Emphasizes the importance of a focused study of past - especially Ancient - philosophy for an understanding of contemporary philosophy.

Does philosophy have a timeless essence? Are the writings that have come down to us over the centuries from philosophers of genius mere souvenirs from a bygone era? Or are their thoughts still eminently worth examining with care? Modern Challenges to Past Philosophy argues pondering past philosophy with modern problems in mind is worth the effort, even though earlier works are uninformed by modern science and lack some of tools of modern analysis. The great texts defamiliarize our world and offer solutions to crucial questions often forgotten as we fixate on current philosophical trends. Modern Challenges is no appeal to a return to a golden past but a study designed to show how and why understanding earlier works of some of the most penetrating minds ever to ponder eternally valid questions can contribute to a renewal of our own culture.

"Sullivan and Panier argue convincingly that philosophers of the past are our partners. The gems of the philosophical past are not just historical relics, but can help us in our own search for answers to philosophical questions. This book will make you want to read more history!" - Linda T. Zagzebski, George Lynn Cross Research Professor and Kingfisher Chair of the Philosophy of Religion and Ethics, University of Oklahoma, USA

"Some philosophers (e.g., Kant, Wittgenstein) defend various philosophical positions, but argue that past philosophy is largely irrelevant to what they are doing. This book looks at a number of these positions and makes the case against the deniers that much of past philosophy is, after all, relevant to these discussions […] It could be background reading for any course, such as one on Wittgenstein, wherein the subject has arrogantly dismissed philosophy’s past. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-level undergraduates and graduate students." - CHOICE