This collection brings together two of Schopenhauer's most respected works, wherein the philosopher shares his views on life and what he believes to be follies of human behavior. Writing with incisive poise and a great sense of humor, Schopenhauer introduces the various ideas present in his pessimistic philosophy. Holding the usual goals of life - money, position, material and sexual pleasures - in low regard, he explains how the cultivation of one's individuality and mind are far better pursuits, albeit those that most people neglect. Rather than simply criticize the state of humanity, Schopenhauer uses wit and lively argument to convince the reader of the value in his outlook. The practice of an ordinary life and career is thereby demonstrated as spiritually draining, in contrast to concentration upon a wise mind and strong body, plus a moderated or even ascetic approach to material things.

When we talk about delusions we may refer to symptoms of mental health problems, such as clinical delusions in schizophrenia, or simply the beliefs that people cling to which are implausible and resistant to counterevidence; these can include anything from beliefs about the benefits of homeopathy to concerns about the threat of alien abduction. Why do people adopt delusional beliefs and why are they so reluctant to part with them? In Why Delusions Matter, Lisa Bortolotti explains what delusions really are and argues that, despite their negative reputation, they can also play a positive role in people's lives, imposing some meaning on adverse experiences and strengthening personal or social identities. In a clear and accessible style, Bortolotti contributes to the growing research on the philosophy of the cognitive sciences, offering a novel and nuanced view of delusions.

In her new book, Corine Pelluchon argues that the dichotomy between nature and culture privileges the latter. She laments that the political system protects the sovereignty of the human and leaves them immune to impending environmental disaster. Using the phenomenological writings of French philosophers like Emmanuel Levinas, Jacques Derrida, and Paul Ricoeur, Pelluchon contends that human beings have to recognise humanity's dependence upon the natural world for survival and adopt a new philosophy of existence that advocates for animal welfare and ecological preservation. In an extension of Heidegger's ontology of concern, Pelluchon declares that this dependence is not negative or a sign of weakness. She argues instead, that we are nourished by the natural world and that the very idea of nourishment contains an element of pleasure. This sustenance comforts humans and gives their lives taste. Pelluchon's new philosophy claims then, that eating has an affective, social and cultural dimension, but that most importantly it is a political act. It solidifies the eternal link between human beings and animals, and warns that the human consumption of animals and other natural resources impacts upon humanity's future.

Aristotle's notion of evil is highly elaborate and attractive, yet has been largely overlooked by philosophers. While most recent studies of evil focus on modern understandings of the concept, this volume shows that Aristotle's theory is an invaluable resource for our contemporary understanding of it. Twelve leading scholars reconstruct the account of evil latent in Aristotle's metaphysics, biology, psychology, ethics, and politics, and detect Aristotelian patterns of thought that operate at certain landmark moments in the history of philosophy from ancient thought to modern day debates. The book pays particular attention to Aristotle's understanding of 'radical evil', an important and much disputed topic. Original and systematic, this study is the first to provide a full exploration of evil in Aristotle's work, shedding light on its content, potential, and influence. The volume will appeal to scholars of ancient Greek philosophy as well as to moral philosophers and to historians of philosophy.

You are reading the word "now" right now. But what does that mean? "Now" has bedeviled philosophers, priests, and modern-day physicists from Augustine to Einstein and beyond. In Now, eminent physicist Richard A. Muller takes up the challenge. He begins with remarkably clear explanations of relativity, entropy, entanglement, the Big Bang, and more, setting the stage for his own revolutionary theory of time, one that makes testable predictions. Muller's monumental work will spark major debate about the most fundamental assumptions of our universe, and may crack one of physics' longest-standing enigmas.

A deluxe, high-quality edition of Friedrich Nietzsche's seminal work Beyond Good and Evil is one of the final books by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. This landmark work continues to be one of the most well-known and influential explorations of moral and ethical philosophy ever conceived. Expanding on the concepts from his previous work Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Nietzsche adopts a polemic approach to past philosophers who, in his view, lacked critical sense in accepting flawed premises in their consideration of morality. The metaphysics of morality, Nietzsche argues, should not assume that a good man is simply the opposite of an evil man, rather merely different expression of humanity's common basic impulses. Controversial in its time, as well as hotly debated in the present, Nietzsche's work moves beyond conventional ethics to suggest that a universal morality for all human beings in non-existent - perception, reason and experience are not static, but change according to an individual's perspective and interpretation. The work further argues that philosophic traditions such as "truth," "self-consciousness" and "free will" are merely inventions of Western morality and that the "will to power" is the real driving force of all human behaviour. This volume: Critiques the belief that actions, including domination or injury to the weak, can be universally objectionable Explores themes of religion and "master and slave" morality Includes a collection of stunning aphorisms and observations of the human condition Part of the bestselling Capstone Classics Series edited by Tom Butler-Bowdon, this collectible, hard-back edition of Beyond Good and Evil provides an accessible and insightful Introduction by leading Nietzsche authority Dr Christopher Janaway. This deluxe volume is perfect for anyone with interest in philosophy, psychology, science, history and literature.

When Michael Walzer's Spheres of Justice was published ten years ago, the front page of The New York Times Book Review hailed the work as "an imaginative alternative to the current debate over distributive justice". Now in Thick and Thin, Walzer revises and extends his arguments in Spheres of Justice, framing his ideas about justice, social criticism, and national identity in light of the new political world that has arisen in the past decade. Walzer focuses on two different but interrelated kinds of moral argument: maximalist and minimalist, thick and thin, local and universal. According to Walzer the first, thick type of moral argument is culturally connected, referentially entangled, detailed, and specific; the second, or thin type, is abstract, ad hoc, detached, and general. Thick arguments play the larger role in determining our views about domestic justice and in shaping our criticism of local arrangements. Thin arguments shape our views about justice in foreign places and in international society. The book begins with an account of minimalist argument, then examines two uses of maximalist arguments, focusing on distributive justice and social criticism. Walzer then discusses minimalism with a qualified defense of self-determination in international society, and concludes with a discussion of the (divided) self capable of this differentiated moral engagement. Walzer's highly literate and fascinating blend of philosophy and historical analysis will appeal not only to those interested in the polemics surrounding Spheres of justice but also to intelligent readers who are more concerned with getting the arguments right.

A thought-provoking contribution to the renaissance of interest in Bergson, this study brings him to a new generation of readers. Ansell-Pearson contends that there is a Bergsonian revolution, an upheaval in philosophy comparable in significance to those that we are more familiar with, from Kant to Nietzsche and Heidegger, that make up our intellectual modernity. The focus of the text is on Bergson's conception of philosophy as the discipline that seeks to 'think beyond the human condition'. Not that we are caught up in an existential predicament when the appeal is made to think beyond the human condition; rather that restricting philosophy to the human condition fails to appreciate the extent to which we are not simply creatures of habit and automatism, but also organisms involved in a creative evolution of becoming. Ansell-Pearson introduces the work of Bergson and core aspects of his innovative modes of thinking; examines his interest in Epicureanism; explores his interest in the self and in time and memory; presents Bergson on ethics and on religion, and illuminates Bergson on the art of life.