... curiosity ofthosewhowant to understandwhat philosophy is and willprovideakey to furtherstudyof philosophy and philosophers . To aidthereaderinfurtherstudy an extensiveannotatedbibliographyisincluded,whichservesas ... to give an introduction to Western philosophy throughits past,bothdistant and morerecent, and to serveas a usefulworkformoreadvancedstudentsof philosophy .Thesubjectof philosophy ispresentedin ... dissatisfactionwithmythicalaccountsoftheworldexplanationsbegan to emergethatweregeneralizable and systematicratherthanad hoc,naturalisticratherthanhavingrecourse to supernaturalgods and powers, and thatwere,mostimportantly,backedbyargumentsopen to inspection,insteadof...