Philosophy for readers who want the whole argument.

Alex Omberg writes introductions to Western philosophy for curious general readers: the individual thinkers who shaped the tradition, the movements that connected them, the branches into which the discipline divides, and the perennial questions underneath it all. The aim is the one a good teacher has. Make a difficult idea clear on the first reading, keep its difficulty intact, and show why it still matters.

No prior knowledge is assumed. A reader meeting Plato or Kant for the first time should be able to follow every chapter, and a reader returning to them after years should find the arguments set out more fully than memory kept them.

How each volume is built

Every volume follows the same architecture, so that a reader who knows one knows how to use them all.

• An introduction setting out the historical moment, why the subject still matters, and a map of what follows.
• Ten to fifteen chapters, each a complete unit, moving from historical foundations through the central arguments to their criticisms and consequences.
• An epilogue on the subject's lasting significance.
• A timeline of the key dates, publications and events.
• An annotated guide to further reading, with an honest note on how demanding each recommended book is.

The prose is explanatory rather than anthological. Quotation is kept to the few places where a philosopher's exact words carry the point, and every fact is checked against reliable scholarship.

The series

The books are organised into connected series. The Western Philosophy Series takes the great thinkers one at a time. Companion series take up philosophy's movements, its branches, and its foundational questions, each volume able to stand alone and to sit beside the others.

The Philosophy School

Alex Omberg also edits The Philosophy School, a publication of essays and shorter pieces drawn from the same work, for readers who want the ideas in smaller doses between volumes.

Contact

Corrections, questions about a volume, permissions and review copies: alex@alexomberg.com.