Philosophy

Walter Benjamin was fascinated by the impact of new technology on culture, an interest that extended beyond his renowned critical essays. From 1927 to '33, he wrote and presented something in the region of eighty broadcasts using the new medium of radio. Radio Benjamin gathers the surviving transcripts, ...

Is democracy a force for good or something much more dangerous?

From the small stuff like single-use plastics to major decisions like whether to have children, Rieder defines exactly how we can change our thinking and lead a decent, meaningful life in a scary, complicated world.

How to Be Perfect meets The Daily Stoic in this witty, entertaining, highly giftable compendium of quotidian wisdom

A Defence of Our Intergalactic Common Interests

An extraordinary journey through the history of human imagination, from the dawn of civilisation to the present day

The retirement of the distinguished philosopher Jurgen Habermas from his chair at the University of Frankfurt signalled an important caesura in the history of Critical Theory: the transition from the Habermasian project, to different forms of inquiry in the work of the next generation.

An exhilarating, genre-bending exploration of curiosity’s powerful capacity to connect ideas and people. Curious about something? Google it. Look at it. Ask a question. But is curiosity simply information seeking? According to this exhilarating, genre-bending book, what’s left out of the conventional ...

The new book from TED speaker and author of The Optimism Bias, Tali Sharot, The Influential Mind challenges the wisdom of the crowd.

The Enlightenment of the 18th century was a crucial time in human history - a vast moral, scientific and political movement, the work of intellectuals across Europe and the New World, who began to free themselves from despotism, bigotry and superstition and tried to change the world. This title offers a guide to the giants of the Enlightenment.

Engaging with contemporary issues responsibly and creatively can become a very abstract activity. We can sometimes find ourselves talking in terms of theories and philosophies which bear very little resemblance to how life is actually lived and experienced. In Thinking in the World, Jill Bennett and ...

The French philosopher and theologian Nicolas Malebranche was one of the most important thinkers of the early modern period. He tried to synthesize the new philosophy of Descartes with religious Platonism. This is the first collection of essays to address Malebranche's thought comprehensively and systematically.

Kierkegaard translator Walter Lowrie presents a charming and warmly appreciative introduction to the life and work of the great Danish writer. Lowrie tells the story of Kierkegaard's emotionally turbulent life with a keen sense of drama and an acute understanding of how his life shaped his thought.

Freddie Ayer (1910-89) was one of the most influential philosophers of his generation, while his television and radio appearances, especially in the original `Brains Trust', made him Britain's first 'media philosopher'. In this lively, penetrating study - the first, fully authorised, biography - Ben ...

Offers an introduction to Alain Badiou's work and thought, laying out the central themes of his major works, including "Being and Event" and "Logics of Worlds". This book explores the fundamental questions through which Badiou's philosophy constantly evolves and identifies the key turning points in his ideas.

Is mercy more important than justice?Since antiquity, mercy has been regarded as a virtue. The power of monarchs was legitimated by their acts of clemency, their mercy demonstrating their divine nature. Yet by the end of the eighteenth century, mercy had become "an injustice committed against society ...

Rethinking the role of the radical public intellectual

Introducing you to some of the great themes of philosophical thought and the ideas of the individuals who have shaped them. From Socrates to Sartre, Avicenna to Angela Davis, this accessible guide will get you up to speed on the world's greatest minds and help you to think like them. You've heard of ...

Provides an in-depth analysis of the differences between the Greek and Hebrew philosophies and religions while exaimining the consequences of both the Hellenic and Hebrew ethics codes.