Models of the History of Philosophy. From its Origins in the Renaissance to the `Historia philosophica' (a translation of a work published in 1981 in Italian - the bibliography has been updated) gives a comprehensive description of the various forms and approaches in the literature of the history of philosophy from the fifteenth to the middle of the seventeenth century. Several traditions are described, from the well known `prisca theologia' and `perennis philosophia' traditions of Marsilio Ficino and Augustino Steuco, which claimed that the Greeks got their philosophy from the East, to the unknown influence of Scepticism on the history of philosophy by the recovery of Sextus Empiricus, and the German Protestant critical attack on Greek philosophy as Atheistic which was the tradition of the history of philosophy out of which Leibniz developed. Each individual historian of philosophy is given a separate entry which includes a biography, a complete bibliography of his works, a description of his history of philosophy and ends with both an assessment of his reputation during his own time and a complete listing of recent literature on him. As a result the substantial variety in the way the history of philosophy was written and, with it, an overview of the way western civilization developed is described in detail for the first time. For university history of literature, history of culture, history of religion and history of philosophy classes. The book can be used both for undergraduate courses (for specific reading assignments) and as background material for graduate courses. The bibliography provides important aids to many topics which have previously been almost inaccessible.

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: THE PHILOSOPHY OF AOTIQUITY 5. The general characteristic of the human mind in ante-Christian, and particularly in Hellenic antiquity, may be described as its comparatively unreflecting belief in its own harmony and of its oneness with nature. The sense of an opposition, as existing either among its own different functions and interests or between the mind and nature and as needing reconciliation, is as yet relatively undeveloped. The philosophy of antiquity, like that of every period, partakes necessarily, in what concerns its chronological beginnings and its permanent basis, of the character of the period to which it belongs, while at the same time it tends, at least in its general and most fundamental direction, upward and beyond the level of the period, and so prepares the way for the transition to new and higher stages. For the solution of the difficult but necessary problem of a general historical nnd philosophical characterization of the great periods in the intellectual life of humanity, the Hegelian philosophy has labored most successfully. The conceptions which it employs for this end are derived from the nature of intellectual development in general, and they prove themselves empirically correct and just when compared with the particular phenomena of the different periods. Nevertheless, the opinion is scarcely to be approved, that philosophy always expresses itself most purely only in the universal consciousness of the time; the truth is, rather, that it rises above the range of the general consciousness through the power of independent thought, generating and developing new germs, and anticipating in theory the essential character of developments yet to come (thus, e. g., the Platonic state anticipates some of the essential characteristics of the form of the Ch...

The Philosophers' Library features the most important philosophy manuscripts and books as stepping stones to take your through the history of philosophy. By cataloguing the history of philosophy via its key works, this book reflects the physical results of human thinking and endeavour; brilliant thought manifested in titles that literally changed the course of knowledge, sometimes by increments, and sometimes with revolutionary impact. This is a unique book of books, all as beautiful as they are important, whether they be ancient, modern or those in-between. Eye-catching antique fonts on leather covers, inked illustrations on vellum, and inspiring graphics on well-worn jackets draw the reader in. Each book is detailed with publication date and title, the author is described, his or her key work outlined, and its context highlighted. The text brings these books as artefacts to life, telling the story of what philosophy was and is, how it appeared and when