“Between the earliest and the latest of the works includedhere, we have two hundred and fifty years of vigorous andadventurous philosophizing,” Monroe Beardsley writes in hisIntroduction to this collection. “If the modern period can be onlyvaguely or arbitrarily bounded, it can at least be studied, and wecan ask whether any dominant themes, overall patterns of movement,or notable achievements can be found within it. This question isone that is best asked by the reader after he has read, or readaround in, these works.” This Modern Library Paperback Classic also includes a newly updatedBibliography.
