The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant
Published 1926 · 180,000 words · about 15 hours at an average pace · Essays & Criticism
How hard is The Story of Philosophy to read?
The Story of Philosophy scores 38 out of 100 for difficulty on ReadingRate, making it moderately challenging. The score is a weighted composite of nine measures: four of how hard the prose is to parse, five of how hard the meaning is to extract.
- Vocabulary: 50 out of 100
- Durant writes explicitly for general readers, keeping technical vocabulary minimal.
- Sentence structure: 45 out of 100
- Abstraction: 65 out of 100
- Abstract ideas are handled but always anchored to biographical narrative.
- Information density: 68 out of 100
- Broad coverage keeps the pace brisk, though no single idea receives exhaustive treatment.
- Narrative indirection: 12 out of 100
- Durant addresses the reader directly and moves chronologically.
- Symbolic density: 100 out of 100
- Explanatory rather than figurative prose throughout.
- Ironic distance: 14 out of 100
- Occasional wry commentary but generally earnest in advocacy for philosophy.
- Resolution withholding: 100 out of 100
- Durant provides clear assessments of each thinker's contribution.
- Structural complexity: 30 out of 100
- Straightforward chronological arrangement by philosopher.
How The Story of Philosophy is regarded
The Story of Philosophy holds a literary regard score of 65 out of 100, weighing its place in the canon, its critical reception, its influence on other writers, and the standing of its author. Regard is measured separately from difficulty: a demanding book is not necessarily an admired one.