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The Presocratic Philosophers: A Critical History with a Selection of Texts
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The Presocratic Philosophers: A Critical History with a Selection of Texts Hardcover - 1984

by G. S. Kirk; J. E. Raven; M. Schofield


From the publisher

Beginning with a long and extensively rewritten introduction surveying the predecessors of the Presocratics, this book traces the intellectual revolution initiated by Thales in the sixth century BC to its culmination in the metaphysics of Parmenides and the complex physical theories of Anaxagoras and the Atomists in the fifth century it is based on a selection of some six hundred texts, in Greek and a close English translation which in this edition is given more prominence. These provide the basis for a detailed critical study of the principal individual thinkers of the time. Besides serving as an essential text for undergraduate and graduate courses in Greek philosophy and in the history of science, this book will appeal to a wide range of readers with interests in philosophy, theology, the history of ideas and of the ancient world, and indeed to anyone who wants an authoritative account of the Presocratics.

First line

In this long preliminary chapter certain ideas are examined which are not truly 'philosophical'; they are mythic rather than rational in kind, but may nevertheless appear as significant preludes to the sort of attempt to explain the world that began with Thales.

Details

  • Title The Presocratic Philosophers: A Critical History with a Selection of Texts
  • Author G. S. Kirk; J. E. Raven; M. Schofield
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Edition Second Edition
  • Pages 520
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
  • Date February 24, 1984
  • ISBN 9780521254441 / 0521254442
  • Weight 1.98 lbs (0.90 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.98 x 5.98 x 1.1 in (22.81 x 15.19 x 2.79 cm)
  • Library of Congress subjects Pre-Socratic philosophers
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 82023505
  • Dewey Decimal Code 182