Conceived originally as a serious presentation ofВ В the development of philosophy for CatholicВ В seminary students, Frederick Copleston's nine-volumeВ В A History Of Philosophy hasВ В journeyed far beyond the modest purpose of its author toВ В universal acclaim as the best history ofВ В philosophy in English.

Copleston, an Oxford JesuitВ В of immense erudition who once tangled with A. J.В В Ayer in a fabled debate about the existence of GodВ В and the possibility of metaphysics, knew thatВ В seminary students were fed a woefully inadequate dietВ В of theses and proofs, and that their familiarityВ В with most of history's great thinkers was reducedВ В to simplistic caricatures. Copleston set out toВ В redress the wrong by writing a complete history ofВ В Western philosophy, one crackling with incident andВ В intellectual excitement -- and one that gives fullВ В place to each thinker, presenting his thought in aВ В beautifully rounded manner and showing his linksВ В to those who went before and to those who cameВ В after him.