Philosophy Books

Philosophers look beyond the sea of red dresses to reveal insights about gender inequality, religious oppression, power, and violence.In The Handmaid's Tale and Philosophy, philosophers give their insights into the blockbuster best-selling novel and...

In Westworld and Philosophy, philosophers of diverse orientations and backgrounds offer their penetrating insights into the questions raised by the popular TV show, Westworld. Is it wrong for Dr. Robert Ford (played by Anthony Hopkins)...

The Americans, a dark, tense, action thriller with comic touches, has been hailed by many critics as currently the best show on television. The story, created by a former CIA spy, centers on two Soviet agents posing as an ordinary American couple, Philip...

In his brief career Jimi Hendrix transformed rock music, established himself as the greatest guitarist of all time, and left a rich legacy of original songs and dazzling recordings. In Jimi Hendrix and Philosophy, philosophers come to terms with the...

The philosophically rich David Bowie is an artist of wide and continuing influence. The theatrical antics of Bowie ushered in a new rock aesthetic, but there is much more to Bowie than mere spectacle. The visual belies the increasing depths of his...

More Doctor Who and Philosophy is a completely new collection of chapters, additional to Doctor Who and Philosophy (2010), by the same editors. Since that first Doctor Who and Philosophy, much has happened in the...

This collection of 18 chapters by talented philosophical minds probes some of the many lessons to be learned from Orange Is the New Black. The show and the book that inspired it both dramatically highlight the troubling, stressful situation of...

Hilary Putnam, who turned 88 in 2014, is one of the world's greatest living philosophers. He currently holds the position of Cogan University Professor Emeritus of Harvard. He has been called "one of the 20th century's true philosophic giants" (by...

Antonio Negri is known in the English-speaking world primarily through his collaborations with Michael Hardt; Empire , Multitude, and Commonwealth have become some of the most widely discussed political works of recent times. Here, Reading Negri unravels...

John Searle's The Construction of Social Reality and Hernando de Soto's The Mystery of Capitalshifted the focus of current thought on capital and economic development to the cultural and conceptual ideas that underpin market economies and that are taken...

Available for the first time in 20 years, here is the Rudolf Carnap's famous "principle of tolerance" by which everyone is free to mix and match the rules of language and logic. In The Logical Syntax of Language, Carnap explains how his entire theory of...

Available for the first time in 20 years, here are two important works from the 1920s by the best-known representative of the Vienna Circle. In The Logical Structure of the World, Carnap adopts the position of "methodological solipsism" and shows that it...

A humorous and philosophical look at life in Heaven, or is it Hell? The Good Place is a fantasy-comedy TV show about the afterlife. Eleanor dies and finds herself in the Good Place, which she understands must be mistake, since she has been anything but...

What is the number one? Does 2 plus 2 always equal 4? These seemingly simple questions have perplexed philosophers for eons, but the ideas of German philosopher Gottlob Frege (1848–1925) transformed the discussion. Frege believed that the truths...

Patocka, like few others before or since, combined what was best in Husserl and Heidegger, but at the same time found for himself a distinct, original philosophical voice. Both his originality and his synthesis of the two dominant strands of classical...

In these lectures, Stanley Cavell situates Emerson at an intersection of three crossroads: a place where both philosophy and literature pass; where the two traditions of English and German philosophy shun one another; where the cultures of America and...

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, colleague of Gandhi, Nehru and Tagore, former Ambassador to the Soviet Union and now Vice-President of India, is regarded as the greatest living thinker of the East; the ablest representative of its rich philosophic tradition...

This authorized biography of contemporary Taoist expert Wang Liping (1949-), an 18th generation transmitter of Dragon Gate Taoism, tells the true story of his apprenticeship in Taoist wizardry, as well as the specialized body of knowledge, mystical...

Taoism for Beginners is a practical guide to applying the key notions, concepts and beliefs underlying Taoism's various branches and schools. Authors C. Alexander and Annellen Simpkins tap into their years of training and study in meditation,...

Thousands of readers - from prisoners to priests - have embraced Jerry Braza's insights - adopting and integrating the mindfulness practices and habits this book presents. This new edition expands on the author's time-tested approach, introducing...

Introduction to Zen Training is a translation of the Sanzen Nyumon, a foundational text for beginning meditation students by Omori Sogen - one of the foremost Zen teachers of the twentieth century. Written to provide a solid...

Archery for Beginners is the complete instructional guide for anyone interested in taking up recreational archery. This book covers all the essentials for the beginning archer - from basic skills and equipment to effective and safe training...

Learn how to target the weaknesses of an attacker and effectively exploit them in order to defend yourself. The 36 Deadly Bubishi Points gives detailed explanations on how the pressure points of traditional Chinese medicine found in the Bubishi, the...

Follow the brilliant and hilarious adventures of a mad Zen Buddhist monk who rose from humble beginnings to become one of China's greatest folk heroes! Ji Gong studied at the great Ling Yin monastery, an immense temple that still ranges up the steep...

This masterfully crafted guide to ninjutsu or budo explores in depth the history, culture, and philosophy of this fascinating and enduring Japanese martial art.Budo is one of the least understood forms of art in the world. Even more than skills or...

Zen Masters of Japan is the second book in a series that traces Zen's profoundly historic journey as it spread eastward from China and Japan, toward the United States. Following Zen Masters of China, this book concentrates on Zen's significant passage...

An incisive and illuminating account of how, during the Algerian Revolution, the people of Algeria changed centuries-old cultural patterns and embraced certain ancient cultural practices long derided by their colonialist oppressors as primitive, in order...

In the 21st century we face innumerable material and existential challenges both now and in the future, from religious fanaticism, mass migration, unfettered corporate power, to inequality, big data and climate change. Ahead of these global threats and...

What is the point of cultural theory? Do we even know what it is? This book is at once an introduction to, and, broadly, a defence of modern cultural theory understood as a particular constellation of inquiry, one that may be all the more important in...

The revival of recognition theory has brought new energy to critical theory. In general terms, recognition theory aims to critically evaluate social structures against a standard of social freedom identified with norms of interaction which are freely...

"Each century," wrote Charles Dickens "[is] more amazed by the century following it than by all the centuries before." Victorians in theory explores the startling conceit that nineteenth-century poetry is amazed by twentieth-century literary theory. In a...

The two studies, "Indivisible Magnitudes," and "Aristotle and Epicurus on Voluntary Action," explain two doctrines in the philosophy of Epicurus, first by a detailed examination of the ancient Greek and Latin texts which describe them, and second by...

Stephen Dunning examines Kierkegaard's theory of stages in terms of his dialectic of inwardness, shown here to be the Ariadne's thread" uniting all the major pseudonymous works. Originally published in 1985. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest...

Although Mill regarded Considerations on Representative Government as a mature statement of his theory of democracy, critics have tended to treat it less seriously than most of his other major works. Dennis Thompson argues that this neglect has led to...

Named one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time by the Modern LibraryAnne Carson's remarkable first book about the paradoxical nature of romantic loveSince it was first published, Eros the Bittersweet, Anne Carson's lyrical meditation on love in...

How to put democracy at the heart of AI governance.Artificial intelligence and machine learning are reshaping our world. Police forces use them to decide where to send police officers, judges to decide whom to release on bail, welfare agencies to decide...

This is a collection of the late Heda Segvic's papers in ancient moral philosophy. At the time of her death at age forty-five in 2003, Segvic had already established herself as an important figure in ancient philosophy, making bold new arguments about...

What do you want out of life? To make a lot of money - or work for justice? To run marathons - or sing in a choir? To have children - or travel the world? The things we care about in life - family, friendship, leisure activities, work, our moral ideals...

Why life's shortness - more than anything else - is what makes it meaningful.Death might seem to render pointless all our attempts to create a meaningful life. Doesn't meaning require transcending death through an afterlife or in some other way? On the...

A compelling collection of the life-changing writings of William James.William James-psychologist, philosopher, and spiritual seeker-is one of those rare writers who can speak directly and powerfully to anyone about life's meaning and worth, and whose...

An invigorating exploration of the pleasures and social benefits of conversationTalking Cure is a timely and enticing excursion into the art of good conversation. Paula Marantz Cohen reveals how conversation connects us in ways that social media never...

What all of us can do to fight the pervasive human tendency to enable wrongdoing in the workplace, politics, and beyond.It is easy to condemn obvious wrongdoers such as Elizabeth Holmes, Adam Neumann, Harvey Weinstein, and the Sackler family. But we...

Why the tools of philosophy offer a powerful antidote to today's epidemic of irrationalityThere is an epidemic of bad thinking in the world today. An alarming number of people are embracing crazy, even dangerous ideas. They believe that vaccinations...

How decolonization and the cold war influenced literature from Africa, Asia, and the CaribbeanHow did superpower competition and the cold war affect writers in the decolonizing world? In The Aesthetic Cold War, Peter Kalliney explores the various ways...

An entertaining and enlightening collection of ancient writings about the philosophers who advocated simple living and rejected unthinking conformity.The Cynics were ancient Greek philosophers who stood athwart the flood of society's material excess,...

An incisive and sympathetic examination of the case for ending the practice of imprisonmentDespite its omnipresence and long history, imprisonment is a deeply troubling practice. In the United States and elsewhere, prison conditions are inhumane,...

A bold new interpretation of Augustine's virtue of hope and its place in political lifeWhen it comes to politics, Augustine of Hippo is renowned as one of history's great pessimists, with his sights set firmly on the heavenly city rather than the public...

A panoramic history of American individualism from its nineteenth-century origins to today's bitterly divided politicsIndividualism is a defining feature of American public life. Its influence is pervasive today, with liberals and conservatives alike...