Social and political philosophy Books

A Times book of the year A Guardian book of the year‘Magnificent’The Times ‘Dazzling’ New Statesman ‘It filled me with hope’ Zadie Smith What happens to our behaviour when we live most of our lives online? What does it mean to ‘always be optimising’?...

With unflinching gaze and uncompromising intensity Julius Evola analyzes the spiritual and cultural malaise at the heart of Western civilization and all that passes for progress in the modern world. As a gadfly, Evola spares no one and nothing in his...

Published in English for the first time, Kant's Critique of Practical Reason is a slightly abridged and updated edition of Professor Hffe's groundbreaking work originally published in German. In the book, the author systematically introduces one of the...

An innovative argument that vindicates our normative commitment to basic equality, synthesising philosophy, history, and psychology.What makes human beings one another's equals? That we are 'basic equals' has become a bedrock assumption...

A philosopher explores the transformative role of wonder and awe in an uncertain worldWonder and awe lie at the heart of life's most profound questions. Wonderstruck shows how these emotions respond to our fundamental need to make sense of ourselves and...

When we make decisions, our thinking is informed by societal norms, 'guardrails' that guide our decisions, like the laws and rules that govern us. But what are good guardrails in today's world of overwhelming information flows and...

Winner of the 2011 Isaac and Tamara Deutscher Memorial Prize The essays collected herein deal with the Marxist notion of a "mode of production," the emergence of medieval relations of production, the origins of capitalism, the dichotomy between free and...

Philosophers usually emphasize the importance of logic, clarity and reason. Therefore when they address political issues they will usually inject a dose of rationality in these discussions, right?Wrong. This book gives a lot of examples showing the...

Is benevolence a virtue? In many cases it appears to be so. But when it comes to the "enlarged benevolence" of the Enlightenment, David Stove argues that the answer is clearly no. In this insightful, provocative essay, Stove builds a case for the claim...

There was something so captivating about always being on the edge, on that shaky precipice of promise - something new and something cool was just lurking around the corner and we'd arrive at it if we kick around long enough.Peripathetic is about shit...

In How to be multiple, Helena de Bres - a twin herself - argues that twinhood is a unique lens for examining our place in the world and how we relate to other people. The way we think about twins offers remarkable insights into some of the deepest...

An irresistible anthology of ancient Greek writings that explore queer desire and love'Eros, limb-loosening, whirls me about again, that bittersweet, implacable creature.' SapphoThe idea of sexual fluidity may seem new, but it is at...

A provocative look at the central role of slavery in Augustine's religious, ethical, and political thoughtAugustine believed that slavery is permissible, but to understand why, we must situate him in his late antique Roman intellectual context. Slaves of...

Seven essays that make the compelling case for coming to your own informed conclusions in an age of extremes. An Atlantic Edition, featuring long-form journalism by Atlantic writers, drawn from contemporary articles or classic storytelling from the...

How institutional and interpersonal policing have been central to worldmakingPolicing is constitutive of colonial modernity: normalizing, internalizing, and legalizing anti-Black violence as the ongoing condition for white life and freedom. The result,...

Forges a path away from polarisation toward ethical problem solving and a more humane, equitable, and healthy society.From tackling injustice to protecting the environment to ending animal cruelty to improving the strength of our communities, deep...

A definitive new history of the origins, evolution, and scope of the ancient Greek city-stateThe Greek polis, or city-state, was a resilient and adaptable political institution founded on the principles of citizenship, freedom, and equality. Emerging...

A sweeping history of how Union victory in the American Civil War inspired democratic reforms, revolutions, and emancipation movements in Europe and the AmericasThe Age of Reconstruction looks beyond postCivil War America to tell the story of how Union...

A modern translation of the ancient Roman poet Ovid's Remedies for Love a witty and irreverent work about how to fall out of loveBreakups are the worst. On one scale devised by psychiatrists, only a spouse's death was ranked as more stressful than a...

"Paul has provided a vital piece to our understanding of modern liberalism's origins."-Ronald J. Pestritto, Author ofAmerica Transformed: The Rise and Legacy of American Progressivism Today's political and cultural divisions leave many wondering how...

A thorough investigation of the current combination of austerity and extravagance that characterizes government spending and central bank monetary policy.At the close of the 1970s, government treasuries and central banks took a vow of perpetual...

A philosopher examines the complicated phenomenon of gaslighting'Gaslighting' is suddenly in everyone's vocabulary. It's written about, talked about, tweeted about, even sung about (in 'Gaslighting' by The Chicks)...

<p>What is money? What is capital? Christopher J. Arthur brilliantly tackles these fundamental questions at a deep philosophical level in <em>The Spectre of Capital</em>. He argues that the modern world is ruled...

The second-century Greek physician Galen - the most famous doctor in antiquity after Hippocrates - is a central figure in Western medicine. A talented doctor, surgeon, writer, philosopher, teacher, pharmacologist, and inventor, Galen attended the court...

A new account of the relevance of Hegel's ideas for today's world, countering the postwar anti-Hegel "insurgency"G.W.F. Hegel was widely seen as the greatest philosopher of his age. Ever since, his work has shaped debates about issues as varied as...

How an acceptance of our limitations can lead to a more fulfilling life and a more harmonious society.We live in a world oriented toward greatness, one in which we feel compelled to be among the wealthiest, most powerful, and most famous. This book...

From leading AI researcher Blaise Agera y Arcas comes an exploration of how biology, ecology, sexuality, history, and culture have intertwined to create a dynamic "us" that can neither be called natural nor artificial.Identity politics occupies the front...

The uses of shame (and shamelessness) in spheres that range from social media and consumerism to polarised politics and mass violence.Today, we are caught in a shame spiral - a vortex of mutual shaming that pervades everything from politics to social...

Philosopher Myisha Cherry teaches us the right ways to deal with wrongdoing in our lives and the world.Sages from Cicero to Oprah have told us that forgiveness requires us to let go of negative emotions and that it has a unique power to heal our wounds...

Americans are more divided today than at any time since the Civil War. Our differences are not merely moral and political, but philosophical, and even spiritual. We hardly seem to experience the same reality anymore, preferring to self-select into media...

A clear, expert, and inspiring guide to social change, based on case studies of grassroots movements that won, from two leading community and labor experts"Our movements must seek and win governing power to achieve our visions for a more just society...

An invaluable reflection on the essence of liberal democracy - and an ideal introduction to the work of political philosopher Raymond Aron.Liberty and Equality is the first English translation of the last lecture delivered at the Collge de France by...

An entertaining and enlightening anthology of classical Greek and Roman writings on animals - and our vital relationships with them.How to Care about Animals is a fascinating menagerie of passages from classical literature about animals and the lives we...

A provocative new history of liberalism that also provides a road map for today's liberalsFreedom from Fear offers a striking new account of the dominant political and social theory of our time: liberalism. In a pathbreaking reframing of the historical...

An expanded and updated edition of a classic work on human rights and global justiceSince its original publication, Basic Rights has proven increasingly influential to those working in political philosophy, human rights, global justice, and the ethics of...

Can jokes win a hostile room, a hopeless argument, or even an election? You bet they can, according to Cicero, and he knew what he was talking about. One of Rome's greatest politicians, speakers, and lawyers, Cicero was also reputedly one of...

Tracing the origins of modern political thought through three sets of arguments over history, morality, and freedom.In this wide-ranging work, Michael Sonenscher traces the origins of modern political thought and ideologies to a question, raised by...

The Art of Wandering is a history of that curious hybrid, the writer as walker. From the Ancient world to the modern day, the role of the walker continues to evolve, from philosopher and pilgrim, vagrant and visionary, to experimentalist and radical...

Utopia poses a question. Not simply in the sense of a problem to be resolved and at the same time eliminated . . . but in the sense that, within the economy of the human condition, utopia, the aim of social alterity of all social otherness is ceaselessly...

The manifesto that launched the Situationist International (SI) into the public eye and sparked an uprising is back-with the story of its creation and the histories of its publication told like never before.When the Situationist International was a...

Mario Tronti was the principal theorist of the radical political movement of the 1960s known in Italy asoperaismoand in the Anglophone world as Italian workerism, a current which went on to inform the development of autonomist Marxism. His "Copernican...

The ultimate question is no longer "who am I" or "why am I here." These questions were answered in the earliest civilizations by philosophers and priests. Today we live in an age of such rapid advances in technology and science that the ultimate question...

How the ear came to play a central role in modern culture and rationality. Hearing has traditionally been regarded as the second sense-as somehow less rational and less modern than the first sense, sight. Reason and Resonance explodes this myth by...

Decolonisation has lost its way. Originally a struggle to escape the West's direct political and economic control, it has become a catch-all idea, often for performing 'morality' or 'authenticity'; it suffocates African thought and denies African agency...

Henry at Work invites readers to rethink how we work today by exploring an aspect of Henry David Thoreau that has often been overlooked: Thoreau the worker. John Kaag and Jonathan van Belle overturn the popular misconception of Thoreau as a navel-gazing...

A constitutionalist reading of Plato's political thought.Plato famously defends the rule of knowledge. Knowledge, for him, is of the good. But what is rule? In this study, Melissa Lane reveals how political office and rule were woven together in Greek...

A deep investigation of neoliberalism's proselytizers in Eastern Europe and the Global SouthWhere does free market ideology come from? Recent work on the neoliberal intellectual movement around the Mont Pelerin Society has allowed for closer study of the...

How Robespierre's career and legacy embody the dangerous contradictions of democracy.Maximilien Robespierre (17581794) is arguably the most controversial and contradictory figure of the French Revolution, inspiring passionate debate like no other...