Collected Essays on Philosophers

Collected Essays on Philosophers PDF Author: Colin Wilson
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781443889018
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Colin Wilsonâ (TM)s first book The Outsider was published to great critical acclaim in May 1956. It was the first of six philosophical books, known collectively as â ~The Outsider Cycleâ (TM), compiled by Wilson during the following decade. A summary volume, Introduction to the New Existentialism, appeared in 1966. During the 1970s, however, Wilsonâ (TM)s interests became, on the surface, more varied, publishing books on criminology, psychology and the occult. But he always maintained a philosophical stance, irrespective of subject matter, and continued to write purely philosophical essays for journals, magazines, and symposia. This volume brings together, for the first time, his essays on seventeen philosophers, including some of those he met personally to discuss their ideas. In his essay on Spinoza he wrote: â oePhilosophers are never so entertaining â " or so instructive â " as when they are beating one another over the head.â It is that statement, applied to this particular volume, that makes these essays, from Englandâ (TM)s only home-grown existential philosopher, so eminently readable, entertaining, instructive and, sometimes, controversial.

Collected Essays on Philosophers

Collected Essays on Philosophers PDF Author: Colin Wilson
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781443889018
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
Colin Wilsonâ (TM)s first book The Outsider was published to great critical acclaim in May 1956. It was the first of six philosophical books, known collectively as â ~The Outsider Cycleâ (TM), compiled by Wilson during the following decade. A summary volume, Introduction to the New Existentialism, appeared in 1966. During the 1970s, however, Wilsonâ (TM)s interests became, on the surface, more varied, publishing books on criminology, psychology and the occult. But he always maintained a philosophical stance, irrespective of subject matter, and continued to write purely philosophical essays for journals, magazines, and symposia. This volume brings together, for the first time, his essays on seventeen philosophers, including some of those he met personally to discuss their ideas. In his essay on Spinoza he wrote: â oePhilosophers are never so entertaining â " or so instructive â " as when they are beating one another over the head.â It is that statement, applied to this particular volume, that makes these essays, from Englandâ (TM)s only home-grown existential philosopher, so eminently readable, entertaining, instructive and, sometimes, controversial.

Vagaries of Desire: A Collection of Philosophical Essays

Vagaries of Desire: A Collection of Philosophical Essays PDF Author: Timo Airaksinen
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004410309
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 235

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Book Description
In Vagaries of Desire, Timo Airaksinen develops a new philosophical account of desire understood as mental state that focuses on a desirable possible world. Literary and philosophical themes, including sexuality, are discussed in terms of their metaphoric and metonymic features.

The Importance of What We Care About

The Importance of What We Care About PDF Author: Harry G. Frankfurt
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521336116
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 204

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Book Description
A collection of thirteen seminal essays on ethics, free will, and the philosophy of mind, first published in 1988.

Philosophy of Cruelty

Philosophy of Cruelty PDF Author: Giorgio Baruchello
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780993952753
Category : Cruelty
Languages : en
Pages : 184

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Book Description
Baruchello's Philosophy of Cruelty, the second collection of his essays, turns a difficult and emotionally charged topic into a surprisingly informative and enlightening read. Covering the history of Western philosophy's treatment of cruelty as a topic, yet relating every point to present-day occasions of violence and injustice, this book is a touchstone for any discussion of cruelty as a philosophical theme. It pulls no punches, yet it leaves you standing taller.

Philosophical Provocations

Philosophical Provocations PDF Author: Colin McGinn
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262340100
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 327

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Book Description
Pithy, direct, and bold: essays that propose new ways to think about old problems, spanning a range of philosophical topics. In Philosophical Provocations, Colin McGinn offers a series of short, sharp essays that take on philosophical problems ranging from the concept of mind to paradox, altruism, and the relation between God and the Devil. Avoiding the usual scholarly apparatus and embracing a blunt pithiness, McGinn aims to achieve as much as possible in as short a space as possible while covering as many topics as possible. Much academic philosophical writing today is long, leaden, citation heavy, dense with qualifications, and painful to read. The essays in Philosophical Provocations are short, direct, and engaging, often challenging philosophical orthodoxy as they consider issues in mind, language, knowledge, metaphysics, biology, ethics, and religion. McGinn is looking for new ways to think about old problems. Thus he writes, about consciousness, “I think we have been all wrong,” and goes on to suggest that both consciousness and the unconscious are mysteries. Summing up his proposal on altruism, he remarks, “My suggestion can now be stated, somewhat brutally, as follows: human altruism is the result of parasitic manipulation.” He takes a moment to reflect: “I really don't know why it is good to be alive, though I am convinced that the standard suggestions don't work.” McGinn gets straight to the point and states his position with maximum clarity. These essays offer provocative invitations to think again.

Potentialities

Potentialities PDF Author: Giorgio Agamben
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 0804732787
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
This volume constitutes the largest collection of writings by the Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben hitherto published in any language. The essays consider several figures in the history of philosophy; the relation of linguistic and metaphysical categories; messianism in Islamic, Jewish, and Christian theology; and the state and future of contemporary politics.

Philosophical Essays

Philosophical Essays PDF Author: Hans Jonas
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780982706794
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
A pivotal volume in the collected works of Hans Jonas (1903-1993), one of most important German-American philosophers of the last half of the 20th century, this edition is the only one to include contributions from his three primary areas of achievement: philosophical reflection on gnosticism, on biology, and on technology.

Respect

Respect PDF Author: Richard Dean
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192558366
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 325

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Book Description
Respect plays a prominent role in contemporary moral philosophy, as well as our every-day moral thought. Ordinary discussion about morality is often framed in terms of demands for respect or complaints about being disrespected, yet basic questions about the concept and role of respect are frequently overlooked. Here, leading philosophers present their latest ideas and fresh perspectives to point research on the topic in new directions. Following an introduction to the historical rise of respect as a central concept in moral discourse, Part I addresses the fundamental questions of what respect is; its nature and basis. Part II then examines questions in moral theory, for example what exactly ought to be respected, what role respect plays in morality, and which different types of respect are appropriate and morally significant. Part III concludes with the practical application of requirements of respect, with implications for significant moral issues of our time including environmental ethics, social justice, disability, bioethics, and more.

Promise, Obligation, Agreement

Promise, Obligation, Agreement PDF Author: Hanoch Sheinman
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780199755943
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
Promises and agreements are everywhere; we make, receive, keep, and break them on a daily basis. The quest to understand these social practices is integral to understanding ourselves as social creatures. The study of promises and agreements is enjoying a renaissance in many areas of social philosophy, including philosophy of language, action theory, normative ethics, value theory, and legal philosophy. This volume is the first collection of philosophical papers on promises and agreements, bringing together sixteen original self-standing contributions to the philosophical literature. The contributors highlight some of the more interesting aspects of the ubiquitous social phenomena of promises and agreements from different philosophical perspectives.

Essays on Philosophy, Praxis and Culture

Essays on Philosophy, Praxis and Culture PDF Author: Lou Marinoff
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781839991578
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This collection provides a panoramic view of practical philosophical insight, ranging across a spectrum of humanistic themes. These essays cast light on our perennially imperfect human condition. They are written from the complementary standpoints of a classical liberal scholar with one foot planted in the academy, and of a peripatetic pioneer whom The New York Times called "the world's most successful marketer of philosophical counseling." These writings, therefore, span space in which theory and praxis are mutually informative and seamlessly collaborative. The collection ranges from Alfred Korzybski's general semantics; Thomas Mann's prognosis for Western civilization; Hume's moral skepticism applied to globalization; Jungian synchronicity and encounters with Irvin Yalom; J.S. Mill's harm principle applied to cyberspace; Ayn Rand's prophetic apocalypse; philosophical practice as Dadaist activism; humanities-based therapies as remedies for culturally induced illnesses; biological roots of human conflict; deconstruction and critique of "sustainable development"; dangers and detriments of over-digitalized and hyper-virtualized lifestyles and learning methods; and calls for the re-emergence of philosophy from inactive academic entombment to pro-active modes of personal guidance, social influence, consumer advocacy, and political engagement. A unifying claim of this anthology is the cautionary tale that humanity's recurrent and conflict-ridden predicaments are only exacerbated by myopic analyses, toxic ideologies, and expedient prescriptions. While philosophy is scarcely a panacea for human afflictions, its proper exercise illuminates our understanding of them, thereby suggesting better as opposed to worse ways forward. Overall, the thrust of this collection can be viewed as a realization of John Dewey's forthright vision, expressed in 1917: "Philosophy recovers itself when it ceases to be a device for dealing with the problems of philosophers and becomes a method, cultivated by philosophers, for dealing with the problems of men." Indeed, these essays deal with problems of humanity writ large. They also constitute a compelling response to Mortimer Adler's clarion call in 1965, that philosophy "must cease to be an activity conducted by moles, each burrowing in its own hole, and become a public and cooperative enterprise." As these essays reveal, Marinoff has accomplished Adler's mission, transforming and returning philosophy to the agora, which in contemporary parlance amounts to the global village. That his popular books on philosophy for everyday life have sold millions of copies in dozens of languages has distracted some--perhaps too many--philosophers from exploring what he has written for a philosophical audience itself. This book helps remedy that distraction.