'To thine own self be true.' From Polonius's words in Hamlet right up to Oprah, we are constantly urged to look within. Why is being authentic the ultimate aim in life for so many people, and why does it mean looking inside rather than out? Is it about finding the 'real' me, or something greater than me, even God? And should we welcome what we find?
Thought-provoking and with an astonishing range of references, On Being Authentic is a gripping journey into the self that begins with Socrates and Augustine. Charles Guignon asks why being authentic ceased to mean being part of some bigger, cosmic picture and with Rousseau, Wordsworth and the Romantic movement, took the strong inward turn alive in today's self-help culture.
He also plumbs the darker depths of authenticity, with the help of Freud, Joseph Conrad and Alice Miller and reflects on the future of being authentic in a postmodern, global age. He argues ultimately that if we are to rescue the ideal of being authentic, we have to see ourselves as fundamentally social creatures, embedded in relationships and communities, and that being authentic is not about what is owed to me but how I depend on others.

Heidegger's Being and Time: Critical Essays provides a variety of recent studies of Heidegger's most important work. Twelve prominent scholars, representing diverse nationalities, generations, and interpretive approaches deal with general methodological and ontological questions, particular issues in Heidegger's text, and the relation between Being and Time and Heidegger's later thought. All of the essays presented in this volume were never before available in an English-language anthology. Two of the essays have never before been published in any language (Dreyfus and Guignon); three of the essays have never been published in English before (Grondin, Kisiel, and ThomS), and two of the essays provide previews of works in progress by major scholars (Dreyfus and Kisiel).

It is a platitude that most people, as they say, 'work to live' rather than 'live to work.' And in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, work weeks have expanded and the divide between work time and personal time has significantly blurred due to innovations in such things as electronic communications. Concerns over the value of work in our lives, as well as with the balance or use of time between work and leisure, confront most people in contemporary society. Discussions over the values of time, leisure, and work are directly related to the time-honored question of what makes a life good. And this question is of particular interest to philosophers, especially ethicists. In this volume, leading scholars address a range of value considerations related to peoples' thoughts and practices around time utilization, leisure, and work with masterful insight. In addressing various practical issues, these scholars demonstrate the timeless relevance and practical import of Philosophy to human lived experience.

It is a platitude that most people, as they say, 'work to live' rather than 'live to work.' And in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, work weeks have expanded and the divide between work time and personal time has significantly blurred due to innovations in such things as electronic communications. Concerns over the value of work in our lives, as well as with the balance or use of time between work and leisure, confront most people in contemporary society. Discussions over the values of time, leisure, and work are directly related to the time-honored question of what makes a life good. And this question is of particular interest to philosophers, especially ethicists. In this volume, leading scholars address a range of value considerations related to peoples' thoughts and practices around time utilization, leisure, and work with masterful insight. In addressing various practical issues, these scholars demonstrate the timeless relevance and practical import of Philosophy to human lived experience.

'To thine own self be true.' From Polonius's words in Hamlet right up to Oprah, we are constantly urged to look within. Why is being authentic the ultimate aim in life for so many people, and why does it mean looking inside rather than out? Is it about finding the 'real' me, or something greater than me, even God? And should we welcome what we find?
Thought-provoking and with an astonishing range of references, On Being Authentic is a gripping journey into the self that begins with Socrates and Augustine. Charles Guignon asks why being authentic ceased to mean being part of some bigger, cosmic picture and with Rousseau, Wordsworth and the Romantic movement, took the strong inward turn alive in today's self-help culture.
He also plumbs the darker depths of authenticity, with the help of Freud, Joseph Conrad and Alice Miller and reflects on the future of being authentic in a postmodern, global age. He argues ultimately that if we are to rescue the ideal of being authentic, we have to see ourselves as fundamentally social creatures, embedded in relationships and communities, and that being authentic is not about what is owed to me but how I depend on others.

This new edition presents 'The Grand Inquisitor' together with the preceding chapter, 'Rebellion', and the extended reply offered by Dostoevsky in the following sections, entitles 'The Russian Monk'. By showing how Dostoevsky frames the Grand Inquisitor story in the wider context of the novel, this edition captures the sublety and power of Dostoevsky's critique of modernity as well as his alternative vision of human fulfilment.

Notes from Underground is one of the most profound and most unsettling works of modern literature, prefiguring Dostoevskys later masterpieces such as Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, and The Brothers Karamazov. The underground man has become one of the fixtures of the contemporary worldview. No discussion of the predicament of modern man would be complete without some allusion to this archetypal figure both prophetic and loathsome that towers over modern culture. / The Notes from Underground are, as translator Boris Jakim says, A foul passageway leading into the profoundest secrets of the human heart, an abyss where the most loathsome thoughts are revealed. The Notes are a limbo without hope even of hell, a Book of Job without a happy ending, a waiting for nothing and no one (not even Godot). Nonetheless, entering into this underground that Dostoesky claims is in us all is necessary in order to understand not only this lowest of lows, but also the heights that lift man out of the depths into sanctity and exaltation. It is largely due to this masterful contrast that Notes from Underground is considered by many critics to be not only a pinnacle of existentialist literature, but also one of the greatest works of modern literature altogether.

Arguably the most influential of all contemporary English-speaking philosophers, Richard Rorty has transformed the way many philosophers think about the discipline and the traditional ways of practicing it. The essays in this volume offer a balanced exposition and critique of Rorty's views on knowledge, language, truth, science, morality and politics. Written by a distinguished roster of philosophers, this introduction presents a valuable overview of Rorty's philosophical vision. It will appeal as well to students in the social sciences, literary studies, cultural studies and political theory. Charles Guigon, a Professor of Philosophy at the University of South Florida, has published widely on existentialism, psychotherapy and Heidegger, and edited the Cambridge Companion to Heidegger (1993). Provost and Professor at the University of New Hampshire, David R. Hiley, is also the author of other works, including Philosophy in Question: Essays on a Pyrrhonian Theme (University of Chicago, 1988) and The Interpretive Turn: Philosophy, Science and Culture (Cornell, 1991).

Arguably the most influential of all contemporary English-speaking philosophers, Richard Rorty has transformed the way many philosophers think about the discipline and the traditional ways of practicing it. The essays in this volume offer a balanced exposition and critique of Rorty's views on knowledge, language, truth, science, morality and politics. Written by a distinguished roster of philosophers, this introduction presents a valuable overview of Rorty's philosophical vision. It will appeal as well to students in the social sciences, literary studies, cultural studies and political theory. Charles Guigon, a Professor of Philosophy at the University of South Florida, has published widely on existentialism, psychotherapy and Heidegger, and edited the Cambridge Companion to Heidegger (1993). Provost and Professor at the University of New Hampshire, David R. Hiley, is also the author of other works, including Philosophy in Question: Essays on a Pyrrhonian Theme (University of Chicago, 1988) and The Interpretive Turn: Philosophy, Science and Culture (Cornell, 1991).

"The best book-length treatment of Heidegger with which I am familiar. . . . What Guignon does, very skillfully, is to use the problem of knowledge as a focus for organizing a discussion of Heidegger's thought in its entirety. . . . Places him squarely within the philosophical tradition he struggled to overcome and provides an account of his development from Being and Time to the last writings, which make the changes in his thought continuous and intelligible." --Harrison Hall, Inquiry

Organised around such themes as harmony with one's self and with the world, religious ways of life, the use of reason, self-exploration, self-realisation, and social involvement, the selections in this anthology, edited and introduced by Charles Guignon, explore traditional and recent philosophical thought on the topic of human flourishing. This is a versatile series of compact anthologies, each devoted to a topic of traditional interest. Selections include classical, modern, and contemporary writings, chosen for thier elegance of exposition and their consistent ability to stimulate thought and discussion.

Organised around such themes as harmony with one's self and with the world, religious ways of life, the use of reason, self-exploration, self-realisation, and social involvement, the selections in this anthology, edited and introduced by Charles Guignon, explore traditional and recent philosophical thought on the topic of human flourishing. This is a versatile series of compact anthologies, each devoted to a topic of traditional interest. Selections include classical, modern, and contemporary writings, chosen for thier elegance of exposition and their consistent ability to stimulate thought and discussion.

"The best book-length treatment of Heidegger with which I am familiar. . . . What Guignon does, very skillfully, is to use the problem of knowledge as a focus for organizing a discussion of Heidegger's thought in its entirety. . . . Places him squarely within the philosophical tradition he struggled to overcome and provides an account of his development from Being and Time to the last writings, which make the changes in his thought continuous and intelligible." --Harrison Hall, Inquiry

Notes from Underground is one of the most profound and most unsettling works of modern literature, prefiguring Dostoevskys later masterpieces such as Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, and The Brothers Karamazov. The underground man has become one of the fixtures of the contemporary worldview. No discussion of the predicament of modern man would be complete without some allusion to this archetypal figure both prophetic and loathsome that towers over modern culture. / The Notes from Underground are, as translator Boris Jakim says, A foul passageway leading into the profoundest secrets of the human heart, an abyss where the most loathsome thoughts are revealed. The Notes are a limbo without hope even of hell, a Book of Job without a happy ending, a waiting for nothing and no one (not even Godot). Nonetheless, entering into this underground that Dostoesky claims is in us all is necessary in order to understand not only this lowest of lows, but also the heights that lift man out of the depths into sanctity and exaltation. It is largely due to this masterful contrast that Notes from Underground is considered by many critics to be not only a pinnacle of existentialist literature, but also one of the greatest works of modern literature altogether.