Download Mostafa Malekian's History of Western Philosophy (Book + Audiobook)

The book History of Western Philosophy is a collection of lectures by Professor Mostafa Malekian, delivered to scholars at the Research Institute of Hawzah and University between 1990 and late 1994. In this survey of the history of philosophy, which begins with Thales and concludes with the analytic philosophers, no mention is made of the two schools of American Pragmatism and crude German Idealism. Also, due to time constraints, the two schools of Christian Medieval Philosophy and contemporary philosophy have not been addressed as thoroughly as they deserve. On the other hand, certain topics in epistemology, ethics, philosophy of science, new theological issues, and philosophy of religion have been considered in relation to the discussions. The clear, expressive, and eloquent prose, alongside the precision, soundness, and depth in conveying Western philosophical concepts, is another merit of this collection, which provides a foundation for a better understanding of Western philosophy for those familiar with Islamic philosophy. The Research Institute of Hawzah and University considers it necessary to thank Mr. Mohammad Ali Haji Dehabadi, who transcribed the tapes and carried out the initial compilation, and Mr. Saeed Edalatnejad, who undertook the final editing and compilation of the collection. It is hoped that the scholars of the Hawzah and University will, with their critiques and suggestions, provide the grounds for the further enrichment of this collection.

Download Mostafa Malekian's History of Western Philosophy in 4 volumes:

History of Western Philosophy - Volume 1

History of Western Philosophy - Volume 2

History of Western Philosophy - Volume 3

History of Western Philosophy - Volume 4

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Audiobook of Mostafa Malekian's History of Western Philosophy in 4 zip files:

History of Western Philosophy - File 1

History of Western Philosophy - File 2

History of Western Philosophy - File 3

History of Western Philosophy - File 4

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Introducing Several Books on the History of Western Philosophy in Persian:

Introducing the most important books on the history of Western philosophy available in Persian:

1- A History of Philosophy; by Frederick Copleston

Copleston was one of the foremost Christian clergymen, affiliated with the Jesuit order. His book, due to its characteristics, is highly authoritative and esteemed by many researchers and students of philosophy, and is taught in numerous universities. These characteristics are: 1- Being comprehensive in detail; 2- Being all-encompassing; to the extent that it even addresses third-tier philosophers; 3- Fidelity in quoting and portraying the views of others; as far as it was within his power, he has faithfully and completely quoted the words of philosophers, and in explaining statements, has not made anyone's opinion appear stronger or weaker than it is; 4- Strength

of critique: Copleston's book is not merely a recounting of views; rather, he also engages in critiquing the opinions of philosophers, and has carried out this critique with vigor; 5- Considering the interrelation of philosophers with one another; philosophy is, in reality, a process, not a collection of scattered pieces, and one cannot consider philosophers or philosophical systems in isolation; therefore, Copleston, while recounting the views of philosophers one by one, has also kept the interconnectedness of philosophy in mind and has well noted the mutual influences of individuals.

Two objections have been raised against Copleston:

One is that Copleston was a priest, and priests and clerics are not good teachers, for they always speak out of prejudice; therefore, Copleston's book is not as valid as it should be. By referring to the book, we see that this criticism is very unfair.

The second objection is that Copleston is among those who believe in the perennial philosophy.

The term perennial philosophy has existed in Western philosophy at least since the twelfth century AD. Adherents of this philosophy say: there is a philosophical system or current in the world with fixed and immutable principles that will endure forever, and the transformations and changes of philosophy pertain only to its very minor branches; the principles of this system will remain untouched, and every philosophical question and problem can be resolved by referring to these principles.

The first person to explicitly state this was Thomas Aquinas, who is one of the foremost philosophers of the West. Today, however, the prevailing belief in the West is that such a superior philosophical system, capable of overcoming all other systems, does not exist, and philosophies must be content to coexist alongside one another. Copleston believes in the perennial philosophy, and therefore he holds to that same medieval philosophy—which drew from Plato and Aristotle. Hence, the objection has been raised against him that he accepts the words of others only insofar as they do not conflict or clash with the principles of the perennial philosophy; otherwise, regarding opposing views, there is a risk of unfairness from him. This objection is not entirely without force, but on the whole, Copleston's book is the best book on the history of Western philosophy.

Copleston's History of Philosophy has been published in nine volumes, but only these volumes have been translated into Persian:

Volume One: Greece and Rome; translated by Seyyed Jalal al-Din Mojtabavi, first edition 1362, second edition 1368

Volume Five: British Philosophers from Hobbes to Hume; translated by Amir Jalal al-Din A'lam, 1362

Volume Seven: From Fichte to Nietzsche; translated by Dariush Ashuri, 1367

Volume Eight: From Bentham to Russell; translated by Baha' al-Din Khorramshahi; and a portion of Volume Six: Kant; translated by Manouchehr Bozorgmehr.

The following volumes are also in the process of translation:

Volume Two: Medieval Philosophy, Islamic Philosophy up to Thomas Aquinas and Scotus; translator: Kamran Fani; Volume Four: Modern Philosophy from Descartes to Leibniz; translator: Gholamreza A'vani; Volume Nine: French Philosophers, Philosophy of Science, Existentialism up to Merleau-Ponty; translator: Abdolhossein Azarang.

2- History of Philosophy; written by Émile Bréhier; translated by Alimorad Davoudi.

It is a very valuable book, of which only the first and second volumes have been translated into Persian; the first volume is about the Greek philosophers and the second volume is about the Roman philosophers. First edition 1352, second edition 1374.

3- A History of Western Philosophy; written by Bertrand Russell; translated by Najaf Daryabandari.

Russell's work has two major flaws: first, Russell—as he himself admits in the book's introduction—is a philosopher, not a historian of philosophy, and his knowledge of the history of philosophy is not very precise. His second flaw is that Russell adheres to logical positivism or logical atomism and extends this view to the views of others; therefore, in his account, he has not dealt with the opinions of philosophers fairly.

4- The Story of Philosophy; written by Will Durant; translated by Abbas Zaryab Khoei.

This book does not have much value or weight regarding the history of philosophy, but it is readable, interesting, and pleasant to read.

5- The Pleasures of Philosophy; written by Will Durant; translated by Abbas Zaryab Khoei.

A kind of thematic history of philosophy is presented in this book.

6- The Course of Wisdom in Europe; written by Mohammad Ali Foroughi.

The History of Philosophy in Europe is an excellent, precise, and profound book, and in conveying and depicting the views of philosophers, fidelity has been observed to perfection; however, it also suffers from two major flaws: first, this history of philosophy is by no means critical, and the instances where a critique has been made are no more than the number of fingers on one hand; second, because the author was only familiar with the French language, he has elaborated on French philosophers but has tended toward brevity regarding other Western philosophers; thus, for example, he sometimes speaks as much about a third-rate French philosopher as he does about a first-rate English philosopher.

7- The Notion of the Infinite Expandability of Truth; written by Amir Mehdi Badi; translated by Ahmad Aram.

Amir Mehdi Badi, an Iranian thinker residing in Switzerland, has outlined a course of the history of Western philosophy in this work, concisely yet profoundly. If this book were to serve as the framework for the history of Western philosophy and, based upon it, the history of this philosophy were expounded, a very successful undertaking would be accomplished.

8- A Critique of Western Philosophical Thought; written by Étienne Gilson, translated by Ahmad Ahmadi.

This book is, in fact, a history of Western philosophy from the Middle Ages to the present era, employing a highly critical method; its translation is also very precise, but not very eloquent.

Gilson is among the Neo-Thomists. In a brief explanation of this tendency, we must say that Aristotelian philosophy was developed among Muslims by al-Kindi, al-Farabi, Bahmanyar, and others, which is called Peripatetic thought (Mashsha' philosophy). Avicenna, the most prominent figure of this thought, came under severe attack and criticism from al-Ghazali. After al-Ghazali, Averroes rose to defend Avicenna; Averroes' works were soon translated into European languages and had a great influence on Thomas Aquinas, the greatest thinker of Scholastic philosophy, and made him enamored of Avicenna's views. Therefore, Peripatetic philosophy in the West is the same as the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas' thought dominated the West in the Middle Ages, but after the emergence of Descartes, this philosophical system was greatly neglected, and none of the subsequent philosophical systems accepted it. Neo-Thomists, such as Gilson and Jacques Maritain, were those who, in the face of this pervasive trend, argued that we must return to the philosophy of the Middle Ages. Hence, reading

the books of these individuals is very valuable for those interested in Islamic philosophy.

9- The Spirit of Medieval Philosophy; Étienne Gilson; with a very good translation by Alimorad Davoudi.

10- Knowledge and Existence; written by Meynard; translated by Alimorad Davoudi.

The original of this book, which is written in French, is extensive, and about 52 of it has been translated into Persian, and it can be considered a thematic history of philosophy.

11- The Great Philosophers; written by Karl Jaspers.

The German Karl Jaspers is one of the first-rate philosophers of theological existentialism. In this book, he uses the term philosopher to mean thinker and believes that there have been seven thinkers in the world — and there is no eighth — and all others are parasites on their thoughts, and all human thinking is under their dominance, and whoever speaks anywhere is, in reality, writing a commentary on the views and words of these seven individuals, and no original word has been uttered by anyone other than these persons; these are: Confucius, the famous Chinese philosopher; Buddha, the prophet of Indian origin; Jesus Christ; Plato; Socrates; Saint Augustine; and the German Kant; Jaspers has presented the biographies and views of these individuals in this book.

One part of this book was once published under the title Volume One, named The Great Philosophers, translated by Asadollah Mobasheri. This translation, which contains the biographies of four thinkers, is not very precise. Kharazmi Publishing has separated the biographies of these seven individuals to publish Jaspers' book in the form of seven books, and so far these books have been published:

Confucius; translated by Ahmad Samiei; Plato; and Augustine; translated by Mohammad Hassan Lotfi. This second translation of Jaspers' book is more precise.

12- Great Philosophers; written by Henry Thomas; translated by Fereydoun Badreh-i.

This book is useful for becoming acquainted with a summary of the ideas of Western philosophers and has two distinctive features: first, it is a history of philosophers, not a history of philosophy; second, it is arranged alphabetically, not chronologically.

13- Living Adventures in Philosophy; by Henry Thomas and Dana Lee Thomas.

This small book focuses more on the influence philosophers have had on people's ethics and spirituality. The translation was published for a long time under the pseudonym Anousheh Sara, but in later editions it has been presented under the name Ahmad Shahshahani.

14- An Introduction to Philosophy; by Justus Buchler and John Herman Randall, Jr., translated by Amir Jalal al-Din A'lam.

Randall is a well-known philosopher who also holds considerable theological views. The mentioned book is a kind of thematic history of philosophy.

15- A series of books titled:

The Age of Belief; The Age of Reason; The Age of Enlightenment; and The Age of Ideology;

each of which has its own author and translator and discusses and examines a period from the eras of the history of philosophy.

Here, it would not be out of place to also introduce a book in Arabic for students who are familiar with this language:

16- Encyclopedia of Philosophy; by Abd al-Rahman Badawi.

This excellent book has an encyclopedic character and is organized alphabetically. Among its merits is that it is an encyclopedia of three subjects: philosophers, philosophical systems, and philosophical concepts. Furthermore, it is not solely a history of Western philosophy and also addresses Muslim philosophers and their views; of course, from the perspective with which Westerners view Islamic philosophy, meaning that just as Westerners consider philosophy among Muslims to have ended with Ibn Rushd, this book also only deals with the views of philosophers up to the time of Ibn Rushd.