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The paperback series Readings in the History of Philosophy is an 8 volume series about Western philosophy, from the Presocratics to the twentieth century. The Volumes and their Editors are:

  • Greek Philosophy: Thales to Aristotle Reginald E. Allen, Indiana University
  • Greek and Roman Philosophy After Aristotle Jason L. Saunders, University of California, San Diego
  • Medieval Philosophy: St. Augustine to Ockham Father Allan B. Wolter, Catholic University of America
  • The Philosophy of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries Richard H. Popkin, University of California, San Diego
  • Eighteenth-Century Philosophy Lewis White Beck, The University of Rochester
  • Nineteenth-Century Philosophy: Hegel to Nietzsche Alasdair Maclntyre, Oxford University
  • Twentieth-Century Philosophy: The Speculative Tradition Peter Koestenbaum, San Jose State College
  • Twentieth-Century Philosophy: The Analytic Tradition Morris Weitz, The Ohio State University

Now, only 7 out of 8 are available, either as ebooks or physical copies. It is very odd to find them all except Twentieth-Century Philosophy: The Speculative Tradition. I have been trying Amazon, Internet Archive, Peter Koestenbaum's website, university libraries, Simon & Schuster publisher, Jstore, etc. I would really appreciate it if someone can help me find it.

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  • Does this answer help you?
    – Philip Klöcking
    Commented Nov 8, 2023 at 20:43
  • @PhilipKlöcking Well, thank you for pointing this out. But the thing is, there are not a lot of libraries where I live. Also, there is not much interest in philosophy here. So, it is less likely that I will ever find it in any of the libraries in my area.
    – Arz
    Commented Nov 9, 2023 at 13:23
  • Well that's not the point. Your local library should be able to relay a request and organise a loan from whatever library has it. At least that's how I know it. People had books from a library in Göttingen loaned to Berlin, which is some hundreds of kilometres away. Youd need to find a library where it is for loan and just ask your local library or, if they are not cooperative, maybe even the one in question, and ask.
    – Philip Klöcking
    Commented Nov 9, 2023 at 14:36
  • @PhilipKlöcking Alright.
    – Arz
    Commented Nov 9, 2023 at 20:58
  • Good idea contacting the school. I sent a note to the website I posted too asking if they knew the answer and asking them to update the "Books" section if they can. I really think they just never made it. The lack of ANY ISBN info makes me think that. Between us though I think we will solve this mystery for the Internet. Commented Jul 12 at 1:12

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I found this posting because I've been trying to find this book as well.

Near as I can tell it just was never made. I've been to the website for Peter Koestenbaum (https://peterkoestenbaum.com/) and it's not listed there. I've searched Abebooks, Alibris and Amazon and find nothing there. I can't find any ISBN anywhere.

I also find almost nothing on the Internet in regards to this book.

So I can only conclude that the book was planned and somehow fell through only after they'd printed information about it.

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  • I contacted the department at San Jose State College in March (this is the college mentioned alongside the book title). They replied in April and told me that they asked others in the department and that nobody had a clue. They told me that they tasked one of their student assistants with locating the book and that it may take him or her some time to go through all the books they have. I want to mention that I contacted the people behind Koastenbaum's website. Their reply was that they could not find it. I guess we have to wait for the department at San Jose College!
    – Arz
    Commented Jul 10 at 11:08
  • Maybe you are right. It was planned and never published. But the book's title is in all the editions of the books in the series and especially the last and most recent one in the series (the analytic tradition) and the publishers of the series have not rescinded the title in any of them! Perhaps there are two or more authors that go with the name Peter Koastenbaum. Or maybe the book is unpopular and is now out of print. Or it could be that they tasked another author with executing the book. I do not have an inkling.
    – Arz
    Commented Jul 10 at 11:23
  • This does not really answer the question. If you have a different question, you can ask it by clicking Ask Question. To get notified when this question gets new answers, you can follow this question. Once you have enough reputation, you can also add a bounty to draw more attention to this question. - From Review
    – Hokon
    Commented Jul 12 at 14:21

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