A New History of Western Philosophy

A New History of Western Philosophy

Author	Anthony Kenny
Language	English
Subject	Western philosophy
Publisher	Oxford University Press
Publication date	2010
Media type	Print
ISBN	978-0-19-958988-3

A New History of Western Philosophy is a 2010 book by the British philosopher and theologian Anthony Kenny, consisting of a history of Western philosophy from the ancient Greeks to the present day.[1] The book consists of four separate parts which were originally released separately during the period 2004–07.[2] The book is dedicated to the memory of Georg Henrik von Wright.[3][4]

Critics claim Kenny's account of philosophy, while generally good, is quite limited in the Islamic world, focusing only on those works that became important in the Latin tradition.[5]

Summary

The book is split into four parts, plus a general introduction and index/bibliography. Each part begins with an historical chapter outlining the major philosophers and schools of thought of the period in question, followed by several thematic chapters dealing with a particular branch of philosophy e.g. logic, theology, ethics etc.

Part 1: Ancient Philosophy

Originally published in 2004, this part covers the period from the earliest Greek philosophers to the conversion of St Augustine in 387 AD, including:

• The Pre-Socratics
• Socrates, Plato and Aristotle
• Graeco-Roman and Roman philosophers (Cicero, Seneca, Plotinus, Marcus Aurelius, Augustine etc.)
• Graeco-Roman schools of thought (Cynics, Epicureans, Stoics etc.)
• Neo-Platonism

Part 2: Medieval Philosophy

Originally published in 2005, this part covers the post-Augustinian period up to the Lateran Council on 1512, including:

• Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, William Ockham, Duns Scotus
• Jewish and Islamic philosophy
• Medieval theology
• Scholasticism

Part 3: The Rise of Modern Philosophy

Originally published in 2006, this part covers the period of the 16th century - mid-19th century, including:

• The rise of science
• Empiricism
• Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Hobbes, David Hume, Kant, Hegel

Part 4: Philosophy in the Modern World

Originally published in 2007, this part covers the post-Hegelian period up to the present day, including:

• Materialism
• Utilitarianism
• Pragmatism
• Marxism
• Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, Wittgenstein, Heidegger, Derrida, Sartre

Publication

• Kenny, Anthony (2004). Ancient philosophy. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-19-152497-4. OCLC 171039729.

See also

• Lectures on the History of Philosophy by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
• A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell
• A History of Philosophy by Frederick Copleston

References

1. A New History of Western Philosophy. New History of Western Philosophy. Oxford University Press. 16 August 2012. ISBN 978-0-19-965649-3.
2. Kenny, Anthony (2010). A New History of Western Philosophy, Oxford University Press, p. xiv.
3. "The History of Western Philosophy – The Top 5 Books to Read". philosophybreak.com. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
4. Cerbone, David R. (2008-03-07). "Review of Philosophy in the Modern World: A New History of Western Philosophy, Volume 4". Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews. ISSN 1538-1617.
5. Fraenkel, Carlos (29 July 2017). "Deprovincializing Philosophy". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved 2020-03-26.