Conceived originally as a serious presentation ofnbsp;the development of philosophy for Catholic seminary students, Frederick Copleston's nine-volumenbsp;A History Of Philosophy hasnbsp;journeyed far beyond the modest purpose of its author to universal acclaim as the best history ofnbsp;philosophy in English. Copleston, an Oxford Jesuitnbsp;of immense erudition who once tangled with A. J. Ayer in a fabled debate about the existence of Godnbsp;and the possibility of metaphysics, knew thatnbsp;seminary students were fed a woefully inadequate dietnbsp;of theses and proofs, and that their familiaritynbsp;with most of history's great thinkers was reducednbsp;to simplistic caricatures. Copleston set out tonbsp;redress the wrong by writing a complete history ofnbsp;Western philosophy, one crackling with incident andnbsp;intellectual excitement -- and one that gives fullnbsp;place to each thinker, presenting his thought in anbsp;beautifully rounded manner and showing his linksnbsp;to those who went before and to those who camenbsp;after him. The result of Copleston's prodigious labors is a history of philosophy that is unlikely ever to be surpassed. Thought magazine summed up the general agreement among scholars and students alike when it reviewed Copleston's A History of Philosophy as "broad-minded and objective, comprehensive and scholarly, unified and well proportioned... We cannot recommend [it] too highly."