Passion of the Western Mind by Richard Tarnas

Product Details

Synopsis

"[This] magnificent critical survey, with its inherent respect for both the 'Westt's mainstream high culture' and the 'radically changing world' of the 1990s, offers a new breakthrough for lay and scholarly readers alike....Allows readers to grasp the big picture of Western culture for the first time."
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Here are the great minds of Western civilization and their pivotal ideas, from Plato to Hegel, from Augustine to Nietzsche, from Copernicus to Freud. Richard Tarnas performs the near-miracle of describing profound philosophical concepts simply but without simplifying them. Ten years in the making and already hailed as a classic, THE PASSION OF THE WESERN MIND is truly a complete liberal education in a single volume.

Annotation

From 2,000 B.C. to the threshold of the 21st century, this book illuminates history's most profound concepts in an engaging, accessible manner. The minds behind the theories--from Plato, Augustine, and Copernicus to Hegel, Nietzsche, Freud--come to vivid life in a blend of narrative and scholarship that is captivating in style and epic in breadth. Ten years in the making. Soon to be a major PBS-TV series.

Publishers Weekly

Tarnas charts the development of Western thought from the ancient Greeks, throwing a sharp light on ideas central to the modern outlook. (Apr.)