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The Story of Philosophy: Lives, Ideas
The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant Review: A Landmark Survey of Western Thought
by Will Durant
Will Durant's The Story of Philosophy, first published in 1926 and revised in 1933, remains one of the most enduring popular introductions to Western philosophy, profiling thinkers from Plato and Aristotle through Nietzsche, Bergson, Russell, and Dewey — tracing not just their ideas but the lives and historical conditions that shaped them. The edition under review (ASIN B0CLL5XDCR) is a Kindle release published by Grapevine in October 2023, co-credited to the Original Thinkers Institute. Reviewers called the work "a delight," and its place as a foundational text of accessible philosophy writing is well established — though its exclusive focus on Western, predominantly European and American thinkers is a documented limitation Durant himself acknowledged.
LuvemBooks Verdict
Best for
General readers who want a single-volume, narrative introduction to the Western philosophical tradition — covering Plato through Dewey — before tackling primary texts, or anyone drawn to intellectual biography that shows how each thinker's ideas grew from those before them.
Worth it if
You want an accessible, story-driven orientation to Western philosophy that has earned nearly a century of continuous readership and is widely considered the go-to starting point for non-specialists.
Skip if
You're looking for a genuinely global survey of philosophy — Durant himself acknowledged in his 1933 second edition that the absence of Confucius, Buddha, and Adi Shankara is a real gap — or you need treatment of philosophy beyond the early twentieth century.
What readers & critics say
Simon & Schuster's catalogue, echoed by books.google.com, records that the book was called "a delight" and "one of the most important books of our time," a reception standing it has maintained across generations. The tosinadeoti.com review notes that Durant renders philosophers as vivid, vulnerable human beings rather than marble monuments, bringing both the danger of Socrates' questioning and the stubborn hope of Plato's Academy to life on the page.
Sources: Simon & Schuster, books.google.com, tosinadeoti.com4.2from 107 Amazon ratings— reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score; an early, small sample
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The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant is a landmark popular introduction to Western philosophy, tracing the lives and ideas of thinkers from Plato and Aristotle through Nietzsche, Russell, and Dewey — organized to reveal the intellectual connections between philosophers across centuries, not merely catalogue them in isolation. Nearly a century after its 1926 debut, it remains the text most frequently recommended for general readers wanting a single-volume orientation to the European and American canon, praised by reviewers as "a delight." The key caveat: its exclusive focus on the Western tradition — an omission Durant himself acknowledged in the 1933 second edition — means readers seeking a genuinely global philosophical survey will need to look elsewhere.
- Is it worth reading?
- For anyone seeking an accessible, single-volume entry point into Western philosophy, The Story of Philosophy is the text most frequently recommended for that purpose — a work Simon & Schuster's own catalogue describes as "one of the most important books of our time," and reviewers have called "a delight." Durant's narrative approach, which traces how each philosopher's work informed the next, makes it genuinely useful as a history of ideas rather than a mere reference list. The core caveat is temporal: the text dates to 1926 (revised 1933), so its treatment of early twentieth-century philosophers reflects the cutting edge of that era, not of contemporary philosophy. Readers who want a global survey including non-Western traditions will need to supplement it, as Durant himself acknowledged the absence of Confucius, Buddha, and Adi Shankara as a real gap.
- Similar books
- Readers who enjoy The Story of Philosophy have several strong companions to consider. Bertrand Russell's The History of Western Philosophy covers much of the same terrain from the perspective of a practising philosopher, making it a natural next step. Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World offers a narrative introduction to philosophy aimed at younger readers but beloved across ages. For those drawn to Durant's accessible, humanistic register, Alain de Botton's The Consolations of Philosophy applies philosophical ideas to everyday life in a similarly approachable style. Plato's own The Republic is the obvious primary text to reach for after reading Durant's account of Plato and Socrates, and Paul Kleinman's Philosophy 101 provides a compact contemporary overview for readers who want an even more concise survey.
- Who should read this?
- The book is designed for general readers approaching philosophy without specialist training — anyone who wants a guided tour of the Western philosophical tradition without having to work through primary texts first. It is particularly well suited to readers who enjoy intellectual biography alongside the history of ideas: Durant's method is to show how each philosopher's life, historical moment, and intellectual environment shaped their thought. Those wanting a single-volume orientation before tackling figures like Plato, Kant, or Nietzsche directly will find The Story of Philosophy the text most recommended for that purpose. It is not the right choice for readers seeking coverage of non-Western traditions, or for those wanting a cutting-edge account of contemporary philosophy.
- What's the famous Aristotle misquote connection?
- The Story of Philosophy carries an unusual footnote in popular culture: it is the verified origin of one of the most widely circulated misattributions in the philosophical world. As Wikipedia's entry on the work documents, the oft-quoted line "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit" was not written by Aristotle — it was written by Durant while discussing Aristotle's ideas, and has been misattributed to Aristotle ever since. This detail speaks to Durant's broader influence: his synthesis was compelling enough to be mistaken for the source itself, a somewhat ironic testament to how successfully he channelled the spirit of his subjects.
- How does the 2023 Kindle edition differ from earlier editions?
- The Kindle edition under review is published by Grapevine (October 23, 2023) and carries a co-authorship credit for the Original Thinkers Institute alongside Durant's name. The core text is Durant's, originating in 1926 and revised in 1933; the 2023 release is a modern reissue, not a new or updated work. The Kindle format offers enhanced typesetting and screen-reader support, making it accessible across devices. Prospective buyers comparing editions should note that earlier print editions — including the 1967 Touchstone paperback and various Simon & Schuster reprints — contain the same foundational text.
- What are the main themes?
- The central organising theme of The Story of Philosophy is intellectual continuity: Durant's explicit aim is to show how each philosopher's work informed the next, threading Plato, Aristotle, Spinoza, Kant, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche into a continuous conversation rather than treating them as isolated monuments. A secondary theme is the relationship between biography and ideas — Durant insists that philosophy cannot be separated from the economic conditions, historical moment, and personal character of the thinker who produced it. The Simon & Schuster synopsis notes that Durant traces 'every school of social thought' back to its roots in the ancient Greek tradition, giving the book an arc that moves from Socrates and Plato outward through the centuries to early twentieth-century American pragmatism.
Summarize this book
Is it worth reading?
Who should read this?
What's the famous Aristotle misquote connection?
How does the 2023 Kindle edition differ from earlier editions?
What are the main themes?
Summarize this book
The Story of Philosophy profiles the lives and ideas of major Western philosophers from ancient Greece through the early twentieth century, moving from Plato (with a section on Socrates) through Aristotle, Francis Bacon, Baruch Spinoza, Voltaire, Immanuel Kant, Arthur Schopenhauer, Herbert Spencer, and Friedrich Nietzsche, before turning to figures including Henri Bergson, Bertrand Russell, George Santayana, William James, and John Dewey. Durant's organizing ambition — as the Simon & Schuster synopsis makes clear — is to chronicle not only each thinker's ideas but also the economic and intellectual environments that shaped them, and the personal traits and adventures from which each philosophy grew. The text originated in 1926 from a series of inexpensive worker-education pamphlets in the Little Blue Books series; it was revised in 1933 and has remained in continuous print since. The Kindle edition under review is a Grapevine reissue published in October 2023, co-credited to the Original Thinkers Institute.
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A century after its debut, Will Durant's The Story of Philosophy endures as one of the most widely read introductions to the Western philosophical tradition — a work reviewers called "a delight" — available here in a Kindle edition published by Grapevine in October 2023.
What the Book Is and What It Covers
The Story of Philosophy is a work of popular non-fiction that profiles the lives and ideas of major Western philosophers from ancient Greece through the early twentieth century. As Wikipedia's entry on the work documents, there are nine chapters each devoted to a single philosopher, followed by two further chapters offering briefer profiles of early twentieth-century figures.
The full roster moves from Plato (with a section on Socrates) through Aristotle, Francis Bacon, Baruch Spinoza (with a section on Descartes), Voltaire (with a section on Rousseau), Immanuel Kant (with a section on Hegel), Arthur Schopenhauer, Herbert Spencer, and Friedrich Nietzsche. The tenth chapter covers Henri Bergson, Benedetto Croce, and Bertrand Russell; the eleventh turns to American philosophers George Santayana, William James, and John Dewey.
The Simon & Schuster synopsis describes Durant's approach as chronicling not only the ideas of each thinker but also "the economic and intellectual environments which influenced them, and the personal traits and adventures out of which each philosophy grew."
Significance and Publishing History
The book's origins are unusual and worth understanding. As Wikipedia records, it grew out of a series of pamphlets in the Little Blue Books series — inexpensive worker-education materials — that proved popular enough to be assembled and published in hardcover by Simon & Schuster in 1926.
A revised second edition followed in 1933. The work has since appeared in numerous editions, including a 1962 Time Reading Program special edition, a 1967 Touchstone paperback, and various later reprints.
The Kindle edition under review is published by Grapevine (October 23, 2023) and carries a co-authorship credit for the Original Thinkers Institute alongside Durant's name. Prospective buyers should be aware this is a modern reissue of a text originating in 1926, not a new work.
Simon & Schuster's own catalogue describes it as "one of the most important books of our time," a reception standing the work has maintained across generations.
Durant's Central Design: Ideas in Interconnection
What sets The Story of Philosophy apart from a mere biographical dictionary is Durant's explicit organizing ambition: as Wikipedia's account of the text notes, he attempts to show the interconnection of the philosophers' ideas — how each thinker's work informed the next. Rather than treating Aristotle, Spinoza, and Kant as isolated monuments, Durant threads them into a continuous intellectual conversation across centuries.
This design intent makes the book useful not just as a reference but as a narrative of how Western thought evolved. The Simon & Schuster synopsis reinforces this, noting that Durant traces "every school of social thought" back to its roots in the ancient Greek tradition.
One passage quoted there captures the texture of his prose: "He had lost a little of the hot enthusiasms of youth, but he had gained a perspective of thought in which every extreme was seen as a half-truth, and the many aspects of every problem blended into a distributive justice to every face."
A Notable Gap: The Absence of Non-Western Philosophy
The most substantive and well-documented limitation of The Story of Philosophy is its exclusive focus on the Western tradition. This is not an incidental omission — it is structural.
As Wikipedia records, Durant himself addressed it directly in the foreword to the 1933 second edition, acknowledging criticism that the book does not include philosophers from the Asian continent, most notably Confucius, Buddha, and Adi Shankara. That acknowledgment, offered nearly a century ago, remains the clearest way to frame what the book is not: it is an account of Western philosophy, and readers seeking a genuinely global survey of philosophical traditions will need to look elsewhere.
For the audience it targets — those wanting an accessible entry point into the European and American canon — the scope is coherent, but it should be stated plainly.
Cultural Footprint and Who It Is For
The Story of Philosophy carries an unusual footnote in popular culture: it is the verified origin of one of the most widely circulated misattributions in the philosophical world. As Wikipedia's entry documents, the oft-quoted line "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit" is not Aristotle's — it was written by Durant while discussing Aristotle's ideas, and has been misattributed to Aristotle ever since.
This small detail speaks to the book's broader influence: Durant's synthesis was compelling enough to be mistaken for the source itself. The work is designed for general readers approaching philosophy without specialist training, and the Simon & Schuster catalogue frames it precisely that way — as a book for anyone who wishes to survey the history and development of philosophical ideas in the Western world.
Readers who enjoy intellectual biography alongside the history of ideas, or who want a single-volume orientation before tackling primary texts, will find this the text most frequently recommended for that purpose.
Sources & Further Reading
The key facts and claims in this review are grounded in the retrieved, verified sources listed below.
- 1
en.wikipedia.org
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
books.google.com
- 6
tosinadeoti.com
Age & Reading Level
Recommended age
Adult
who it suits
Skip if you're looking for coverage of non-Western philosophical traditions, including Confucian, Buddhist, or Hindu philosophy.
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