Three essential philosophers on the nature of reality, the health of the human body, and the meaning of history. Science and Philosophy: An essential introduction to Alfred North Whitehead’s life and philosophy. From personal reflections to his groundbreaking essay “Process and Reality” to an enlightening discussion of Einstein’s theories, Science and Philosophy is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand one of the modern world’s greatest thinkers. The Preservation of Youth: Capitalizing on his experience as a physician as well as his knowledge of classical and medieval principles of healing, Moses Maimonides provides a comprehensive theory of wellbeing. In this work he addresses common medical conditions including asthma, diabetes, hepatitis, and pneumonia, and makes recommendations on diet and exercise, sex life, and the underlying psychological causes of illness. Understanding History: Written during the height of World War II, these vigorous essays by Bertrand Russell present his influential theories on the nature of history. The title piece exposes the deadliness of the academic approach to the past, and shows how the reading of history can be a vivid intellectual pleasure.
Sir Anthony Kenny continues his magisterial new history of Western philosophy with a fascinating guide through more than a millennium of thought from 400 AD onwards, charting the story of philosophy from the founders of Christian and Islamic thought through to the Renaissance. The middle ages saw a great flourishing of philosophy, and the intellectual endeavour of the era reaches its climax in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, with the systems of such great thinkers as Thomas Aquinas and John Duns Scotus. Specially written for a broad popular readership, but serious and deep enough to offer a genuine understanding of the great philosophers, Kenny's lucid and stimulating history will become the definitive work for anyone interested in the people and ideas that shaped the course of Western thought. - ;Sir Anthony Kenny continues his magisterial new history of Western philosophy with a fascinating guide through more than a millennium of thought from 400 AD onwards, charting the story of philosophy from the founders of Christian and Islamic thought through to the Renaissance.The middle ages saw a great flourishing of philosophy, and the intellectual endeavour of the era reaches its climax in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, with the systems of the great schoolmen such as Thomas Aquinas and John Duns Scotus. Specially written for a broad popular readership, but serious and deep enough to offer a genuine understanding of the great philosophers, Kenny's lucid and stimulating history will become the definitive work for anyone interested in the people and ideas that shaped the course of Western thought. - ;from the reviews of the preceding volume..... This wonderful book . . . is not only an authoritative guide to the history of philosophy but also a compelling introduction to every major area of philosophical inquiry. . . . Kennys prose is exceptionally clear . . . He conveys his rich subject matter with a light touch of which only the greatest of writers are capable. . . . This, combined with his breadth and depth of learning and philosophical sophistication, make reading this book hugely rewarding. It is also worth mentioning that the book is beautifully illustrated . . . One is left eager for subsequent volumes and convinced that the intellectual cosmos is, indeed, boundlessly rich. - James Ladyman, Times Higher Education Supplement
Jonathan Bennett engages with the thought of six great thinkers of the early modern period: Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume. While not neglecting the historical setting of each, his chief focus is on the words they wrote. What problem is being tackled? How exactly is the solution meant to work? Does it succeed? If not, why not? What can we learn from its success or its failure? These questions reflect Bennett's dedication to engaging with philosophy as philosophy,not as museum exhibit, and they require a close and demanding attention to textual details; these being two features that characterize all Bennett's work on early modern philosophy.For newcomers to the early modern scene, this clearly written work is an excellent introduction to it. Those already in the know can learn how to argue with the great philosophers of the past, treating them as colleagues, antagonists, students, teachers.
The eagerly-awaited second volume of The Cambridge Translations of Medieval Philosophical Texts will allow scholars and students access for the first time in English to major texts in ethics and political thought from one of the most fruitful periods of speculation and analysis in the history of western thought. Beginning with Albert the Great, who introduced the Latin west to the challenging moral philosophy and natural science of Aristotle, and concluding with the first substantial presentation in English of the revolutionary ideas on property and political power of John Wyclif, the seventeen texts in this anthology offer late medieval treatments of fundamental issues in human conduct that are both conceptually subtle and of direct practical import. Special features of this volume include copious editorial introductions, an analytical index, and suggestions for further reading. This is an important resource for scholars and students of medieval philosophy, history, political science, theology and literature.
The T&T Clark Encyclopedia of Second Temple Judaism provides a comprehensive reference resource of over 600 scholarly articles aimed at scholars and students interested in Judaism of the Second Temple Period. The two-volume work is split into four parts. Part One offers a prolegomenon for the contemporary study and appreciation of Second Temple Judaism, locating the discipline in relation to other relevant fields (such as Hebrew Bible, Rabbinics, Christian Origins). Beginning with a discussion of terminology, the discussion suggests ways the Second Temple period may be described, and concludes by noting areas of study that challenge our perception of ancient Judaism. Part Two presents an overview of respective contexts of the discipline set within the broad framework of historical chronology corresponding to a set of full-colour, custom-designed maps. With distinct attention to primary sources, the author traces the development of historical, social, political, and religious developments from the time period following the exile in the late 6th century B.C.E. through to the end of the Bar Kokhba revolt (135 C.E.). Part Three focuses specifically on a wide selection of primary-source literature of Second Temple Judaism, summarizing the content of key texts, and examining their similarities and differences with other texts of the period. Essays here include a brief introduction to the work and a summary of its contents, as well as examination of critical issues such as date, provenance, location, language(s), and interpretative matters. The early reception history of texts is also considered, and followed by a bibliography specific to that essay. Numerous high-resolution manuscript images are utilized to illustrate distinct features of the texts. Part Four addresses topics relevant to the Second Temple Period such as places, practices, historical figures, concepts, and subjects of scholarly discussion. These are often supplemented by images, maps, drawings, or diagrams, some of which appear here for the first time. Copiously illustrated, carefully researched and meticulously referenced, this resource provides a reliable, up-to-date and complete guide for those studying early Judaism in its literary and historical settings.
Volume 2 presents the great metaphysicians of West and East, the substance and character of their ideas, and their historical position in philosophy, including Anaximander, Plotinus, Spinoza, Heraclitus, Anselm, Lao-Tzu, Parmenides, Nicholas of Cusa, and Nagarjuna.
Presents the same texts (with additional passages) as Volume 1. Includes detailed notes on the more difficult texts, and a large annotated bibliography.
Essays and other short works on Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, socialism, Stirner, Feuerbach, Karl Schmidt, art, religion, popular music, suicide, games, humor, and general culture.
Essays in the field of comparative world religions and corresponding axial civilizations. The post–World War II idea of the Axial Age by Karl Jaspers, and as elaborated into the sociology of axial civilizations by S. N. Eisenstadt in the later twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, continues to be the subject of intense scholarly debate. Examples of this can be found in recent works of Hans Joas and Jürgen Habermas. In From World Religions to Axial Civilizations and Beyond, an internationally distinguished group of scholars discuss, advance, and criticize the Jaspers-Eisenstadt thesis, and go beyond it by bringing in the critical influence of Max Weber's sociology of world religions and by exploring intercivilizational encounters in key world regions. The essays within this volume are of unusual interest for their original analysis of relatively neglected civilizational zones, especially Islam and the Islamicate civilization and the Byzantine civilization, and its continuation in Orthodox Russia. Saïd Amir Arjomand is Distinguished Professor of Sociology Emeritus at Stony Book University, State University of New York. Stephen Kalberg is Professor of Sociology Emeritus, Boston University.
The two volume Informing Science series is the first attempt to survey and synthesize research in the informing science transdiscipline. Part textbook, part collection of readings, the two volumes present both important research findings relating to the field and highlight fertile directions for future research. Volume Two: Design and Research Issues applies the building blocks of informing science described in Volume One: Concepts and Systems to design and research questions. It begins by looking at alternative approaches to informing system design. These include structured methodologies, agile approaches, effectuation, and emergent models. A series of chapters follows that present research findings related to a series of topics that have played an important role in the development of informing science as a research area. These include the relationship between rigor and research methods, threats to informing (such as misinformation and disinformation), the nature of informing impact, information cascades, the relationship of culture to informing, and the research-practice gap. The book concludes with a chapter that considers possible extensions to the current informing science research agenda and an afterword that presents the author’s reflections on the development of series and its long term future.
An in-depth history of the linguistic turn in analytic philosophy, from a leading philosopher of language This is the second of five volumes of a definitive history of analytic philosophy from the invention of modern logic in 1879 to the end of the twentieth century. Scott Soames, a leading philosopher of language and historian of analytic philosophy, provides the fullest and most detailed account of the analytic tradition yet published, one that is unmatched in its chronological range, topics covered, and depth of treatment. Focusing on the major milestones and distinguishing them from detours, Soames gives a seminal account of where the analytic tradition has been and where it appears to be heading. Volume 2 provides an intensive account of the new vision in analytical philosophy initiated by Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, its assimilation by the Vienna Circle of Moritz Schlick and Rudolf Carnap, and the subsequent flowering of logical empiricism. With this “linguistic turn,” philosophical analysis became philosophy itself, and the discipline’s stated aim was transformed from advancing philosophical theories to formalizing, systematizing, and unifying science. In addition to exploring the successes and failures of philosophers who pursued this vision, the book describes how the philosophically minded logicians Kurt Gödel, Alfred Tarski, Alonzo Church, and Alan Turing discovered the scope and limits of logic and developed the mathematical theory of computation that ushered in the digital era. The book’s account of this pivotal period closes with a searching examination of the struggle to preserve ethical normativity in a scientific age.
Copleston, an Oxford 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 work, and explains their relationship to the work of other philosophers.
