Pre-Socratics: A Painless Introduction

This is a short book about pre-Socratic philosophers for people who care more about the central questions of philosophy themselves — What exists? How should we live? How can we know? — than they do about the historical matter of pre-Socratic thought. But current research in philosophy often refers to the work of pre-Socratic philosophers, so it is worth knowing a bit about what they thought. My book explains the bare essentials about pre-Socratic philosophy you must understand to do philosophy today.

This book does not assume you know much about philosophy. It does not discuss every aspect or interpretation of a philosopher’s work. It will only tell you what you need to know to engage with philosophy today.

My main sources are the histories of philosophy by Kenny, Russell, and Copleston (of whom you will hear echoes below), along with translations of the original works.

If one wishes to take an ecstatic view of “the Greek miracle,” it is supplied by Bertrand Russell in A History of Western Philosophy:

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