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Book SynopsisNalin Ranasinghe undertakes the monumentally brash assignment of accusing man and then offering his defense, precisely as Homer does of Odysseus in the Iliad. Odysseus is portrayed as a human being deserving of both. For this reason and Homer’s perceptive descriptions, Ranasinghe claims Homer’s epic is the cornerstone of Western civilization. The central insights herein compel Ranasinghe to admit the necessity of heeding its lessons today, of minding its characters and seeing them in action off the page and in our own world. Predrag Cicovacki in his indispensable preface to the book, elucidates: “In Ranasinghe’s view, Odysseus is both the first recognizable human being and a model of curious and concupiscent human rationality that constantly strives toward the virtues of self-knowledge and moderation. Homer leads us to believe that the cosmos leans toward virtue, although its fundamental truths may be inherently unspeakable. This is the line of thought that Ranasinghe believes was further developed by Socrates, Plato, and Jesus, while being obscured by Aristotle, Augustine, and their followers. Homer’s later epic and his central insights are, according to Ranasinghe, the most fertile soil on which a humane civilization can grow and flourish.” Yet Ranasinghe ultimately says it best. “Homer must be read as the wisest Greeks did, not for fantastic tales of the Olympians but because his myths reveal eternal constants of the human state: the soul’s ruling passions and the possibility of knowing and educating these false gods. Wrestled with thus the Iliad becomes a cautionary tale, not one urging literal reading or mindless mimesis. It may always be that for the few who grasp Homer, many more will obey his gods or imitate his antiheroes; but the Odyssey hints that while its poet sees this potential for misuse, he is willing to take a noble risk and hope that eros can listen to and educate thumos. This faith is implicit in his tale of Achilles and the Trojan War. It is vital today that we see how the West’s end resembles its angry origins, as depicted in the Iliad. This is why Homer is said to be as fresh as the morning newspaper. His wisdom may outlive our literacy.”

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Book SynopsisThis book exemplifies Pieper’s skills as a communicator. Despite his concentration on the depths—which, beneath the stormy surface level of life, he is constantly able to plumb—Pieper is able to stage his profoundest thoughts. Here, in a clear and appealing Pieper re-enacts the central meanings of three of Plato’s most famous dialogues, all touching on the central purpose of life: how do we gain by giving, what is love and how do we show it, what is the purpose of our action and where do we find full happiness? In the first of the three plays, Gorgias: Or the Abuse of Words and Power, he is able to vent his concerns about the dishonest use of language for purely political purposes or for purely personal advancement. Socrates contends that gaining power does not lead to happiness, and that, in the end, suffering wrong is to be preferred over doing wrong. In the second of the plays, The Symposium, Socrates sits back and listens to all the speakers say what they understand by Eros, for love is seen here in many forms from the speakers. Then, when his turn comes, he merely reports the wise words which Diotima spoke to him about the highest form of Eros—which is love of that which is beautiful in itself, that “is” eternal, that neither becomes nor passes away. In the third play, The Death of Socrates (from Plato’s dialogue Phaedo) Pieper shows how Socrates’ profound values enable him to face death with equanimity. Even his close disciples and friends (Plato is absent) are nonplussed as they witness his total selfless integrity. Without popularizing, this book succeeds in highlighting some fundamental issues which are not only central to Plato’s thought, but are also shown to be acutely relevant to our current society.

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Book SynopsisThis book exemplifies Pieper’s skills as a communicator. Despite his concentration on the depths—which, beneath the stormy surface level of life, he is constantly able to plumb—Pieper is able to stage his profoundest thoughts. Here, in a clear and appealing Pieper re-enacts the central meanings of three of Plato’s most famous dialogues, all touching on the central purpose of life: how do we gain by giving, what is love and how do we show it, what is the purpose of our action and where do we find full happiness? In the first of the three plays, Gorgias: Or the Abuse of Words and Power, he is able to vent his concerns about the dishonest use of language for purely political purposes or for purely personal advancement. Socrates contends that gaining power does not lead to happiness, and that, in the end, suffering wrong is to be preferred over doing wrong. In the second of the plays, The Symposium, Socrates sits back and listens to all the speakers say what they understand by Eros, for love is seen here in many forms from the speakers. Then, when his turn comes, he merely reports the wise words which Diotima spoke to him about the highest form of Eros—which is love of that which is beautiful in itself, that “is” eternal, that neither becomes nor passes away. In the third play, The Death of Socrates (from Plato’s dialogue Phaedo) Pieper shows how Socrates’ profound values enable him to face death with equanimity. Even his close disciples and friends (Plato is absent) are nonplussed as they witness his total selfless integrity. Without popularizing, this book succeeds in highlighting some fundamental issues which are not only central to Plato’s thought, but are also shown to be acutely relevant to our current society.

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Book SynopsisVolume 2 of Josef Pieper’s three-part autobiography is here presented for the first time in English translation. The volume represents not just a simple continuation of a seamless story. The first volume dealt with Pieper’s life from his birth in 1904 to the time of World War 2. The current volume deals with the post-war years, 1945–1964, offering a personal documentation of the institutional rubble through which an emerging academic and philosopher had to find his way. This included finding work, re-establishing himself in the family home, completing his academic education, and beginning to teach philosophy in a climate of despair and disillusionment. In this context, the quintessential Pieper emerges. His positive philosophy of being, firmly based on Plato and Thomas Aquinas, finds extraordinary resonance with students, who flock to his lectures in surprising numbers — seeking and finding a positive way forward. His dedication to training teachers sees him declining higher academic posts in Germany in favor of work which, though less lucrative and more obscure, he considered more fruitful. These years are also marked by his fiercely independent stance over against the Catholic hierarchy — despite his staunch adherence to the tradition values of Christianity. His popularity as a philosopher and teacher quickly spread to America, where he was invited to teach at famous universities. His fame led to further travels — to Switzerland, England, France, Spain, India, China, Saigon, and Thailand. Such travels enriched his thinking and nourished the open-mindedness of the Western philosopher.

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Book SynopsisJosef Pieper’s readers become accustomed to the clarity of thought and expression in his writing—in combination with the impression he gives of being profoundly in touch with fundamentals. His conceptual clarity emerges from his awareness of basic human experience. This book began life in 1933 as a small book produced in a sociological research institute and was encumbered, not surprisingly, with unwieldy academic jargon. It took on a new life as a result of a challenging statement by Max Frisch, who, in 1976, stated that establishing peace in the world required the transformation of society into a community. Amazed by the naivety of Frisch’s claim, Pieper set about defining three types of social interaction and describing how they function. 1. The community is an intimate grouping based on mutual affirmation of its members what they share in common. The family is an example. 2. Society is the sphere we enter on leaving the intimate circle in which we live. Here, tact, etiquette and contract come into play for the protection of one another’s privacy. 3. Organization is the sphere dominated by usefulness of the individual. Pieper is particularly concerned about the cog in the wheel mentality of certain political regimes. The book is a characteristic example of the philosopher’s concern with political reality.

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Book SynopsisWhat Does “Academic” Mean? focuses, in two essays, on the prospects of contemporary universities. The term “academic” is traced back to Plato’s Academy in a grove in Athens. The Academy is isolated, far away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Western universities founded in the Middle Ages show continuity, via Byzantium, with Plato’s Academy. Not surprisingly, the Oxford Dictionary quoted by Pieper defines “academic” as “Not leading to a decision; unpractical.” The preoccupation of the academic as academic is seen by Pieper to be fundamentally theoretical, not practical. Pure theory is that which cannot at all be pressed into service. Clearly, many university disciplines that are richly funded by industry and business concerns tend to be favored by university administrations, which, intent on financial survival, frown on “unproductive” disciplines such as pure philosophy: metaphysics being a case in point, since it is the discipline least capable of practical application. Pure philosophy, unlike any other discipline, has as its “subject” the totality of being. Every other discipline deals with a particular aspect of being – for example, the physical, the psychological, the technical – but not the totality. For Pieper, spirit is that which makes us open to truth – all truth – without any need to exploit it in the concrete world. The sciences open up more and more access to reality, more and more for us to contemplate. They show us more of the totality, but none of the sciences is interested in the totality as such. The philosophy which deals with the totality and asks, with Alfred North Whitehead, “What is it all about?” is seen by Pieper as central to the university. Essentially, it contemplates the wonder of being.Table of ContentsCONTENTS Introduction by James V. Schall, S.J. WHAT DOES “ACADEMIC” MEAN? I A Western concept Philosophical means theoretical Destruction through being pressed into service “The exclusive property of the gods” The “worker” and the sophist Separation from “the many” II Purity of theory The philosophiser and “the ancients” New rootedness in cult? OPENNESS FOR THE TOTALITY OF THINGS Experiences behind institutions Spirit as receptivity to the totality of the world The role of the sciences Philosophy as the centre of the university Openness to every conceivable aspect Openness to “disputations” Notes Index

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Book SynopsisMore than eight hundred years after his death, the figure of Maimonides - rabbi, philosopher, doctor, and communal leader - continues to fascinate. "Studies in Maimonides and His Interpreters" is the first book to unite the traditional rabbinic approach and the modern academic perspective to forge a new understanding of this iconic teacher. This groundbreaking work by Marc B. Shapiro, which includes an essay on Maimonides' approach to superstition in rabbinic literature and features three previously unpublished letters by Rabbi Joseph Kafih, will be essential reading for scholars and students of Jewish studies.

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Book SynopsisGeorge Edward Moore is among this century's most influential philosophers. Perhaps best known for his \u0022defense of common sense,\u0022 he also made important contributions to metaphysics and theory of knowledge. But it is in ethics, and especially owing to the positions he develops in his Principia Ethica, first published in 1903, that his ideas have had their most enduring influence. A forerunner to this famous work, The Elements of Ethics is a series of ten unpublished lectures that were presented by Moore, then in his mid-twenties. The Elements shows that Principia Ethica did not spring fully-formed from Moore's pen but evolved slowly over time. In these lectures, Moore begins with the same question he asks in Principia Ethica: What is Good? Importantly, his answer is the same one he offers in Principia and many of its supporting arguments also appear, though sometimes in embryonic form. Moreover, in these lectures we also find sustained critiques of those who commit the \u0022naturalistic fallacy,\u0022 and of John Stuart Mill's commission of it in particular. In The Elements, however, Moore's position regarding ethics in relation to conduct differs in important respects from the one presented in Principia, and the former work contains important discussions, ranging from Christian ethics and the possibility of free will, not found in the latter.Trade Review"An important publication for philosophers specializing in twentieth-century philosophy or moral philosophy."-Library Journal "Scholars of Moore's philosophy will be grateful to Tom Regan for producing this volume."-Ethics "...indispensable for anyone who wishes to understand Moore's personal and philosophical developments. Regan enables us to see Moore working his way through positions we did not know he had considered so carefully, and thereby to obtain an enriched sense of what Moore is doing in Principia Ethica."-International Studies in Philosophy "This book does help to clarify some aspects of the development of Moore's thinking and so will interest mainly those who already have considerable familiarity with it."-ChoiceTable of ContentsPrefaceEditor's IntroductionSyllabus for Moore's LecturesMoore's Introduction1. The Subject-Mater of Ethics2. Naturalistic Ethics, Especially the Ethics of Evolution3. Hedonism4. Hedonism Continued5. Some Main Forms of Metaphysical Ethics6. Ethics in Relation to Conduct7. Free Will8. The Ethics of the Inner Life9. Practical Applications10. General ConclusionsIndex

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Book Synopsis What motivates altruism? How essential is the phenomenon of altruism to the human experience? Is altruism readily accessible to the ordinary person? In The Altruistic Species, Andrew Michael Flescher and Daniel L. Worthen explore these questions through the lenses of four disciplinary perspectives—biology, psychology, philosophy, and religion. In their investigation, they make an extended argument for the existence of altruism against competing theories that construe all ostensible cases of benevolence as self-interest in disguise. The authors consider theories of egoism; the role of genetics and evolutionary biology; the psychological that induce altruistic behavior; philosophical theories of altruism in normative ethics such as Kantian, utilitarian, and Aristotelian models of moral action; and accounts of love of the neighbor in Christianity and Buddhism. Additionally, they offer a new, comprehensive definition of altruism that includes the insights of each of these perspectives. The Altruistic Species reinvigorates the debate over the prevalence of selfless motivation in human behavior—whether it is a rare or ubiquitous phenomenon—something considered exceptional or a capacity that members of any community could potentially develop. This noteworthy interdisciplinary examination of altruism balances science, virtue theory, and theology. It is ideal for ethics, human behavior, and evolutionary biology courses as an educational resource for other multidisciplinary studies and interested lay readers. Trade ReviewThe Altruistic Species is an ambitious attempt to explain altruism through the lenses of psychology, religion, and evolutionary biology . . . The Altruistic Species includes some interesting stories about people who have expressed remarkable acts of caring for others, which the authors explore in a thorough and sometimes pr0vocative manner. . . . Flescher and Worthen do not shy away from explicating difficult discussions, and they diligently follow the implications of difficult human decisions. —Shift: the Frontier of Consciousness—No. 17 Though the book delves into biological kinship systems and Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperative, the writing is clear and accessible. In its calm way of demolishing objections to the author's contention that most all of us have the capacity—and moral obligation—to become more altruistic in our character (as part of what Aristotle called human flourishing), the book is also revolutionary. . . . It’s a matter, the authors say, of "practicing . . . moral skills" which become part of the "stable character" of altruism. It is a measure of a genuinely happy life. —Dan Barnett, Butte College Flescher and Worthenpresent a superbly organized book that aims to assign altruism a more central role in both descriptive and normative accounts of human nature. This work is interdisciplinary in approach and rich in examples from philosophy, history, literature, and everyday experience. According to the authors, the title refers to "a central part of our identity as a species, a part that can become even more central than it currently is." To make the case for this, Flescher and Worthen note that standard definitions of altruism are too restrictive. Next, they integrate biology, psychology, philosophy, and religious insights to reveal how these often conflicting disciplines "can be synthesized to contribute to a coherent, comprehensive, and truly interdisciplinary account" of altruism. The authors end by providing a new definition of altruism. This volume is a great addition to the growing literature on altruism and a good companion to Stephen Post’s Unlimited Love: Altruism, Compassion, and Service (CH, Jan’04, 41-2761) and Altruism and Altruistic Love (CH, Jan’03, 40-2711), ed. by Post et al. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers. —H. Storl, CHOICE, Vol. 45, No. 9 This book results from an interdisciplinary and team-taught course by a psychologist and an ethicist. Psychology is interested in the practical implications of altruism. Ethics is interested in the existence and nature of altruism. . . . Templeton Foundation Press promotes studies on the relation of science to spiritual realities. This book is a remarkable contribution to such a project. —Lucian J. Richard, OMI, Catholic Library World—Vol. 78, No. 3 Table of Contents Preface / vii Introduction: Selfishness and Selflessness / 3 Part I: What Is Altruism? 1: Altruism Defined / 23 Part II: What Motivates Altruism? 2: The Perspective of Psychological Egoism: A Sheep in Wolf ’s Clothing / 57 3: The Perspective of Evolutionary Biology: The Genetic Dynamics of Caring and Cooperation / 91 4: Psychological Perspectives: Nurturing Our Nature / 125 5: Philosophical Perspectives: Altruism and the Role of Reason / 165 6: Religious Perspectives: Altruism, Saints, and Believers / 201 Part III: How Does Altruism Work? 7: Cultivating Our Altruistic Identity / 233

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Book SynopsisThe Tanner Lectures on Human Values, founded July 1, 1978, at Clare Hall, Cambridge University, was established by the American scholar, industrialist, and philanthropist Obert Clark Tanner. Lectureships are awarded to outstanding scholars or leaders in broadly defined fields of human values and transcend ethnic, national, religious, or ideological distinctions. Volume 34 features lectures given during the academic year 2013 to 2014 at the University of Oxford; Stanford University; the University of Utah; and Yale University.Shami Chakrabarti, Liberty Organization (formerly National Council for Civil Liberties) “Human Rights as Human Values”Paul Gilroy, King’s College London “The Black Atlantic and Re-enchantment of Humanism”Bruno Latour, Institut d’etudes politiques (Sciences Po) Paris “How Better to Register the Agency of Things”Nicholas Lemann, Columbia University School of Journalism“The Turn Against Institutions” and “What Transactions Can’t Do”Andrew Solomon, Author “Love, Acceptance, Celebration: How Parents Make Their Children”Trade Review“I hope these lectures will contribute to the intellectual and moral life of mankind. I see them simply as a search for a better understanding of human behavior and human values. This understanding may be pursued for its own intrinsic worth, but it may also eventually have practical consequences for the quality of personal and social life.”—Obert Clark Tanner

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Book SynopsisThe Tanner Lectures on Human Values, founded July 1, 1978, at Clare Hall, Cambridge University, was established by the American scholar, industrialist, and philanthropist Obert Clark Tanner. Lectureships are awarded to outstanding scholars or leaders in broadly defined fields of human values, and transcend ethnic, national, religious, or ideological distinctions. Volume 27 features lectures given by Ruth Reichl, James Q. Wilson, Marshall Sahlins, David Brion Davis, Allan Gibbard, and Margaret H. Marshall.Table of ContentsDanielle Allen, Director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics and Professor of Government, Harvard University “Education and Equality” Elizabeth Anderson, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor and John Dewey Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy and Women’s Studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor “Liberty, Equality, and Private Government” Margaret Atwood, award-winning poet and novelist “Human Values in an Age of Change” Dipesh Chakrabarty, Lawrence A. Kimpton Distinguished Service Professor of History, South Asian Languages and Civilizations, The University of Chicago “The Human Condition in the Anthropocene” Ruth Bader Ginsburg “A Conversation with Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court” Philip Pettit, L.S. Rockefeller University Professor of Politics and Human Values at Princeton University “The Birth of Ethics” Eric L. Santner, Philip and Ida Romberg Distinguished Service Professor in Modern Germanic Studies at the University of Chicago “The Weight of All Flesh: On the Subject-Matter of Political Economy” Peter Singer, Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics in the University Center for Human Values “From Moral Neutrality to Effective Altruism: The Changing Scope and Significance of Moral Philosophy”

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Book SynopsisLowell Bennion, Sterling McMurrin, and Obert Tanner were colleagues whose lives often intertwined. All professors at the University of Utah, these three scholars addressed issues and events of their time; each influenced the thought and culture of Mormonism, helping to institute a period of intellectual life and social activism. In Conscience and Community multiple scholars, family members, and others look at the private and public aspects of three lives and examine the roles they played in shaping their communities inside and out of their university and church. Lowell Bennion was founding director of the LDS Institute of Religion and professor of sociology at the University of Utah. He established multiple community service entities. Sterling McMurrin was distinguished professor of philosophy and history, dean of the graduate school, and former commissioner of education under JFK. He dismissed dogma and doctrine as barriers to a search for moral and spiritual understanding. Obert Tanner, also of the university’s Philosophy Department, excelled in teaching and business and became especially well known for philanthropy. The lives and work of these three men reveal the tensions between faith and reason, conscience and obedience. Their stories speak to us today because their concerns remain our concerns: racial justice, women’s equality, gay rights, and the meaning of integrity and conscience.Trade Review“In the mid-twentieth century as the LDS Church slid into increasing xenophobia and anti-intellectualism, Sterling McMurrin, Obert Tanner, and Lowell Bennion raised underappreciated but eloquent voices. With robust liberalism, tough integrity, and loyalty to principle, they steadfastly called Mormonism back to its best self. The need for such voices now, in the disillusionment, violence, and fear of the early twenty-first century, is intense. These sparkling and insightful essays come at the right moment.” —Lavina Fielding Anderson, editor, Salt Lake City “Inspiring stories about three remarkable friends, teachers and mentors whose Mormon roots deeply influenced their commitment to culture and community. They succeeded in carving out a place within the LDS Church and yet beyond its reach.” —Grethe Peterson, Emeritus Director of the Tanner Lectures on Human Values “Conscience and Community is a delightful addition to the somewhat neglected field of Utah’s intellectual history and is a fascinating window into the lives of three men who shepherded Utah through a transition period from ideological isolationism into Utah’s full participation in the national marketplace of ideas.” —Utah Historical Quarterly “This collection of essays is a rich treat for historians interested in twentieth-century Mormon thought.…The questions raised by this volume and its contributions to our understanding of liberal Mormonism will reward the reader. The combination of scholarly analysis and personal reminiscences remind us that McMurrin, Tanner, and Bennion had a tremendous impact upon their students, friends, and family. Their lives represent a meeting place between non-Mormon and Mormon thought and reveal the creative process by which those strands are merged.” —Journal of Mormon History

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Book SynopsisAt the turn of the twentieth century, no other public intellectual was as celebrated in America as the influential philosopher and psychologist William James. Sought after around the country, James developed his ideas in lecture halls and via essays and books intended for general audiences. Reaching out to and connecting with these audiences was crucial to James—so crucial that in 1903 he identified “popular statement,” or speaking and writing in a way that animated the thought of popular audiences, as the “highest form of art.” Paul Stob’s thought-provoking history traces James’s art of popular statement through pivotal lectures, essays, and books, including his 1878 lectures in Baltimore and Boston, “Talks to Teachers on Psychology,” “The Varieties of Religious Experience,” and “Pragmatism.” The book explores James’s unique approach to public address, which involved crafting lectures in science, religion, and philosophy around ordinary people and their experiences. With democratic bravado, James confronted those who had accumulated power through various systems of academic and professional authority, and argued that intellectual power should be returned to the people. Stob argues that James gave those he addressed a central role in the pursuit of knowledge and fostered in them a new intellectual curiosity unlike few scholars before or since.

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Book SynopsisTo read literature is to read the way literature reads. René Girard’s immense body of work supports this thesis bountifully. Whether engaging the European novel, ancient Greek tragedy, Shakespeare’s plays, or Jewish and Christian scripture, Girard teaches us to read prophetically, not by offering a method he has developed, but by presenting the methodologies they have developed, the interpretative readings already available within (and constitutive of) such bodies of classical writing. In The Prophetic Law, literary scholar, theorist, and critic Sandor Goodhart divides his essays on René Girard since 1983 into four groupings. In three, he addresses Girardian concerns with Biblical scripture (Genesis and Exodus), literature (the European novel and Shakespeare), and philosophy and religious studies issues (especially ethical and Jewish subject matters). In a fourth section, he reproduces some of the polemical exchanges in which he has participated with others—including René Girard himself—as part of what could justly be deemed Jewish-Christian dialogue. The twelve texts that make up the heart of this captivating volume constitute the bulk of the author’s writings to date on Girard outside of his three previous books on Girardian topics. Taken together, they offer a comprehensive engagement with Girard’s sharpest and most original literary, anthropological, and scriptural insights.

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Book SynopsisA major survey on contemporary political art by Nato Thompson, curator.

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Book SynopsisThe author of more than 2,000 books and pamphlets, Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet, 1694-1778) was one of the most prolific writers of the eighteenth century, and also one of the wittiest and most insightful. This unique collection of over 800 of Voltaire’s wisest passages and choicest bons mots runs the gamut on topics from adultery to Zoroaster, in both English and French. Drawing from a wide range of his publications, private letters, and remarks recorded by his contemporaries, The Quotable Voltaire includes material never before gathered in a single volume. English translations appear alongside the original French, and each quote is thoroughly indexed and referenced, with page numbers for both the first known publication edition of each entry and the most recent edition of Voltaire’s works. The book also features over 400 quotes about Voltaire, including commentary by eighteenth-century luminaries like Samuel Johnson, Catherine the Great, Casanova, and John Adams, as well as an eclectic assortment of modern-day personages ranging from Winston Churchill and Jorge Luis Borges to Mae West and Mike Tyson. Lavishly illustrated with nearly three dozen images of Voltaire-related art, this collection opens with a scholarly essay that recounts the great man’s life and reflects on his outsized influence on Western culture. Whether you are a Voltaire scholar or a neophyte, The Quotable Voltaire is the perfect introduction to a brilliant mind. Trade Review"Voltaire was one of history's wittiest and most incisive writers. His championing of tolerance and freedom is more relevant to today's world than ever. The editors have compiled Voltaire's greatest remarks into a fascinating and inspiring volume. Anybody who is interested in quotations, which means pretty much everyone on the planet, should devour this book." -- Fred Shapiro * editor of the Yale Book of Quotations *“Garry Apgar and Edward Langille sifted through Voltaire’s voluminous correspondence and writings in order to compile this unique collection of material. Non-specialist readers will delight in Voltaire’s one-liners. Scholars in any number of fields will profit fromThe Quotable Voltaire on multiple levels, and will appreciate the precise bibliographical references and the contextual commentary accompanying many of the entries.” -- Servanne Woodward * editor of le Monde français du dix-huitième siècle *"Voltaire was one of history's wittiest and most incisive writers. His championing of tolerance and freedom is more relevant to today's world than ever. The editors have compiled Voltaire's greatest remarks into a fascinating and inspiring volume. Anybody who is interested in quotations, which means pretty much everyone on the planet, should devour this book." -- Fred Shapiro * editor of the Yale Book of Quotations *“Garry Apgar and Edward Langille sifted through Voltaire’s voluminous correspondence and writings in order to compile this unique collection of material. Non-specialist readers will delight in Voltaire’s one-liners. Scholars in any number of fields will profit fromThe Quotable Voltaire on multiple levels, and will appreciate the precise bibliographical references and the contextual commentary accompanying many of the entries.” -- Servanne Woodward * editor of le Monde français du dix-huitième siècle *

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