If you want to get a good sense of what modern philosophy (mainly English speaking) philosophy is all about, then you should work through Scruton's "Modern phil

If you want to get a good sense of what modern philosophy (mainly English speaking) philosophy is all about, then you should work through Scruton's "Modern philosophy". For the most part it's a superb introduction - Scruton is profoundly conservative, but his book is extremely useful as a primer. The strength of this book is that it's organized thematically rather than in terms of the "great thinkers" (although Descartes, Kant, and especially Frege - if I recall correctly - come out as the great heroes) If you're interested in taking a historical perspective, Anthony Kenny's new history of philosophy books (in 4 parts) are fantastic, and a much better overview than you'll get from Russell - for all it's idiosyncratic worth. From there you'll be in a position to appreciate both the original texts and other introductions (much of philosophy is getting back to basics, so you'll never be rid of introductions ...)