Abstract

Ambitious, demanding and frequently abstruse, Hegel's philosophy has nonetheless exerted a powerful and far-reaching influence, from Marxism to Existentialism. The last of the German idealists, and certainly one of the greatest systematic thinkers in Western philosophy, Hegel boldly maintained that his own system of philosophy was the historical culmination of all previous philosophical thought. These witty and informative guides cover the lives and ideas of the major philosophers. Award-winning author Paul Strathern's concise and easily comprehensible style highlights the major advances in philosophy, as well as the men who conceived them and the times in which they lived. Packed with striking quotes, insights and anecdotes, the aim of the Virgin Philosophers Series is to clarify the mysteries of philosophy for the general reader.