Derek Johnston is a retired teacher. He was Vice-Principal of Midleton College, Co Cork, Ireland, where he taught for over 30 years.

In this accessible text complete with portraits, summary boxes and precise definitions of key terms, Johnston describes the mental workings of 18 of the greats. Working chronologically and also through themes, Johnston describes the trends from Socrates and Plato to Aristotle, Epicurus and Zeno, Aquinus, Descartes, Locke and Montesquieu, Spinoza, Hume, Kant, Marx, Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, Heidegger, Sartre and Derrida, opening each chapter with the most basic ideas and building to crisp explanations of some of the most complex ideas to ever hit paper. Although this can be read cover to cover to give high school students and the general public a running start, Johnston's appraisals and summaries also serve as references and refreshers.

• Introduction; 1. Plato and Socrates: The Fire and the Sun; 2. Aristotle: The Spirit of Rational Enquiry; 3. Epicurus and Zeno: How to Lead a Good Life; 4. St Thomas Aquinas: The Unified Interpretation of Reality; 5. Rene Descartes: Systematic Doubt as Philosophical Method; 6. John Locke and Montesquieu: The Liberal State; 7. Benedict de Spinoza: Rigorous Thought and Severe Conclusions; 8. David Hume: Empirical Verification; 9. Immanuel Kant: The Critique of Reason. 10. Karl Marx: The March of History; 11. Friedrich Nietzsche: The Will to Power; 12. Ludwig Wittgenstein: Language and Reality; 13. Martin Heidegger: We Have Forgotten Being; 14. Jean-Paul Sartre: Existentialist Anguish; 15. Jacques Derrida: Deconstructing Reality; Conclusion; Further Reading.

Derek Johnston is a retired teacher. He was Vice-Principal of Midleton College, Co Cork, Ireland, where he taught for over 30 years.

In this accessible text complete with portraits, summary boxes and precise definitions of key terms, Johnston describes the mental workings of 18 of the greats. Working chronologically and also through themes, Johnston describes the trends from Socrates and Plato to Aristotle, Epicurus and Zeno, Aquinus, Descartes, Locke and Montesquieu, Spinoza, Hume, Kant, Marx, Nietzsche, Wittgenstein, Heidegger, Sartre and Derrida, opening each chapter with the most basic ideas and building to crisp explanations of some of the most complex ideas to ever hit paper. Although this can be read cover to cover to give high school students and the general public a running start, Johnston's appraisals and summaries also serve as references and refreshers.

• Introduction; 1. Plato and Socrates: The Fire and the Sun; 2. Aristotle: The Spirit of Rational Enquiry; 3. Epicurus and Zeno: How to Lead a Good Life; 4. St Thomas Aquinas: The Unified Interpretation of Reality; 5. Rene Descartes: Systematic Doubt as Philosophical Method; 6. John Locke and Montesquieu: The Liberal State; 7. Benedict de Spinoza: Rigorous Thought and Severe Conclusions; 8. David Hume: Empirical Verification; 9. Immanuel Kant: The Critique of Reason. 10. Karl Marx: The March of History; 11. Friedrich Nietzsche: The Will to Power; 12. Ludwig Wittgenstein: Language and Reality; 13. Martin Heidegger: We Have Forgotten Being; 14. Jean-Paul Sartre: Existentialist Anguish; 15. Jacques Derrida: Deconstructing Reality; Conclusion; Further Reading.