Best of
Philosophy

2008

Who Am I?: The Teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi


Ramana Maharshi - 2008
    Sivaprakasam Pillai in 1902.

Oneness With All Life: Inspirational Selections from A New Earth


Eckhart Tolle - 2008
    In A New Earth, renowned spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle describes how our current ego-based state of consciousness operates. The purpose of this book is to bring about a shift in consciousness, or in his words, an awakening. An essential part of this awakening is the recognition of the ego, and our attachment to things, the past, and enemies. In Oneness With All Life, Eckhart Tolle has picked the essential phrases and paragraphs-the gems of the book-that he feels are most important and reorganized them so readers can focus on the most powerful ideas. Beautifully packaged with evocative artwork and design, it is the perfect gift for anyone with a well-worn copy of A New Earth who wants deeper insight into this seminal work.

Meditations on Violence: A Comparison of Martial Arts Training & Real World Violence


Rory Miller - 2008
    Rory Miller distills what he has learned from jailhouse brawls, tactical operations and ambushes to explore the differences between martial arts and the subject martial arts were designed to deal with: Violence. Sgt. Miller introduces the myths, metaphors and expectations that most martial artists have about what they will ultimately learn in their dojo. This is then compared with the complexity of the reality of violence. Complexity is one of the recurring themes throughout this work. Section Two examines how to think critically about violence, how to evaluate sources of knowledge and clearly explains the concepts of strategy and tactics. Sections Three and Four focus on the dynamics of violence itself and the predators who perpetuate it. Drawing on hundreds of encounters and thousands of hours spent with criminals Sgt. Miller explains the types of violence; how, where, when and why it develops; the effects of adrenaline; how criminals think, and even the effects of drugs and altered states of consciousness in a fight. Section Five centers on training for violence, and adapting your present training methods to that reality. It discusses the pros and cons of modern and ancient martial arts training and gives a unique insight into early Japanese kata as a military training method. Section Six is all about how to make self-defense work. Miller examines how to look at defense in a broader context, and how to overcome some of your own subconscious resistance to meeting violence with violence. The last section deals with the aftermath--the cost of surviving sudden violence or violent environments, how it can change you for good or bad. It gives advice for supervisors and even for instructors on how to help a student/survivor. You'll even learn a bit about enlightenment.

Staring at the Sun: Overcoming the Terror of Death


Irvin D. Yalom - 2008
    In this magisterial opus, capping a lifetime of work and personal experience, Dr. Yalom helps us recognize that the fear of death is at the heart of much of our anxiety. Such recognition is often catalyzed by an "awakening experience"--a dream, or loss (the death of a loved one, divorce, loss of a job or home), illness, trauma, or aging. Once we confront our own mortality, Dr. Yalom writes, we are inspired to rearrange our priorities, communicate more deeply with those we love, appreciate more keenly the beauty of life, and increase our willingness to take the risks necessary for personal fulfillment.

A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy


William B. Irvine - 2008
    In A Guide to the Good Life, William B. Irvine plumbs the wisdom of Stoic philosophy, one of the most popular and successful schools of thought in ancient Rome, and shows how its insight and advice are still remarkably applicable to modern lives. In A Guide to the Good Life, Irvine offers a refreshing presentation of Stoicism, showing how this ancient philosophy can still direct us toward a better life. Using the psychological insights and the practical techniques of the Stoics, Irvine offers a roadmap for anyone seeking to avoid the feelings of chronic dissatisfaction that plague so many of us. Irvine looks at various Stoic techniques for attaining tranquility and shows how to put these techniques to work in our own life. As he does so, he describes his own experiences practicing Stoicism and offers valuable first-hand advice for anyone wishing to live better by following in the footsteps of these ancient philosophers. Readers learn how to minimize worry, how to let go of the past and focus our efforts on the things we can control, and how to deal with insults, grief, old age, and the distracting temptations of fame and fortune. We learn from Marcus Aurelius the importance of prizing only things of true value, and from Epictetus we learn how to be more content with what we have. Finally, A Guide to the Good Life shows readers how to become thoughtful observers of their own life. If we watch ourselves as we go about our daily business and later reflect on what we saw, we can better identify the sources of distress and eventually avoid that pain in our life. By doing this, the Stoics thought, we can hope to attain a truly joyful life.

The Emerald Tablet Of Hermes & The Kybalion: Two Classic Books on Hermetic Philosophy


Hermes Trismegistus - 2008
    Traveling home with the Crusaders, this seminal work is alleged to be written by Hermes Trismegistus-Thoth. The work deeply influenced Western Magick, and the tenets presented influence modern magick to this day. The Kybalion was first published by The Yogi Publication Society of the Masonic Temple in Chicago in 1912. The authors of The Kybalion chose to remain anonymous, because the principles and philosophy are a summation of theTimeless Wisdom and Truth of the Hemetic Philosophy.

A Companion to Marx's Capital


David Harvey - 2008
    For nearly forty years, David Harvey has written and lectured on Capital, becoming one of the world’s most foremost Marx scholars.Based on his recent lectures, this current volume aims to bring this depth of learning to a broader audience, guiding first-time readers through a fascinating and deeply rewarding text. A Companion to Marx’s Capital offers fresh, original and sometimes critical interpretations of a book that changed the course of history and, as Harvey intimates, may do so again.David Harvey’s video lecture course can be found here: davidharvey.org/reading-capital/

The Pocket Pema Chodron


Pema Chödrön - 2008
    Designed for on-the-go inspiration, this collection offers teachings on:    • becoming fearless    • breaking free of destructive patterns    • developing patience, kindness, and joy amid our everyday struggles    • unlocking our natural warmth, intelligence, and goodness

The Transparency of Things: Contemplating the Nature of Experience


Rupert Spira - 2008
    A series of contemplations lead us gently but directly to see that our essential nature is neither a body nor a mind. It is the conscious Presence that is aware of this current experience. As such it is nothing that can be experienced as an object and yet it is undeniably present. However, these contemplations go much further than this. As we take our stand knowingly as this conscious Presence that we always already are, and reconsider the objects of the body, mind and world, we find that they do not simply appear to this Presence, they appear within it. And further exploration reveals that they do not simply appear within this Presence but as this Presence. Finally we are led to see that it is in fact this very Presence itself that takes the shape of our experience from moment to moment whilst always remaining only itself. We see that our experience is and has only ever been one seamless totality with no separate entities or objects anywhere to be found.

The 50th Law


50 Cent - 2008
    In The 50th Law, hip hop and pop culture icon 50 Cent (aka Curtis Jackson) joins forces with Robert Greene, bestselling author of The 48 Laws of Power, to write a bible for success in life and work based on a single principle: fear nothing.With intimate stories from 50 Cent's life on the streets and in the boardroom as he rose to fame after the release of his album Get Rich or Die Tryin, as well as examples of others who have overcome adversity through understanding and practicing The 50th Law, this deeply inspirational book is perfect for entrepreneurs as well as anyone interested in the extraordinary life of Curtis Jackson.

What Matters Most: Living a More Considered Life


James Hollis - 2008
    Why are we here? What is the meaning of existence? What truly matters the most in life? To even begin to answer these questions, we must start by exploring our own internal ideals, values, and beliefs. Presenting the unique perspective of respected analyst and author James Hollis, Ph.D., What Matters Most helps readers learn to appreciate (even be amazed by) events unfolding within, even as the external world creates constant struggles. Taking a fresh look at the concept of happiness, Hollis uses a warm, accessible tone to encourage readers to learn to tolerate ambiguity, embrace growth rather than security, respect the power of Eros, engage spiritual crises, and acknowledge the shadow of mortality. Providing inspiring wisdom and personal reflections to address our deepest worries, What Matters Most yields far more than mere self-help clichés. Instead, Hollis guides readers in uncovering the heart of the matter, discovering what it means to truly live life to its fullest, most meaningful state—as fully engaged citizens of the world.

The Last Superstition: A Refutation of the New Atheism


Edward Feser - 2008
    But as Edward Feser shows in The Last Superstition, there is not, and never has been, any war between science and religion at all. There has instead been a conflict between two entirely philosophical worldviews: the classical "teleological" vision of Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, and Aquinas, on which purpose or goal-directedness is as inherent a feature of the material world as mass or electric charge; and the modern "mechanical" vision of Descartes, Hobbes, Locke, and Hume, according to which physical reality is comprised of nothing more than purposeless, meaningless particles in motion." "This modern "mechanical" view of nature has never been proved, and its hold over the contemporary intelligentsia owes more to rhetorical sleight-of-hand and political expediency than to rational argument. For as Feser demonstrates, the existence of God, the immortality of the soul, and the traditional natural-law conception of morality are rationally unavoidable given the classical "teleological" philosophical world-view. Hence modern secularism crucially depends on the false insinuation that the "mechanical" philosophy has somehow been established by science." Moving beyond what he regards as the pointless and point-missing dispute between "Intelligent Design" advocates and Darwinians, Feser holds that the key to understanding the follies of the "New Atheism" lies not in quibbles over the evolutionary origins of this or that biological organ, but in a rethinking of thephilosophical presuppositions of scientific method itself back to first principles. In particular, it involves a recovery of the forgotten truths of classical philosophy. When this is accomplished, religion can be seen to be grounded firmly in reason, not blind faith. And despite its moral and intellectual pretensions, the "New Atheism" is exposed as resting on very old errors, together with an appalling degree of intellectual dishonesty, philosophical shallowness, and historical, theological, and scientific ignorance.

Midnights with the Mystic: A Little Guide to Freedom and Bliss


Cheryl Simone - 2008
    Sadhguru challenges us to embrace the possibility that to each of us is available a higher realm of reality, a peak of consciousness; an entree into the realm of freedom and bliss.Simone, an Atlanta real estate developer, was the typical baby boomer in search of an authentic spiritual experience. Professionally successful, yet spiritually arid, she discovered a way into what she was looking for in the teachings of Sadhguru. Concrete and down-to-earth, "Midnights with the Mystic" both provides readers with an introduction to profound spiritual teaching and a personal glimpse of a charismatic guru."

The Philosopher and the Wolf: Lessons from the Wild on Love, Death, and Happiness


Mark Rowlands - 2008
    After acquiring Brenin as a cub, it quickly became apparent that Brenin was never to be left alone, as the consequences to Mark’s house and its contents were dire. As a result, Brenin and Mark went everywhere together—from classroom lecture to Ireland, England, and France. More than just an exotic pet, Brenin exerted an immense influence on Rowlands as both a person, and, strangely enough, as a philosopher, leading him to re-evaluate his attitude to love, happiness, nature and death. By turns funny (what do you do when your wolf eats your air-conditioning unit?) and poignant, this life-affirming book will make you reappraise what it means to be human.

Don't Polish Your Ignorance It May Shine


Sadhguru - 2008
    It's all here the pain, the confusion, the raging gut level thirst, all that it means to be human and alive and wanting. And through it all are the clear, strong, unwavering tones of a master who reminds us that the only thing that lies between the human and the divine, the finite and the boundless, the seeking and the finding, is choice. What does that choice entail? Not the acquisition of any path breaking wisdom, but a determined refusal to strengthen one's ignorance, to reinforce one's deceptions, to gold plate ones limitations.The danger, Sadhguru tells us, does not lie in being in the dark that can be dispelled for anyone who genuinely desires it but in settling for an easy brilliance, a spurious radiance. The danger does not lie in seeking urgently, but in arriving chealy.Don't polish your ignorance, he warns aphoristically, unforgettably, recurrently in the course of this book. It may shine.

Knowing Christ Today: Why We Can Trust Spiritual Knowledge


Dallas Willard - 2008
    At a time when popular atheism books are talking about the irrationality of believing in God, Willard makes a rigorous intellectual case for why it makes sense to believe in God and in Jesus, the Son.

Dancing With Life: Buddhist Insights for Finding Meaning and Joy in the Face of Suffering


Phillip Moffitt - 2008
    Reflecting on his own journey from Esquire magazine editor-in-chief to Buddhist meditation teacher, Moffitt provides a fresh perspective on the Buddha's ancient wisdom, showing how to move from suffering to new awareness and unanticipated joy. In this deeply spiritual book that is sure to become a Buddhist classic, Moffitt explores the twelve insights that underlie the Buddha's core teaching--the Four Noble Truths--and uses these often neglected ideas to guide readers to a more meaningful relationship to suffering. Moffitt write: "These twelve insights teach you to dance with both the joy and pain, finding peace in a balanced mind and calm spirit. As the most specific, practical life instructions I have ever encountered, they serve as an invaluable tool for anyone who seeks a life filled with meaning and well-being." Practicing these twelve insights, as Moffitt suggests, will help readers experience life's difficulties without being filled with stress and anguish, and they will enhance their moments of happiness. With engaging writing and a strong message of self-empowerment, Dancing with Life offers a prescriptive path for finding joy and peace that will appeal to meditation students and readers of "Dharma Wisdom," Moffitt's column in Yoga Journal, as well as anyone searching for a more authentic life.

Carl Jung - Dreams and Philosophy (Biography)


Biographiq - 2008
    Jung's unique and broadly influential approach to psychology has emphasized understanding the psyche through exploring the worlds of dreams, art, mythology, world religion and philosophy. Although he was a theoretical psychologist and practicing clinician for most of his life, much of his life's work was spent exploring other realms, including Eastern and Western philosophy, alchemy, astrology, sociology, as well as literature and the arts. Jung emphasized the importance of balance and harmony. Carl Jung - Dreams and Philosophy is highly recommended for those interested in reading more about this respected Swiss psychiatrist.

The Government of Self and Others: Lectures at the Collège de France, 1982–1983


Michel Foucault - 2008
    Through the study of this notion of truth-telling, of speaking out freely, Foucault re-examines Greek citizenship, showing how the courage of the truth forms the forgotten ethical basis of Athenian democracy. The figure of the philosopher king, the condemnation of writing, and Socrates' rejection of political involvement are some of the many topics of ancient philosophy revisited here.

Solomon Among the Postmoderns


Peter J. Leithart - 2008
    Leithart uses these claims, as well as the entire book of Ecclesiastes, to show how Solomon resonated with postmodernism.Exploring the strengths and weaknesses of postmodernism, Leithart shows how the theory reflects an important biblical theme: the elusiveness and instability of the world. But he goes on to show that biblical faith takes us beyond cynicism and despair. "Solomon among the Postmoderns" will appeal to academics and laypeople alike seeking a biblical view of postmodernism.

White


Kenya Hara - 2008
    It is rather Kenya Haras attempt to explore the essence of White, which he sees as being closely related to the origin of Japanese aesthetics – symbolising simplicity and subtlety. The central concepts discussed by Kenya Hara in this publication are emptiness and the absolute void. Kenya Hara also sees his work as a designer as a form of communication. Good communication has the distinction of being able to listen to each other, rather than to press one's opinion onto the opponent. Kenya Hara compares this form of communication with an “empty container”. In visual communication, there are equally signals whose signification is limited, as well as signals or symbols such as the cross or the red circle on the Japanese flag, which – like an “empty container” – permit every signification and do not limit imagination. Not alone the fact that the Japanese character for white forms a radical of the character for emptiness has prompted him the closely associate the color white with emptiness.

The Complete Works of Saint Augustine: The Confessions, On Grace and Free Will, The City of God, On Christian Doctrine, Expositions on the Book Of Psalms, ... (50 Books With Active Table of Contents)


Augustine of Hippo - 2008
    John.Doctrinal Treatises:On Faith, Hope and Love (The Enchiridion)On the Catechising of the Uninstructed On Faith and the Creed Concerning Faith of Things not Seen On the Profit of Believing On the Creed: A Sermon to Catechumens Moral Treatises:On Continence On the Good of Marriage Of Holy Virginity On the Good of Widowhood On Lying Against Lying. To ConsentiusOf the Work of Monks On Patience On Care to be had for the Dead Anti-Pelagian Writings:On the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of the InfantsOn the Spirit and the Letter On Nature and Grace On Man’s Perfection in Righteousness On the Proceedings of Pelagius On the Grace of Christ, and on Original Sin On Marriage and Concupiscence On the Soul and its Origins Against Two Letters of the Pelagians On Grace and Free Will On Rebuke and Grace On the Predestination of the Saints On the Gift of Perseverance Anti-Manichaean Writings: On the Morals of the Catholic Church On the morals of the Manichaeans On Two Souls: Against the ManichaeansActs or Disputation against Fortunatus the ManicheanAgainst the Epistle of Manichaeus Called Fundamental Reply to Faustus the ManicheanConcerning the Nature of Good, Against the ManicheansAnti-Donatist Writings: On Baptism Answer to Letters of Petilian, Bishop of CirtaOn the Correction of the Donatists Sermons (Homilies):Ten Sermons on the First Epistle of JohnSermons on Selected Lessons of the New TestamentAbout the Author Augustine, the man with upturned eye, with pen in the left hand, and a burning heart in the right (as he is usually represented), is a philosophical and theological genius of the first order, towering like a pyramid above his age, and looking down commandingly upon succeeding centuries. He had a mind uncommonly fertile and deep, bold and soaring; and with it, what is better, a heart full of Christian love and humility. He stands of right by the side of the greatest philosophers of antiquity and of modern times. We meet him alike on the broad highways and the narrow footpaths, on the giddy Alpine heights and in the awful depths of speculation, wherever philosophical thinkers before him or after him have trod. As a theologian he is facile princeps, at least surpassed by no church father, schoolman, or reformer. With royal munificence he scattered ideas in passing, which have set in mighty motion other lands and later times. He combined the creative power of Tertullian with the churchly spirit of Cyprian, the speculative intellect of the Greek church with the practical tact of the Latin.

Real-Time Relationships: The Logic of Love


Stefan Molyneux - 2008
    “Real Time Relationships” helps you bring the virtue of real honesty into your relationships with your friends, family, colleagues and lovers. Filled with practical examples of how to achieve true intimacy, this book will open your heart to the beauty of love without endless conflicts, resentments and misunderstandings. Don’t spend another day mired in the misery of inconsistent, fractious or disappointing relationships – use the power of “Real Time Relationships” to bring the peace and joy of relaxed intimacy to all aspects of your life! Take the red pill... Read this book.

Pebbles Of Wisdom


Sadhguru - 2008
    The selection of gems by Sadhguru is something every reader will want to return to time and again.

The Essential Chomsky


Noam Chomsky - 2008
    The Essential Chomsky brings together selections from his most important writings since 1959-from his groundbreaking critique of B.F. Skinner to his bestselling works Hegermony or Survival and Failed States-concerning subjects ranging from critiques of corporate media and U.S. interventionism to intellectual freedom and the political economy of human rights. With a foreword by Anthony Arnove, The Essential Chomsky is an unprecedented, comprehensive overview of Chomsky's thought.

Everyday Anarchy


Stefan Molyneux - 2008
    A philosophical examination of our ambivalence towards spontaneous order, political compulsion and the liberty of the everyday...

The Fidelity of Betrayal: Towards a Church Beyond Belief


Peter Rollins - 2008
    In his new book The Fidelity of Betrayal, Peter Rollins has teased out - as Bonhoeffer never had the chance to do - profound possibilities hidden in the phrase. As a huge fan of Peter's first book, I find his second no less thoughtful, stimulating, and at times unsettling - always in a most (de)constructive way. His subversive parables, his clever turns of phrase, and his beguiling clarity all conspire to tempt the reader into that most fertile and terrifying of activities - to think to the very rim of one's understanding, and then to faithfully imagine the Truth that lies far beyond."- Brian McLaren, author/activist (www.brianmclaren.net) What if one of the core demands of a radical Christianity lay in a call for its betrayal, while the ultimate act of affirming God required the forsaking of God? And what if fidelity to the Judeo-Christian Scriptures demanded their renunciation? In short, what would it mean if the only way of finding real faith involved betraying it with a kiss?Employing the insights of mysticism and deconstructive theory, The Fidelity of Betrayal delves into the subversive and revolutionary nature of a Christianity that dwells within the church while simultaneously undermining it.

Human, All Too Human/Beyond Good and Evil


Friedrich Nietzsche - 2008
    At a moment of crisis in his life (no longer a friend of Richard Wagner, forced to leave academic life through ill health), he sets out his views in a scintillating and bewildering series of aphorisms which contain the seeds of his later philosophy (e.g. the will to power, the need to transcend conventional Christian morality). The result is one of the cornerstones of his life's work. It well deserves its subtitle 'A Book for Free Spirits', and its original dedication to Voltaire, whose project of radical enlightenment here finds a new champion. Beyond Good and Evil (1886) is a scathing and powerful critique of philosophy, religion and science. Here Nietzsche presents us with problems and challenges that are as troubling as they are inspiring, while at the same time outlining the virtues, ideas, and practices which will characterise the philosophy of the future. Relentless, energetic, tirelessly probing, he both determines that philosophy's agenda and is himself the embodiment of the type of thought he wants to foster.

The Beast and the Sovereign, Volume I


Jacques Derrida - 2008
    With The Beast and the Sovereign, Volume 1, the University of Chicago Press inaugurates an ambitious series, edited by Geoffrey Bennington and Peggy Kamuf, translating these important works into English.   The Beast and the Sovereign, Volume 1 launches the series with Derrida’s exploration of the persistent association of bestiality or animality with sovereignty. In this seminar from 2001–2002, Derrida continues his deconstruction of the traditional determinations of the human. The beast and the sovereign are connected, he contends, because neither animals nor kings are subject to the law—the sovereign stands above it, while the beast falls outside the law from below. He then traces this association through an astonishing array of texts, including La Fontaine’s fable “The Wolf and the Lamb,” Hobbes’s biblical sea monster in Leviathan, D. H. Lawrence’s poem “Snake,” Machiavelli’s Prince with its elaborate comparison of princes and foxes, a historical account of Louis XIV attending an elephant autopsy, and Rousseau’s evocation of werewolves in The Social Contract.   Deleuze, Lacan, and Agamben also come into critical play as Derrida focuses in on questions of force, right, justice, and philosophical interpretations of the limits between man and animal.

Philosophy as a Rite of Rebirth: From Ancient Egypt to Neoplatonism


Algis Uždavinys - 2008
    Algis U¿davinys returns to the very roots of philosophy in Ancient Egypt, and shows why the Greeks revered that land of pyramids and priest-kings as the source of divine wisdom. Bringing his understanding of many great traditions of philosophy - Indian, Islamic, Greek, and others - he presents the case for considering philosophy as a human participation in a theophany, or divine drama Casting aside the unnatural limitations of modern philosophy, as well as the grave misunderstandings of Egyptologists, radical and exciting possibilities emerge for the serious philosopher. These possibilities will certainly change our view of the universe in general, but most particularly our view of ourselves. The Rebirth of the title is one that implies an expansion of consciousness both upwards towards the divine heights of reality, and outwards to embrace the whole of creation as a living image of the gods. The exercises of philosophy thus move from the rational to the intuitive, onward to pure contemplation and, ultimately, to a god-like energy in the divine drama. Dr Uzdavinys has recently been a research fellow at at La Trobe University in Bendigo, Australia and an associate professor at the Vilnius Academy of Fine Arts (Kaunas Department). He is a published author in English, French and Lithuanian and translator into Russian and Lithuanian.

The Pocket Chogyam Trungpa


Chögyam Trungpa - 2008
    Here is a treasury of 108 short teachings by Chogyam Trungpa, one of the most influential Buddhist teachers of our time. Pithy and immediate, these teachings address a range of topics, including fear and fearlessness, accepting our imperfections, developing confidence, helping others, appreciating our basic goodness, and everyday life as a spiritual path. This book is part of the Shambhala Pocket Library series. The Shambhala Pocket Library is a collection of short, portable teachings from notable figures across religious traditions and classic texts. The covers in this series are rendered by Colorado artist Robert Spellman. The books in this collection distill the wisdom and heart of the work Shambhala Publications has published over 50 years into a compact format that is collectible, reader-friendly, and applicable to everyday life.

Animals as Persons: Essays on the Abolition of Animal Exploitation


Gary L. Francione - 2008
    Francione is known for his criticism of animal welfare laws and regulations, his abolitionist theory of animal rights, and his promotion of veganism and nonviolence as the baseline principles of the abolitionist movement. In this collection, Francione advances the most radical theory of animal rights to date. Unlike Peter Singer, Francione maintains that we cannot morally justify using animals under any circumstances, and unlike Tom Regan, Francione's theory applies to all sentient beings, not only to those who have more sophisticated cognitive abilities.

Reasonable Faith Study Guide


William Lane Craig - 2008
    It takes the reader through the book chapter by chapter, using "fill in the blank" questions to highlight the crucial points and to promote personal reflection. Excellent for small group studies as well as individual use.

The Theological Origins of Modernity


Michael Allen Gillespie - 2008
    Taking as his starting point the collapse of the medieval world, Gillespie argues that from the very beginning moderns sought not to eliminate religion but to support a new view of religion and its place in human life. He goes on to explore the ideas of such figures as William of Ockham, Petrarch, Erasmus, Luther, Descartes, and Hobbes, showing that modernity is best understood as a series of attempts to formulate a new and coherent metaphysics or theology.“Bringing the history of political thought up to date and situating it against the backdrop of contemporary events, Gillespie’s analyses provide us a way to begin to have conversations with the Islamic world about what is perhaps the central question within each of the three monotheistic religions: if God is omnipotent, then what is the place of human freedom?”—Joshua Mitchell, Georgetown University

The Gift of Death and Literature in Secret


Jacques Derrida - 2008
    "Provocative."--Publishers Weekly.Collection: Religion and Postmodernism Series

Introduction to Emptiness: As Taught in Tsong-Kha-Pa's Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path


Guy Newland - 2008
    In clear language, Introduction to Emptiness explains that emptiness is not a mystical sort of nothingness, but a specific truth that can and must be understood through calm and careful reflection. Newland's contemporary examples and vivid anecdotes will be helpful to students trying to understand one of the great classic texts of the Tibetan tradition, Tsong-kha-pa's Great Treatise.

Shiva Sutras


Sukhabodhananda - 2008
    Ability without commitment and awareness is like a vehicle without the engine. The Shiva Sutra enhances one's awareness in a way one sees an opportunity in a difficulty and not a difficulty in an opportunity. There is an 'outside reality' and an 'inside reality' of one's mind. There is also another dimension called 'spiritual reality'. To harmonize all of them is a great awakening. Ordinary being loves one's own 'psycho dramas' of justification, proving one's point of view, blaming, being helpless... and this leads one to a state of inner poverty. To free oneself from these lower states of poverty and see them as 'errors in one's thinking' is part of being effective and experiencing inner prosperity. The profound teaching of Lord Shiva introduces us to A Bigger Container where one learns to be charitable to one's own self. This practice of making A Bigger Container is essentially spiritual. Dive deep into these mystic teachings. -Swami Sukhabodhananda

Dancing With Life


Phillip Moffit - 2008
    

Gardens: An Essay on the Human Condition


Robert Pogue Harrison - 2008
    Those gardens may be as far away from everyday reality as Gilgamesh’s garden of the gods or as near as our own backyard, but in their very conception and the marks they bear of human care and cultivation, gardens stand as restorative, nourishing, necessary havens.With Gardens, Robert Pogue Harrison graces readers with a thoughtful, wide-ranging examination of the many ways gardens evoke the human condition. Moving from from the gardens of ancient philosophers to the gardens of homeless people in contemporary New York, he shows how, again and again, the garden has served as a check against the destruction and losses of history. The ancients, explains Harrison, viewed gardens as both a model and a location for the laborious self-cultivation and self-improvement that are essential to serenity and enlightenment, an association that has continued throughout the ages. The Bible and Qur’an; Plato’s Academy and Epicurus’s Garden School; Zen rock and Islamic carpet gardens; Boccaccio, Rihaku, Capek, Cao Xueqin, Italo Calvino, Ariosto, Michel Tournier, and Hannah Arendt—all come into play as this work explores the ways in which the concept and reality of the garden has informed human thinking about mortality, order, and power.Alive with the echoes and arguments of Western thought, Gardens is a fitting continuation of the intellectual journeys of Harrison’s earlier classics, Forests and The Dominion of the Dead. Voltaire famously urged us to cultivate our gardens; with this compelling volume, Robert Pogue Harrison reminds us of the nature of that responsibility—and its enduring importance to humanity.

Hope on a Tightrope: Words and Wisdom


Cornel West - 2008
    In a world that seesaws between unconditional love and acceptance and blind hatred and exclusion, Hope on a Tightrope will satisfy readers in search of deep wells of inspiration and challenge that marries the mind to the heart.This gift book features an original CD that highlights Dr. West’s outstanding spoken-word artistry. His August 2007 CD release Never Forget: A Journey of Revelations that featured collaborations with best-selling artists Prince, Jill Scott, and Andre 3000 topped the charts as Billboard’s #1 Spoken Word album.

Philosophy and Theurgy in Late Antiquity


Algis Uždavinys - 2008
    To use another mythical image, philosophy restores the soul's wings and leads the purified lover of wisdom to Heaven. As a means of spiritual reintegration and unification, ancient philosophy is inseparable from the hieratic rites. Therefore those scholars who themselves follow the anagogic path of Platonic tradition are more or less firmly convinced that their philosophy ultimately derives from the Egyptian and Mesopotamian temple liturgies and rituals, reinterpreted and revived by the Neoplatonists under the name of 'theurgy' in late antiquity. The theurgic 'animation' of statues appears to be among the main keys for understanding how various royal and priestly practices, related to the daily ritual service and encounter with the divine presence in the temples, developed into the Neoplatonic mysticism of late antiquity. The traditional theory of symbolism still stands on the Neoplatonic foundation established by Iamblichus, Proclus, and Damascius. "This book clearly establishes three things: that traditional myth (as the Neoplatonists maintained) is the symbolic expression of metaphysics, as metaphysics is the exegesis of myth; that Greek philosophy was not an isolated 'miracle' but a reinterpretation of perennial themes common to the ancient Near Eastern, Mesopotamian, Indian, and especially Egyptian religions; and that Platonic philosophical discourse was but one-half of a whole which included an invocatory/contemplative practice known as 'theurgy'. It was not merely the ancestor of western speculative philosophy, but an askesis, a yoga-a way of realization (though no longer a living tradition) worthy to be included among the great spiritual methods of all places and times." Charles Uupton, author of Knowings "In this most stimulating and wide-ranging work, Algis Uzdavinys, drawing on the resources of his enormous learning, leads Neoplatonic theurgy back to its roots in Ancient Egypt, thereby setting Platonic philosophy in a new and wider context. Students of Neoplatonism will find themselves much indebted to him for this, and all readers will find their outlook on life significantly changed.- Prof. John M. Dillon, Trinity College, Dublin, author of Middle Platonists

How to be Free from Sin


Mirza Ghulam Ahmad - 2008
    He, therefore, needs to free himself from his own sins in order to attain salvation. In this article, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Promised Messiah(as) answers the all-important question, why does man commits sin, and how can he free himself from it.The Promised Messiah(as) also argues that a true religion must be judged by its ability to lead its followers to certainty about the existence of God. The holy author makes a detailed comparison between Islam and other major religions, and concludes that Islam alone can lead man to perfect awareness and, consequently, to freedom from sin.The first English translation of this article was published under the title How to get rid of the Bondage of Sin, in the English edition of The Review of Religions, January 1902. The current translation has been prepared by Wakalat Tasnif, Rabwah.

In the Aftermath: Provocations and Laments


David Bentley Hart - 2008
    This is not to say that the pieces gathered here are not serious in their arguments; quite the contrary. . . . I mean only that, in these articles, I have given my natural inclinations towards satire and towards wantonly profligate turns of phrase far freer rein than academic writing permits. . . . I have, at any rate, attempted to include only pieces that strike me as having some intrinsic interest, both in form and in content.”-- from the introduction

Not with a Bang But a Whimper: The Politics and Culture of Decline


Theodore Dalrymple - 2008
    No social critic today is more adept and incisive in exploring the state of our culture and the ideas that are changing our ways of life. In Not with a Bang But a Whimper, he takes the measure of our cultural decline, with special attention to Britain-its bureaucratic muddle, oppressive welfare mentality, and aimless youth-all pursued in the name of democracy and freedom. He shows how terrorism and the growing numbers of Muslim minorities have changed our public life. Also here are Mr. Dalrymple's trenchant observations on artists and ideologues, and on the questionable treatment of criminals and the mentally disturbed, his area of medical interest.

Flight From Humanity


Rousas John Rushdoony - 2008
    This leftover of ancient Greek philosophy is grounded upon a dual aspect to reality: It views that which is form or spirit (such as mind) as good an that which is physical (flesh) as evil. Neoplatonism is a dialectical philosophy that tries to reconcile two basically hostile concepts and retain both within its system.Neoplatonism presents mans dilemma as a metaphysical one, whereas Scripture presents it as a moral problem. Basing Christianity on this false neoplatonic idea will always shirt the faith away from the Biblical perspective. Modern ideas of spirituality have developed into a form of over against the Biblical model where the Spirit of God is active in the world and in the person to work out the will of God. Too many Christians believe they can escape sin if they can escape the material world. But Scripture says all of man fell into sin, not just his flesh.Flight From Humanity is a revealing look into the nature and effect of neoplatonism on contemporary Christian thought, and it offers sound Biblical solutions for the believer who desires to fully serve God.

Zizek's Ontology: A Transcendental Materialist Theory of Subjectivity


Adrian Johnston - 2008
    This book focuses on the generally neglected and often overshadowed philosophical core of Žižek’s work—an essential component in any true appreciation of this unique thinker’s accomplishment. His central concern, Žižek has proclaimed, is to use psychoanalysis (especially the teachings of Jacques Lacan) to redeploy the insights of late-modern German philosophy, in particular, the thought of Kant, Schelling, and Hegel.  By taking this avowal seriously, Adrian Johnston finally clarifies the philosophical project underlying Žižek’s efforts. His book charts the interlinked ontology and theory of subjectivity constructed by Žižek at the intersection of German idealism and Lacanian theory.  Johnston also uses Žižek’s combination of philosophy and psychoanalysis to address two perennial philosophical problems: the relationship of mind and body, and the nature of human freedom. By bringing together the past two centuries of European philosophy, psychoanalytic metapsychology, and cutting-edge work in the natural sciences, Johnston develops a transcendental materialist theory of subjectivity—in short, an account of how more-than-material forms of subjectivity can emerge from a corporeal being. His work shows how an engagement with Žižek’s philosophy can produce compelling answers to today’s most vexing and urgent questions as inherited from the history of ideas.

The Spiritual Leader


Paul Chappell - 2008
    

Chaos, Territory, Art: Deleuze and the Framing of the Earth


Elizabeth Grosz - 2008
    She approaches art as a form of erotic expression connecting sensory richness with primal desire, and in doing so, finds that the meaning of art comes from the intensities and sensations it inspires, not just its intention and aesthetic.By regarding our most cultured human accomplishments as the result of the excessive, nonfunctional forces of sexual attraction and seduction, Grosz encourages us to see art as a kind of bodily enhancement or mode of sensation enabling living bodies to experience and transform the universe. Art can be understood as a way for bodies to augment themselves and their capacity for perception and affection-a way to grow and evolve through sensation. Through this framework, which knits together the theories of Charles Darwin, Henri Bergson, Gilles Deleuze, F�lix Guattari, and Jakob von Uexk�ll, we are able to grasp art's deep animal lineage.Grosz argues that art is not tied to the predictable and known but to new futures not contained in the present. Its animal affiliations ensure that art is intensely political and charged with the creation of new worlds and new forms of living. According to Grosz, art is the way in which life experiments with materiality, or nature, in order to bring about change.

Being in Love: How to Love with Awareness and Relate Without Fear


Osho - 2008
    “By the time you are ready to explore the world of love, you are filled with so much rubbish about love that there is not much hope for you to be able to find the authentic and discard the false.” By answering the questions that so many lovers face, Osho shares new ways to love that will forever change how you relate to others, including how to:• Love without clinging• Let go of expectations, rules, and demands• Free yourself from the fear of being alone• Be fully present in your relationships• Keep your love fresh and alive• Become a life partner with whom someone could continue to grow and change • Surrender your ego so you can surrender to loveBeing in Love will inspire you to welcome love into your life anew and experience the joy of being truly alive by sharing it.

The Way Out!


Joseph Benner - 2008
    New edition includes gender neutral terms to allow all readers to connect on a deeper level.

Where Are They? Why I Hope the Search for Extraterrestrial Life Finds Nothing


Nick Bostrom - 2008
    It consists of the existance of one or more highly improbable evolutionary transitions or steps whose occurrence is required in order for an Earth‐like planet to produce an intelligent civilization of a type that would be visible to us with our current observation technology. You start with billions and billions of potential germination points for life, and you end up with a sum total of zero extraterrestrial civilizations that we can observe. The Great Filter must therefore be powerful enough — which is to say, the critical steps must be improbable enough— that even with many billions rolls of the dice, one ends up with nothing: no aliens, no spacecraft, no signals, at least none that we can detect in our neck of the woods.

The One by Whom Scandal Comes


René Girard - 2008
    “No question is more debated today. And none produces more disappointing answers.” In Girard’s mimetic theory it is the imitation of someone else’s desire that gives rise to conflict whenever the desired object cannot be shared. This mimetic rivalry, Girard argues, is responsible for the frequency and escalating intensity of human conflict. For Girard, human conflict comes not from the loss of reciprocity between humans but from the transition, imperceptible at first but then ever more rapid, from good to bad reciprocity. In this landmark text, Girard continues his study of violence in light of geopolitical competition, focusing on the roots and outcomes of violence across societies latent in the process of globalization. The volume concludes in a wide-ranging interview with the Sicilian cultural theorist Maria Stella Barberi, where Girard’s twenty-first century emphases on the continuity of all religions, global conflict, and the necessity of apocalyptic thinking emerge.

Two Arms and a Head: The Death of a Newly Paraplegic Philosopher


Clayton Atreus - 2008
    Through a series of thought experiments and literary allusions, Atreus explores the nature of freedom and the ethics of suicide.http://2arms1head.com(No information is available online regarding the author, who may have used a false name. If anyone has more information, you are welcome to edit this description.)

The Mind of Adi Shankaracharya


Y. Keshava Menon - 2008
    Much of the misunderstanding of Shankara’s position may be due to the absence of a lucid presentation of his life and works in a comprehensive and readable form. This short monograph is an attempt to meet that need for the benefit of those who have no previous acquaintance with philosophy.Shankara was one of the most subtle of Indian philosophers, and though for him intellectual dexterity was not an end in itself, the reader will find some reasoning worthy of his steel in the following pages.

Stress-free Living


Dayananda Saraswati - 2008
    But emotional stress has no cure. Inappropriate attitudes and lack of understanding of some critical topics cause stress. So, a cognitive change will make your life stress-free by not letting in stress.

The Other Side of Virtue: Where Our Virtues Come From, What They Really Mean, and Where They Might Be Taking Us


Brendan Myers - 2008
    This book explains the world-view that gave birth to our virtues.

Thought Tools


Daniel Lapin - 2008
    * Reprogram the software of your soul * Increase your sensitivity to God's message for humanity * Help you grow closer to your spouse and children * Nurture your faith, family and fortune * Provide you with a year's worth of significant conversationWhether you savor them privately or share them with others, you will be glad you joined the thousands of Rabbi Daniel Lapin fans who have discovered how these powerful messages enhance their lives.

The quest for authenticity - The Thought of Reb Simhah Bunim


Michael Rosen - 2008
    There was little or no study of kabbalah in Przysucha, and the emphasis was not on trying to understand God, but on trying to understand the human being. It was clear to them that one could not stand with any sense of integrity before the Divine Presence unless one first had some clarity of who one really was. Directly or indirectly, Przysucha had declared an internal war upon the hasidic leadership of its time. It simply refused to accept anything that smelled of falseness and self-deception, be it the honor due to a zaddik or a particular religious practice. Przysucha equated pretension and self-deceit with idol worship. During the early part of the nineteenth century, when the center of the hasidic world was in Poland, R. Simhah Bunim transformed Przysucha Hasidism into a movement and thus rose to become a, if not the, dominant personality in the Hasidic community.

The Essential St. John of the Cross: Ascent of Mount Carmel, Dark Night of the Soul, a Spiritual Canticle of the Soul, and Twenty Poems


John of the Cross - 2008
    John of the Cross' major works as well as twenty of his magnificent poems. The Ascent of Mount Carmel is the third major work of St. John of the Cross and is considered to be the introductory work on mystical theology. Dark Night of the Soul is one of the greatest religious poems ever written. This masterpiece of Mystic Christianity examines faith and how to keep faith when all seems lost. Think of it as guide to making it through the dark night of the soul to the brighter, happier, faith filled tomorrow that awaits. In A Spiritual Canticle of the Soul and the Bridegroom Christ, St. John states: "I do not purpose here to set forth all that greatness and fullness the spirit of love, which is fruitful, embodies in it. Yes, rather it would be foolishness to think that the language of love and the mystical intelligence - and that is what these stanzas are - can be at all explained in words of any kind, for the Spirit of our Lord who helps our weakness."

Psyche: Inventions of the Other, Volume II


Jacques Derrida - 2008
    Advancing his reflection on many issues, such as sexual difference, architecture, negative theology, politics, war, nationalism, and religion, Volume II also carries on Derrida's engagement with a number of key thinkers and writers: De Certeau, Heidegger, Kant, Lacoue-Labarthe, Mandela, Rosenszweig, and Shakespeare, among others. Included in this volume are new or revised translations of seminal essays (for example, "Geschlecht I: Sexual Difference, Ontological Difference," "Geschlecht II: Heidegger's Hand," "How to Avoid Speaking: Denials," and "Interpretations at War: Kant, the Jew, the German").

Climbing Mount Purgatorio: Reflections from the Seventh Cornice


Hamza Yusuf - 2008
    On December 2008, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf presented “Climbing Mount Purgatorio: Reflections from the Seventh Cornice” at The Social Costs of Pornography, an event organized by the Witherspoon Institute at Princeton University.Zaytuna College still has the paper available for download if students want to look into this problem, part of a major disease of the heart.A recording of the lecture is also available here .

Wisdom & Metaphor


Jan Zwicky - 2008
    Wisdom & Metaphor is a stunning work that will engage a broad range of readers.

In the Self's Place: The Approach of Saint Augustine


Jean-Luc Marion - 2008
    Using the Augustinian experience of confessio, Jean-Luc Marion develops a model of selfhood that examines this experience in light of the whole of the Augustinian corpus. Towards this end, Marion engages with noteworthy modern and postmodern analyses of Augustine's most "experiential" work, including the critical commentaries of Jacques Derrida, Martin Heidegger, and Ludwig Wittgenstein. Marion ultimately concludes that Augustine has preceded postmodernity in exploring an excess of the self over and beyond itself, and in using this alterity of the self to itself, as a driving force for creative relations with God, the world, and others. This reading establishes striking connections between accounts of selfhood across the fields of contemporary philosophy, literary studies, and Augustine's early Christianity.

Thomas Paine : Collected Writings : Common Sense / The American Crisis / The Rights of Man / The Age of Reason / A Letter Addressed to the Abbe Raynal


Thomas Paine - 2008
    Through these writings, Paine proved the pen is mightier than the sword.

Lectures on Negative Dialectics: Fragments of a Lecture Course 1965/1966


Theodor W. Adorno - 2008
    These lectures focus on developing the concepts critical to the introductory section of that book. They show Adorno as an embattled philosopher defining his own methodology among the prevailing trends of the time.

Valences of the Dialectic


Fredric Jameson - 2008
    The dialectic, the concept of the evolution of an idea through internal contradiction and conflict, transformed two centuries of Western philosophy. To Hegel, who dominated nineteenth-century thought, it was a metaphysical system. In the works of Marx, the dialectic became a tool for materialist historical analysis, a theoretical maneuver that his critics derided and his descendants on the Left have wrestled with ever since. Jameson brings a theoretical scrutiny to bear on the questions that have arisen in the history of this philosophical tradition, contextualizing the debate with essays on commodification and globalization, and with reference to the work of Rousseau, Fichte, Heidegger, Sartre, Derrida, and Lacan. Through rigorous, erudite examination, Valences of the Dialectic charts a movement toward the innovation of a “spatial” dialectic, culminating in a remarkable meditation on globalization, through a study of Paul Ricoeur. Jameson presents a new synthesis of thought that revitalizes dialectical thinking for the twenty-first century.

The Complete Works of Xenophon


Xenophon - 2008
    For the first time in digital publishing history, readers can now own the complete works of Xenophon in English and the original Greek. This comprehensive eBook presents the complete works with beautiful illustrations, rare texts, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1)* Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Xenophon's life and works* Features the complete works of Xenophon, in both English translation and the original Greek* Concise introductions to the historical and philosophical works* Includes all the translations previously appearing in Loeb Classical Library editions of Xenophon’s works* All texts are provided with chapter and section numbers – ideal for students* Images of famous paintings that have been inspired by Xenophon’s works* Excellent formatting of the texts* Easily locate the sections or works you want to read with individual contents tables* Includes the Pseudo-Xenophon rare work CONSTITUTION OF ATHENS, first time in digital print* Features two bonus biographies, including Diogenes Laërtius’ original biography - discover Xenophon's ancient world* Scholarly ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genresPlease note: some Kindle software programs cannot display Greek characters correctly; however the characters do display correctly on Kindle devices.CONTENTS:Historical worksANABASISCYROPAEDIAHELLENICAAGESILAUSSocratic WorksMEMORABILIAOECONOMICUSSYMPOSIUMAPOLOGYMinor TreatisesON HORSEMANSHIPON THE CAVALRY GENERALON HUNTINGHIEROWAYS AND MEANSCONSTITUTION OF THE LACEDAEMONIANSCONSTITUTION OF ATHENSThe Greek TextsLIST OF GREEK TEXTSThe BiographiesLIFE OF XENOPHON by Diogenes LaërtiusBIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF XENOPHON by Edward Spelman

The Emancipated Spectator


Jacques Rancière - 2008
    In response, both artists and thinkers have sought to transform the spectator into an active agent and the spectacle into a communal performance.In this follow-up to the acclaimed The Future of the Image, Rancière takes a radically different approach to this attempted emancipation. First asking exactly what we mean by political art or the politics of art, he goes on to look at what the tradition of critical art, and the desire to insert art into life, has achieved. Has the militant critique of the consumption of images and commodities become, ironically, a sad affirmation of its omnipotence?

After Enlightenment: The Post-Secular Vision of J. G. Hamann


John R. Betz - 2008
    G. Hamann, the founding father of what has come to be known as Radical Orthodoxy.Provides a long-overdue, comprehensive introduction to Haman's fascinating life and controversial works, including his role as a friend and critic of Kant and some of the most renowned German intellectuals of the age Features substantial new translations of the most important passages from across Hamann's writings, some of which have never been translated into English Examines Hamann's highly original views on a range of topics, including faith, reason, revelation, Christianity, biblical exegesis, Socrates, theological aesthetics, language, sexuality, religion, politics, and the relationship between Judaism and Christianity Presents Hamann as the 'founding father' of a distinctly post-modern, post-secular theology and, as such, as an alternative to the 'postmodern triumvirate' of Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Derrida Considers Hamann's work as a touchtone of modern Jewish-Christian dialogue, in view of debates with his friend Moses Mendelssohn Explores Hamann's role as the visionary founder of a 'metacritical' movement that radically calls into question the basic principles of modern secular reason, and thus reprises the debate between those defending Hamann's views and those labeling him the bete noir of the Enlightenment

Wonders of Spiritual Unfoldment


John Butler - 2008
    Interpreting his own spiritual breakthroughs, the author describes them as "windows of realization" and likens them to the sensation of being made whole. The book describes his journey from Eastern mantra-style meditation to the Orthodox "prayer of the heart" and details how a love of nature and a desire to do good played an important part in his spiritual unfoldment.

Everyone Has the Right to My Opinion


Michael Ramirez - 2008
    Each cartoon shows that a picture is worth a thousand words and transforms the news of the day into eye-catching, provocative, and hilarious images that draw people into the democratic process. His commentary on everything from the economy and markets to politics and international affairs offers a unique perspective on today's issues.

Merleau-Ponty's Philosophy


Lawrence Hass - 2008
    Lawrence Hass redresses this problem by offering an exceptionally clear, carefully argued, critical appreciation of Merleau-Ponty's philosophy. Hass provides insight into the philosophical methods and major concepts that characterize Merleau-Ponty's thought. Questions concerning the nature of phenomenology, perceptual experience, embodiment, intersubjectivity, expression, and philosophy of language are fully and systematically discussed with reference to main currents and discussions in contemporary philosophy. The result is a refreshingly jargon-free invitation into Merleau-Ponty's important and transformational way of understanding human experience.

The Western Illusion of Human Nature: With Reflections on the Long History of Hierarchy, Equality and the Sublimation of Anarchy in the West, and Comparative Notes on Other Conceptions of the Human Condition


Marshall Sahlins - 2008
    He cites Nietzsche to the effect that deep issues are like cold baths; one should get into and out of them as quickly as possible. The deep issue here is the ancient Western specter of a presocial and antisocial human nature: a supposedly innate self-interest that is represented in our native folklore as the basis or nemesis of cultural order. Yet these Western notions of nature and culture ignore the one truly universal character of human sociality: namely, symbolically constructed kinship relations. Kinsmen are members of one another: they live each other's lives and die each other's deaths. But where the existence of the other is thus incorporated in the being of the self, neither interest, nor agency or even experience is an individual fact, let alone an egoistic disposition. "Sorry, beg your pardon," Sahlins concludes, Western society has been built on a perverse and mistaken idea of human nature.

What The Torah Teaches Us About Survival


Laura Weakley - 2008
    This book provides a path for those eager to focus on their spiritual side, thus launching the healing and growth processes simultaneously. Whether renewing one's faith or exploring it for the first time, reflection, growth, and understanding are destinations anyone may reach by utilizing this book's guidance as an opportunity to explore biblical lessons about healing.

Infernalia


Michael Rose - 2008
    I am extremely pleased to see his collected writings finally available to the general public. This volume is an essential addition to the Satanic canon and is a must-read for anyone seriously interested in Satanism and the Church of Satan. Open this book, open your eyes, and let the shackles of ignorance fall from your mind."Magister James D. SassAuthor of Essays in Satanism"At first glance you might think the essays and articles you are about to read are just a trip down memory lane. Far from that, they are gemstones of the day, full of luster, subjects that still hold sway to this day, and give you an insight into the mind of not only a Satanist, but a high ranking member of the Priesthood of Mendes. Sharp and direct, with a no prisoners taken approach.”Magister George Sprague

On Complexity


Edgar Morin - 2008
    These essays will certainly stimulate the critical debate within complexity circles, but is also essential reading for anybody interested in our complex world and how to live in it.

Bearing The Devil's Mark


Matt Paradise - 2008
    Sex, love, politics, technology, the God religions, and more -- all brought to you by someone with over 25 years of actively living the Satanic philosophy. Matt G. Paradise is Executive Director of Purging Talon, a Satanic media company responsible for releasing groundbreaking and often imitated audio, video, print, and Web work since 1993. Paradise is also a Magister in the Church of Satan and, since the early-1990s, has also done media representative work for the CoS through all major media forms -- network television, radio, print publications, and the Internet.

Hegel's Practical Philosophy


Robert B. Pippin - 2008
    Using a detailed analysis of key Hegelian texts, he develops this interpretation to reveal the bearing of Hegel's claims on many contemporary issues, including much-discussed core problems in the liberal democratic tradition. His important study will be valuable for all readers who are interested in Hegel's philosophy and in the modern problems of agency and freedom.

Revolution, Democracy, Socialism: Selected Writings of V.I. Lenin


Vladimir Lenin - 2008
    For the first time it brings together crucial shorter works, to show that Lenin held a life-long commitment to freedom and democracy. Le Blanc has written a comprehensive introduction, which gives an accessible overview of Lenin's life and work, and explains his relevance to political thought today.Lenin has been much maligned in the mainstream, accused of viewing 'man as modeling clay' and of 'social engineering of the most radical kind.' However, in contrast to today's world leaders, who happily turn to violence to achieve their objectives, Lenin believed it impossible to reach his goals 'by any other path than that of political democracy.'This collection will be of immense value to students encountering Lenin for the first time, and those looking for a new interpretation of one of the 20th century's most inspiring figures.

Plato and a Platypus / Aristotle and an Aardvark Boxed Set


Thomas Cathcart - 2008
    Now presented in a special value hardcover boxed set!

The Wisdom of Truth: 12 Essays by the Holy Kabbalist Rav Yehuda Ashlag


Yehuda Ashlag - 2008
    The Wisdom of Truth covers all of the basic truths of Kabbalah, focusing on human dignity and how people must behave toward one another in order to eliminate chaos in the world. This new translation from the original Hebrew has been completely re-edited by renowned scholar Michael Berg, who has also provided a helpful introduction.

Masters Of Greek Thought: Plato, Socrates, And Aristotle


Robert C. Bartlett - 2008
    

Relationships to Oneself, to Others, to the World


Jiddu Krishnamurti - 2008
    Born in South India, he was educated in England, and traveled the world, giving public talks, holding dia- logues, writing, and founding schools until the end of his life at the age of ninety. He claimed allegiance to no caste, nationality, or religion and was bound by no tradition.Time magazine named Krishnamurti, along with Mother Teresa, “one of the five saints of the 20th century,” and the Dalai Lama calls Krishnamurti “one of the greatest thinkers of the age.”x • ForewordHis teachings are published in 75 books, 700 audiocas- settes, and 1200 videocassettes. Thus far, over 4,000,000 copies of his books have been sold in over thirty languages.The rejection of all spiritual and psychological authority, including his own, is a fundamental theme. He said human beings have to free themselves of fear, conditioning, authority, and dogma through self-knowledge. He suggested that this will bring about order and real psychological change. Our violent, conflict-ridden world cannot be transformed into a life of goodness, love, and compassion by any political, social, or economic strategies. It can be transformed only through mutation in individuals brought about through their own observation without any guru or organized religion.Krishnamurti’s stature as an original philosopher attracted traditional and also creative people from all walks of life. Heads of state, eminent scientists, prominent leaders of the United Nations and various religious organizations, psychiatrists and psychologists, and university professors all engaged in dialogue with Krishnamurti. Students, teachers, and millions of people from all walks of life read his books and came to hear him speak. He bridged science and reli- gion without the use of jargon, so scientists and lay people alike could understand his discussions of time, thought, insight, and death.During his lifetime, Krishnamurti established foundations in the United States, India, England, Canada, and Spain. Their defined role is the preservation and dissemination ofForeword • xithe teachings, but without any authority to interpret or deify the teachings or the person.Krishnamurti also founded schools in India, England, and the United States. He envisioned that education should emphasize the understanding of the whole human being, mind and heart, not the mere acquisition of academic and intellectual skills. Education must be for learning skills in the art of living, not only the technology to make a living.Krishnamurti said, “Surely a school is a place where one learns about the totality, the wholeness of life. Academic excellence is absolutely necessary, but a school includes much more than that. It is a place where both the teacher and the taught explore, not only the outer world, the world of knowledge, but also their own thinking, their behavior.”He said of his work, “There is no belief demanded or asked, there are no followers, there are no cults, there is no persuasion of any kind, in any direction, and therefore only then we can meet on the same platform, on the same ground, at the same level. Then we can together observe the extraor- dinary phenomena of human existence.”R.E. Mark Lee, Executive Director, Krishnamurti Foundation of America

Practical Anarchy


Stefan Molyneux - 2008
    How a stateless society will function. By Stefan Molyneux MA, of Freedomain Radio, the largest and most popular philosophy show on the web.

René Girard's Mimetic Theory


Wolfgang Palaver - 2008
    This book also offers an overview of René Girard’s life and work, showing how much mimetic theory results from existential and spiritual insights into one’s own mimetic entanglements. Furthermore it examines the broader implications of Girard’s theories, from the mimetic aspect of sovereignty and wars to the relationship between the scapegoat mechanism and the question of capital punishment. Mimetic theory is placed within the context of current cultural and political debates like the relationship between religion and modernity, terrorism, the death penalty, and gender issues. Drawing textual examples from European literature (Cervantes, Shakespeare, Goethe, Kleist, Stendhal, Storm, Flaubert, Dostoevsky, Proust) and philosophy (Plato, Camus, Sartre, Lévi-Strauss, Derrida, Vattimo), Palaver uses mimetic theory to explore the themes they present. A highly accessible book, this text is complemented by bibliographical references to Girard’s widespread work and secondary literature on mimetic theory and its applications, comprising a valuable bibliographical archive that provides the reader with an overview of the development and discussion of mimetic theory until the present day.

The Book of Calamities: Five Questions About Suffering and Its Meaning


Peter Trachtenberg - 2008
     Combining reportage, personal narrative, and moral philosophy, Peter Trachtenberg tells the stories of grass-roots genocide tribunals in Rwanda and tsunami survivors in Sri Lanka, an innocent man on death row, and a family bereaved on 9/11. He examines texts from the Book of Job to the Bodhicharyavatara and the writings of Simone Weil. The Book of Calamities is a provocative and sweeping look at one of the biggest paradoxes of the human condition -- and the surprising strength and resilience of those who are forced to confront it.

The Essential Rudolf Steiner


Rudolf Steiner - 2008
    Rudolf Steiner was an Austrian philosopher, literary scholar, educator, artist, playwright, social thinker, and esotericist.

The Contested Public Square: The Crisis of Christianity and Politics


Greg Forster - 2008
    Greg Forster introduces the history of Christian political thought traced out in Western culture--a culture with a fragmented view of the proper relationship of government and religion.

Black Book Volume 3, Part Ii: The Black Symphony, Second Movement


Christopher S. Hyatt - 2008
    Hyatt and the Extreme Individual Institute. Little more can be said lest we give away their intention and reduce their impact. Black Book III Part 2 includes: "Man in the World" by Christopher Hyatt "Blood Relatives and Other Symbols of Death" by S. Jason Black "The Production of Complex Organic Molecules by Radio-Frequency Electrical Discharges" by Joseph Lisiewski "The Christian Destruction of the Mysteries" by David Menafee "Question Reality" by MobiusFrame "The Terrible 3s: A Sail on the Titanic" by Christopher Hyatt "Entrance Piece" by Joseph Matheny and much, much more...

The Treatises of M. T. Cicero: On the Nature of the Gods, on Divination, on Fate, on the Republic, on the Laws, and on Standing for the Consulship (1


Marcus Tullius Cicero - 2008
    -from The Nature of the Gods Roman orator and politician Cicero provides a vital firsthand viewpoint on the fall of the Roman Empire, and a grounding in his work is necessary for appreciating philosophers who came after him, including Saint Augustine, upon whom he exerted a profound influence. This edition, a replica of the 1877 translation by C. D. Yonge, offers highly readable versions of some of Cicero's most significant writings: . Tusculan Disputations is a classic of Stoic metaphysics, Cicero's argument that virtue is the root of the only true human happiness. . On the Nature of the Gods, which examines multiple viewpoints on the gods and religion, is an excellent example of the philosophical dialogue, and of Cicero's skeptical method. . On the Commonwealth, one of Cicero's most important works of political philosophy, sets out his thoughts on the ideal society. Roman lawyer and philosopher MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO (106-43 B.C) also wrote On Invention, On the Orator, On the Republic, and On the Laws. British scholar CHARLES DUKE YONGE (1812-1891) is also the author of The Life of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France and History of England From 1760 to 1860.

Nutrition: Food, Health, and Spiritual Development


Rudolf Steiner - 2008
    People are bombarded with advice, information, and prescriptions as to what to eat and drink, but the issues concerning nutrition--matters of health, diet, taste, sustainability, and ecology--remain largely unresolved and even ignored.Unlike most who have spoken out on this subject, Rudolf Steiner approaches the theme of nutrition in a refreshing and open way. He never tries to tell us what we should or should not be putting into our bodies; he does not recommend an omnivorous, vegetarian, or vegan diet; nor does he tell us not to smoke or drink alcohol. His job as a scientist, he says, is simply to explain how things work and their effects; what we do with that information is up to us. On the other hand, he emphasizes that our diet not only determines our physical well being, but can also hinder or promote one's inner spiritual development. In this carefully collated anthology (including an introduction, commentary, and notes by Christian von Arnim), Rudolf Steiner considers nutrition in the light of his anthroposophic spiritual-scientific research. He explains the impact of raw food, vegetarian, and meat diets; the effects of protein, fats, carbohydrates, and salts; individual foods such as potatoes, beets, and radishes; and the impact of alcohol and nicotine. The insights in Nutrition are vital to anyone with a serious interest in health, diet, and spiritual development.

Psychotherapy and the Quest for Happiness


Emmy Van Deurzen - 2008
    Asking when and why we decided that the aim of life is to be happy, she poses searching questions about the meaning of life. Psychotherapy and the Quest for Happiness seeks to define what a good life consists of and how therapists might help their clients to live well rather than just in search of happiness.

Integral Ecology: Uniting Multiple Perspectives on the Natural World


Sean Esbjörn-Hargens - 2008
    With more than two hundred distinct and valuable perspectives on the natural world—and with scientists, economists, ethicists, activists, philosophers, and others often taking completely different stances on the issues—how can we come to agreement to solve our toughest environmental problems? In response to this pressing need, Integral Ecology unites valuable insights from multiple perspectives into a comprehensive theoretical framework—one that can be put to use right now. The framework is based on Integral Theory, as well as Ken Wilber’s AQAL model, and is the result of over a decade of research exploring the myriad perspectives on ecology available to us today and their respective methodologies.Dozens of real-life applications and examples of this framework currently in use are examined, including three in-depth case studies: work with marine fisheries in Hawai’i, strategies of eco-activists to protect Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest, and a study of community development in El Salvador. In addition, eighteen personal practices of transformation are provided for you to increase your own integral ecological awareness. Integral Ecology provides the most sophisticated application and extension of Integral Theory available today, and as such it serves as a template for any truly integral effort.

Plato's Critique of Impure Reason: On Goodness and Truth in the Republic


D.C. Schindler - 2008
    He then sets out a philosophical interpretation of the dialogue.

Adi Shankaracharya's Bhaja Govindam


Sukhabodhananda - 2008
    One of these hymns is the famous “Bhaja Govindam”. ‘Bhaja’ literally means ‘seek’, ‘Govindam’ means ‘the Lord’ – ‘the Truth’. The learned masters, out of deep compassion try to wake up humanity. They invite us to open our eyes to a higher dimension of living. The whole text of Bhaja Govindam in essence means ‘Wake up, seek the Lord, and stop seeking the primitive and superficial things in life.’The compilation of thoughts presented in this book is applicable to one and all. Swami Sukhabodhananda in his unique style explains the verses with deep clarity and understanding.

Meditation as Contemplative Inquiry: When Knowing Becomes Love


Arthur Zajonc - 2008
    Initially, we may take up contemplative practice as a means of tapping into the abundant resources of the mind and heart that bring serenity, but the meditative journey leads further--to the place where wisdom and love unite.In Meditation as Contemplative Inquiry, Arthur Zajonc offers an overview of the meditative life, weaving practical instruction together with the guidance and inspiration of the world's great teachers, from Rudolf Steiner to Rumi, and from Goethe to the sages of Asia.Zajonc reminds us that an ethic of humility grounds all practice, and that care of the soul is the basis for sound spiritual reflection and understanding. The author carefully describes each stage of the path and includes many recommended practices.Meditation as Contemplative Inquiry is the fruit of many years of personal practice and teaching. Arthur Zajonc developed his orientation toward meditation through working with hundreds of university students and professors, as well as with contemplative groups in the U.S., Europe, and Australia.

Biblical Logic: In Theory & Practice


Joel McDurmon - 2008
    Whether coming from skeptics, atheist, leftists, cults, or even other Christians, poor logic and dubious reasoning deserve exposure and correction. In his new book, Biblical Logic, Joel McDurmon returns to God's Word to recover logic and critical thinking from the hands of the enemy, and to expose the fallacies of unbelief and unbiblical ideas.But is the Bible really the place to turn for logic? Is not logic the domain of scholars and philosophers? The British philosopher John Locke long ago answered this common misconception: God has not been so sparing to men to make them barely two-legged creatures, and left it to Aristotle to make them rational. In other words, logic existed and people reasoned and used the critical faculties of their minds long before any philosopher came along to teach about it. God created logic and reasoning as He created man, and He created it for man, and therefore we should find it reasonable that God's Word has something to say - if not a lot to say - about logic, rationality, and good judgment.Christ has made us priests and kings (Rev. 1:6). He has determined that His saints shall judge the world, and even judge angels (1 Cor. 6:23), and He has thoroughly equipped us to perform these tasks. God's Word sets the standard of reasoning and law by which we shall judge, and the Bible teaches us this standard - a standard we must follow and to which we ourselves must give account. This new book, Biblical Logic, returns to Gods word to find that standard, and to recover the God-given directives for faithful logic and critical thinking. By this standard, and by this example, Gods saints - you - can indeed discern and judge the world as God has commanded.

The Tyranny of Liberalism: Understanding and Overcoming Administered Freedom, Inquisitorial Tolerance, and Equality by Command


James Kalb - 2008
    But take a longer view—look beyond and below politics—and it is the unchallenged triumph of liberalism and its philosophical assumptions that ought to command our attention.The triumph of liberalism means the tyranny of liberalism, explains James Kalb in this illuminating book, for liberalism is the extension into the sociopolitical realm of modern scientific thought and technological rationality. These modes of thinking are regarded by nearly everyone today as uniquely authoritative; those institutions and beliefs which do not conform are regarded at best as annoyances, and at worst as evil. Furthermore, Kalb shows how liberalism is an expression of the interests and outlook of commercial and managerial elites, who are suspicious of less rationalized and controllable forms of social organization like the family.Kalb does not merely rehearse a tale of woe, nor is he content simply to analyze the current situation. With reference to concrete issues such as the debate surrounding same-sex marriage, he outlines the kind of traditionalist response to liberalism that is likely to be most effective. He argues that traditional, decentralized, and nonliberal forms of social organization are ultimately impossible to eradicate, and he shows how more human forms of association than those favored by liberalism might once again be brought into being.

C. S. Lewis as Philosopher: Truth, Goodness and Beauty


David Baggett - 2008
    S. Lewis think about truth, goodness and beauty? Fifteen essays explore three major philosophical themes from the writings of Lewis--Truth, Goodness and Beauty. This volume provides a comprehensive overview of Lewis's philosophical thinking on arguments for Christianity, the character of God, theodicy, moral goodness, heaven and hell, a theory of literature and the place of the imagination.

Rubber Side Down: The Biker Poet Anthology


Jose Gouveia - 2008
    Like cowboy poetry, biker poetry seems a genre on the rise. The book traces the beginnings of biker poetry to a poetry throw-down of sorts on a farm in Colorado in 1975, attended by an assortment of bikers and hippies and a young Hunter S. Thompson.The contributors to this book include the late Allen Ginsberg and Thom Gunn, Diane Wakoski, and a host of writers from the motorcycle press, including Dr. Martin Jack Rosenblum (Harley-Davidson Historian Emeritus), Susan Buck, and K. Peddlar Bridges. In addition, a special photo section has been provided by noted motorcycle photographer, Michael Lichter (Choppers, Heavy Metal Art and others). Rubber Side Down pushes beyond the typical image of the 'biker' and shows that the biker community is made up of professional individuals from all walks of life and countries across the world, and highlights the emergence of biker poetry.