Philosophers

Suicide is everywhere. It haunts history and current events. It haunts our own networks of friends and family. The spectre of suicide looms large, but the topic is taboo because any meaningful discussion must at the very least consider that the answer to...

How Michel Foucault, drugs, California and the rise of neoliberal politics in 1970s France are all connectedIn May 1975, Michel Foucault took LSD in the desert in southern California. He described it as the most important event of his life, one which...

Ian Buruma explores the life and death of Baruch Spinoza, the Enlightenment thinker whose belief in freedom of thought and speech resonates in our own time   Baruch (Benedictus) Spinoza (1632–1677) was a radical free thinker who led a life guided by...

A definitive biography of the French aristocrat who became one of democracy's greatest championsIn 1831, at the age of twenty-five, Alexis de Tocqueville made his fateful journey to America, where he observed the thrilling reality of a functioning...

'I am not a man, I am dynamite.' Ecce Homo is an autobiography like no other. Deliberately provocative, Nietzsche subverts the conventions of the genre and pushes his philosophical positions to combative extremes, constructing a genius-hero whose life...

Jacques Derrida, the French philosopher, developed his critical technique known as 'deconstruction'. His work is associated with ideas surrounding both post-structuralism and post-modern philosophy, and he was known to have challenged some of the...

This is a colorful, comprehensive, and authoritative introduction to the life and work of the author of The Prince--Florentine statesman, writer, and political philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527). Corrado Vivanti, who was one of the world's...

When Luis de Molina died in Madrid in 1600, he had every reason to believe he was about to be anathametized by Pope Clement VIII. The Protestant Reformation was splitting Europe, tribunals of the Inquisition met regularly in a dozen Spanish cities, and...

The Armenian-Greek spiritual teacher, G.I. Gurdjieff's autobiographical account of his youth and early travels has become something of a legend since it was first published in 1963. A compulsive read in the tradition of adventure narratives, but suffused...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781635423211Author Souleymane Bachir DiagneFormat PaperbackPage Count 208Imprint Other Press LLCPublisher Other Press LLC

George Steiner is one of the preeminent intellectuals of our time. The Washington Post has declared that no one else "writing on literature can match him as polymath and polyglot, and few can equal the verve and eloquence of his writing," while the New...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781556438998Author Richard KaczynskiFormat HardbackPage Count 720Imprint North Atlantic Books,U.S.Publisher North Atlantic Books,U.S.Weight(grams)...

Upon publication of her "field manual," The Origins of Totalitarianism, in 1951, Hannah Arendt immediately gained recognition as a major political analyst. Over the next twenty-five years, she wrote ten more books and developed a set of ideas...

Rene Descartes is famous as the philosopher who was prepared to doubt everything- even his own physical existence. Most people know that he said 'I think, therefore I am', even if they are not always sure what he really meant by it. Introducing Descartes...

An engaging look at the founder of one of the most important philosophical schools of ancient Greece. The ancient philosopher Diogenes--nicknamed "The Dog" and decried by Plato as a "Socrates gone mad"--was widely praised and idealized as much as he...

Newton's heretical writings on theology, spirituality, alchemy, and prophecy, uncovered and analyzed. Isaac Newton (1643-1727) is still regarded by the world as the greatest scientist who ever lived. He invented calculus, discovered the binomial theorem,...

Between 1931 and 1935, Bertrand Russell contributed some 156 essays to the literary pages of the American newspaper New York American. These were often fun, humorous observations on the very real issues of the day, such as the Depression, the rise of...

Named a Best Book of the Year by the Economist, Wall Street Journal & Vox'The father of virtual reality' (Sunday Times) explains why virtual reality presents the ultimate test for humanity.'Essential reading, not just for VR-watchers but for anyone...

The remarkable story of how Greek-speaking writers and thinkers sustained and developed the intellectual legacy of Classical Greece under the rule of Rome. In 146 BC, Greece yielded to the military might of the Roman Republic; some sixty years later,...

A major writer and a leading figure in the public life of Rome, Seneca (c. 4BC-AD 65) ranks among the most eloquent and influential masters of Latin prose. This selection explores his thoughts on philosophy and the trials of life. In the Consolation to...

Worshipped by her fans, denounced by her enemies, and forever shadowed by controversy and scandal, the novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand was a powerful thinker whose views on government and markets shaped the conservative movement from its earliest days...

This English translation of Friedrich Nietzsche in seinen Werken offers a rare, intimate view of the philosopher by Lou Salome, a free-thinking, Russian-born intellectual to whom Nietzsche proposed marriage at only their second meeting. Published in...

The story of the greatest of all philosophical friendships--and how it influenced modern thought David Hume is widely regarded as the most important philosopher ever to write in English, but during his lifetime he was attacked as "the Great Infidel" for...

Since his retirement as Archbishop of Canterbury and his return to academic life (Master of Magdalene College Cambridge) Rowan Williams has demonstrated a massive new surge of intellectual energy. In this new book he turns his attention to St Augustine. ...

Alexandre Kojeve (1902-1968) was an important and provocative thinker. Born in Russia, he spent most of his life in France. His interpretation of Hegel and his notorious declaration that history had come to an end exerted great influence on French...

Through a close reading of the lives and works of some of the greatest intellectuals of recent times, Adam Shatz asks: do writers have an ethical imperative to question injustice? How can one remain a dispassionate thinker when involved in the cut and...

Who was Jacques Derrida, and why does he have such a towering, and foreboding reputation across modern philosophy? For some he is the source of the crisis of alternative facts. For far right terrorist Anders Brievik, 'Derridian deconstruction' was the...

At the age of eight, Karl Popper was puzzling over the idea of infinity and by fifteen was beginning to take a keen interest in his father's well-stocked library of books. Unended Quest recounts these moments and many others in the life of one of the...

The author of the contemporary classic, In the Dust of This Planet, is back with another raw and unsettling look at the human condition. Comprised of aphorisms, fragments, and observations both philosophical and personal, Thacker's new book traces the...

When he died in 1930 aged 26, Frank Ramsey had already invented one branch of mathematics and two branches of economics, laying the foundations for decision theory and game theory. Keynes deferred to him; he was the only philosopher whom Wittgenstein...

The astonishing, true account of one man's quest to immerse himself in nature and live with wild deer for seven years.'Haunting, remarkable and ultimately very moving' Sunday Times'A story of extraordinary power and tenderness' Charles Foster'A startling...

The correspondence between Leibniz and Samuel Clarke (1715-16) was probably the most famous and influential philosophical exchange of the eighteenth century. It focused on the clash between the Newtonian and Leibnizian world systems, involving disputes...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780143122210Author Paul JohnsonFormat PaperbackPage Count 224Imprint Penguin USAPublisher Penguin Putnam IncWeight(grams) 167g

In a compelling meditation on the ideas that shape our lives, one of the world's most provocative and creative philosophers explains how his eccentric early years influenced his lifelong critique of liberalism.Liberalism is so amorphous and pervasive...

From the prize-winning screenwriter of The Theory of Everything and Darkest Hour, The Two Popes is a fascinating, revealing and gripping tale of two very different men whose destinies converge with each other - they both live in the Vatican - and the...

Inspired by Albert Einstein's theory of relativity and Bertrand Russell and David Hilbert's pursuit of the fundamental rules of mathematics, some of the most brilliant minds of the generation came together in post-World War I Vienna to present the latest...

In showing how the great philosophers of human history lived and thought - and what they thought about - Peter Cave provides an accessible and enjoyable introduction to thinking philosophically and how it can change our everyday lives. With a lightness...

An illuminating biography reconstructing the life and legacy of a unique king in world history and the most famous emperor in South Asian history "Mr. Olivelle has produced an outstanding monument of scholarship and sound judgment."-Maxwell Carter, Wall...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780307743749Author James RommFormat PaperbackPage Count 320Imprint Vintage BooksPublisher Random House USA IncWeight(grams) 266gDimensions(mm) 201mm * 132mm...

Ten years have passed since, in the words of his physician, Osho prepared for his departure from the body that had served him for 59 years "as calmly as though he were packing for a weekend in the country." This volume is recognition that the...