Includes bibliographical references and index.

Philosophical investigation is the root of all human knowledge. Developing new concepts, reinterpreting old truths, and reconceptualizing fundamental questions, philosophy has progressed-and driven human progress-for more than two millennia. In short, we live in a world philosophy made. In this concise history of philosophy's world-shaping impact, Scott Soames demonstrates that the modern world-including its science, technology, and politics-simply would not be possible without the accomplishments of philosophy.