A Brief History of Thought. A Treatise on Philosophy for the Growing Generation

Luc Ferry is a known French philosopher, publicist, and politician (Minister of Youth, Education, and Science from 2002 to 2004), addressing his new book to everyone who, without engaging in philosophy professionally, would like to have an understanding of it that goes beyond a simple listing of the names of thinkers and the titles of their theories. Highlighting four main milestones in the history of Western thought - ancient stoicism, modern rationalism, Nietzsche's philosophy, and postmodernism - Ferry shows how all of them, clarifying and developing each other's ideas, address key problems of knowledge, morality, and salvation that humanity faces. Being brief, accessible to any reader, and yet sufficiently profound as an introduction to philosophy, the book also presents a coherent outline of the author's view on the current state of thought.