Showing titles in Modern

We spend most of our waking lives at work - in occupations often chosen by our unthinking 16-year-old selves. And yet we rarely ask ourselves how we got there or what it might mean for us. Equally intrigued by work's pleasures and its pains, Alain de Botton heads into the office, the factory, the fishing fleet, and the logistics centre, ears and eyes open to the beauty, interest, and sheer strangeness of the modern workplace. Why do we do it? What makes it pleasurable? And why do we daily exhaust not only ourselves but also the planet?

Postmodernism claims that "modernity", which grew from the Enlightenment to the Industrial Revolution and Marxism, has collapsed. We now live in an endlessly "contemporary" culture, a virtual world of "hyperreality" containing such strange phenomena as post-Holocaust amnesia, Disneyland, cyberspace, and Fukuyama's proclaimed "end of history".

Brought to you by Penguin. Bestselling historian Peter Moore traces how Enlightenment ideas were exported from Britain and put into practice in America - where they became the most successful export of all time, the American Dream 'Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness' is the best-known...

A deeply divisive figure, Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) remains an enigma to this day. Infamous for his startling assertion that "God is dead", he is often misrepresented. In this illuminating account of Nietzsche's life and work, Robert Wicks skilfully navigates the controversy that continues to surround one of today’s most famous but least understood thinkers. Exploring the impact of Nietzsche's Christian upbringing and his childhood on his beliefs, Wicks demonstrates that, far from being a nihilist, Nietzsche offers a positive and understanding of human nature.

Philosophe discret menant une vie d'une régularité quasi légendaire, Emmanuel Kant n'en demeure pas moins l'un des penseurs les plus audacieux et les plus décisifs de l'histoire de la philosophie. En interrogeant radicalement les limites de la connaissance, les fondements de la morale et le sens de l'espérance humaine, il a bouleversé notre façon de penser et ouvert une voie nouvelle à l'autonomie intellectuelle. Cet ouvrage clair et accessible offre une introduction lumineuse à son œuvre.

Qui étaient vraiment les sophistes, ces maîtres de parole capables d'enthousiasmer la jeunesse athénienne et d'inquiéter Socrate, Platon ou Aristote ? Cet ouvrage clair et vivant dévoile l'univers de Protagoras, Gorgias, Hippias et Prodicos : leurs idées, leur influence et les débats décisifs qu'ils ont ouverts sur la vérité, la justice, la démocratie ou le pouvoir du langage. Entre relativisme, scepticisme et invention d'une nouvelle éthique, les sophistes ont posé les bases d'une pensée lucide et pragmatique, dont les échos résonnent encore aujourd'hui.

In this illuminating overview, Professor Garrett Thomson surveys the field, considering the work and influence of 29 major thinkers representing logical atomism and logical positivism (including Russell and Wittgenstein), analytic philosophy (including Quine, Davidson, Rawls), phenomenology and existentialism (including Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre), hermeneutics (including Gadamer and Habermas) and post-structuralism (including Foucault, Derrida and Deleuze). Also examined are some recent thinkers including Richard Rorty and Charles Taylor. 

Iris Murdoch, Mary Midgley, Philippa Foot and Elizabeth Anscombe were philosophy students at Oxford during the Second World War when most male undergraduates (and many tutors) were conscripted. Taught by refugee scholars, women and conscientious objectors, the four friends developed a philosophy that could respond to the war's darkest revelations.

In this enlightening Very Short Introduction, Simon Critchley shows us that Continental philosophy encompasses a distinct set of philosophical traditions and practices, with a compelling range of problems all too often ignored by the analytic tradition. He discusses the ideas and approaches of philosophers such as Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche, Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, Habermas, Foucault, and Derrida. He also introduces key concepts such as existentialism, nihilism, and phenomonology, by explaining their place in the Continental tradition. 

Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men by the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau was originally written for an essay competition run by the Dijon Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1754. The question was, "What is the origin of inequality among men, and is it authorized by the natural law?" Rousseau's text is divided into four main parts: a dedication, preface, an extended inquiry into the nature of the individual, and another inquiry into the evolution of the human species within society.

Ecce Homo, subtitled How One Becomes What One Is, is the final original book written by Friedrich Nietzsche before he succumbed to the insanity which lasted until his death in 1900. In this extraordinary autobiography, Nietzsche chronicles his life and development as a philosopher, his tastes as an individual, and his vision for humanity.

This book gives a clear overview of the philosophical work of Jürgen Habermas, the most influential German philosopher alive today, who has commented widely on subjects such as Marxism, the importance and effectiveness of communication, the reunification of Germany, and the European Union. Gordon Finlayson provides listeners with a clear overview of Habermas's forbiddingly complex philosophy using concrete examples and accessible language. 

"Filosofía en tiempos de crisis: pensamientos para el presente" es un audiolibro pensado para quienes sienten que la vida se volvió demasiado rápida, pesada o confusa. A lo largo de sus capítulos, se van abordando experiencias muy comunes —el cansancio, la incertidumbre, la presión por "hacer más", el miedo al futuro o incluso la relación con el dinero— y se conectan con ideas de la filosofía, no como algo complicado, sino como una forma sencilla de entender mejor lo que nos pasa y recuperar un poco de claridad en medio del día a día. Más que enseñar teoría, este audiolibro acompaña.

Many think of the internet as an unprecedented and overwhelmingly positive achievement of modern human technology. But is it? In The Internet Is Not What You Think It Is, Justin Smith offers an original deep history of the internet, from the ancient to the modern world - uncovering its surprising origins in nature and centuries-old dreams of radically improving human life by outsourcing thinking to machines and communicating across vast distances. 

Sherlock Holmes and his faithful companion Dr. Watson embark on an inquiry searching for ultimates. A keynote lecture delivered by Dr. Montgomery, a member of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London, at the 24th Annual Philosophy Symposium of the California State University, Fullerton, in March, 1993.

Slavoj Žižek gives us a reading of a philosophical giant that changes our way of thinking about our new posthuman era. No ordinary study of Hegel, Hegel in a Wired Brain investigates what he might have had to say about the idea of the 'wired brain' – what happens when a direct link between...

Telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, and telekinesis: these attributes of the paranormal mind are widely dismissed as nonsense, but what can an exploration of such pseudoscientific phenomena tell us about accepted scientific and cultural thought? In Parascientific Revolutions, Derek Lee traces...

Though born to a poor but pious family of ribbon weavers in Saxony in 1762, Johann Gottlieb's exceptional intelligence was apparent from an early age. Remarkably, from this humble background, he earned himself a respected place in the pantheon of late 18th and early 19th century German philosophers. In the 20th and 21st century, his importance and contribution to Western philosophy has been increasingly acknowledged. There are two substantial lecture series and one essay stemming from his time in Berlin in Popular Works Volume 2: much of Fichte's important work appeared initially in lectures.

Wie gewinne ich ein Streitgespräch? Unter den deutschen Philosophen nimmt Arthur Schopenhauer (1788 - 1860) die Rolle eines Idealisten ein, der von Platon und Kant zu seiner eigenen Erkenntnistheorie fand. Wie man aus Streitgesprächen als Sieger hervorgeht, das ist das Kernthema des vorliegenden Werkes. Eristische Dialektik, das ist die Technik des Diskutierens, und mit seinen 38 rhetorischen Kunstgriffen, die Schopenhauer präsentiert, soll jede Debatte gewonnen werden können. Gefunden wurde das fertige Manuskript ohne Überschriften im Nachlass Schopenhauers.

У своїх творах Сковорода оспiвав природу України, її працьовитих людей, прагнення до щастя й волi, висмiяв панiв за їх паразитизм, за знущання з народу. А ще вiн проголосив людину та її волю найвищою цiннiстю. високоосвіченою людиною свого часу, його геній зростав на народному грунті. Ще за життя Сковороду називали "українським Сократом", "українським Горацiєм", бо вiн значно розвинув на Українi фiлософiю, лiтературу, педагогiку. У своїх творах Сковорода оспiвав природу України, її працьовитих людей, прагнення до щастя й волi, висмiяв панiв за їх паразитизм, за знущання з народу.