Is this good book to get general brief knowledge about history of philosophy? If not what would you recommend?

Is this good book to get general brief knowledge about history of philosophy? If not what would you recommend?

Strauss and Cropsey’s History of Political Philosophy - Third Edition. The big purple book, thank me later.

"New History of Western Philosophy" by A. Kenny is eons better. The problem with Russel is that he can't help but allow his analytical ass to creep into everyone else's work and history is shredded in favor of said analysis. Read it if you want to know the philosophical opinions of a reasonably regarded logician/mathematician, but not for history.

It's an alright book OP. He doesn't bother trying to come across as un-opinionated so as not to offend anyone, so it's likely deliberate when he divigates away from broad topics into more concentrated details with his own philosophy.

It's by no means a foundational education in philosophy. He approaches the history thought with skepticism and wit, and that's a good thing.

*history of thought, sorry

I say this as a huge fan of Russell, by the way

TL;DR

I'm convinced that all of these books are about the same. The idea of them is to give you a quick introduction to each major development in human thought and allow you to track down the original source material on your own. Basically, all of the major points and players in western philo are well established so none of the books in this genre are much different from each other. You might do what I do in these cases: internet research to find syllabui from named colleges and see what pops up on their reading lists frequently. Let an aspiring or certified expert help.

Pro Tip: The point is to experience great art itself, not a summary.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

*syllabi. Son of a bitch, I was one letter u away from a solid smuug post.

I have only skimmed through it, but no, I got the feeling that Russell didn't even attempt to take the philosophers he dislikes a bit seriously, and that's definitely not good for a history of philosophy.
I've also heard that he wrote it just to make a quick buck.

If you have an e-reader, get "Looking At Philosophy: The Unbearable Heaviness of Philosophy Made Lighter" by Donald Palmer, it's available on libgen.
It's short and easy to understand, it is present on the syllabi of some Phil101 classes, and while it is not terribly exhaustive, the point of these books is just to give you enough knowledge to start diving in works of philosophy yourself anyway, and it is a good one for that purpose.

What's a good starting poimt to begin reading about herakles?

Anthony Kenny's book is much better IMO. The History of Philosophy podcast is pretty decent as well if you'd prefer something to listen to

How does this compare to

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>what would you recommend?
The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant

I'm not any of these people, but Kenny is shorter and more concise, Strauss is actual textbook-level if you actually want encyclopedic stuff.

Durant is better than Russel but also grossly partial in analysis. Very good to read AFTER OP has come into contact with something less tainted by one's own views of the world.

Any good books that take a "history of ideas" approach to early Greek and Theological thought? Something similar to pic related?

Agreed.

Pretty good book but you should take Russell's opinions with a grain of salt especially regarding philosophers he doesn't care much about (it's really obvious in his tone).

The section where he talks about Kant is pretty bad. To the point that I had the impression that Russell didn't even read (or didn't understand) Kant's work.

With that being said, it's still worth reading if you're looking for a overview and historic background of western philosophy.

Best book i know is ernst cassirer problem of knowledge. It's beautiful book

>The section where he talks about Kant is pretty bad. To the point that I had the impression that Russell didn't even read (or didn't understand) Kant's work.
>With that being said, it's still worth reading if you're looking for a overview and historic background of western philosophy.
A history of western philosophy is worthless if it doesn't adequately portray the most important philosopher of the Enlightenment.

I agree with what you said about Kant, but even so the book is still worth reading if you're starting out.

A Short History of Modern Philosophy: From Descartes to Wittgenstein by Roger Scruton

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Has anybody read the Penguin history of western philosophy by DW Hamlyn?

Don't read this crap retard. Read sir Kenny or copleston.

Russell was a titan in his time, but now everyone rightfully considers him a deranged maniac beyond contempt.

>eons better.
>time as a measure of quality