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Originally published in 1989, Reclaiming Reality still provides the most accessible introduction to the increasingly influential multi-disciplinary and international body of thought, known as critical realism. It is designed to "underlabour" both for the sciences, especially the human sciences, and for the projects of human emancipation which such sciences may come to inform; and provides an enlightening intervention in current debates about realism and relativism, positivism and poststucturalism, modernism and postmodernism, etc.

Elaborating his critical realist perspective on society, nature, science and philosophy itself, Roy Bhaskar shows how this perspective can be used to undermine currently fashionable ideologies of the Right, and at the same time, to clear the ground for a reinvigorated Left. Reclaiming Reality contains powerful critiques of some of the most important schools of thought and thinkers of recent years—from Bachelard and Feyerabend to Rorty and Habermas; and it advances novel and convincing resolutions of many traditional philosophical problems.

Now with a new introduction from Mervyn Hartwig, this book continues to provide a straightforward and stimulating introduction to current debates in philosophy and social theory for the interested lay reader and student alike. Reclaiming Reality will be of particular value not only for critical realists but for all those concerned with the revitalization of the socialist emancipatory project and the renaissance of the Marxist theoretical tradition.

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In this comprehensive textbook, renowned philosopher J. N. Mohanty examines the range of Indian philosophy from the Sutra period through the 17th century Navya Nyaya. "Classical Indian Philosophy" is divided into three parts that cover epistemology, metaphysics, and the attempt to transcend the distinction between subject and object. Instead of concentrating on the different systems, Mohanty focuses on the major concepts and problems dealt with in Indian philosophy. The book includes discussions of Indian ethics and social philosophy, as well as of Indian law and aesthetics. "Classical Indian Philosophy" is essential reading for students of Indian philosophy at every level. ... Read more

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Spiritual encounters and the problems raised by evil and suffering are the experiences that affect our religious beliefs most powerfully. In this far-reaching textbook on the philosophical study of religion Gwen Griffith-Dickson fills a gap in the market by considering these questions in the context of the world's many religions and philosophical traditions, giving attention to Continental European and Eastern philosophy as well as to Anglo-American thinking. This is the only textbook of its kind to offer the reader such a wide and inclusive overview of contemporary philosophical study of religions. ... Read more

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ATTENTION PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION SCHOLARS!
This is one of the best works written recently in the philosophy of religion.An ideal text for upper-undergraduate courses in the departments of philosophy/theology/comparative religion in Anglo-American colleges and universities.The author displays an amazing knowledge of three diverse approaches to the philosophy of religion, namely, the Analytic, Continental, and Comparative approach, which are still in great need of dialogue in the US, where philosophy of religion is mostly studied from a Christian/Analytic perspective.To my amazement, the author is not well known in the US and even in Britain as one of the leading scholars in the area.Hopefully, that situation will change very soon.

Astonishing range
This introduction to world religions is lucid and clear, but does not short change the reader with over-simplifications.The full complexities of the religious issues at hand are explored using a full pallet of conceptual, historical and scientific tools.This book is quite an accomplishment. ... Read more

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This book contains the updated papers of an international symposium"The Qurcan as Text" which was held at the University of Bonnin November 1993. This collection intends to break away from the 19th-centuryparadigm of "influences", which seems largely exhausted but stilldominates Qurcanic studies. Instead, this collection focuses on theliterary, the intertextual and the receptional aspects of the Qurcanictext. A new approach to the holy book of Islam in the light of modernhermeneutics which is based on modern methods of literary history,text-linguistics, and aesthetics can open the door for a new and more adequateunderstanding of the Qurcan, its role for Islamic religion, and itsunique place in the history of world religions today. ... Read more

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Malebranche is now recognized as a major figure in the history of philosophy, occupying a crucial place in the Rationalist tradition of Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz. The Search after Truth is his first, longest and most important work; this volume also presents the Elucidations that accompanied its third edition, the result of comments that Malebranche solicited on the original work and an important repository of his theories of ideas and causation. Together, the two texts constitute the complete expression of his mature thought, and are written in his subtle, argumentative and thoroughly readable style. ... Read more

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good find
Nicolas Malebranche (1638-1715) has been has been a surprising philosophical find for me. Although I have heard about him, one usually reads of brief dismissals, such as "occasionalist." I learned that the French value him greater than do German or English philosophical tradition. At least in the translations I read, I found him delightful, insightful, and thought provoking. Since there were no reviews when I bout the book, I thought I would try to the wet the appetite of others.

One example is that while he is proudly a follower of Descartes, he often has an intriguing of putting his thought. Concerning the principle of doubt, he says the spirit with which we doubt is something to which we need to pay attention. The point is not to doubt everything in the fashion of a skeptic. Rather, one must doubt from the perspective of caution, distrust, wisdom, and insight.

He offers an interesting interpretation of Adam. He turned away from the pleasure of the presence of God to the pleasure of his body. In doing so, he became a slave to sense and passion, which then blinded him from the source of his true pleasure and joy. We now have the obligation to struggle against the errors of sense that bind us to the body and the physical world. Yet, this binding is actually through our will and freedom, which have experienced the deepest corruption from sin.

Consistent with Descartes, he refers to people who have a mind to prefer the minds of others in the search for truth, rather than the mind God has given them. One must learn to receive guidance from one's own eyes rather than the eyes of others. One who has good eyes would not think of closing them or removing them in order to have others guide them. What I like about this is that one must train oneself to think and gain wisdom for one's life, rather than go through life blindly trusting someone else. No one else will become the authority for living the unique life God has given you.

He has a controversial notion of the relation between God and the human mind. God has the ideas of all the beings God has created within the mind of God. God sees all these beings by considering the perfections God contains to which they are related. Through the divine presence, God is in close union with our minds, such that one might say that God is to the human mind what space is to the senses. The mind can see what in God represents created beings. Such beings are intelligible and present to the mind. The mind can see the works of God in God. This view of things places the human mind in complete dependence on God.

Consistent with Descartes, Malebranche discusses what he considers the most persuasive proof of the existence of God. He refers to the idea we have of the infinite, a proof that he thinks assumes the least. The mind perceives the infinite, even if it cannot comprehend it. The mind also has a clear and distinct idea of an infinitely perfect being, God, an idea that one could not create. In fact, the mind actually has the idea of infinite before it has an idea of finite. We conceive of being before we conceive of it as either infinite or finite. The general notion of being is prior to our carving out of being something finite. The general notion of being must always come first.

He has an interesting insight. God has created us to depend on each other. In fact, we are to some extent joined to the entire universe. We experience a bond with our country our goods, or parents, and so on, by a natural union that does not now depend on our will. He notes that great people actually depend upon more things than do others. Great generals must rely upon many fellow officers and soldiers. Our minds unite to the things closest to us, for they are the things that relate to the preservation of our lives.

An important work in Early Modern Philosophy
Malebranche's importance as a philosopher has been rediscovered in thepast 50 years.I say "rediscovered" because Malebranche wasextremely influential in his time--garnering disciples both on thecontinent and in Great Britain.Locke, Liebniz, Berkeley, Hume, Reid, etal. owe much to his work.In the Search we find Malebranche's mainarguments for the doctrine of vision in God and occasionalism.This lattertheory held a prominent place in the 17th century as a solution toDescartes' famous mind-body problem.Of Malebranche's work, the Search isthe most important, containing a nearly complete account of hisphilosophical and theological system.One note of caution, the Malebrancheof the Search after Truth did have a tendancy to ramble (not unlike Locke). In reading it, one will have to wade through tedious sections on thepsychology of those who take themselves to be witches or werewolves and theoptical illusion of the moon's image on the horizon.However,Malebranche's opus is worth reading, especially for anyone interested inthe development of philosophy during its most elegant time. ... Read more

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Schleiermacher's On Religion: Speeches to its Cultured Despisers is a classic of modern Protestant religious thought that powerfully displays the tensions between the Romantic and Enlightenment accounts of religion. This edition presents the original 1799 text in English for the first time. Richard Crouter's introduction places the work in the milieu of early German Romanticism, Kant criticism, the revival of Spinoza and Plato studies, and theories of literary criticism and of the physical sciences. This fully annotated edition also contains a chronology and notes on further reading. ... Read more

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The birth of liberal protestantism ...
Everyone who is serious about theology should read this work.Schleiermacher's desire to reconnect religion with the spiritual is an attempt to get past Kant's rationalreligion.For people studying theology, he gives a helpful reminder thatyou should not lose your soul.

However, it's in the 4th Speech thatSchleiermacher lost me.I along with Karl Barth could not believe himanymore.In the 4th Speech, Schleiermacher tips his hand.Religious folksought to form societies where they are led by someone who is more connectedto the divine than they are.This seems to be a harmless premise, but thiscan lead to some serious misunderstandings.What excludes the BranchDavidians from this category?Or Hitler and the Nazis?To be sure, Idoubt that Schleiermacher intends for these horrible things to be part anoutworking of his premise.As an evangelical, I also find this view of thechurch as wanting in terms of its view of justification by faith and thepriesthood of all believers.If we are all to be led by religious gurus,doesn't this lead to an elitist view of church leadership.It seems thatLuther's great insight that all Christians are beginners in the faith hasbeen lost. ... Read more

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Fichte's thought marks a crucial transitional stage between Kant and post-Kantian philosophy. Foundations of Natural Right, thought by many to be Fichte's most important work of political philosophy, applies his ideas to fundamental issues in political and legal philosophy, covering such topics as civic freedom, right, private property, contracts, family relations, and the foundations of modern political organization. This volume offers the first complete translation of the work into English, by Michael Baur, together with an introduction by Frederick Neuhouser that sets it in its philosophical and historical context. ... Read more

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A groundbreaking & powerful study of the intersubjective conditions of right that make freedom and communal experience possible
We take freedom for granted, as if it were easily understood and readily actualized.Genuine freedom, and not the empty and abstract ideal of the kind of freedom we presume ourselves to possess automatically, cannot in fact be realized except when a range of conditions are met, including a number of conditions that we might take to be impositions on freedom (such as the existence of laws and police to enforce them).Fichte's groundbreaking study aims to articulate for the first time, just after the French Revolution, before Hegel or Marx (and even before Kant's discussion of rights), and of course long before Rawls and others like him who've worked on similar problems with varying degrees of insight, the terms in which rights and freedom can properly be understood and actualized in the modern state.

It's a difficult read, but incredibly rewarding for those who approach it in the right way, as a philosophical study of what really must be in place for freedom to be possible, rather than a political treatise on a certain dead guy's opinions regarding legal principles.Fichte himself marks out the difference in his introduction between reading a text philosophically and reading it idly: in the latter case, you read the text as an outline of something it is possible to think; to read this study philosophically, by contrast, is to read it to discover what you have to think, because its concepts have an object, namely the world we live in articulated in such a way that through these concepts its structure can be seen as if for the first time.In other words, to read a philosophical text like that of Fichte is to rediscover the reality one inhabits, and to grasp it and learn to assess it in ways one hadn't been able before.

The familiar part of the argument is that freedom, considered as the ability to make a difference in the world, presupposes a world to act upon that is more or less predictable.But in a world with other people my free capacity to act upon the world and realize my purposes therein is limited and conditioned by that of others.So there is a need to establish laws and structures that we each freely endorse and that are enforced by a state power, defining precisely what is permissible for each of us and what are the boundaries that define where my property and my potentials stop and where those of others begin.Some of the implications are that property owners should have good fences to make their property limits obvious; travelers and those who write checks should carry identification cards, certified by the state, so that people aren't duped out of their livelihoods; the state should guarantee a living wage to those who are willing to work.So far, and if you read it only for this core argument and for the specific ways he spells out the application of this core argument, Fichte might sound like he's simply working in the vein of social contract theory, taking a bit from Hobbes and Locke and, especially, Rousseau and adding lots of details (some that would make liberals happy, others that sound downright conservative) and his own post-Kantian transcendental idealist spin.

What makes this text so revolutionary and exciting, however, is that it ties all of this discussion to a rich and powerful investigation of the very nature of human beings as free, and claims to deduce all of these details precisely from this investigation into the conditions for the possibility of free, rational, self-conscious individuality.What does it mean to be a free, self-conscious human being?It is not enough to move about and make some kind of impact on the natural world.Rather, to be free is to set and enact one's own purposes in the world, which requires self-consciousness or awareness of oneself as the one who will realize these purposes.He argues that self-consciousness as a free being is born only in response to a "summons" from another self-conscious, free being.I discover myself as a self in the world only in response to a communicative act on the part of another self, and the impact of this summons is the recognition that I am not alone in the world - that it is not, exclusively, my world - and that my purposes can be realized only insofar as I take into account the purposes of the others with whom I come in contact.Fichte is careful to remind us that the response to this recognition remains a free act, and there is no guarantee how it will turn out, but that the only response that is responsive to its content is the one that seeks to negotiate with the other how they are to divide up and share the space they inhabit.It will turn out that this negotiation requires their communal acceptance of the authority of a third party, the state, which can protect each of their rights from incursions by others.Additionally, this third party must itself be responsible to the people and there must be in the constitution an established procedure whereby state leaders are themselves answerable for offenses against right.This process of working out the demands of "right" is a demanding one -- but, to understand Fichte's text rightly is to see the ways in which the world we now inhabit and take for granted is to a large degree the result of carrying out something like the kind of logic that he so carefully outlines.

One of the arguments in the text, for example, is that a well functioning state would organize public space in ways that would, basically, make possible only those kinds of activities that are consistent with public safety in the context of the competing aims of the many who enter that space.An obvious example is the public transportation system, which is organized to a high degree, with signs, markers, indicators, policing bodies, etc. and only allows on the road those who have passed tests demonstrating competence at understanding that system of signs.Once in place drivers can do what they want and get where they want - can enact their freedom - precisely in ways that would be impossible without such regulations.The text serves as a powerful reminder not to take for granted the regulatory agencies that make possible the casual ease of our day to day operations.It also clarifies, to a degree that seems completely absent in most modern political theory, the importance of a mechanism in political constitutions that would serve to identify failures in its application.Even the parts of the text that seem dated - such as the discussion of marriage, which Fichte admits is not properly speaking a matter for state regulation - still carry a number of insights and are worth studying.It's a hard book to read, and one of those books that can easily be misread if perused too quickly, but it's also a brilliant book that would reward careful study.

A fascinating exploration of freedom and community
This work is an impressive attempt to establish the philosophical foundations of a modern, liberal political system--that is, a community of free beings who grant each other mutual recognition and rights. Fichte's particular political theories (including the notion of an "ephorate" and his disappointingly traditional views on women and marriage) are mostly of historical interest, but his initial analyses of "the I," of freedom, and of the concept of right are some of the best statements of his general philosophical position. His prose is often awkward and frustrating, but the passion and seriousness of his thought makes the book engrossing reading nevertheless. Michael Baur's translation is careful, and Frederick Neuhouser's introduction and notes are very helpful. ... Read more

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Publisher: New York, Schwartz, Kirwin ... Read more

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Excellent!
This work of Charles Coppens, S.J, is well done and important.The text leads from dialectics to critical logic, to pscychology, to cosmology, and finally to natural theology.The style calls to mind that of the later Scholastics.Coppens presents a thesis and argues for it.Then he presents objections, and demonstrates their error.All told, this is a most excellent short introductory to the very important topic of philosophia perennis.Read it, and be richly blessed and well informed by the experience. ... Read more

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This new translation makes one of the most important texts in ancient philosophy freshly available to modern readers. Cicero was an intelligent and well-educated amateur philosopher, and in this work he presents the major ethical theories of his time in a way designed to get the reader philosophically engaged in the important debates. Raphael Woolf's translation does justice to Cicero's argumentative vigor as well as to the philosophical ideas involved, while Julia Annas' introduction and notes provide a clear and accessible explanation of the philosophical context of the work. ... Read more

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Practical Ethics Cicero Style
Read the translation before the introduction.Woolf's translation is smooth and smart; the "general reader" is unlikely to appreciate the introduction, at least on first reading.It's written almost exclusively for those with a real penchant for ancient philosophy. It's organized in an infuriating way, and is slightly flat-footed in its use of language. ... Read more

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This new, revised edition of Kant's Prolegomena, the best introduction to the theoretical side of his philosophy, presents his thought clearly through careful attention to his original language. Also included are selections from the Critique of Pure Reason, which fill out and explicate some of Kant's central arguments (including famous sections of the Schematism and Analogies), and in which Kant himself explains his special terminology. The first reviews of the Critique, to which Kant responded in the Prolegomena, are included in this revised edition.First Edition Hb (1997): 0-521-57345-9First Edition Pb (1997): 0-521-57542-7 ... Read more

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Never HIGHLIGHT a Book Again!Virtually all testable terms, concepts, persons, places, and events are included. Cram101 Textbook Outlines gives all of the outlines, highlights, notes for your textbook with optional online practice tests. Only Cram101 Out ... Read more

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A thorough and detailed approach to the material makes this subject accessible for all AS and A2 students, and will particularly help ensure higher achieving students attain their best grades. Each Textbook has an accompanying Teacher's Book containing much of the active learning and testing of knowledge and skills. They contain discussion ideas, worksheets, revision tests and games as well as sample exam questions and mark schemes. There is a Textbook and Teacher's Book for each major exam board. ... Read more

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Nietzsche's late works are brilliant and uncompromising, and stand as monuments to his lucidity, rigor, and style. This volume combines, for the first time in English, five of these works: The Antichrist, Ecce Homo, Twilight of the Idols, Nietzsche contra Wagner, andThe Case of Wagner.Nietzsche takes on some of his greatest adversaries in these works: traditional religion, contemporary culture, and above all, his one-time hero, Richard Wagner. His writing is simultaneously critical and creative, revealing his alternative philosophical vision, which, after more than a hundred years, still retains its audacious originality. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Affordable, but Uneloquent translation
Mainly because of its low price, I bought Judith Norman's translation of Nietzsche's The Antichrist, Ecce Homo, Twilight of the Idols, and Other Writings, thinking that the recent scholarship that has passed by must make this an excellent translation.To my dismay, however, the translator seems to make Nietzsche sound much more colloquial than the Nietzsche I am used to reading by Hollingdale and Kaufmann.Words are simplified and dumbed down; Nietzsche's concise tone is not as sophisticated; and the prose is not as enrapturing.

Although, I will admit, this translation is probably (I don't read German.) highly accurate, it sacrifices a lot of eloquence in doing so, and making it worse, the occasional use of colloquial phrases unique to this translation ("for real" "bit of a break" and etc.) do not seem true to Nietzsche's "aristocratic radicalism."

If you have the money, I would recommend you to buy better translations, but if you're on a tight budget like me, this, unfortunately, will have to do.

good philosophy for our time also!!!
the nietzsche philosophy works well for our modern times and is not dated at all this is great views to all those who are their own persons not sheeplike clones who follow the rest of the boring flock think for yourself judge things for yourself that's how i feel think for yourself find your own views on life don't be a follower be a leader.

Nietzsche:The Anti-Christ, Ecce Homo, Twilight of the Idols
The Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy yet again struck gold, enshrining history's greatest thinkers in pre-eminently handsome texts, robust and readable translations, and scholarly and timely commentary and introductory exegesis.

Despite Nietzsche's admonition greeting us in the very first prefatory page, this book belongs not to the few, but to all seeking meaning beyond society's regurgitated paradigms and ossified constrictions.

A philosopher-bibliophile's "must have"! ... Read more

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Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason, a work of major importance in the history of Western religious thought, represents a great philosopher's attempt to spell out the form and content of a type of religion that would be grounded in moral reason and would meet the needs of ethical life. This volume presents it, together with three short essays that illuminate it, in a new translation by Allen Wood and George di Giovanni, with an introduction by Robert Merrihew Adams that locates this essential essay in its historical and philosophical context. ... Read more

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Moral Theology
An all too overlooked text of Kant. `Religion within the Mere Bounds of Reason' is a critical attempt-albeit a rather strange one-to reconcile Kant's rational ethical maxims with a conception of evil antecedent to the human being. This is in part a radically strange work, and often completely antithetical to the Aufklärung project itself. However, there are also brilliant epistemological moves here as Kant attempts to fold religious doctrine into morality itself. In the end, Kant is a figure of moral responsibility and duty. This is perhaps not the most surprising fact coming from a man who was by all accounts a sterile virgin. However, it is impossible to get a complete grip on the Critique of Practical Reason without the additional paths Kant erects in this idiosyncratic text.

good translation
I previously reviewed a different translation of this book that was posted for this version. I think the Cambridge Texts version has a better grasp of the terminology and flow of thought in religious thinking. Years ago I used another email address so I get to write as a different person now, but I hardly have to read this book anymore. Just opening it to a page brings me to where Kant considered whatever question he was on. Ending the book with the end of times allows Kant to quote an angel in the final book of the Bible, called Apocalypse in this translation, for the concept of eternity: time will be no more. Kant associated thinking with reflecting, so he pictured heaven as all one Allelulia all the time, and I know what people in hell are saying, which Kant dares not to say.

Theology in the Developement of Morals
Immanuel Kant quotes Bible scripture in this work quite often; neither is his thesis is neither Christian, Jewish, nor Mormon, though he would like this work to shape theology of people of these faiths among others that exist. This book is theological in that it is a philosophy about God and man. The author believes in absolute truth but does not understand it to come from scripture or a particular religion.He wants right and wrong to be determined through reason and argument. An individual develops maxims about morals through experience in the world through the social process. This social process may include cultural understanding of God and Religious practice in society. Yet the author argues what is bad behavior and what is good behavior is distinct from personal preference.This ultimate truth is grasped through reason, not through dogma or scriptural interpretation. It is an interesting read to which conclusions I heartedly disagree.

Immanuel Kant uses John 3:5 in his argument: that man most be born again. His use of the term is not the common use evangelical circles of a supernatural rebirth of the individual. He understands this rebirth may come from any religious tradition. His arguments are not just made to alter Christianity but to alter all religion. Rebirth is a change of aim or purpose in the individual's life that is to follow God's Will (Kant's perspective who ever that may be). No longer does self love - self absorption rule, but man's common good. True seeking your neighbor's welfare is God's Will, but to Kant's arguments it really the sole purpose of religion and faith. While seeking to do God's Will includes serving the believer and the unbeliever in the World, one must seek to glorify God and have a relationship with God. Kant scorns worship and scriptural study.

Kant uses the term universalism. He wants all faiths to come one accord of this belief in this rational faith: An ecumenical faith where all faiths of the world give up their scriptural meaning and trade it for another understanding. A Faith based on Rational thought. Kant argues that scriptural meaning needs to be forced into rational thought. Faith based institutions would exist to train and socialize people to this rational faith and abandon their old ways. I guess this is an argument for liberal Christian theology and an alteration of other religions: An argument for those who never believed ion the first place. Five Star book, but to what is true One star.

Fantastic Book
This book embodies much of Kant's mature moral philosophy.While the book's title suggests that it's only about religion, it's not! It offers a mature perspective on his earlier moral works. From my perspective, once cannot legitimately call oneself an "expert" on Kant's moral theory without reading this book (and several others).

An interesting combination of concepts
The first essay in this book, published in a scholarly journal before many of Kant's key works had been written, established that Kant wanted to have his views on reason and truth considered by his age when controversial matters were being discussed.As he became more famous, the censor became an obstacle to having Kant's ideas published in such a popular vehicle.While religion can be a topic that is generally written about in a safe manner, it is possible to imagine Kant breathing fire into the final parts of this book as a direct result of restrictions, which then resulted in an order for his silence on the topic of religion for several years.

According to the Chronology on pages xxxiii-xxxiv, the works that are included in this book were originally published in 1786, 1791, 1792, 1793, and 1794.Also important were the death of Frederick the Great in 1786 and a royal letter in 1794 objecting to Kant's writings on religion, which Kant obeyed at least until, after he retired from university lecturing in 1796, he felt his situation had changed after King Frederick William II died in 1797.The first text in this book, "What does it mean to orient oneself in thinking?" was in response to a pantheism controversy published in the `Berlinische Monatsschrift.'Part one of RELIGION WITHIN THE BOUNDS OF MERE REASON was published in the same journal in 1792, but the second part was rejected by the censor in Berlin.The book as a whole had to be published as philosophy instead of theology.

Part One started with the evil in the world, with Kant's first footnote a Latin verse by Horace that is translated:"The age of our parents (who were worse than our forefathers) brought us forth yet more dishonest, and we are now ready to issue an even more vicious progeny."(p. 45, n. g).By the end of the first part, Kant was willing to say some good things about Christianity, but only if it could conform to his moral principles."According to moral religion, however (and of all the public religions so far known, the Christian alone is of this type), it is a fundamental principle that, to become a better human being, everyone must do as much as it is in his powers to do; and only then, if a human being has not buried his innate talent (Luke 19:12-16), if he has made use of the original predisposition to the good in order to become a better human being, can he hope that what does not lie in his power will be made good by cooperation from above."(p. 71).The original Part Two starts on page 77, but the book had four parts, and by the time Kant got to the second half of Part Four, I'll bet he was steaming.Every time he called something the second part, he had an overwhelming urge to belittle the forces of religion which were imposing restrictions upon him:

"Second Section, The Christian Religion as a Learned Religion."(p. 160).

"Second Part, Concerning the counterfeit service of God in a statutory religion."(p. 164).

"Section 2, The Moral Principle of Religion Opposed to the Delusion of Religion."(p. 166).

After RELIGION WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF MERE REASON, the final text in the book is called "The end of all things."(pp. 193-205).This is not the ultimate picture of fire and brimstone.When Kant quotes Revelations 10:5-6, his interpretation is "that henceforth time shall be no more."(p. 200).Kant attempts to be comforting, though he is still sure that human activities will always be found wanting by any rational evaluation."The end of all things which go through the hands of human beings, even when their purposes are good, is folly, i.e. the use of means to their ends which are directly opposed to these ends.Wisdom . . . dwells in God alone; . . . Hence too the projects - altering from age to age and often absurd - of finding suitable means to make religion in a whole people pure and at the same time powerful, so that one can well cry out:Poor mortals, with you nothing is constant except inconstancy!"(p. 202).This was good enough to be published in a scholarly journal in June, 1794, but "In October Kant receives a royal letter, signed by Woellner for the King, objecting to Kant's writings on religion and ordering him to avoid offending in this area in the future"(p. xxxiv).He had no need to force everyone to agree with him, so he agreed not to speak or write publicly on religion.He was familiar with the New Testament, but his tendency to declare, "Here now appears a remarkable antimony of human reason with itself, the resolution of which - or, if this is not possible, at least its settlement - can alone determine whether a historical (ecclesiastical) faith must always supervene as an essential portion of saving faith over and above the religious one, or whether, as mere vehicle, historical faith will finally pass over, in however distant a future, into pure religious faith" (p. 123) is a bit much. ... Read more

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Heinrich Rickert (1863-1936) was one of the leading neo-Kantian philosophers in Germany and a crucial figure in the discussions of the foundations of the social sciences in the first quarter of the twentieth century. His views were extremely influential, most significantly on Max Weber. The Limits of Concept Formation in Natural Science is Rickert's most important work, and it is here translated into English for the first time. It presents his systematic theory of knowledge and philosophy of science, and deals particularly with historical knowledge and the problem of demarcating the natural from the human sciences. The theory Rickert develops is carefully argued and of great intrinsic interest. It departs from both positivism and neo-Hegelian idealism and is worked out by contrast to the views of others, particularly Dilthey and the early phenomenologists. ... Read more

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Mathematics is a wonderfully austere science, but it also has a very human side. It is embedded in a colorful history filled with extraordinary personalities, deep philosophical debates, and breath-taking advances in knowledge. This book offers a brief but penetrating synopsis of that history.

This book includes many detailed explanations of important mathematical procedures actually used by famous mathematicians. This gives the reader an opportunity to learn the history and philosophy of mathematics by way of problem solving. For example, there is a careful treatment of topics such as unit fractions, perfect numbers, linear Diophantine equations, Euclidean construction, Euclidean proofs, the circle area formula, the Pell equation, cubic equations, log table construction, the four-square theorem, quaternions, and Cantor's set theory. Several important philosophical topics such as infinity and Platonism, are pursued throughout the text.

This book is written as an undergraduate textbook, but it is intended for anyone who wants to understand how mathematics grows out of, and nourishes, the total human experience. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Worthless
This book is utterly worthless in every conceivable way. It is a mystery to me why Springer have brought disgrace upon themselves by publishing this inept drivel. A complete account of Anglin's incompetence would require a review as thick as the book itself, but hopefully a few deterring examples will suffice.

First, there are many blatant factual errors, e.g.:

"There were five planets (or so Kepler thought) and five regular polyhedra. This could not be an accident!" (p. 158)

Since Kepler's work on Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are mentioned on the same page, one wonders whether it is Mercury, Venus or the Earth that Anglin imagines Kepler to have been ignorant of.

Other statements cannot even be called false since they are such ludicrous nonsense, e.g.:

"Just as many people before Lobachevsky thought that Euclid's parallel postulate was a kind of sacred truth, so many people before Hamilton thought that the law of commutativity for multiplication was ineluctable. For us it is a commonplace that this law need not hold, since we have a ready example of noncommutativity in matrix multiplication." (p. 195)

The notion that there is some sort of "law" out there about commutativity of multiplication that may or may not hold is a very childish misconception. Whether we call certain operations with matrices and quaternions "multiplication" or not is purely a matter of convention. Thus the alleged "law" that "many people" allegedly held for "ineluctable" has no meaning whatsoever other than as a thoroughly inconsequential claim about naming conventions. Anglin's stupidity is particularly disturbing in light of his immodest description of his own book as offering "a deep penetration into the key mathematical and philosophical aspects of the history of mathematics", "giving the student an opportunity to come to a full and consistent knowledge" (p. viii).

Let us give another example of what Anglin considers to be "a deep penetration" into philosophical issues. We read that "there are various objections to formalism," e.g. that "formalism offers no guarantee that the games of mathematics are consistent." Now, presumably in order to "give the student an opportunity to come to a full and consistent knowledge," Anglin professes to offer the other side of the coin: "the formalist can reply [that] although some of the games of mathematics are indeed inconsistent, and hence trivial, others are not" (pp. 218-219). It is not clear in what sense Anglin fancies the assertion that mathematics is consistent to be a "reply" the the challenge to prove as much.

Finally, the book is full of unsubstantiated revisionist history motivated by unabashed Christian propaganda ("God" is the entry in the index with the most references by far; more, in fact, than Euclid, Archimedes, Newton and Riemann combined), e.g.:

"Most of the mathematicians at the Academy and the Museum rejected the new truths [sic] of Christ's revelation. This is unfortunate because ... if the mathematicians had joined the Christians, the Dark Ages would have been brightened by a dialogue between reason and faith. As it was, this dialogue was postponed to the later Middle Ages, when thinkers like Thomas Aquinas (1225-1275) advanced philosophies that were influenced as much by the Elements as by the Bible." (p. 111)

What a loss for mathematics that we had to wait so many centuries for the great geometer Aquinas!

Trite; filled with unnecessary religious hot air
This is a simplistic and shallow book. Proof if any is needed that relgious dogma (and the authors desire to spread it ... even in a maths book!) poisons the mind. The authors frequent attempts to bring god into the picture are unsubtle, (mostly) irrelevant and unbelievably crass. I am disappointed in Springer; how on earth did they allow this to be published?

Nice Read overall
Not a perfect book by any stretch, but I am not the type of reader who has to agree with a book to enjoy it.Many histories of mathematics books are rife with anti-god, anti-religion references, this is a balance to that.Admittedly a little pushy the other way, but not a bad read.

Nice antidote to E. T. Bell
On the math side of things, this book provides a concise overview of the history of mathematics.Actually, I found it to be a bit "too concise" - I think that a college professor would be hard-pressed to stretch the book out over a one-semester "History of Mathematics" course.The content of the book is clearly designed for liberal arts students interested in the "History of Mathematics", rather than for mathematics students interested in the "Mathematics of History".In an appendix at the end of the book the author includes a number of sample assignments, tests and exams which I personally found rather useful.

Yes, I agree with previous reviewers that the author pushes his Christian views on the reader, but I must say that I found it a refreshing change to the tiresome and offensive anti-Christian propaganda found in E. T. Bell's book "Men of Mathematics", in which Blaise Pascal is made out to be a mentally ill religious lunatic, while Augustin-Louis Cauchy is made out to be a harsh and bigoted religious fanatic!

Terrible
The whole book is infested with very annoying and irrelevant
personal thoughts on religion. Mathematicians seem to fall in two
categories: Christian and atheist. The latter are generally evil
and of little relevance, while the former are moral persons that
have produced excellent mathematics. The following quotes from
the book illustrate its general attitude:

Exercise:
Even if the solar system is gravitatinally stable, it still needs
God to keep it in existence. Comment.

Some historians feel that to be 'scientific' they must do their
work on the assumption that there is no God.

Laplace's greatest contribution to mathematics was his phrase
'it is easy to see'.
... Read more

Product Description
The classification of knowledge is a recurring theme in Islamic scholarship. Successive generations of Muslim scholars, from al-Kindi in the ninth century to Shah Waliallah of Delhi in the eighteenth century, have devoted considerable efforts to the exposition of this theme. The lives and the ideas of the three thinkers discussed in Classification of Knowledge in Islam - al-Farabi (870-950AD), al-Ghazzali (1058-1111AD) and Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi (1236-1311AD) - cover the pivotal period of Islamic history from the first flourishing of the philosophical sciences to the sacking of Baghdad by the Mongols. In addition, each of these three thinkers was either a founder or an eminent representative of a major intellectual school in Islam. Al-Farabi was the founder and one of the most prominent representatives of the mashsha'i (Peripatetic) school of philosopher-scientists. Al-Ghazzali is still recognised as the most famous theologian/sufi of Islam. Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi represents the ishraqi (Illuminationists) school of philosophy. Prof. Osman Bakar's Classification of Knowledge in Islam is the first work of its kind in the English language and is based on extensive scholarships and reference to the original texts. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
Descartes' The World offers the most comprehensive vision of the nature of the world since Aristotle, and is crucial for an understanding of his later writings, in particular the Meditations and Principles of Philosophy. Above all, it provides an insight into how Descartes conceived of natural philosophy before he started to reformulate his doctrines in terms of a skeptically-driven epistemology. This volume offers a new translation of the work together with related writings that illuminate it, including the first English translation of the complete text of The Description of the Human Body. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Not Your Average Cup of Metaphysical Tea
Forget what you thought you learned in your freshman survey of Western philosophy about the Descartes whose thought so nicely compliments "the Matrix".

Descartes spent a great deal of time in his other major works such as "The Discourse on Method", "The Principles of Philosophy", and even the "Meditations" trying to prepare his audiences for the mechanist theory he had already worked out in this work, which includes "The Treatise on Light "and "The Treatise on Man".My advice to you is to cut to the chase; this work is what Descartes was really about.

"The World" was never published during Descartes's lifetime, having been suppressed after the 1633 condemnation of Galileo.In the first section, Descartes presents through the imaginary figure of a "new world" a mechanist explanation of the universe and its intricate system of vorticies, in which he does his best to refute both the seventeenth century atomist and the long-reigning Aristotelian Scholasticism's cosmological theories.Similarly, in the "The Treatise on Man", Descartes describes, through the heuristic of an imaginary automatist machine, the functions of the human body, including comprehensive accounts of sensation, the circulatory system, and the nervous system (what Descartes famously calls "the animal spirits").

The fact is, Descartes' metaphysics largely simplify Medieval accounts and just reiterate what every Jesuit would have been learning in school anyway.His mechanist physics is what was new and exciting about his work within the context of the seventeenth century.If you are interested in the history of philosophy or science, you will be doing yourself a great service to familarize yourself with this work. ... Read more