A History of Western Thought: from ancient Greece to the twentieth century (trans. Ronald Worley)

Gunnar Skirbekk and Nile Gilje

London: Routledge, 2001
ISBN: 0415220734 (pb), pp. xx + 487, £15.99 

Practical Philosophy  (Book Reviews) Spring 2003 Volume 6.1

Reviewed by: Trevor Curnow

This book cannot quite decide what it wants to be. Its title declares it to be a history of western thought, while its introduction represents it as a history of philosophy. It turns out to be neither, strictly speaking. It might best be characterised as a history of western philosophy with additions. These additions mainly consist of forays into the natural and social sciences, with chapters dedicated to Darwin and Freud, for example. This is in keeping with one of the aims of the book, which is to emphasise ‘the expansion of science and scientific rationality’ (p. 3). Its other stated focus is ‘the problem of natural rights’ (p. 3). Unfortunately, an awful lot of the history of western philosophy has little to do with either of these themes, and this sometimes leads to significant schools and individuals being dealt with very summarily. Epicureanism, for example, receives barely a page to itself. William of Ockham, identified as ‘the major philosopher of late scholasticism’ (p. 124), is dealt with in a mere three paragraphs (p. 139).

These are genuine problems and weaknesses, but luckily there are compensations. The original Norwegian edition of this book first appeared in 1972, and it is evident that the authors have a great deal of teaching experience behind them. The chapter on Kant, for example, is a model of expository clarity, presumably based on years of explaining his ideas to students. (The authors describe their work as a textbook, and there are questions at the end of each chapter.) There are also useful sections on thinkers sometimes overlooked such as Helvetius and T. H. Green. Sometimes, however, as in the section on Heidegger, what is presented reads more like preparatory notes than a final draft.

Several histories of western philosophy are now available, and I see no obvious reason for preferring this one over its competitors. It seems to me that the authors should either have stuck strictly to their chosen themes or written a general history of western philosophy. Trying to do both at the same time has produced a result which, while certainly valuable in parts, lacks an overall sense of cohesion.

 

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