Philosophy Books

Book SynopsisA quirky, off-beat take on philosophers and their palates, tracing the food obsessions of philosophers from Diogenes to Sartre, Appetites for Thought guides us around the philosophers' banquet table with erudition, wit and irreverence.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Danish philosopher, theologian and author Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) is widely considered to be one of the most important religious thinkers of the modern age. He is known as the `father of existentialism', but his work was also influential on theories of modernism, theology, Western culture, church politics and the Christian faith. His wit, imagination and humour have inspired a generation of followers from Franz Kafka to Woody Allen. But how did this inattentive schoolboy rise to critique the work of great thinkers such as Hegel and the German Romantics? Who was the unusual person writing behind the many pseudonyms? And in what way are Kierkegaard's concepts still relevant today? In this absorbing new biography Alastair Hannay unravels the mystery of Soren Kierkegaard's short but momentous career. Kierkegaard's key concepts and major works are described alongside the major incidents in his private and public life, from his longing for selfhood expressed at the age of 22, to a verbal assault on the Church in the months prior to his early death at the age of 42. Soren Kierkegaard is a story of a man destined to become a thorn in the side of society.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn this thought-provoking book, Peter Moore examines the often overlooked issues concerning human mortality, the fragile ways in which the dead can be said to "live on" in earthly terms: through their children, their work, the memories of others, their possessions, and even their bodies. Such earthly immortalities raise a host of fascinating questions about our attitudes toward life, and toward the world we leave behind us when we die. To what extent does the meaning we find in our lives depend upon the assumption there will always be a new generation to continue the human adventure? What would it be like if science were able to extend life indefinitely, and is this something already enshrined in the doctrine of reincarnation? Can we solve our anxieties about mortality by learning that life is worth living precisely because we do not live forever? In a generous and eloquent account, these and more are the questions Earthly Immortalities seeks to answer.'[Moore is] an intensely arresting thinker, and for this alone, Earthly Immortalities is necessary reading.' — Antonella Gambotto-Burke, The Weekend Australian

Read more less

Book SynopsisReceived by the British press with equal acclaim and indignation, this book sets out to define and defend high culture against the world of pop, corn, and popcorn. It shows just why culture matters in an age without faith and gives an extended argument against the "post-modernist" world view.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis collection of nine papers brings together many of Geach's thoughts on such wide topics as resurrection, deductive proof of the existence of God, God's role in ethics, materialism, and the relation of time and prayer. The first three papers are concerned with the survival of the soul after death and what form such survival might take. This includes Geach's argument against materialism in "What Do We Think With?" Two further papers are concerned with arguments about existance, and the remaining papers concern natural theology.

Read more less

Book SynopsisPresents two essays by Eric Voegelin, arguably one of the most influential political philosophers of the last century. In these essays, Voegelin contends that certain modern movements, including positivism, Hegelianism, Marxism, and the God is dead school, are variants of the gnostic tradition he identified in The New Science of Politics.

Read more less

Book SynopsisAs historical processes increasingly become steeped in technology, it becomes more necessary for a discipline to emerge that is capable of comprehending these materialities to better understand the fields they inundate such as science, art, and warfare. This effort is further compromised by the inherent complexity and complete arbitrariness of technical languages—especially when they are algorithmic—along with the rapid pace in which they become obsolete, unintelligible, or simply forgotten. The Turing Machine plays a central role in the Archaeology of Algorithmic Artefacts, wherein the gradual developments of the individual components encompassed by this complex technology are placed within the context of engineering sciences and the history of inventions. This genealogy also traces the origin of the computer in mathematics, meta-mathematics, combinatorics, cryptology, philosophy, and physics. The investigations reveal that the history of apparatuses that process signs is in no way limited to the second half of the twentieth century; rather, it is possible they existed at all times and in all cultures.Trade Review"Aficionados of computing history will find this book very appealing."—CHOICE

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less