Philosophy begins with questions about the nature of reality & how we should live. These were the concerns of Socrates who spent his days in the ancient Athenian marketplace asking awkward questions disconcerting the people he met by showing them how little they genuinely understood. This engaging book introduces the great thinkers in Western philosophy & explores their most compelling ideas about the world & how best to live in it. In forty brief chapters Nigel Warburton guides us on a chronological tour of the major ideas in the history of philosophy. He provides interesting & often quirky stories of the lives & deaths of thought-provoking philosophers from Socrates who chose to die by hemlock poisoning rather than live on without the freedom to think for himself to Peter Singer who asks the disquieting philosophical & ethical questions that haunt our own times. Warburton not only makes philosophy accessible he offers inspiration to think argue reason & ask in the tradition of Socrates. A Little History of Philosophy" presents the grand sweep of humanitys search for philosophical understanding & invites all to join in the discussion."