Early Greek Philosophy
A Penguin Classics selection of the surviving fragments of the Presocratic philosophers, translated and introduced by Jonathan Barnes. Thales, Anaximander, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Empedocles, Anaxagoras, Democritus and the rest. Because almost nothing survives whole, the texts arrive as quotations embedded in later writers, and Barnes supplies the context needed to read them, along with an argument for taking these thinkers seriously as philosophers rather than as primitive precursors.
Recommended by 1 Person
Angela Hobbs
He’s a fine writer as well, so it’s a very good way in. If people enjoy it, then I would recommend that at some point in their studies they go on and read Barnes’s magnum opus on the subject, The Presocratic Philosophers, which is a tougher read but hugely worthwhile. Early Greek Philosophy doesn’t include the sophists — we’ll come on to the sophists in a bit and I’ve got a different book recommendation for that.
Interview · October 2015
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