I remember when I started reading this book, end of June. I opened the file on my e-book and was immediately sucked into it. The scope of the book, its goal and its questions intrigued and were exactly what I had hoped the book to be. I have read through all the 800 pages, even though my e-reader somehow couldn't manage the file and kept crashing every chapter (after which I had to wait for fifteen minutes for it to respond). With this I mean to illustrate how motivated I was to take in all the wonderful information this book provides.

The Evolution of Modern Metaphysics is an extensive work on the most important metaphysics after Descartes. Moore did his best to find a definition of this hard-to-define discipline of philosophy and came up with the following, smart definition: 'The most general attempt to make sense of things.' As simple as this definition sounds, it is quite ingenious and enough to be able to tell a story in which all the great philosophers can have their share.

And what a story it is. Metaphysics is getting to the essence of things, starting often with what it is we can know. It needs also to be self-conscious in order to reach this, that is, it needs to explain why it can explain what we can explain (excuse if you feel dizzy after reading that sentence). Moore highlights this and shows us the recurrent theme of transcendent idealism (as propagated by Kant). Moore uses themes like these smartly to present the history of metaphysics as a story of evolution. Arguments get twisted around, problems get resolved and by studying what has been, one can understand why philosophers stress certain points that they make.

I would also like to applaud the honesty with which Moore works. Every commentary is subjective, and Moore is explicitly clear on where his opinion is involved, and where those of other critics. He leaves room for both analytic and continental philosophers, without picking a side. This is not common in philosophy, where arguments often get presented as if they were neutral (but the selection of arguments is often a tool of a writer to propagate his own view).

This book has broadened my view on metaphysics. It has given me a deeper insight into the reasons of certain philosophers for developing their theories in the way that they have developed them. It is a book that gives food for thought, does not avoid criticism of the great minds of the past and ends in the most climatic way. It ends with a call to view metaphysics as a humanistic discipline: a discipline that can give us guidance for our most important questions. I couldn't agree more. ( )