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Books > Philosophy > Western philosophy
Translated by Thomas Common. With an Introduction by Nicholas
Davey. This astonishing series of aphorisms, put into the mouth of
the Persian sage Zarathustra, or Zoroaster, contains the kernel of
Nietzsche's thought. 'God is dead', he tells us. Christianity is
decadent, leading mankind into a slave morality concerned not with
this life, but with the next. Nietzsche emphasises the UEbermensch,
or Superman, whose will to power makes him the creator of a new
heroic mentality. The intensely felt ideas are expressed in
prose-poetry of indefinable beauty. Though misused by the German
National Socialist party as a spurious justification of their
creed, the book also had a profound influence on early
twentieth-century writers such as Shaw, Mann, Gide, Lawrence and
Sartre.
During the long eighteenth century the moral and socio-political
dimensions of family life and gender were hotly debated by
intellectuals across Europe. John Millar, a Scottish law professor
and philosopher, was a pioneer in making gendered and familial
practice a critical parameter of cultural difference. His work was
widely disseminated at home and abroad, translated into French and
German and closely read by philosophers such as Denis Diderot and
Johann Gottfried Herder. Taking Millar's writings as his basis,
Nicholas B. Miller explores the role of the family in Scottish
Enlightenment political thought and traces its wider resonances
across the Enlightenment world. John Millar's organisation of
cultural, gendered and social difference into a progressive
narrative of authority relations provided the first extended world
history of the family. Over five chapters that address the
historical and comparative models developed by the thinker,
Nicholas B. Miller examines contemporary responses and
Enlightenment-era debates on polygamy, matriarchy, the Amazon
legend, changes in national character and the possible futures of
the family in commercial society. He traces how Enlightenment
thinkers developed new standards of evidence and crafted new
understandings of historical time in order to tackle the global
diversity of family life and gender practice. By reconstituting
these theories and discussions, Nicholas B. Miller uncovers
hitherto unexplored aspects of the Scottish contribution to
European debates on the role of the family in history, society and
politics.
Timeless wisdom on generosity and gratitude from the great Stoic
philosopher Seneca To give and receive well may be the most human
thing you can do-but it is also the closest you can come to
divinity. So argues the great Roman Stoic thinker Seneca (c. 4
BCE-65 CE) in his longest and most searching moral treatise, "On
Benefits" (De Beneficiis). James Romm's splendid new translation of
essential selections from this work conveys the heart of Seneca's
argument that generosity and gratitude are among the most important
of all virtues. For Seneca, the impulse to give to others lies at
the very foundation of society; without it, we are helpless
creatures, worse than wild beasts. But generosity did not arise
randomly or by chance. Seneca sees it as part of our desire to
emulate the gods, whose creation of the earth and heavens stands as
the greatest gift of all. Seneca's soaring prose captures his
wonder at that gift, and expresses a profound sense of gratitude
that will inspire today's readers. Complete with an enlightening
introduction and the original Latin on facing pages, How to Give is
a timeless guide to the profound significance of true generosity.
HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of
best-loved, essential classics… Despite dating from the 4th
century BC, The Art of Rhetoric continues to be regarded by many as
the single most important work on the art of persuasion. As
democracy began emerging in 5th-century Athens, public speaking and
debate became an increasingly important tool to garner influence in
the assemblies, councils, and law courts of ancient Greece. In
response to this, both politicians and ordinary citizens became
desperate to learn greater skills in this area, as well as the
philosophy behind it. This treatise was one of the first to provide
just that, establishing methods and observations of informal
reasoning and style, and has continued to be hugely influential on
public speaking and philosophy today. Aristotle, the grandfather of
philosophy, student of Plato, and teacher of Alexander the Great,
was one of the first people to create a comprehensive system of
philosophy, encompassing logic, morality, aesthetics, politics,
ethics, and science. Although written over 2,000 years ago, The Art
of Rhetoric remains a comprehensive introduction for philosophy
students into the subject of rhetoric, as well as a useful manual
for anyone today looking to improve their oratory skills of
persuasion.
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