Product Description
This is a second, revised edition of Kupperman's introduction to Asian philosophy via its canonical texts. Kupperman ranges from the Upanishads to the Bhagavad Gita through Confucius to Zen Buddhism, walking students through the texts, conveying the vitality and appeal of the works, and explaining their philosophical roots. Kupperman has made revisions throughout the text, clarifying where necessary, and added a new chapter on al-Arabi's The Bezels of Wisdom, a classic of Islamic Sufism. ... Read more

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Offering a new approach to teaching the philosophy of religion, this anthology is organized around ten of the most widely read texts in the field. Presented in their entirety, these classics serve as a framework for a variety of accessible contemporary essays that are also included. The book's unique structure gives students the opportunity to study in depth complete historical works while also conveying a sense of how today's philosophers have explored related issues. Editor Steven M. Cahn has annotated each text to clarify all unfamiliar references. He has also provided introductions that contain biographical profiles of the authors and philosophical commentaries on their writings.Ten Essential Texts in the Philosophy of Religion: Classics and Contemporary Issues may be supplemented by Questions about God: Today's Philosophers Ponder the Divine, a provocative collection of recent articles on the nature of God, edited by Steven M. Cahn and David Shatz (OUP, 2002).Ten Essential Texts in the Philosophy of Religion includes the following unabridged classic works:Euthyphro, PlatoThe Consolation of Philosophy, BoethiusProslogion, Anselm; On Behalf of the Fool, Gaunilo: and Reply to Gaunilo, AnselmSumma Theologiae, Thomas AquinasOf Miracles, David HumeDialogues Concerning Natural Religion, David HumeConcluding Unscientific Postscript, Soren KierkegaardThe Will to Believe, William JamesThe Varieties of Religious Experience, William JamesTheology and Falsification, Antony Flew, R.M. Hare, and Basil Mitchell ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Ten Essential Original Texts
This is a wonderful selection containing ten essential original texts in the philosophy of religion.It is organized into ten sections with the original essential texts generally followed by modern responses either directly to the texts or addressed to the important issues addressed by the texts. The first text is Plato's Euthyphro with a modern response "God and Moral Authority" by James Rachels. Similarly David Hume's argument against miracles (Of Miracles) is followed by Richard Swinburne's modern defense of miracles: (Miracles). As final example: Anselm's ontological argument for the existence of God is accompanied by Kant's key dispute of the ontological argument.Search inside the book (Table of Contents) if you want to see all the authors and article titles.

These are very well selected original texts and responses dealing with many key questions in the philosophy of religion. Much better to read them here than in a second hand recounting by someone else.They are accesible to college level readers and one need not be a philosophy major to understand the major points.Keep in mind that this is fairly dense stuff by its very nature however.

Ten Essential Texts
The book was exactly as described and better. Great condition. It came sooner than I expected. Love the service! Thank you! ... Read more

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If one looks at the history of philosophy (Aristotle, Lucretius, Augustine, Montaigne, Malebranche, Locke, Leibniz, and Diderot, to name some crucial figures) the right way, monsters (not 'mythical' entities but rather those forms of life which we would now call biological anomalies, teratogenic accidents of embryogenesis, etc.) simply leap off the page. Whether out of a desire to understand biological reality, or a more metaphysical concern with asserting the ultimate truth of 'norms' and 'deviations' as manifest in Nature itself, philosophy's concern with the natural world is not reducible to debates about space and time, matter and force, or animal rights. A prominent feature here is the debates over form and species, on the one hand (especially in the period from the Renaissance to the early modern period), and on the mechanisms of generation, which we would now call development, on the other hand (from the early modern period to the late eighteenth century). This collection of essays by prominent European and American scholars seeks to examine the cases when philosophy comes down into the biological realm and looks at problems like the existence of monsters. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Table of Contents
MONSTERS AND PHILOSOPHY
Ed: Charles T. Wolfe
Publisher: College Publications.For more information see below.
Volume 3 in the "Texts in Philosophy" Series


Table of Contents

Introduction: Charles Wolfe

The Riddle of the Sphinx: Aristotle, Penelope, and Empedocles:
Johannes Fritsche

Science as a Cure for Fear: The Status of Monsters in Lucretius:
Morgan Meis

Nature and its Monsters During the Renaissance: Montaigne and Vanini:
Tristan Dagron
Trans. Stacey Dagron

Conjoined Twins and the Limits of our Reason:
Annie Bitbol-Hesperies

Degeneration and Hybridism in the Early Modern Species Debate: Towards the Philosophical Roots of the Creation-Evolution Controversy:
Justin E H Smith

Leibniz on the Unicorn and Various other Curiosities:
Roger Ariew

The Creativity of God and the Order of Nature: Anatomizing Monsters in the Early Eighteenth Century:
Anita Guerrini

The Status of Anomalies in the Philosophy of Diderot:
Annie Ibrahim
Trans. Lynn Niizawa

The Materialist Denial of Monsters:
Charles T. Wolfe

Cerebral Asymmetry, Monstrosities and Hegel.On the Situation of the Life Sciences in 1800:
Michael Hagner
Trans. Nicolas de Warren

The Lady Knight of the Perilous Place:
Elfriede Jelinek
Trans. Justin E H Smith and Michael M Seifried

Monster: More than a Word ... From Portent to Annomaly, the Extraordinary Career of Monsters:
Beate Ochsner



About College Publications (From their website: www.collegepublications.co.uk)

College Publications has several objectives in mind:

* To bring College Publications to a level with Oxford (OUP) and Cambridge (CUP) in terms of publishing capability.
* To provide the community with a non-profit making, highly prestigious publishing outlet that will break the monopoly that commercial publishers have.
* To publish books that can be purchased at reasonable prices, making information accessible to all.

Accordingly, College Publications can publish books at a range of 15-25 dollars per average 300 page book, giving substantially better royalties to authors than other publishers.

College Publications is run by Dov M. Gabbay, Vincent F. Hendricks and John Symons as scientific directors and Mrs Spurr as managing director.This is an experienced team, having published many books, handbooks and Journals in the past 20 years with all the major academic publishers, such as Elsevier, Springer, OUP, CUP, Wiley, Blackwell, Academic Press, Automatic Press, CSLI Publications, and World Scientific.

College Publications does not take copyright and authors are free to use their material elsewhere, and even to put the book on the web once sales have achieved profitability.

We believe that as the community realises the opportunities offered by the press, it will emerge a s a major alternative to expensive market-driven commercial publishers.

Academics no longer need to be controlled by commercial interests! ... Read more

Product Description
Schleiermacher's Hermeneutics and Criticism is the founding text of modern hermeneutics. Written as a method for the interpretation and textual criticism of the New Testament, it is remarkably relevant to contemporary theories of interpretation in literary theory and analytical philosophy. This volume offers the text in a new translation by Andrew Bowie, together with related writings on secular hermeneutics and language. An introduction places the texts in the context of Schleiermacher's philosophy as a whole. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Schleiermacher: Hermeneutics and Criticism by Andrew Bowie
Good treatment of the thinking behind one of the Great liberal thinkers of the past. Bowie analzes Schliermacher's thinking and traces how he arrived at his new breakthrough position. An excellent addition to anyone who is interested in the history of Liberal thought.
Roland R. Kratzner ... Read more

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This volume presents a colourful and entertaining overview of German intellectual history by a central figure in its development. Heinrich Heine (1797-1856), famous poet, journalist, and political exile, studied with Hegel and was personally acquainted with the leading figures of the most important generation of German writers and philosophers. In his groundbreaking History he discusses the history of religion, philosophy, and literature in Germany up to his time, seen through his own highly opinionated, politically aware, philosophically astute, and always ironic perspective. This work, and other writings focussing especially on Heine's rethinking of Hegel's philosophy, are presented here in a new translation by Howard Pollack-Milgate. The volume also includes an introduction by Terry Pinkard which examines Heine both in relation to Hegel and Nietzsche and as a thinker in his own right. ... Read more

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From ancient Greece to nineteenth-century America, this collection traces the history of our civilization through the seminal works of its most influential thinkers. Perfect for anyone interested in understanding the progression of Western thought, this volume includes:

Plato: Apology, Crito, and Death of Socrates from Phaedo
Aristotle: Poetics
St. Anselm: The Ontological Proof of St. Anselm, from Proslogium
St. Thomas Aquinas: St. Thomas' Proofs of God's Existence, from The Summa Theologica
René Descartes: Meditations on the First Philosophy
David Hume: An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding
Immanuel Kant: Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics
John Stuart Mill: Utilitarianism
William James: The Will to Believe
... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

What cause might effect you reading this book?
This book gets 4 stars from me for several reasons.

First, they have cut some of the stuff from Plato. Plato is the bedrock of Western philosophy, something that I feel secure in saying. Countless men have spent their entire life trying to find a suitable compliment to toss onto the bonfire of his posterity. There is Emerson, who said that 'Plato is philosophy and philosophy Plato'; there is Alfred North Whitehead who said, 'All the rest of the history of Western philosophy is a footnote to Plato'; there is...the list goes on and on. Point is, in including Phaedo, a beautiful dialogue that speaks of Socrates death, the editor opted to cut out a chunk of it, including merely a note that he had done so. This does not excuse it! If the editor had wanted to chop logic in this case, and to present Plato, he would have been better advised to leave the entire discussion in and cut the other works out. Perhaps even presenting only the first part of Book VII of 'The Republic' would have been nicer too.

The same could be said of Aristotle's Poetics being in this book: there might have been a better selection made. This particular work needs guidance from another when being read and seems a bit out of place with some of the more metaphysical arguments that dominate the later portion of the book. Had a selection from the Nicomachean Ethics been made, it might have made for a better reading. Perhaps sections 1-10?

Be warned: The key word in the two theology selections from St. Anselm and St. Thomas is 'from'. These selections are 1.5 pages and 8 pages long respectively from (again, keyword) their source documents.

Then there is the rest of the book. Where the pattern in the first half was to cut and paste, the second half of the book the editor has suddenly decided to include complete works by other philosophers. These need discussing as a lump sum:

The other words you may need to pay attention to in deciding whether or not to purchase this book would be found most readily in the fact that the word 'Great' is used in the title and not the word 'Basic'. These later works are the meat and potatoes of the field of philosophy, a subject that dabbles/contributes to many other areas, including mathematics and science. The men who wrote these works (from Descartes through Mill, at any rate) were trained to think in a technical fashion and to present to an audience who had somewhat of a similar background. They take no pains to stoop to the level of the masses in their arguments, instead laying out what they want to say, often in dry, jargon-filled language that can leave the reader feeling frustrated. This is no 'basic' work to help you to understand philosophy...

...but that is why I give it 4 stars. For all the complaining I've done so far, this book is still an achievement for those who want to read philosophy, even if they may need to chase someone down to explain some parts of it (Kant's Prolegomena is not to be taken lightly). It includes a scattering of works that you would be hard-pressed to find in so compact a location for such a cheap price. David Hume's works seem to be especially in the upper price range and yet in this volume you get one of his Inquiry's plus the other 'Great' works. Even with the introductions as sparse as they are (mostly they praise the philosophers) the works can still be understood by anyone who wants to pick up this book and try (Plato and William James -a no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is philosopher- are the easiest and can make for delightful readings in philosophy).

Bottom line: I'm reviewing this book from the standpoint of the average person who might walk into a bookstore and pick this book up, thinking to undertake the noble understanding of philosophy. For students of the subject it may be nice to have this book as a handy quick reference which is compact and easily brought along. As a side-note: if you really want to understand this book on your own without attending lecture upon lecture, pick up a copy of S.E. Frost's 'Basic Teachings of The Great Philosophers' for easy explanation and Velasquez's 'Philosophy' (which is a textbook) that does a very good job of laying out the subject. Those two should help you traverse this volume.

-LP

Philosophy Review
Philosophy in general is a necessary tool to understand life and the purpose of it. This book takes a collection of the works that most greatly aid in this purpose to form a concauction of ideas that allow for greater understanding of philosophers and how they can and will relate to every person's life. The preface by Wolff is excellent and allows readers with a less comprehensive understanding of philosophy to still recieve valuble information, or readers with a thorough understanding to see another interpretation of these amazing works of literature. ... Read more

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The long-awaited second volume of The Cambridge Translations of Medieval Philosophical Texts offers first-time English translations of major texts in ethics and political thought from one of the most fruitful periods of speculation and analysis in the history of Western thought. The seventeen texts in this anthology offer late medieval treatments of fundamental issues in human conduct that are both conceptually subtle and of direct practical import. This is an important resource for scholars and students of medieval philosophy, history, political science, theology and literature. ... Read more

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Francis Hutcheson (1694-1746) was a key figure in the Scottish Enlightenment and one of the eighteenth century's most influential philosophers. He taught Adam Smith and he greatly influenced Hume and Bentham. His theory that the only proper actions are those which will generally benefit society prepared the way for the English utilitarians. His views were extensively discussed throughout Britain and ranged as far as the American colonies, where his political theory was adopted by revolutionaries. He is best known for his contribution to moral theory, being the chief exponent of the 'moral sense' doctrine which, following Shaftesbury, emphasized feeling rather than reasoning as the source of judgements of virtue and vice. A System of Moral Philosophy was written as early as 1738, but added to and altered by Hutcheson throughout his life. Published posthumously in 1755 by Hutcheson's son, Francis the younger, the System is Hutcheson's longest work and the fullest explanation of his method.Giving a comprehensive account of morality, it includes discussions of human nature; our duties to God, to each other and ourselves; the supreme good; civil liberty; rights; contracts; marriage; the rights and duties of parents; and the laws of peace and war. The work also contains an argument against slavery that was reprinted in colonial Philadelphia and helped give academic weight to the antislavery movement. William Leechman, a friend of Hutcheson and Professor of Divinity at Glasgow, contributes a highly valuable biography. This edition also includes a new introduction by Daniel Carey. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

The perfect companion to Sellars' essay
If you have struggled, like many of us have, to understand Sellars' essay, this is the book for you.

I worked through Sellars' essay using this book as a companion volume, and it was incredibly helpful.

Why does this single essay deserve a guide? First, because of its importance. In this essay you will find precursors to many modern strands of thought, such as the 'language of thought' hypothesis, coherence theories of justification, and even pragmatic theories of meaning.

Unfortunately, the essay is also very difficult to understand. Sellars assumed working familiarity with the main currents in philosophy as understood by a philosopher in the 1950s. He also assumes familiarity with historical figures such as Kant. Finally, even if you have said familiarity, the essay is dense and sometimes uses rather tortured prose that can be very difficult to understand.

So, if you find yourself stumbling to understand 'Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind', buy this book immediately. You will be very glad you did. It is extremely clearly written, and it removes the requirement that you have a degree in philosophy to understand Sellars' seminal essay.

Sellars and Clarity
This is a good book which would serve well as an introduction to Sellars's dense "EPM."It provides background information on sense-datum theories, a contextual overview, clarification (i.e., shows the arguments) in each section of the text, and offers insightful commentary on each section."EPM" is included at the end of the text.

I highly recommend this book, along with Sellars's other work, and McDowell's Mind and World.

what is this all about?
the commentary writers are offering here is crowded with the details of Sellar's essay and quite at no point supplies a general foothold to make Sellar's work and what's original in it understandable (which I finally can not appreciate how philosophically original it is). ... Read more

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Published in 1686, this work attacked prevailing notions of the natural world that depicted "Nature" as a wise, benevolent and purposeful being. It represents one of the subtlest statements concerning the issues raised by the mechanical philosophy that emerged from the Scientific Revolution. This volume presents the first modern edition of the complete text, together with a historical introduction, a chronology of Boyle's life and notes on further reading. ... Read more

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This is the first English translation of Friedrich Schleiermacher's mature ethical theory. Situated between the better-known positions of Kant and Hegel, Schleiermacher's ethics represent an under-explored option within the rich and creative tradition of German idealism. Although Schleiermacher is known to English readers primarily as a theologian and hermeneuticist, many German scholars have argued that his philosophical work in ethics constitutes his most outstanding intellectual achievement. This edition includes an historical and philosophical introduction and notes on further reading. ... Read more

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TEXTS AND DIALOGUES contains essays, interviews, and exchanges by one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century.It is now available for the first time in English translation, accompanied by contemporary evaluations of Merleau-Ponty's philosophical activities, an introduction by the editors, and a comprehensive Merleau-Ponty bibliography.

"Merleau-Ponty's concept of perception provided a platform not only for criticising the prejudices of 'classical' thought, but also for a vast range of writings on politics (from an unaligned 'revolutionary socialist' standpoint), literature, and art.[This book] functions like an ideal biography.It gives us a sense of Merleau-Ponty in his 'carnal singularity'; and it makes you realise how desperately sad it is that in 1961, when he was in his early fifties, and full of plans and hopes, he died." -- Jonathan Ree, "Radical Philosophy"

"What we find in these pieces that span Merleau-Ponty's career is a philosopher coming to terms with social and political shifts, intellectual currents, and the movements of history in the midst of which he found himself." -- Wayne J. Froman, "Canadian Philosophical Review"

"The introduction...provides the best intellectual biography of Merleau-Ponty currently available in English.It is comprehensive, highly condensed, and affords the reader a capsule vision of Merleau-Ponty's development as a thinker." -- M.C. Dillon, Distinguished Teaching Professor, SUNY, Binghamton

"Maurice Merleau-Ponty commented widely, in journals and weeklies, on major issues in politics and major shifts in post-war European culture.He was so scrupulously informed on what he wrote about, with vigor and originality, that many of these writings have hardly dated and will enrich the debates of today.This volume also contains some evaluations Merleau-Ponty made of, and positions he took with regard to, the philosophical writings of his contemporaries.These shed significant light on his own published books of philosophy." -- Alphonso Lingis, Professor of Philosophy, Pennsylvania State University

"Among the recent books on Merleau-Ponty, this one will prove most useful and interesting, revealing unknown aspects of his thought, further clarifying his philosophy.It is also important because these works are not otherwise available, even in French." -- M.R. Barral, "Choice"

"The writings of Merleau-Ponty contained in this volume span the entire length of his philosophical career from 1933 to 1960 . . . TEXTS AND DIALOGUES is an indispensable book for anybody seeking a serious knowledge of Merleau-Ponty's philosophical itinerary, as well as for the grain of his voice that we hear throughout." -- Bernard Flynn, "Graduate Faculty Philosophy Journal" ... Read more

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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This volume presents the first complete translation of Fichte Studies, a critique of Fichtean philosophy by the young philosopher-poet Friedrich von Hardenberg. Under the pen-name Novalis, von Hardenberg became the most well-known and beloved of the early German Romantic writers.Those interested in the fate of German philosophy and literature immediately following Kant will find that this collection of notes and aphorisms consists of original contributions on the nature of self-consciousness, the relationship of art to philosophy, and the nature of philosophical inquiry. ... Read more

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Plato's Meno and Phaedo are two of the most important works of ancient western philosophy and continue to be studied around the world. The Meno is a seminal work of epistemology. The Phaedo is a key source for Platonic metaphysics and for Plato's conception of the human soul. Together they illustrate the birth of Platonic philosophy from Plato's reflections on Socrates' life and doctrines. This edition offers new and accessible translations of both works, together with a thorough introduction that explains the arguments of the two dialogues and their place in Plato's thought. ... Read more

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Offering students an accessible, engaging complete introduction to philosophy, Velasquez combines clear prose and primary sources to provide a meaningful exploration of philosophy that relates to students' self-discovery. Covering a wide range of topics, such as human nature, feminist theory, diversity, and aesthetics, this text is organized to encourage critical thinking and studying through questions and readings that always connect philosophy back to students' personal experiences. In addition, PHILOSOPHY: A TEXT WITH READINGS comes with an outstanding teaching and learning package that includes WebTutor ToolBox--a resource that helps you manage your course online, The Examined Life Telecourse--a perfect solution for distance learning, and InfoTrac College Edition--an online library. Plus, there are a wide variety of videos to choose from to help launch lectures and spark class discussion. ... Read more

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Designed for complete beginners, Philosophy: Key Texts is an introduction to philosophy and gives a clear, readable overview of five major texts by Aristotle, Descartes, Hume, Sartre, and Russell. As well as providing help in how to analyze these sources, Baggini encourages the reader to question the arguments and positions presented. Invaluable at the start of a course of study, as a concise revision aid, or as a lucid, jargon-free guide for anyone who wants an insight into philosophy, Philosophy: Key Texts can be used either independently of, or together with, its companion volume Philosophy: Key Themes.
... Read more