The Story of Philosophy

The Story tried to salt itself with a seasoning of humor, not only because wisdom is not wise if it scares away merriment, but because a sense of humor, being born of perspective, bears a near kinship to philosophy; each is the soul of the other. But this appears to have displeased the pundits; nothing so hurt the book with them as its smiles. A reputation for humor is disastrous to statesmen and philosophers: Germany could not forgive Schopenhauer his story of Unzelmann, and only France has recognized the depth behind the wit and brilliance of Voltaire.

I trust that the book never misled its readers into supposing that by reading it they would become philosophers overnight, or that they would be saved the trouble, or pleasure, of reading the philosophers themselves. God knows there is no short-cut to knowledge; after forty years of seeking her one finds “Truth” still veiled, and what she shows of herself most disconcerting. Instead of aiming to be a substitute for philosophers, the Story explicitly offered itself as an introduction and an invitation; it quoted the philosophers lavishly, so that the taste for them might linger when the book was closed; time and again it prodded the reader to the original texts (e. g., on pp. 22, 67, 121, 289, 331, 425, 438); and warning was given that one reading of them would hardly be enough. Cf. p. 186:

Spinoza is not to be read, he is to be studied; you must approach him as you would approach Euclid, recognizing that in these brief two hundred pages a man has written down his lifetime’s thought with stoic sculptory of everything superfluous. Do not think to find its core by running over it rapidly . . . . Read the book not all at once, but in small portions at many sittings. And having finished it, consider that you have but begun to understand it. Read then some commentary, like Pollock’s Spinoza, or Martineau’s Study of Spinoza, or, better, both. Finally, read the Ethics again; it will be a new book to you. When you have finished it a second time you will remain forever a lover of philosophy.

It is comforting to learn that the sales of the philosophical classics increased some two hundred per cent, after the publication of the Story. Many publishers have issued new editions, particularly of Plato, Spinoza, Voltaire, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. A high official of the New York Public Library, who asks to be unnamed, reports that

ever since the publication of the Story of Philosophy we have had a wide and increasing demand from the public for the philosophical classics, and our stock of them in the branch libraries has been gradually increased . . . . Formerly, current books about philosophy were purchased in small quantities for the system; but in the last two or three years a readable new book about philosophy is purchased very generally at the outset, in anticipation of a demand which eventually does develop, and quickly at that.

Let us not, then, be ashamed of teaching the people. Those jealous ones who would guard their knowledge from the world have only themselves to blame if their exclusiveness and their barbarous terminology have led the world to seek in books, in lectures, and in adult education, the instruction which they themselves have failed to give. Let them be grateful that their halting efforts are aided by amateurs who love life enough to let it humanize their teaching. Perhaps each kind of teacher can be of aid to the other: the cautious scholar to check our enthusiasm with accuracy, and the enthusiast to pour warmth and blood into the fruits of scholarship. Between us we might build up in America an audience fit to listen to geniuses, and therefore ready to produce them. We are all imperfect teachers, but we may be forgiven if we have advanced the matter a little, and have done our best. We announce the prologue, and retire; after us better players will come.

THE STORY OF PHILOSOPHY has been translated into German, French, Swedish, Danish, Yugoslavian, Chinese, Japanese, Hungarian and Hindi.

Contents

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

INTRODUCTION: ON THE USES OF PHILOSOPHY

CHAPTER I

PLATO

I. The Context of Plato

II. Socrates

III. The Preparation of Plato

IV. The Ethical Problem

V. The Political Problem

VI. The Psychological Problem

VII. The Psychological Solution

VIII. The Political Solution

IX. The Ethical Solution

X. Criticism

CHAPTER II

ARISTOTLE AND GREEK SCIENCE

I. The Historical Background

II. The Work of Aristotle

III. The Foundation of Logic

IV. The Organization of Science

1. Greek Science before Aristotle

2. Aristotle as a Naturalist

3. The Foundation of Biology

V. Metaphysics and the Nature of God

VI. Psychology and the Nature of Art

VII. Ethics and the Nature of Happiness

VIII. Politics

1. Communism and Conservatism

2. Marriage and Education

3. Democracy and Aristocracy

IX. Criticism

X. Later Life and Death

CHAPTER III

FRANCIS BACON

I. From Aristotle to the Renaissance

II. The Political Career of Francis Bacon

III. The Essays

IV. The Great Reconstruction

1. The Advancement of Learning

2. The New Organon

3. The Utopia of Science

V. Criticism

VI. Epilogue

CHAPTER IV

SPINOZA

I. Historical and Biographical

1. The Odyssey of the Jews

2. The Education of Spinoza

3. Excommunication

4. Retirement and Death

II. The Treatise on Religion and the State

III. The Improvement of the Intellect

IV. The Ethics

1. Nature and God

2. Matter and Mind

3. Intelligence and Morals

4. Religion and Immortality

V. The Political Treatise

VI. The Influence of Spinoza

CHAPTER V

VOLTAIRE AND THE FRENCH ENLIGHTENMENT

I. Paris: Œdipe

II. London: Letters on the English

III. Cirey: The Romances

IV. Potsdam and Frederick

V. Les Délices: The Essay on Morals

VI. Ferney: Candide

VII. The Encyclopedia and the Philosophic Dictionary

VIII. Ecrasez I’Infame

IX. Voltaire and Rousseau

X. Dénouement

CHAPTER VI

IMMANUEL KANT AND GERMAN IDEALISM

I. Roads to Kant

1. From Voltaire to Kant

2. From Locke to Kant

3. From Rousseau to Kant

II. Kant Himself

III. The Critique of Pure Reason

1. Transcendental Esthetic

2. Transcendental Analytic

3. Transcendental Dialectic

IV. The Critique of Practical Reason

V. On Religion and Reason

VI. On Politics and Eternal Peace

VII. Criticism and Estimate

VIII. A Note on Hegel

CHAPTER VII

SCHOPENHAUER

I. The Age

II. The Man

III. The World as Idea

IV. The World as Will

1. The Will to Live

2. The Will to Reproduce

V. The World as Evil

VI. The Wisdom of Life

1. Philosophy

2. Genius

3. Art

4. Religion

VII. The Wisdom of Death

VIII. Criticism

CHAPTER VIII

HERBERT SPENCER

I. Comte and Darwin

II. The Development of Spencer

III. First Principles

1. The Unknowable

2. Evolution

IV. Biology: The Evolution of Life

V. Psychology: The Evolution of Mind

VI. Sociology: The Evolution of Society

VII. Ethics: The Evolution of Morals

VIII. Criticism

1. First Principles

2. Biology and Psychology

3. Sociology and Ethics

IX. Conclusion