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This is the most authoritative and engaging philosophical reference work in
English. It gives clear and reliable guidance to all areas of philosophy and to
the ideas of all notable philosophers from antiquity to the present day. The
scope of the volume is not limited to English-language philosophy: it surveys
the foremost philosophy from all parts of the world. A distinguished
international assembly of more than two hundred contributors provide almost
2,000 alphabetically arranged entries which are not only instructive but also
entertaining: they combine learning, lucidity, elegance, and wit. There are
more than fifty extended entries of 3,000 words on the main areas of philosophy
and the great philosophers: these include essays by Alasdair MacIntyre on the
history of moral philosophy, Paul Feyerabend on the history of the philosophy
of science, Jaegwon Kim on problems of the philosophy of mind, Richard
Swinburne on problems of the philosophy of religion, David Charles on
Aristotle, Peter Singer on Hegel, Anthony Kenny on Frege, and Anthony Quinton
on philosophy itself. Short entries deal with key concepts (for instance,
personal identity, time) doctrines (utilitarianism, holism), problems (the
mind-body problem, the meaning of life), schools of thought (Marxist
philosophy, the Vienna Circle), and practical issues (abortion,
vegetarianism). Individual thinkers past (Pythagoras, Confucius, Galileo,
Goethe, Burke, Santayana, de Beauvoir, Radhakrishnan) and present (over 150
contemporary figures, such as Chomsky, Derrida, and Popper) are profiled, and
eighty of them are depicted in black-and-white portraits. Interspersed
throughout are short explanations of particular philosophical terms (qualia,
supervenience, iff), puzzles (the Achilles paradox, the prisoner's dilemma),
and curiosities (the philosopher's stone, slime). Every entry is accompanied by
suggestions for further reading. A chronological chart of the history of
philosophy is located at the end of the book, together with fourteen diagrams
showing the structure of philosophy and the relations between its subjects and
doctrines. This book will be an indispensable guide and a constant source of
stimulation and enlightenment for anyone interested in abstract thought, the
eternal questions, and the foundations of human understanding.