Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius


Ray Monk - 1990
    Monk's life of Wittgenstein is such a one."--"The Christian Science Monitor."

Rationality: From AI to Zombies


Eliezer Yudkowsky - 2015
    Real rationality, of the sort studied by psychologists, social scientists, and mathematicians. The kind of rationality where you make good decisions, even when it's hard; where you reason well, even in the face of massive uncertainty; where you recognize and make full use of your fuzzy intuitions and emotions, rather than trying to discard them. In "Rationality: From AI to Zombies," Eliezer Yudkowsky explains the science underlying human irrationality with a mix of fables, argumentative essays, and personal vignettes. These eye-opening accounts of how the mind works (and how, all too often, it doesn't!) are then put to the test through some genuinely difficult puzzles: computer scientists' debates about the future of artificial intelligence (AI), physicists' debates about the relationship between the quantum and classical worlds, philosophers' debates about the metaphysics of zombies and the nature of morality, and many more. In the process, "Rationality: From AI to Zombies" delves into the human significance of correct reasoning more deeply than you'll find in any conventional textbook on cognitive science or philosophy of mind. A decision theorist and researcher at the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, Yudkowsky published earlier drafts of his writings to the websites Overcoming Bias and Less Wrong. "Rationality: From AI to Zombies" compiles six volumes of Yudkowsky's essays into a single electronic tome. Collectively, these sequences of linked essays serve as a rich and lively introduction to the science—and the art—of human rationality.

Journey to the Edge of Reason: The Life of Kurt Gödel


Stephen Budiansky - 2021
    Yet unlike Einstein, with whom he formed a warm and abiding friendship, Gödel has long escaped all but the most casual scrutiny of his life.Stephen Budiansky’s Journey to the Edge of Reason is the first biography to fully draw upon Gödel’s voluminous letters and writings—including a never-before-transcribed shorthand diary of his most intimate thoughts—to explore Gödel’s profound intellectual friendships, his moving relationship with his mother, his troubled yet devoted marriage, and the debilitating bouts of paranoia that ultimately took his life. It also offers an intimate portrait of the scientific and intellectual circles in prewar Vienna, a haunting account of Gödel’s and Jewish intellectuals’ flight from Austria and Germany at the start of the Second World War, and a vivid re-creation of the early days of Princeton’s Institute for Advanced Study, where Gödel and Einstein both worked.Eloquent and insightful, Journey to the Edge of Reason is a fully realized portrait of the odd, brilliant, and tormented man who has been called the greatest logician since Aristotle, and illuminates the far-reaching implications of Gödel’s revolutionary ideas for philosophy, mathematics, artificial intelligence, and man’s place in the cosmos.

How to Win Every Argument: The Use and Abuse of Logic


Madsen Pirie - 2006
    Each entry deals with one fallacy, explaining what the fallacy is, giving and analysing an example, outlining when/where/why the particular fallacy tends to occur and finally showing how you can perpetrate the fallacy on other people in order to win an argument. Originally published to great acclaim in 1985 as "The Book of Fallacy", this is a classic brought up-to-date for a whole new generation.

The Holy Book of Luck


Ahmad Saed Alzein - 2021
    He argues that luck plays a major role in your success, and you can’t do anything about it.THE HOLY BOOK OF LUCK is the book which takes you on a pleasant journey to really change your perspective forever about luck and hard work.

Norms and Nobility: A Treatise on Education


David V. Hicks - 1981
    David Hicks contends that the classical tradition promotes a spirit of inquiry that is concerned with the development of style and conscience, which makes it an effective and meaningful form of education. Dismissing notions that classical education is elitist and irrelevant, Hicks argues that the classical tradition can meet the needs of our increasingly technological society as well as serve as a feasible model for mass education.

Elements of Argument: A Text and Reader


Annette T. Rottenberg - 1985
    It combines a thorough argument text on critical thinking, reading, writing, and research with an extensive reader on both current and timeless controversial issues. Elements of Argument presents everything students need to analyze, research, and write arguments.The clearest writing and research coverage of any argument textbook has been re-invigorated to make it even more accessible. And it now has an array of provocative new topics — all to help students stake their claim in argument.

Thinking From A To Z


Nigel Warburton - 1996
    Tricks of the rhetorical trade are included and explained in this volume, which aims to show you how to spot humptydumptying, wishful thinking, zig-zagging, rash generalizations, reductio ad absurdum, a gambler's fallacy or if someone is getting personal. Arranged in alphabetical order, the text offers guidance to anyone wanting to sharpen their thinking skills.

Free Speech & Postmodernism


Stephen R.C. Hicks - 2010
    The attacks have come not only from traditional conservatives but increasingly from the postmodern left. In this essay, Stephen Hicks presents and dissects the philosophical arguments made by the postmoderns for speech restrictions and responds with a vigorous and updated liberal case for free speech.

Analytic Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction


Michael Beaney - 2017
    E. Moore, and Ludwig Wittgenstein in the four decades around the turn of the twentieth century, analytic philosophy established itself in various forms in the 1930s. After the Second World War, it developed further in North America, in the rest of Europe, and is now growing in influence as the dominant philosophical tradition right across the world, from Latin America to East Asia.In this Very Short Introduction Michael Beaney introduces some of the key ideas of the founders of analytic philosophy by exploring certain fundamental philosophical questions and showing how those ideas can be used in offering answers. Considering the work of Susan Stebbing, he also explores the application of analytic philosophy to critical thinking, and emphasizes the conceptual creativity that lies at the heart of fruitful analysis. Throughout, Beaney illustrates why clarity of thinking, precision of expression, and rigour of argumentation are rightly seen as virtues of analytic philosophy.

Neville Goddard: Master Your Inner Game to Achieve Your Every Desire: Book 1 Inner Talking (Neville Goddard & Rita Faith - Master Your Inner Game)


Neville Goddard - 2016
    This small book will help you to do just that, it begins with a few quotes on Neville’s core teaching and then beyond that to extracts from Neville’s lecture - Order your Conversations Alright, describing the creative power of Inner Talking and concludes with techniques for practical application of Neville’s teaching. I have also added at the end of the book as a bonus, Neville Goddard’s 1955 Lecture, Mental Diets in its entirety. If you learn these techniques of Neville’s then your life will change as you will be changing your inner state. In order for them to work you must apply them, knowing them will do nothing; the power is in the persistent application and practice of these principles. If you apply them you will master your inner game and achieve your every desire. Throughout the book you will find my insights and further explanations on Neville’s teachings and suggestions on actively putting it to use, in the hope that it gives you a deeper understanding of the methods and principles. “A man’s mental conversations attracts his life. As long as there is no change in his inner talking, the personal history of the man remains the same” To attempt to change the World before we change our inner talking, is to struggle against the very nature of things. Man can go round and round in the same circle of disappointments and misfortunes, not seeing them as caused by his own negative inner talking but as caused by others. This may seem far-fetched but it is a matter which lends itself to research and development.” – Neville Goddard

Por el Placer de Vivir = The Joy of Living


César Lozano - 2012
    Cesar Lozano makes a series of insightful reflections, on our role in life, the importance of reaching our goals, and how to share love, hope, and liveliness with our loved ones. With his characteristic brand of language, where humor and profoundness coexist in perfect harmony, Dr. Cesar Lozano invites us to become a better version of ourselves one day at a time by recognizing our mistakes, modifying our conduct, and injecting optimism and good vibes with those around us. Author, panelist, and radio and television guest, Dr. Cesar Lozano's advice has changed the lives of thousands.

Epictetus: A Stoic and Socratic Guide to Life


Anthony A. Long - 2002
    A. A. Long, a leading scholar of later ancient philosophy, gives the definitive presentation of the thought of Epictetus for a broad readership. Long's fresh and vivid translations of a selection of the best of Epictetus' discourses show that his ideas are as valuable and striking today as they were almost two thousand years ago. This is a book for anyone interested in what we can learn from ancient philosophy about how to live our lives.

Can Science Explain Everything?


John C. Lennox - 2019
    Science, and the technologies it has spawned, has delivered so much to the world: clean water; more food; better healthcare; longer life. And we live in a time of rapid scientific progress that holds enormous promise for many of the problems we face as humankind. So much so, in fact, that many see no need or use for religion and belief systems that offer us answers to the mysteries of our universe. Science has explained it, they assume. Science and religion just do not mix.Oxford Maths Professor and Christian believer Prof. John Lennox offers a fresh way of thinking about science and Christianity that dispels the common misconceptions about both. He reveals that not only are they not opposed, but they can and must mix to give us a fuller understanding of the universe and the meaning of our existence.

The Best Things in Life: A Contemporary Socrates Looks at Power, Pleasure, Truth & the Good Life


Peter Kreeft - 1984
    But they don't boggle Socrates. The indomitable old Greek brings his unending questions to Desperate State University. With him come the same mind-opening and spirit-stretching challenge that disrupted ancient Athens.What is the purpose of education?Why do we make love?What good is money?Can computers think like people?Is there a difference between Capitalism and Communism?What is the greatest good?Is belief in God like belief in Santa Claus?In twelve short, Socratic dialogues Peter Kreeft explodes contemporary values like success, power and pleasure. And he bursts the modern bubbles of agnosticism and subjectivism. He leaves you richer, wiser and more able to discern what the best things in life actually are.