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Closest matches in the collection

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  Meditations

  74%

  Marcus Aurelius

  'Their icy blasts are refreshing and restorative. They tell you the worst. And having heard the worst, you feel less bad' Blake Morrison Written in Greek by the only Roman emperor who was also a philosopher, without any intention of publication, the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius offer a remarkable series of challenging spiritual reflections and exercises developed as the emperor struggled to understand himself and make sense of the universe. While the Meditations were composed to provide personal consolation and encouragement, Marcus Aurelius also created one of the greatest of all works of philosophy: a timeless collection that has been consulted and admired by statesmen, thinkers and readers throughout the centuries. Translated with notes by MARTIN HAMMOND with an Introduction by DISKIN CLAY

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  Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings

  74%

  Rene Descartes

  One of the foundation-stones of modern philosophy Descartes was prepared to go to any lengths in his search for certainty—even to deny those things that seemed most self-evident. In his Meditations of 1641, and in the Objections and Replies that were included with the original publication, he set out to dismantle and then reconstruct the idea of the individual self and its existence. In doing so, Descartes developed a language of subjectivity that has lasted to this day, and he also took his first steps towards the view that would eventually be expressed in the epigram Cogito, ergo sum ("I think, therefore I am"), one of modern philosophy's most famous—and most fiercely contested—claims. The first part of a two-volume edition of Descartes' works in Penguin Classics, the second of which is Discourse on Method & Related Writings. 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.

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  The Grateful Dead and Philosophy

  74%

  Steven Gimbel

  Twenty philosophical essays about the Grateful Dead phenomenon evaluates the bad, its lyrics, and its influence from a variety of ancient and modern perspectves to consider how it fits into broader trends of American thought. Original.

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  On the Genealogy of Morals

  73%

  Friedrich Nietzsche

  The companion book to Beyond Good and Evil, the three essays included here offer vital insights into Nietzsche's theories of morality and human psychology. Nietzsche claimed that the purpose of The Genealogy of Morals was to call attention to his previous writings. But in fact the book does much more than that, elucidating and expanding on the cryptic aphorisms of Beyond Good and Evil and signalling a return to the essay form. In these three essays, Nietzsche considers the development of ideas of 'good' and 'evil'; explores notions of guilt and bad consience; and discusses ascetic ideals and the purpose of the philosopher. Together, they form a coherent and complex discussion of morality in a work that is more accessible than some of Nietzsche's previous writings. Friedrich Nietzsche was born near Leipzig in 1844. When he was only twenty-four he was appointed to the chair of classical philology at Basel University. From 1880, however, he divorced himself from everyday life and lived mainly abroad. Works published in the 1880s include The Gay Science, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Beyond Good and Evil, On the Genealogy of Morals, Twilight of the Idols and The Antichrist. In January 1889, Nietzsche collapsed on a street in Turin and was subsequently institutionalized, spending the rest of his life in a condition of mental and physical paralysis. Works published after his death in 1900 include Will to Power, based on his notebooks, and Ecce Homo, his autobiography. Michael A. Scarpitti is an independent scholar of philosophy whose principal interests include English and German thought of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as well as exegesis and translation theory. Robert C. Holub is currently Ohio Eminent Scholar and Professor of German at the Ohio State University. Among his published works are monographs on Heinrich Heine, German realism, Friedrich Nietzsche, literary and aesthetic theory, and Jürgen Habermas.

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  Reason in Science

  73%

  George Santayana

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  Three Critiques

  73%

  Immanuel Kant

  Three Immanuel Kan Critiques now available as a 3-volume set: CRITIQUE OF PURE REASON; CRITIQUE OF PRACTICAL REASON and CRITIQUE OF JUDGMENT.

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  On Liberty, Utilitarianism, and Other Essays

  73%

  John Stuart Mill

  Collects four of the philosopher's essays on issues central to liberal democratic regimes. --Publisher.

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  Republic

  72%

  Plato

  The revised edition of Grube's classic translation follows and furthers Grube's noted success in combining fidelity to Plato’s text with natural readability, while reflecting the fruits of new scholarship and insights into Plato's thought since publication of the first edition in 1974. A new introduction, index, and bibliography by Professor Reeve are included in this new rendering.

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  Quiet Moments in a War

  71%

  Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone De Beauvoir

  In the companion volume to the acclaimed Witness of my Life, Jean-Paul Sartre reveals his life as a soldier, a German prisoner, and a man of Resistance through letters between himself and his “beloved Beaver,” Simone de Beauvoir. Quiet Moments in a War tells the story of Jean-Paul Sartre at the peak of his powers and renown through the exchanging of ideas and intimacies with Simone de Beauvoir from 1940 to 1963. In the pages of this book, readers will find details on Sartre’s war and his path to fame with the publication of his major works. From September 1939 to June 1940, Sartre wrote Beauvoir almost daily as he waited from the frontlines for a German attack. While it was a time of fear and uncertainty, it doubled as a time of great productivity for Sartre as he completed the novel The Age of Reason and sketched out Being and Nothingness. This collection of the letters between Sartre and Beauvoir completes the extraordinary correspondence of one of modern history’s most celebrated couples while documenting the emergence of a great intellectual figure.

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  Many Ways to Nirvana

  70%

  Dalai Lama

  Can an ordinary person with family responsibilities achieve Nirvana or Buddhahood? What should be the spiritual limit of ambition for a busy professional? How do you stay positive when confronted with environmental and human injustice? Answering these and a host of other questions from his most recent annual Dharma Celebration, His Holiness delivers a message about the paths to “right living” and the need to overcome negative emotions in order to develop one’s inner consciousness. Wise, compassionate, and always pragmatic, he offers advice on the many issues that confront us every day: how to free ourselves from emotional afflictions and petty cravings, how to transform anxiety into contentment, and how to initiate and keep alive interfaith dialogue in the troubled times we live in.

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  Sophocles' Antigone

  70%

  Sophocles

  English translation of Sophocles' tragic story of Antigone addresses civil disobedience and a moral imperative which supercedes human-created laws. The Focus Classical Library provides close translations with notes and essays to provide access to understanding Greek culture.

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  Civilization and Its Discontents

  69%

  Sigmund Freud

  The father of psychoanalysis presents his theories about the human conflict between individual desire and community wellbeing. Long before humans banded together in large groups, they followed their own primal instincts for survival. These acts of self-preservation are natural impulses that have been tamed by communal laws that restrict freedoms the rest of the animal kingdom enjoys. Forcing people to suppress personal desires for a group's greater good affects an individual's happiness, creating tension and resentment against societal structures. In Civilization and Its Discontents, Sigmund Freud explores how the development of cultural progress and unity—through political ideologies and religious moralities—hinders humankind's inclinations. People possess tendencies that clash with rules requiring them to be civil to neighbors and strangers: aggressive behaviors inherent in human nature that have no outlet once they've been nurtured through education and assimilation. Turning inward, we experience guilt and anxiety over these thoughts and urges, fearing punishment. Thought-provoking and insightful, Freud's examination of the neuroses caused by the struggle between independence and civilization remains an essential work in modern psychology.