Religio Medici is a fascinating, witty and intimate exploration of his views on faith and tolerance, while substantial selections from Pseudodoxia Epidemica display Browne's breadth of knowledge and omnivorous curiosity in his account of common errors in a startling array of subjects including sciences, history, literature and philosophy. Hydriotaphia or 'Urn Buriall' is an intriguing meditation on death and the desire for immortality, The Garden of Cyrus considers the mysterious order to be found in nature, and A Letter to a Friend and the aphoristic Christian Morals provide profound spiritual guidance to readers.

    Through our imagination we experience more fully the world both around us and within us. Imagination plays a key role in creativity and innovation.Until the seventeenth century, the human imagination was celebrated. Since then, with the emergence of science as the dominant worldview, imagination has been marginalised -- depicted as a way of escaping reality, rather than knowing it more profoundly -- and its significance to our humanity has been downplayed.Yet as we move further into the strange new dimensions of the twenty-first century, the need to regain this lost knowledge seems more necessary than ever before.This insightful and inspiring book argues that, for the sake of our future in the world, we must reclaim the ability to imagine and redress the balance of influence between imagination and science.Through the work of Owen Barfield, Goethe, Henry Corbin, Kathleen Raine, and others, and ranging from the teachings of ancient mystics to the latest developments in neuroscience, The Lost Knowledge of the Imagination draws us back to a philosophy and tradition that restores imagination to its rightful place, essential to our knowing reality to the full, and to our very humanity itself.

    To express some of his inner thoughts while awaiting his execution in 1535 for refusing to betray his faith, More created this fictional dialogue between a 16th century Hungarian, Vincent, and Anthony, his dying uncle.

    Came to the Episcopacy (Serm. 355, 2); A. Chooses Eraclius as His Successor (Letter 213, 1, 5f); A. on His Own Writings (Retractations Prol. I, 1-3)2 FAITH & REASON: Belief is Volitional Consent (On the Spirit & Letter 21, 54; 34, 60); To Believe Is to Think w/Assent (Predestination of the Saints 5); Believing & Understanding (On Free Choice II, 2, 4-6); Authority & Reason (Against the Academics III, 20, 43); Two Ways to Knowledge (On Order II, 9, 26f); Reason & Authority in Manicheism (Value of Believing 1-4); The Relation of Authority to Reason (True Religion 24, 45--25, 47); If I Am Deceived, I Am Alive (City of God XI, 26); I Know that I Am Alive (The Trinity XV, 12, 21f); Knowledge & Wisdom (The Trinity XII, 14, 21--15, 25); Error & Ignorance (Enchiridion 17)3 THREE LEVELS OF REALITY: Creator, Human Soul, Body (Questions for Simplicianus I, 2, 18); Natures on Three Levels (Letter 18, 2); Soul, Ruled by God, Rules Its Body (On Music VI, 5, 12f); Soul: Above the Sensible, Below God (True Religion 3. 3); God, Mutable Spirits, & Bodies (Nature of the Good 1-25); Divine, Psychic & Bodily Nature (City of God VIII, 5f); Causality: Divine, Psychic & Bodily (City of God V, 9); Divine Ideas as Prototypes (83 Different Questions 46, 1f); God Set Spiritual Creation Above the Corporeal (Literal Commentary on Genesis VIII, 20, 39; 25, 46; 26, 48); Evil: the Privation of the Good (Enchiridion 10-12)4 MAN’S SOUL: Existence, Life, Sense & Reason (On Free Choice II, 3, 7f, 10); Sensation as an Activity of the Soul (On Music VI, 5, 9f); Memory, Understanding & Will (The Trinity X, 11, 17f); The Wonders of Memory (Confessions X, 8-26); Three Levels of Vision (Literal Commentary on Genesis XII, 6, 15--11, 22; 30, 58--31, 59)5 THE WORLD OF BODIES: All Bodily Natures Are Good (City of God XII, 4); Invisible Seeds in the Elements (The Trinity III, 8, 13); The Elements Contain Seminal Reasons (Literal Commentary on Genesis IX, 17, 32); Measure, Number, & Weight (Literal Commentary on Genesis IV, 3, 7); Concerning Formless Matter (Confessions XII, 3. 3--9, 9); Place, Time & the Physical World (City of God XI, 5-6); The Wonders of Nature (City of God XXI, 4-5); God Works Thruout Nature (The Trinity III, 5, 11--6, 11); Man’s Natural Endowments (City of God XXII, 24); The Physical World & the Xian (Enchiridion 9)6 APPROACHING GOD THRU UNDERSTANDING: Creation is a Great Book (Serm., Mai 126, 6); The Journey of the Soul to God (On Free Choice II, 12, 33f; 15, 39f; 16, 41f); The Soul’s Ascent to God (Confessions VII, 10, 16--17, 23); The Whole World Proclaims Its Maker (On Psalm 26, Serm. 2, 12); Ascending to the Supreme Truth (True Religion 29, 52--31, 58); Plato’s View of God (City of God VII, 4); How to Think About God (The Trinity V, 1f--2f); The Problem of Speaking About God (The Trinity VII, 4, 7-9); God Is the Selfsame (On Psalm 121, 3, 5); A Divine Invocation (Soliloquies I, 2-6); Late Have I Loved Thee (Confessions X, 27, 38--28, 39)7 MORAL & RELIGIOUS LIFE: All Men Desire Happiness (On Psalm 32, Serm. 3, 15f); Man’s Greatest Good (Moral Behavior of the Catholic Church 3-8); Good Love & Bad Love (City of God XIV, 6f); Moral Evil Stems from Bad Will (City of God XII, 6); Two Precepts of Love (City of God XIX, 14); On Diversities of Local Customs (Letter 54, 1-4); Doing Good to Body & Soul (Moral Behavior of the Catholic Church 27f); The Evil of Telling a Lie (Enchiridion 18f, 22); Lying & Concealing the Truth (On Psalm 5, 7); Faith, Hope & Charity (Enchiridion 8); No Virtues Apart from God (City of God XIX, 25); Our Reward Is Not in This Life (On Psalm 48, Serm. 2)8 DIMENSIONS OF GRACE: What the Grace of God Is (On Admonition & Grace 2f); A. Was Never a Pelagian (Retractations I, 9, 2-4); What True Grace Is (On the Grace of Christ 26f); The Work of Grace (City of God XXI, 15f); How Freedom Is Restored by Grace (Enchiridion 30-32); God’s Foreknowledge & Human Willing (City of God V, 10); Grace Before & After the Fall (Enchiridion 104-106); Grace & Good Works (On Psalm 31, Serm. 2, 6-8); Prevenient Grace (On Psalm 18, Serm. 2); Grace & Human Miseries (City of God XXII, 20-22); The Beatific Vision (On Psalm 36, Serm. 2, 8)9 THE TWO CITIES: A.’s Analysis of the City of God (Letter to Firmus); How the Two Cities Differ (City of God XIV, 1); Two Loves Make Two Cities (Literal Commentary on Genesis XI, 15, 20); Two Cities Formed by Two Loves (City of God XIV, 28); The Unimportance of Externals (City of God XIX, 19); Relation of the Heavenly & Earthly Cities (City of God XIX, 17); Jerusalem & Babylon (On Psalm 64, 2); Summary of the Two Cities (City of God XVIII, 1); All Nations Are in the City of God (On Psalm 86, 5); The Church & the City of God (On Psalm 98, 4); The Foundation of the Holy City (On Psalm 121, 4); Religion & Human Destiny (True Religion 7, 13--8, 14); The Meaning of a People (City of God XIX, 23f); Peace: the Tranquility of Order (City of God XIX, 11-13); Two Kingdoms After the Resurrection (Enchiridion 111)10 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY: Belief & Historical Events (83 Different Questions 48); The Universality of Providence (City of God V, 11); Meaning in History (True Religion 50, 98f); Six Ages in Biblical History (On Psalm 92, 1); Symbolic Meaning of Jewish History (On Psalm 64, 1); Christ in History (Letter 137, 4, 15f); The Two Cities in History (On Catechizing the Uninstructed 21, 37); What Is Time? (Confessions XI, 14, 17--30, 40); Critique of Cyclicism (City of God XII, 13-15)APENDIXES: 1 Selected, Annotated Bibliography 2 Alphabetical List of A.’s Writings 3 Glossary of TermsINDEX

    of Manchester) has hitherto been known for his several excellent books on the Dead Sea Scrolls. In an unusual reversal, he has now produced a book that will make The Passover Plot seem the last refuge of theological ultra-conservatism. The thesis of the book is simple enough: Jesus did not exist, the Gospels were & are a hoax, & Christianity is the atavistic vestige of an ancient fertility cult in which the object of worship was a peculiarly phallic mushroom, Amanita muscaria, capable of producing psychedelic reactions. As farfetched as all this may seem, it cannot be denied that he has brought to this work the same care & scholarly detachment that have characterized his earlier, & more conventional, works; & he has made not one concession to the sensational nature of his thesis. The book is, in fact, a demanding one, which presupposes in the reader at least a working knowledge of the ancient Semitic tongues & of the sciences considered auxiliary to biblical studies. Only the most determined non-professional iconoclast will be willing to wade through his unrelenting jargon. None of which, of course, will affect the demand for what is probably to become a very controversial work.--Kirkus (edited)

    He is also one of its most controversial. The author of important books such as Animal Liberation, Practical Ethics, Rethinking Life and Death, and The Life You Can Save, he helped launch the animal rights and effective altruism movements and contributed to the development of bioethics. Now, in Ethics in the Real World, Singer shows that he is also a master at dissecting important current events in a few hundred words.In this book of brief essays, he applies his controversial ways of thinking to issues like climate change, extreme poverty, animals, abortion, euthanasia, human genetic selection, sports doping, the sale of kidneys, the ethics of high-priced art, and ways of increasing happiness. Singer asks whether chimpanzees are people, smoking should be outlawed, or consensual sex between adult siblings should be decriminalized, and he reiterates his case against the idea that all human life is sacred, applying his arguments to some recent cases in the news. In addition, he explores, in an easily accessible form, some of the deepest philosophical questions, such as whether anything really matters and what is the value of the pale blue dot that is our planet. The collection also includes some more personal reflections, like Singer’s thoughts on one of his favorite activities, surfing, and an unusual suggestion for starting a family conversation over a holiday feast.Provocative and original, these essays will challenge—and possibly change—your beliefs about a wide range of real-world ethical questions.

    The Enneads bring together Neoplatonism--mystic passion and ideas from Greek philosophy--together with striking variants of the Trinity and other central Christian doctrines, to produce a highly original synthesis.

    In bold contrast to the predominant Freudian school of thought, Becker tackles the problem of the vital lie -- man's refusal to acknowledge his own mortality. In doing so, he sheds new light on the nature of humanity and issues a call to life and its living that still resonates more than twenty years after its writing.

    This remarkable "critique of critique" is introduced here without embellishment, cutting straight to the heart of the matter in a particularly clear and logical manner. It allows the destiny of thought to be the absolute once more."This work is one of the most important to appear in continental philosophy in recent years and deserves a wide readership at the earliest possible date ... Après la finitude is an important book of philosophy by an authnted emerging voices in continental thought. Quentin Meillassoux deserves our close attention in the years to come and his book deserves rapid translation and widespread discussion in the English-speaking world. There is nothing like it."—Graham Harman in Philosophy TodayThe exceptional lucidity and the centrality of argument in Meillassoux's writing should appeal to analytic as well as continental philosophers, while his critique of fideism will be of interest to anyone preoccupied by the relation between philosophy, theology and religion. Meillassoux introduces a startlingly novel philosophical alternative to the forced choice between dogmatism and critique. After Finitude proposes a new alliance between philosophy and science and calls for an unequivocal halt to the creeping return of religiosity in contemporary philosophical discourse.

    Laing is at his most wickedly iconoclastic in this eloquent assault on conventional morality. Unorthodox to some, brilliantly original to others, The Politics of Experience goes beyond the usual theories of mental illness and alienation, and makes a convincing case for the "madness of morality." Compelling, unsettling, consistently absorbing, The Politics of Experience is a classic of genuine importance that will "excite, enthrall, and disturb. No one who reads it will remain unaffected." (Rollo May, Saturday Review)

     His starting point is moral intuition—the nearly instantaneous perceptions we all have about other people and the things they do. These intuitions feel like self-evident truths, making us righteously certain that those who see things differently are wrong. Haidt shows us how these intuitions differ across cultures, including the cultures of the political left and right. He blends his own research findings with those of anthropologists, historians, and other psychologists to draw a map of the moral domain. He then examines the origins of morality, overturning the view that evolution made us fundamentally selfish creatures. But rather than arguing that we are innately altruistic, he makes a more subtle claim—that we are fundamentally groupish. It is our groupishness, he explains, that leads to our greatest joys, our religious divisions, and our political affiliations. In a stunning final chapter on ideology and civility, Haidt shows what each side is right about, and why we need the insights of liberals, conservatives, and libertarians to flourish as a nation.

    Ward presents an investigation of the history of ideas about God that is marked by radical views, erudition and wit. He provides a journey through the philosophical and cultural heritage of the last 2000 years, drawing on such rich and diverse sources as the myths of the Greek gods on Mount Olympus, through the philosophy of St Augustine and Sartre, to wet Sunday afternoons and the movie Alien. The intellectual and theological legacies of almost every renowned thinker - believers and non-believers alike - are considered, from Aristotle to Ayer, Hegel to Heidegger, Al Ghazali to Sankara.

    In this classic work, Herbert Marcuse takes as his starting point Freud's statement that civilization is based on the permanent subjugation of the human instincts, his reconstruction of the prehistory of mankind - to an interpretation of the basic trends of western civilization, stressing the philosophical and sociological implications.

    When he became involved in a conspiracy and was imprisoned in Pavia, it was to the Greek philosophers that he turned. THE CONSOLATION was written in the period leading up to his brutal execution. It is a dialogue of alternating prose and verse between the ailing prisoner and his 'nurse' Philosophy. Her instruction on the nature of fortune and happiness, good and evil, fate and free will, restore his health and bring him to enlightenment. THE CONSOLATION was extremely popular throughout medieval Europe and his ideas were influential on the thought of Chaucer and Dante.

    A staunch atheist and rationalist, she is profoundly shaken by the implications of her life-long search. Part memoir, part philosophical and spiritual inquiry, Living with a Wild God brings an older woman's wry and erudite perspective to a young girl's uninhibited musings on the questions that, at one point or another, torment us all. Ehrenreich's most personal book ever will spark a lively and heated conversation about religion and spirituality, science and morality, and the "meaning of life." Certain to be a classic, Living with a Wild God combines intellectual rigor with a frank account of the inexplicable, in Ehrenreich's singular voice, to produce a true literary achievement.