Books by Will Durant

This groundbreaking survey from Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Will Durant chronicles the lives and ideas of key philosophical thinkers throughout history. Beginning with Plato and Aristotle, Durant offers lucid, accessible explanations of philosophers' contributions. He explores the legacy of Francis Bacon, Baruch Spinoza, Voltaire, Immanuel Kant, Arthur Schopenhauer, Herbert Spencer, and Friedrich Nietzsche. The last two chapters feature contemporary European philosophers Henri Bergson, Benedetto Croce, and Bertrand Russell, as well as Americans George Santayana, William James, and John Dewey. The author builds a history of philosophy by showing how each thinker's ideas informed and influenced the next generation. First published in 1926, The Story of Philosophy is essential reading for anyone fascinated by the development of Western philosophy.

Will Durant once lamented that, "philosophy is no longer loved today because she has lost the spirit of adventure." "Adventures in Philosophy" is Durant's attempt to recapture that spirit. In actual debates, symposiums, and personal discussions, topics such as the meaning of life, politics, religion, history, and the nature of humanity are all explored by Durant and some of the leading minds of the 20th century. Also included are fictional dialogues, written by Durant, which bring together many of history's greatest minds in a discussion of philosophy's most challenging questions. In these symposiums, the scope and breadth of Durant's erudition is at once apparent, yet done so in wonderful, often epigrammatic, prose that (as Max Schuster once commented) "begs to read aloud."

In "Philosophy and the Social Problem," Will Durant's first book, Durant argues that philosophy has fallen into disrepute because it has stood high and dry upon academic ground, has occupied itself generally with the problem of knowledge, and has not gone down among the crowd to be of practical service. Durant says that philosophy can justify itself only by fruits which are of direct utility to the common man. And since the great prblem of the modern world is the social problem - the problem of waste and want, rich and poor, luxury and starvation, child labor and education, crime, and so on - it follows that philosophy must be brought to take this problem in hand and that it will stand or fall as a factor in civilization according as it is or is not adequate to its solution. The new edition of this hard-to-find treasure is fully annotated with philosophical details, historical facts, and behind-the-scenes insights into the man and his ideas.

In the Fall of 1930 Will Durant found himself outside his home in Lake Hill, New York, raking leaves. He was approached by a well-dressed man who told him in a quiet tone that he was going to kill himself unless the philosopher could give him a valid reason not to. Not having the time to wax philosophic on the matter, Durant did his best to furnish the man with reasons to continue his existence. Haunted by the encounter with the despondent stranger, Durant contacted 100 luminaries in the arts, politics, religion and sciences, challenging them to respond not only to the fundamental question of life's meaning (in the abstract) but also to relate how they each (in the particular) found meaning, purpose and fulfillment in their own lives. Durant turned their answers and his own into a book entitled "On The Meaning Of Life," which was released to the general public in 1932. Unpromoted, the litte treasure found its way into few hands, and almost no copies of the book exist today. Now available for a new generation through Promethean Press, "On The Meaning Of Life" is a powerful book on a very powerful topic. In this book Will Durant has fashioned an unprecedented "dream team" of luminaries that is both profound and diverse: poets, philosophers, saints, inmates, athletes, Nobel Prize winners, college professors, psychologists, entertainers, musicians, authors and leaders. Within their varied insights, despite their uniqueness as individuals and the very different lives they led, the reader will note a consistent thread running through their viewpoints, revealing a commonality among human beings who not only seek meaning in life, but who actually achieve it.

A champion of human rights issues such as the brotherhood of man and social reform long before such issues were popular, Durant, through his writings, continues to educate and entertain readers the world over.From Simon & Schuster, Transition is a sentimental story of one mind and one era—a mental autobiography from Pulitzer Prize winner Will Durant.