| REVIEWS
A selection of the best from recent issues of the Philosopher
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The Hamlyn History of Philosophy |
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The Philosopher's verdict: Little to exclude |
The Hamlyn History of Philosophy
Martyn Oliver, London: Hamlyn, 1997 ISBN 0-600-592103, 192pp. £18.99 (hb) |
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Hamlyn provide a fine summary of the history of philosophy from the ancients to the postmoderns of today. Not only that, but it is beautifully produced, replete with colour illustrations and published using an attractive type set and page format that add to the reader's pleasure. There are ten chapters which cover a single theme, whose representatives (in varying number) are dealt with in turn. While most deal with the western tradition, there is one which discusses the various aspects of eastern philosophy as expressed mainly through religious traditions. Thus the reader is treated to a very comprehensive coverage of the main currents of philosophical thought, in a thoroughly accessible fashion. Accessibility is an issue with which readers of this journal and members of the society are rightly concerned. So, apparently, is the author, who is a political philosopher by trade and therefore brings to his work an eye for the historicity of ideas and their embeddedness in context. Of course some may believe that the treatment is overly focused upon the political, and that other topics may have been unjustly neglected. The brevity of such a work guarantees a certain level of absenteeism, but to Oliver's credit there is little that could reasonably be said not to merit inclusion. Nevertheless, given the breadth of coverage, it is perhaps unsurprising that a few errors should have occurred. For instance, John Dewey was not responsible for the invention of the Dewey Decimal Classification system - Melvil Dewey devised and published it in 1876. Describing John Dewey as a 'passionate Democrat' is somewhat distorting, given the capitalisation, which suggests that he adhered to the principles of the Democratic Party as opposed to those of the Republicans. As a philosopher of democracy he is justly reputed: his political activism tended to revolve more around specific issues, such as academic freedom and racial equality. That said, this handsome volume would be equally worthy as either an introduction or reference. |
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Never mind what The Philosopher says - |
