Philosophy for Everyman

Name: Philosophy for Everyman
Author: Dagobert D. Runes

This sweeping history of philosophy by the author and founder of the Philosophical Library ranges from the pre-Socratics to existentialism.

In this historical survey, Dagobert D. Runes introduces readers to the major developments in philosophical inquiry that began with the ancient Greeks. In clear and accessible prose, he traces the progression of thought through influential figures such as Jesus, Muhammad, Francis Bacon, and René Descartes. He also covers a chronology of movements from the Stoics and Epicureans to the Enlightenment, logical positivism, and existentialism.

The founder and publisher of the Philosophical Library, Runes is both a philosopher and a scholar of philosophical history. In Philosophy for Everyman: From Socrates to Sartre, he carefully breaks down the key concepts of philosophy for the general reader.

Dagobert D. Runes

Dagobert D. Runes was born in Zastavna, Bukovina, Austria-Hungary (now in Ukraine), and received a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Vienna in 1924. In 1926 he emigrated to the United States, where he became editor of the Modern Thinker and later Current Digest. From 1931 to 1934 he was director of the Institute for Advanced Education in New York City, and in 1941 he founded the Philosophical Library, a spiritual organization and publishing house.

Runes published an English translation of Karl Marx’s On the Jewish Question under the title A World Without Jews, featuring an introduction that was clearly antagonistic to extreme Marxism and “its materialism,” yet he did not entirely negate Marxist theory. He also edited several works presenting the ideas and history of philosophy to a general audience, including his Dictionary of Philosophy.