PHILOSOPHY AND THE MODERN WORLD

by Albert William Levi ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

This is a brilliant if somewhat dizzying review of modern philosophical concepts. The author starts with the assertion of the intellectual pluralism of our times; we are either of the Spenglerian elite, the Marxian, the Freudian, the Thomist, etc. After some introductory chapters making this point, Levi takes us on a swift tour of the peaks of thought during the last 75 years, illustrating them well from a wide knowledge. Beyond this his chapter headings and the groupings under them set the picture:- The Prophets (Bergson, Spengler, Freud and Toynbee); Society in Distress (Lenin, Veblen and Marx); Reason in Society (John Dewey); Passion for Logic (Bertrand Russell and Rudolf Carnap); The Drama of Choice (Carl Jaspers and Sartre); The Lure of the Past (G.E. Moore and Rudolf Wittgenstein), and finally, The Vision of the Whole (Alfred North Whitehead). The ideas herein are too difficult for the popular book, and the fact that it is a summary treatment, containing nothing creative or new, it is unlikely to appeal to those already familiar with the content. But many thoughtful people are relatively uninformed in this field and will find this useful in supplementing their interest in contemporary intellectual progress. And for those whose study of philosophy dates back a generation, it provides a refresher. The author is a Professor of Philosophy at Washington University, St. Louis.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Indiana Univ. Press

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1959

Categories: NONFICTION