Showing results by publisher "Phoenix Books" in Philosophy

Locked in his desk for 25 years, What Is Man? was Twain's most serious, philosophical, and private work. The narrative appears in the form of a Socratic dialogue between a romantic young idealist and an elderly cynic. The pair debate issues of mankind, such as whether man is free to act or is more of a machine, whether personal merit is meaningless given how the environment shapes us, and if man truly has impulses other than to pursue pleasure and avoid pain.

For the Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu, war was synchronic with life. Tzu viewed the world as a network of combat zones where the stakes were high, struggle was the primary mode of being, no one was to be trusted, and survival depended on nothing less than unconditional victory. This 2,500-year-old work of wisdom continues to guide and inspire people of all cultures, teaching the principles of strategy required in everything from sports and business to affairs of the heart. Augmented by commentary and anecdotes, this audio edition maintains the pure, near-poetic tone of the original work.

Take a wild and rickety ride through the philosophies of the East and West to discover madmen, dreamers, and unconventional wisdom seekers. Fun and irreverent, Crazy Wisdom synthesizes the most significant, compelling insights of the ages. Journey into the unorthodox teachings that have bubbled up through the words of such "crazy" visionaries as Rumi, Gautama the Buddha, Mark Twain, Lao Tzu, Albert Einstein, Mahatma Gandhi, Allen Ginsberg, and Lily Tomlin. Discover the common thread in these multiple perspectives and travel on a comedic course to enlightenment!

Moments before entering the battlefield, the great Pandava warrior, Prince Arjuna, faces a moral dilemma about the violence and death the war will cause. Questioning the meaning of life, Arjuna asks himself, "Why do I exist? Why should I fight against my loved ones? And where shall I go after I die?" Arjuna seeks out Krishna for the answers in The Bhagavad Gita, an ancient text that has been called the quintessence of the spirituality of India. Their dialogues touch upon ethical dilemmas and philosophical issues that go far beyond the war Arjuna faces.

At the age of 48, film critic David Denby returned to his alma mater, Columbia University, to re-experience the core humanities courses he had taken as a freshman 30 years before. Facing the question of what he really knows, Denby re-examines the besieged Western classics, ranging from Homer, Sappho, and Sophocles to Dante, Nietzsche, and Woolf. What relevance do the writers and thinkers of the past have to our current life? The answer surprised Denby and will surprise and enlighten his listeners.

According to the aphorism, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." In this inspirational classic, James Allen examines the impact of thought on health, purpose, achievement, ideals, and serenity. Originally published in 1902, As A Man Thinketh has had a huge impact in the field of personal development. It is written in such a way that makes the most powerful message you could ever learn easy to understand. As one of the most important books of the new thought era, this version is true to the original. Every word written by Allen is spoken with clarity and authority by the narrator.