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Advanced Critical Thinking Skills
By Roy Van Den Brink-Budgen. 2010
This book takes the skills introduced in Roy van den Brink-Budgen's bestselling book Critical Thinking for Students and extends and…
builds on them. As a result, it will be especially useful for students on advanced level courses, whether in schools, colleges, or universities. It shows how complex arguments can be built up, analysed, and evaluated. It also shows how the use of various types of claim can be approached in argument, by stressing the need to ask a series of questions about their possible significance. The frequent role of explanation in the drawing of inference is also detailed. In addition, it applies Critical Thinking skills to decision-making, showing how these skills can clarify the choices available, their possible consequences, and the criteria needed to make decisions. In short, this book shows how to become an even more active and effective Critical Thinker.Disbelief 101: A Young Person's Guide to Atheism
By Tom Flynn, S. C. Hitchcock. 2009
Filled with wit, humor, and clear metaphor, this exploration into atheism is written specifically for young adults, though any adult…
interested in learning more about atheism will find value within. Not just focused on atheism, this crash course in logical thinking addresses the issues of indoctrination, whether it be religious, political, or commercial, and makes the case that morality is created through reasoning and logic, not through divine communication. Many hot topics are touched upon, such as traditional arguments for God’s existence, the relationship of evolution and religious belief, the incompatible nature of science and religion, and the harmfulness of both Christianity and Islam.Selections from the Journals: An Annotated Selection From The Journal Of Henry D. Thoreau (Dover Thrift Editions: Philosophy Ser.)
By Henry David Thoreau, Walter Harding. 1995
Noted Thoreau scholar offers rich selection of favorite excerpts from voluminous Journals. Masterly meditations on man, society, nature and many…
other subjects--expressed with verve and vigor in some of the most poetic prose in American literature. Perfect introduction to the great naturalist and his thought. Introduction.Wisdom of the Buddha: The Unabridged Dhammapada (Dover Thrift Editions Ser.)
By F. Max Müller. 2000
These ancient verses offer a compelling introduction to Buddhist thought, revealing the Four Truths -- concerning the nature of the…
world and our lot in it -- and the Eightfold Path to enlightenment, the means by which to overcome the essential suffering revealed by the Four Truths as the essence of life.In The Second Treatise of Government, John Locke answered two objectives: to refute the concept of the monarchy's divine right…
and to establish a theory reconciling civil liberties with political order. His Letter Concerning Toleration rests on the same basic principles as his political theory; Locke's main argument for toleration is a corollary of his theory of the nature of civil society. The basis of social and political philosophy for generations, these works laid the foundation of the modern democratic state in England and abroad. Their enduring importance makes them essential reading for students of philosophy, history, and political science.The Analects (Dover Thrift Editions Ser.)
By Confucius. 1995
In this excellent English translation of The Analects, or Sayings, of Confucius, readers will find a rich distillation of the…
timeless precepts of one of history's most influential teachers and social theorists. A Chinese philosopher who lived c. 551 to c. 479 B.C., Confucius originated and taught an ethical, socially oriented philosophy that stressed proper behavior and a sympathetic, mutually supportive attitude among individuals, their families and society. From his teachings came a system of ethics for managing society that has influenced generations of politicians, social reformers, and religious thinkers. Indeed, the effect of Confucian philosophy has been so profound that it has become basic not only to an understanding of traditional Chinese civilization, but of Western society as well. Now the essence of Confucian teaching, contained in The Analects, is available in this inexpensive volume, providing inspirational and instructive reading to anyone interested in the history of social thought, Chinese philosophy, or theories of ethical behavior.Bhagavadgita (Dover Thrift Editions)
By Sir Edwin Arnold. 1993
The Bhagavadgita is part of the great Indian epic the Mahabharata, and it is one of the major religious documents…
of the world, occupying in Hinduism a position not unlike the Sermon on the Mount in Christianity. One of the most celebrated treasures of world literature as well, it is in the form of a poetic dialogue between the epic's hero, Arjuna, and his friend Krishna, believed to be an incarnation of God.The dialogue, which takes place on the eve of an historic battle, probes the nature of God and what man should do to reach him. As the Bhagavadgita unfolds, this majestic poem provides a fascinating synopsis of the religious thought and experience of India through the ages. This edition offers the classic English verse translation by Sir Edwin Arnold (1832-1904), long admired for its evocation of the true feeling of the original poetry.The Imaginary Domain: Abortion, Pornography and Sexual Harrassment
By Drucilla Cornell. 1995
The Wisdom of the Zen Masters
By Christmas Humphreys, Irmgard Schloegl. 1976
Unlike most other formal religions, the Japanese school of Zen Buddhism has no canonized corpus of sacred literature which will…
reveal the "truth" to diligent readers. There are, however, numerous collections of anecdotes and aphorisms that may serve to convey the sensibility which underscores the practice of Zen. Drawing on these traditional sources, Dr. Irmgard Schloegl of the Buddhist Society in London has gathered into one short volume a sampling of stories and sayings that are a valuable introduction to the study of Zen. "If in every mind burns a flame of the Buddha's Enlightenment," Christmas Humphreys writes in his foreword to The Wisdom of the Zen Masters, "there is nothing to seek and nothing to acquire. We are enlightened, and all the words in the world will not give us what we already have. The man of Zen, therefore, is concerned with one thing only, to become aware of what he already is..." The task of the Japanese Zen master has been to guide his pupils in their awakening. The means used vary--from severe physical discipline to the proposition of enigmatic riddles, or koans--but always to the same end, Enlightenment: experiencing the Great Death of the worldly "I."Maldoror (Les Chants de Maldoror)
By Guy Wernham, Conte De Lautreamont. 1965
This macabre but beautiful work, Les Chants de Maldoror, has achieved a considerable reputation as one of the earliest and…
most extraordinary examples of Surrealist writing. Maldoror is a long narrative prose poem which celebrates the principle of Evil in an elaborate style and with a passion akin to religions fanaticism. The French poet-critic Georges Hugnet has written of Lautréamont: "He terrifies, stupefies, strikes dumb. He could look squarely at that which others had merely given a passing glance." When first published in 1868-69, Maldoror went almost unnoticed. But in the 1890s the book was rediscovered and hailed as a work of genius by such eminent writers as Huysmans, Léon Block, Maeterlinck, and Rémy de Gourmont. Later still, Lautréamont was to be canonized as one of their principal "ancestors" by the Paris surrealists. This edition, translated by Guy Wernham, includes also a long introduction to a never-written, or now lost, volume of poetry. Thus, except for a few letters, it gives all the surviving literary work of Lautréamont.Tao Te Ching: A New Translation
By William Scott Wilson, Lao Tzu. 2010
Renowned translator William Scott Wilson has rendered Lao Tzu's classic in the most authentic way possible, using both the ancient…
text and the even older Great Seal script used during Lao Tzu's time. The result is a new and nuanced translation, accompanied by Chinese ink paintings and ancillary material. Wilson includes an introduction that tells the story of Lao Tzu, the "old man" and the "keeper of the archives," and notes to illuminate the text. He also includes two short essays--one explains the relationship between Taoism and Zen, and the other explores the roots that link the spiritual aspects of the Tao with the practice of Chinese and Japanese martial arts. Wilson's version of this ancient classic is wonderfully fresh and readable.The Ayn Rand Lexicon
By Harry Binswanger. 1986
A prolific writer bestselling novelist and world-renowned philosopher Ayn Rand defined a full …
system of thought--from epistemology to aesthetics Her writing is so extensive and the range of issues she covers so enormous that those interested in finding her discussions of a given topic may have to search through many sources to locate the relevant passage The Ayn Rand Lexicon brings together all the key ideas of her philosophy of Objectivism Begun under Rand s supervision this unique volume is an invaluable guide to her philosophy or reason self-interest and laissez-faire capitalism--the philosophy so brilliantly dramatized in her novels The Fountainhead We the Living and AnthemMotherland: A Philosophical History of Russia
By Lesley Chamberlain. 2007
In this "searching intellectual history of modern Russia" (Kirkus), Lesley Chamberlain finds that during the last two centuries Russian intellectuals…
have asked two fundamental questions: "what makes a good man?" and "what is the right way to live?" In their attempts to answer these questions, these thinkers neglected the role of the individual, prioritizing instead the need to end injustice and autocracy. It was not until the eve of the revolution of 1917 that Russian philosophers came to grips with individualism, only to have this endeavor fragmented and forced underground by the totalitarian century that followed. In Motherland, which includes sections on key pre-Revolutionary philosophers Alexander Herzen, Vissarion Belinsky, Pyotr Chaadaev, Mikhail Bakunin, Nikolai Stankevich, and Ivan Turgenev, Lesley Chamberlain has produced a radical new interpretation of Russian intellectual history that gives a glimpse into the soul of that singular country.Get a Grip on Philosophy: New Edition (Get A Grip On...ser.)
By Neil Turnbull. 2013
Don t know Socrates from Sartre Can t handle Kant This lively introduction traces the history of Western…
philosophy from the works of Plato and Aristotle to those of Simone de Beauvoir and Michel Foucault Easy-to-understand explanations cover all branches of philosophy illustrating changing interpretations of the meaning of life and outlining key ideas of famous thinkers Author Neil Turnbull offers memorable examples and analogies injecting a playful modern tone into potentially obscure subjects Loaded with sidebars comic illustrations and bulleted points the book s reader-friendly format offers digestible portions from a banquet of philosophical traditions including thought-provoking tastes of works by Aquinas Descartes Wittgenstein Hume Heidegger Nietzsche and many othersMotherland: A Philosophical History of Russia
By Lesley Chamberlain. 2004
In this “searching intellectual history of modern Russia” (Kirkus), Lesley Chamberlain finds that during the last two centuries Russian intellectuals…
have asked two fundamental questions: “what makes a good man?” and “what is the right way to live?” In their attempts to answer these questions, these thinkers neglected the role of the individual, prioritizing instead the need to end injustice and autocracy. It was not until the eve of the revolution of 1917 that Russian philosophers came to grips with individualism, only to have this endeavor fragmented and forced underground by the totalitarian century that followed. In Motherland, which includes sections on key pre-Revolutionary philosophers Alexander Herzen, Vissarion Belinsky, Pyotr Chaadaev, Mikhail Bakunin, Nikolai Stankevich, and Ivan Turgenev, Lesley Chamberlain has produced a radical new interpretation of Russian intellectual history that gives a glimpse into the soul of that singular country.The Book of Tea
By Kakuzo Okakura. 2010
Kakuzo Okakura, who was known in America as a scholar, art critic, and Curator of Chinese and Japanese Art at…
the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, directed almost his entire adult life toward the preservation and reawakening of the Japanese national heritage — in art, ethics, social customs, and other areas of life — in the face of the Westernizing influences that were revolutionizing Japan around the turn of the century.This modern classic is essentially an apology for Eastern traditions and feelings to the Western world — not in passionate, oversentimental terms, but with a charm and underlying toughness which clearly indicate some of the enduring differences between the Eastern and Western mind. Okakura exhibits the distinctive "personality" of the East through the philosophy of Teaism and the ancient Japanese tea ceremony. This ceremony is particularly revelatory of a conservative strain in Japanese culture; its ideals of aesthetic tranquility and submission to the ways of the past find no parallel in the major cultural motifs of the West.Not only does he discuss the tea ceremony and its rigid formalities, and the cult and patterns of belief surrounding tea and tea-drinking, but Okakura also considers religious influences, origins, and history, and goes into the importance of flowers and floral arrangements in Japanese life — their proper appreciation and cultivation, great tea-masters of the past, the tea-room with its air of serenity and purity, and the aesthetic and quasi-religious values pervading all these activities and attitudes.Okakura's English style was graceful, yet exceptionally clear and precise, and this book is one of the most delightful essay-volumes to the English language. It has introduced hundreds of thousands of American readers to Japanese thinking and traditions. This new, corrected edition, complete with an illuminating preliminary essay on Okakura's life and work, will provide an engrossing account for anyone interested in the current and central themes of Oriental life.Beyond Good and Evil: Prelude to a Philosophy of the Future (Dover Thrift Editions)
By Friedrich Nietzsche. 1997
After kicking open the doors to twentieth-century philosophy in Thus Spake Zarathustra, Friedrich Nietzsche refined his ideal of the superman…
with the 1886 publication of Beyond Good and Evil. Conventional morality is a sign of slavery, Nietzsche maintains, and the superman goes beyond good and evil in action, thought, and creation. Nietzsche especially targets what he calls a "slave morality" that fosters herdlike quiescence and stigmatizes the "highest human types."In this pathbreaking work, Nietzsche's philosophical and literary powers are at their height: with devastating irony and flashing wit he gleefully dynamites centuries of accumulated conventional wisdom in metaphysics, morals, and psychology, clearing a path for such twentieth-century innovators as Thomas Mann, André Gide, Sigmund Freud, George Bernard Shaw, André Malraux, and Jean-Paul Sartre, all of whom openly acknowledged their debt to him.Students of philosophy and literature as well as general readers will prize this rich sampling of Nietzsche's thought in an unabridged and inexpensive edition of one of the philosopher's most important works.On the Social Contract: With Geneva Manuscript And Political Economy (Dover Thrift Editions Ser.)
By Jean-Jacques Rousseau. 2003
"Man was born free, but everywhere he is in chains." Thus begins Rousseau's influential 1762 work, in which he argues…
that all government is fundamentally flawed and that modern society is based on a system of inequality. The philosopher posits that a good government can justify its need for individual compromises and that promoting social settings in which people transcend their immediate appetites and desires leads to the development of self-governing, self-disciplined beings. A milestone of political science, these essays are essential reading for students of history, philosophy, and other social sciences. G. D. H. Cole translation.Tao Te Ching (Dover Thrift Editions: Religion)
By Lao Tze. 1997
Tao (the Way) is one of the most profound and influential of the world's spiritual traditions, and the Tao Te…
Ching (The Book of the Way and Its Virtue) has left its imprint on Far Eastern philosophy, art, and literature for over two thousand years. This classic of meditative insight was an important influence on Buddhist thought. Its key tenet is wu-wei, naturalness and simplicity, a mystical path of spontaneity and noninterference that fosters individuality and spiritual freedom.Although Taoism has declined in importance as a formal religion, its spirit of harmony and peace not only permeates art and life in the East but also continues to animate New Age consciousness in the West. This high-quality, inexpensive edition of the authoritative Legge translation will prove invaluable to seekers of enlightenment, students of Eastern religion and thought, and general readers.Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book For All And None (Dover Thrift Editions: Philosophy)
By Friedrich Nietzsche. 1999
A tremendously influential philosophical work of the late nineteenth century, Thus Spake Zarathustra is also a literary masterpiece by one…
of the most important thinkers of modern times. In it, the ancient Persian religious leader Zarathustra (or Zoroaster) serves as the voice for Friedrich Nietzsche's views, which include the introduction of the controversial doctrine of the Übermensch, or "superman." Although later perverted by Nazi propagandists, the Übermensch was conceived by Nietzsche to designate the ultimate goal of human existence as the achievement of greatness of will and being. He was convinced that the individual, instead of resigning himself to the weakness of being human and worshipping perfection only possible in the next world (at least in the Christian view), should try to perfect himself during his earthly existence, and transcend the limitations of conventional morality. By doing so, the Übermensch would emerge victorious, standing in stark contrast to "the last man" -- an uncreative conformist and complacent hedonist who embodies Nietzsche's critique of modern civilization, morality, and the Christian religion. Written in a passionate, quasi-biblical style, Thus Spake Zarathustra is daring in form and filled with provocative, thought-provoking concepts. Today, the work is regarded as a forerunner of modern existentialist thought, a book that has provoked and stimulated students of philosophy and literature for more than 100 years.