Philosophy of religion Books

Book SynopsisThe Prophet represents the acme of Kahlil Gibran's achievement. Writing in English, Gibran adopted the tone and cadence of King James I's Bible, fusing his personalised Christian philosophy with a spirit and oriental wisdom that derives from the richly mixed influences of his native Lebanon. His language has a breath-taking beauty. Before returning to his birthplace, Almustafa, the 'prophet', is asked for guidance by the people of Orphalese. His words, redolent with love and understanding, call for universal unity, and affirm Gibran's certainty of the correlated nature of all existence, and of reincarnation. The Prophet has never lost its immediate appeal and has become a ubiquitous touchstone of spiritual literature.

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Book SynopsisFerdinand Ulrich’s Homo Abyssus: The Drama of the Question of Being (Humanum, 2018), originally published in 1961, is one of the most groundbreaking works in Christian metaphysics from the 20th Century. But it is also a difficult book, posing unique challenges to the new reader because of its particular vocabulary, its unusual approach to traditional themes, and the philosophical background that it takes for granted. A Companion to Homo Abyssus is intended to offer readers initial assistance entering into the text and navigating their way once there. Rather than commenting on the text page by page, this book includes five relatively brief essays on basic themes in the original volume and a simplified “digest” of the work’s arguments as they appear in each section. Moreover, it provides a translation of a paper Ulrich delivered just after publishing Homo Abyssus, in which he presents the essential argument of that work in a more concise scope. A Companion to Homo Abyssus will be indispensable to those who are encountering Ulrich’s challenging but profoundly rewarding book for the first time, and beneficial for those who wish to deepen their understanding of the book’s broader implications.

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Book SynopsisSpanning centuries and continents, this timeless chronicle of Christian sainthood details the lives of martyrs and virgins, scholars and soldiers, bishops and priests, and Christians of all sorts. Regarded as an enduring classic of spiritual devotion, offering prayer intercession from Heaven and guiding us by example, Butler?s provides inspirational narratives, often accompanied by reflection and prayers. Organized by day, this book aligns with the calendar months, providing entries on saints whose feast days fall within those months. As both a spiritual tool and a repository of historical fact, Butler?s captures the essence of saints? lives, miracles, martyrdom, and lasting influence. Its profound yet accessible prose is a journey through history, theology, and spirituality, guiding readers toward a deeper understanding of their own faith. Includes cross-indexing for easy reference and a new foreword by leading theologian and bestselling author Rev. James Martin, SJ.

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Book SynopsisClassical Tibetan Buddhist scriptures forbid the selling of Buddhist objects, and yet there is today a thriving market for Buddhist statues, paintings, and texts. In Buddha in the Marketplace, Alex John Catanese investigates this practice, which continues to be viewed as a form of ""wrong livelihood"" by modern Tibetan Buddhist scholars.Trade Review"A work of breadth and depth, this book touches on key issues in the study of the commodification of religious objects, the production of Buddhist art, patronage practices in premodern Tibet, and cultural tourism in minority areas of China today. It offers salient insights into the transformation and adaptation of Buddhist values and objects in contemporary Tibet. The book will be invaluable to those studying cultural tourism, Buddhist material culture, and minorities in China."

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"For all of his lyricism, many of Kierkegaard's works project themselves as an impenetrable fortress of abstractions. These magnificently translated journals are a tunnel beneath the moat of that fortress. They capture the unpackaged and unbuttoned Kierkegaard and thus provide a stimulus to anyone intent on understanding a religious author who could well be reckoned a Luther of Lutheranism."--Gordon Marino, Christian Century "These new critical editions do an excellent job of making Kierkegaard's journals and notebooks available in all their richness."--Brian Gregor, Elizabeth C. Shaw and StaffTable of ContentsIntroduction vii Journal NB 21 1 Journal NB 22 97 Journal NB 23 199 Journal NB 24 319 Journal NB 25 441 Notes for Journal NB 21 541 Notes for Journal NB 22 593 Notes for Journal NB 23 661 Notes for Journal NB 24 743 Notes for Journal NB 25 799 Maps 849 Calendar 857 Concordance 865

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Book SynopsisThe author of this book aims to discover where the truth lies among the plurality of the world's religions, as dictated by the principle of the unity of truth.

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Book SynopsisA Monumental Figure of Western Thought Wrestles with the Question of GodImmanuel Kant (1724-1804) is one of the most influential philosophers in the history of Western philosophy. His contributions have had a profound impact on almost every philosophical movement that followed him.Kant''s teachings on religion were unorthodox in that they were based on rationality rather than revelation. Though logically proving God''s existence might be impossible, it is morally reasonable to act as if there be a God. His strictly rational approach was considered so scandalous that the King of Prussia forbid him to teach or write further on religious subjects, which Kant obeyed until the king''s death.A work of major importance in the history of Western religious thought, Religion Within the Limits of Reason Alone represents a great philosopher''s attempt to spell out the form and content of a type of religion grounded in moral reason

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Book SynopsisEmerging from the thought-provoking discussions and correspondence Simone Weil had with the Reverend Father Perrin, this classic collection of essays contains the renowned philosopher and social activist''s most profound meditations on the relationship of human life to the realm of the transcendent. An enduring masterwork and one of the most neglected resources of our century (Adrienne Rich), Waiting for God will continue to influence spiritual and political thought for centuries to come.

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Book SynopsisBased on interviews with eleven Nobel Prize winners and many other prominent physicists, biologists, anthropologists, and psychologists, as well as leading theologians and spiritual leaders, Why Science Does Not Disprove God is a "well-informed and readable" (Wall Street Journal) analysis of the religious implications of our ever-increasing understanding of life and the universe. The renowned science writer Amir Aczel ("One of our best science popularizers"—Publishers Weekly) masterfully refutes the overreaching claims of the "New Atheists," providing millions of educated believers with a clear, engaging explanation of what science really says, how there's still much space for the Divine in the universe, and why faith in both God and empirical science are not mutually exclusive.

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Book Synopsis“A genius . . . a writer who spent his life decrying the onward march of the Machine.” — The New YorkerBrave New World author Aldous Huxley on enlightenment and the ultimate reality.In this anthology of twenty-six essays and other writings, Aldous Huxley discusses the nature of God, enlightenment, being, good and evil, religion, eternity, and the divine. Huxley consistently examined the spiritual basis of both the individual and human society, always seeking to reach an authentic and clearly defined experience of the divine. Featuring an introduction by renowned religious scholar Huston Smith, this celebration of ultimate reality proves relevant and prophetic in addressing the spiritual hunger so many feel today.

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Book Synopsis“In this marvelously accessible book, philosopher-Christian Jim Stump provides the reader with new eyes for a journey through time, the origin of the soul, suffering, and morality, and reveals how the latest scientific findings about what it means to be human have led him to a deeper and more authentic faith.”—Francis S. Collins, Director of the Human Genome Project and Founder of BioLogos, author of The Language of GodA thought-provoking and eye-opening work by Jim Stump, Vice President at BioLogos and host of the Language of God podcast, offering a compelling argument about how evolution does not have to be at odds with faith, but can actually enrich and deepen it.In this moving and deeply thoughtful book, Jim Stump takes readers with him on his journey to understanding evolution and reconciling it with his faith. The Sacred Chain draws on philosophy, theology, and the latest scientific research to tackle some of the biggest questions facing humanity and people of faith today, such as: How can we hold the Bible as a sacred text and yet reconcile modern science with it? By condensing noteworthy events in the history of our universe into one calendar week, what can we learn about God’s creative process and priorities, and where humans fit in? If humans are created in the image of God, what does evolution have to teach us about our species and our place in creation? What about the soul? How can we understand our transcendent qualities if the human body is the product of evolution? How does evolutionary science help us understand how God might use pain and suffering for important and good purposes? Does it have to be one or the other—science or religion—or is there a third way, one that not only preserves faith in the face of modern science, but leads to a stronger, more relevant, and more authentic faith? Deeply researched and a delight to read, The Sacred Chain provides clarity in our uncertain times, revealing a bigger picture of our world and our place within it. It is a panorama consistent with the scientific findings about who we are and where we come from that can actually bolster our faith as it engages our curiosity about ourselves, our universe, and the nature of existence itself.

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Book SynopsisWhy are there religious beliefs in all cultures? Do they have features in common and why does religion persist in the face of science? Pascal Boyer shows how experimental findings in cognitive science, evolutionary biology and cultural anthropology are now providing precise answers to these general questions, and providing, for the first time, real answers to the question: Why do we believe?Trade ReviewA deep, ingenious, and insightful analysis of one of the deepest mysteries of the human species -- Steven PinkerAn excellent book in the spirit of the French Enlightenment, broadly learned and with modern behavioural science added. It deserves to be widely read * E.O. Wilson *This is a bold far-reaching book. His explanation of religion is lucid, entertaining, full of valuable insight -- Lord Habgood * Time Higher *The wisdom in its pages will be a revelation to any seeker after truth. While it lets daylight in upon magic, this book is never scornful and never dismissive, and Pascal Boyer's voice is as unpretentious as its title. If faith is the last refuge of the would-be believer, Religion Explained takes it away but puts something better in its place, enlightenment and understanding. * Ruth Rendell *A fascinating analysis of urge to believe * Scotland on Sunday *

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Book SynopsisPoet, philosopher and artist, Kahlil Gibran was born in 1883 near Mount Lebanon, a region that has produced many prophets. His poetry has been translated into more than twenty languages. His drawings and paintings have been exhibited in the great capitals of the world and compared by Auguste Rodin to the work of William Blake. Kahlil Gibran died in 1931. His most famous work The Prophet, was published in 1923. By the time of his death, it was already firmly established as a classic book.Trade ReviewHis power came from some great reservoir of spiritual life, else it could not have been so universal and so potent, but the majesty and beauty of the language with which he clothed it were all his own -- Claude Bragdon

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Book SynopsisIris Murdoch was born in Dublin in 1919. She read Classics at Somerville College, Oxford, and after working in the Treasury and abroad, was awarded a research studentship in Philosophy at Newnham College, Cambridge. In 1948 she returned to Oxford as fellow and tutor at St Anne's College and later taught at the Royal College of Art. Until her death in 1999, she lived in Oxford with her husband, the academic and critic, John Bayley. She was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1987 and in the 1997 PEN Awards received the Gold Pen for Distinguished Service to Literature.Trade ReviewThis is philosophy dragged from the cloister, dusted down and made freshly relevant -- Terry Eagleton * Guardian *Gripping...it enchants with a clause that sets you day-dreaming, captivates with a stream of thought, empowers with reminiscences * London Review of Books *It is a great congested work, a foaming sourcebook, about life, imagination, tragedy, philosophy, morality, religion and art * Independent *Remarkable... Iris Murdoch has once again put us all in her debt * New York Times Book Review *Anyone who has even the slightest interest in philosophical matters will find Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals an utterly absorbing book * Wall Street Journal *

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Book SynopsisComposed during a critical time in the evolution of European intellectual life, the works of Meister Eckhart (c. 1260-1327) are some of the most powerful medieval attempts to achieve a synthesis between ancient Greek thought and the Christian faith. Writing with great rhetorical brilliance, Eckhart combines the neoplatonic concept of oneness - the idea that the ultimate principle of the universe is single and undivided - with his Christian belief in the Trinity, and considers the struggle to describe a perfect God through the imperfect medium of language. Fusing philosophy and religion with vivid originality and metaphysical passion, these works have intrigued and inspired philosophers and theologians from Hegel to Heidegger and beyond.Table of ContentsThe talks of instruction; the book of divine consolation; on the noble man; selected German sermons; selected Latin sermons.

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Book SynopsisTolstoy's passionate and iconoclastic writings--on issues of faith, immortality, freedom, violence, and morality--reflect his intellectual search for truth and a religion firmly grounded in reality. The selection includes 'A Confession,' 'Religion and Morality,' 'What Is Religion, and of What Does Its Essence Consist?,' and 'The Law of Love and the Law of Violence.'For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.Table of ContentsA Confession and Other Religious Writings IntroductionA ConfessionWhat Is Religion and Of What Does Its Essence Consist?Religion and MoralityThe Law of Love and the Law of ViolenceExplanatory Notes

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Book SynopsisAn Apology for Raymond Sebond is widely regarded as the greatest of Montaigne's essays: a supremely eloquent expression of Christian scepticism. An empassioned defence of Sebond's fifteenth-century treatise on natural theology, it was inspired by the deep crisis of personal melancholy that followed the death of Montaigne's own father in 1568, and explores contemporary Christianity in prose that is witty and frequently damning. As he searches for the true meaning of faith, Montaigne is heavily critical of the arrogant tendency of mankind to create God in its own image, and offers his personal reflections on the true role of man, the need to eschew personal arrogance, and the vital importance of faith if we are to understand our place in the universe. Wise, perceptive and remarkably informed, this is one of the true masterpieces of the essay form.Table of ContentsAn Apology for Raymond Sebond - Michel de Montaigne Translated with an Introduction and Notes by M. A. ScreechIntroductionNote on the TextExplanation of the SymbolsNote on the TranslationFurther ReadingAppendicesAN APOLOGY FOR RAYMOND SEBOND

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Book SynopsisIn the posthumously published Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, the Enlightenment philosopher David Hume attacked many of the traditional arguments for the existence of God, expressing the belief that religion is founded on ignorance and irrational fears. Though calm and courteous in tone - at times even tactfully ambiguous - the conversations between Hume's vividly realized fictional figures form perhaps the most searching case ever mounted against orthodox Christian theological thinking and the 'deism' of the time, which pointed to the wonders of creation as conclusive evidence of God's Design. Hume's characters debate these issues with extraordinary passion, lucidity and humour, in one of the most compelling philosophical works ever written.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works througTable of ContentsDialogues Concerning Natural Religion - David Hume Edited with an Introduction by Martin BellIntroductionNotes to IntroductionTextual NotePAMPHILUS to HERMIPPUSPart IPart IIPart IIIPart IVPart VPart VIPart VIIPart VIIIPart IXPart XPart XIPart XIINotesSelect Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThroughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.The Father of Existentialism, Kierkegaard transformed philosophy with his conviction that we must all create our own nature; in this great work of religious anxiety, he argues that a true understanding of God can only be attained by making a personal ''leap of faith''.

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Book SynopsisDanish-born Sren Kierkegaard (1813-55) wrote on a wide variety of themes, including religion, psychology, and literature. He is remembered for his philosophy, which was influential in the development of 20th century existentialism.

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Book SynopsisDescribing Tolstoy''s crisis of depression and estrangement from the world, A Confession is an autobiographical work of exceptional emotional honesty. It describes his search for ''a practical religion not promising future bliss but giving bliss on earth''. Although the Confession led to his excommunication, it also resulted in a large following of Tolstoyan Christians springing up throughout Russia and Europe. Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.

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Book SynopsisSimone Weil was one of the foremost thinkers of the twentieth century: a philosopher, theologian, critic, sociologist and political activist. This anthology spans the wide range of her thought, and includes an extract from her best-known work ''The Need for Roots'', exploring the ways in which modern society fails the human soul; her thoughts on the misuse of language by those in power; and the essay ''Human Personality'', a late, beautiful reflection on the rights and responsibilities of every individual. All are marked by the unique combination of literary eloquence and moral perspicacity that characterised Weil''s ideas and inspired a generation of thinkers and writers both in and outside her native France.

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Book SynopsisOne of the most iconoclastic philosophers of all time, Nietzsche dramatically rejected notions of good and evil, truth and God. Beyond Good and Evil demonstrates that the world is steeped in false piety and infected with a 'slave morality'. With wit and subversive energy, Nietzsche demands that the individual impose their own 'will to power' upon the world.

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Book SynopsisIn Fear and Trembling, Søren Kierkegaard''s infamous and controversial work made a lasting impression on both modern Protestant theology and existentialist philosophers such as Sartre and Camus. This Penguin Classics edition is translated from the Danish with an introduction by Alistair Hannay.Writing under the pseudonym of ''Johannes de silentio'', Kierkegaard expounds his personal view of religion through a discussion of the scene in Genesis in which Abraham prepares to sacrifice his son Isaac at God''s command. Believing Abraham''s unreserved obedience to be the essential leap of faith needed to make a full commitment to his religion, Kierkegaard himself made great sacrifices in order to dedicate his life entirely to his philosophy and to God. The conviction shown in this religious polemic - that a man can have an exceptional mission in life - informed all Kierkegaard''s later writings. His ''teleological suspension of the ethical'' challenged the contemporary views of Hegel''s universal moral system, and was also hugely influential for both protestant theology and the existentialist movement. Alastair Hannay''s introduction evaluates Kierkegaard''s philosophy and the ways in which it conflicted with more accepted contemporary views. This edition also includes detailed notes to complement this groundbreaking analysis of religion, and a new chronology.Danish-born Sren Kierkegaard (1813-55) wrote on a wide variety of themes, including religion, psychology, and literature. He is remembered for his philosophy, which pioneered the idea of the Absurd, and was influential and in the development of 20th century existentialism. His other works include The Sickness unto Death, Either/Or, and Papers and Journals, all of which are available in Penguin Classics.If you enjoyed Fear and Trembling, you might like Kierkegaard''s The Sickness unto Death, also available in Penguin Classics.

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Book Synopsis''Absorbing, fascinating, arresting'' The Observer ''Intensely moving, luminous and rather magnificent'' The TimesIt was one of the most startling moments in the history of the City of London. In 2011, the Occupy movement set up camp around St Paul''s Cathedral. Giles Fraser, who was Canon Chancellor of the Cathedral, gave them his support. It ended in disaster.This remarkable book is the story of the personal crisis that followed, and its surprising consequences. Finding himself caught between the protesters, the church and the City of London, Fraser resigned, and was plunged into depression. As his life fell apart and he battled with ideas of suicide, he found himself by chance one day in Liverpool, outside the great Victorian synagogue once presided over by a distant ancestor. Suddenly Fraser realized that there was a great deal he did not know about himself, about his relatives and about his Jewish roots.Fraser calls this book ''a ghost story'' and it is a book which is indeed filled with many ghosts. His search into his family''s Jewish past makes this both a fascinating personal story and a wonderful piece of writing about theology. It is a book about the deepest, most ancient elements in our culture, and the most modern and intimate. It is throughout alive with the charm and intellectual vigour which have made Fraser such an admired and controversial preacher and broadcaster.Trade ReviewAbsorbing memoir-cum-history ... Fraser's personal story is fascinating and the thesis arising from it an arresting one ... What Fraser can teach all of us, whatever our beliefs or lack of them, is how enriching it can be to look at the world through the eyes of others. -- Richard Harries * The Observer *Intensely moving, luminous and rather magnificent. * The Times *There is much that is intriguing here ... There are beautiful moments, as when Fraser's youngest son is baptised in the River Jordan. -- Rosamund Urwin * Sunday Times *This is a rare and extraordinary book - part autobiography, part religious reflection, part ghost story. With excoriating self-revelation, it explores the fault-lines and liminal areas between two great faiths, between the chosen and the excluded. As a voyage of self-understanding, it is compellingly written. It is that most improbable of books - a theological page-turner. -- Paul Vallely, Canon of Manchester Cathedral and author of Bad Samaritans: First World Ethics and Third World DebtI spent all day reading this book, unable to stop. So joyously eclectic, so bitingly honest, such a startling mingling of the vulnerable with the intellectual, the search with the homecoming. I cried, I laughed, and most of all I thought. This is such an incredibly important and necessary book. -- Michael Coren, author of Epiphany: A Christian's Change of Heart and Mind over Same-Sex MarriageA fascinating hybrid of past, present and future, Chosen reflects Giles Fraser's astounding capacity for honesty, turbocharged articulation and spiritual insight. He explains beautifully the interweaving of Christianity and Judaism that will resonate with many, and not just those from mixed religious backgrounds. His scholarly explanations and personal explorations brought me much wisdom. A tour de force. -- Rabbi Laura Janner-KlausnerBeautifully written, very moving ... These stories have not just personal reflections, but deep and imaginative theological insights ... A brilliant working out of the family hurts and misunderstandings that haunt the interplay between Christianity and Judaism. -- Lyle Dennen * Church Times *A compelling account of a personal, religious, and philosophical journey. Filled with humanity and wisdom, Chosen is a riveting and rewarding read. Highly recommended. -- Professor Quassim Cassam

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Book SynopsisSUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE CATHOLIC HERALD BOOK AWARD FOR RELIGION AND THEOLOGYA NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019''Wonderful ... one of the few books that I started to reread a couple of minutes after I''d finished it.'' - Melvyn Bragg A meditation on the importance of atheism in the modern world - and its inadequacies and contradictions - by one of Britain''s leading philosophers''When you explore older atheisms, you will find some of your firmest convictions - secular or religious - are highly questionable. If this prospect disturbs you, what you are looking for may be freedom from thought.''For a generation now, public debate has been corroded by a narrow derision of religion in the name of an often very vaguely understood ''science''. John Gray''s stimulating and extremely enjoyable new book describes the rich, complex world of the atheist tradition, a tradition which he sees as in many ways as rich as that of religion itself, as well as being deeply intertwined with what is so often crudely viewed as its ''opposite''. The result is a book that sheds an extraordinary and varied light on what it is to be human and on the thinkers who have, at different times and places, battled to understand this issue.Trade ReviewA highly readable, fascinating book that jerks the debate on religion versus atheism right out of its crusted rut into the light of serious intellectual scrutiny * Observer *Pithy and revelatory -- Christopher Bellaigue * Financial Times *Wonderful ... the range, thoughtfulness and trenchant sense of Gray's sweep across the centuries of thought is wholly exhilarating ... one of the few books that I started to reread a couple of minutes after I'd finished it. -- Melvyn Bragg * New Statesman *

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Book SynopsisAlready a classic, this landmark account of early Western thought now appears in a new edition with expanded coverage of the Middle Ages. The Dream of Reason takes a fresh look at the writings of the great thinkers of classic philosophy and questions many pieces of conventional wisdom. The book invites comparison with Bertrand Russell''s monumental History of Western Philosophy, but Gottlieb''s book is less idiosyncratic and based on more recent scholarship (Colin McGinn, Los Angeles Times). A New York Times Notable Book, a Los Angeles Times Best Book, and a Times Literary Supplement Best Book of 2001.Trade ReviewA delight. It is written with both wit and scholarship, providing a wonderful overall picture of Western philosophy up to the Renaissance. -- Sir Roger Penrose[Gottlieb] writes with fluency and lucidity, with a gift for making even difficult matters seem comprehensible. -- Richard Jenkins * New York Times *Gottlieb is as enjoyable as he is intellectually stimulating. -- Robert Conquest * Los Angeles Times *

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Book SynopsisSelected as a Book of the Year in The Times Literary Supplement''This lucid and riveting new biography at once rescuses Kierkegaard from the scholars and shows why he is such an intriguing and useful figure'' ObserverSøren Kierkegaard, one of the most passionate and challenging of modern philosophers, is now celebrated as the father of existentialism - yet his contemporaries described him as a philosopher of the heart. Over about a decade in the 1840s and 1850s, writings poured from his pen analysing love and suffering, courage and anxiety, religious longing and defiance, and forging a new philosophical style rooted in the inward drama of being human.As Christianity seemed to sleepwalk through a changing world, Kierkegaard dazzlingly revealed its spiritual power while exposing the poverty of official religion. His restless creativity was spurred on by his own failures: his relationship with the young woman whom he promised to marryTrade ReviewThis lucid and riveting new biography at once rescues Kierkegaard from the scholars and makes it abundantly clear why he is such an intriguing and useful figure -- Adam Phillips * Observer *She wonderfully conveys how, pelican-like, Kierkegaard tore his philosophy from his own breast -- Jane O'Grady * Telegraph *Philosopher of the Heart enacts Kierkegaard's audacity and verve in thinking and writing, his "new way of doing philosophy", in a thrillingly inward and intimate style -- Boyd Tonkin * Arts Desk *One of the best biographies of modern masters by a new generation -- Daniel Johnson * Standpoint *Superb... the sort of biography Kierkegaard himself might have written, thematic in structure rather than chronological, lucid in its narrative but not exhaustive in detail. ... Carlisle's book has its own beauty, reminding us that Kierkegaard sympathized with our own troubles, our own desires to live decent lives -- David Mason * The Hudson Review *

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Book SynopsisThe study of Islamic philosophy has entered a new and exciting phase in the last few years. Both the received canon of Islamic philosophers and the narrative of the course of Islamic philosophy are in the process of being radically questioned and revised. Most twentieth-century Western scholarship on Arabic or Islamic philosophy has focused on the period from the ninth century to the twelfth. It is a measure of the transformation that is currently underway in the field that, unlike other reference works, the Oxford Handbook has striven to give roughly equal weight to every century, from the ninth to the twentieth. The Handbook is also unique in that its 30 chapters are work-centered rather than person- or theme-centered, in particular taking advantage of recent new editions and translations that have renewed interest and debate around the Islamic philosophical canon. The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Philosophy gives both the advanced student and active scholar in Islamic philosophy, theo

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Book SynopsisThis is a book for scholars of Western philosophy who wish to engage with Buddhist philosophy, or who simply want to extend their philosophical horizons. It is also a book for scholars of Buddhist studies who want to see how Buddhist theory articulates with contemporary philosophy.Trade ReviewGarfield's book is a thought provoking and illuminating engagement with (mainly Mahayana) Buddhist thought. The chapters on metaphysics, the self, epistemology and ethics are the most interesting ones ... Another asset of the book is that it moves beyond a mere scholarly discussion of (the history of) Buddhist ideas. Chances are high we will see more books engaging with non-Western thought in the future. Garfield's book is a good example of successfully doing this. This book has been much needed, even if many have not realized the need. Writing from a position of deep engagement with Buddhism and philosophy, Garfield (philosophy, Yale, Smith, and elsewhere) does an excellent job explicating central Buddhist concepts and relating them to Western contemporary and historical philosophical concepts and problems ... Clearly, the book is rich in terms of breadth ... Garfield does an excellent job of balancing rigor, breadth, and depth while bringing together two very different traditions. And he is careful to engage a variety of Buddhist perspectives ... Highly recommended. Choice Engaging Buddhism is the most impressive, insightful, informative, and accessible book I've ever read on Buddhist philosophy ... [It]is one of the most signi?cant contributions to the Western reception of and engagement with Buddhist philosophy. This book is a must read for Western philosophers, but also for Buddhist philosophers who attempt to engage Western philosophy, as this blueprint is bi-directional. Rick Repetti, Science, Religion & Culture His valuable new book admirably serves its purpose of helping analytic philosophers understand some of what Buddhists have written about the very questions they study. In fact, Engaging Buddhism goes further, giving strong reasons to believe that contemporary physicalist philosophers of mind could strengthen their positions in important ways by drawing on Buddhist thought and that analytic philosophers more generally can find valuable insights in the Buddhist tradition. This book has many strengths. The writing is crisp, technically precise, yet elegant and engagingaGarfield has done a wonderful service in producing this impressive and intriguing book, which is always interesting and often enjoyable to read and which can open up new philosophical prospects equally well for both long-standing and newly minted students of Buddhist thought. Charles Goodman, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews Online Garfield engages with a wide range of thinkers such as Hume, Kant, and Heidegger, in order to show the relevance of Buddhist thought to the history of philosophy itself. By engaging complex Buddhist thoughts in terms of dialogues relevant to contemporary western philosophy, Garfield takes the initial steps necessary to broaden philosophys global understanding in order to make cross-cultural philosophical study a reality. Graduate Faculty Philosophy Journal The arguments in Engaging Buddhism are primarily directed toward professional scholars of Western philosophy, but the implications of Garfield's work are far-reaching. His concise presentations of Buddhist views on topics such as interdependence, emptiness, and the mind are useful for any student or practitioner of Buddhism who wishes to understand such topics more deeply and in a broader context. Garfield's discussion of emptiness in the third chapter is particularly useful for the student of Buddhism. Constance Kassor, Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's QuarterlyTable of ContentsAcknowledgements ; Preface ; 1. What is Buddhist Philosophy? ; 2. The Metaphysical Perspective I: Interdependence and Impermanence ; 3. The Metaphysical Perspective II: Emptiness ; 4. The Self ; 5. Consciousness ; 6. Phenomenology ; 7. Epistemology ; 8. Logic and the Philosophy of Language ; 9. Ethics ; 10. Methodological Postscript ; References ; Index

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