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A review by kurtiskozel
The History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell
1.0
I give it one star for the prose, which is some of the best ever written. I give another for the first third of this book dealing with the Greek philosophers. I take that star away for his needless wheedling and left-handed haymakers. The rest of the stars I throw out with the bathwater.
It starts strong and interesting but by the end I not only dislike the author but philosophy itself.
Russell editorialized throughout, of which almost all were snappy one liners and weird, backhanded insults. He gave no or very little credit to the greats but would seem to prefer their books buried in the same coffins as their authors. This made for a very hard read. How should I be expected to enjoy it? The author certainly didn't.
Truly, the author is the most negative writer I have read in a very long time and in that way he may be perfectly suited to write on modern philosophy. However, as with most others who do, it'd be best if he didn't.
It starts strong and interesting but by the end I not only dislike the author but philosophy itself.
Russell editorialized throughout, of which almost all were snappy one liners and weird, backhanded insults. He gave no or very little credit to the greats but would seem to prefer their books buried in the same coffins as their authors. This made for a very hard read. How should I be expected to enjoy it? The author certainly didn't.
Truly, the author is the most negative writer I have read in a very long time and in that way he may be perfectly suited to write on modern philosophy. However, as with most others who do, it'd be best if he didn't.