This book was born of the paperback boom, and it is meant as an aid in the interpretation of the history of Western philosophy. It is designed especially for use in a course in the history of philosophy, but I hope that it may also prove useful for other purposes, such as an historical introduction to philosophy or a comprehensive review of the history of philosophy or just as a help to the general reader trying to make some sense out of the history of Western philosophy.

Opening of the Preface

This book is a guide to the interpretation of the history of Western philosophy. Is there,as the word history suggests, a story or plot in the history of Western philosophy, or in any of its parts? We shall see that there is a story in the whole of the history of Western philosophy (although its end still lies in the future), a story in each of the major parts of that story, and a story in each of the main subdivisions of those parts. Thus, the story of Western philosophy has stories within stories, wheels within wheels. Moreover, the stories we shall follow in this book are doubtless not the only stories in the history of Western philosophy, and they may also not be the most important ones. Our task as students both of the history of philosophy and of philosophy itself, therefore, should to try to discover these most important stories or plots, to reflect upon them, and thereby to advance our own philosophizing.

Opening of the Prologue