Showing results for "philosophy" in World Literature

In this excellent English translation of The Analects, or Sayings, of Confucius, listeners will find a rich distillation of the timeless precepts of one of history's most influential teachers and social theorists. A Chinese philosopher who lived c. 551 to c. 479 B.C., Confucius originated and taught an ethical, socially oriented philosophy that stressed proper behavior and a sympathetic, mutually supportive attitude among individuals, their families and society.

The Prince is a timeless political treatise that explores how power is gained, maintained, and lost. Written in the early 16th century, Machiavelli offers sharp, practical guidance for rulers navigating unstable political landscapes. Drawing from historical examples and real-world observation, he examines leadership, strategy, diplomacy, and human nature—arguing that effectiveness often outweighs morality in matters of state. Provocative and influential, The Prince remains one of the most important works ever written on politics and power.

Have you ever wondered… whether God exists? whether life has meaning? whether pain and suffering have a purpose? This audio book is my invitation to sit down with C. S. Lewis and me to think about some of the persistent questions and dilemmas every person faces in life. We’ll explore...

In this volume, which reaffirms the uncompromising brilliance of his mind, Cioran strips the human condition down to its most basic components, birth and death, suggesting that disaster lies not in the prospect of death but in the fact of birth, "that laughable accident." In the lucid, aphoristic style that characterizes his work, Cioran writes of time and death, God and religion, suicide and suffering, and the temptation to silence. Through sharp observation and patient contemplation, Cioran cuts to the heart of the human experience.

Julien Benda's The Treason of the Intellectuals (La Trahison des Clercs), first published in 1927, is one of the twentieth century's most influential critiques of the changing role of intellectuals in modern society. Writing in the aftermath of the First World War, Benda argued that thinkers...

Ralph Waldo Emerson is one of the most important figures in the history of American thought, religion, and literature. The vitality of his writings and the unsettling power of his example continue to influence us more than a hundred years after his death. Now Robert D. Richardson Jr. brings to life an Emerson very different from the old stereotype of the passionless Sage of Concord.

The Fable of the Bees—a satirical poem, prose discussion, three essays and six dialogues completed in 1729—exposes human vices but defends them as a necessity within a wealthy society. Mandeville’s bees thrive until they start living by honesty and virtue… then they are impoverished. Mandeville did not play by the rules: he satirized the sins of society but also ridiculed the widespread hypocrisy of deploring these sins whilst reaping their benefits. He and his work were attacked for the rest of the century.

Sartor Resartus is one of the most unusual, even quirky, British novels to emerge from the first half of the 19th century. Published in 1836, its varied heritage reflects the earlier eccentricities of Sterne and Swift, curiously mixed with influences from Goethe. Its subject matter is strange...

Walter Benjamin was an icon of criticism, renowned for his insight on art, literature, and philosophy. This volume includes his views on Kafka, with whom he felt a close personal affinity; his studies on Baudelaire and Proust; and his essays on Leskov and Brecht’s epic theater. Illuminations...

In Preface to Paradise Lost, the Christian apologist and revered scholar and professor of literature closely examines the style, content, structure, and themes of Milton’s masterpiece, a retelling of the biblical story of the Fall of Humankind, Satan’s temptation, and the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. Considering the story within the context of the Western literary tradition, Lewis offers invaluable insights into Paradise Lost and the nature of literature itself, unveiling the poem’s beauty and its wisdom.

This complete collection brings together the full scope of Nietzsche's radical and transformative philosophy in a single, meticulously curated work.

Ce petit livre fait état d’une rencontre. Entre deux individus. Entre deux mondes. Qui, contre toute attente, se reconnaissent, conformément au sens étymologique de conversation, qui signifie précisément rencontre.

Though best known now for his collection of lively and vivid Parallel Lives from ancient Greece and Rome, Plutarch (c46 CD-120 CE) was, for centuries, more respected for his Moralia, a remarkable and wide-ranging collection of essays and speeches. No fewer than 78 in total, they range over a...

The Sufis, mystics of Islam, have been educators of the heart for some fourteen centuries. Their teachings and methods are designed to help us awaken and purify the heart, to learn to listen to our deepest knowing. In The Knowing Heart, Kabir Helminski presents the Sufi way as a practical spirituality suitable for all cultures and times—and offers insights that are especially valuable for our life in today's world. In cultivating a knowing heart, we learn to experience a new sense of self, transform our relationships, and enhance our creative capacities.

The goals of the budo - the martial arts and ways of Japan - lie in refining the body and spirit. These goals are not always the obvious ones - and are learned only through the guidance and direction of great teachers. The techniques, methods, and rituals of the sensei can serve as guides to a well-lived life - and provide invaluable lessons for today's martial artists.

Brought to you by Penguin. A new collection of literary criticism and brilliant insights from one of the giants of contemporary thinking Who owns language? In Decolonizing Language and Other Revolutionary Ideas, Ngugi wa Thiong’o presents a series of essays that build on his vast wealth of...

This English-language translation of the Tao Te Ching by Stephen Addiss and Stanley Lombardo captures the terse and enigmatic beauty of the ancient original and resists the tendency toward interpretive paraphrase found in many other editions. Co-translator Stanley Lombardo narrates the audiobook...

Ici, écrire rime avec réfléchir, et avec exister. Brefs, compacts et chargés, ces vingt-cinq essais philosophiques, qui entremêlent contemplation, opinion, souvenir, et sont magnifiquement couronnés d’exergues tirés de la grande littérature universelle. Ils traduisent une urgence existentielle d’immortaliser noir sur blanc sa pensée, une fébrilité de dire à peine dissimulée dans la main qui tient le stylo, mais aussi un poids de vivre devant le temps qui passe trop vite.

Des réflexions sur des sujets essentiels, notamment la politique–car pendant de longues années, Maurice Henrie a travaillé à l’ombre des parlementaires fédéraux–des questions d’ordre littéraire et des sujets de nature socioéconomique.

Featuring long-awaited selections from Robert M. Pirsig's unpublished writings, from before and after Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, an original collection illuminating the central theme of Pirsig's thought: “Quality” “The ultimate goal in the pursuit of excellence is...