Contemporary Philosophy

The timeless teachings of Epictetus, one of the greatest Stoic philosophers, are now at your disposal in an updated language, close to your reality. Imagine feeling in control of yourself, no matter what happens around you. That is the essence of stoicism: a life of inner freedom and serenity. Each page will open you to a new way of thinking, teaching you to master your emotions and see challenges as opportunities for personal growth.

In this sweeping and provocative work, political economist William Davies draws on a 400-year history of ideas to reframe our understanding of the contemporary world. He argues that global trends decades and even centuries in the making have reduced a world of logic and fact into one driven by emotions - particularly fear and anxiety. This has ushered in an age of "nervous states", both in our individual bodies and our body politic.

When university student Guido van Thool accidentally bumps into the beautiful ballerina Anna Zweig in Loti's café, it sets them off on a whirlwind of romance of ballet concerts, anti-globalisation marches and love trysts in bluebell woods. Paralleling their lives, however, is that of Judge Jeremiah Delahyde, and the government minister Bartholomew Smythe. These parallel lives collide on New Year's Eve when the drunken judge knocks Anna down in his car with fatal consequences. How does one retaliate against a corrupt and powerful, politically appointed high court judge?

Mortimer Adler stood on the metaphysical and moral teachings of Aristotle and Saint Thomas Aquinas to convey to his readers an understanding of the nature of Aristotle’s rhetoric as an essential means for conveying to readers of his time and to posterity a specific understanding of philosophy as an essential humanistic educational tool that might, someday, be able to issue in global peace!

The fragile but strong friend next door, in search of love, inner beauty and whatever else the life and a trip to India will dedicate her. Stefania through the latter will explore costumes, customs, traditions, and the different religions that coexist with related Divinity, ascetics and celebrations. Finally she will know the Essence. It will be like retiring in a beautiful and unspoiled glimpse of Nature, where there is nothing and no one but the encounter and profound communion with one's self.

Americans have never been more divided, and we're ripe for a breakup. The bitter partisan animosities, the legislative gridlock, the growing acceptance of violence in the name of political virtue - it all invites us to think that we'd be happier were we two different countries. There's another reason why secession beckons, says F. H. Buckley: we're too big. In population and area, the United States is one of the biggest countries in the world, and American Secession provides data showing that smaller countries are happier and less corrupt.

In What's the Point of College?, historian Johann N. Neem offers a new way to think about the major questions facing higher education today, from online education to disruptive innovation to how students really learn. As commentators, reformers, and policymakers call for dramatic change and new educational models, this collection of lucid essays asks us to pause and take stock. What is a college education supposed to be? What kinds of institutions and practices will best help us get there? And which virtues must colleges and universities cultivate to sustain their desired ends?

In Self-Reliance, Emerson expounds on the importance of trusting your soul, as well as divine providence, to carve out a life. A firm believer in nonconformity, Emerson celebrates the individual and stresses the value of listening to the inner voice unique to each of us—even when it defies society's expectations.

The Individualization of War examines the status of individuals in contemporary armed conflict in three main capacities: as subject to violence but deserving of protection; as liable to harm because of their responsibility for attacks on others; and as agents who can be held accountable for the perpetration of crimes.

No wonder Elias Canetti described it as "one of the few great and perfect works of the poetic imagination written". The Metamorphosis remains one of the best works of fiction in history. It is the story of a traveling salesman, Gregor Samsa, who wakes up to find himself being transformed to an insect-like creature. The story unfolds into one of the greatest short fiction stories ever written.

The Prince is a 16th-century political treatise by the Italian diplomat and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli. The Prince is sometimes claimed to be one of the first works of modern philosophy, especially modern political philosophy, in which the effective truth is taken to be more important than any abstract ideal. It was also in direct conflict with the dominant Catholic and scholastic doctrines of the time concerning politics and ethics.

Contemporary views of business ethics often show businessmen and women in a bad light. Egoism, profits, and competition are branded as immoral, while social consciousness is praised. Atlas Society Senior Scholar Stephen Hicks, PhD, disagrees with this point of view. Most contemporary business ethics does business a disservice. Worse than that, its proposed cures are plagued with unintended consequences that are often much worse than the problems it is attempting to solve. Hicks defends the egoism that drives successful business people and the morality of free-market capitalism.

Self Reliance is an essay written in 1841 by Ralph Waldo Emerson. It contains the most thorough statement of one of Emerson's recurrent themes: the need for each individual to avoid conformity and false consistency, and follow his own instincts and ideas. This essay is an analysis into the nature of the aboriginal self on which a universal reliance may be grounded. He stresses that anyone is capable of achieving happiness simply if they change their mindset. Emerson focuses on seemingly insignificant details explaining how life is "learning and forgetting and learning again".