Will Durant...he was the man who made philosophy popular, history thrilling, and reading a fascination in the early 20th century. It has been nearly a century since the ever-popular 'Story of Philosophy' came out, but its popularity has not reduced at all - even now from Bangalore to New York, the one book I see that is commonly flashed across in bookstores is the story of philosophy.True - western philosophy has changed an awful lot, approaches to teaching western philosophy has changed, but the value of enjoying a historical account of some of the greatest people in history has not changed at all - Durant definitely has a penchant for studying people more than theories - that, and the wonderfully absorbing English of Durant is what makes this work a must in every bookshelf.
Durant has written somewhere that if we read Spinoza's ethics carefully, we will forever remain lovers of philosophy.Read the story of philosophy at leisure, and you will remain forever a lover of reading.
One great criticism of Durant's 'Story' is that he did not mention two of the most original philosophies of all time - Indian and Chinese. Well, some say he forgot to mention the motherland of philosophy when he omitted Indian philosophy. He sort of made amends to that in his 'Story of Civilization' series, though - his detailed account of philosophical thoughts is a rare thing to see in a volume dedicated to history.
Unlike the story of philosophy, this 11-volume set is no longer being printed - I had to buy a collectible edition for a small fortune to add this to my collection - and the later volumes are co-authored with his wife, Anne Durant. But the first volumes are just as lyrical, and make as compelling a reading as ever. Being a study of world history, Durant looks at history's major personalities, does not give us a list of events to read through, paints a rare picture where he tries to view history through its major people, not events. After all, isn't our society what we, the people, make it?
Agreed that after nearly 40 years of the last volume being published - and 70 since the first volume - much has changed. Both history and philosophy have grown, and the modern student needs to know more than what these books can teach us. But for those of us who want to sit back in an armchair, who can read just to enjoy reading, Will Durant remains a perennial favourite.
