Showing titles in Philosophers

In Becoming a Philosopher Jonathan Rée describes the extraordinary lives of some of most influential thinkers of the past four hundred years and the radical and sometimes bizarre ideas that emerged from them. This collection of ten biographical pieces, originally published as book reviews in the London Review of Books, begins with Spinoza, the excommunicated lens grinder who sought as little attention as possible for his anonymously published work; and ends with Sartre, the most public of public intellectuals whose funeral was marked by thousands on the streets of Paris.

Ecce Homo is Nietzsche's compelling autobiography, written in 1888, just weeks before he succumbed to madness. Nietzsche's last great work, a fascinating and bizarre text, traces the development of his own philosophy and the thinkers who influenced him along the way.

In Plato and the Tyrant, acclaimed historian and classicist James Romm draws on personal letters of Plato to show how a philosopher helped topple the leading Greek power of the era: the opulent city of Syracuse. There, Plato encountered two authoritarian rulers, a father and son both named Dionysius, and tried to steer them toward philosophy. At the same time, he worked on his masterpiece, Republic, in which he conceived a ruler who unites perfect wisdom with absolute power.

Vishvaguru Vivekananda was born in the era when the world was in the clutches of imperialism and India was being exploited by the British. Caste system, child marriage, Sati practice, superstitions, and fake beliefs were prevalent in the society. Vivekananda emerged as a key figure and his preachings not only enlightened India and Europe but the whole world.

Can we make ourselves into better human beings? Can we help others do the same? And can we get the leaders of our society to care that humanity prospers, not just economically, but also spiritually? These questions have been asked for over two millennia and attempting to answer them is crucial if we want to live a better life and build a more just society. How to Be Good uses the story of Socrates and Alcibiades and examples from Aristotle, Marcus Aurelius and Machiavelli, alongside modern interpretations to explore what philosophy can teach us about the quest for virtue today.

Walter Benjamin (1892-1940) is now generally recognized as one of the most influential thinkers of the last century. This Very Short Introduction explores his extraordinary life and thought. His complex system of criticism is difficult for many, but it is coherent in its combination of a Judaic...

Die Hörbuchbox "Was uns begleitet" aus der "Bibliothek Europa" präsentiert Meisterwerke der Literatur und Philosophie, kuratiert und jeweils individuell eingeführt von Sven Görtz, in großer Vielfalt der Genres, Themen und Epochen. Franz Werfel gelang 1924 mit seinem Komponisten-Roman...

This audiobook is partially narrated by an AI voice. Murray N. Rothbard (1926–1995) was one of the most influential defenders of liberty and one of the defining social theorists of the twentieth century. Published to commemorate Rothbard’s 100th birthday, Rothbard at 100: A Tribute and...

We all want to make sense of life—the good, the painful, the miraculous. Through eight lyrical and reflective essays, one of today's most thoughtful spiritual writers, Steven Garber, explores the idea of the "proximate"—a word from the Latin "proximatus," to draw near. Garber invites us to draw near to the deepest realities of life and to see with greater clarity and compassion—recognizing what is true, right, and beautiful in the world, even as we see the suffering all around us.

Was will die deutsche Seele – und gibt es sie überhaupt? Bernd Stegemann, eine der umstrittensten Stimmen in den politischen Debatten unserer Zeit, zeigt in diesem Buch erstmals seine biografischen Wunden. Bis heute zeigt die deutsche Seele eine Unfähigkeit zum Mitgefühl, eine Fixierung auf die Schuldfrage und eine demokratische Lähmung im Umgang mit fremden Meinungen und Menschen.

A bold rethinking of politics through Hannah Arendt's life and thought, arguing that friendship―not truth―is the fragile but necessary foundation of democratic life A World We Share sounds the warning that politics cannot be saved by truth alone. Against a tradition that elevates truth above...

Transcendence for Beginners examines life writing and philosophy across certain European and Indian traditions, exploring questions of childhood and mortality, art and religion, beauty and loss. Informed by her experience as a biographer of Søren Kierkegaard and George Eliot as well as her own life, Clare Carlisle asks what one human existence can reveal, and how writing can transmit its truth.

Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) war nicht nur als Begründer der existentialistischen Philosophie die intellektuelle Instanz im Frankreich des vergangenen Jahrhunderts...

Jean-Paul Sartre - Denker und eigenwilliger Rebell. Der erfahrene Autor und Herausgeber Bert Alexander Petzold nimmt uns mit auf eine faktenreiche Kulturreise und erläutert verständlich, unterhaltsam und strukturiert Basiswissen zum großen Existenzialisten Jean-Paul Sartre. Der französische Schriftsteller und Philosoph Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (1905-1980) wird in Paris geboren. Dort studiert er Psychologie, Philosophie und Soziologie und erhält 1929 eine Lehrberechtigung für Philosophie. Seine Freundschaft mit Simone de Beauvoir beginnt, beide werden ein legendäres Paar.

Ibn Arabi, reconocido a lo largo de la historia como el Maestro Sublime o el Hijo de Platón, representa una de las figuras más relevantes del pensamiento y la filosofía de al-Andalus. El místico o sufí de Murcia fue clave durante la segunda mitad del siglo XII en pleno apogeo de la cultura árabe. Su pensamiento se expande por las distintas ramificaciones del saber, y es un perfecto ejemplo de encrucijada de caminos y tendencias espirituales y filosóficas, a la vez que la puerta a la espiritualidad más genuina y depurada.

Nach mehr als einem Jahrzehnt im hektischen Seoul zieht sich der Mönch Bokyeong in ein ruhiges Bergkloster zurück. Doch mitten im eisigen Winter taucht ein unerwarteter Gast vor seiner Tür auf: eine Katze, die gekommen ist, um der Kälte zu entfliehen. Was als vorübergehende Hilfe mit etwas Nahrung und Unterschlupf beginnt, entwickelt sich schnell zu einer tiefen Verbindung. Die Katze bleibt. Und sie wird zu seinem größten Lehrmeister.

The first biography in more than three decades of the Austrian-born thinker Ludwig Wittgenstein, one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century According to the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951), philosophy is a “battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence...

The Greek word sumposion means a drinking party (a fact shamefully ignored by the organizers of modern symposia), and the party described in Plato's Symposium is one supposedly given in the year 416 BC by the playwright Agathon to celebrate his victory in the dramatic festival of the Lenaea. He has already given one party, the previous evening; this second party is for a select group of friends, and host and guests alike are feeling a little frail.

Das 18. Jahrhundert war das Zeitalter der Aufklärung, der großen Entdeckungen und der politischen Revolutionen. Neue Ideen über Freiheit, Vernunft und Menschenrechte veränderten die Welt. Wissenschaftler erweiterten die Grenzen des Wissens, Komponisten schufen unvergängliche Meisterwerke und Staatsmänner formten neue Nationen.

In The Lives of Michel Foucault, David Macey quotes the iconic French philosopher as speaking “nostalgically...of 'an unforgettable evening on LSD, in carefully prepared doses, in the desert night, with delicious music, [and] nice people'". This came to pass in 1975, when Foucault spent Memorial Day weekend in Southern California at the invitation of Simeon Wade - ostensibly to guest-lecture at the Claremont Graduate School where Wade was an assistant professor, but in truth to explore what he called the Valley of Death.