[.uk] Introduction to Western Philosophy: Ideas and Argument ... (ISBN 0500275475)

Impenetrable:
Despite the blurbs on the back cover, this cannot be the best introduction to Western Philosophy. Antony Flew's writing style produces the most turgid, convoluted, impenetrable sentences ever mangled out of the English language. Stay away at all costs.

Different Approach to History of Philosophy:
I have read this book more than 30 years ago as a student in Cambridge/England and was quite fascinated by it (and still am), as it shows how specific philosophical ideas evolved in different centuries and returned in a different disguise and how these changes came about. I found it to be the only book dealing with these eternal questions: which values are prevailing, why and how are they applied in a 'new society'! It is a good complimentary to Bertrand Russelll's: History of Western Philosophy. Hard to read and understand? Sorry, just the opposite.

What are you looking for?:
I first picked up on Flew after reading "Does God Exist?" This book devotes a lot of time to western christian thinking relative to God, the immortaility of the soul, etc. My educational understanding of many of the arguments by secular and religous giants of the past was very shallow. He covers the subject from Plato, to Aristotle, to Augustine, to John Edwards. If you want to research the doctrine of "predesination" and whether there is such a thing as "free will", this is a great book. Flew, being an atheist, has some very logical arguments against belief in God, and points out many of the weaknesses in arguments for God. If you want to sharpen your understanding of the 2000 year old discussions on these subjects, I would suggest you add it to your library. It is a great resource book for teaching and understanding. A great deal of western philosophy is the study of God and religion.

Horrible writing, wonderful book:
I agree with both types of review for this book. Antony Flew's writing is horrible. But the fact of the matter is that Flew is a good counter example against the expression that good writing is good thinking crystallized. This book is one of the finest histories of philosophy you will find without wading through Copleston's nine volumes. Flew has a great feel for the development of ideas. He also uses extended excerpts from the original philosophers, sometimes several pages long, to let you get a feel for the original material. He then traces out the development of the idea in a historical manner, again using extended excerpts from the original critics and supporters. There is real value in studying the evolution of philosophy in its historical context (Nahin argues the same point in his popularizations of mathematics). I originally rejected this book because of Flew's writing, but now when I am reading books about history that reference, for example, Plato's theory of Forms, it is always Flew's treatment that I remember. So my advice is to buy this book. But do not make it your first book in philosophy. Make a first pass through the material by reading something easier, such as Philosophy Made Simple or Christianity & Western Thought, Volume 1: From the Ancient World to the Age of Enlightenment.

Challenging and Worth It:
Others have remarked that Flew's style is... dense... which is true. But as Einstein said, everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler. Philosophy is complex. If you dumb it down, it is no longer philosophy. No one reviews books on quantum mechanics and complains that they are difficult. Because quantum mechanics is hard. If you want to understand philosophy--not on a superficial, cocktail-party level, but on the level of the ideas themselves--you will have to put in some work. When I read the book, I realized that every 10 pages or so, I would need to stop, look up from the book, and think for a few minutes about what I had just read. It is a not a book to be skimmed. I argue so intensely because this is the most important book I have ever read. It changed the way I think, by allowing me to spot holes in arguments which I always suspected were weak, although I could not articulate precisely why. It also gives a thorough explanation of the major debates in philosophy throughout history. Flew organizes them by idea rather than by chronology, so that the philosophers' arguments make sense in the context of their debates with other philosophers. If you want to begin to understand philosophy, read the book. However, if you are not looking for a challenge, or if you only want to get a basic feel for the philosophers' opinions, without digging into their detailed arguments, then there are other books out there more suited to your goals. This book is hard-core. It is for readers who are ambitious and who want to learn something important.