This text surveys the major ideologies which have shaped the political landscape, covering traditional ideologies including liberalism, conservatism, and socialism, and the newly emerging ideologies, like environmentalism.

    Discourse ethics attempts to reconstruct a moral point of view from which normative claims can be impartially judged. The theory of justice it develops replaces Kant's categorical imperative with a procedure of justification based on reasoned agreement among participants in practical discourse. Habermas connects communicative ethics to the theory of social action via an examination of research in the social psychology of moral and interpersonal development. He aims to show that our basic moral intuitions spring from something deeper and more universal than contingent features of our tradition, namely from normative presuppositions of social interaction that belong to the repertoire of competent agents in any society.

      In this new study Chaim Perelman continues to develop his ideas on the theory of rhetoric, now even more cogently and persuasively presented. Pruned of much detail present in the earlier book, this new work captures the essence of his thought in a style and presentation suitable to the program and needs of an English-speaking audience. It is an ideal instruction medium for students approaching theories of informal argumentation for the first time.   Perelman raises the questions, "How do claims to reasonableness arise in prose that is not formally logical?" and "What does 'reasonableness' mean for some who speaks of 'reasonable men' or 'beyond reasonable doubt'?" He then shows how claims to rationality are embedded in a number of verbal structures heretofore considered exclusively ornamental or dispositional. He identifies and discusses many argumentative techniques in addition to the quasi-logical methods conventionally treated in textbooks and notes numerous subforms of argumentation within each of the general types he identifies.

    In these lectures, Heidegger reviews and makes critical appropriations of the hermeneutic tradition from Plato, Aristotle, and Augustine to Schleiermacher and Dilthey in order to reformulate the question of being on the basis of facticity and the everyday world. Specific themes deal with the history of ontology, the development of phenomenology and its relation to Hegelian dialectic, traditional theological and philosophical concepts of man, the present situation of philosophy, and the influences of Aristotle, Luther, Kierkegaard, and Husserl on Heidegger's own thinking. Students of Heidegger will find initial breakthroughs in his unique elaboration of the meaning of human existence and the "question of being, " which received mature expression in Being and Time.

    For others, even among those with philosophies as diverse as William James and Ludwig Wittgenstein, philosophy is simply a tool, or a process for ascertaining individual factual truths specific to a given time and place. It is often said that if you ask any ten philosophers to define their subject, you�1/2re likely to get ten different answers. Here, presented for non-specialist readers, is an easy-to-understand survey of ideas put forth by 100 important philosophers, from the pre-Socratics of ancient Greece to the analytic philosophers of the present day. Each thinker is summarized in a single illustrated page, or in many instances, in a two-page spread. Each entry includes the philosopher�1/2s birth and death dates, titles of major works, major influences, a capsule biographical sketch, and a brief summary of his or her most important ideas. In addition to philosophers in our own Western tradition, readers will find Chinese sages, including Confucius and Lao-tzu, the Indian Buddhist philosopher Ngrjuna, and thinkers representing other cultures. Just a few of the 100 important thinkers represented in this book are:PlatoAristotleAugustine of HippoRoger BaconThomas AquinasThomas HobbesJohn LockeRene DescartesBaruch SpinozaImmanuel KantG.W.F. HegelFriedrich NietzscheWilliam JamesLudwig WittgensteinMartin HeideggerJean-Paul SartreAlfred Jules AyerWillard V.O. QuineThomas KuhnDonald Davidsonand many othersThe text is enhanced with more than 250 illustrations and a glossary of philosophical terms.

    At least some students (and their instructors) have found other texts too long, too dense, and too complex. This volume is not only short, but less technical, written in a highly accessible fashion, and includes pedagogy found in an introductory sociology text.

    In this accessible, moving biography, Lesley Chamberlain examines with passion and insight the mind of a genius at its creative pinnacle. In her account, Freidrich Nietzsche emerges as a gentle, tortured man, dominated by his rigorous mind and his love of music, and soothed by the strangely otherworldly city of Turin

    The relationship between civil society and public life is in the forefront of contemporary discussion. No single scholarly voice informs this discussion more than that of J�rgen Habermas. His contributions have shaped the nature of debates over critical theory, feminism, cultural studies, and democratic politics. In this book, scholars from a wide range of disciplines respond to Habermas's most directly relevant work, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere. From political theory to cultural criticism, from ethics to gender studies, from history to media studies, these essays challenge, refine, and extend our understanding of the social foundations and changing character of democracy and public discourse.ContributorsHannah Arendt, Keith Baker, Seyla Benhabib, Harry C. Boyte, Craig Calhoun, Geoff Eley, Nancy Fraser, Nicholas Garnham, J�rgen Habermas, Peter Hohendahl, Lloyd Kramer, Benjamin Lee, Thomas McCarthy, Moishe Postone, Mary P. Ryan, Michael Schudson, Michael Warner, David Zaret

    Through rereadings of Freud and Saussure, Agamben proposes a radical reconfiguration of the epistemological foundation of Western culture.

    Before his success as an author Goodkind worked primarily as a painter, as well as doing carpentry and woodworking. Goodkind is a proponent of Ayn Rand's philosophical approach of Objectivism, with references to Rand's ideas and novels referenced in his works.The Sword of Truth series sold twenty-five million copies worldwide and was translated into more than twenty languages. It was adapted into a television series called Legend of the Seeker, premiering November 1, 2008 but canceled after two seasons in May, 2010.

    One day that possibility became a reality, and it was simple and ordinary, magnificent and revolutionary. It is the open secret that reveals itself in every part of our lives. But realisation does not emerge through our attempts to change our lives, it comes as a direct rediscovery of who it is that lives. "The Open Secret" is a singular and radical work which speaks of the fundamental liberation that is absolutely beyond effort, path, process or belief.

    Inside you'll find 30 Daily Lessons, 20 Fun Activities, 180 Multiple Choice Questions, 60 Short Essay Questions, 20 Essay Questions, Quizzes/Homework Assignments, Tests, and more. The lessons and activities will help students gain an intimate understanding of the text; while the tests and quizzes will help you evaluate how well the students have grasped the material.

    Many poststructuralist and postmodernist practices can be traced to Deleuze's 1962 resurrection of Nietzsche against Hegel. Hardt shows how Deleuze's early analysis of Bergson's critique of ontology and determination led him to a conception of a positive movement of differentiation and becoming, which in turn led him to the field of forces, sense, value, and the thematic of power and affirmation in Nietzsche. The theory of power in Nietzsche provided the link for Deleuze to an ethics of active expression in Spinoza: Deleuze's discovery and analysis of Spinoza's cultivation of joy and practice at the center of ontology finally resulted in a complete break from the Hegelian paradigm that had reigned over continental philosophy and history. Michael Hardt is the translator of Antonio Negri's "The Savage Anomaly: the Power of Spinoza's Metaphysics and Politics" (Minnesota, 1990), Giorgio Agamben's "The Coming Community" (Minnesota, 1993), and co-author (with Antonio Negri) of "Labor of Dionysus" (Minnesota).

    This important new book shows that philosophy need not be dry or intimidating. Its highly original treatment, combining philosophical analysis, historical and biographical background and thought-provoking illustrations, simultaneously informs and stimulates the reader.Western Philosophy: An Illustrated Guide is structured thematically, in terms of major issues, with chapters on World, Mind and Body, Knowledge, Faith, Ethics and Aesthetics, and Society. Cutting across this organization by theme is a parallel organization that focuses on the great thinkers and their influence, as well as the schools or -isms to which they subscribed.A highly accessible introduction to the subject, founded upon impeccable academic scholarship, Western Philosophy: An Illustrated Guide offers life-changing perspectives on what really matters.

    In this view, no external authority gives life meaning: mankind is radically free and responsible. In every moment we choose ourselves, with no assurance that we have a continuing identity or power. We set up determinisms to ease our minds, but in the face of the finality of death, only through our present consciousness do we establish our own authentic existence. Sartre's existentialism faces the evil in human existence and sees that humans are responsible for it.The Giants of Philosophy is a series of dramatic presentations, in understandable language, of the concerns, questions, interests, and overall world view of history's greatest philosophers. Special emphasis on clear and relevant explanations gives you a new arsenal of insights toward living a better life.