As I was preparing for my post about Liberty’s philosophical demise, I was reminded I used to do a series called Philosophy Friday. I’m not going to link to any of those posts because they’re mostly from 6 years ago and you shouldn’t read them (but I suppose the search bar does work). But, I thought a fresh start was in order.
These days, it’s dangerous to assume anyone has taken a basic philosophy course. I’ll assume you haven’t, or it’s been a while and you want to bang off the rust. If you’d like to sharpen your understanding of philosophy, there’s at least two routes you can take.
The first would be to study the history of philosophy. This ends up often being a history of ideas, and is useful since most of Western philosophy is a footnote to Plato. In that case, you’d pick a sturdy single volume like A History of Western Philosophy by C. Stephen Evans.
Evans takes readers from Thales of Miletus to Nietzsche of Prussia, which certainly beats taking the journey with Frederick Coppleston (though that is the standard). A general perusal of the table of contents suggests there are all the chapters you’d expect there to be, plus a bonus concluding chapter on some lessons we can learn from the history of western philosophy.
That in mind, you may wonder why pick this over other options. One might be that you have found Evans work elsewhere enjoyable and enriching it. Or, you might collect books like this (that’s me). Or, you might find Evans own take on what makes his work distinctive compelling. After we carefully defines “western,” “philosophy,” and just what a history of it entails, he then explains:
Part of my interest in philosophy stems from a conviction that philosophy is a valuable tool for a Christian who wants a deeper understanding of the Western world that has been partly shaped by philosophy. The history of Western philosophy is particularly interesting for a Christian because that history often intersects with the history of theology and the history of various religions, especially the three Abrahamic faiths: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Although I want to tell the history of philosophy, that history cannot be sharply separated from the history of religion, just as it cannot be sharply separated from the history of science or the history of art. In my account of philosophy, I shall therefore pay special attention to the links between philosophy and religious faith. For people of biblical faith, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Ps 111:10; Prov 9:10), and so it is plausible to think that such faith may have something important to contribute to philosophy as well. Philosophy has something valuable to offer people of faith, but faith may in turn provide something that philosophy badly needs.
p. 10
So, if that’s what you’re in the mood for, and you want it in not much more than 500 pages, Evans’ book is probably for you.
The other route would be to get a book that jumps into the various contemporary discussions in philosophy. In that case, you’re looking for something like Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview. Fair warning though, take most things William Lane Craig says about theological subjects with a grain of salt. Sure, he’ll talk about how he has two Ph.D’s, one of them in theology, but here’s a good chance to learn how to evaluate experts.
It is true that Craig has two earned doctorates, but I have more seminary education in theology than he does. He earned an M.A. in philosophy of religion from Trinity, but that’s not a theological degree. He then earned his doctorate in philosophy from the University of Birmingham (the one in England). Later, he did a postdoctoral fellowship a wrote a second thesis, earned a D.Theol from the University of Munich. However, given the system over there, he did research on the historical evidence of the resurrection and then wrote a thesis earning a D.Theol for his efforts. That is vastly different than earning a Ph.D in theology, and when he discusses early Trinitarian and Christological debates, it shows.
Now, that shouldn’t entirely dissuade you from checking that book out as a resource to get you started. If nothing else, it is a handy reference work as you read some of the other books I’m going to recommend.
Ultimately, you probably want to take both approaches at once. Ideas are contextual, and so having a feel for the history of ideas and the contemporary discussion is the best bet. As we enter into summer, I’ll see what I can do to take us on a journey to dare to know. If Liberty won’t, at least an alumni can help you out.
Note: I was able to read these books because IVP Academic sent them to me to peruse. I may have already posted a bit on both and recycled some of my own words in this post. And by “may” I mean “did.”