Showing 20 results for subject:"Philosophy / History & Surveys / General"
Nietzsche: The Gay Science
With a Prelude in German Rhymes and an Appendix of Songs
Friedrich Nietzsche
Nietzsche wrote The Gay Science, which he later described as 'perhaps my most personal book', when he was at the height of his intellectual powers, and the reader will find in it an extensive and sophisticated treatment of the philosophical themes and views which were most central to Nietzsche's own thought and which have been most influential on later thinkers. These include the death of God, the problem of nihilism, the role of truth, falsity and the will-to-truth in human life, the doctrine of the eternal recurrence, and the question of the proper attitude to adopt toward human suffering and toward human achievement. This volume presents the work in a new translation by Josefine Nauckhoff, with an introduction by Bernard Williams that elucidates the work's main themes and discusses their continuing philosophical importance.
Anabasis
Xenophon
When they heard these tidings, the generals were sorely distressed; so 4 too were the rest of the Hellenes when they were informed of it. Then Clearchus spoke as follows: "Would that Cyrus were yet alive! But since he is dead, take back this answer to Ariaeus, that we, at any rate, have conquered the king; and, as you yourselves may see, there is not a man left in the field to meet us.
Archaeology of Knowledge
Michel Foucault
Foucault's classic methodological statement.
Necessary Existence
Alexander R. Pruss, Joshua L. Rasmussen
Necessary Existence breaks ground on one of the deepest questions anyone ever asks: why is there anything? Pruss and Rasmussen present an original defence of the hypothesis that there is a necessarily existing being capable of providing an ultimate foundation for the existence of all things.
Think
A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy
Simon Blackburn
What am I? What is consciousness? What is the difference between past and future? Does the world presuppose a creator? Do we always act out of self-interest? This is a book about the big questions in life: knowledge, consciousness, fate, God, truth, goodness, justice. It is for anyone who believes there are big questions out there, but does not know how to approach them. Written by the author of the bestselling Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, Think sets out to explain what they are and why they are important. Simon Blackburn begins by putting forward a convincing case for the study of philosophy and goes on to give the reader a sense of how the great historical figures such as Plato, Hume, Kant, and Descartes have approached its central themes. Each chapter explains a major issue, and gives the reader a self-contained guide through the problems that philosophers have studied. The large range of topics covered range from scepticism, the self, mind and body, and freedom to ethics and the arguments surrounding the existence of God. Written in a lively and approachable manner, this book is ideal for all those who want to learn how the basic techniques of thinking shape our existence.
The Theory of Moral Sentiments
Adam Smith
To those who know Adam Smith principally by his classic treatise on economics, The Wealth of Nations, this earlier work may come as a revelation. Smith is often misrepresented in the public imagination as a cold, calculating rationalist espousing the pursuit of self-interest in the marketplace of laissez-faire capitalism, regardless of the human cost. This grossly inaccurate portrait may go back to Karl Marx, who seems not to have read Smith's work very carefully and thus criticized him as an unfeeling advocate of a system that exploited and alienated workers. The Theory of Moral Sentiments, however, clearly demonstrates that besides mundane economic pursuits, Smith was just as interested, if not more so, in the capacity of people to bestow and to esteem benevolence, and to strive for virtue even while they are pursuing their own self-interest. The root of our motivation to act benevolently toward others, says Smith, is our natural propensity to sympathize with others. By the same token, our need to have others sympathize with us fuels our desire to be esteemed by others for our benevolence and generally virtuous character. But beyond the need for social approbation, we also have a genuine desire to live according to the dictates of conscience (called by Smith the "Impartial Spectator"). This is our highest impulse and leads us continually to strive for excellence in all spheres of life quite apart from any recognition or encouragement from others. It may be prudent in our economic life to follow our self-interest to secure the basic necessities, but this is only the first stage of personal development toward the much higher goal of living a morally virtuous life. Although The Theory of Moral Sentiments is not well known today, it was widely read and highly praised by the leading intellectuals of the day including David Hume and Edmund Burke. The book went through six different editions between 1759 and 1790 and was also translated into French by the widow of Condorcet. To gain a complete picture of Adam Smith and his ideas, every reader of The Wealth of Nations should also become familiar with his classic treatment of ethics.
Ecce Homo
How To Become What You Are
Friedrich Nietzsche
Ecce Homo is an autobiography like no other. Nietzsche passes under review all his previous books and reaches a final reckoning with his many enemies. Ecce Homo is the summation of an extraordinary philosophical career.
How to Think about the Great Ideas
From the Great Books of Western Civilization
Mortimer Jerome Adler
Drawing on his extensive knowledge of Western literature, philosophy, and history, Adler considers what is meant by democracy, law, emotion, language, truth, and other abstract concepts in light of more than two millennia of Western civilization. 15 photos.
The Affirmation of Life
Nietzsche on Overcoming Nihilism
Bernard Reginster
While most recent studies of Nietzsche's works have lost sight of the fundamental question of the meaning of a life characterized by inescapable suffering, Bernard Reginster's book The Affirmation of Life brings it sharply into focus. Reginster identifies overcoming nihilism as a central objective of Nietzsche's philosophical project, and shows how this concern systematically animates all of his main ideas.
Enlightenment Contested
Philosophy, Modernity, and the Emancipation of Man 1670-1752
Jonathan I. Israel
This is a managerial survey and reinterpretation of the Enlightenment. The text offers an assessment of the nature and development of the important currents in philosophical thinking arguing that supposed national enlightenments are of less significance than the rift between conservative and radical thought.
Sophie's World
Jostein Gaarder
'A simply wonderful, irresistible book' Daily Telegraph 'Terrifically entertaining and imaginative' Daily Mail 'An extraordinary achievement' Sunday Times Sophie's World introduces us to fourteen-year-old Sophie: a Norwegian highschooler who receives mysterious letters addressed to another girl, asking big questions. But who is the other girl? And who, for that matter, is Sophie herself? To solve the riddle, Sophie embarks on on a fantastic philosophical saga, and as the book hurtles through several millennia of philosophy - raising profound questions about the meaning of life and the origin of the universe - the dimensions of Sophie's world grow ever wider. An addictive blend of mystery, fantasy and philosophy, Sophie's World is an international phenomenon which has been translated into sixty languages and sold more than forty million copies worldwide.
Continental Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction
Simon Critchley
Critchley discusses the ideas and approaches of philosophers such as Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche, and Husserl, and introduces key concepts such as existentialism, nihilism, and phenomenology by explaining their place in the continental tradition.
Between Past and Future
Hannah Arendt
From the author of Eichmann in Jerusalem and The Origins of Totalitarianism, “a book to think with through the political impasses and cultural confusions of our day” (Harper’s Magazine) Hannah Arendt’s insightful observations of the modern world, based on a profound knowledge of the past, constitute an impassioned contribution to political philosophy. In Between Past and Future Arendt describes the perplexing crises modern society faces as a result of the loss of meaning of the traditional key words of politics: justice, reason, responsibility, virtue, and glory. Through a series of eight exercises, she shows how we can redistill the vital essence of these concepts and use them to regain a frame of reference for the future. To participate in these exercises is to associate, in action, with one of the most original and fruitful minds of the twentieth century.
Three Discourses on Imagined Occasions
S©ıren Kierkegaard
Three Discourses on Imagined Occasions was among seven signed works by Kierkegaard, each published concurrently with one of his seven pseudonymous works - in this case, with Stages on Life's Way. The two volumes not only have a chronological relation but distinctively treat some common themes. It is quite possible, the editors suggest, that Kierkegaard worked alternatively on the two manuscripts: on Stages at his ordinary desk and on Discourses on Imagined Occasions at his high desk. The first of the three discourses, "On the Occasion of a Confession", centers on stillness, wonder, and the ultimate object of a human being's seeking - in contrast to the speechmaking on erotic love in "'In Vino Veritas, '" part one of Stages. The second discourse, "On the Occasion of a Wedding", complements the second part of Stages in which Judge William delivers a panegyric on marriage. The third discourse, "At a Graveside", sharpens the ethical and religious earnestness implicit in Quidam's "A Story of Suffering", in the third part of the other work.
Indian Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction
Sue Hamilton
On the schools of Indian philosophy
The Point of View
Søren Kierkegaard
As a spiritual autobiography, Kierkegaard's The Point of View for My Work as an Author stands among such great works as Augustine's Confessions and Newman's Apologia pro Vita Sua. Yet Point of View is neither a confession nor a defense; it is an author's story of a lifetime of writing, his understanding of the maze of greatly varied works that make up his oeuvre. Upon the imminent publication of the second edition of Either/Or, Kierkegaard again intended to cease writing. Now was the time for a direct "report to history" on the authorship as a whole. In addition to Point of View, which was published posthumously, the present volume also contains On My Work as an Author, a contemporary substitute, and the companion piece Armed Neutrality.
John Locke
Writings on Religion
John Locke
John Locke: Writings on Religion brings together for the first time a broad selection of John Locke's writings on religion and theology, some of which have never been published before. Locke was a founder and shaper of modern thought and society, and his principal works are among the most influential ever written. Much that he wrote is either about religion or touches on it, which is not surprising, for he lived and worked during a time of heightened religious sensibility. Subjects that today would be considered to have little or no bearing on religion were viewed by him and his contemporaries within a theological frame: the nature of knowledge and belief, the origin of ideas, the nature of language, metaphysical questions concerning substance, personal identity, the relation of mind and body, the foundation of morality, the origin of civil society, toleration. A right understanding of Locke requires that all of his opinions be viewed within this religious frame. Read together, and in context, these writings illustrate the deep and pervasive religious motivation in Locke's thought. They are key texts in intellectual history.
On Abstinence from Killing Animals
Porphyry
"There are no Neoplatonist commentaries on Aristotle's Ethics from the period AD 250-600. Thus, although this work is not a commentary on Aristotle, it fills a gap in this series by going to the heart of ethical debates among Neoplatonists around AD 300, and revealing one ascetic Neoplatonist's view of the ideal way of life. It also records rival positions taken on the treatment of animals by Greek philosophers over the previous six hundred years."--BOOK JACKET.
An Introduction to Feminist Philosophy
Alison Stone
This is the first book to offer a systematic account of feminist philosophy as a distinctive field of philosophy. The book introduces key issues and debates in feminist philosophy including: the nature of sex, gender, and the body; the relation between gender, sexuality, and sexual difference; whether there is anything that all women have in common; and the nature of birth and its centrality to human existence. An Introduction to Feminist Philosophy shows how feminist thinking on these and related topics has developed since the 1960s. The book also explains how feminist philosophy relates to the many forms of feminist politics. The book provides clear, succinct and readable accounts of key feminist thinkers including de Beauvoir, Butler, Gilligan, Irigaray, and MacKinnon. The book also introduces other thinkers who have influenced feminist philosophy including Arendt, Foucault, Freud, and Lacan. Accessible in approach, this book is ideal for students and researchers interested in feminist philosophy, feminist theory, women's studies, and political theory. It will also appeal to the general reader.