The Story Of Philosophy

The Story of Philosophy (1961) by Will Durant
Publisher: Washington Square Press | ISBN: 0671739166 | Condition: Good (unlike the state of Western civilisation)
Contemplatively shelved by Crappy Old Books

Philosophy: the art of asking questions nobody can answer in sentences nobody can understand. Enter Will Durant, who in 1926 decided to untangle several millennia of intellectual hand-wringing into something mere mortals could read without needing a stiff drink and a Greek lexicon. The Story of Philosophy became a surprise bestseller, proving there was indeed a market for Plato-to-Nietzsche in paperback form. This 1961 Washington Square Press edition continues that noble mission: serving up the Great Thinkers in digestible, if occasionally smug, portions.

Our copy is rated Good. Which means it’s been through a few cycles of mortal hands — possibly thumbed by undergraduates pretending they’ve read Schopenhauer, or by book-clubbers nodding gravely at Spinoza while actually thinking about dessert. The pages are lightly toned (like Aristotle after a long walk in the sun), the cover gently scuffed (like Nietzsche after a duel with modernity), but all intact and ready for your next bout of existential crisis.

Inside, Durant introduces you to the pantheon: Plato with his Ideas, Aristotle with his categories, Bacon frying up empiricism, Kant building castles in the clouds of reason, and Nietzsche hammering away at civilisation until it begged for mercy. It’s philosophy as story — simplified, dramatised, and occasionally glossed over in ways that would make professional philosophers twitch, but that’s precisely why readers love it.

Why you might want this book:

• Because it’s cheaper than a philosophy degree and only slightly less confusing.

• Because saying “I’m rereading Durant on Spinoza” sounds impressive, even if you’re just skimming.

• Because the condition is Good — better than Sartre’s mood, worse than Leibniz’s optimism.

• Because it makes a perfect prop for late-night brooding in cafés, especially if you wear black turtlenecks.

So here it is: The Story of Philosophy — still Good, still simplifying, still pretending to make sense of 2,500 years of human bewilderment. Another cerebral gem from Crappy Old Books, where even metaphysics comes slightly foxed.

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