In an age of conflicting intellectual trends, some philosophers have lost faith in the everyday relevance of philosophy; others have affirmed that reflection is crucial to authentic living. The...
Few philosophers have so extensively influenced thought and language as Aristotle. His conception of the universe pervades Christian theology. Knowledge of his thought is necessary to understand...
All warfare is based on deception. Thus, when able to attack, we must seem unable. Hold out bait to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If...
Schopenhauer emphasized the dark aspects of existence. Evil, pain and suffering are not aberration: they express the inner nature of the world. He is pessimistic about the true nature of...
A Portuguese Jew living in Holland, Spinoza was excommunicated because of the unorthodox view he took of God. Spinoza wrote in the rationalist style of a geometric proof to develop his idea of God...
Bertrand Russell and A.N. Whitehead co-authored a seminal work in logic entitled Principia Mathematica. Russell wrote on virtually every aspect of philosophy, with particular contributions in...
China's two greatest philosophers, Confucius and Lao Tzu, were intensely interested in how we should live and how a good society is governed. The central concepts of Confucianism are li, the...
From the frustration of misplacing your keys to the sadness of losing a loved one, the writings of Seneca can offer consolation. For the particular agony of not having enough money, Epicurus has a...
David Hume (1711-1776) represented the culmination of the British philosophy of sense-experience. Although he lived in the age of reason, Hume had profound doubts about our ability to know anything...
