Collected Essays on Philosophers
About this ebook
During the 1970s, however, Wilson’s interests became, on the surface, more varied, publishing books on criminology, psychology and the occult. But he always maintained a philosophical stance, irrespective of subject matter, and continued to write purely philosophical essays for journals, magazines, and symposia.
This volume brings together, for the first time, his essays on seventeen philosophers, including some of those he met personally to discuss their ideas.
In his essay on Spinoza he wrote: “Philosophers are never so entertaining – or so instructive – as when they are beating one another over the head.” It is that statement, applied to this particular volume, that makes these essays, from England’s only home-grown existential philosopher, so eminently readable, entertaining, instructive and, sometimes, controversial.
About the author
Colin Stanley was born in Topsham, Devon, UK, in 1952, and was educated at Exmouth School. Beginning in 1970, he worked for Devon Library Services, studying for two years in London, before moving to Nottingham, where he worked for the University of Nottingham until July 2005. The Managing Editor of Paupers’ Press, he is also the author and editor of several books and booklets about Colin Wilson and his work. His collection of Wilson’s work now forms The Colin Wilson Collection at the University of Nottingham, an archive opened in the summer of 2011, and which now includes many of the author’s manuscripts.
John Shand is an Associate Lecturer in Philosophy at the Open University. He studied Philosophy at the University of Manchester and King’s College Cambridge. The author of numerous articles and reviews, his books include Arguing Well (2000) and Philosophy and Philosophers: An Introduction to Western Philosophy, (2nd edition, 2002).
