Reviews

It was good for what it tried to be. These philosophies sometimes need visual depictions to really understand what they’re arguing. Philosophy can be overly complicated (and elitist) so this was a much more accessible text and compiled many philosophers from the time.

But I have yet to be convinced as to why I should care. It doesn’t really matter to me whether or not the senses and physics are entirely separate. I’ve got my silly little tasks to do. The realities that consume my everyday life don’t change if I think this is the best possible world or not. I still have to live in whatever world this is. I’m not saying I couldn’t be convinced to care, but for now, reading elaborate essays by crusty white men with too much time on their hands as most of them were in exile (I have thoughts about that, too) just doesn’t interest me. Let me know when we’re talking about philosophers outside of the 1700s.

The title references the ways organized religion feared and censured different schools of thought. Why didn’t it go into that more? I’d be interested in patterns of silencing dissent, or why most of the philosophers here were exiled when so many others were straight up murdered or didn’t have the luxury of “philosophizing”, publishing, and/or debating these ideas. Again, that’s not what this book was trying to do. Touched on it briefly at the end, but it was mostly a composition of philosophers, their ideas, and how one idea built on others as they criticized each other. So if you’re looking for an accessible (and fun) introduction to 1700s philosophy, this is great.

romyhoppen's review against another edition

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3.0

Leuke, creatieve inleiding tot moderne filosofie.

brittpax's review against another edition

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challenging slow-paced

2.5

deepsuu98's review against another edition

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funny informative fast-paced

4.0

tintina's review against another edition

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challenging informative slow-paced

3.0

Good book for an introduction to some famous philosophers and their philosophical claims and thinking, however, not enough for a reader like me to understand where they came from and why it is important (with the possibility of remembering everything).

robertrivasplata's review against another edition

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challenging funny informative reflective fast-paced

4.0

History of European philosophy during the 17th century. Begins with the burning of Giordano Bruno in February 0f 1600, & ends with Voltaire's 1755 musing that Newton would have been burned had he been born in Portugal. The big question that the 17th century philosophers got stuck on seems to have boiled down to: “Why does anything happen at all?” During the subsequent years (at least by Voltaire's account) Newton was considered to have supplanted all of the earlier philosophers by simply dismissing the question & focusing on empirical observation of natural laws, such as physics.

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