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A Bible for the Liberal
by Dagobert D. RunesThis Bible is not a new book. It is, rather, a selection of the principles of ethics, taken from all biblical literature, including the HebrewBooks of Wisdom and TheApocrypha, without the usual mythological and ritualistic framework. Liberals of our time will find in this selection the essence of true Judaism and Christianity. The purpose of this anthology is to help those with critical, with even prejudicial eyes, to get a view of the majestic panorama that unfolds in the writings of the great Hebrew and Christian Men of God. The believer, as well as the non-believer, will be able to find in this book the essential ethics of the great law-givers and prophets of biblical times.
A Bible for the Liberal
by Dagobert D. RunesThe ethical teachings of Judaism and Christianity are presented in distilled form in this concise volume of Biblical writings. A Bible for the Liberal is not a new book. It is, rather, a selection of the principles of ethics, taken from all biblical literature, including the Hebrew Books of Wisdom and The Apocrypha, without the usual mythological and ritualistic framework. In these selections, philosopher Dagobert D. Runes presents what he calls &“the essence of true Judaism and Christianity.&” The believer, as well as the non-believer, will be able to find in this book the essential ethics of the great law-givers and prophets of biblical times.
From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology
by Max Weber Hans H. Gerth C. Wright MillsAn introduction to the work of the greatest German sociologist and a key figure in the development of present-day sociological thought.
How to Behave and Why
by Munro LeafHave you ever uncovered a hidden treasure of a book while browsing in some forgotten corner of a bookstore? I happened across How to Behave and Why in this fashion. Initially I was delighted by its bold red-and-black cover design, so simple and yet so arresting, and its charming stick-figure illustrations. It wasn't until I had read the book that I discovered its most enchanting feature: This book doesn't teach the most recent or fashionable etiquette of the day; it encourages a spirit of cooperation among people and a humanity that applies to societies the world over. This lesson is classic and timeless. I hope How to Behave and Why enchants you as it enchants me.
A Kierkegaard Anthology
by Robert Bretall Søren KierkegaardThis anthology covers the whole of Kierkegaard's literary career. The selections range from the terse epigrams of the Journal through the famous "Diary of the Seducer" and the "Banquet" scene, in which Søren Kierkegaard reveals his great lyric and dramatic gifts, on to the philosophical and psychological works of his maturity. These are climaxed by the beautiful and moving religious discourses which accompany them; finally, there is the biting satire of his Attack upon "Christendom. " This is emphatically not a collection of "snippets," but the cream of Kierkegaard, each selection interesting and intelligible in itself, and all ranking among his most important work. They are so arranged as to convey an idea of his remarkable intellectual development.
Language and Myth
by Ernst CassirerIn this important study Ernst Cassirer analyzes the non-rational thought processes that go to make up culture. He demonstrates that beneath both language and myth there lies an unconscious "grammar" of experience, whose categories and canons are not those of logical thought. He shows that this prelogical "logic" is not merely an undeveloped state of rationality, but something basically different, and that this archaic mode of thought still has enormous power over even our most rigorous thought, in language, poetry and myth.The author analyzes brilliantly such seemingly diverse (yet related) phenomena as the metaphysics of the Bhagavat Gita, the Melanesian concept of Mana, the Naturphilosophie of Schelling, modern poetry, Ancient Egyptian religion, and symbolic logic. He covers a vast range of material that is all too often neglected in studies of human thought.These six essays are of great interest to the student of philosophy or the philosophy of science, the historian, or the anthropologist. They are also remarkably timely for students of literature, what with the enormous emphasis placed upon "myth" in modern literary speculation. This book is not superficial speculation by a dabbler, but a penetrating study by one of the most profound and sensitive philosophic minds of our time.
The Magic of Numbers
by Eric Temple BellFrom one of the foremost interpreters for lay readers of the history and meaning of mathematics: a stimulating account of the origins of mathematical thought and the development of numerical theory. It probes the work of Pythagoras, Galileo, Berkeley, Einstein, and others, exploring how "number magic" has influenced religion, philosophy, science, and mathematics
The Medieval Idea of Law as Represented by Lucas de Penna (Routledge Revivals: Walter Ullmann on Medieval Political Theory)
by Walter UllmannUpon its original publication in 1946, this work represented a new approach to medieval studies, offering indispensable analysis to the historian of legal, political and social ideas. Research into the original sources leads the author through unexplored realms of medieval thought. By contrasting contemporary opinions with those of his central figure, Lucas de Penna, he comprehensively presents the medieval idea of law – then regarded as the concrete manifestation of abstract justice. The intensity of medieval academic life is revealed in the heated controversies, whilst medieval criminology foreshadows modern developments. A significant discovery is the astonishingly great reliance which Continental scholars placed upon English thought. A challenge to certain current misconceptions, this book shows the resourcefulness of medieval thinking and the extent to which modern ideas were foreshadowed in the fourteenth century, a time when the ideas of law and liberty were identical.
Politics and Morals (Collected Works)
by Benedetto CroceOriginally published in 1946, this book reveals Croce’s dynamic conception of liberty, liberalism and the relation of individual morality to the State. The State which he discusses is more than a national government; it is a historical conception which takes in all ‘states’ - local and international. The volume provides an inspired analysis of the relation of politics and morals, individual liberty, free enterprise and pragmatic social judgement.
A Preface to Logic (Routledge Revivals)
by Morris R. CohenPublished in 1946, this volume does not purpose to be a treatise on logic. The author’s contributions to the substance of logical doctrine have been made in his other works. What he has attempted in the studies that form this volume is an exploration of the periphery of logic, the relation of logic to the rest of the universe, the philosophical presuppositions which give logic its meaning and the applications which give it importance. It is his belief that formal logic is the heart of philosophy, since the subject matter of logic is the formal aspect of all being. From this standpoint he explores the relation of logic to such fields of study as natural science, ethics, history and general philosophy.
Problems of Men
by John DeweyAlthough primarily addressed to the general reader, the introduction and the last chapters of this work strike straight at reactionary philosophers who obstruct the philosophers who are honest searchers for wisdom.
Soviet Philosophy
by John SomervilleHere is the book for which all who are worrying about how to get along with Russia have been looking. It gives us fundamental insight into the Russian way of thinking and does so with rare simplicity and clarity. The portrayal is a sympathetic one throughout, and true understanding in this difficult field requires sympathy. Criticism must come too, but it will not be relevant unless it is based on such understanding as Professor Somerville here makes available. --Prof. E. A. BurttSage School of PhilosophyCornell University
Adventures of the Mad Monk Ji Gong
by Victoria Cass Guo Xiaoting John Robert ShawFollow the brilliant and hilarious adventures of a mad Zen Buddhist monk who rose from humble beginnings to become one of China's greatest folk heroes!Ji Gong studied at the great Ling Yin monastery, an immense temple that still ranges up the steep hills above Hangzhou, near Shanghai. The Chan (Zen) Buddhist masters of the temple tried to instruct Ji Gong in the spartan practices of their sect, but the young monk, following in the footsteps of other great ne'er-do-wells, distinguished himself mainly by getting expelled. He left the monastery, became a wanderer with hardly a proper piece of clothing to wear, and achieved great renown-in seedy wine shops and drinking establishments!This could have been where Ji Gong's story ended. But his unorthodox style of Buddhism soon made him a hero for popular storytellers of the Song dynasty era. Audiences delighted in tales where the mad old monk ignored-or even mocked-authority, defied common sense, never neglected the wine, yet still managed to save the day. Ji Gong remains popular in China even today, where he regularly appears as the wise old drunken fool in movies and TV shows. In Adventures of the Mad Monk Ji Gong, you'll read how he has a rogue's knack for exposing the corrupt and criminal while still pursuing the twin delights of enlightenment and intoxication. This literary classic of a traveling martial arts master, fighting evil and righting wrongs, will entertain Western readers of all ages!
Art, Animals, and Experience: Relationships to Canines and the Natural World (Routledge Advances in Art and Visual Studies)
by Elizabeth SuttonElizabeth Sutton, using a phenomenological approach, investigates how animals in art invite viewers to contemplate human relationships to the natural world. Using Rembrandt van Rijn’s etching of The Presentation in the Temple (c. 1640), Joseph Beuys’s social sculpture I Like America and America Likes Me (1974), archaic rock paintings at Horseshoe Canyon, Canyonlands National Park, and examples from contemporary art, this book demonstrates how artists across time and cultures employed animals to draw attention to the sensory experience of the composition and reflect upon the shared sensory awareness of the world.
The Development of Mathematics
by E. T. Bell"This important book . . . presents a broad account of the part played by mathematics in the evolution of civilization, describing clearly the main principles, methods, and theories of mathematics that have survived from about 4000 BC to 1940."- BooklistIn this time-honored study, one of the 20th century's foremost scholars and interpreters of the history and meaning of mathematics masterfully outlines the development of its leading ideas, and clearly explains the mathematics involved in each. According to the author, a professor of mathematics at the California Institute of Technology from 1926 until his death in 1960, it is "not a history of the traditional kind, but a narrative of the decisive epochs in the development of mathematics." It is a narrative filled with compelling insights of special interest to every mathematician, engineer, and scientist.Main trends in mathematics from approximately 4000 BC to the 20th century are presented through analyses of typical major episodes in each. The author first examines the evolution of mathematical ideas in the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Babylonia; later developments in India, Arabia, and Spain; and other achievements worldwide through the 16th century. Professor Bell then traces the beginnings of modern mathematics in the 17th century, and the emergence of the importance of extensions of number, mathematical structure, the generalization of arithmetic, and structural analysis. Compelling accounts of major breakthroughs in the 19th and 20th centuries follow, emphasizing rational arithmetic after Fermat, contributions from geometry, and topics as diverse as generalized variables, abstractions, differential equations, invariance, uncertainties, and probabilities. Throughout, Professor Bell subordinates details of mere antiquarian interest - involving concepts and ideas that did not succeed or bear fruit - in favor of the fullest possible exposition of those elements still alive in mathematics.
Empty Logic: Madhyamika Buddhism from Chinese Sources
by Hsueh-li Cheng&“Covers the basic philosophy and arguments of Mādhyamika, as well as discussing its possible influence on other forms of Buddhist thought, including Zen.&”—Journal of Chinese Philosophy The chief purpose of Empty Logic is to expound the Mādhyamika philosophy of emptiness as presented in Chinese sources and to clarify misconceptions about this important Buddhist ideology. It is an attempt to present the earlier Chinese San-lun exposition of Nāgārjuna&’s thought. To followers of Mādhyamika, the doctrine of emptiness is not a metaphysical theory; rather it is essentially a way of salvation. Few people know that one of the most significant outcomes of Nāgārjuna&’s teaching was the creation of Zen (Ch&’an) Buddhism in China. In this work, Hsueh-li Cheng provides a general background of Buddhism to give a historical perspective of Mādhyamika thought and development. After exploring the various meanings and use of emptiness in the process of salvation and illustrating the relationship between Mādhyamika and Zen, Cheng investigates how Mādhyamikas addresses the concepts of reality, God, and knowledge. There follows a brief comparison between Nāgārjuna&’s, Kant&’s, and Wittgenstein&’s philosophies to suggest the unique nature of Nāgārjuna&’s teaching and explain why his beliefs cannot be classified alongside the other two thinkers. Teaching emptiness as the middle way, the revolutionary Mādhyamika branch of Buddhism offers a singular and fascinating path to achieving liberation from the evil and suffering of the world.
Gestures of Seeing in Film, Video and Drawing (Routledge Advances in Art and Visual Studies)
by Øyvind Vågnes Asbjørn Grønstad Henrik GustafssonThe first book of its kind, Gestures of Seeing in Film, Video and Drawing engages broadly with the often too neglected yet significant questions of gesture in visual culture. In our turbulent mediasphere where images – as lenses bearing on their own circumstances – are constantly mobilized to enact symbolic forms of warfare and where they get entangled in all kinds of cultural conflicts and controversies, a turn to the gestural life of images seems to promise a particularly pertinent avenue of intellectual inquiry. The complex gestures of the artwork remain an under-explored theoretical topos in contemporary visual culture studies. In visual art, the gestural appears to be that which intervenes between form and content, materiality and meaning. But as a conceptual force it also impinges upon the very process of seeing itself. As a critical and heuristic trope, the gestural galvanizes many of the most pertinent areas of inquiry in contemporary debates and scholarship in visual culture and related disciplines: ethics (images and their values and affects), aesthetics (from visual essentialism to transesthetics and synesthesia), ecology (iconoclastic gestures and spaces of conflict), and epistemology (questions of the archive, memory and documentation). Offering fresh perspectives on many of these areas, Gestures of Seeing in Film, Video and Drawing will be intensely awaited by readers from and across several disciplines, such as anthropology, linguistics, performance, theater, film and visual studies.
Hagakure
by Yamamoto TsunetomoThe Hagakure is one of the most influential of all Japanese texts#151;written nearly 300 years ago by Tsunetomo Yamamoto to summarize the very essence of the Japanese Samurai bushido ("warrior") spirit. Its influence has been felt throughout the world and yet its existence is scarcely known to many Westerners. This is the first translation to include the complete first two books of the Hagakure and the most reliable and authentic passages contained within the third book; all other English translations published previously have been extremely fragmentary and incomplete. Alex Bennett's completely new and highly readable translation of this essential work includes extensive footnotes that serve to fill in many cultural and historical gaps in the previous translations. This unique combination of readability and scholarship gives Bennett's translation a distinct advantage over all previous English editions.
History of Western Philosophy (Counterpoint Ser.)
by Bertrand RussellSince its first publication in 1945? Lord Russell's A History of Western Philosophy has been universally acclaimed as the outstanding one-volume work on the subject -- unparalleled in its comprehensiveness, its clarity, its erudition, its grace and wit. In seventy-six chapters he traces philosophy from the rise of Greek civilization to the emergence of logical analysis in the twentieth century. Among the philosophers considered are: Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Parmenides, Empedocles, Anaxagoras, the Atomists, Protagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Cynics, the Sceptics, the Epicureans, the Stoics, Plotinus, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, Benedict, Gregory the Great, John the Scot, Aquinas, Duns Scotus, William of Occam, Machiavelli, Erasmus, More, Bacon, Hobbes, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, the Utilitarians, Marx, Bergson, James, Dewey, and lastly the philosophers with whom Lord Russell himself is most closely associated -- Cantor, Frege, and Whitehead, co-author with Russell of the monumental Principia Mathematica.
How to Solve It: A New Aspect of Mathematical Method (Princeton Science Library #34)
by G. PolyaThe bestselling book that has helped millions of readers solve any problemA must-have guide by eminent mathematician G. Polya, How to Solve It shows anyone in any field how to think straight. In lucid and appealing prose, Polya reveals how the mathematical method of demonstrating a proof or finding an unknown can help you attack any problem that can be reasoned out—from building a bridge to winning a game of anagrams. How to Solve It includes a heuristic dictionary with dozens of entries on how to make problems more manageable—from analogy and induction to the heuristic method of starting with a goal and working backward to something you already know.This disarmingly elementary book explains how to harness curiosity in the classroom, bring the inventive faculties of students into play, and experience the triumph of discovery. But it&’s not just for the classroom. Generations of readers from all walks of life have relished Polya&’s brilliantly deft instructions on stripping away irrelevancies and going straight to the heart of a problem.
Japanese Ikebana for Every Season
by Noboru Murata Yuji Ueno Rie ImaiThe true meaning of Ikebana-the traditional Japanese art of flower arrangement-is the ability to take a few beautiful flowers and plans and tastefully present them in very simple containers to decorate your home. Whether for Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, or a special birthday or anniversary-Japanese Ikebana for Every Season simplifies and demystifies this ancient art by presenting 53 elegantly simple arrangements that anyone can create at anytime at home.The key to good Ikebana arrangements is to understand a few very simple principles-like the idea of mitate-seeing old things with new eyes, as well as learning a few very easy techniques of flower stabilization and how to support plants and flowers inside a vase or container. Using simple, common flowers and plants from your garden, from a nearby field or forest, or from your local florist-you can easily create these lovely Ikebana in just a few minutes if you know how.Authors Rie Imai and Yuji Ueno explain how to select the flowers and the containers by simply using things that are already around you-and then they show you how to turn them into something special. The basic instructions in the book cover a wide range of styles that encourage readers to use their own creativity rather than copying traditional and highly technical Ikebana design concepts.No matter what time of year it is and regardless of your taste or budget-the arrangements in this book will lend a touch of Japanese elegance to your home!
The Perennial Philosophy: An Interpretation of the Great Mystics, East and West
by Aldous HuxleyAn inspired gathering of religious writings that reveals the "divine reality" common to all faiths, collected by Aldous Huxley "The Perennial Philosophy," Aldous Huxley writes, "may be found among the traditional lore of peoples in every region of the world, and in its fully developed forms it has a place in every one of the higher religions. " With great wit and stunning intellect-drawing on a diverse array of faiths, including Zen Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Christian mysticism, and Islam-Huxley examines the spiritual beliefs of various religious traditions and explains how they are united by a common human yearning to experience the divine. The Perennial Philosophy includes selections from Meister Eckhart, Rumi, and Lao Tzu, as well as the Bhagavad Gita, Tibetan Book of the Dead, Diamond Sutra, and Upanishads, among many others.
The Perennial Philosophy: An Interpretation of the Great Mystics, East and West (P. S. Ser.)
by Aldous HuxleyAn inspired gathering of religious writings that reveals the "divine reality" common to all faiths, collected by Aldous Huxley"The Perennial Philosophy," Aldous Huxley writes, "may be found among the traditional lore of peoples in every region of the world, and in its fully developed forms it has a place in every one of the higher religions." With great wit and stunning intellect--drawing on a diverse array of faiths, including Zen Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Christian mysticism, and Islam--Huxley examines the spiritual beliefs of various religious traditions and explains how they are united by a common human yearning to experience the divine. The Perennial Philosophy includes selections from Meister Eckhart, Rumi, and Lao Tzu, as well as the Bhagavad Gita, Tibetan Book of the Dead, Diamond Sutra, and Upanishads, among many others.
Politics, Intellectuals, and Faith: Essays
by Matthew FeldmanThis wide-ranging collection of academic essays examines the various undertakings by modern intellectuals and ideologues in the process of propaganda and political debate. Matthew Feldman calls attention to the substantial role played in post-Great War Europe and the US by religions—both familiar monotheisms like Christianity and secular ‘political faiths’—over the last century of upheaval and revolutionary change. While the first part considers Ezra Pound as a case study in fascist ʼconversion’ in Mussolini’s Italy, leading to extensive propaganda, the second half examines other fascist ideologues like Martin Heidegger to fascist murderer Anders Behring Breivik, before turning to other leading ideologies in modern Europe and the US, communism and liberalism, covering key figures from Thomas Merton and Albert Camus to the Russian Constructionists and Samuel Beckett, with especial focus on the subjects of modern warfare, political terrorism, and genocide, ranging from Stalinist gulags to the war in Iraq. With thought-provoking discussion of the interplay between belief and modern politics as understood by familiar intellectual voices, this volume will be of interest to scholars and general readers alike.
Selected Writings of Thomas Paine
by Thomas Paine Richard E. RobertsRichard E. Roberts, in the Introduction of this book, explains that Thomas Paine ". . . is the first Revolutionary of them all. Before Washington whispered of independence, Thomas Paine shouted for it. . . in his pamphlet Common Sense. . . . In it, Paine demanded a declaration of independence from England; six months later, our Declaration of Independence was written and signed. Paine had a hand in its writing. Paine could fight as well as write. He joined Washington's army and on a bitter night of retreat, he wrote Crisis 1 on a drumhead by a campfire. . . . Washington had it read to his pitiful army and they turned to whip the British at Trenton. . . . He wrote another Crisis whenever he thought it necessary. He wrote letters to every important man in the country, he reported the progress of the war, he rejoiced at victory. He was the one-man propaganda bureau of the American Revolution . . . he fought battles and wrote what he saw and thought and what his comrades saw and felt. He put into printed words the things they wanted known, he was their voice and their guide. He nourished Liberty with his breath and sweat. In peace, he went to England. There he worked on his iron bridge, his most important invention. He received a patent on it from the government of George III. But Liberty was being born in France, and Paine had to go there. He defended the French Revolution as he had defended the American. He wrote The Rights of Man, an answer to Burke's verbal attacks on the idea of freedom. Paine's logic levelled, if it did not convince, the believers in the divine right of kings. Though Paine hated kings, he loved men, and when a man was no longer a king, Paine could find no enthusiasm for his decapitation. So the French terrorists imprisoned him. Paine wrote The Age of Reason, trying to free men from theocracy and superstition as he had freed them from monarchy and slavishness. . . . Paine returned to the United States on a government ship sent by his friend Jefferson. . . . He had already said that negro slavery was vicious. He wrote of systems of government, the conduct of banks, free men's ways of laying and collecting taxes. He cried for old-age benefits, he pleaded for free education for the poor, he wanted pensions for ex-soldiers. He speculated on the causes of yellow fever, he defended the freedom of the press, he poured a flood of political articles into magazines and newspapers. He died in 1809, not greatly regarded by the new generation who did not know or had forgotten that he helped forge the liberty they enjoyed. Politicians since Paine have charmed their constituents with his words and phrases, they have borrowed his ideas and used them for their own. You will find here words which are the germ of the Monroe Doctrine and others which are the seed, first of the League of Nations, and now the United Nations. Maybe in another two hundred years, we will use the rest of the ideas Paine left us. If we do, he will be happy, he was all his life a lover of Liberty."