Showing results for "Essays" in Modern

In the years between her first public lecture in 1961 and her last in 1981, Ayn Rand spoke and wrote about topics as different as education, medicine, Vietnam, and the death of Marilyn Monroe. In The Voice of Reason, these pieces are gathered together in book form for the first time. Written in the last decades of Rand's life, they reflect a life lived on principle, a probing mind, and a passionate intensity. With them are five essays by Leonard Peikoff, Rand's longtime associate and literary executor.

The final and most personal work from Pulitzer Prize - winning author and historian Will Durant - discovered 32 years after his death - is a message of insight for everyone who has sought meaning in life or the council of a wise friend in navigating life's journey. From 1968 to 1978, Will Durant made four public allusions to the existence of Fallen Leaves. One, in 1975, hinted at its contents: "a not very serious book that answers the questions of what I think about government, life, death, and God."

In the 1960s and early '70s, the most prominent, vocal cultural movement was the New Left: a movement that condemned America and everything it stood for: individualism, material wealth, science, technology, capitalism.

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) has influenced philosophers such as Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre, Oswald Spengler, George Grant, Emil Cioran, Albert Camus, Ayn Rand, Jacques Derrida, Leo Strauss, Max Scheler, Michel Foucault and Bernard Williams. His writings on aesthetics, language, truth, morality, cultural theory, history, nihilism, power, and the meaning of existence have exerted a vast influence on Western philosophy and intellectual history.

Who needs philosophy? Ayn Rand's answer: Everyone. This collection of essays was the last work planned by Ayn Rand before her death in 1982. In it, she summarizes her view of philosophy and deals with a broad spectrum of topics. According to Ayn Rand, the choice we make is not whether to have a philosophy, but which one to have: a rational, conscious, and therefore practical one, or a contradictory, unidentified, and ultimately lethal one.

Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) formulierte 1784 im Essay Was ist Aufklärung? eine der berühmtesten Definitionen der Epoche: „Aufklärung ist der Ausgang des Menschen aus seiner selbst verschuldeten Unmündigkeit." Mit klarer Sprache fordert er Eigenverantwortung, Vernunftgebrauch – und eine freie Gesellschaft, die kritisches Denken zulässt. Kants Text gilt als Schlüsselwerk der europäischen Aufklärung und ist bis heute aktuell – ein Aufruf zur geistigen Selbstbestimmung.

A Brief History of Everything is an altogether friendly and accessible account of men and women's place in a universe of sex, soul, and spirit, written by an author of whom New York Times reporter Tony Schwartz says: "No one has described the path to wisdom better than Ken Wilber." Wilber...

David Hume (1711-1776) remains a major figure in British philosophy, particularly for two or three works, including A Treatise on Human Nature and An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding. But he was also a prolific essayist and historian. During his lifetime Essays Moral, Political and Literary went through a number of editions and collections, far outselling his philosophy. Now, the situation is reversed. But listening to the essays today it is difficult to see why.

1. Die Kunst am Ende einer Kultur (1933). 2. Leben ohne platonische Idee (1932). 3. Pamphlet gegen die Hochachtung des Menschen (1932). "Was Hermann Broch verlangte, war, dass die philosophische Wissenschaft die Totalität der Welt genau so entstehen lasse wie das Kunstwerk, und dass diese visionär gewordene Erkenntnis alles praktische Tun des Menschen in sich begreifen sollte." Hannah Arendt.

"Ideas are the greatest and most crucially practical power on earth," wrote Ayn Rand. In the title essay of this collection, Leonard Peikoff applies this principle to the world of business. He shows that certain philosophic ideas, such as reason, egoism, and individualism, are needed to defend and protect the freedom of businessmen, while the opposite ideas, such as mysticism, altruism, and collectivism (which dominate our universities), destroy that freedom.

"Was ist das Wesen des Lachens? Was steckt hinter dem Lächerlichen? Was haben die Grimasse eines Clowns, ein Wortspiel, eine Verwechslung in einem Schwank, eine geistvolle Lustspielszene miteinander gemeinsam?" Der französische Philosoph und Literaturnobelpreisträger (1927) Henri Bergson (1859 - 1941) ging dieser Frage in seinem Essay Le Rire (Das Lachen) aus dem Jahr 1900 nach. Das Werk ist nicht nur eine Theorie des Komischen, sondern auch gleichzeitig eine Hommage an künstlerische Kreativität.

Warum sind wir nach über 300 Jahren der Aufklärung noch immer fast genau so dumm wie zuvor? Wieland weilt zwar nicht mehr unter uns, aber er ahnte es bereits voraus: Weil alles, was uns nicht genehm ist oder nicht unseren Vorstellungen oder Überzeugungen entspricht abgelehnt, bestritten und beschimpft wird. Warum wird unseren Kindern nach wie vor kein Wissen vermittelt? Warum fehlt es Nationalstaaten wie Bürgern von Demokratien nach wie vor an Vernunft?

This Leibniz collection contains some of the philosopher’s most important works and ideas, spans three decades and illuminates the fascinating intellectual journey undertaken by him in his quest for truth. A prodigious polymath, Leibniz was a mathematician, philosopher, physicist and statesman and engaged with a sweeping range of ideas and disciplines, striving throughout his life to be at the cutting edge of scientific thinking. These Principal Essays are arranged in chronological order.

Ralph Waldo Emerson's The Over-Soul isn't just an essay—it's a revelation. It speaks of a vast, unshakable presence within us all, a silent force that knows, guides, and connects. Beyond intellect, beyond ego, Emerson leads us to the infinite. The Over-Soul is the quiet voice of truth, the source of wisdom that needs no teacher. It is intuition over logic, unity over isolation. When we listen, the noise of the world fades, and something deeper takes its place—clarity, purpose, transcendence. Emerson doesn't explain; he awakens.

Так казав Заратустра — філософський тритомний роман-трактат Фрідріха Ніцше, зміст якого обертається навколо ідей вічного повторення, "смерті Бога" та пророцтва про надлюдину. Головний персонаж — переосмислений Ніцше пророк зороастризму Заратустра, що повертається з проповіддю до людства після тривалого усамітнення в горах.

Intellect is not a possession but a force—fluid, expansive, untamed. It cannot be hoarded, nor can it be caged within doctrine or tradition. In Intellect, Ralph Waldo Emerson urges us to see thought as a living current, not a stagnant pool. True understanding, he suggests, is not about collecting knowledge but about breaking through to deeper insight, where intuition leads and logic follows.

True heroism does not seek applause. It does not wear armor or demand recognition. It walks quietly, steady in its purpose, untouched by fear or flattery. In Heroism, Ralph Waldo Emerson strips away the illusions of grandeur and reveals the essence of courage: a quiet, unwavering commitment to one's own principles. This is not a celebration of warriors or conquerors but of those who face the world with integrity, who move through life unshaken by its storms.

Nothing stands still. The moment we grasp an idea, it expands beyond us. The instant we define a boundary, a wider one emerges. Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay Circles is not about shapes on a page but about the shifting nature of thought, existence, and perception. Each insight is a stepping stone, each conclusion just another starting point. There is no final answer—only an ever-widening ring of understanding. Emerson writes with the quiet confidence of someone who has seen the world rearrange itself countless times. He does not dictate; he invites. He does not confine; he liberates.

Prudence is not timidity. It is not caution for its own sake. It is the art of knowing when to act and when to wait, when to follow reason and when to trust instinct. In Prudence, Ralph Waldo Emerson reclaims this often-misunderstood virtue, not as mere carefulness but as the wisdom of navigating life with both vision and restraint. For Emerson, prudence is not the enemy of boldness but its quiet architect. It does not stifle ambition but shapes it, guiding passion with clarity and purpose. A mind without prudence rushes blindly; a mind ruled by it never moves at all.

Die liebliche Bestie Mensch verliert jedesmal, wie es scheint, die gute Laune, wenn sie gut denkt...