Medieval Philosophy: A New History of Western PhilosophyVolume 2 - Hardcover

Kenny, Anthony

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 019875275X ISBN 13: 9780198752752

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2005

Synopsis

Sir Anthony Kenny here continues his fascinating account of the history of philosophy, focusing on the thousand-year-long medieval period. This is the second volume of a four-book set in which Kenny will unfold a magisterial new history of Western philosophy, the first major single-author history of philosophy to appear in decades.
In this volume, Kenny takes us on a fascinating tour through more than a millennium of thought from 400 AD onwards, charting the story of philosophy from the founders of Christian and Islamic thought through to the Renaissance. The Middle Ages saw a great flourishing of philosophy, and the intellectual endeavor of the era reaches its climax in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, with the systems of the great schoolmen such as Thomas Aquinas and John Duns Scotus. With Kenny as guide, we see these major philosophers through the eyes of a man who has spent a lifetime contemplating their work. Thus we do not simply get an overview of philosophy, but also a penetrating and insightful critique of it. Kenny offers an illuminating account of various thinkers and schools of thought, from Augustine to Maimonides and from Grosseteste to Pomponazzi. And he offers much insight into medieval thinking about logic and language, knowledge, physics, metaphysics, the mind, the soul, and God.
Vividly written, but serious and deep enough to offer a genuine understanding of the great philosophers, Kenny's lucid and stimulating history will become the definitive work for anyone interested in the people and ideas that shaped the course of Western thought.

About this title

About the Author:

Sir Anthony Kenny is one of Britain's most distinguished academic figures. He has been Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, Master of Balliol College, Chairman of the Board of the British Library, and President of the British Academy. He has published more than forty books on philosophy and history.

Review:

`from the reviews of the preceding volume..... This wonderful book . . . is not only an authoritative guide to the history of philosophy but also a compelling introduction to every major area of philosophical inquiry. . . . Kennys prose is exceptionally clear . . . He conveys his rich subject
matter with a light touch of which only the greatest of writers are capable. . . . This, combined with his breadth and depth of learning and philosophical sophistication, make reading this book hugely rewarding. It is also worth mentioning that the book is beautifully illustrated . . . One is left
eager for subsequent volumes and convinced that the intellectual cosmos is, indeed, boundlessly rich.'
James Ladyman, Times Higher Education Supplement

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 019875275X
• ISBN 13: 9780198752752
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 352