Volume I of this historically organized introductory text presents philosophy as an ongoing conversation about humankind's deepest and most persistent concerns. The Great Conversation traces the exchange of ideas between history's key philosophers, demonstrating that while constructing anargument or making a claim, one philosopher almost always has others in mind. Volume I covers Hesiod through Descartes (Chapters 1-13); Volume II covers Descartes through Derrida and Quine (Chapters 13-25). It is also available as a single combined text, The Great Conversation: A HistoricalIntroduction to Philosophy.