A Little History of Philosophy. Image courtesy of Barnes & Noble.

A Little History of Philosophy briefly explores over 40 different philosophers in the span of 40 bite-sized chapters. While the book serves as a general overview of philosophy, it does not go in-depth into any of the philosophers, in large part because that was not the aim of the author. An unfortunate consequence is that by the end of the book, readers may be left feeling like they know very little about the philosophers covered.

However, as several comments on the book read, A Little History of Philosophy serves as an introduction to the world of philosophy. Upon completing the book, readers may pick out any philosophers that piqued their interest to investigate further. In this respect, A Little History of Philosophy can serve as a great index to inform audiences and encourage further reading.

A positive aspect of A Little History of Philosophy lies in the variety in popularity of the philosophers mentioned. For example, many of the philosophers covered, such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Locke, and Kant, are extremely well-known even among non-professionals. Meanwhile, other philosophers like Boethius, Jeremy Bentham, and C. S. Peirce are slightly less mainstream. Another positive aspect of the book is how Warburton strings together the stories of the philosophers very neatly, allowing the book to flow almost like a novel. Contributing to the novel-like structure of the book, Warburton often elaborates on the lives of the philosophers while also writing about their philosophy. Warburton explains how many philosophers’ thoughts were shaped and influenced by the time period in which they lived. For example, Karl Marx’s egalitarian Communist Manifesto was molded in the fires of class disparity during the Industrial Revolution. Likewise, Machiavelli’s cutthroat ideas outlined in The Prince were born from the back-stabbing political world of the Italian Renaissance.

Conversely, in a type of cause-and-effect loop, many of the philosophers impacted either their own time period or a future epoch. Socrates inspired countless future thinkers; Hobbes, Voltaire, and Rousseau pioneered a drastic shift in government, and Karl Marx sparked the communist movement of the 20th century. 

While critical thinking has given rise to countless benefits, it has also started bloody wars and mass deaths. So, it becomes even more important for contemporary audiences to question, investigate, and make changes to build a happier and healthier future.