The Great Philosophers: From Socrates to Foucault

Written by Jeremy Stangroom and James Garvey

Narrated by Stephen Crossley

Philosophy has been underway for more than 2,000 years. The Great Philosophers traces the biggest and most influential thoughts in philosophy's long stride through history, beginning with the ancient Greeks and early Romans, the first philosophical thinkers in the West, to whom much is owed.

How their concerns became the concerns of those who followed is clearly laid out, as is the way their answers shaped what we now recognize as philosophy. The medieval philosophers are also represented, combining their religious concerns with ancient thought and carrying it into the Renaissance. The modern era, the explosion of philosophy sparked by Descartes, is well represented here too. Founders and representatives of both rationalist and empiricist schools make an appearance, as do philosophy's skeptics with their often-darker conclusions.

Philosophy's long walk continues, and you will find here the thoughts which make its contemporary form what it is, and perhaps what it is on the way to becoming. Philosophy is very much still underway, and The Great Philosophers pays regard to both the discipline as it is practiced now and to the history which made contemporary philosophy possible.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcturus Publishing
• Release date: Nov 1, 2025
• ISBN: 9781839405679

Jeremy Stangroom

Dr Jeremy Stangroom is a founding editor of The Philosophers' Magazine, one of the world's most popular philosophy publications. He has written and/or edited numerous books, including: "New British Philosophy", "What Philosophers Think" and "Great Thinkers A-Z" (all with Julian Baggini); "The Dictionary of Fashionable Nonsense" and "Why Truth Matters" (with Ophelia Benson); and "What Scientists Think". He is a frequent contributor to "New Humanist" magazine, and he is also the editor of the Royal Institute of Philosophy web site.