas: Proofs for the Existence of God: The Ontological Proof of St. Anselm, from Proslogium; St. Thomas' Proofs of God's Existence, from The Summa Theologica
    Renée Descartes: Meditations on the First Philosophy
    David Hume: An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding
    Immanuel Kant: Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics
    John Stuart Mill: Utilitarianism
    William James: The Will to Believe

    About

    In its vast scope, this book presents the continuum of Western philosophy. Ranging from ancient Greece to nineteenth-century America, it traces the history of our civilization through the seminal works of its most influential thinkers. Each philosopher in this volume made intellectual history; each created a revolution in ideas; each reaffirmed man’s view of himself as a sentient being capable of creating order out of the baffling contradictions of existence. And the most powerful reflections and speculations of each are represented here.

  • Plato: Apology, Crito and the Death of Socrates, from Phado

  • Aristotle: Poetics

  • St. Ansem: The ontological Proof of St. Ansem, from Proslogium

  • St. Thomas Aquinas: St. Thomas’ Proofs of God’s Existence, from the SummaTheologica

  • René Descartes: Meditations on the First Philosophy

  • David Hume: An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding

  • Immanuel Kant: Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics

  • John Stuart Mill: Utilitarianism

  • William James: The Will to Believe

  • Creators

    Daniel Hahn is an award-winning translator, writer and editor. His 2026 books include If This Be Magic: the unlikely art of Shakespeare in translation, and translated novels from Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Peru and Guatemala.

    Padma Viswanathan is author of three novels and a memoir, published in eight countries and shortlisted for the Pen Center USA Fiction Prize, the Scotiabank Giller Prize and others, and has translated four books from Brazilian Portuguese. View titles by Various

    Table of Contents

    Ten Great Works of Philosophy Introductory Remarks to the Reader
    Plato: Apology; Crito and the Dath of Socrates, from Phaedo
    Aristotle: Politics
    St. Anselm and St. Thomas Aquinas: Proofs for the Existence of God: The Ontological Proof of St. Anselm, from Proslogium; St. Thomas' Proofs of God's Existence, from The Summa Theologica
    Renée Descartes: Meditations on the First Philosophy
    David Hume: An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding
    Immanuel Kant: Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics
    John Stuart Mill: Utilitarianism
    William James: The Will to Believe
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