A Philosopher's Book of Lists and Anecdotes

This book is a roundup of lists and stories from world philosophers' lives and works. Not all the persons in it are professional philosophers; some are popes, poets, politicians, monks, nuns, and others. Some are revolutionaries, others pacifists. Not all the activities of the professional philosophers consist of teaching or writing, for many had interesting sidelines and several made their living by other means. The book is also an introduction to philosophy (Chp. 1) and something of a brief history of the subject, East and West, and a synopsis and guide to some major philosophies, East and West; materialism, idealism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Empiricism, Rationalism, and many others. One of its main themes is that philosophers have often been persecuted for their beliefs, dismissed from their jobs, exiled, imprisoned, and a surprising number have been put to death since Socrates, the first martyr of philosophy.