Category - Philosophy

Humour is a universal feature of human life. It has been discovered in every known human culture, and thinkers have discussed it for over two tho...

One of the leading philosophical movements of the twentieth century, existentialism has had more impact on literature and the arts than any other...

Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring We regularly encounter appalling wrongdoing, with the media offering a depressing parade of...

Philosophy of Mind: A Very Short Introduction probes some of the great philosophical questions about the mind: What is the relationship between m...

Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109) was the outstanding philosopher-theologian of the Latin West between Augustine and the thirteenth century. As a ...

Is matter real? Are persons real? Is time real? This Very Short Introduction discusses what, if anything, is "real" by looking at a variety of ar...

What are philosophers trying to achieve? How can they succeed? Does philosophy make progress? Is it in competition with science, or doing somethi...

David Hume, philosopher, historian, economist, librarian, and essayist, was one of the great figures of the European Enlightenment. Unlike some o...

Epicureanism is commonly associated with a carefree view of life and the pursuit of pleasures, particularly the pleasures of the table. However i...

This short, smart book tells you everything you need to know about "nothing." What remains when you take all the matter away? Can empty space—"no...

What is knowledge? How does it differ from mere belief? Do you need to be able to justify a claim in order to count as knowing it? How can we kno...

bVery Short Introductionsb: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring /bOur self-image as moral, well-behaved creatures is dogged by scepticism, relativism, hy...

Karl Marx is one of the most influential philosophers of all time, whose theories have shaped and directed political, economic, and social though...

Environmental ethics is a relatively new branch of philosophy, which studies the values and principles involved in combatting environmental probl...

Father of the Enlightenment and the last guardian of the medieval world, Spinoza made a brilliant attempt to reconcile the conflicting moral and ...

Hermeneutics is the branch of knowledge that deals with interpretation, a behaviour that is intrinsic to our daily lives. As humans, we decipher ...

Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy that explores the nature of art, beauty, and taste. It doesn't just consider traditional artistic experience...

How ought we to live? What really exists? How do we know? This Very Short Introduction discusses some of the key questions philosophy engages wit...

Critical Theory emerged in the 1920s from the work of the Frankfurt School, the circle of German-Jewish academics who sought to diagnose-and, if ...

Beauty can be consoling, disturbing, sacred, profane; it can be exhilarating, appealing, inspiring, chilling. It can affect us in an unlimited va...

How much faith should we place in what scientists tell us? Is it possible for scientific knowledge to be fully "objective?" What, really, can be ...

Stoicism is two things: a long past philosophical school of ancient Greece and Rome, and an enduring philosophical movement that still inspires p...

Socrates has a unique position in the history of philosophy; it is no exaggeration to say that had it not been for his influence on Plato, the wh...

Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, InspiringThe tradition of ancient philosophy is a long, rich and varied one. Julia Annas gives a succ...