Another Freedom: The Alternative History of an Idea
Svetlana Boym
University of Chicago Press, PB, 9780226069746
The word “freedom” is so overly used–and frequently abused–that it is always in danger of becoming nothing but a cliché. In Another Freedom, Svetlana Boym offers us a refreshing new portrait of the age-old concept. Exploring the rich cross-cultural history of the idea of freedom, from its origins in ancient Greece to the present day, she argues that our attempts to ... More/Buy
Aping Mankind: Neuromania, Darwinitis and the Misrepresentation of Humanity
Raymond Tallis
Acumen, PB, 9781844652730
In a devastating critique Raymond Tallis exposes the exaggerated claims made for the ability of neuroscience and evolutionary theory to explain human consciousness, behaviour, culture and society. While readily acknowledging the astounding progress neuroscience has made in helping us understand how the brain works, Tallis directs his guns at neuroscience's dark companion - 'Neuromania' as he describes it - the belief ... More/Buy
The Big Questions: God
Mark Vernon
Quercus, HB, 9781780870328
In Big Questions: God, Mark Vernon answers the 20 key questions: Why is religion still with us? If you're not religious, is nothing sacred? Do humans have a God-shaped hole? Can an agnostic pray? Is there any evidence for God? What ensued when the Buddha was enlightened? Is religion a by-product of evolution? Is Confucianism a religion? Can you be spiritual without ... More/Buy
The Ego Trick: What Does it Mean to be You
Julian Baggini
Granta, PB, 9781847082732
Are you still the person who lived fifteen, ten or five years ago? Fifteen, ten or five minutes ago? Can you plan for your retirement if the you of thirty years hence is in some sense a different person? What and who is the real you? Does it remain constant over time and place, or is it something much more fragmented ... More/Buy
Failure
Colin Feltham
Acumen, PB, 9781844655236
Philosphers since the time of Aristotle have been drawn to the human tension between viability and fallibility. For Augustine failure was part of original sin, for Boethius it was bad fortune, for Schopenhauer it shaped his pessimism and for Sartre it gave rise to "bad faith". Failure is pervasive and inevitable - epistemologically, cognitively, biologically and morally. In this book, Colin ... More/Buy
In Defence of Wonder: And Other Philosophical Reflections
Raymond Tallis
Acumen, PB, 9781844655250
In this lively and provocative essays, philosopher, polymath, and all-round intellectual heavyweight, Raymond Tallis debunks commonplace truths, exposes woolly thinking and pulls the rug from beneah a wide range of commentator whether scientist, theologian, philosopher or pundit. Tallis takes to task much of contemporary science and philosophy, arguing that they are guilty of taking us down ever narrowing conduits of problem ... More/Buy
In Praise Of Love
Alain Badiou
Serpents Tail, PB, 9781846687792
In In Praise of Love, Alain Badiou takes on contemporary 'dating agency' conceptions of love that come complete with zero-risk insurance - like US zero-casualty bombs. He develops a new take on love that sees it as an adventure, and an opportunity for re-invention, in a constant exploration of otherness and difference that leads the individual out of an obsession with ... More/Buy
Loser Sons: Politics and Authority
Avital Ronell
University of Illinois Press, HB, 9780252036644
There are sons who grow up unhappily believing that no matter what they do, they cannot please their fathers. Often unable to shed their sense of lifelong failure, either they give up and suffer in a permanent sulk, or they try with all their might to prove they are worth something after all. These are the "loser sons," a group of ... More/Buy
Organs without Bodies: On Deleuze and Consequences
Slavoj Zizek
Routledge, PB, 9780415519045
In this deliciously polemical work, a giant of cultural theory immerses himself in the ideas of a giant of French thought. In his inimical style, Zizek links Deleuze's work with both Oedipus and Hegel, figures from whom the French philosopher distanced himself. Zizek turns some Deleuzian concepts around in order to explore the 'organs without bodies' in such films as Fight ... More/Buy
Philosophy and the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Nicholas Joll (ed)
Palgrave, PB, 9780230291126
Philosophy and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy provides an excellent way of looking at some of the most important and most intriguing issues in philosophy; from the meaning of life, multiple worlds, and the existence of God, to Artifical Intelligence and Vegetarianism. Combining accessibility and humour with rigour, each chapter examines a theme from The Hitchhiker's series of books, drawing ... More/Buy
The Philosophy of Race
Albert Atkin
Acumen Publishing, PB, 9781844655151
The Philosophy of Race presents a concise and up-to-date overview of the central philosophical debates about race. It then builds on this philosophical foundation to analyse the sociopolitical questions of racism and race-relevant policy. Throughout, the discussion is illustrated with a wide range of examples: Afro-American 'blackness'; British-Asian racial formation; Aboriginal identity in Australia; the racial grouping of Romany-Gypsies and Jews ... More/Buy
Putting On Virtue: The Legacy of the Splendid Vices
Jennifer A Herdt
University of Chicago Press, PB, 9780226327198
Augustine famously claimed that the virtues of pagan Rome were nothing more than splendid vices. This critique reinvented itself as a suspicion of acquired virtue as such, and true Christian virtue has, ever since, been set against a false, hypocritical virtue alleged merely to conceal pride. Putting On Virtue reveals how a distrust of learned and habituated virtue shaped both early ... More/Buy
Rage and Time: A Psychopolitical Investigation
Peter Sloterdijk
Columbia University Press, PB, 9780231145237
While ancient civilizations worshipped strong, active emotions, modern societies have favored more peaceful attitudes, especially within the democratic process. We have largely forgotten the struggle to make use of thymos, the part of the soul that, following Plato, contains spirit, pride, and indignation. Rather, Christianity and psychoanalysis have promoted mutual understanding to overcome conflict. Through unique examples, Peter Sloterdijk, the preeminent ... More/Buy
The Real and Its Double
Clement Rosset
Seagull Books, HB, 9780857420343
As a maverick philosopher unafraid of challenging the ideas and methods of his colleagues, Clement Rosset's work attempts to connect sometimes-lofty academic philosophy with the concerns of everyday life. For decades, he has worked to illuminate some of the most obscure metaphysical issues, often using popular film, theatre, novels, and comic books to illustrate his ideas, and as a result he ... More/Buy
The Story of Philosophy
James Garvey, Jeremy Stangroom
Quercus, PB, 9780857385642
The Story of Philosophy is a brand new and highly ambitious survey of the thinkers and ideas that have perplexed humanity from time immemorial. Accessible writing, brilliant scholarship and over 150 colour illustrations combine to form a richly informative and highly entertaining work of narrative history. Starting with the most important figures in the Greek era, including Thales of Miletus - ... More/Buy
Walter Benjamin: An Introduction to His Work and Thought
Uwe Steiner
University of Chicago Press, PB, 9780226772226
Seven decades after his death, German Jewish writer, philosopher, and literary critic Walter Benjamin (1892 and acirc;1940) continues to fascinate and influence. Here Uwe Steiner offers a comprehensive and sophisticated introduction to the oeuvre of this intriguing theorist. Acknowledged only by a small circle of intellectuals during his lifetime, Benjamin is now a major figure whose work is essential to an ... More/Buy