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Get Peter Kreeft’s Ultimate Introduction to Philosophy from the 100 Greatest Philosophers

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Socrates’ Children: An Introduction to Philosophy from the 100 Greatest Philosophers
By Peter Kreeft
Word on Fire | February 27th, 2023
Word on Fire | February 27th, 2023
Special Edition Box Set  | 4 Paperback Books | 6" x 9"
Special Edition Box Set
4 Paperback Books | 6" x 9"
Special Edition Box Set: $79.95 $63.96
(20% OFF + FREE U.S. Shipping!)
Peter Kreeft, esteemed philosophy professor and author of over eighty books, has taught college philosophy for sixty years. Throughout those decades, he yearned for a beginner's philosophy text that was clear, accessible, enjoyable, and exciting (perhaps even funny). Finding none that met those criteria, he eventually decided to write it himself.

In this four-volume series, Kreeft delivers, with his characteristic wit and clarity, an introduction to philosophy via the hundred greatest philosophers of all time. Socrates’ Children examines the big ideas of four major eras—ancient, medieval, modern, and contemporary—and immerses the reader in the “great conversation,” the ongoing dialogue among the great thinkers of history, including the most influential philosopher of all: Socrates, the father of Western philosophy. 
 
Special Edition Box Set: $79.95 $63.96
(20% OFF + FREE U.S. Shipping!)
Special Edition Box Set: $79.95 $63.96
(20% OFF + FREE U.S. Shipping!)
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Email us at support@wordonfire.org or call 866-928-1237.
Mark Galli was the editor in chief of Christianity Today for seven years, a Presbyterian pastor for ten years, and a passionate evangelical Protestant since first responding to an altar call in 1965 at thirteen years old. But in 2020, Galli formally returned to the faith in which he was baptized as an infant: the Roman Catholic Church. 

With All the Saints: My Journey to the Roman Catholic Church is the compelling memoir of one man’s search for the fullness of truth. Through honest and engaging storytelling, Galli recounts the various spiritual, theological, mystical, and ecclesial tributaries that led him to “cross the Tiber” back to Catholicism. Each tradition he passed through—Evangelical, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Anglican, and Eastern Orthodox—he embraced without satisfaction and left without bitterness, drawing him finally to the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church: a Church of saints and sinners, all striving together in the great company of heaven; a Church that he could finally call home.

Honest, insightful, and entertaining, With All the Saints is a memorable love letter to Christ and his Church.
 


Volume I: Ancient Philosophers

Paperback  |  216 Pages  |  6" x 9"  |  Retail Price: $19.95
Volume I: Ancient Philosophers investigates the foundations of philosophy laid by the ancient sages, Greeks, and Romans and introduces the philosophers who asked the first great philosophical questions—about good and evil; truth and falsehood; wisdom, beauty, and love; and the self, the world, and God.
 


Volume II: Medieval Philosophers

Paperback  |  168 Pages  |  6" x 9"  |  Retail Price: $19.95
Volume II: Medieval Philosophers studies the transformation of philosophy that came about due to an unprecedented figure—Jesus Christ—and considers the philosophers of the great monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as they sought to marry the Greek philosophical tradition with divine revelation.
 


Volume III: Modern Philosophers

Paperback  |  304 Pages  |  6" x 9"  |  Retail Price: $19.95
Volume III: Modern Philosophers explores a philosophical world caught up in the spirit of the Enlightenment—a time of both scientific discovery and social upheaval—and examines the philosophers who sought above all to answer the great questions of epistemology and politics: What is knowledge? How can we be certain? What is society? What is its greatest good?



Volume IV: Contemporary Philosophers

Paperback  |  384 Pages  |  6" x 9"  |  Retail Price: $19.95
Volume IV: Contemporary Philosophers surveys the great philosophers of the last two hundred years and observes the splintering of philosophy into a wide array of philosophical enterprises. Some, unhinged from the past, rebel against the very endeavor of philosophy, but others, seeking to revitalize ancient conversations, return to and renew the deepest questions of meaning, happiness, and the human person.
 


Volume I: Ancient Philosophers

Paperback  |  216 Pages  |  6" x 9"
Retail Price: $19.95
Volume I: Ancient Philosophers investigates the foundations of philosophy laid by the ancient sages, Greeks, and Romans and introduces the philosophers who asked the first great philosophical questions—about good and evil; truth and falsehood; wisdom, beauty, and love; and the self, the world, and God.
 


Volume II: Medieval Philosophers

Paperback  |  168 Pages  |  6" x 9"
Retail Price: $19.95
Volume II: Medieval Philosophers studies the transformation of philosophy that came about due to an unprecedented figure—Jesus Christ—and considers the philosophers of the great monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as they sought to marry the Greek philosophical tradition with divine revelation.
 


Volume III: Modern Philosophers

Paperback  |  304 Pages  |  6" x 9"
Retail Price: $19.95
Volume III: Modern Philosophers explores a philosophical world caught up in the spirit of the Enlightenment—a time of both scientific discovery and social upheaval—and examines the philosophers who sought above all to answer the great questions of epistemology and politics: What is knowledge? How can we be certain? What is society? What is its greatest good?



Volume IV: Contemporary Philosophers

Paperback  |  384 Pages  |  6" x 9"
Retail Price: $19.95
Volume IV: Contemporary Philosophers surveys the great philosophers of the last two hundred years and observes the splintering of philosophy into a wide array of philosophical enterprises. Some, unhinged from the past, rebel against the very endeavor of philosophy, but others, seeking to revitalize ancient conversations, return to and renew the deepest questions of meaning, happiness, and the human person.







  













 





































  

 

About the Author

Peter Kreeft, PhD, Professor of Philosophy at Boston College, is one of the most widely read Christian authors of our time. He has published over eighty-five books on a vast array of topics in spirituality, theology, and philosophy. They include A Summa of the Summa, Making Sense Out of Suffering, Jesus Shock, The Philosophy of Tolkien, and Socrates Meets Jesus.
  















  

















  





















 

"I decided to write this book when the umpteenth person asked me the following question: 
'Could you recommend just one book that covers the whole history of philosophy that beginners can understand and even get excited about?'
Since I could not answer that question in words, I decided to try to answer it in deeds. I write the books I want to read when nobody else will write them. Sometimes you have to write a book first in order to get the satisfaction of reading it."
— PETER KREEFT
 













  

























  





















 

Here's what People are Saying...

“When I first began to pursue philosophy, I wanted a single resource to introduce me to all its principal players, to teach me their names, relative importance, and chief works, and to help me think their greatest thoughts. I wanted an introduction that let the philosophers have their say, but at the same time avoided the false impartiality of indifference to truth—one that, moreover, went about the whole daunting business with such brevity, directness, enthusiasm, wonder, storytelling, and humor as would suit my needs as a beginner. That resource did not exist. Now it does. It is Socrates’ Children.”

— Michael Augros, Author of Who Designed the Designer? and The Immortal in You
“The moral, social, and religious problems of our time all ultimately reflect deep philosophical errors and thus, at least in part, require a philosophical solution. Yet philosophy has in recent decades retreated so far within the academy that the average person would not know where to begin to look for instruction. Peter Kreeft has long helped to remedy this problem, and this new work may be his most important yet.”

— Edward Feser, Professor of Philosophy, Pasadena City College
“Peter Kreeft provides bite-sized snapshots of one hundred of the most famous and influential philosophers who shape, often in unrealized ways, today’s world. In his trademark crisp and clear style, he presents ancient, medieval, modern, and contemporary thinkers. While putting each philosopher in historical context, Socrates’ Children also avoids historical relativism. This book provides both historical context and philosophical summaries of the most important ideas of the most important philosophers. Kreeft focuses on the ideas that make a difference for our lives, as well as on the most influential views of all time.”

— Christopher Kaczor, Chair of the Department of Philosophy at Loyola Marymount University, St. Thomas Aquinas Fellow for the Renewal of Catholic Intellectual Life for the Word on Fire Institute
 
“Philosophy professors are always seeking ways to reach students with fresh approaches to the wisdom we have found so wonderful. Here is a fine option.”

— Ronda Chervin, Emerita Professor of Philosophy at Holy Apostles College and Seminary
“True philosophy is a love affair: as Socrates taught long ago, philosophy is born in wonder, and is lived in passionate seeking. In Socrates' Children, Peter Kreeft guides the beginner through the history of philosophy with his characteristic wonder, wit, and wisdom. Reading these volumes is like taking a class in philosophy with one of its greatest living teachers. In Kreeft's hands, the history of philosophy becomes a dramatic story, a great conversation punctuated with surprise, humor, and insight. For the beginner curious about philosophy, beware: to pick up Socrates' Children is to embark on the great adventure of philosophical thinking, and so to risk falling in love. And when you fall in love, life is changed forever.”

— Paul A. Camacho, Professor of Philosophy and Associate Director of the Augustinian Institute, Villanova University

















  








































 

Socrates' Children: The Great Debates of Philosophy

By Dr. Peter Kreeft

 
 
In this lecture series, Dr. Peter Kreeft examines key ideas in philosophy by comparing and contrasting two representative philosophers in each lecture.

Lecture 1

Socrates vs. the Sophists on Ethics

In lecture 1, Dr. Kreeft examines the father of philosophy, Socrates, who paved the way for reason by defining terms clearly and proving conclusions logically. He discusses the importance of understanding Socrates in order to be able to respond to the philosophy of the Sophists, whose philosophy is marked more by cleverness than by wisdom, more by appearance than by truth, and more by emotion than by logic. Today, this philosophy has reemerged, and it has taken root in our current culture.

Lecture 2

Plato vs. Machiavelli on Political Philosophy

In lecture 2, Dr. Kreeft examines the importance of finding and defining the fundamental differences between Plato—whose logic is inductive, deductive, and seductive–and Machiavelli —who, 2,000 years after Plato, set out a radical alternative to Plato’s ideal city and ruler. 

Lecture 3

Aristotle vs. Kant on Epistemology and Ethics

In lecture 3, Dr. Kreeft examines the epistemology and ethics of Aristotle and Immanuel Kant. Modern students have great difficulty believing common sense because our modern philosophies have percolated down to them through our modern culture. 

Lecture 4

Augustine vs. Sartre on the Difference God Makes

In lecture 4, Dr. Kreeft details the differences between Augustine, the lover of truth, and Sartre, whose ultimate enemy is truth. We are faced with a stark choice between Augustine’s road to the source of all love and light and life, and Sartre’s road into the darkness.

Lecture 5

Aquinas vs. Averroes on Faith and Reason

In lecture 5, Dr. Kreeft presents the synthesis of faith and reason achieved by Aquinas, which overcomes the problem of the double-truth theory of Averroes. 

Lecture 6

Descartes vs. Bacon on Rationalism vs. Empiricism & “Man’s Conquest of Nature” 

In lecture 6, Dr. Kreeft contrasts Descartes, who is universally known as the father of modern philosophy and a rationalist, and Bacon, who is an empiricist. These two philosophers, though taking opposite epistemological approaches, find agreement in their view of the greatest good of human life—the conquest and mastering of nature.

Lecture 7

Pascal vs. Descartes on The Relation between Philosophy and Science

In lecture 7, Dr. Kreeft discusses the differences between Pascal and Descartes on just about everything—though both were believers and practicing Catholics. Pascal was a great scientist and mathematician who saw philosophy as a way of life, while Descartes tried to make philosophy like mathematics, formulating clear and distinct ideas aimed at achieving absolute certainty. 

Lecture 8

Kierkegaard vs. Hegel on Religion and Individuality

In lecture 8, Dr. Kreeft summarizes Hegel, who dropped the distinction between thought and being, denying the existence of anything outside of thought and embracing absolute idealism. Kierkegaard’s own philosophy asks not how thought progresses through stages, as Hegel does, but how an individual human being progresses through life.

Lecture 9

Nietzsche vs. Heidegger on “The Will to Power” vs. “Meditative Thinking”

In lecture 9, Dr. Kreeft discusses Nietzsche, whose views on truth and meaning created something of a catastrophe in the history of philosophy. Heidegger tried to dig his way out of the ruins created by Nietzsche by appealing to what he called Sein—“Being itself.”

Lecture 10

Hobbes vs. Rousseau on Man and the State

In lecture 10, Dr. Kreeft examines two totalitarians, Hobbes and Rousseau, on the question of what makes a good society. He contrasts Hobbes’ “hard totalitarianism” with the “soft (democratic) totalitarianism” of Rousseau, and identifies the flaws in both approaches.

Lecture 11

Confucius vs. Marx on Traditionalism vs. Revolutionism

In lecture 11, Dr. Kreeft highlights the sharp contrast between Confucius and Marx. While the principles of Confucius’ morality were directed to the preservation of natural order and peace, Marx’s most basic values were revolutionary, competitive, and violent. 

Lecture 12

The Marriage of Medieval Metaphysics and Modern Personalism

In lecture 12, Dr. Kreeft discusses the possible unity between what he claims is the best of the old and the best of the new—a marriage of the metaphysics of St. Thomas Aquinas with the anthropology of Personalism.