Philosophy Books
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Passionate Declarations: Essays on War and Justice
Zinn, Howard
(Softcover)
List Price: $13.95 Sale: $5.43
From the bestselling author of A People's History of the United States comes this selection of passionate, honest, and piercing essays looking at American political ideology. Howard Zinn directs his critique here to what he calls ''American orthodoxies'' - that set of beliefs guardians of our culture consider sacrosanct: justifications for war, cynicism about human nature and violence, pride in our economic system, certainty of our freedom of speech, romanticization of representative government, confidence in our system of justice. Those orthodoxies, he believes, have a chilling effect on our capacity to think independently and to become active citizens in the long struggle for peace and justice.
The Evolution of God
Wright, Robert
(Paperback)
List Price: $18.00 Sale: $6.95
In this sweeping, dazzling journey through history, Robert Wright unveils a discovery of crucial importance to the present moment: there is a pattern in the evolution Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and a "hidden code" in their scriptures. Through the prisms of archeology, theology, anthropology, and evolutionary psychology, Wright repeatedly overturns conventional wisdom to show how and why religion can strengthen the social order - even in an age of globalization - and explains why modern science is not only compatible with religion, but actively affirms the validity of the religious quest. Vast in scope and thrilling in ambition, The Evolution of God brilliantly alters our understanding of God and where He came from - and where He and we are going next.
The Outsider
Wilson, Colin
(Paperback)
List Price: $15.95 Sale: $4.60
The seminal work on alienation, creativity, and the modern mindset. First published 30 years ago, it illuminated the struggle of those who seek not only the transformation of the Self, but of society as a whole.
The Outsider: The Classic Exploration of Rebellion and Creativity (Tarcher Cornerstone Editions)
Wilson, Colin
(Paperback)
List Price: $17.00 Sale: $5.88
Colin Wilson's Classic exploration of the rebel as genius, with a new introduction by Gary Lachman.When the upstart English writer Colin Wilson debuted on the literary scene with The Outsider in 1956, it marked on of the opening notes of the cultural revolution of the sixties. Wilson celebrated the misfit not as a figure be "fixed" and reintegrated into society, but as a lone journeyer who often has a stirring artistic, political, or spiritual innovation to convey to society.Wilson lived this book as much as wrote it. As an impoverished 23-year-old, the Englishman slept in a tent in a London park so that he could be free of material demands to dedicate himself fully to his study. When The Outsider appeared in 1956, it became a sensation among both critics and beats, who formed the vanguard of the dawning Aquarian Age.In Wilson's epic exploration of mystics, visionaries, literary pioneers, political troublemakers, and rule breakers of all sorts, he evoked a new kind of heroism, which changed how we view ourselves and our purpose in life.The Outsider is now reissued and reset in a beautiful Tarcher Cornerstone Edition, with a new introduction by Wilson's friend and biographer, Gary Lachman. This new volume coincides with Tarcher's Publication of Lachman's biography of Wilson, Beyond the Robot.
Battling the Gods: Atheism in the Ancient World
Whitmarsh, Tim
(Paperback)
List Price: $16.95 Sale: $5.43
How new is atheism? Although adherents and opponents alike today present it as an invention of the European Enlightenment, when the forces of science and secularism broadly challenged those of faith, disbelief in the gods, in fact, originated in a far more remote past. In Battling the Gods, Tim Whitmarsh journeys into the ancient Mediterranean, a world almost unimaginably different from our own, to recover the stories and voices of those who first refused the divinities. Whitmarsh provides a bracing antidote to our assumptions about the roots of freethinking. By shining a light on atheism's first thousand years, Battling the Gods offers a timely reminder that nonbelief has a wealth of tradition of its own, and, indeed, its own heroes.
Reimagining Britain: Foundations for Hope
Welby, Justin
(Hardcover)
List Price: $25.00 Sale: $1.83
In a time of political turbulence, and as the Welfare State totters under the strain in a country that has changed dramatically since 1945, Archbishop Justin Welby sets out to identify the values that will enable us to reimagine, and to enact, a more hopeful future.The thesis is that the work of reimagining is as great as it was in 1945, and will happen either by accident – and thus badly – or deliberately. The author draws on Britain's history and Christian tradition to identify this country's foundational values, and the building blocks necessary to implement them in a post-Brexit, multicultural society.He explores the areas in which values are translated into action, including the traditional three of recent history: health (especially public, and mental), housing and education. To these he adds family; the environment; economics and finance; peacebuilding and overseas development; immigration; and integration. He looks particularly at the role of faith groups in enabling, and contributing to, a fairer future.When so many are immobilized by political turmoil, this book builds on our past to offer hope for the future, and practical ways of achieving a more equitable society.
Hegel: The Essential Writing
Weiss, Frederick (Edt)
(Softcover)
List Price: $16.00 Sale: $5.43
Hegel (1770-1831) is one of the major philosophers of the nineteenth century. Many of the major philosophical movements of the twentieth century - from existentialism to analytic philosophy - grew out of reactions against Hegel. He is also one of the hardest philosophers to understand and his complex ideas, though rewarding, are often misunderstood. In this magisterial and lucid introduction, Frederick Beiser covers every major aspect of Hegel's thought. He places Hegel in the historical context of nineteenth-century Germany whilst clarifying the deep insights and originality of Hegel's philosophy.
What Would Nietzsche Do?: Philosophical Solutions to Everyday Problems
Weeks, Marcus
(Paperback)
List Price: $19.95 Sale: $6.95
Ever wondered if Schopenhauer could fix your broken heart? Or if Aristotle could convince you that contemporary art is any good? Ever thought of asking John Stuart Mill if he really thinks Shakespeare is better than The Simpsons?Get life advice and a crash-course in philosophy from the greatest minds of every generation, including Plato, de Beauvoir, Marx and many more, in this fascinating guide to the finest philosophers and their theories.
Why We Need Love (Harperperennial Modern Thought)
Van Booy, Simon
(Softcover)
List Price: $10.00 Sale: $3.91
Vital insights and wisdom on the perennial question of why we need love. This book explores how some of the greatest minds of civilization have tackled a question that continues to play a vital part in our lives today. In Why We Need Love, Simon Van Booy curates an enlightening collection of excerpts, passages, and paintings, presenting works by Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare, John Donne, William Blake, George Eliot, Emily Dickinson, O. Henry, W. B. Yeats, James Joyce, E. E. Cummings, Anais Nin, Marc Chagall, J. Krishnamurti, and others. Why We Need Love will engage both the serious philosopher and the eternally curious.
Democracy May Not Exist, But We'll Miss It When It's Gone
Taylor, Astra
(Hardcover)
List Price: $27.00 Sale: $6.95
What is democracy really? What do we mean when we use the term? And can it ever truly exist? Astra Taylor, hailed as a “New Civil Rights Leader” by the Los Angeles Times, provides surprising answers.There is no shortage of democracy, at least in name, and yet it is in crisis everywhere we look. From a cabal of plutocrats in the White House to gerrymandering and dark-money campaign contributions, it is clear that the principle of government by and for the people is not living up to its promise.The problems lie deeper than any one election cycle. As Astra Taylor demonstrates, real democracy - fully inclusive and completely egalitarian - has in fact never existed. In a tone that is both philosophical and anecdotal, weaving together history, theory, the stories of individuals, and interviews with such leading thinkers as Cornel West and Wendy Brown, Taylor invites us to reexamine the term. Is democracy a means or an end, a process or a set of desired outcomes? What if those outcomes, whatever they may be - peace, prosperity, equality, liberty, an engaged citizenry - can be achieved by non-democratic means? In what areas of life should democratic principles apply? If democracy means rule by the people, what does it mean to rule and who counts as the people?Democracy's inherent paradoxes often go unnamed and unrecognized. Exploring such questions, Democracy May Not Exist offers a better understanding of what is possible, what we want, why democracy is so hard to realize, and why it is worth striving for.
The Power of Chowa: Finding Your Inner Strength Through the Japanese Concept of Balance and Harmony
Tanaka, Akemi
(Hardcover)
List Price: $19.99 Sale: $6.07
For fans of Hygge and Lagom comes this inspiring guide, illustrated with beautiful artwork, that introduces the Japanese wisdom of chowa—the search for balance—to help us find harmony and peace in every area of our lives.
The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap
Taibbi, Matt
(Paperback)
List Price: $17.00 Sale: $6.47
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST, NPR, AND KIRKUS REVIEWS A scathing portrait of an urgent new American crisis Over the last two decades, America has been falling deeper and deeper into a statistical mystery: Poverty goes up. Crime goes down. The prison population doubles. Fraud by the rich wipes out 40 percent of the world's wealth. The rich get massively richer. No one goes to jail. In search of a solution, journalist Matt Taibbi discovered the Divide, the seam in American life where our two most troubling trends--growing wealth inequality and mass incarceration--come together, driven by a dramatic shift in American citizenship: Our basic rights are now determined by our wealth or poverty. The Divide is what allows massively destructive fraud by the hyperwealthy to go unpunished, while turning poverty itself into a crime--but it's impossible to see until you look at these two alarming trends side by side. In The Divide, Matt Taibbi takes readers on a galvanizing journey through both sides of our new system of justice--the fun-house-mirror worlds of the untouchably wealthy and the criminalized poor. He uncovers the startling looting that preceded the financial collapse; a wild conspiracy of billionaire hedge fund managers to destroy a company through dirty tricks; and the story of a whistleblower who gets in the way of the largest banks in America, only to find herself in the crosshairs. On the other side of the Divide, Taibbi takes us to the front lines of the immigrant dragnet; into the newly punitive welfare system which treats its beneficiaries as thieves; and deep inside the stop-and-frisk world, where standing in front of your own home has become an arrestable offense. As he narrates these incredible stories, he draws out and analyzes their common source: a perverse new standard of justice, based on a radical, disturbing new vision of civil rights. Through astonishing--and enraging--accounts of the high-stakes capers of the wealthy and nightmare stories of regular people caught in the Divide's punishing logic, Taibbi lays bare one of the greatest challenges we face in contemporary American life: surviving a system that devours the lives of the poor, turns a blind eye to the destructive crimes of the wealthy, and implicates us all.
Zen Guitar
Sudo, Philip Toshio
(Paperback)
List Price: $13.00 Sale: $5.00
Zen Guitar unfolds through fifty-eight lessons that establish a beginner's mind and provide focus and a guide to common missteps, continuing through technical excellence and advanced levels of Zen. Philip Sudo offers his own experiences with music to enable us to rediscover the harmony in each of our lives and open ourselves to a Zen awareness uniquely suited to the Western mind. This harmony is further illuminated through quotes from sources ranging from Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix to Miles Davis and Andres Segovia.
The Super Natural: Why the Unexplained Is Real
Strieber, Whitley
(Paperback)
List Price: $16.00 Sale: $5.88
Two of today's maverick authors on anomalous experience present a perception-altering and intellectually thrilling analysis of why the paranormal is real, but radically different from what is conventionally understood.Whitley Strieber (Communion) and Jeffrey J. Kripal (J. Newton Rayzor professor of religion at Rice University) team up on this unprecedented and intellectually vibrant new framing of inexplicable events and experiences. Rather than merely document the anomalous, these authors--one the man who popularized alien abduction and the other a renowned scholar and "renegade advocate for including the paranormal in religious studies" (The New York Times)--deliver a fast-paced and exhilarating study of why the supernatural is neither fantasy nor fiction but a vital and authentic aspect of life.Their suggestion? That all kinds of "impossible" things, from extra-dimensional beings to bilocation to bumps in the night, are not impossible at all: rather, they are a part of our natural world. But this natural world is immeasurably more weird, more wonderful, and probably more populated than we have so far imagined with our current categories and cultures, which are what really make these things seem "impossible." The Super Natural considers that the natural world is actually a "super natural world"--and all we have to do to see this is to change the lenses through which we are looking at it and the languages through which we are presently limiting it. In short: The extraordinary exists if we know how to look at and think about it.
The Senecans: Four Men and Margaret Thatcher
Stothard, Peter
(Hardcover)
List Price: $29.95 Sale: $9.11
In his sharply observed new book, former editor of The Times, Peter Stothard reflects on his experience of the court of  Margaret Thatcher ? with colourful and controversial figures, including David Hart, Frank Johnson, Sir Ronald Millar, and Lord Woodrow Wyatt? men who shared too a fascination for the Emperor Nero's speech-writer, political adviser and speech-writer, Seneca the Younger. The Senecans is a wistful story of  'a believing age', of loss and change and the relationship between politics and art. The result is nothing short of exquisite.
Things I Want My Daughters to Know
Stoddard, Alexandra
(Hardcover)
List Price: $19.95 Sale: $5.88
This small book illuminates a big idea, sharing simple, profound truths for joyful living. Alexandra Stoddard, a mother, grandmother, and noted lifestyle philosopher, helps readers cut to the heart of what's important in these brief, wise essays on essential principles worth living by. By turns profound ("Give anonymously"), controversial ("Unplug technology with no apologies"), affirming ("Tell yourself you have done nothing wrong'), and humorous ("Learn to style your own hair"), her succinct expressions offer new ways to nurture ourselves as we celebrate life's joys and grow through its challenges. Touching on the many textures of existence, accessible and timely, these are insights from a women who has truly lives and learned - and found happiness along the way.
What Would Marx Do?: How the Greatest Political Theorists Would Solve Your Everyday Problems
Southwell, Gareth
(Paperback)
List Price: $19.95 Sale: $7.27
Have you ever wondered what Karl Marx might have to say about your desire for a bigger house? Or whether you deserve a raise? And what Kant might say about your addiction to social media?When it comes to the really important questions, who better to ask than the greatest political minds in history. What Would Marx Do? uses 40 everyday questions and problems as springboards for exploring the great questions of our time, while giving you a crash course in the theories and ideas of the greatest political philosophers of all time.
Why Honor Matters
Sommers, Tamler
(Hardcover)
List Price: $27.00 Sale: $5.00
A controversial call to put honor at the center of morality.To the modern mind, the idea of honor is outdated, sexist, and barbaric. It evokes Hamilton and Burr and pistols at dawn, not visions of a well-organized society. But for philosopher Tamler Sommers, a sense of honor is essential to living moral lives. In Why Honor Matters, Sommers argues that our collective rejection of honor has come at great cost. Reliant only on Enlightenment liberalism, the United States has become the home of the cowardly, the shameless, the selfish, and the alienated. Properly channeled, honor encourages virtues like courage, integrity, and solidarity, and gives a sense of living for something larger than oneself. Sommers shows how honor can help us address some of society's most challenging problems, including education, policing, and mass incarceration. Counterintuitive and provocative, Why Honor Matters makes a convincing case for honor as a cornerstone of our modern society.
Social and Political Philosophy
Somerville, John (Edt)
(Paperback)
List Price: $14.95 Sale: $5.88
An anthology of basic statements by the most influential social and political philosophers of Western civilization. Includes Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Jefferson, Thoreau, Mill, Marx and Engels, Lenin, Mussolini, Hitler, Dewey, and Gandhi.
Hobbit Virtues
Snyder, Christopher A.
(Hardcover)
List Price: $27.95 Sale: $8.63
A response to our fractured political discourse, Hobbit Virtues speaks to the importance of “virtue ethics” by examining the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien - with particular attention to his hobbits.Tolkien’s works resonate with so many readers in part because Bilbo, Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin demonstrate Classical, Judeo-Christian, Medieval, and even Hindu and Confucian virtues.Tolkien ennobles the small, the humble, and the marginalized in his Middle-earth writings and presents leaders who are hesitant to exercise power, are courteous, and value wisdom and learning. Each chapter in Hobbit Virtues consists of a wide-ranging discussion of a single virtue, exemplified by a character in Middle-earth, explaining its philosophical or theological roots and how the virtue is still relevant in a modern democracy. It will also include appendices where readers can find passages in Tolkien’s and Lewis’s works that discuss virtue ethics, and a glossary of virtues from ancient to modern, East to West.Tolkien’s readers come from many different religious and secular backgrounds and the pleasure and profundity of Hobbit Virtues is that mutual respect for public virtues is, especially now, necessary for a well-functioning pluralistic society.
Breakfast with Socrates: An Extraordinary (Philosophical) Journey Through Your Ordinary Day
Smith, Robert Rowland
(Paperback)
List Price: $13.99 Sale: $5.19
Ever want to have a bagel with Hegel? Eggs with Bacon? Or spend a day with Socrates, Mill, Herodotus, or Kant, able to pick their brains about the most mundane moments of your life? Former Oxford Philosophy Fellow Robert Rowland Smith thought he would, and so with dry wit and marvelous invention, Smith whisks you through a typical day, injecting a little philosophy into it at every turn. Wake up with Descartes, go to work with Plato and Nietzsche, visit the gym with Kant, have sex with Ovid (or Simone de Beauvoir). As the day unfolds, Smith grounds complex, abstract ideas in concrete experience, giving you an informal introduction to applying philosophy to everyday life. Not only does Breakfast with Socrates cover the basic arguments of philosophy, it brings an irresistible, insouciant charm to its big questions, waking us up to the richest possible range of ideas on how to live. Neither breakfast, lunch, nor dinner will ever be the same again.
The Conference of the Birds
Sis, Peter
(Softcover)
List Price: $18.00 Sale: $6.95
An award-winning author and illustrator offers a beautiful and uplifting adaptation of the beloved Sufi poem Celebrated children’s book creator Peter Sis presents his first book for adults with The Conference of the Birds—a lyrical and richly illustrated story of love, faith, and the beauty of the human journey. Sis’s deeply felt version of the classic twelfth-century Persian epic poem tells the story of a flock of birds in search of the true king, Simorgh, who lives on the mountain of Kaf. Drawn from all species, the flock travels through the seven valleys: quest, love, understanding, detachment, unity, amazement, and death. The birds that endure reach the mountain to learn a profound lesson: that Simorgh the king is, in fact, each of them and all of them.
Animal Liberation: The Definitive Classic of the Animal Movement (P.S.)
Singer, Peter
(Softcover)
List Price: $14.99 Sale: $5.19
Since its original publication in 1975, this groundbreaking work has awakened millions of people to the existence of "speciesism" - our systematic disregard of nonhuman animals - inspiring a worldwide movement to transform our attitudes to animals and eliminate the cruelty we inflict on them. In Animal Liberation, author Peter Singer exposes the chilling realities of today's "factory farms" and product-testing procedures - destroying the spurious justifications behind them, and offering alternatives to what has become a profound environmental and social as well as moral issue. An important and persuasive appeal to conscience, fairness, decency, and justice, it is essential reading for the supporter and the skeptic alike.
Writings on an Ethical Life
Singer, Peter
(Softcover)
List Price: $15.00 Sale: $5.88
Love him or hate him, you certainly can't ignore him. For the past twenty years, Australian philosopher and professor of bioethics Peter Singer has pushed the hot buttons of our collective conscience. In addition to writing the book that sparked the modern animal rights movement, Singer has challenged our most closely held beliefs on the sanctity of human life, the moral obligation's of citizens of affluent nations toward those living in the poorest countries of the world, and much more, with arguments that intrigue as often and as powerfully as they incite. Writings On An Ethical Life offers a comprehensive collection of Singer's best and most provocative writing, as chosen by Singer himself. Among the controversial subjects addressed are the moral status of animals, environmental accountability, abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, and the ultimate choice of living an ethical life. This book provides an unsurpassed one-volume view of both the underpinnings and the applications of Singer's governing philosophy.
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