Best known for attempting to bring philosophy to the common man, William Durant was an avid advocate of equal wages, women's suffrage, and fairer working conditions. His first book, Philosophy and the Social Problem, explains why, at the time, philosophy had not been expanded. With sections on some of the most notable names in philosophy, Durant's first book paved the way to his Pulitzer Prize-won in tandem with his wife, Ariel Durant-as well as his...

The product of eleven years of research, The Story of Philosophy is an endlessly inspiring and instructive chronicle of the world's greatest thinkers, from Socrates to Santayana. Written with exacting and scrupulous scholarship, it was designed both to command the respect of educators and to capture the interest of the layman.

Durant lucidly describes the philosophical systems of such world-famous "monarchs of the mind" as Plato, Aristotle,

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Surveys the history of human culture and civilization, identifying key themes from throughout five thousand years, with discussion of race, character, morals, religion, economics, government, war, and other topics, and addressing the question of whether progress is real.

Not only the titans of older days but the most famous modern philosophers are here presented and illuminated -- including Bergson, Croce, Russell, and Dewey. The book also examines the philosophers' setting in their own time and place, and their influence on our modern intellectual heritage. Here, in one book for the layman, is a whole university course in philosophy, written in Durant's unique, lively, and concise style.