From School Library Journal
YA. Two University of Texas professors provide a multicultural account of philosophical thought and developments across nearly 4000 years. The volume is necessarily simplified but not simplistic, and the thoughts themselves are given precedent over the biographies of the thinkers. Divided into three historical movements?the search for singular truth, the conflict between faith and reason, modernism and postmodernism?terms are explained without condescension either to the subject or to readers. This is a book for serious yet not fully educated readers who want a clear and approachable introduction to an area of human endeavor. YAs who have discovered Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World (Farrar, 1994) or Camus's The Stranger will delight in finding a larger discussion of what, to them, may be wholly new ideas. While not a necessary purchase for YA collections where users have ready access to other adult materials, this small volume is an excellent purchase for secondary schools.?Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CACopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
"Short" histories of philosophy often have at least one of the following defects: they ignore some philosophers or movements that are significant in the discipline; they try to cover too much ground and give nothing more than a simplistic overview; or they wholly ignore philosophy that is not part of the Western tradition. Solomon and Higgins (A Short History of Philosophy, LJ 11/15/95) have happily avoided all three pitfalls here. Part one not only examines the Greek roots of Western philosophy but also looks at philosophical traditions in India, elsewhere in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Part two covers the period from the origins of Christianity to the rise of Islam to Adam Smith; Part three begins with Kant and ends with a brief look at postmodernism. Considering the ground covered in 132 pages, Solomon and Higgins have managed to keep their history clear and understandable, and the newcomer should have no difficulty tracing its development. Recommended for public libraries.?Terry C. Skeats, Bishop's Univ. Lib., Lennoxville, QuebecCopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Brevity is the soul of this expressive introduction to the history of philosophy. The shortness doesn't result in superficiality, however, and the authors (academics at the University of Texas) deliver an interesting narrative that, if given to Philo 101 students, might turn some of them into majors. And that is because the authors focus, over a variety of philosophers and their outlooks, on topics that are constantly at the heart of philosophy, among them the existence of God or the explanation for the presence of evil in the world. Though the matters are big, the prose is not forbidding: Solomon and Higgins fluidly guide readers from philosophy's beginnings in China, India, Israel, and Greece right through the postmodern shambles the subject seems to be in today. They also render short, sharp portraits of individual philosophers and their systems, comparing their approach to a problem--say, the reliability of human reason--with some other philosopher's views some centuries on. A cogent summary capable of exciting reader interest. Gilbert Taylor


Midwest Book Review
This brief history of philosophy presents a lively tour of the world's great ideas, examining the progress of philosophical developments and ideas and drawing important connections between philosophers, their differences, and their ideas. Perfect as an introduction for students or for adult lay readers.


Book Description
Readers eager to acquire a basic familiarity with the history of philosophy but intimidated by the task will find in A Passion for Wisdom a lively, accessible, and highly enjoyable tour of the world's great ideas. Here, Robert Solomon and Kathleen Higgins tell the story of philosophy's development with great clarity and refreshing wit. The authors begin with the most ancient religious beliefs of the east and west and bring us right up to the feminist and multicultural philosophies of the present. Along the way, they highlight major philosophers, from Plato and Buddha to William James and Simone de Beauvoir, and explore major categories, from metaphysics and ethics to politics and logic. The book is enlivened as well by telling anecdotes and sparkling quotations. Among many memorable observations, we're treated to Thomas Hobbes' assessment that life is "nasty, brutish, and short" and Hegel's description of Napoleon as "world history on horseback." Engaging, comprehensive, and delightfully written, A Passion for Wisdom is a splendid introduction to an intellectual tradition that reaches back over three thousand years.

FROM THE PUBLISHER