Philosophy

This volume examines the famed 4th century bishop and seminal thinker, Augustine of Hippo. 140 leading Augustinian scholars explore his life and his influence on Western thought during the past two millennia.

Defining the Enlightenment as the "long eighteenth century," the Encyclopedia focuses on the entire range of philosophic and social changes engendered by the Enlightenment. It extends the conventional geographical boundaries of the Enlightenment, covering not only France, England, Scotland, the Low Countries, Italy, English-speaking North America, the German states, and Hapsburg Austria but also Iberian, Ibero-American, Jewish, Russian, and Eastern European cultures. Nor does the Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment limit itself to major centers like Paris in France and Edinburgh in Scotland, but shares the rich lode of recent scholarship on "secondary" and "provincial" centers such as Berlin and Geneva; Philadelphia and Milan. The Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment brings a similar spirit of inclusion to the new theoretical and methodological approaches that have flowered in the humanities during the past two decades. Including feminist and various post-modernist reassessments alongside more traditional perspectives, the four volumes offer the broadest possible range of current knowledge. Accessibility combined with scholarly rigor make the Encyclopedia the first choice for researching any aspect of the Enlightenment.

This is the most authoritative and engaging philosophical reference workin English. It gives clear and reliable guidance to all areas of philosophy andto the ideas of all notable philosophers from antiquity to the present day. Thescope of the volume is not limited to English-language philosophy: it surveysthe foremost philosophy from all parts of the world.A distinguished international assembly of more than two hundred contributorsprovide almost 2,000 alphabetically arranged entries which are not onlyinstructive but also entertaining: they combine learning, lucidity, elegance,and wit. There are more than fifty extended entries of 3,000 words on the mainareas of philosophy and the great philosophers: these include essays by AlasdairMacIntyre on the history of moral philosophy, Paul Feyerabend on the history ofthe philosophy of science, Jaegwon Kim on problems of the philosophy of mind,Richard Swinburne on problems of the philosophy of religion, David Charles onAristotle, Peter Singer on Hegel, Anthony Kenny on Frege, and Anthony Quinton onphilosophy itself.Short entries deal with key concepts (for instance, personal identity, time)doctrines (utilitarianism, holism), problems (the mind-body problem, the meaningof life), schools of thought (Marxist philosophy, the Vienna Circle), andpractical issues (abortion, vegetarianism). Individual thinkers past(Pythagoras, Confucius, Galileo, Goethe, Burke, Santayana, de Beauvoir,Radhakrishnan) and present (over 150 contemporary figures, such as Chomsky,Derrida, and Popper) are profiled, and eighty of them are depicted inblack-and-white portraits. Interspersed throughout are short explanations ofparticular philosophical terms (qualia, supervenience, iff), puzzles (theAchilles paradox, the prisoner's dilemma), and curiosities (the philosopher'sstone, slime). Every entry is accompanied by suggestions for further reading.A chronological chart of the history of philosophy is located at the end of thebook, together with fourteen diagrams showing the structure of philosophy andthe relations between its subjects and doctrines.This book will be an indispensable guide and a constant source of stimulationand enlightenment for anyone interested in abstract thought, the eternalquestions, and the foundations of human understanding.

This best-selling dictionary is written by one of the most famous philosophers of our time, and it is widely recognized as the best dictionary of its kind. Comprehensive and authoritative, it covers every aspect of philosophy from Aristotle to Zen. With clear and concise definitions, it provides lively and accessible coverage of not only Western philosophical traditions, but also themes from Chinese, Indian, Islamic, and Jewish philosophy. Entries include over 500 biographies of famous and influential philosophers, in-depth analysis of philosophical terms and concepts, and a chronology of philosophical events stretching from 10,000 BC to the present day. The first edition of this dictionary became a market-leader and a standard work of reference, selling over 100,000 copies. Now the author, Professor Simon Blackburn, has revised it to include web links which provide up-to-date and valuable extra information via the Dictionary of Philosophy companion website. Fully cross-referenced and containing over 3,000 alphabetical entries, it is the ideal introduction to philosophy for anyone with an interest in the subject, and it is an indispensable work of reference for students and teachers.

The Gambler's Fallacy, the Dirty Hands Argument, Pascal's Wager, Buridan's Ass, Wittgenstein's Beetle in the Box--philosophical terms can be both intriguing and baffling. Now, eminent philosopher Simon Blackburn offers the most authoritative and up-to-date dictionary of philosophy available in a single volume, packed with helpful information for the novice and with astute observations for the expert. Ranging from Aristotle to Zen, the two thousand plus entries cover the entire span of philosophy, from the Vedas (written over three thousand years ago) to the most recent technical terminology, with ample coverage of important themes from Chinese, Indian, Islamic, and Jewish philosophy. Here are all the terms one would expect to find in a comprehensive dictionary of philosophy--idealism and empiricism, ethics and aesthetics, Epicureanism and Stoicism, deism and pantheism, liberalism and conservatism, existentialism and logical positivism, and much more. Blackburn also defines many terms and concepts not normally found in such reference works, including entries for apathy, Elis (the Greek city which passed a law exempting all philosophers from taxation), laughter, and the meaning of life, and he includes relevant terms from disciplines such as mathematics, physics, biology, artificial intelligence, and linguistics. In addition, there are capsule biographies of nearly five hundred individuals, from the pre-Socratics, to such major figures as Aquinas, Descartes, Spinoza, Locke, Hobbes, Hegel, Kant, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche, to such contemporary figures as Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Richard Rorty, Simone de Beauvoir, and Luce Irigaray. Many more women appear here than in other philosophical dictionaries, ranging from Lady Anne Finch Conway, a 17th-century Quaker philosopher and an influence on Leibniz, to Hypatia, an important 4th-century Neoplatonist and mathematician of Alexandria, who was tortured and murdered by Christian Monks at the behest of the patriarch Cyril. And Blackburn also includes figures such as Einstein, Darwin, and Aesop. Finally, Blackburn interjects much of his own personality and wit into these entries. For instance, writing on Francis Bacon, he observes that Bacon's "legal philosophy was one of absolute duty to the sovereign, which cannot have hindered his rise to the position of Lord Chancellor." And he begins his entry on apathy with "Although it is the particular enemy of teachers and sports coaches, apathy often gets a good philosophical press, especially in ethical systems that regard desire and worldly interest as low and unworthy." A survey of philosophy through the eyes of one of its leading practitioners, The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy is both a handy reference and an intriguing book in which to browse. It is an essential volume for anyone interested in philosophy.

Philosophical theology is aimed primarily at theoretical understanding of the nature and attributes of God and of God's relationship to the world and its inhabitants. During the twentieth century, much of the philosophical community (both in the Anglo-American analytic tradition and in Continental circles) had grave doubts about our ability to attain any such understanding. In recent years the analytic tradition in particular has moved beyond the biases that placed obstacles in the wayof the pursuing questions located on the interface of philosophy and religion. The result has been a rebirth of serious, widely-discussed work in philosophical theology. The Oxford Handbook of Philosophical Theology attempts both to familiarize readers with the directions in which this scholarship has gone and to pursue the discussion into hitherto under-examined areas. Written by some of the leading scholars in the field, the essays in the Handbook are grouped in five sections. In thefirst ("Theological Prolegomena), articles focus on the authority of scripture and tradition, on the nature and mechanisms of divine revelation, on the relation between religion and science, and on theology and mystery. The next section ("Divine Attributes) focuses on philosophical problems connected with the central divine attributes: aseity, omnipotence, omniscience, and the like. In Section Three ("God and Creation), essays explore theories of divine action and divine providence, questions about petitionary prayer, problems about divine authority and God's relationship to morality and moral standards, and various formulations of and responses to the problem of evil. The fourth section ("Topics in Christian Philosophy) examines philosophical problems that arise in connection with such central Christian doctrines as the trinity, the incarnation, the atonement, original sin, resurrection, and the Eucharist. Finally, Section Five ("Non-Christian Philosophical Theology) introduces readers to work that is being done in Jewish, Islamic, and Chinese philosophical theology.

This masterwork covers 231 alphabetically arranged philosophers with biographical detail and representative works, from ancient Greek and Chinese thinkers to contemporary philosophers such as Elie Wiesel. These philosphers and works are most frequently taught at the secondary and undergraduate levels, and considered to be among the most influential of all time.