Will Durant was a renowned American philosopher, historian, and writer who is best known for his multi-volume work, "The Story of Civilization." This series of books, which Durant co-wrote with his wife, Ariel Durant, covers the history of Western Civilization from ancient times to the modern era.
Durant was born in North Adams, Massachusetts in 1885 and grew up in a working-class family. He was a voracious reader from a young age and was particularly interested in history and philosophy. He received his bachelor's degree from St. Peter's College in New Jersey in 1907 and went on to earn a master's degree from Columbia University in 1908.
Durant's most famous work, "The Story of Civilization," was a massive undertaking that took more than 40 years to complete. The series consists of 11 volumes, each of which covers a different period of history. The first volume, "Our Oriental Heritage," covers the history of the ancient Near East and the Eastern Mediterranean, including the civilizations of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Greece. The subsequent volumes cover the history of Rome, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the modern era.
In addition to "The Story of Civilization," Durant also wrote numerous other books on a wide range of subjects, including philosophy, religion, and politics. He was known for his clear and concise writing style and his ability to make complex ideas accessible to a general audience.
Durant was a vocal critic of war and imperialism and was a strong advocate for world peace. He was also a strong supporter of the rights of women and minorities and was a vocal critic of racism and discrimination.
Durant received numerous accolades for his work, including a Pulitzer Prize in 1968 for his book "The Age of Napoleon." He died in 1981 at the age of 96, leaving behind a legacy as one of the most influential and respected writers and thinkers of his time.
Will Durant Biography
The victory of little Hellas against such odds stimulated the pride and lifted up the spirit of its people; out of very gratitude they felt called upon to do unprecedented things. Grand Overviews and a Philosophic Theme As one would expect from so large a work, the Story contains a wealth of concrete and detailed information. The pair would later win the Pulitzer Prize and the Congressional Medal of Freedom. I have read whole works or substantial sections of William H. New York Times December 17, 1940 and reproduced in Durant, Dual, pp. Within 5 miles of your location.
A Symphony of History: Will Durant’s The Story of Civilization
These opinions, scattered throughout the narrative, are presented in both subtle and obvious ways. Though their daughter, Ethel, and their grandchildren strove to conceal the news of Ariel's death from the ailing Will, he found out that she had died while he was watching the evening news, and he died two weeks later, two days after his 96th birthday, on November 7, 1981. Here is no lifeless chronicle, but a living, growing tale, a logically integrated and brilliantly evolving whole. New York: Garden City Publishing Co. It won for Western civilization the opportunity to develop its own economic life—unburdened with alien tribute or taxation—and its own political institutions, free from the dictation of Oriental kings. I encourage the tentative reader to consider taking this targeted and piecemeal approach rather than a beginning-to-end, all-or-nothing approach. But to understand history well, one must learn more than details.
Will Durant Quotes (Author of The Story of Philosophy)
The sight of plants and children growing inclines me to define divinity as creative power, and to reverence this in all its manifestations, even when they injure me. Durant stated that he wanted to bring philosophy back to the common man. He is best known for the 11-volume The Story of Civilization, written in collaboration with his wife Ariel and published between 1935 and 1975. William James Durant was a prolific American writer, historian, and philosopher. Another Life: A Memoir of Other People 1sted. These pamphlets were later collected in a book,The Story of Philosophy, which became an international bestseller.
This virtue and others make The Story of Civilization the best survey of Western history that I have found. The Story is by far the most massive and thorough treatment of Western civilization by a single author or team of two that I have been able to find. Durant, Will: The Story of Civilization Decepto-Meter Satanic Quote : Christianity Trasher Trashes whole of Christianity and actually accuses the apostles of borrowing their doctrine from Paganism! But none provides so fine an over-all introduction to the subject. The effort of Christianity to survive Copernicus and Darwin is the basic drama of the last three hundred years. He eventually became a librarian at the college and would develop a lifelong passion for the philosophy of Spinoza. Such selective quoting from a Bible hater like Durant is nothing short of dishonest and proves nothing about trinity being from the pagans, unless we accept all the other things Durant says was borrowed from the pagans into Christianity! After they fell in love and got married, he quit teaching and shifted his focus to the philosophical views surrounding the society. After receiving a doctorate in philosophy, he taught at Columbia and eventually started his own school called the Labor Temple School.
He became best known for his work Durant conceived of philosophy as total sub specie totius i. Could anything be more absurd than a God who makes God die on the Cross in order to appease the anger of God against a woman and a man four thousand years dead? As for the smaller number of mixed or unfavorable ones, perhaps the most common criticisms were that the volumes contained many errors and did not reflect recent scholarship. In the eighteenth century Helvetius, Holbach, and La Mettrie proclaimed open atheism, and Voltaire was called a bigot because he believed in God. Reading those volumes—sometimes poring over large portions of them multiple times—would be one of the most enlightening and enjoyable experiences of my life. His wife, Ariel Durant 1898—1981 , assisted him throughout his writing of the Story, her assistance increasing to the point that, beginning with the seventh volume, she received credit as coauthor.
The Greek mind, dying, came to a transmigrated life in the theology and liturgy of the Church; the Greek language, having reigned for centuries over philosophy, became the vehicle of Christian literature and ritual; the Greek mysteries passed down into the impressive mystery of the Mass. Because Will Durant played the dominant role, I will, for ease of reference, speak of him throughout the essay as if he were the sole author. He discussed the idea that philosophy had not grown because it had refused to confront the actual problems of society. Upon graduation he was urged by his teachers to become a Jesuit priest, but he discovered a love of philosophy and science which set him on a different path and ended his relationship with the Catholic Church. In the preface to the first volume, Durant states his intention to make the series in 5 volumes, although this would not turn out to be the case. Large teams of historians have collaborated to produce similarly large, or even larger, works. In each volume Durant takes a comprehensive approach, covering, for each nation and in each period of its history, all the major aspects of civilization: politics, economics, philosophy, religion, literature, art, and science.
The pair would later win the Pulitzer Prize and the Congressional Medal of Freedom. Achilles is at the beginning, Epicurus at the end. Notice all the thinks he says the Apostles and early Christians borrowed from the pagans in addition to trinity! Packard, professor emeritus of history at V. Reading The Story of Civilization was one of the greatest experiences of my life. The Saturday Review of Literature.
The Fall of the Roman Empire: Film and History. Perhaps a similar experience awaits you. Its thesis: whereas economic life, politics, religion, morals and manners, science, philosophy, literature, and art had all moved contemporaneously, and in mutual influence, in each epoch of each civilization, historians had recorded each aspect in almost complete separation from the rest. Below is his personal signiture! Every one of these peoples except the Phoenicians lived under despots, surrendered their souls to superstition, and had small experience of the stimulus of freedom or the life of reason. Faith was on the throne in this period, but reason was finding new voices in. Rather than titling volume 4 The Middle Ages, for instance, he used the more philosophically telling title The pervading theme is the Great Debate between faith and reason. If victory comes, if war is forgotten in security and peace, then wealth grows; the life of the body gives way, in the dominant classes, to the life of the senses and the mind; toil and suffering are replaced by pleasure and ease; science weakens faith even while thought and comfort weaken virility and fortitude.
