Imatge de l'autor

Martyn Oliver

Autor/a de History of Philosophy

5 obres 163 Membres 2 Ressenyes

Obres de Martyn Oliver

Etiquetat

Coneixement comú

Nom normalitzat
Oliver, Martyn
Gènere
male
Nacionalitat
UK

Membres

Ressenyes

The discipline of philosophy has never been more under threat than it is today. The success of science in explaining the different facets of human experience has taken from philosophy much of what used to be regarded as its rightful territory. In a world dominated by information technology philosophy would seem to lose out, it doesn't offer its wisdom in small manageable chunks. During the twentieth century countless philosophers have ridiculed their own discipline, arguing that after three thousand years of philosophising, the hope that philosophy could lead us to the truth is an ever more distant fantasy. Yet philosophy is more popular now than it has ever been. Perhaps this is because philosophy is emerging out of the shackles of professionalism under which it sought protection from science and other disciplines for the last two centuries.
Now, what counts as philosophy is less exclusive than it has been for some time. There is a growing appreciation of the deep connections between philosophy and our religious and social inheritance. Few elements of the human experience have escaped the critical gaze of the philosopher. From Plato to Marx and beyond, philosophy has questioned and championed our most cherished beliefs and hopes. It has done so under the premise that our capacity to philosophize is what makes us human -- it is what distinguishes us from the animals.
In Ancient Greece, most of what read like speculation on human existence and the natural world counted as philosophy. From the fall of the Roman Empire to the 16th century, European philosophy equalled theology. For most scholars during this period philosophy simply wasn't a legitimate activity unless it presumed of the absolute knowledge of God. There were exceptions of course, even among theologians some of whom attempted to carve greater room for human reflection beyond the all-knowing all-seeing eyes of God. However, from around the late 16th to 17th century, Europe witnessed a growth in scholars who did not assume the absolute knowledge of God. In the late 18th century, in pre-revolutionary France, the group of philosophers who were known simply as the philosophes were the focal point for the European Enlightenment. There celebration of reason and rationality was critical in the emergence of the today's world. In the twentieth century much of philosophy has been dedicated to coming to terms with the modern world, which some believe is now culminating into a post-modern one.
A history of philosophy therefore, gives us a different and more powerful perception of the development of human thought and culture than other histories. Above all, philosophy continues to provide what it has always been renowned for, a special kind of wisdom.
… (més)
 
Marcat
rajendran | Hi ha 1 ressenya més | Jan 15, 2008 |
An illustrated guide to the thinkers and theories from 1000 BC to the present day. The book explains the major schools of thought from the Stoics to the Post Modernists and aims to give the reader enough information to understand the thinking of familiar figures such as Aristotle, Hegel, Sartre and Foucault.

About the Author:

Martyn Oliver is the chair of the Political Philosophy group at the Centre for the Study of Democracy in London. He also lectures in Political Science and Philosophy. He has written a number of academic journals and periodicals.… (més)
 
Marcat
Saraswati_Library | Hi ha 1 ressenya més | Sep 9, 2010 |

Potser també t'agrada

Estadístiques

Obres
5
Membres
163
Popularitat
#129,735
Valoració
3.1
Ressenyes
2
ISBN
12
Llengües
4

Gràfics i taules