The Dream of Reason

Times Literary Supplement

Engaging, beautifully written, superbly professional and at the same time amateur in the best, traditional, sense.

Nicholas Fearn

A worthy, if belated, successor to Russell's—almost equal in its wit and erudition...perhaps even clearer in its even-handedness. —Spectator

Matt Ridley

[A] brilliant new history of Western philosophy. —Daily Telegraph

Grayling A.C.

A delightfully written and wonderfully instructive new history of philosophy... Gottlieb's account is a paradigm of lucidity and accessibility. —Independent

Jane O'Grady

[W]onderfully enjoyable, including anecdotes and character sketches as well as exegetical philosophising. —Prospect

Nicholas Fearn

A worthy, if belated, successor to Russell's—almost equal in its wit and erudition...perhaps even clearer in its even-handedness.
— Spectator

Matt Ridley

[A] brilliant new history of Western philosophy.
— Daily Telegraph

A. C. Grayling

A delightfully written and wonderfully instructive new history of philosophy... Gottlieb's account is a paradigm of lucidity and accessibility.
— Independent

Colin McGinn

[C]lear, well-explained, amply researched, smoothly written, dryly witty in places and infused with respect for the achievements of the past.

A. C. Grayling

His book...supplant[s] all others,even the immensely successful History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell.

Robert Conquest

Gottlieb is as enjoyable as he is intellectually stimulating.
—Los Angeles Times

Myles Burnyeat

A wonderful book.
—New York Review of Books

Richard Jenkins

[Gottlieb] writes with fluency and lucidity,with a gift for making even difficult matters seem comprehensible.
—New York Times

Roger Penrose

A delight....written with both wit and scholarship,providing a wonderful overall picture of Western philosophy up to the Renaissance.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Histories of philosophy tend either to be prodigious, learned works, like F.C. Copleston's A History of Philosophy, or idiosyncratic tracts of scholarly obfuscation, like Bertrand Russell's A History of Western Philosophy, and they often present their subject through narrow, ideological lenses. Gottlieb's elegant survey brings a breath of fresh air. Executive editor of The Economist, Gottlieb mines primary sources with a remarkably even hand. He demonstrates that, while cosmological questions dominated early philosophy, Plato and Aristotle investigated metaphysical, epistemological and ethical conundrums as well. He shows how the later Hellenistic schools, like the Epicureans and Stoics; medieval thinkers, such as Augustine and Aquinas; and Renaissance philosophers like Machiavelli and Bacon built their systems either on Plato or Aristotle. But Gottlieb's book is not just another plodding survey. His attention to cultural context provides insight into why various thinkers thought as they did about certain matters. Plato wrote his Republic, for example, because he detested the kind of democracy in fashion in Athens, and he wanted to return to the oligarchy of his childhood. Unfortunately, the book suffers from a distorted perspective, covering almost 1,000 years of history, from late antiquity to the Renaissance, in just under 100 pages, while giving more than that to early Greek philosophy, most of which consists of fragmentary sources. Thus, Hobbes and Machiavelli who, more than Democritus or Empedocles, deserve their own chapters are allotted only a few brief paragraphs. Gottlieb also engages in some misreading: Kant's theory of self-consciousness, for instance, leads not to relativism but to absolutism. Nonetheless, this eloquent book offers a lively chronicle of the evolution of Western philosophy. (Dec.) Forecast: This excellent volume will find a place in course curricula, and it will appeal to those who, no longer students, wish they had taken Philosophy 101, as well as those who did, and would like a refresher course. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Histories of philosophy tend either to be prodigious, learned works, like F.C. Copleston's A History of Philosophy, or idiosyncratic tracts of scholarly obfuscation, like Bertrand Russell's A History of Western Philosophy, and they often present their subject through narrow, ideological lenses. Gottlieb's elegant survey brings a breath of fresh air. Executive editor of The Economist, Gottlieb mines primary sources with a remarkably even hand. He demonstrates that, while cosmological questions dominated early philosophy, Plato and Aristotle investigated metaphysical, epistemological and ethical conundrums as well. He shows how the later Hellenistic schools, like the Epicureans and Stoics; medieval thinkers, such as Augustine and Aquinas; and Renaissance philosophers, including Machiavelli and Bacon, built their systems either on Plato or Aristotle. But Gottlieb's book is not just another plodding survey. His attention to cultural context provides insight into why various thinkers thought as they did about certain matters. Plato wrote his Republic, for example, because he detested the kind of democracy in fashion in Athens, and he wanted to return to the oligarchy of his childhood. Unfortunately, the book suffers from a distorted perspective, covering almost 1,000 years of history, from late antiquity to the Renaissance, in just under 100 pages, while giving more than that to early Greek philosophy, most of which consists of fragmentary sources. Thus, Hobbes and Machiavelli, who deserve their own chapters more than do Democritus or Empedocles, are allotted only a few brief paragraphs. Gottlieb also engages in some debatable readings: many find that Kant's theory of self-consciousness, for instance, leads not to relativism but to absolutism. Nonetheless, this eloquent book offers a lively chronicle of the evolution of Western philosophy. (Nov.) Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

This is a most interesting book, mainly because its author is not a "professional" philosopher but is instead executive editor of The Economist. As a result, he approaches his subject somewhat differently than would a formally trained philosopher. In his introduction, Gottlieb rightly points out that "the history of philosophy is more the history of a sharply inquisitive cast of mind than the history of a sharply defined discipline." He then develops the thesis that, in essence, philosophy constantly puts itself out of business: that is, as philosophy's critical approach is picked up by other intellectual disciplines, philosophical enquiry moves on to another area of intellectual endeavor (e.g., natural philosophy becomes science). The text is divided into three parts, which cover the Greek philosophers prior to Socrates; Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle; and the period ranging from the Epicureans to Descartes. Unambiguous and fresh, this excellent work should find a place in all academic or public libraries; one hopes there might be a second volume to bring the history up to the present.--Terry Skeats, John Bassett Memorial Lib., Bishop's Univ., Lennoxville, Quebec Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Booknews

Gottlieb (executive editor, ) looks at the writings of philosophers, questioning many pieces of conventional wisdom. Each of 14 chapters focuses on a different philosopher or school of thought, from the pre-Socratic philosophers, through the works of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, on to the Renaissance. Throughout, Gottlieb treats philosophy as a discipline whose breakthroughs are often co-opted by other branches of thought, leading to the illusion that no progress has been made. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

From The Critics

This history of philosophy from Greek to Renaissance times provides a strong survey of the great thinkers and their works of wisdom, with chapters using examples, anecdotes and source materials to provide a history of the human quest for meaning. The wide-ranging scope of examination makes for a lively yet in-depth coverage recommended for college-level libraries.

Robert Conquest

Anthony Gottlieb's The Dream of Reason dealing with the history of Western philosophy from the Milesians to the Renaissance, is sensible, refreshing, provocative. He notes that the mere concept of "philosophy" is hard to grasp, often shifting. His exemplars are shown, carefully demythologized, coping as best they can with the problems of—of, I suppose, existence. Engaging, beautifully written, superbly professional and at the same time amateur in the best, traditional sense.
—Times Literary Supplement