"The best book on this subject that I have so far read; it genuinely does what its title implies." — Philosophical Books"Should be of great help in dispelling some of the mystery that surrounds the subject." — Review of MetaphysicsAt one time or another almost everyone has reflected upon the major existentialist themes: the sources of despair and suffering, the triumph over adversity, the nature and limits of reason, the ...
Is it possible to be certain of anything? If so, how? The father of modern philosophy and the founder of rational method in philosophical thought, René Descartes (1596–1650) sought the answers to these questions and in doing so, addressed the most important of methods of thinking and understanding truth. In <I>Discourse on Method,</I> he applies a scientific approach to philosophy that comprises four principles: to ...
The second of Kant's three critiques, <I>Critique of Practical Reason</I> forms the center of Kantian philosophy; published in 1788, it is bookended by his <I>Critique of Pure Reason</I> and <I>Critique of Judgement</I>. With this work Kant establishes his role as a vindicator of the truth of Christianity; he approaches his proof by presenting positive affirmation of the immortality of the soul and the ex ...
Among the most influential philosophers of modern times, Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) declared in this classic study that Greek tragedy achieved greatness through a fusion of elements of Apollonian restraint and control with Dionysian components of passion and the irrational. In Nietzsche's eyes, however, Greek tragedy had been destroyed by the rationalism and optimism of thinkers like Socrates. Nevertheless, he found in these ancient wo ...
Inspired by Machiavelli, modern philosophers held that the tension between the goals of biblical piety and the goals of political life needed to be resolved in favor of the political, and they attempted to recast and delimit traditional Christian teaching to serve and stabilize political life accordingly. This volume examines the arguments of those thinkers who worked to remake Christianity into a civil religion in the early modern and modern pe ...
Named the «2015 Self-Help Book of the Year» at the New Mexico-Arizona Book AwardsIn chasing “the good life,” many of us sacrifice our relationships, our health, and our sanity, but at the end of the day, we still find ourselves with lives and work that bring us little fulfillment. Life isn't about the pursuit of happiness, which is superficial and fleeting. It’s about meaning, which helps us realize our full pot ...
This book is of vital interest to anyone who yearns to know how science, theology, ethics, art, and politics do really afford objective truths. Not only that, but how these truths in seemingly clashing areas are interrelated by common sense and rooted in our incontrovertible consciousness of Being itself. Being itself, as the basis for truth, is defended against truth-denying modern philosophers who, having headed in the wrong direction with tra ...
After spending many years in a religious order, Dominic Kirkham describes how he was driven to meet the challenge of modern thinking, an exercise that has proved both freeing and frightening. He says this has been «something of a personal odyssey, which now spans a lifetime of over six decades and is still ongoing.» He adds that «the presumption of the book is that this is of more than personal interest because the subject matter affects ...
This book tells a compelling story about love, friendship, and the Divine that took over a thousand years to unfold. It argues that mind and feeling are intrinsically connected in the thought of Plato, Aristotle, and Plotinus; that Aristotle developed his theology and physics primarily from Plato's Symposium (from the «Greater» and «Lesser Mysteries» of Diotima-Socrates' speech); and that the Beautiful and the Good are not coincident c ...
