<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: A Nice History of Philosophers and Philosophical Movements
Review: Colin Brown covers, in this text, philosophy, philosophical movements, ideas, people, etc. from the Ancient world to the Age of Enlightenment. Brown begins by discussing the pre-Socratics then he moves into the Milesians, Pythagoreans, Heraclitus, Parmenides, and Socrates as well as the Sophists. He then directs his attention toward a more detailed account of Plato and Aristotle. All the usual basic philosophies are covered. For instance, Plato's "Cave" analogy for the theory of forms, Plato's theory on the soul and Immortality, etc. Regarding Aristotle, logic, physics, metaphysics, and the unmoved mover are all delineated. In this first part, the one thing I liked most about this text was the fact that Brown covered Greek philosophy and the Gospel (NT period). Brown discusses Philo, John's Gospel, Hebrews, and Paul in relation to Greek philosophy. He draws a nice sharp distinction between the NT and Greek philosophy. From here Brown covers the Church Fathers of the first three or so centuries, the influences of neo-platonism, and gnosticism, and then describes trends which are occurring in philosophy during this period and on into the Medieval period. All the important philosophers of the Medieval period and on into the Reformation are discussed (at least to some degree). From here, Brown discusses the philosophical trends that lead into the age of enlightenment; Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Pascal, Hobbes, Deism, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Kant, Edwards, Voltaire, Rousseau, and even the quest for the historical Jesus are covered. I must also mention that in the later Reformation period, Brown discusses the philosophies of the Jesus Society (Molina, Suarez) and those who responded to them (Banez, etc.). So, as you can see from this quick description, Brown covers alot in nearly 450 pages. The book is very easy to read, and works as a nice intro text to the history of philosophy during this time frame. In fact, the second volume, is already available (IVP) here at Amazon; it carries the same title but is Volume 2 and is written by Steve Wilkens and Alan Padget. If you are looking for a nice and broad intro to philosophy text written by a Christian philosopher, then this is a good one to add to your collection.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent survey.
Review: The 19th century is profiled in a sequel to the first volume on the topic: this following the story of interactions between Christianity and philosophy through the changing world of the 1800s. Chapters consider Hegel and Marx, Darwin's influence, and the social and political changes which influenced Christianity's progress. An excellent survey.
Rating:
Summary: Well-balanced, readable, and impressive survey.
Review: The reviewer below gives a pretty good summary of the book's contents, so I'll just add my two bits about its quality. C&WT is well-done, balanced, and readable. The author relates the ideas of leading Christian and non-Christian thinkers in a clear style, interjecting his own thoughtful viewpoint with about the right frequency. He treats readers with respect, but has mercy on those of us who find a lot of philosophical discourse a bit esoteric by explaining terms and concepts. None of the book is boring, (to me) because Brown engages his subjects with respect and interest -- this is not an archeological dig in quaint DWM thought. Nor is the book a long editorial. When the author gives his opinion, he sets it clearly apart, and it is cogent and reasonable. Brown not only shows the awesome breadth of knowledge that such an undertaking requires -- charting the ideas of great and famous thinkers from 500 B. C. to 1800 in a single complex story -- he also demonstrates good taste and judgement in dealing with thinkers of such widely differing views and personalities. I appreciated, for example, his rehabilitation of Descartes, the brackets he puts around Hume, his discussion of Pascal, and so on. It seems to me he deals with them all pretty fairly, though of course this book is no substitute for the originals. I hope volume II is as good. It would be unfair to complain that the book is too narrow in scope. But it may encourage an attitude among Western Christians that I think is. Brown seems to envision "the West" almost hermetically sealed fomm the rest of the world. (As do so many Christians.) For instance, Brown seems to go along with the convention that the Greeks started philosophy too readily. But weren't the Pythagoreans roughly a school of Advetic thought beamed over from India? And don't the Vedas, the Hundred Schools of Zhou-era China, and so on, also have claims to originating philosophy? Or more pertinently -- how about the Wisdomm literature of the Old Testament? What is needed now that Christianity is no longer primarily a Western religion is to connect Christian thought to its roots in world rather than Western (Greek) tradition alone. Can we hope for a volume three in the series? author, Jesus and the Religions of Man
<< 1 >>
|
