Non Fiction > Philosophy

Suffused with a unique brand of irreverent humor, this account recalls the autobiographical explorations of the most significant alternative communities, ashrams, gurus, shamans, and consciousness- raising seminars of the past 40 years. Serving as a human guinea pig for many of the most popular cutting-edge New Age, human potential, and spiritual experiments, Eliezer Sobel recounts intercontinental adventures in India, Israel, Brazil, and Haiti. From Primal Therapy to the Dalai Lama, this perceptively witty analysis includes brushe... read more

Philosophy Bites is a selection of the best interviews from the hugely successful podcast of the same name. Leading philosophers discuss a wide range of philosophical issues, from ethics to aesthetics to metaphysics, in a lively, informal, personal way. Time, infinity, evil, friendship, animals, wine, sport, tragedy--all human life is here.

What have the invention of the wheel, Pompeii, the Wall Street Crash, Harry Potter and the internet got in common? Why are all forecasters con-artists? What can Catherine the Great's lovers tell us about probability? And, why should you never run for a train or read a newspaper? This book is all about Black Swans: the random events that underlie our lives, from bestsellers to world disasters. Their impact is huge; they're impossible to predict; yet after they happen we always try to rationalize them. A rallying cry to ignore the 'e... read more

Sir Anthony Kenny tells the fascinating story of the development of philosophy in the modern world, from the early nineteenth century to the late twentieth century. Alongside (and intertwined with) extraordinary scientific advances, cultural changes, and political upheavals, the last two centuries have seen some of the most intriguing and original developments in philosophical thinking, which have transformed our understanding of ourselves and our world. In the first part of the book Kenny offers a lively narrative introducing the ... read more

Can nature make us happy? How can we know anything? What is justice? Why is there evil in the world? What is the source of truth? Is it possible for God not to exist? Can we really believe what we see?There are questions that have intrigued the world's great thinkers over the ages, which still touch a cord in all of us today. They are questions that can teach us about the way we live, work, relate to each other and see the world. Here, one of the world's greatest living philosophers, Leszek Kolakowski, explores the essence of these... read more

Considering the role of justice in our society and our lives, Michael Sandel reveals how an understanding of philosophy can help to make sense of politics, religion, morality - and our own convictions. Breaking down hotly contested issues, from abortion, euthanasia and same-sex marriage, to patriotism, dissent and affirmative action, Sandel shows how the biggest questions in our civic life can be broken down and illuminated through reasoned debate. "Justice" promises to take readers - of all ages and political persuasions - on an e... read more

By a detailed investigation of the universal phenomenon of dreaming, Freud discovered a radical new way of exploring the unconscious and recognized that dreams are a conflict and compromise between conscious and unconscious impulses. Through his insights about dreams, Freud was able to revise his methods of treatment for neurotic patients and develop, largely through this remarkable work, his revolutionary theories of the Oedipus Complex and of the profound importance of infantile life and sexuality for the development of adults.

What is like to be another person? Why is stupidity not painful? Is it possible for a human ever to do a selfless act? Do chimpanzees really enjoy eating bananas? How can an exception ever prove a rule? Everyone confronts philosophical issues, so why shouldn't everyone have access to a philosopher? In this wise and witty book, forty philosophers from universities around the world answer real readers' most difficult questions. They address dilemmas and queries on every subject, from adultery and the afterlife, to ethics and existent... read more

101 Great Philosophers is a concise and accessible guide to 101 of the greatest minds that contributed to the legacy of western philosophy. From the ancient Greeks to present-day thinkers, Madsen Pirie employs concise entries, each on a single page, to give a snapshot of the contribution made by 100 key philosophers to the development of this fascinating subject. This book provides a sparkling insight into the lives and times of each philosopher covered - explaining just why what they had to say was so innovative and inspiring. Ess... read more

Following on from the success of the first edition of "What Philosophers Think", this second edition brings together a collection of interviews with some of the world's most important and influential philosophers and intellectuals and leading figures in the arts and politics, including: Bernard Williams, Onora O'Neill, Philippa Foot, Philip Pullman, Bhikhu Parekh, Slavoj Zizek, AC Grayling, Igor Alexander, Alexander McCall Smith, Daniel Dennett, and Oliver Letwin. The interviews - all revised and expanded from "The Philosopher's Ma... read more

Offering philosophical insights into the popular morning brew, Coffee -- Philosophy for Everyone kick starts the day with an entertaining but critical discussion of the ethics, aesthetics, metaphysics, and culture of coffee.* Matt Lounsbury of pioneering business Stumptown Coffee discusses just how good coffee can be* Caffeine-related chapters cover the ethics of the coffee trade, the metaphysics of coffee and the centrality of the coffee house to the public sphere* Includes a foreword by Donald Schoenholt, President at Gillies Coffee Company.

Welcome to the perplexing world of the paradoxical. Prepare to stretch your mind and challenge everything you think you think you know as This Book Does Not Exist unveils how weird a world of thought can be. Filled with philosophical and mathematical problems to baffle and delight you This Book Does Not Exist is packed with thought experiments, real-life examples and puzzles for you to try. It also introduces you to some of the great names in the field of paradoxes, from ancient Greece to Albert Einstein. Packed with puzzles, this ... read more

Slavoj Zizek is one of the most important cultural theorists of our times. Tickets for his lectures sell out weeks in advance and a peer reviewed journal is devoted to his work. But his capacity to fascinate the uninitiated and subvert the rules of academia has taken his fame far beyond the world's lecture halls. So who better to cast six sideways glances on the subject of violence than 'the giant of Ljubljana', an intellectual icon and enfant terrible, and to launch this groundbreaking new series?The premise of Zizek's theory is t... read more

This is a brilliant study on the nature of choice, and how limitless freedom can lead to despair. We are encouraged from all sides to view our lives as being full of choices. Like the products on a supermarket shelf, our careers, our relationships, our bodies, our very identity seem to be there for the choosing. But paradoxically this seeming freedom to choose can create extreme anxiety, and feelings of inadequacy and guilt. "Choice" explores how late capitalism's shrill exhortations to 'be oneself' can be a tyranny which only lead... read more

Have you ever lain awake at night fretting over how we can be sure of the reality of the external world? Perhaps we are in fact disembodied brains, floating in vats at the whim of some deranged puppet-master? If so, you are not alone and what's more, you are in exalted company. For this question and other ones like it have been the stuff of philosophical rumination from Plato to Popper. In a series of accessible and engagingly written essays, 50 Philosophy Ideas You Really Need to Know introduces and explains the problems of knowle... read more

And Ninety-Nine Other Thought Experiments Julian Baggini presents 100 thought experiments: short scenarios which pose a problem in a vivid and concrete way, and invites the reader to think about possible answers for him/herself. Experiments cover identity, religion, art, ethics, language, knowledge and many more. From Zeno's paradox to Groundhog Day (how do you make sense of a life of eternal recurrence?), via the pig that wants to be eaten (so should you eat him?), Plato's cave, Minority Report (is it right to punish people fo... read more

Thinkers such as Aristotle, Plato and Parmenides have shaped the way we see the world, and it is their original conception of philosophy which has placed topics such as logic, metaphysics, ethics and ontology at the heart of philosophical debates for centuries. Miriam Leonard not only explores the central theories of their works, but also gives some sense of the messy process of abstraction, where written texts get transformed into timeless ideals. She looks at how simple phrases such as 'in what way?' or 'there is' are turned into... read more