Since its first publication in 1929, Will Durant’s The Mansions of Philosophy has been acclaimed as a sweeping, panoramic overview of the most profound and difficult questions ever to trouble the human mind.
In this titanic work, Durant surveys the whole of Western philosophical thought from its beginnings with the ancient Greeks to the latest developments of his own day. A century later, this book still dazzles the reader with its clarity, comprehensiveness, and wit.
Durant takes us through the whole range of Western philosophy and shows how the great thinkers of our civilization dealt with questions that have troubled the human mind since time immemorial: Who are we? Where do we come from? How do we come to know anything at all? How can we be sure that even our deepest and most cherished beliefs about the world are true—or can we know? Why should we be good? What is the best way of governing society? Why do we love?
In this masterful work, Durant covers the whole range of philosophical discourse. But he does much more. Astonishingly, we see that he deals with exactly the same problems that still trouble us. He writes: “Our culture is superficial today, and our knowledge dangerous, because we are rich in mechanisms and poor in purposes. . .Science has taken from us the supernatural bases of our morality, and all the world seems consumed in a disorderly individualism that reflects the chaotic fragmentation of our character.”
These worries still arise, meaning that our civilization has not yet solved them. We would do well to look to Durant’s explorations as guideposts for our future. He tells us, “To philosophers all things are boons, for they know how to find some use and good in every turn of circumstance. The wise man not only sees the good in ill fortune, but he tries to feel his good fortune as keenly, when it comes, as he feels the blows which impinge upon him yearly.”
This book is a treasure that opens the splendid mansions of Western thought to every reader.
This definitive modern deluxe edition, beautifully designed and easy to read, includes a new foreword by Richard Smoley and a complete, newly adapted index.
