#6 in Philosophy
The Story of Philosophy
- 543
- Pages
- about 10 h
- Reading time
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Our view
“The Story of Philosophy” remains one of the most readable introductions to Western thought, from Socrates and Plato to Nietzsche. Will Durant pairs each thinker’s life with a summary of his ideas, and many readers find his prose clear, lively and easy to follow. Some single out the chapters on Spinoza and note that the book reads more like a run of portraits than one connected story.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the Greater Philosophers is a 1926 book by Will Durant, in which he profiles several prominent Western philosophers and their ideas, beginning with Socrates and Plato and on through Friedrich Nietzsche. Durant attempts to show the interconnection of their ideas and how one philosopher's ideas informed the next.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.6 across 65 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 31% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Philosophy average of 8.0. That is how 8.2 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.7 | 24 | 37% |
| Hardcover | 8.6 | 41 | 63% |
Frequently asked
How long is The Story of Philosophy?
It has 543 pages — longer than 85% of the ranked books in Philosophy.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Philosophy — with scores between 7.8 and 8.3, closest to this book.
