Will Durant's The Story of Philosophy

William James Durant, a prominent American author, historian and philosopher, published The Story of Philosophy in 1926. He thought of philosophy as an all-encompassing study and endeavored the unification and humanization of all historical knowledge, which had grown too vast and had become infinitely categorized into miniscule specialties, in order to vitalize it for modern day use. Durant was a gifted writer of magnificent prose and also a storyteller who had harvested an incredible readership. His brilliant writing, which, rather than being dull, formal academic jargon, is witty and colorful, even catering to the senses. Durant’s publisher, Max Schuster, remarked that Durant's writing pleaded “to be read aloud”; it was also remarked that Durant’s fluid technique resulted in "prose so beautiful it rivals poetry.”

Durant’s profoundly varied studies culminated in his authoring of a book that concerned the universal history of human philosophy. What inspired the fantastic scholar Plato to plant his novel notions into the mind of Aristotle, and what led the resultant influence of Aristotle to impact Alexander the Great? This is one of the innumerable gems of history covered in Durant’s manuscript The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the Greater Philosophers. One of the most striking aptitudes of Durant’s work of historiography is its quality of identifying numerous celebrated western philosophers and providing psychological profiles for these figures, thereby describing their teachings and thoughts applicable to the metaphysical world. Such men were absolute geniuses and influenced the totality of humankind’s sentiments in such a way as to irrevocably alter the course of history, either for the better or worse.

In his...

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...ion of racism and prejudice.

Will Durant’s book The Story of Philosophy is indeed a historical, philosophical, and remarkably literary treasure. It provides valuable insight into the minds of men that were instrumental to the philosophical realm and, perhaps more imperatively, assisted in the shaping of humanity as it is today in terms of morals and basic foundations of thought. This piece of historiography truly finalized my studies for the past three years in a marvelous and proper way as Durant’s works have been such a pivotal keystone in my academic maturation; to leaf through one of this eminent historian’s crucial masterworks was immeasurably rewarding, as I could, from time to time, detect hints of his natural and charismatic writing style that bears an often humorous and distinctly human, rather than mechanical, character despite its undeniable objectivity.