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The definitive collection of pre-socratic philosophy., April 4, 2000
The Presocratic Philosophers: A Critical History with a Selectio..
The Presocratic Philosophers: A Critical History with a Selection of TextsI first read Kirk and Raven's `Presocratic Philosophers' as an undergrad. I was being taught pre-socratic philosophy by a Cambridge Classical Greek philosopher. Since then it has become one of my favourite and most valuable philosophy texts. Kirk and Raven present us with all the credible `fragments' of presocratic philosophy as quoted in later philosophers. They present the original greek and a (most times) definitive english translation and analysis. Although, what I learned through my professor via Kirk and Raven is that you sift or decant yourself through these most ancient and profound fragments - more akin to an approach to the `I Ching' and poetry than contemporary analytic philosophy. Kirk and Raven present us with the `holy' text of western philosophy which never fails to produce the wonder of thinking - a true thinking that is rare and primordial. Even if you usually don't like reading philosophy, the presocratics are really `post-modern' and poetic in their...
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| Author: Craig G Cram - See all.. | I first read Kirk and Raven's `Presocratic Philosophers' as an undergrad. I was being taught pre-socratic philosophy by a Cambridge Classical Greek philosopher. Since then it has become one of my favourite and most valuable philosophy texts. Kirk and Raven present us with all the credible `fragments' of presocratic philosophy as quoted in later philosophers. They present the original greek and a (most times) definitive english translation and analysis. Although, what I learned through my professor via Kirk and Raven is that you sift or decant yourself through these most ancient and profound fragments - more akin to an approach to the `I Ching' and poetry than contemporary analytic philosophy. Kirk and Raven present us with the `holy' text of western philosophy which never fails to produce the wonder of thinking - a true thinking that is rare and primordial. Even if you usually don't like reading philosophy, the presocratics are really `post-modern' and poetic in their... | 37 | |
| Author: B. Marold "Bruce W. Maro.. | 'The Presocratic Philosophers' edited by G. S. Kirk and J. E. Raven is, on a personal level, dear to me as it is the very first book I bought when I began studying philosophy as my major in college. This trade paperback cost but $3.95. For the philosophical amateurs who may have stumbled over this review while plowing through my cookbook reviews, the most dramatic aspect of this book is how little we actually have of what these great men who invented philosophy actually wrote. For the very first figure, Thales of Melitis (a town on the Asia Minor coast), we have practically nothing except second hand reports from Diogenes Laertius, Herodotus, Plutarch, and others. Also for amateurs is the great introductory essay on the difference between mythical cosmology and the beginnings of philosophy.If you happen to have a strong amateur interest in the history of ideas and can pick up an inexpensive early edition (I have one from 1962), I recommend you give this a look... | 39 | |
| Author: eurydike (Santa Cruz, CA.. | Don't buy this edition. Get the first edition, put together by the original editors, G.S. Kirk and J.E. Raven (ISBN 0521091691), which is readily available through Amazon. The current edition has been hopelessly corrupted by M. Schofield, who has edited out crucial fragments in order to support his own "Analytical Philosophy" take on the Presocratics. As an example, he has removed crucial fragments which link Parmenides with the Pythagoreans.So make sure you acquire the 1st Edition of this crucial sourcebook which was edited in an honest fashion by G.S. Kirk and J.E. Raven, and ignore any later edition which has been corrupted and invalidated by M. Schofield.Also, take a look at Peter Kingsley's trilogy of books on Parmenides and Empedocles: "Reality," "In the Dark Places of Wisdom," and "Ancient Philosophy, Mystery, and Magic: Empedocles and Pythagorean Tradition." These books will give you the real fragments, and provide you with a real take on why scholars... | 37 | |
