Though written in the early 1900s, "A Beginner's History of Philosophy" is just as relevant today as it was when it was first written. Meant to be an introduction to the topic, Cushman, a passionate philosophy scholar, makes sure to break down the fundamental parts of the topic. The result is an easy-to-read and easy-to-understand text that has been inspiring students to delve deeper into philosophy for over a century. There have been dozens of philosophy textbooks written over the years, but none of them manage to balance education and entertainment quite like Cushman.

Herbert Ernest Cushman's 'A Beginner's History of Philosophy' (Vol. 1&2) is an essential introduction to the world of philosophy, offering a comprehensive overview of key philosophical ideas and thinkers. Cushman skillfully navigates through the complex history of philosophy, presenting the material in a clear and accessible manner suitable for beginners. The inclusion of both volumes ensures that readers are equipped with a well-rounded understanding of the evolution of philosophical thought. Cushman's writing style is engaging and informative, making this book a valuable resource for anyone interested in exploring the foundations of philosophy. The book is enriched with detailed explanations and thought-provoking insights that invite readers to delve deeper into the subject matter. This work is a valuable contribution to the field of philosophy, offering a solid foundation for further study and reflection.

A basic introduction to the world of philosophy, with answers to the deepest questions we all ask ourselves, through the lens of the world's greatest philosophers, from Plato and Confucius to modern thinkers. A guide to the fundamental nature of existence, society and the way we think. After an overview of philosophy, with the history of philosophy, branches of philosophy, philosophical concepts and philosophical schools and traditions, specific topics in philosophy are addressed, such as God (religion), good and evil (ethics), animal rights, politics (political philosophy), appearance and reality, science (philosophy of science), mind (philosophy of mind), and art (aesthetics). Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning such matters as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophical methods include questioning, critical discussion, rational argument, and systematic presentation. Classical philosophical questions include both abstract questions (Is it possible to know something and prove it? What is most real?) and more practical and concrete questions (Is there an optimal way to live? Is it better to be just or unjust? Do people have free will?) Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of approaching these problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and reliance on rational arguments. Other investigations are closely related to art, science, politics, or other pursuits. For example, is beauty objective or subjective? Are there many scientific methods or just one? Is political utopia a hopeful dream or hopeless fantasy? The main sub-fields of academic philosophy include metaphysics ("concerned with the fundamental nature of reality and being"), epistemology (about the nature and foundations of knowledge andits limits and validity), ethics, aesthetics, political philosophy, logic, philosophy of science and the history of Western philosophy. Many philosophical debates that began in antiquity are still debated today.

This seventh edition of Philosophic Classics, Volume I: Ancient Philosophy includes essential writings of the most important Greek philosophers, along with selections from some of their Roman followers. In updating this edition, editor Forrest E. Baird has continued to follow the same criteria established by the late Walter Kaufmann when the Philosophic Classics series was first established: (1) to use complete works or, where more appropriate, complete sections of works (2) in clear translations (3) of texts central to the thinker’s philosophy or widely accepted as part of the "canon." To make the works more accessible to students, most footnotes treating textual matters (variant readings, etc.) have been omitted and important Greek words have been transliterated and put in angle brackets. In addition, each thinker is introduced by a brief essay composed of three sections: (1) biographical (a glimpse of the life), (2) philosophical (a résumé of the philosopher’s thought), and (3) bibliographical (suggestions for further reading). New to this seventh edition: Changes in translations: New translations of Plato’s Apology and Phaedo and Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics and Politics from the acclaimed Focus Philosophical Library Series. New translations of Plato’s Euthyphro and Crito. New translations of Epicurus’s Letter to Herodotus, Letter to Menoeceus, and Principal Doctrines. New translation of the Parmenides fragments. Additional material: Gorgias’s model oration, Encomium on Helen, which gives a defense of Helen of Troy. A selection from Plato’s Gorgias on nature versus convention or law . Additional material from the opening of Plato’s Symposium to contextualize the dialogue. Additional material from Plato’s Republic (Book IX) on the tri-partite soul. Additional material from Aristotle’s Metaphysics (Book IV, 1-4, 7) on the nature of being and the so-called "three rules of thought." A brief selection from Porphyry’s Life of Plotinus, giving a sense of the person. Updated and reorganized bibliographies. To allow for all these changes, a section of Book V from Plato’s Republic has been dropped. Those who use this first volume in a one-term course in ancient philosophy will find more material here than can easily fit a normal semester. But this embarrassment of riches gives teachers some choice and, for those who offer the same course year after year, an opportunity to change the menu.

This is the first volume of a ground-breaking new work by Jürgen Habermas on the history of philosophy. In this major new work, Habermas sets out the ideas that inform his systematic account of the history of Western philosophy as a genealogy of postmetaphysical thinking. His account goes far beyond a vindication of the enduring relevance of philosophical reflection founded on communicative reason as a source of orientation in the modern world. He contrasts this conception with prominent diagnoses of the supposed crisis of Enlightenment reason and culture that seeks redemption in the affirmation of traditional religious authority (Schmitt), the timeless validity of Greek metaphysics (Strauss), a numinous conception of nature (Löwith), and an occurrence of being that speaks to us from beyond the mists of pre-Socratic thought (Heidegger). Habermas situates Western philosophy in relation to traditions of thought founded in the major worldviews (Judaism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism) that continue to shape contemporary culture and civilization. At the same time, he lays the groundwork for his analysis in the later volumes of the constitutive role played by the discourse on faith and knowledge in the development of Western philosophy, which is the result of the unique symbiosis that Christianity entered into with Greek thought with the Christianization of the Roman Empire. Far from raising claims to exclusivity, completeness or closure, Habermas’s history of philosophy, published in English in three volumes, opens up new lines of research and reflection that will influence the humanities and social sciences for decades to come.

Originally published in 1993, Modalities in Medieval Philosophy looks at the idea of modality as multiplicity of reference with respect to alternative domains. The book examines how this emerged in early medieval discussions and addresses how it was originally influenced by the theological conception of God acting by choice. After a discussion of ancient modal paradigms, the author traces the interplay of old and new modal views in medieval logic and semantics, philosophy and theology. A detailed account is given of late medieval discussions of the new modal logic, epistemic logic, and the logic norms. These theories show striking similarities to some basic tenets of contemporary approaches to modal matters. This work will be of considerable interest to historians of philosophy and ideas and philosophers of logic and metaphysics.

This volume traces the history of Western philosophy of education from the Medieval through the Renaissance period (500-1550). This vast expanse of time includes the rise of Christian monasticism (one of the most enduring and revolutionary models of education in the history of the West), the birth of Islam (with its advances in mathematical, scientific, and philosophical reasoning), the rise of the university (as an emerging force distinct from ecclesiastical and state control), and the dawn of the Enlightenment. It includes chapters on the educational thought of Benedict, Abelard, Heloise, Aquinas, Maimonides, the prophet Mohammaed, Hrosvitha of Ganderscheim, Hildegard of Bingen, among others. It also considers the educational impact of Reformation thinkers like Erasmus and Luther, and Renaissance thinkers such as Montaigne. About A History of Western Philosophy of Education: An essential resource for researchers, scholars, and students of education, this five-volume set that traces the development of philosophy of education through Western culture and history. Focusing on philosophers who have theorized education and its implementation, the series constitutes a fresh, dynamic, and developing view of educational philosophy. It expands our educational possibilities by reinvigorating philosophy's vibrant critical tradition, connecting old and new perspectives, and identifying the continuity of critique and reconstruction. It also includes a timeline showing major historical events, including educational initiatives and the publication of noteworthy philosophical works.

This first book-length treatment of Thomas AquinasÆs theory of the body presents a Catholic understanding of the body and its implications for social and political philosophy. Making a fundamental contribution to antitotalitarian theory, McAleer argues that a sexual politics reliant upon AquinasÆs theory of the body is better (because less violent) than other commonly available theories. He contrasts this theory with those of four other groups of thinkers: the continental tradition represented by Kant, Schopenhauer, Merleau-Ponty, Nancy, Levinas, and Deleuze; feminism, in the work of Donna Haraway; an alternative Catholic theory to be found in Karl Rahner; and the ôRadical Orthodoxyö of John Milbank.

This volume provides a genealogy of the modern historiography of medieval philosophy up to the present, rediscovers fifty years of German scholarship, criticizes what has become the standard approach, and proposes an historically sensitive alternative.