The year was 1926. The world was sandwiched between a devastating Great War and a looming economic collapse. In this climate, a young teacher named Will Durant published a book that many critics thought was a fool’s errand: a 500-page volume attempting to summarize the history of Western thought.
Published in 1926, The Story of Philosophy Will Durant is credited with bringing philosophy out of "ivory towers" and making it accessible to the general public . The book focuses on the lives and opinions
He argued that science breaks things down into parts (physics, chemistry, biology), while philosophy tries to synthesize those parts into a meaningful whole. Philosophy asks the questions that science cannot answer: What is the good life? What is justice? How should I face death?
He doesn't treat philosophy in a vacuum. He constantly shows how shifts in thought influenced (and were influenced by) the science and social movements of the time. Critical Perspectives
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