1-The Philosophy of SchopenhauerBryan Magee This is a revised and enlarged version of Bryan Magee's widely praised study of Schopenhauer, the most comprehensive book on this great philosopher. It contains a brief biography of Schopenhauer, a systematic exposition of his thought, and a critical discussion of the problems to which it gives rise and of its influence on a wide range of thinkers and artists. For this new edition Magee has added three new chapters and made many minor revisions and corrections throughout. This new edition will consolidate the book's standing as the definitive study of Schopenhauer.
2-Heaven and HellEmanuel Swedenborg,George F. Dole (Translator),Bernhard Lang (Introduction) The Swedenborg Foundation has done handsomely by its eponymous visionary with this first volume in a new 25 part set of translations for his of his work. They have begun with a fine new translation of Emmanuel Swedenborg's most famous work, a description of the many heavens and hells that make up the great 18th-century thinker's cosmology, at once perfectly logical and perfectly eccentric. Swedenborg's afterworld is a kind of reflection and amplification of our own, and his vision of moving and active collective of heavens, occupied by the very real blessed dead, has been a tremendous influence on Goethe, Emerson, and Jorge Luis Borges, among many others. Dole's translation has the clarity and simplicity of Swedenborg's Latin, and the notes and supplementary material are wonderfully balanced and informative.
Christopher Bamford, author of The Voice of the Eagle: The Heart of Celtic Wisdom Heaven and Hell is a classic, mind-altering canonical text of Western spirituality.
Published in 1758, best-known of Swedenborg's works; describes the nature of life after death and of the internal state, or "ruling love," of the individual that determines his or her situation in the afterlife.3-Philosophy and the Real World:
An Introduction to Karl Popper
Bryan Magee Bryan Magee summarizes in this small book superbly the work of Karl Popper: the elimination of the induction problem, the falsification criterion as a demarcation between science and non-science, the characterization of marxism as well as the Enlightment (the perfectibility of man) as historicisms, the responsibility of the individual.
The best possible introduction to the work of one of the most important philosophers of all times.
Karl Popper was the celebrated author of a good number of philosophy of science books. Reading this book by B Magee on Pooper one can follow very complex and far reching concepts of the man with ease. The clearity in which Mr Magee explores the key ideas on history, science and methapisics of him decerves praise. The books could have been a tiresome account of Popper theories and abstract conceps but insted is an engaging narrative of ideas and their crucial inportance in the history of scientific discovery and the relation to history it self. Karl Pooper decerves to be read more and Brian Magee has given us to oportunity to know why. Magee knew Popper well (Confessions of a philosopher), and not only he loved him, but respect him most for his thoughts and inteligence. After reading this introduction of Popper ideas one can not help doing the same for both of them.
4-Questioning Ethics:
Contemporary Debates in Philosophy
Richard Kearney (Editor), Mark Dooley (Editor) Questioning Ethics is a major discussion by some of world's leading thinkers of some of the most important ethical issues confronting us today.
New essays including Habermas, MacIntyre, Ricoeur and Kristeva discuss issues such as the nature of politics, women's rights, lying, repressed memory, historical debt and forgiveness, the self and responsibility, revisionism, bioethics and multiculturalism. The contributors organize their discussions along the topics of hermeneutics, deconstruction, critical theory, psychoanalysi and the applications of ethics. Also included in this collection is an interview with Jacques Derrida which provides the most accessible insight into his thinking.
Contributors: Karl-Otto Apel, Geoffrey Barash, John Caputo, Maeve Cooke, Simon Critchley, Jacques Derrida, Simon Glendinning, Jean Greish, Jurgen Habermas, Richard Kearney, Peter Kemp, Julia Kristeva, Alasdair MacIntyre, Thomas McCarthy, David Rasmussen, William J. Richardson, Paul Ricoeur, David Wood
5-Concerning Creativity:
A Comparison of Chu Hsi, Whitehead, and Neville (Suny Series in Religious Studies (Paper))
John H. BerthrongThis work examines the philosophies and theologies of three thinkers - Chu Hsi, Alfred North Whitehead, and Robert C. Neville - separated by time, space, and culture. In so doing John H. Berthrong provides a suggestive and successful comparison of creativity as a cross-cultural theme while introducing Neo-Confucianism as a sophisticated dialogue partner with modern Western speculative philosophy and theology. 