Is Copleston's A History of Philosophy any good?

Is Copleston's A History of Philosophy any good?

It's very good. The only one that compares in terms of comprehensiveness is Anthony Kenny's book. But I still prefer Copleston. Will Durant has a really beautiful book on the history of philosophy as well but it's not nearly as thorough as the previous two I mentioned.

>not just reading the primary sources

did you just look at the other anons bookshelf thread?

have not heard of a better one

no, did I miss something?

I've read 4 volumes and it's excellent.

is it biased towards Scholastic philosophers?

Should someone who can't read Greek or Latin attempt Copleston?

Yes, you'll be fine. Although you could probably learn pretty quickly the words and phrases he does use, since they are usually pretty basic.

Yes. It was written for to-be priests on seminary, thats why he doens't translate any greek or latin shit in the text. The author is very open and sincere about his biases though, and he does not try to hide from it. The title of the books is a good indication of that.

It's a very easy read (besides de greek/latin), you should give it a try.

>needing your hand held to get through latin and attic
wew

Yes, but it means you'll get an accurate representation of their philosophy.

are large hunks of text in greek/latin

Nope. Just words, terms and small citations.

does he mention stirner

Yes, in vol 8 I think, but he gets a few pages because he's not exactly important.

this might be difficult to answer, but for someone who is already familiar with the history of philosophy and has read primary and secondary texts by/about most of the philosophers who will be mentioned, is it valuable as a sort of summing-up after having already become familiar with the history of philosophy, or does its length make it better for use as an intro intro. what did copleston expect of the seminary students in terms of knowledge going into his books?

...

personally, I think that's probably the best way to use this series

you mean to use it afterwards? right on, this could be perfect