Philosophy: metaphysics and ontology Books

Book SynopsisA guide to the complex subject of ethics explained in clear and entertaining language. This new edition is fully revised and updated.This popular introduction to the subject of ethics poses vital contemporary questions and explores the approach of leading thinkers.The authors take the reader, step by step, through the complex arguments on issues such as animal an human rights, environmental ethics and the morality of war.It is a great gift to be able to make philosophy accessible to the general reader. This is a wonderfully clear introduction both to moral philosophy and to contemporary ethical concerns.'David Atkinson, Church Times

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Book SynopsisIt is often claimed that Einstein''s magnum opus---his 1915 theory of General Relativity---is distinguished from other theories of space and time in virtue of its background independence. It''s also often claimed that background independence is an essential feature of any quantum theory of gravity. But are these claims true? This book aspires to offer definitive answers to both of these questions, by (a) charting the space of possible definitions of background independence, and (b) applying said definitions to various classical and quantum theories of gravity. The outcome, in brief, is as follows: General Relativity is not unique by virtue of its background independence (and, indeed, fails to be background independent on some popular definitions); moreover, the situation in the case of quantum theories of gravity is delicate, because (i) there are viable such theories which (by some accounts, at least) fail to be background independent, but also (ii) theories (e.g. perturbative string Table of Contents1: Introduction 2: Models and Gauge 3: Classical Background Independence 4: Classical Theories of Spacetime 5: Quantum Theories of Spacetime 6: Conclusions

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Book SynopsisAn exemplary collection of work from one of the world’s leading scholars of intellectual historyTrade Review“It is precisely Földényi’s approachable style, as well as Ottilie Mulzet’s impeccable translation, that makes this collection easily accessible to scholars and casual readers alike.”—Barbara Halla, Asymptote“Földényi’s brilliant essay on Dostoyevsky reading Hegel is an essential meditation on history, civic responsibility and our ongoing responsibility towards others.”—Alberto Manguel, author of A History of Reading“It is a hallucinatory moment: Dostoyevsky, first condemned to death, then sent as a soldier to the endless emptiness of Siberia, where he reads Hegel’s thoughts about the abstract building of History, a building in which neither Siberia nor Africa can have a place, an unsentimental construction made of glass, with its holy ending the Weltgeist, in which all the personal suffering of mankind has disappeared. Laszlo Földenyi has written about this in such a way that you can feel the sacred shudder with him.”—Cees Nooteboom

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Book SynopsisImaginative cases, or what might be called puzzles and other thought experiments, play a central role in philosophy of mind. The real world also furnishes philosophers with an ample supply of such puzzles.This volume collects 50 of the most important historical and contemporary cases in philosophy of mind and describes their significance. The authors divide them into five sections: consciousness and dualism; physicalist theories and the metaphysics of mind; content, intentionality, and representation; perception, imagination, and attention; and persons, personal identity, and the self. Each chapter provides background, describes a central case or cases, discusses the relevant literature, and suggests further readings. Philosophy of Mind: 50 Puzzles, Paradoxes, and Thought Experiments promises to be a useful teaching tool as well as a handy resource for anyone interested in the area.Key Features:Offers stand-alone chapters, each presented in anTable of ContentsPart I: Consciousness and DualismPart II: Physicalist Theories and the Metaphysics of MindPart III: Content, Intentionality, and RepresentationPart IV: Perception, Imagination, and AttentionPart V: Persons, Personal Identity, and the Self

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Book SynopsisSelected as one of The Tablet's Books of the Year 2021Throughout history, different civilisations have given rise to many alternative worlds. Each of them was the enactment of a unique story about the structure of reality, the rhythm of time and the range of what it is possible to think and to do in the course of a life. Cosmological stories, however, are fragile things. As soon as they lose their ring of truth and their significance for living, the worlds that they brought into existence disintegrate. New and alien worlds emerge from their ruins.Federico Campagna explores the twilight of our contemporary notion of reality, and the fading of the cosmological story that belonged to the civilisation of Westernised Modernity. How are we to face the challenge of leaving a fertile cultural legacy to those who will come after the end of our future? How can we help the creation of new worlds out of the ruins of our own?Trade ReviewIt sets a new tone - but this tone is immediately recognizable as belonging to our time. * Boris Groys, Professor of Russian and Slavic Studies, New York University, USA *A brilliant meditation on the planetary debacle of Westernized Modernity and a radical evocation of the spiritual and imaginative realities that may just possibly lie beyond the ruins of our future. A lucid and urgent work. * Jonathan Crary, Meyer Schapiro Professor of Modern Art and Theory, Columbia University, USA *It’s not enough to realize that the world is ending; we need to learn how to dream up new ones. Federico Campagna’s Prophetic Culture— a worthy successor to his Technic and Magic— offers an eloquent, evocative and visionary map for drafting the cosmos to come. * John Tresch, Mellon Professor in History of Art, Science, and Folk Practice, The Warburg Institute, UK *A world does not simply exist from a human point of view. It needs to be maintained and even entertained by means of song and story. But how to perform this maintenance, or housekeeping if time and space break down, if the present becomes unpredictable, the past keeps changing, the future is past and the “house” as such becomes precarious, unstable and unavailable? Despite its wealth of historical references to prophetism and gnostic traditions Federico Campagna's book is in my view an intriguing experiment of how to turn something as mundane and pedestrian as housekeeping into a necessary tool of remaking the world, to turn housekeeping into world making so to speak. * Hito Steyerl, Filmmaker and writer *This is a visionary book, highly original in conception. It offers an eloquent series of meditations on the forms of cultural and political possibility embedded within Judaeo-Christian mysticism, and addresses the prevailing sense of cultural crisis with confidence. Like Giorgio Agamben, Federico Campagna is an eclectic thinker with an internally coherent and urgent message for our time. * Malcolm Bull, Professor of Art and the History of Ideas, Christ Church College, Oxford *Campagna has written the score for a piece that allows its own end. It dies within and in its death gives us life in form of a humble prayer. A prayer whose words we have forgotten long ago but whose rhythm we still sing to ourselves. * Nicolas Jaar, Composer *Something has ended. What comes next is still unclear. At a time when extrapolative futures designed for navigating more stable realities are proving inadequate, Prophetic Culture offers a possible angle of approach, through a new kind of worlding, for the hazy, futureless reality fast approaching from over the imaginative horizon. * Anthony Dunne, Professor of Design and Social Inquiry, The New School, USA *We are on the bridge between worlds: Federico Campagna shows us how we might remake the cartographies of the next. The ‘end of the world’, as seen through the prophetic attitude, becomes not apocalypse, but apocatastasis: a joyful restoration. Campagna offers the cosmic trip for our collective transformation, inadvertently becoming a prophet for our time. Prophetic Culture is the foundational book for the day after tomorrow. * Sarah Shin and Ben Vickers, Ignota Books *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Chapter 1: Time - Prologue: Jons the Squire - A Great Future Behind You - The Afterlife of Civilisations - Westernised Modernity Chapter 2: Otherworlds - Prologue: Anamorphosis - Aesthetics and Annihilation - A Chance to Lie - Archaic Adolescents - Tetrapharmakon Chapter 3: Prophetic Culture - Prologue: The Enigma - Stuttering - The Grotesque - The Prophet as a Position - Apocatastasis - A Memory of Having Forgotten - Prophecy as Therapy of Worlding Cosmography - 0 / 15 – Scheintür - 1 – The Island of Facts o 14 – Consciousness - 2 – Mundus Imaginalis - 3 – The World o 13 – Angel - 4 – The Point-Island of the Ineffable - 5 – The Dream o 12 – God - 6 – The Sleeping Gods - 7 – Being o 11 – Grammar - 8 – Non-Being o 10 – Death - 9 – Non-relationality Afterword: Sensuous Prophecy, by Franco Berardi ‘Bifo’ Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis book is a multi-faceted exploration and critique of the human condition as it is presently manifested. It addresses science and philosophy, explores the underlying nature of reality, the state of our society and culture, the influence of the mainstream media, the nature of free will and a number of other topics. Each of these examinations contributes an angle to an emerging idea gestalt that challenges present mainstream views and behaviors and offers a sane alternative. The book is organized as a series of short and self-contained essays, most of which can be read in under one hour.

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Book SynopsisPanpsychism is the philosophical view that consciousness, mentality, or ''mindedness'' in some form is fundamental in the universe. The idea has existed for centuries, but only recently has it had a serious resurgence.Galen Strawson has been on the front line of the battlefield on the topic of panpsychism since the 1990s. His paper on realistic monism', contained in this volume and originally published in 2006, is now considered something of a classic and a catalyst for panpsychism's recent revival.This long overdue new edition of the book gives the original commentators, where they feel they have something more to add, an opportunity to update their thinking on the topic of panpsychism in general and Strawson's realistic monism in particular. Seven new postscripts are included, which aim to enhance the original collection and push the discussion onwards. Eighteen years have passed since the first edition of this groundbreaking volume, and Strawson remains a distinctiv

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Book SynopsisIllusionism is the view that phenomenal consciousness (in the philosophers'' sense) is an introspective illusion that introspection misrepresents experiences as having phenomenal properties. This view has many theoretical attractions, but it is often dismissed out of hand for failing to take consciousness seriously. The aim of this volume is to present the case for illusionism, discuss objections to it, and stimulate debate about this important but relatively neglected position. The book, which is a reprint of a special issue of the Journal of Consciousness Studies, takes the form of a target paper by the editor, followed by commentaries from various thinkers, including leading defenders of illusionism, such as Daniel Dennett, Nicholas Humphrey, Derk Pereboom, and Georges Rey. A number of disciplines are represented, and there are commentaries from critics of illusionism as well as supporters. The collection is tied together with a response to the commentators from the editor.

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Book SynopsisA young theoretical physicist''s guide to how the radical new science of counterfactuals can reveal the full scope of our universeThere is a vast class of properties that science has so far almost entirely neglected. These properties are central to an understanding of physical reality both at an everyday level and at the level of fundamental phenomena, yet they have traditionally been thought of as impossible to incorporate into fundamental explanations. They relate not only to what is true - the actual - but to what could be true - the counterfactual. This is the science of can and can''t.Chiara Marletto, a pioneer in this field, explores the promise that this fascinating, far-reaching approach holds not only for revolutionizing how fundamental physics is formulated, but also for confronting existing technological challenges, from delivering the next generation of information-processing devices to designing AI. In each chapter, Marletto sets out how counterfactuals can solve a vexed open problem in science, and demonstrates that by contemplating the possible as well as the actual, we can break down barriers to knowledge and form a more complete and fruitful picture of the universe.''Clear, sharp and imaginative... The Science of Can and Can''t will open the doors to a dazzling set of concepts and ideas that will change deeply the way you look at the world'' David Deutsch, bestselling author of The Beginning of InfinityTrade ReviewChiara Marletto is trying to build a master theory - a set of ideas so fundamental that all other theories would spring from it. Her first step: Invoke the impossible * Quanta Magazine *A wonderful book, which has taught me new ways of thinking and expanded my mind. It's extremely beautifully written, full of wonder and passion and humour and energy -- Hermione LeeClear, sharp and imaginative... The Science of Can and Can't will open the doors to a dazzling set of concepts and ideas that will change deeply the way you look at the world -- David Deutsch, author of The Beginning of InfinityI enjoyed this book very much, not least because of the freshness of its approach to a subject that can easily become hard for the non-scientific mind to grasp. The theory of 'can and can't' is an intriguing way of describing problems that are not only scientific (it describes very well what a storyteller does, for instance), and Marletto's account of some things I thought I more or less understood (the nature of digital information, for one) illuminated them from an angle that showed them more clearly than I'd seen them before. -- Philip PullmanA revolutionary recasting of physics... [It] re-enchants the world and enriches our place in it. * New Scientist *Hugely ambitious, Chiara Marletto is the herald for a revolutionary new direction for physics. This book is essential reading for anyone concerned with the future of physics -- Professor Lee Smolin, author of Time RebornChiara Marletto writes well about deep issues. I particularly like her suggestion that the current impasse in attempts to unite gravity and quantum mechanics might be broken if we concentrate on what things the two theories tell us can and can't be done -- Julian Barbour, author of The Janus Point[Marletto] calls for physics to move beyond its dependence on such conditions and rules as Newton's laws of motion, argues that the "traditional conception" of physics is limiting, and urges that counterfactuals offer a more complete picture of the physical world. Marletto leads a whirlwind tour of such scientific concepts as motion and the possibility of a perpetual motion machine; thermodynamics and "the theory of the universal constructor"; and quantum computing and the possibility of a universal quantum computer that uses "all of quantum theory" * Publishers Weekly *Novel and interesting -- Priyamvada Natarajan * Wall Street Journal *

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Book SynopsisPeter Adamson presents an engaging and wide-ranging introduction to two great intellectual cultures: Byzantium and the Italian Renaissance. First he tells the story of philosophy in the Eastern Christian world, from the 8th century to the 15th century, then he explores the rebirth of philosophy in Italy in the era of Machiavelli and Galileo.Trade ReviewEach brief chapter immediately captures the interest of the reader in a way that is entertaining, informative, and a genuine pleasure to read. Excellent notes and bibliography of further reading. * P. A. Streveler, CHOICE *The understanding that philosophy is a purely rational endeavor is a form of presentism that arises out ofmodern rationalism and, more generally... we should be grateful to Adamson for addressing the issue and for providing students of Byzantine and Renaissance philosophy with an accessible overview of the respective material. * Speculum 98/4 *Table of ContentsPreface Philosophy in Byzantium 1: The Empire Strikes Back: Introduction to Byzantine Philosophy 2: On the Eastern Front: Philosophy in Syriac and Armenian 3: Don't Picture This: Iconoclasm 4: Behind Enemy Lines: John of Damascus 5: Collectors' Items: Photius and Byzantine Compilations 6: Consul of the Philosophers: Michael Psellos 7: Hooked on Classics: Italos and the Debate over Pagan Learning 8: Purple Prose: Byzantine Political Philosophy 9: Elements of Style: Rhetoric in Byzantium 10: Past Masters: Byzantine Historiography 11: Queen of the Sciences: Anna Komnene and her Circle 12: Wiser than Men: Gender in Byzantium 13: Just Measures: Law, Money, and War in Byzantium 14: Made by Hand: Byzantine Manuscripts 15: Georgia on My Mind: Petritsi and the Proclus Revival 16: People of the South: Byzantium and Islam 17: Do the Math: Science in the Palaiologan Renaissance 18: Through His Works You Shall Know Him: Palamas and Hesychasm 19: United We Fall: Latin Philosophy in Byzantium 20: Platonic Love: Gemistos Plethon 21: Istanbul (not Constantinople): the Later Orthodox Tradition The Italian Renaissance 22: Old News: Introduction to the Renaissance 23: Greeks Bearing Gifts: Byzantine Scholars in Italy 24: Republic of Letters: Italian Humanism 25: Literary Criticism: Lorenzo Valla 26: Difficult to be Good: Humanist Ethics 27: Chance Encounters: Reviving Hellenistic philosophy 28: We Built This City: Christine de Pizan 29: More Rare Than the Phoenix: Italian Women Humanists 30: All About Eve: the Defense of Women 31: I'd Like to Thank the Academy: Florentine Platonism 32: Footnotes to Plato: Marsilio Ficino 33: True Romance: Theories of Love 34: As Far as East from West: Jewish Philosophy in Renaissance Italy 35: The Count of Concord: Pico della Mirandola 36: What a Piece of Work is Man: Manetti and Pico on Human Nature 37: Bonfire of the Vanities: Savonarola 38: The Sweet Restraints of Liberty: Republicanism and Civic Humanism 39: No More Mr Nice Guy: Machiavelli 40: Sense of Humors: Machiavelli on Republicanism 41: The Teacher of Our Actions: Renaissance Historiography 42: No Place Like Home: Renaissance Utopias 43: Greed is Good: Renaissance Economics 44: Town and Gown: Italian Universities 45: I'd Like to Thank the Lyceum: Aristotle in Renaissance Italy 46: Of Two Minds: Pomponazzi and Nifo on the Intellect 47: There and Back Again: Zabarella on Scientific Method 48: The Measure of All Things: Mathematics and Art 49: Just What the Doctor Ordered: Renaissance Medicine 50: Man of Discoveries: Girolamo Cardano 51: Spirits in the Material World: Telesio and Campanella on Nature 52: The Men Who Saw Tomorrow: Renaissance Magic and Astrology 53: Boundless Enthusiasm: Giordano Bruno 54: The Harder They Fall: Galileo and the Renaissance

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Book SynopsisThis short book engages the myriad dimensions of Night, through ancient rituals, medieval storytelling, modern philosophy, and futuristic images, in order to explore the human experience of the after-dark. It thereby tracks Night through the prisms of its most fascinating practitioners: namely, those who keep strange hours and navigate the various potentialities of nocturnal experience (both of terror and enchantment). The Thief’s Night; The Runaway’s Night; The Drunkard’s Night; The Insomniac’s Night; The Revolutionary’s Night; The Lunatic’s Night; The Sorcerer’s Night. Undoubtedly, each of these conceptual figures provides a unique gateway into understanding the powerful sensorial effects of evening, as well as its vast connections to larger questions of time, space, fear, nothingness, desire, death, forgetting, vision, secrecy, criminality, monstrosity, and the body.

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Book SynopsisMany philosophers and scientists over the course of history have held that the world is alive. It has a soul, which governs it and binds it together. This suggestion, once so wide-spread, may strike many of us today as strange and antiquated--in fact, there are few other concepts that, on their face, so capture the sheer distance between us and our philosophical inheritance. But the idea of a world soul has held so strong a grip upon philosophers'' imaginations for over 2,000 years, that it continues to underpin and even structure how we conceive of time and space. The concept of the world soul is difficult to understand in large part because over the course of history it has been invoked to very different ends and within the frameworks of very different ontologies and philosophical systems, with varying concepts of the world soul emerging as a result. This volume brings together eleven chapters by leading philosophers in their respective fields that collectively explore the various waTable of ContentsIntroduction, James Wilberding Chapter 1: The World Soul in the Platonic Tradition, James Wilberding Chapter 2: The Stoic World Soul and the Theory of Seminal Principles, Ricardo Salles Reflection: The World Soul and Harmony, Lisa Taub Chapter 3: 'The Universe is an Animal': The World Soul in Medieval Philosophy, Peter Adamson Chapter 4: The 'World Soul' in India: Complex Causality and Artful Emergence in 'Sakti' Vedanta, Jessica Frazier Chapter 5: Glimmers of the World Soul in Kabbalah, Jeremy P. Brown Chapter 6: The World Soul in the Renaissance, Hiro Hirai Reflection: The World Soul and Spontaneous Generation, Gideon Manning and James Wilberding Chapter 7: The World Soul in Early Modern Philosophy, Alison Peterman Reflection: The World Soul in Henry Purcell's setting of 'Hail, bright Cecilia,' Bryan White Chapter 8: The Miracle and Mystery of Nature: Romantic Searches for the World Soul, Elizabeth Millán Brusslan Chapter 9: Nature, Freedom, History: The World Soul in German Idealism, Brady Bowman Reflection: World Soul and Individual Soul in Psychoanalysis, Alexandrine Schniewind Chapter 10: The World Soul in American Transcendentalism, Laura Dassow Walls Reflection: The World Soul and Gaia, J. Baird Callicott Chapter 11. Contemporary Echoes of the World Soul: Quantum Mechanics and Consciousness, Valia Allori

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Book SynopsisSchopenhauer is the most readable of German philosophers. This book gives a succinct explanation of his metaphysical system, concentrating on the original aspects of his thought, which inspired many artists and thinkers including Nietzsche, Wagner, Freud, and Wittgenstein. Schopenhauer''s central notion is that of the will - a blind, irrational force that he uses to interpret both the human mind and the whole of nature. Seeing human behaviour as that of a natural organism governed by the will to life, Schopenhauer developed radical insights concerning the unconscious and sexuality which influenced both psychologists and philosophers.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Trade Reviewan excellent brief introduction to Schopenhauer's thought - well-written, concise, and pitched at just the right level. * Christopher Norris, University of Wales *Table of Contents1. Schopenhauer's life and works ; 2. Within and beyond appearance ; 3. The world as will and representation ; 4. Will, body, and the self ; 5. Character, sex, and the unconscious ; 6. Art and ideas ; 7. Ethics: seeing the world aright ; 8. Existence and pessimism ; 9. Schopenhauer's influence ; Further reading

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Book SynopsisThis thoroughly revised and updated edition of Adrian Bardon''s A Brief History of the Philosophy of Time is a short introduction to the history, philosophy, and science of the study of time--from the pre-Socratic philosophers through Einstein and beyond. Bardon covers subjects such as time and change, the experience of time, physical and metaphysical approaches to the nature of time, the direction of time, time travel, time and freedom of the will, and scientific and philosophical approaches to cosmology and the beginning of time. He employs helpful illustrations and keeps technical language to a minimum in bringing the resources of over 2500 years of philosophy and science to bear on some of humanity''s most fundamental and enduring questions.

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Book SynopsisVery Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring T.W. Adorno (1903-69) was a German philosopher and social and cultural theorist. His work has come to be seen as increasingly relevant to understanding the pathologies of contemporary society evident in today''s climate emergency, the financial crash, the reappearance of fascism in many countries, and the growing instability of the world order. This Very Short Introduction covers Adorno''s work and life, explaining his key philosophical concepts and the philosophical background and historical context of Adorno''s thinking. Andrew Bowie shows how Adorno''s exploration of why human reason can have irrational consequences led him to rethink basic concepts like ''nature'', ''history'', and ''freedom'', offering alternatives to many ways of thinking about these concepts in contemporary philosophy. The book also examines Adorno''s social theory, as well as his highly critical assessments of jazz and modern culture, which he considered threatened by the effects of modern capitalism.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Table of Contents1: Life and times 2: The modern subject 3: Nature and history 4: History and freedom 5: The culture industry 6: Society 7: Art and philosophy 8: Doing justice to things References Further reading Index

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Book SynopsisCausation is the most fundamental connection in the universe. Without it, there would be no science or technology. There would be no moral responsibility either, as none of our thoughts would be connected with our actions and none of our actions with any consequences. Nor would we have a system of law because blame resides only in someone having caused injury or damage. Any intervention we make in the world around us is premised on there being causal connections that are, to a degree, predictable. It is causation that is at the basis of prediction and also explanation. This Very Short Introduction introduces the key theories of causation and also the surrounding debates and controversies. Do causes produce their effects by guaranteeing them? Do causes have to precede their effects? Can causation be reduced to the forces of physics? And are we right to think of causation as one single thing at all?ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press containTable of ContentsIntroduction: why causation? ; 1. The problem, or: what's the matter with causation? ; 2. Regularity, or: causation without connection? ; 3. Time and space, or: do causes occur before their effects? ; 4. Necessity, or: do causes guarantee their effects? ; 5. Counterfactual dependence, or: do causes make a difference? ; 6. Physicalism, or: is it all transference? ; 7. Pluralism, or: is causation many different things? ; 8. Primitivism, or: is causation the most basic thing? ; 9. Dispositionalism, or: what tends to be? ; 10. Finding causes, or: where are they? ; A very short afterword ; Further reading ; Index

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Book SynopsisWhat is the nature of friendship, and what is its significance in our lives? The author tracks historical ideas of friendship, gathers a diversity of friendship stories from the annals of myth and literature, and provides unexpected insights into our friends, ourselves, and the role of friendships in an ethical life.Trade Review'An intelligent, loving tribute to the virtues, values and varieties of friendship.'—Iain Finlayson, The Times -- Iain Finlayson * The Times *“‘Friend’ is a much devalued word today. . . .In Friendship the noted British scholar A.C. Grayling tries to restore some of the term's richness.” —Micah Mattix, The Wall Street Journal -- Micah Mattix * Wall Street Journal *“A philosophical inquiry into friendship with a historical perspective . . . [offers] some fresh ways of looking at and thinking about a very familiar topic.”—Kirkus Reviews * Kirkus Reviews *"A masterly investigation into one of the supreme, though often neglected, virtues of the well-lived life. A.C. Grayling dazzlingly illuminates the richness of friendship as it has been conceived and practised in the Western world since antiquity."—Simon May, author of Love: A History -- Simon MayPraise for A. C. Grayling:"If there is any such person in Britain today as The Thinking Man, it is A. C. Grayling. He provides generous help for the ethically challenged, the philosophically perplexed, and the culturally confused."—The Times * The Times *'A superb, enlightening tour - and a friendly one – through friendship's literary and philosophical landscape.' - Sarah Bakewell, author of How to Live: Or A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer -- Sarah Bakewell“Precise and rigorous.”–Glenn Altschuler, Psychology Today website -- Glenn Altschuler * Psychology Today *“Wearing his impressive intellect lightly, Grayling offers an accessible exploration of ideas about friendship through the ages, from Ancient Greek thinkers through to the present day – grounded in experiences from his own life. In a refreshing break from the tradition of analytical philosophy, he goes beyond abstract, logical arguments to offer valuable insights for our lives. With social media stretching the definition of ‘friend’ to near meaninglessness, this is a timely and thought-provoking read.”—Juanita Coulson, The Lady -- Juanita Coulson * The Lady *“Grayling’s scholarship goes forward at a gallop, but his exuberance and commitment captures the reader.”—Illtyd Harrington, Camden New Journal -- Illtyd Harrington * Camden New Journal *“Elegant . . . Grayling has taken a subject that is hiding in plain sight and given it the loving attention it deserves.”—Joe Queenan, Barron’s -- Joe Queenan * Barron’s *

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Book SynopsisWhat sort of interaction is there between, for example, slow-moving objects like climate and comparatively fast-moving objects like governments? Using real-world examples, the author shows how a networked concept of space and time is at the heart of our central political concerns.Trade Review'Bryant's ecological focus on the crucial interaction of the corporeal and incorporeal makes his contribution extremely important ... The sturdiest bridge yet built between post-structuralism and the vibrant new research being conducted under the auspices of a return to materialist thought.'--Los Angeles Review of Books

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Book Synopsis Stimulating and often startling discussions between three friends, all highly original thinkers: Rupert Sheldrake, controversial biologist, Terence McKenna , psychedelic visionary, and Ralph Abraham , chaos mathematician. Their passion is to break out of paradigms that retard our evolution and to explore new possibilities. Through challenge and synergy they venture where few have gone before, leading their readers on an exciting journey of discovery. Their discussions focus on the evolution of the mind, the role of psychedelics, skepticism, the psychic powers of animals, the structure of time, the life of the heavens, the nature of God, and transformations of consciousness. “Three fine thinkers take us plunging into the universe of chaos, mind, and spirit. Instead of leaving us lost, they bring us back with startling insights and more wonder than we knew we had.” —Matthew Fox, Original Blessing and Sheer Joy A jam-session of the mind, an intellectual movable feast, an on-going conversation that began over twenty years ago and remains as lively and relevant today as it ever was. Sadly, Terence had to leave the conversation a little earlier than planned. But the appearance of this book of trialogues at this critical, historical juncture is a reaffirmation of the potency of the optimistic vision that the trialogues express. —Dennis McKenna, brother of the late Terence McKenna Rupert Sheldrake is a biologist and author of many books including The Sense of Being Stared At, And Other Aspects of the Extended Mind. Ralph Abraham is a mathematician, one of the pioneers of chaos theory and the author of several books including Chaos, Gaia, Eros: A Chaos Pioneer Uncovers the Three Great Streams of History. The late Terence McKenna was a scholar of shamanism, ethno-botanist, psychedelic researcher and author of many books including Food of the Gods and True Hallucinations.

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Book SynopsisThis book provides a minimal metaphysics for scientific practice, i.e. one that refrains from postulating any structure that is explanatorily irrelevant. Hüttemann analyses central aspects of scientific practice, such as prediction, explanation and manipulation, to consider whether and (if so) what presuppositions best account for these practices.Trade Review'A Minimal Metaphysics for Scientific Practice constitutes a highly original contribution to the burgeoning field of the metaphysics of science. Clear, well-argued and ambitious in scope, it will be required reading for those seeking cutting-edge work on such issues as laws, causation, reductionism and fundamentality.' Travis Dumsday, Concordia University of EdmontonTable of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Laws of nature and their modal surface structure; 2. The problem of ceteris paribus clauses; 3. Causation – conceptual groundwork; 4. Causation – application and augmentation; 5. Reductive practices; 6. Reduction and physical foundationalism; 7. Reduction and ontological monism; 8. Concluding remarks: methods and epistemic sources in metaphysics.

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Book SynopsisWhat is time? Does it pass? Is the future open? Why do we care? Philosophy of Time: The Basics doesn't answer these questions. It does give you an opinionated introduction to thinking a bit more deeply about them. Written in a way that assumes no philosophical background from its readers, this book looks at central topics in philosophy of time and shows how they relate to other time-related topics from theoretical physics (without the maths!) to your own mortality. Additional questions include: In what way is time different to space? How long is the present? Does the Theory of Relativity show time doesn't pass? What makes time have a direction or arrow'? Can you be harmed by your own death? Allowing the reader to think more deeply about time, this book begins to untangle some of the most difficult knots in all of philosophy. It also provides practical advice to prospective time-travelers.

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Book SynopsisDual-Aspect Monism and the Deep Structure of Meaning investigates the metaphysical position of dual-aspect monism, with particular emphasis on the concept of meaning as a fundamental feature of the fabric of reality. As an alternative to other positions mainly dualism, physicalism, idealism that have been proposed to understand consciousness and its place in nature, the decompositional version of dual-aspect monism considers the mental and the physical as two aspects of one underlying undivided reality that is psychophysically neutral. Inspired by analogies with modern physics and driven by its conceptual problems, Wolfgang Pauli, Carl Gustav Jung, Arthur Eddington, John Wheeler, David Bohm, and Basil Hiley are the originators of the approaches studied. A radically novel common theme in their approaches is the constitutive role of meaning and its deep structure, relating the mental and the physical to a psychophysically neutral base.The authors reconstruct the formal struTrade Review"In summary, the present book is well-written and provides a fascinating philosophical alternative to the usual suspects from metaphysics . . . It is recommended to those who feel that the problem of understanding mind and consciousness has something to do with the fundamental nature of reality itself. Its emphasis on the role of meaning in grounding this reality is novel and makes for a refreshing read."Robert Prentner, Journal of Consciousness Studies"The core argument of the book comes across clearly enough, the argument is of great philosophical and cultural importance, and the detailed discussions amply repay study. Also, this book is, to my mind, one of the most illuminating works yet published for understanding the philosophical underpinnings of Jung’s thought and its potential contributions to our current cultural situation."Roderick Main, Journal of Analytical Psychology“We have in this book a remarkable argument for the centrality of meaning in the workings of the world taken as a whole . . . While remaining grounded in careful analysis and a profound grasp of the argument’s scientific, philosophical, and psychological foundations, there is an almost mystical dimension as well . . . Atmanspacher and Rickles challenge analytical psychology and modern physics to a rich dialogue going forward.”George B. Hogenson, International Journal of Jungian StudiesTable of ContentsIntroductionPart 1: Monism and Meaning1. Historical Background to Dual-Aspect Monism2. Varieties of MeaningPart 2: Three Approaches to Dual-Aspect Monism3. Wolfgang Pauli and Carl Gustav Jung4. Arthur Eddington and John Wheeler5. David Bohm and Basil HileyPart 3: Discussion and Perspectives6. Comparative Discussion7. Ideas for Future Research8. Outlook: After Physicalism

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Book SynopsisSimone Weil (1909-1943) was one of the foremost French philosophers of the 20th century; a mystic, activist, and writer whose profound work continues to intrigue and inspire today. Mirror of Obedience collects together Weil''s poetry and autobiographical writings translated into English for the first time. It offers a rare glimpse into a more personal and introspective Weil than we usually encounter. She was writing and re-working her poems until the end of her life and in a letter from London to her parents, dated 22 January 1943, she expressed the wish for her verses to appear together in print in chronological order, a wish which this volume honours.Weil was a thinker who wrote with discipline and spareness and cherished the poetic form for its power to compress language and distill meaning. In these poems and literary writings, we see her own efforts to craft poems as essential expressions of thought, bringing into view another aspect of Weil's quest for beauty and truth.Table of ContentsTranslators’ Biographies Preface Acknowledgements Chapter 1: Simone Weil as Poet Chapter 2: Simone Weil and Literature List of Abbreviations Further Reading Poems À une jeune fille riche / To a Rich Girl Vers lus au Goûter de la Saint Charlemagne / Verses Read at the Feast of Saint Charlemagne Éclair / Lightning Promethée / Prometheus À un jour / To a Day La mer / The Sea Nécessité / Necessity Les astres / The Stars La porte / The Gate Four Excerpts from Venice Saved Jaffier 1-3 Violetta Selected Prose Conte: Les Lutins du feu / Tale: The Fairies of the Fire Le conte des six cygnes dans Grimm / The Tale of the Six Swans in Grimm On the Translation Translators’ Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIsabelle Stengers is Professor of Philosophy at the Free University of Brussels, Belgium. Trained both as a chemist and philosopher, Isabelle Stengers has authored or coauthored more than 25 books and 200 articles on the philosophy of science.April Knutson has a PhD in French and is part-time lecturer in the Masters of Liberal Studies Program at the University of Minnesota, USA. She translated Women Who Make a Fuss, the Unfaithful Daughters of Virginia Woolf by Isabelle Stengers and Vinciane Despret (2014).

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Book SynopsisThoroughly updated, the second edition of this highly successful textbook continues to represent the most comprehensive and authoritative collection of canonical readings in metaphysics. In addition to updated material from the first edition, it presents entirely new sections on ontology and the metaphysics of material objects. One of the most comprehensive and authoritative metaphysics anthologies available now updated and expanded Offers the most important contemporary works on the central issues of metaphysics Includes new sections on ontology and the metaphysics of material objects, as well as readings on the topics of fictionalism, fundamentality, tropes, vague identity, temporary intrinsics, stage theory, and composition Surpasses other anthologies in its combination of contributions from leading metaphysicians and a younger generation of rising-stars Table of ContentsPreface (Jaegwon Kim, Ernest Sosa, Daniel Z. Korman). Part I: Ontology. 1. "On What There Is" (W. V. Quine). 2. "Empiricism, Semantics, and Ontology" (Rudolf Carnap). 3. "Holes" (David and Stephanie Lewis). 4. "Beyond Being and Nonbeing" (Roderick M. Chisholm). 5. "Does Ontology Rest on a Mistake?" (Stephen Yablo). 6. "Fictional Objects" (Amie L. Thomasson). 7. "On What Grounds What" (Jonathan Schaffer). Part II: Identity. 8. "The Identity of Indiscernibles" (Max Black). 9. "Primitive Thisness and Primitive Identity" (Robert M. Adams). 10. "Identity and Necessity" (Saul Kripke). 11. "Contingent Identity" (Allan Gibbard). 12. "Can There Be Vague Objects?" (Gareth Evans). 13. "Vague Identity" (Robert C. Stalnaker). Part III: Modality. 14. "Modalities: Basic Concepts and Distinctions" (Alvin Plantinga). 15. "Actualism and Thisness" (Robert M. Adams). 16. "A Philosopher's Paradise: The Plurality of Worlds" (David Lewis). 17. "Possible Worlds" (Robert C. Stalnaker). 18. "Modal Fictionalism" (Gideon Rosen). 19. "Essence and Modality" (Kit Fine). Part IV: Properties. 20. "Natural Kinds" (W. V. Quine). 21. "Causality and Properties" (Sydney Shoemaker). 22. "The Metaphysic of Abstract Particulars" (Keith Campbell). 23. "New Work for a Theory of Universals" (David Lewis). 24. "Universals as Attributes" (D. M. Armstrong). Part V: Causation. 25. "On the Notion of Cause" (Bertrand Russell). 26. "Causes and Conditions" (J.L. Mackie). 27. "Causal Relations" (Donald Davidson). 28. "Causality and Determination" (G.E.M. Anscombe). 29. "Causation" (David Lewis). 30. "Causal Connections" (Wesley C. Salmon). 31. "Causation: Reductionism Versus Realism" (Michael Tooley). 32. "Two Concepts of Causation" (Ned Hall). Part VI: Persistence. 33. "Identity Through Time" (Roderick M. Chisholm). 34. "Identity, Ostension, and Hypostasis" (W. V. Quine). 35. "Parthood and Identity Across Time" (Judith Jarvis Thomson). 36. "Temporal Parts of Four-Dimensional Objects" (Mark Heller). 37. "The Problem of Temporary Intrinsics" (David Lewis). 38. "Endurance and Temporary Intrinsics" (Sally Haslanger). 39. "All the World's a Stage" (Theodore Sider). Part VII: Persons. 40. "Persons and Their Pasts" (Sydney Shoemaker). 41. "The Self and the Future" (Bernard Williams). 42. "Personal Identity" (Derek Parfit). 43. "Survival and Identity" (David Lewis). 44. "Lonely Souls: Causality and Substance Dualism" (Jaegwon Kim). 45. "The Ontological Status of Persons" (Lynne Rudder Baker). 46. "An Argument for Animalism" (Eric T. Olson). Part VIII: Objects. 47. "When are Objects Parts?" (Peter van Inwagen). 48. "Many But Almost One" (David Lewis). 49. "Existential Relativity" (Ernest Sosa). 50. "The Argument from Vagueness" (Theodore Sider). 51. "Epiphenomenalism and Eliminativism" (Trenton Merricks). 52. "Against Revisionary Ontology" (Eli Hirsch). 53. "Strange Kinds, Familiar Kinds, and the Charge of Arbitrariness" (Daniel Z. Korman).

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Book SynopsisMoving between ancient and modern sources, philosophy and theology, and science and popular culture, Sean McGrath offers a genuinely new reflection on what it means to be human in an era of climate change, mass extinction and geoengineering.

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Book SynopsisThroughout the history of human societies, the question of 'we' has always entailed the question of 'us and them'. Tristan Garcia's looks at the history of how people have imagined themselves in their societies. All in all, this work is a rigorous engagement with the history of humanity's attempts at being collectively.

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Book SynopsisThe triumph of technological rationality and of the sciences as a whole has by no means provided answers to humanity’s great questions. Instead, it has raised new and old questions and problems. To orient ourselves in the twenty-first century, we must take a new look at the central categories of philosophy that, often unbeknownst to us, continue to shape our everyday thinking. Future Metaphysics is an attempt at restating the importance of the great metaphysical categories for the present: how our contemporary predicament forces us both to reclaim them and to give them a radically new twist. Armen Avanessian re-examines and displaces categories like substance and accident, form and matter, life and death, giving them an unexpected twist. What if the idea of accident, for instance, had to take into account the many new kinds of glitches, crashes and crises – from finance to ecology, from technological catastrophes to social collapses – that permeate our culture and make everyday news? Can we keep on using this concept as it was traditionally meant to be used when risk and chance have become part of the very substance of our world, so rendering the distinction between substance and accident meaningless? The other concepts and distinctions require a similar interrogation, giving birth to a new metaphysical landscape, where the most urgent realities of the twenty-first century impinge on the most fundamental categories of thought.

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Book Synopsis• Examines animal intelligences within a greater evolutionary context, detailing in particular the remarkable intelligence of crows and octopuses • Looks at the Australian Aborigine Dreamtime as an attempt to understand the combined geological and geomantic landscape • Investigates a range of ideas as they relate to the intersections of consciousness and reality, including reincarnation, past-life memories, ghosts, and UFOs From the origins of the cosmos to the microbiome, COVID-19 pandemic, UFOs, and the shapeshifting of octopuses and language of crows, Richard Grossinger traverses the mysteries and enigmas that defi ne our universe and personal reality.Beginning his narrative with the Big Bang, origin of the Milky Way, and birth of our solar system, Grossinger o ers a chronology of Earth’s geological, climatological, biological, and sociological evolution, leading to the current environmental and psychospiritual crisis. He explores the origin of cell life, RNA-DNA, and larger biomes, detailing in particular the remarkable intelligence of crows and octopuses. He uses the Australian Aborigine Dreamtime to understand landscapes as thoughtforms. He then o ers reimaginings, from the perspective of “dreamings,” of a wide variety of animals, including tardigrades, llamas, sea turtles, pigeons, bees, and coyotes. Examining the scientifi c dilemmas and paradoxes of consciousness, time, and quantum entanglement, Grossinger carries these into the range of issues around reincarnation, past-life memories, messages from the afterlife, and ghosts. Sharing exercises from his personal practice, Grossinger makes a distinction between the Buddhist description of reality and how Buddhist practitioners create an operating manual for the universe and an assured path of salvation. The author then examines UFOs and their connections to elementals, fairies, and cryptids in terms of psychoids, Jung’s term for transconscious processes that enter our world as autonomous entities. Taking the reader on a journey through the seen and unseen universe, from the Big Bang to the imaginal landscape of Dreamtime, Grossinger shows that matter is infused with spirit from its very beginning.Trade Review“Richard Grossinger’s great gift is his ability to explicitly state what many of us merely feel. This is a magnificent talent and also a rare blessing for humanity.” * Larry Dossey, M.D., author of One Mind and Space, Time, and Medicine *“Grossinger hurls his mastery of esoteric wisdom, a profound understanding of the cosmos, and his exquisite poetic expression at the reader like the bright light of an asteroid whizzing past Earth’s orbit. A breathtaking read!” * Patricia Cori, author, screenwriter, and former host of Beyond the Matrix *“We live in a wild cosmos, a multidimensional multiverse teeming with all sorts of intelligences and mysteries. Dreamtimes and Thoughtforms is an invitation into a bigger cosmological story that makes room for all the beauty and paradox we are enveloped in by (in)visible worlds. In these pages, Grossinger performs his trademark meta-integration magic--weaving together animal intelligence, UFOs, ghosts, and esoteric cosmologies into a wonderfully wild song of ourselves and the worlds around us, containing multitudes.” * Sean Esbjörn-Hargens, Ph.D., dean of integral education at California Institute for Human Scien *“Dreamtimes and Thoughtforms examines the inner and external landscapes of consciousness. Exploring the primordial universe and/or multiverse, primitive biological life, physics, psi, dreams, philosophy, anthropology, and ancient writings, Grossinger goes beyond surface-level discussions and embraces deep contemplation and open-mindedness. Recognizing that consciousness is the builder of all we experience, the author realizes that one may survey the greater reality more effectively through inner vision than a set of eyes. When looking out to observe the external world, we, in some way, see a reflection of ourselves.” * Mark Ireland, author of Soul Shift *“Dreamtimes and Thoughtforms takes forward, with new inputs, the project Alfred Jarry undertook in his Faustroll writings at the end of the nineteenth century. Like Jarry, Grossinger reads science through an esoteric lens and esoteric thinking through the lens of science, thus enriching our sensibilities, unmooring our imaginations. In his own terminology, perhaps Jarry was a preincarnation of Grossinger.” * Fred D’Agostino, Ph.D., retired professor of humanities at the University of Queensland *“From the Big Bang to bacteria to the microbiomes, the Cambrian explosion, and catastrophic events, Richard Grossinger outlines the universe and the limitations of materialistic science in explaining ‘all that is,’ for there is more to life than math, chemistry, and physics. A great read; highly recommended.” * John A. Rush, Ph.D., N.D., author of Jesus, Mushrooms, and the Origin of Christianity *“In Dreamtimes and Thoughtforms, the reader will learn about the spiritual concepts that date back to the Big Bang and how they relate to reincarnation, pastlife memories, ghosts, and even to the intelligence of crows and octopuses. This is a sensational investigation into how beliefs and thoughtforms create reality.” * David Barreto, author of Spiritual Evolution in the Animal Kingdom *“Like his masterpiece Deep Pool of Light, the meanings flow from the pages to our souls, creating a new language of the sacred. Richard’s work is best seen perhaps as the scripture of an expanding cosmos written for a distant age beyond our present vision. It’s as though he can observe and celebrate from a distant galaxy our own Milky Way, nucleus to nova, or slide down a cosmic wormhole and document the journey!” * Albert J. LaChance, author of Cultural Addiction and coauthor of The Third Covenant *“When I read Richard’s words I am uplifted and encouraged to fully envelop my mind in the psychospiritual, metaphysical spaces he makes so accessible. Dreamtimes and Thoughtforms is a profound treatise on the vanguard of how we cognize and ingest the super mundane and come to know the full expression of the living cosmos, all around and within.” * Joshua Reichmann, filmmaker and musician *“Reminds me of a Bob Dylan song.” * John Friedlander, author of Recentering Seth *Table of ContentsForeword by Sophie StrandAcknowledgmentsPREFACE Reading Gateway Cards ONE PlanetBig Bang Ice Climate TWO Genome Cells Microbiomes THREE Dreamings Butterfly DreamingAboriginal DreamingsOctopus and Crow DreamingsCOVID Dream Animals FOURMeta-Sciences Fields Quantum Mechanics Life Among Stars FIVE Unidentified GuidesUFOs Meeting David Wilcock at NonilandPsychoidsSIXIncarnationsAfterlives Ghosts The Scam of the Being of LightReincarnations Time SEVEN Practices Phenomena and PhenomenologyBuddhism ExercisesInitiation EPILOGUE Camouflage Cosmoses, Callings, and Codes Technocracy The God Code Bandwidths Notes Biblioraphy Index

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Book SynopsisLeading-edge empirical observations are increasingly difficult to reconcile with 'scientific' materialism. Laboratory results in quantum mechanics, for instance, strongly indicate that there is no autonomous world of tables and chairs out there. Coupled with the inability of materialist neuroscience to explain consciousness, this is forcing both science and philosophy to contemplate alternative worldviews. Analytic idealism - the notion that reality, while equally amenable to scientific inquiry, is fundamentally mental - is a leading contender to replace 'scientific' materialism. In this book, the broad body of empirical evidence and reasoning in favor of analytic idealism is reviewed in an accessible manner. The book brings together a number of highly influential essays previously published by major media outlets such as Scientific American and the Institute of Art and Ideas. The essays have been revised and improved, while two never-before-published essays have been added. The resulting argument anticipates a historically imminent transition to a scientific worldview that, while elegantly accommodating all known empirical evidence and predictive models, regards mind - not matter - as the ground of all reality.

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Book SynopsisFirst published in 1989, The Sublime Object of Ideology was Žižek's breakthrough work, and is still regarded by many as his masterpiece. It was an iconoclastic reinvention of ideology critique that introduced the English-speaking world to Žižek's scorching brand of cultural and philosophical commentary and the multifaceted ways in which he explained it. Tying together concepts from aesthetics, psychoanalytic theory, cultural studies and the philosophy of belief, it changed the face of contemporary commentary and remains the underpinning of much of his subsequent thinking.This compelling guide introduces all of the influential thinkers and foundational concepts which Žižek draws on to create this seminal work. Grounding the text's many and varied references in the work of Peter Sloterdijk, Saul Kripke, Walter Benjamin, Jacques Lacan, Jacques Derrida, Immanuel Kant and G.W.F. Hegel, amongst others, helps students who are encountering this mercurial writer for the first

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Book SynopsisFor 15 years, Henri Bergson, the most important French philosopher of the early 20th-century, taught at the Collège de France. Speaking without notes, most of his classes are now lost to history, but records of a handful of courses fortuitously survived thanks to stenographic transcripts. Conveying Bergson's very voice, these extraordinary documents are finally presented here in English.The 19041905 lectures are dedicated to the topic of freedom, or as Bergson put it, the evolution of the problem of freedom. Building on the philosophy of freedom from his first book, Time and Free Will, he proposes that freedom is not only a fundamental human experience but characteristic of all life as such. By retracing how ancient and modern philosophers have dealt with the delicate question of freedom, Bergson demonstrates the necessity, and also the radically new character, of his own theory of freedom.Bergson's lectures are a feast for many audiences. For philosophers, they give a fuller pi

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Book SynopsisThis book is a defense of modal realism; the thesis that our world is but one of a plurality of worlds, and that the individuals that inhabit our world are only a few out of all the inhabitants of all the worlds.Table of ContentsPreface. 1. A Philosopher's Paradise. The Thesis of Pluraliry of Worlds. Modal Realism at Work: Modality. Modal Realism at Work: Closeness. Modal Realism at Work: Content. Modal Realism at Work: Properties. Isolation. Concreteness. Plenitude. Actuality. 2. Paradox in Paradise?. Everything is Actual?. All Worlds in One?. More Worlds Than There Are?. How Can We Know?. A Road to Scepticism?. A Road to Indifference?. Arbitrariness Lost?. The Incredulous Stare. 3. Paradise on the Cheap?. The Ersatzist Program. Linguistic Ersatzism. Pictorial Ersatzism. Magical Ersatzism. 4. Counterparts or Double Lives?. Good Questions and Bad. Against Overlap. Against Trans-World Individuals. Against Haecceitism. Against Constancy. Works Cited. Index.

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewOne of Science Friday's Best Science Books of 2015, chosen by Maria Popova One of The Independent.ie Irish Writers' Top Reads 2015 One of Brainpickings' The Best Science Books of 2015 "The Physicist and the Philosopher is an extraordinarily rich and wide-ranging work. Canales has rescued from near oblivion a fascinating, highly significant debate that is still relevant in an age which has begun uneasily to question the hegemony of science and its uncontrollable child, technology."--John Banville, London Review of Books "In illuminating a historic 1922 debate between Albert Einstein and Henri Bergson about the nature of time, Canales marks a turning point in the power of philosophy to influence science."--Publishers Weekly "Sparks--both incendiary and illuminating--fly from the collision of two giants!"--Booklist, starred review "This fascinating, scholarly, readable look at physics and epistemology will interest readers of science, history, philosophy, and biography."--Library Journal, starred review "Whether or not you agree, this humane and melancholy account of how two talents misunderstood each other will linger in the mind."--New Scientist "[Canales] weaves a tale around Europe and to America... [Her] subject raises important core philosophical issues, like the scope of philosophy itself."--Michael Ruse, The Chronicle of Higher Education "This fascinating book traces a debate about the nature of time... Canales has done a masterful job of research and explication. Her account of the debate is lively, the background of it is interesting, and the debate's ramifications as filtered through other minds are downright exciting. Anyone interested in physics or philosophy will have a field day with this book."--Kelly Cherry, The Smart Set "Canales does sterling work investigating these engagements ... [A] stimulating book."--Graham Farmelo, Nature "In The Physicist and the Philosopher, Canales recounts how Bergson challenged Einstein's theories, arguing that time is not a fourth dimension definable by scientists but a 'vital impulse,' the source of creativity. It was an incendiary topic at the time, and it shaped a split between science and humanities that persisted for decades--though Einstein was generally seen as the winner and Bergson is all but forgotten."--Nancy Szokan, Washington Post "A book remarkable both for its profound research and for its elegance in presentation. Intellectual history should always be so accessible."--Benjamin Franklin Martin, Key Reporter "[General and professional readers] will learn much from a study that is accessible and edifying to a great diversity of readers."--Choice "The Physicist and the Philosopher ... is at least three things: a monument to precise scholarship, an exemplar of logical clarity, and a fine example of excellent writing. I have rarely learned more from a book."--Peter A.Y. Gunter, Physics in Perspective "Brilliant."--James Gleick, Bits in the Ether "A masterwork of cultural forensics."--Maria Popova, Brainpickings "It's hard to imagine that any single author will ever outdo this account of the recent history of our concepts of time."--Chris Nunn, Journal of Consciousness Studies "A gripping critique of Einstein's thought and a convincing rehabilitation of Bergsonian time, freed from the tyranny of mathematics."--Hilary Davies, The TabletTable of ContentsPreface vii PART 1. THE DEBATE CHAPTER 1 Untimely 3 CHAPTER 2 "More Einsteinian than Einstein" 16 CHAPTER 3 Science or Philosophy? 38 PART 2. THE MEN CHAPTER 4 The Twin Paradox 53 CHAPTER 5 Bergson's Achilles' Heel 62 CHAPTER 6 Worth Mentioning? 73 CHAPTER 7 Bergson Writes to Lorentz 87 CHAPTER 8 Bergson Meets Michelson 98 CHAPTER 9 The Debate Spreads 114 CHAPTER 10 Back from Paris 131 CHAPTER 11 Two Months Later 139 CHAPTER 12 Logical Positivism 153 CHAPTER 13 The Immediate Aftermath 162 CHAPTER 14 An Imaginary Dialogue 172 CHAPTER 15 "Full-Blooded" Time 179 CHAPTER 16 The Previous Spring 195 CHAPTER 17 The Church 203 CHAPTER 18 The End of Universal Time 218 CHAPTER 19 Quantum Mechanics 230 PART 3. THE THINGS CHAPTER 20 Things 241 CHAPTER 21 Clocks and Wristwatches 252 CHAPTER 22 Telegraph, Telephone, and Radio 265 CHAPTER 23 Atoms and Molecules 274 CHAPTER 24 Einstein's Films: Reversible 283 CHAPTER 25 Bergson's Movies: Out of Control 292 CHAPTER 26 Microbes and Ghosts 303 CHAPTER 27 One New Point: Recording Devices 315 PART 4. THE WORDS CHAPTER 28 Bergson's Last Comments 327 CHAPTER 29 Einstein's Last Thoughts 337 Postface 349 Acknowledgments 359 Notes 363 Bibliography 423 Index 451

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Carlisle’s book is a finely written and thoughtful introduction to Spinoza’s philosophy for anyone who is curious as to why this thinker, dead for almost 350 years, remains vitally relevant today"---Steven Nadler, Literary Review"[Carlisle] admirably establishes that Spinoza’s philosophy can be interpreted as a distinctive and original form of rational religion."---Carlos Fraenkel, Times Literary Supplement"Carlisle has done us a great service by offering a convincing and newly rounded portrayal—and by reminding us that you can never exhaust the majesty of Spnoza's religious writing."---Alex Dean, Prospect"An intimate, religious reading of Spinoza’s Ethics, which allows his peculiar religion to emerge with all its promise and paradox." * Choice Reviews *"Carlisle’s interpretation of Spinoza is consistently fresh and surprising. . . . This book steps decisively away from the modes of rational reconstruction and conceptual analysis that now dominate Spinoza scholarship in the English language, and is all the better for it. . . . An excellent book that will reward readers of Spinoza of all levels."---Beth Lord, Philosophy"I’m sure I’m not the only person who feels excited to explore the new world of interpretation that Carlisle has opened up by taking Spinoza’s religion seriously."---Alexander Douglas, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews"Spinoza’s Religion is a joy to read. . . . It is a book that has the power to bring Spinoza deeper into our hearts, making his words a companion n our efforts to live with greater equanimity and delight. Spinoza's Religion also poses a compelling challenge to what we think we know about Spinoza."---Hasana Sharp, Journal of the History of Philosophy

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Book SynopsisArgues that various forms of life are connected in a vast, entangling mesh and this interconnectedness penetrates different dimensions of life. This title investigates the profound philosophical, political, and aesthetic implications of the fact that these life forms are interconnected.Trade ReviewMorton writes from inside the ecological thought, not as its cheerleader or architect but as a latter-day Romantic. The great strength of this book is its genre inventiveness, and its main contribution is its performance of a thinking keyed to our time and place, a thinking with clear and immediate ethical implications. The Ecological Thought is crucial right now. -- Marjorie Levinson, University of MichiganPicking up where his most obvious predecessors, Gregory Bateson and Felix Guattari, left off, Morton understands mental ecology as the ground zero of ecological thinking, as that which must be redressed before anything else and above all. Morton goes beyond both his forebears, however, in repairing the rift between science and the humanities, which the Enlightenment opened up and against which Romanticism reacted. Perhaps most pleasantly surprising, given its erudition, is that in its stylistic elegance The Ecological Thought is as satisfying to read as it is necessary to ponder. -- Vince Carducci, College for Creative StudiesTimothy Morton has a unique take on ecology that challenges much of the alternative consciousness that floats around on the periphery of environmental circles. He offers a profound take on human possibilities. To Morton, human society and Nature are not two distinct things but rather two different angles on the same thing. * Tikkun *By suggesting imaginative ways to resolve other crises, could humanities scholars stave off the crisis engulfing their own subjects? Morton proposes a future in which the venerable ideas of "nature" and "environment" are so much detritus, useless for addressing a looming ecological catastrophe. His book exemplifies the "serious" humanities scholarship he makes a plea for. My head's still spinning. -- Noel Castree * Times Higher Education *Morton's The Ecological Thought rejects the romantic concept of nature as a passive foil to human action. The natural world, as it turns out, is not something outside of us; or, put another way: there is no difference between humans and our environment...He asks us to engage in "radical openness" as a way of practicing "radical coexistence," a state of being that we live even when we do not think much about it...Morton's book allows us to see our stirrings of sympathy for nonhuman beings such as strawberries as the beginning of a recognition that we have all--people and plants alike--lost long ago our presumed roots in an imagined natural world. -- Natania Meeker and Antónia Szabari * Los Angeles Review of Books *

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