An extraordinary and startlingly original sequel to Ishmael “Enthralling, shocking, hope-filled, and utterly fearless, Daniel Quinn leads us deeper and deeper into the human heart, history, and spirit. In My Ishmael, Quinn strikes out into entirely new territory, posing questions that will rock you on your heels, and providing tantalizing possibilities for a truly new [...]
How can we think more deeply about our travels? This was the question that inspired Emily Thomas’ journey into the philosophy of travel. Part philosophical ramble, part travelogue, The Meaning of Travel begins in the Age of Discovery, when philosophers first started taking travel seriously. It meanders forward to consider Montaigne on otherness, John Locke [...]
A companion volume to Illuminations, the first collection of Walter Benjamin’s writings, Reflections presents a further sampling of his wide-ranging work. Here Benjamin evolves a theory of language as the medium of all creation, discusses theater and surrealism, reminisces about Berlin in the 1920s, recalls conversations with Bertolt Brecht, and provides travelogues of various cities, including [...]
Deepen your practice with this audio journey into the source-language teachings of yoga Yoga practitioners know there’s more to the path than asana, or physical postures – but how do we access the deeper wisdom of yogic philosophy? More than 2,000 years ago, the legendary master Patanjali answered this question in 195 pearls of insight known [...]
Observe social distancing. Tip your waiter. Give priority to the elderly. Stop at the red light. Pay your taxes. Do not chew with your mouth open. These are imperatives we face every day, imposed upon us by norms that happen to be generally accepted in our environment. These ‘socially constructed norms’ elicit mixed feelings. On [...]
Why should we be good? How should we be good? And how might we more deeply understand the moral and ethical failings–splashed across today’s headlines–that have not only destroyed individual lives but caused widespread calamity as well, bringing communities, nations, and indeed the global economy to the brink of collapse? In The Difficulty of Being [...]
This audiobook narrated by Will Collyer reveals why all philosophical explanations of human consciousness and the structure of the cosmos are bizarre—and why that’s a good thing Do we live inside a simulated reality or a pocket universe embedded in a larger structure about which we know virtually nothing? Is consciousness a purely physical matter, [...]
WINNER OF THE 2020 GOLD NAUTILUS BOOK AWARD * 2021 SILVER COVR VISIONARY AWARD * 2021 NEW YORK BOOK FESTIVAL AWARD * 2021 GOLD LIVING NOW AWARD “This innovative and revolutionary message of hope and wisdom from many of the greatest visionaries” (Anita Moorjani, New York Times bestselling author) is a rousing call-to-action for all [...]
In The Lives of Michel Foucault, David Macey quotes the iconic French philosopher as speaking “nostalgically…of ‘an unforgettable evening on LSD, in carefully prepared doses, in the desert night, with delicious music, [and] nice people.’” This came to pass in 1975, when Foucault spent Memorial Day weekend in Southern California at the invitation of Simeon [...]
Explores six ancient yet timeless systems for exploring the mind: the I Ching, Tantra, Tarot, astrology, alchemy, and the yoga philosophy of Actualism Shares exercises from each system and illuminates the key stages in the journey of consciousness development Shows how each of these disciplines can help you become a fully aware and conscious participant [...]
hought experiments are “what if” scenarios that invite us to look carefully at how we think and view the world. They’ve been used throughout history by philosophers and other thinkers to explore our intuitions and ways of reasoning, to find solutions to problems, and to expand our knowledge of ourselves and the world. In these [...]
Philosophical Foundation argues for clarity over and against meaninglessness, which is implicit in various forms of skepticism and fideism. Throughout the book, critical analysis is applied to unexamined assumptions in the areas of metaphysics and ethics in order to address long-standing disputes. The basic beliefs of Western naturalism, eastern idealism, Greek dualism, post-modern anti-realism, and classical [...]
Shortly before he died, Plenty Coups, the last great Chief of the Crow Nation, told his story up to a certain point. “When the buffalo went away the hearts of my people fell to the ground,” he said, “and they could not lift them up again. After this nothing happened.” It is precisely this point [...]
Why are we here? What’s the point of existence? On the “big questions” of meaning and purpose, Western thought has been dominated by the dichotomy of traditional religion and secular atheism. In this pioneering work, Philip Goff argues that it is time to move on from both God and atheism. Through an exploration of contemporary [...]
Jonathan Lear clearly introduces and assesses all of Freud’s thought, focusing on those areas of philosophy on which Freud is acknowledged to have had a lasting impact. These include the philosophy of mind, free will and determinism, rationality, the nature of the self and subjectivity, and ethics and religion. He also considers some of the [...]
What is consciousness? How do physical processes in the brain give rise to the self-aware mind and to feelings as profoundly varied as love or hate, aesthetic pleasure or spiritual yearning? These questions today are among the most hotly debated issues among scientists and philosophers, and we have seen in recent years superb volumes by [...]
A vivid and accessible new translation of Cicero’s influential Stoic writings on the divine Most ancient Romans were deeply religious and their world was overflowing with gods – from Jupiter, Minerva, and Mars to countless local divinities, household gods, and ancestral spirits. One of the most influential Roman perspectives on religion came from a nonreligious [...]
How ancient skepticism can help you attain tranquility by learning to suspend judgment Along with Stoicism and Epicureanism, Skepticism is one of the three major schools of ancient Greek philosophy that claim to offer a way of living as well as thinking. How to Keep an Open Mind provides an unmatched introduction to skepticism by [...]
Timeless wisdom on generosity and gratitude from the great Stoic philosopher Seneca To give and receive well may be the most human thing you can do-but it is also the closest you can come to divinity. So argues the great Roman Stoic thinker Seneca in his longest and most searching moral treatise, “On Benefits” (De [...]
What the Roman poet Horace can teach us about how to live a life of contentment. What are the secrets to a contented life? One of Rome’s greatest and most influential poets, Horace (65-8 BCE) has been cherished for more than 2,000 years not only for his wit, style, and reflections on Roman society, but [...]