Philosophy Books

Book SynopsisOne morning as they parted, Victor Menza’s daughter handed him a bunny postcard. This gift made him wonder why rabbits had been their symbol of visitation: “How did this kind of creature become such a powerful way of feeling your presence?” Through philosophy, history, education, art, and personal musing on everyday uncanny experiences, Menza reveals why people have long found rabbits our special kin and emblems of love. Menza considers human nature and how we are undone by separation—both from each other and from our childhood selves. Surprising allies in these non-traditional philosophical wanderings include Ludwig Wittgenstein, Elizabeth Bowen, Albert Murray, Beatrix Potter, Donald Winnicott, Sterling Stuckey, and Lev Vygotsky. Menza examines what symbols are and how they work, the value of dialect, and the subversive lesson of animal fables, alongside his thoughts on language learning, memory, and slavery. Only now did he see that he’d taken to Brer Rabbit early on. Just as the Uncle Remus tales displayed the small hero’s virtues in warm dialogues, The Rabbit Between Us shows we abound in talents and moves when we “lean like Socrates did to the Aesop in us.” Gentle and political at once, this unique book will appeal to any intellectually curious reader. Trade Review“Menza ... was a guru, a giant. He was a supernova. He was the only brilliant person I have ever met. I took his course by accident, and it changed my life. He had all these acolytes who would hang on his every word, and he knew it, so one day he came into class and he started in on something, and we were taking down everything, and he stopped and said: ‘Put your pens down. What I am saying is important.’” -- Peter Mose in "I Remember My Teacher" by David ShribmanTable of Contents1. Psychic Bolt-Holes2. Visitation3. I Never Saw Harvey4. What Is a Symbol 5. Down the Philosophical Rabbit-Hole; or, “GAVAGAI!”6. The Rabbit Evangels: Joel Chandler Harris and Beatrix Potter7. Obliterature8. How Children Get Cheated Out of Their Humanity9. The Rabbit between Us Came from Slavery10. Aubade with Brer Rabbit11. The Rabbit Dances

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Book SynopsisChivalry is a flower no less indigenous to the soil of Japan than cherry blossom are the opening words to Inazo Nitobe's Bushido. It was 1900 and Inazo, a Japanese academic living in the USA, had been prompted to write the book after an American professor had wondered how the Japanese imparted moral education on their children if schools didn't offer any religious instruction. The answer, Inazo realised, was through Bushido. Bushido is the chivalric code of moral principles that the Samurai followed: rectitude, courage, benevolence, respect, honesty, honour and loyalty. Influenced by Confucianism, Shinto and Zen Buddhism, it tempers the violence of a warrior with wisdom and serenity. Alongside Sun Tzu's The Art of War and Machiavelli's The Prince, Inazo's book has become influential among military and corporate leaders looking for ways to manage their people and overcome their opponents. Beautifully produced in a handy pocket format, Bushido: The Code

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Book SynopsisInside this philosophy-stuffed book are fifty fact-tastic ways to advance your thinking skills, so you'll never be scratching your head in bemusement ever again.Featuring the key philosophic principles of every philosopher you''ve heard of (and some you haven''t), from prominent ancient Greek thinkers such as Aristotle and Socrates to modern-day thinkers such as Bertrand Russell and Thomas Kuhn, Cool Philosophy is stuffed to the gills with amazing facts, tricks and stats to help you discover everything you need to know about what philosophy is in a way you'll never forget.Word count: 20,000

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Book SynopsisAristotle remains one of the most celebrated thinkers of all time in large part thanks to his incisive critical thinking skills. In Politics, which can be considered one of the foundational books of the western political tradition, the focus is on problem-solving, and particularly on the generation and evaluation of alternative possibilities.Aristotle’s aim, in Politics, is to determine how best to organize a society. He looks in turn at several different type of organization – kingship, oligarchy and the polity, or rule in the hands of many – and evaluates the arguments for each in turn. But he takes the exercise further than his predecessors had done. Having concluded that rule by the aristocracy would be preferable, since it would mean rule by citizens capable of taking decisions on behalf of the society as a whole, Aristotle subjects his solution to a further checking process, asking productive questions in order to make a sound decision between alternatives.Politics was ground-breaking in its approach. Unlike previous thinkers, Aristotle based all his ideas on a practical assessment of how they would play out in the real world. Ultimately, Aristotle argues, the problem of self-interest means that the adoption of a mixed constitution – one based on carefully considered laws which aims at a balance of power between the people and the elite – is most likely to bring eudaemonia (happiness). It’s a conclusion firmly based on careful evaluation (not least the process of judging the adequacy of arguments) and the product of outstanding problem-solving skills. Table of ContentsWays in to the Text Who was Aristotle? What does Politics Say? Why does Politics Matter? Section 1: Influences Module 1: The Author and the Historical Context Module 2: Academic Context Module 3: The Problem Module 4: The Author's Contribution Section 2: Ideas Module 5: Main Ideas Module 6: Secondary Ideas Module 7: Achievement Module 8: Place in the Author's Work Section 3: Impact Module 9: The First Responses Module 10: The Evolving Debate Module 11: Impact and Influence Today Module 12: Where Next? Glossary of Terms People Mentioned in the Text Works Cited

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Book SynopsisC.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity is a perfect example of one of the most effective aspects of critical thinking skills: the use of reasoning to build a strong, logical argument. ¶Lewis originally wrote the book as a series of radio talks given from 1942-1944, at the height of World War II. The talks were designed to lay out the most basic tenets of Christianity for listeners, and to use these to make a logical argument for Christian belief and Christian ethics. While Lewis was not an academically-trained theologian or philosopher (specializing instead in literature), his own experience of converting from atheism to Christianity, along with his wide reading and incisive questioning, power a charming but persuasive argument for his own beliefs. ¶Whether or not one agrees with Lewis’s arguments or shares his faith, Mere Christianity exemplifies one of the most useful aspects of good reasoning: accessibility. When using reasoning to construct a convincing argument, it is crucial that your audience follow you, and Lewis was a master at constructing well-organised arguments that are immediately understandable to readers. The beautifully written Mere Christianity is a masterclass in cogently walking an audience through an elegant and well thought-through piece of reasoning.Table of ContentsWays in to the Text Who was C.S. Lewis? What does Mere Christianity Say? Why does Mere Christianity Matter? Section 1: Influences Module 1: The Author and the Historical Context Module 2: Academic Context Module 3: The Problem Module 4: The Author's Contribution Section 2: Ideas Module 5: Main Ideas Module 6: Secondary Ideas Module 7: Achievement Module 8: Place in the Author's Work Section 3: Impact Module 9: The First Responses Module 10: The Evolving Debate Module 11: Impact and Influence Today Module 12: Where Next? Glossary of Terms People Mentioned in the Text Works Cited

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Book SynopsisMahmood Mamdani’s 1996 Citizen and Subject is a powerful work of analysis that lays bare the sources of the problems that plagued, and often still plague, African governments. Analysis is one of the broadest and most fundamental critical thinking skills, and involves understanding the structure and features of arguments. Mamdani’s strong analytical skills form the basis of an original investigation of the problems faced by the independent African governments in the wake of the collapse of the colonial regimes imposed by European powers such has Great Britain and France. It had long been clear that these newly-independent governments faced many problems – corruption, the imposition of anti-democratic rule, and many basic failures of day-to-day governance. They also tended to replicate many of the racially and ethnically prejudiced structures that were part of colonial rule. Mamdani analyses the many arguments about the sources of these problems, drawing out their hidden implications and assumptions in order to clear the way for his own creative new vision of the way to overcome the obstacles to democratization in Africa. A dense and brilliant analysis of the true nature of colonialism’s legacy in Africa, Mamdani’s book remains influential to this day. Table of ContentsWays in to the Text Who is Mamdani, Mahmood? What does Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism Say? Why does Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism Matter? Section 1: Influences Module 1: The Author and the Historical Context Module 2: Academic Context Module 3: The Problem Module 4: The Author's Contribution Section 2: Ideas Module 5: Main Ideas Module 6: Secondary Ideas Module 7: Achievement Module 8: Place in the Author's Work Section 3: Impact Module 9: The First Responses Module 10: The Evolving Debate Module 11: Impact and Influence Today Module 12: Where Next? Glossary of Terms People Mentioned in the Text Works Cited

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Book SynopsisWhat caused the rise of Chicago, and how did the city's expansion fuel the westward movement of the American frontier – and influence the type of society that evolved as a result? Nature's Metropolis emerged as a result of William Cronon asking and answering those questions, and the work can usefully be seen as an extended example of the critical thinking skill of problem-solving in action. Cronon navigates a path between the followers of Frederick Jackson Turner, author of the thesis that American character was shaped by the experience of the frontier, and revisionists who sought to suggest that the rugged individualism Turner depicted as a creation of life in the West was little but a fiction. For Cronon, the most productive question to ask was not whether or not men forged in the liberty-loving furnace of the Wild West had the sort of impact on America that Turner posited, but the quite different one of how capitalism and political economy had combined to drive the westward expansion of the US. For Cronon, individualism was scarcely even possible in a capitalist machine in which humans were little more than cogs, and the needs and demands of capital, not capitalists, prevailed. Nature's Metropolis, then, is a work in which the rise of Chicago is explained by generating alternative possibilities, and one that uses a rigorous study of the evidence to decide between competing solutions to the problem. It is also a fine work of interpretation, for a large part of Cronon's argument revolves around his attempt to define exactly what is rural, and what is urban, and how the two interact to create a novel economic force.Table of ContentsWays in to the Text Who was William Cronon? What does Nature's Metropolis: Chicago And The Great West Say? Why does What does Nature's Metropolis: Chicago And The Great West Matter? Section 1: Influences Module 1: The Author and the Historical Context Module 2: Academic Context Module 3: The Problem Module 4: The Author's Contribution Section 2: Ideas Module 5: Main Ideas Module 6: Secondary Ideas Module 7: Achievement Module 8: Place in the Author's Work Section 3: Impact Module 9: The First Responses Module 10: The Evolving Debate Module 11: Impact and Influence Today Module 12: Where Next? Glossary of Terms People Mentioned in the Text Works Cited

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Book SynopsisA History of the Moravian Church written by J. E. (John Edwin) Hutton is a definitive and scholarly exploration of the Moravian Church's rich and fascinating history. This work demonstrates Hutton's commitment to the study of religious movements and their impact on society. Hutton's book provides a complete history of the Moravian Church, officially known as the Unitas Fratrum, from its beginnings in the 15th century to its ongoing influence in the twentieth. The Moravian Church has a distinct history that may be traced back to Jan Hus, a reformer who challenged religious customs of his day. In A History of the Moravian Church, Hutton methodically researches and tells the tale of this extraordinary Christian denomination's development, beliefs, and customs. He investigates their concentration on missionary work, their particular community life, and their substantial contributions to the history of Protestantism in general. One of Hutton's enduring qualities is his ability to make difficult historical and theological issues understandable to readers. He offers insightful insights into the Moravian Church's theology, spirituality, and impact on the larger Christian world.

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Book SynopsisSaturday Night Thoughts is an idea-upsetting and reflective collection of essays through Orson F. Whitney, an outstanding leader, and theologian in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Published in the early twentieth century, this book offers readers a profound exploration of numerous philosophical, spiritual, and moral topics. Orson F. Whitney's essays in Saturday Night Thoughts delve into the complexities of existence, religion, and human lifestyles. He contemplates profound questions about the reason of life, the character of God, the significance of struggling, and the importance of moral standards. Whitney's writings reflect his deep religious insights and his commitment to addressing the existential questions that resonate with people of all backgrounds. One of the book's superb capabilities is its ability to bridge the distance between non-secular conviction and highbrow inquiry. Whitney's essays provide readers with an opportunity to engage with undying philosophical ideas in the context of his LDS faith, making this painting relevant to each religious and secular audiences. Saturday Night Thoughts is a testament to Orson F. Whitney's highbrow depth and his capacity to articulate complicated ideas in a clean and handy way. His writings maintain to encourage readers to ponder lifestyle's most profound questions and are seeking for which means and reason in their personal religious and philosophical journeys.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisThe Moral of the Story continues to make difficult concepts in moral philosophy comprehensible through storytelling and story analysis. To help students apply moral theories to the world around them, each chapter concludes with a section of Primary Readings with excerpts from classical and contemporary texts, along with a selection of Narratives, stories that illustrate the moral issues raised in the chapter. Study questions are included throughout. New examples from popular culture, current events, and television shows and movies (e.g. The Last of Us, Black Mirror) are examined to explore chapter themes and reinforce the daily relevance of the moral and ethical questions that are raised.

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Book SynopsisWhat makes me, me – and you, you? What is this thing called ‘love’? Does life have a point? Is ‘no’ the right answer to this question? Philosophy transports us from the wonderful to the weird, from the funny to the very serious indeed. With the aid of tall stories, jokes, fascinating insights and common sense, Peter Cave offers a comprehensive survey of all areas of philosophy, addressing the big puzzles in ethics and politics, metaphysics and knowledge, religion and the emotions, aesthetics and logic. Replete with a smorgasbord of amusing and mind-boggling examples, The Big Think Book is perfect for anyone who delights in life’s conundrums. Trade Review"Now we can all be philosophers. Engaging and mentally stimulating." * New Scientist on Do Llamas Fall in Love? *"Britain's wittiest philosopher." * Raymond Tallis *

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Book SynopsisReforming Modernity is a sweeping intellectual history and philosophical reflection built around the work of the philosopher Abdurrahman Taha. Wael B. Hallaq explores how Taha’s philosophical project sheds light on recent intellectual currents in the Islamic world and puts forth a formidable critique of Western and Islamic modernities.Trade ReviewReforming Modernity is the first work that examines an under-researched contemporary Arab philosopher and his unprecedented philosophical project from the Islamic tradition, a project that presents a staunch critique of both Arab-Islamic discourses of reform as well as a staunch critique of European-American (i.e. “Western”) modernity and its malaise since the Enlightenment. Reforming Modernity, written by an international scholar on an influential philosopher, is original, timely, and a needed contribution to the field. -- Mohammed Hashas, Fondazione per le Scienze Religiose Giovanni XXIIIThe English-speaking world needs to discover the work of Abdurrahman Taha, one of the most important Muslim philosophers of our postcolonial time. Wael B. Hallaq proves himself as a profound, rigorous reader and interlocutor in Reforming Modernity, which brilliantly manifests the Moroccan thinker’s oeuvre. -- Souleymane Bachir Diagne, author of Open to Reason: Muslim Philosophers in Conversation with the Western TraditionThis is a fascinating book. Abdurrahman Taha is one of the Arab world’s best grounded and most daring thinkers, and Wael B. Hallaq’s book gives a comprehensive overview of his thought. Taha knows his Kant as well as his Ghazali, and his critique of modernity—both Western and Arab—is pitiless. He goes on to propose an Islamic modernity, Qur’ānic and ethical. Since Hallaq provides interpretation as well as exposition, this book is also part of Hallaq’s own ongoing (and equally fascinating) project of critique and reconstruction. -- Mark Sedgwick, author of Against the Modern World: Traditionalism and the Secret Intellectual History of the Twentieth CenturyIn Reforming Modernity, Wael B. Hallaq proves to be an ideal guide through the dense logic and complex language of Abdurrahman Taha, perhaps the most original Muslim philosopher of ethics and modernity unknown in the English-speaking world. Taha posits nothing less than the self-sufficiency of Islamic moral philosophy, yet his is a project at once critical of and open to other philosophies rather than mired in the futile pursuit of an Islam purged of “foreign influence.” A critical and sympathetic reader, Hallaq scrutinizes the content of these arguments, the way they are made, and how they unfold. The effect is not only to make Taha’s thought accessible, but also to invite readers to dwell within its texture and richness. Few scholars aside from Hallaq have the depth and breadth of knowledge to accomplish such a feat; we are indebted to him. -- Roxanne L. Euben, University of PennsylvaniaReforming Modernity is another great success of Hallaq. Indeed, if Hallaq is indebted to Taha having given new blood to his philosophical project, Taha ought to be indebted to Hallaq having widened his readership by introducing him accurately to the English audience. * Journal of Islamic Ethics *Recommended. * Choice *Table of ContentsCitation Method and Abbreviated TitlesPreface and AcknowledgmentsIntroduction 1. “Rethinking the Islamic Tradition”: A Conceptual Framework 2. The Spirit of Modernity 3. Islamic Applications of Modernity’s Spirit4. Recasting Reason5. Religion, Secularism, Ethics: A Concept of Critique6. Sovereignty, Ethical Management, and TrusteeshipEpilogue: A New Concept of the HumanAppendix: Taha Responding Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis book originated as lectures for a course on political philosophy that Rawls taught regularly at Harvard University in the 1980s. In time the lectures became a restatement of his theory of justice as fairness, revised in light of his more recent papers and his treatise Political Liberalism (1993).Trade ReviewJustice as Fairness is a concise, self-contained, and up to date presentation of Rawls' views...While Justice as Fairness does not present any theoretical departures from Political Liberalism, it deals with important topics Rawls never fully addressed before such as Marx's critique of liberalism and the moral short-comings of welfare state capitalism...Rawls' long-time readers will also be pleased to find that Justice as Fairness includes careful replies to Sandel, Sen, Okin and other critics on issues ranging from health care to the legal status of gender differences. -- Robert Briscoe * Boston Book Review *Rawls is one of the two or three most important political thinkers of the 20th century. His accounts of 'justice as fairness' and of 'political liberalism' are among the most widely discussed and cited in the field of political philosophy...[Justice as Fairness] provides an integrated statement of his political theory, drawing together and presenting in a unified way, and for the first time, the major arguments and both strands of his work. Even though it is a challenging volume, it will no doubt be the principal introduction to his thinking...An essential text. -- J. D. Moon * Choice *There have been millions of words written about A Theory of Justice and many articles and several books by Rawls defending and expanding its doctrines. Justice as Fairness will almost certainly be the last of these, and it should take its place as the best and most comprehensive statement of Rawls's eventual position. It is an exemplary work in every way. Rawls's own virtues shine through. He follows the argument where it leads. He listens to his critics and acknowledges his supporters; he gives way when it is necessary, but remains firm where he can take a stand. Anybody convinced that political thought is all about disguised power, or rhetoric, or ideology in the bad sense of the word, should confront this book. -- Simon Blackburn * Times Literary Supplement *Table of ContentsEditor's Foreword Preface Part I Fundamental Ideas 1. Four Roles of Political Philosophy 2. Society as a Fair System of Cooperation 3. The Idea of a Well-Ordered Society 4. The Idea of a Basic Structure 5. Limits to Our Inquiry 6. The Idea of the Original Position 7. The Idea of Free and Equal Persons 8. Relations between the Fundamental Ideas 9. The Idea of Public Justification 10. The Idea of Reflective Equilibrium 11. The Idea of an Overlapping Consensus Part II Principles of Justice 12. Three Basic Points 13. Two Principles of Justice 14. The Problem of Distributive Justice 15. The Basic Structure as Subject: First Kind of Reason 16. The Basic Structure as Subject: Second Kind of Reason 17. Who Are the Least Advantaged? 18. The Difference Principle: Its Meaning 19. Objections via Counterexamples 20. Legitimate Expectations, Entitlement, and Desert 21. On Viewing Native Endowments as a Common Asset 22. Summary Comments on Distributive Justice and Desert Part III The Argument from the Original Position 23. The Original Position: The Set-Up 24. The Circumstances of Justice 25. Formal Constrains and the Veil of Ignorance 26. The Idea of Public Reason 27. First Fundamental Comparison 28. The Structure of the Argument and the Maximum Rule 29. The Argument Stressing the Third Condition 30. The Priority of the Basic Liberties 31. An Objection about Aversion to Uncertainty 32. The Equal Basic Liberties Revisited 33. The Argument Stressing the Second Condition 34. Second Fundamental Comparison: Introduction 35. Grounds Falling under Publicity 36. Grounds Falling under Reciprocity 37. Grounds Falling under Stability 38. Grounds against the Principle of Restricted Utility 39. Comments on Equality 40. Concluding Remarks Part IV Institutions of a Just Basic Structure 41. Property-Owning Democracy: Introductory Remarks 42. Some Basic Contrasts between Regimes 43. Ideas of the Good in Justice as Fairness 44. Constitutional versus Procedural Democracy 45. The Fair Value of the Equal Political Liberties 46. Denial of the Fair Value for Other Basic Liberties 47. Political and Comprehensive Liberalism: A Contrast 48. A Note on Head Taxes and the Priority of Liberty 49. Economic Institutions of a Property-Owning Democracy 50. The Family as a Basic Institution 51. The Flexibility of an Index of Primary Goods 52. Addressing Marx's Critique of Liberalism 53. Brief Comments on Leisure Time Part V The Question of Stability 54. The Domain of the Political 55. The Question of Stability 56. Is Justice as Fairness Political in the Wrong Way? 57. How Is Political Liberalism Possible? 58. An Overlapping Consensus Not Utopian 59. A Reasonable Moral Psychology 60. The Good of Political Society Index

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisNeuroscience, in replacing the old model of the brain as a single centralized source of control, has emphasized 'plasticity,' the quality by which our brains develop and change throughout the course of our lives. This book develops a radical meaning for plasticity.Trade Review"The mind is a mirror; a projector; a computer; an economy; it is a self-creating ecology, a wheat field blown by a correspondent breeze. While Catherine Malabou can appreciate the power of a fast-branching metaphor, she begins with the observation that we, the ones who possess the minds that make the metaphors, are mostly disconnected from cognitive systems. Malabou, instead of offering yet another application of research on the brain to yet another sub-discipline, offers a perspective on the field. Instead of rigid determinism, she looks at plasticity, the ability of brains to adapt, to sculpt forms, to embody history, but also to undo past formations, at times explosively. Instead of finding reasons to go on mindlessly accumulating, connecting, and distributing, Malabou hints at what history might become if we are able, as a society, to step back from our necessary but flawed metaphors and become conscious of the brain." CHECK BEFORE CHANGING OR "The mind is a mirror; a projector; a computer; an economy; it is a self-creating ecology, a wheat field blown by a correspondent breeze. Catherine Malabou appreciates the power of a fast-branching metaphor, but she also knows that we are the ones who possess the minds that make the metaphors. Malabou, instead of offering yet another application of research on the brain to yet another sub-discipline, offers a perspective. Instead of rigid determinism, she looks at plasticity, the ability of brains to adapt, to sculpt forms, to embody history, but also to undo past formations, at times explosively. Instead of finding reasons to go on mindlessly accumulating, connecting, and distributing, Malabou hints at what history might become if we are able, as a society, to step back from our necessary but flawed metaphors and become conscious of the brain." -- -Joseph Tabbi author of Cognitive Fictions "As a rule, neuroscientists avoid two things like a vampire avoids garlic: any links to European metaphysics, political engagement and reflection upon the social conditions which gave rise to their science. Catherine Malabou does exactly this: she provides a Hegelian reading of neurosciences, based on the concept of plasticity, and she reflects upon the uncanny parallels between the model of human mind proposed by neuroscientists and the structure of today's capitalism. For this alone - not to mention a genuine and highly qualified contribution to neuroscience itself - the book is a phenomenal achievement." -- -Slavoj Zizek University of Ljubljana "Malabou dares to articulate powerfully an inchoate feeling that many share, but few have so far given sufficient expression: the sense that, despite all the exciting advances and insights into the functioning of the brain, the predominant narratives that are routinely spun, the stories that are being told about neuronal organization are remarkably lacking in spirit, creativity, or possibility." -Journal of Consciousness Studies

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Book SynopsisAn imagination of possibilities, of miscalculations, of futures off-kilter “Probability is a chimera, its head is true, its tail a suggestion. Futurologists attempt to compel the head to eat the tail (ouroboros). Here, though, we will try to wag the tail.” —Vilém Flusser Two years after his Vampyroteuthis Infernalis, the philosopher Vilém Flusser engaged in another thought experiment: a collection of twenty-two “scenarios for the future” to be produced as computer-generated media, or technical images, that would break the imaginative logjam in conceiving the social, political, and economic future of the universe. What If? is not just an “impossible journey” to which Flusser invites us in the first scenario; it functions also as a distorting mirror held up to humanity. Flusser’s disarming scenarios of an Anthropocene fraught with nightmares offer new visions that range from the scientific to the fantastic to the playful and whimsical. Each essay reflects our present sense of understanding the world, considering the exploitation of nature and the dangers of global warming, overpopulation, and blind reliance on the promises of scientific knowledge and invention. What If? offers insight into the radical futures of a slipstream Anthropocene that have much to do with speculative fiction, with Flusser’s concept of design as “crafty” or slippery, and with art and the immense creative potential of failure versus reasonable, “good” computing or calculability. As such, the book is both a warning and a nudge to imagine what we may yet become and be.Trade Review"While the universe Flusser created with his previous book, Vampyroteuthis Infernalis, explores a single alternate lifeworld coherent in its mirroring of the human species by a cephalopod, each scenario in What If? suggests a variety of new ideas, given the speculative, projecting nature of their setting—in the best and most creative sense of ‘what if’—in the past, the present, or the future."—from the IntroductionTable of ContentsIntroduction: What If? Into the Slipstream of Flusser’s “Field of Possibilities”Anke FingerFirst Scenario: What If . . .Part I. Scenes from Family LifeSecond Scenario: GrandmotherThird Scenario: GrandfatherFourth Scenario: Great UncleFifth Scenario: BrothersSixth Scenario: SonSeventh Scenario: GrandchildrenEighth Scenario: Great-GrandchildrenPart II. Scenes from Economic LifeNinth Scenario: Economic MiracleTenth Scenario: Foreign AidEleventh Scenario: Mechanical EngineeringTwelfth Scenario: AgricultureThirteenth Scenario: Chemical IndustryFourteenth Scenario: Animal HusbandryPart III. Scenes from PoliticsFifteenth Scenario: WarSixteenth Scenario: Aural ObedienceSeventeenth Scenario: Perpetual PeaceEighteenth Scenario: RevolutionNineteenth Scenario: Parliamentary DemocracyTwentieth Scenario: Aryan ImperialismTwenty-First Scenario: Black Is BeautifulPart IV. ShowdownTwenty-Second Scenario: A BreatherAfterwordKenneth GoldsmithAcknowledgmentsNotes

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Book SynopsisCopleston, an Oxfor d Jesuit and specialist in the history of philosophy, created his history as an introduction for Catholic ecclesiastical seminaries. The 11-volume series gives an accessible account of each philosopher's philosophers.

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Book SynopsisThough the revised edition of A Theory of Justice, published in 1999, is the definitive statement of John Rawls’s view, much of the extensive literature on his theory refers to the first edition. This reissue makes it once again available for scholars and serious students of Rawls’s work.Trade ReviewJohn Rawls draws on the most subtle techniques of contemporary analytic philosophy to provide the social contract tradition with what is, from a philosophical point of view at least, the most formidable defense it has yet received…[and] makes available the powerful intellectual resources and the comprehensive approach that have so far eluded antiutilitarians. -- Marshall Cohen * New York Times Book Review *The most substantial and interesting contribution to moral philosophy since the war. -- Stuart Hampshire * New York Review of Books *I mean...to press my recommendation of [this book] to non-philosophers, especially those holding positions of responsibility in law and government. For the topic with which it deals is central to this country's purposes, and the misunderstanding of that topic is central to its difficulties. -- Peter Caws * New Republic *

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Book SynopsisLost in Ideology maps the ideological terrain of the past 200 years and asks whether the current disorientation engulfing the world's liberal democracies is in no small part ideological in origin.

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Book SynopsisYou are not your thoughts! Learn how to overcome negative thinking habits and self-doubt so you can experience more confidence, freedom, and peace of mind.When you understand how your mind works, unhelpful and noisy thoughts move to the background, and your awareness shifts to something quieter and deeper. This is true peace of mind. And it's not some unattainable goal reserved for the most enlightened among us. Anyone can experience it. This book will show you how!From life coach and psychologist Amy Johnson, this user-friendly guide offers a no-willpower approach informed by ancient wisdom and modern neuroscience to help you change your negative thinking habits, make peace with your inner critic, and experience more self-confidence and freedom than you ever thought possible.Our minds are hardwired to expect the worst. They love to replay the past and predict the future. They have strong opinions that feel solid and meaningful, but are always changing and contradicting themselves. When we think our thoughts define who we are, we suffer. But when we see the truth-and we glimpse the space that lies beyond those self-created stories-we suffer far less. This book will help you glimpse that truth, and use it to find lasting peace.

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Book SynopsisAppendices Biografia de su A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Referencias bibliograficas Glosario Guiadel alfabeto y prounciacion del sanscrito Indice de versos sanscritos Indice alfabetico Direcciones

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Book SynopsisŽižek as comedian: jokes in the service of philosophy.“A serious and good philosophical work could be written consisting entirely of jokes.”—Ludwig WittgensteinThe good news is that this book offers an entertaining but enlightening compilation of Žižekisms. Unlike any other book by Slavoj Žižek, this compact arrangement of jokes culled from his writings provides an index to certain philosophical, political, and sexual themes that preoccupy him. Žižek's Jokes contains the set-ups and punch lines—as well as the offenses and insults—that Žižek is famous for, all in less than 200 pages.So what's the bad news? There is no bad news. There's just the inimitable Slavoj Žižek, disguised as an impossibly erudite, politically incorrect uncle, beginning a sentence, “There is an old Jewish joke, loved by Derrida...“ For Žižek, jokes are amusing stories that

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Book SynopsisA 3-volume set that includes: "Critique of Pure Reason"; "Critique of Practical Reason"; and, "Critique of Judgment".Trade ReviewOn Critique of Pure Reason : The text rendered by Pluhar is the work of an expert translator. . . the virtues of his text are manifold; his translation exhibits an incontrovertible mastery of both English and German. Equally important is the fact that Pluhar has given the original a very close read during the act of translating. . . . Pluhar consistently resists the tendency to translate woodenly word-for-word. . . . In point of fact, accuracy of translation stands in no direct relation to literalness; it is much more a product of meticulous textual reading and skilful writing, and in this respect Pluhar has no modern equals in English Kant translation. --James Jakob Fehr, Kant-StudienOn Critique of Judgment : Pluhar maintains a fine, even tone throughout. . . . Those who have found the prospect of teaching the third Critique daunting will admire its clarity. . . . No one will be disappointed. --Timothy Sean Quinn, The Review of Metaphysics

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Book SynopsisThe world is encountering multiple crises - climate, droughts, floods, energy, food, and pandemics, to name a few. We have a problem, this is the solution.Capitalism and Crises is about how capitalism can fix them - how it can solve not cause them. The reason why it has caused them is that we have misconceived the nature of our capitalist system. We have failed to understand the key institution at the heart of it - business - and as a result we have allowed it to cause as well as solve problems. This book describes why this has happened and what needs to change to address it: it will take you through how the capitalist system operates, where it fails and why, and it will demonstrate that at the core of the problem is the key driver of capitalism and that is profit - the way in which we resource and reward those who run the system. Currently, profit comes from causing as well as solving problems. It must not, if we are to prevent the problems. Drawing on history, philosophy, psycTrade ReviewColin Mayer has been an influential voice in the debate about corporate purpose for many years. In this new book, he tackles the problem of how to rethink the entire capitalist system. His core argument - that we should seek to solve the problems of people and planet in a profitable way - is simple and profound. There are no easy fixes, but this important and carefully-argued book provides individuals, businesses and policymakers a practical route to progress. * - Julian Birkinshaw, Vice Dean and Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, London Business School *The refrain throughout this remarkable book is solving problems for others and not causing problems for others. That is a theme that will resonate with entrepreneurs in early-stage companies who in my observation are passionate about solving problems. Drawing on rich wisdom from a career of helping firms to define and realise their purpose, Colin Mayer moves the agenda from companies simply maximising shareholder value to companies promoting wider prosperity. Everyone who wants to understand this transition and participate in it should read this. * - Andrew Briggs, Emeritus Professor of Nanomaterials, University of Oxford *In this ambitious and insightful book, Colin Mayer untangles some of capitalism's intrinsic problems and offers some detailed proposals to tackle them. Moreover, he introduces the relevance of moral principles back into economics and business and develops the organizational architecture for corporate purpose. The outcome is a very compelling framework on how companies can be governed and managed, how investors should broaden their responsibilities, and how governments can contribute to more prosperous societies. Colin Mayer's book makes a very unique and relevant contribution to the discussion on reinventing capitalism. * - Jordi Canals, IESE Foundation Professor of Corporate Governance, IESE Business School *Reviving Adam Smith's real legacy, this book is a tour de force of one of the most astute thinkers of our time. Colin Mayer's sophisticated and fascinating multi-disciplinary study harshly criticizes contemporary capitalism and develops the notion of problem-solving capitalism as an inspiring alternative. Combining learning and experience, integrity and courage, Mayer urges us to reform the way we conceptualize and regulate the financial system and, most fundamentally, the ownership and governance of firms. While his bold vision is radical, this insightful book shows that this ideal is also practical: firms can and should incur the full costs of the problems they create and profit only from the solutions they produce. * Hanoch Dagan, Professor of Law and Director, Berkeley Center for Private Law Theory, University of California Berkeley Law School *This is a remarkable and profoundly insightful book on both the huge strengths of capitalism as a means of delivering what we want, but also its current massive failures. Based on a wealth of experience, the book is crystal clear in proposing how to transform the capitalist system so as to avoid such crises by a combination of systems thinking and a radical program of values-based action. This will promote human well-being and justice through a reformulated Golden Rule embodied in corporate law and governance. This important book is highly recommended. * - George Ellis, Emeritus Professor of Complex Systems in the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics at the University of Cape Town *Mayer provides a compelling journey that documents the baleful consequences when business pursues profit as an end to itself rather than as a means to address societal and ecological problems. He goes on to offer a roadmap to escape from this trap, including a welcome emphasis on the responsibility of the educational system to help shape a socially productive rather than destructive business system. * - Geoffrey Jones, Isidor Straus Professor of Business History, Harvard Business School *As Adam Smith was the Father of Capitalism in the 18th Century, Colin Mayer is the Grandfather in the 21st Century, restoring Capitalism to its central and essential role in society today and in the future. Capitalism and Crises is the third book in the trilogy that is the foundation for the future study of Capitalism and for the adoption of laws and approved practices. It provides a clear, actionable, and timely roadmap for management teams and boards of directors to take into account their impacts on employees, the environment, customers, suppliers, and local and national communities. Meticulously researched, Capitalism and Crises is essential reading for business leaders and investment stewards seeking creative solutions for confronting the pressing corporate and societal questions of our time. * - Martin Lipton, Founding Partner, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz *In Capitalism and Crises: How to Fix Them, Colin Mayer completes a triptych of books - along with Firm Commitment and Prosperity - which exposes a central problem at the heart of contemporary business civilization: an unhealthy obsession with profits über alles. His proposed "fixes" ring convincingly in the tones and traditions of our greatest moralists who are also economists, such as Adam Smith. * Eric W. Orts, Guardsmark Professor of Legal Studies & Business Ethics, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania *Professor Mayer has provided a master class in why we must, and how we can, reform our capitalist system. By suggesting a reformulation of the 'Golden Rule', he guides the reader to a new framework for the role of business in society. He provides provocative, inspiring, and motivational ideas. This book is for anyone interested in true system change. * Lynn Forester de Rothschild, Chief Executive of E.L. Rothschild LLC *This book is the culmination of thinking over a brilliant career, and it comes just in time. It provides profound but practical ideas for addressing the underlying issues that are creating an ongoing set of crises. The most pressing and overarching one in the U.S. is a culture war based on extreme political polarization. Professor Mayer's book explains why this polarization exists and the transformation in capitalism he calls for should resonate on both the left and the right. * Robert Eccles, Visiting Professor of Management Practice, Said Business School, University of Oxford and Retired Professor of Management Practice, Harvard Business School *We are failing to address the now existential problems of people and planet - our economies and our businesses are not currently designed to address these problems. Colin Mayer's book is an important contribution to the debate about how to ensure that this design problem is addressed. It should also be a salutary reminder to all of us of the urgency to do so. * Colm Kelly, Global Leader Corporate Sustainability, PwC International Ltd *In this passionately argued and deeply intriguing book, Professor Colin Mayer argues that one key to addressing our current crises is to redefine 'profit' to include the costs that firms routinely impose on the natural world on those around them. Drawing on organizational theory, law, finance and politics, and ranging across a wide range of concrete examples, Mayer suggests that such a change would profoundly reorient our economic system to the benefit of the many rather than the few. * Rebecca Henderson, John and Natty McArthur University Professor, Harvard Business School *Both in his books and in his career, Mayer has always sought ways to put his wisdom into practice, provoking complacent businesspeople and policymakers to think again... This is a book of philosophy as much as it is an analysis of how economics, accounting measures and corporate governance might bend to this overarching law. Mayer writes, as ever, with clarity, but he does not dumb his argument down. * Andrew Hill, Financial Times *A work that is not just thought-provoking but also includes clear recommendations for change... Mayer might not have all the answers - who does? - but his latest addition to a well-argued examination of the cause of our ills and how we might yet escape them deserves to play a part in forming some future leader's manifesto. * Roger Trapp, Forbes *Table of ContentsThe Problem 1: The System 2: The Challenge The Duty 3: The Moral Law 4: The Role of Law The Method 5: Owning the Problem 6: Leading Solutions The Prize 7: Valuing the Invaluable 8: Just Profit The Commitment 9: Financing Equity 10: Our Common Purpose The End Acknowledgements Further Readings

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Book SynopsisJulietta Singh challenges the drive toward the mastery over self and others by showing how the forms of self-mastery advocated by anticolonial thinkers like Fanon and Gandhi unintentionally reproduced colonial logic, thereby leading her to argue for a more productive human subjectivity that is not centered on concepts of mastery.Trade Review"A deft intervention in several different fields, Unthinking Mastery powerfully examines the insidious ways that the legacies of colonialism have infiltrated critical conversations in affect, queer, and ecocritical studies." -- Melinda Backer * ASAP/Journal *"Singh’s work stands out in its truly transdisciplinary approach and simultaneous mobilization of feminist, posthuman, and decolonial thought." -- Justyna Poary-Wybranowska * Contemporary Women's Writing *"While the approach of Unthinking Mastery is clearly interdisciplinary, the author turns foremost to the field of comparative literature to unravel forms of systemic dehumanizing violence that become obvious in forms of embodiment and language/narration. ... Her engagement not only touches on feminist and queer theories but also provides a powerful interconnection between environmental and postcolonial studies." -- Monika Jaeckel * Anthropocenes *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments vii Introduction. Reading against Mastery 1 1. Decolonizing Mastery 29 2. The Language of Mastery 65 3. Posthumanitarian Fictions 95 4. Humanimal Dispossessions 121 5. Cultivating Discomfort 149 Coda. Surviving Mastery 171 Notes 177 References 187 Index 197

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisAlain de Botton is the author of the international bestsellers, How Proust Can Change Your Life, The Art of Travel and Religion for Atheists, and other books that try to throw light on the big challenges of our lives. He is the founder of Living Architecture, a social enterprise which gets top architects to build holiday homes for rental by anyone. He is also founder of The School of Life, for which this series has been designed.The School of Life is a London-based enterprise that is dedicated to the most useful ideas relevant to the dilemmas of everyday life. We consider questions like: How can we fulfil our potential? Can work be inspiring? Why does community matter? Can relationships last a lifetime? We don't have all the answers, but we will direct you towards a variety of useful ideas from philosophy to literature, psychology to the visual arts that are guaranteed to stimulate, provoke, nourish and console.Trade ReviewIntelligent, non-self-helpy, yet immensely helpful guides to modern living. * New York Times *The School of Life offers radical ways to help us raid the treasure trove of human knowledge. * Independent on Sunday *

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Book SynopsisFrederick Copleston was born in Somerset in 1907. After studying at Oxford, he held a number of academic posts, including Professor of the History of Philosophy and Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy at London University. He died in 1994.

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewEric Watkins has done a fine job of abridging the Critique to a manageable size while preserving those sections most often assigned in a survey course, including enough of the Analytic to provide a continuous argument. Students will get a good sense of the whole from the parts he includes. I recommend it enthusiastically. --Kenneth R. Winkler, Wellesley College

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