A Beginner's History of Philosophy (Vol. 1&2)

A Beginner's History of Philosophy helps a reader shape a general notion of the leading philosophical ideas of the world. It starts with Greek and Roman philosophy, focusing on such prominent personalities as Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, and others. Then the author goes into the political and historical background of the Middle Ages, pays attention to the primary schools of the period, and moves on to the eras of Renaissance and Enlightenment. Finally, a reader learns the main ideas of Berkley, Hume, Bacon, Locke, the imperatives of Kant, and the return to realism at the beginning of the 19th century.

Herbert Ernest Cushman (1865-1944) was a professor of philosophy at Tufts College and Ph.D. He was most famous for A Beginner's History of Philosophy and translation of Wilhelm Windelband's History Of Ancient Philosophy into English. Some of his lectures, given at Tufts, such as What is Christianity?" are also considered critical philosophical works of the 19th century.