In its vast scope, this book presents the continuum of Western philosophy. Ranging from ancient Greece to nineteenth-century America, it traces the history of our civilization through the seminal works of its most influential thinkers. Each philosopher in this volume made intellectual history; each created a revolution in ideas; each reaffirmed mans view of himself as a sentient being capable of creating order out of the baffling contradictions of existence. And the most powerful reflections and speculations of each are represented here. Plato- Apology, Crito and the Death of Socrates, from PhadoAristotle- PoeticsSt. Ansem- The ontological Proof of St. Ansem, from ProslogiumSt. Thomas Aquinas- St. Thomas Proofs of Gods Existence, from the SummaTheologicaRene Descartes- Meditations on the First PhilosophyDavid Hume- An Inquiry Concerning Human UnderstandingImmanuel Kant- Prolegomena to Any Future MetaphysicsJohn Stuart Mill- UtilitarianismWilliam James- The Will to Believe
