Showing titles in Philosophers

UG Krishnamurti has been called the ‘anti-guru’, the ‘raging sage’ and the ‘thinker who shuns thought’. UG does not give lectures, has no organizations, does not write books, holds no gatherings and peddles no mantras. Yet he is the most talked-about thinker in India. This biography...

This book intends to reintroduce pleasure as an innate guide to living a healthy and happy life—a simple yet powerful assertion based on empirical data, which stands up to the strictest scrutiny.

G.I. Gurdjieff allows the reader in these narratives to become acquainted with a person that is up to this day to many, who have for instance read his Beelzebub, still an enigma. You will meet a person, who is more often than not, as the esteemed Mulla Nassr Edin would say "into the deepest galoshes that have ever been worn on sweaty feet." In other words, you will meet G.I. Gurdjieff, the human being. The spiritual messages are hidden inside breathtaking adventures and a colorful description of really remarkable men and women and the time before and after the Russian Revolution.

Transcendence for Beginners examines life writing and philosophy across certain European and Indian traditions, exploring questions of childhood and mortality, art and religion, beauty and loss. Informed by her experience as a biographer of Søren Kierkegaard and George Eliot as well as her own life, Clare Carlisle asks what one human existence can reveal, and how writing can transmit its truth.

An illuminating celebration of more than 80 of the world's most important thinkers, this book explores the fascinating stories of their lives, their loves, and their pioneering ideas. Introduced with a featured philosopher, entries trace the ideas and beliefs, and the relationships and rivalries...

At Walden Pond, Henry David Thoreau reflected on simpler living in the natural world. By removing himself from the distractions of materialism, Thoreau hoped to not only improve his spiritual life but also gain a better understanding of society through solitary introspection. In Walden, Thoreau condenses his two-year, two-month, two-day stay into a single year, using the four seasons to symbolize human development - a cycle of life shared by both nature and man. A celebration of personal renewal through self-reliance, independence, and simplicity....

He burst upon the fusty corridors of Victorian spirituality like a breath of fresh air, regaling the prime minister with his sense of humor, and touching the lives of seven presidents. 

From the eponymous subject of the beloved classic Tuesdays with Morrie comes an insightful, poignant masterpiece on staying vibrant and connected for life. 'Beautiful ...Those lucky enough to read this book will be inspired.' Deepak Chopra Who am I really? What have I done? What is important and...

Brought to you by Penguin. A bold exploration of the life and work of one of the world’s most influential – and controversial – thinkers, which brings Arendt’s ideas into urgent dialogue with our troubled present. Hannah Arendt wrote about power and terror, exile and love, and above all...

The first biography in more than three decades of the Austrian-born thinker Ludwig Wittgenstein, one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century According to the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951), philosophy is a “battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence...

The Dalai Lama’s message of peace and compassion resonates with people of all faiths and none. Yet, for all his worldwide fame, he remains personally elusive. Now, Alexander Norman, acclaimed Oxford-trained scholar of the history of Tibet, delivers the definitive biography - unique, multi-layered and at times even shocking. The Dalai Lama illuminates an astonishing odyssey from isolated Tibetan village to worldwide standing as spiritual and political leader of one of the world’s most profound and complex cultural traditions.

Bloomsbury presents How to Think Like a Philosopher by Peter Cave, read by Ben Onwukwe. In showing how the great philosophers of human history lived and thought – and what they thought about – Peter Cave provides an accessible and enjoyable introduction to thinking philosophically and how it...

Can we make ourselves into better human beings? Can we help others do the same? And can we get the leaders of our society to care that humanity prospers, not just economically, but also spiritually? These questions have been asked for over two millennia and attempting to answer them is crucial if we want to live a better life and build a more just society. How to Be Good uses the story of Socrates and Alcibiades and examples from Aristotle, Marcus Aurelius and Machiavelli, alongside modern interpretations to explore what philosophy can teach us about the quest for virtue today.

For the many people who are interested in learning more about Buddhism, here is a primer on Buddhism and Buddhist practice written in a deceptively simple manner, with an engaging, gentle humor and flavor. Adrienne Howley's purpose is to demystify Buddhism, stripping away the layers of ritual and iconography that have grown up around it over the centuries, and to present the original, basic tenets and practices.

Hannah Arendt was a polarizing cultural theorist—extolled by her peers as a visionary and berated by her critics as a poseur and a fraud. Born in Prussia to assimilated Jewish parents, she escaped from Hitler’s Germany in 1933. Arendt is now best remembered for the storm of controversy that surrounded her 1963 New Yorker series on the trial of Adolf Eichmann, a kidnapped Nazi war criminal. In this comprehensive biography, Anne C. Heller tracks the source of Arendt’s contradictions and achievements to her sense of being a “conscious pariah”.

This Very Short Introduction explores the philosophical ideas and political theories belonging to one of the most important thinkers of the twentieth century. As a survivor of the Holocaust, Arendt's life informed her work exploring the meaning and construction of power, evil, totalitarianism, and direct democracy. Dana Villa explains how Arendt gained world-wide fame with the publication of The Origins of Totalitarianism, and went on to have a distinguished career as a political theorist and public intellectual.

After the execution of Socrates in 399 BC, a number of his followers wrote dialogues featuring him as the protagonist and, in so doing, transformed the great philosopher into a legendary figure. Xenophon's portrait is the only one other than Plato's to survive, and while it offers a very personal interpretation of Socratic thought, it also reveals much about the man and his philosophical views.

Burns highlights the two facets of Rand's work that make her a perennial draw for those on the right: Her promotion of capitalism, and her defense of limited government. Both sprang from her early, bitter experience of life under Communism, and became among the most deeply enduring of her messages, attracting a diverse audience of college students and intellectuals, business people and Republican Party activists, libertarians and conservatives.

In How to Think Like a Woman, Penaluna blends memoir, biography, and criticism to tell the stories of four women, weaving throughout an alternative history of philosophy. Funny, honest, and wickedly intelligent, this is a moving meditation on what philosophy could look like if women were treated equally.

Volume Two of the series presents the metaphor of the Bridge and the lessons of Bob’s early life that brought him to the wisdom of the Model Agnostic’s perspective. In Bob’s typical wide-ranging narratives, we learn, among other mind-blowing anecdotes, about the similarities between the Pope of Rome and the Wizard of Oz. Don’t miss this explosion of thought, when for the second time, Bob pulls the Cosmic Trigger.