Philosopher Biography

Publicada en 1940 y considerada una obra maestra, La vida privada y pública de Sócrates consagró a René Kraus como biógrafo de excepción. René Kraus realiza impagables descripciones del filósofo, de algunos de sus célebres contemporáneos y del ambiente de la ciudad y la época, subrayando la tesis que subyace en esta obra: que los seres excepcionales, incluso cuando son incomprendidos y maltratados en vida, terminan imponiendo su elevado ejemplo moral y proporcionan a la humanidad un horizonte de civilización.

Part of the acclaimed Eminent Lives series, Machiavelli is a superb portrait of the brilliant and revolutionary political philosopher - history's most famous theorist of "warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed" - and the age he embodied. Ross King, the New York Times best-selling author of Brunelleschi's Dome, argues that the author of The Prince was a far more complex and sympathetic character than is often portrayed.

The name “Aleister Crowley” instantly conjures visions of diabolic ceremonies and orgiastic indulgences—and while the sardonic Crowley would perhaps be the last to challenge such a view, he was also much more than “the Beast,” as this authoritative biography shows. Perdurabo—entitled after the magical name Crowley chose when inducted into the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn—traces Crowley’s remarkable journey from his birth as the only son of a wealthy lay preacher to his death in a boarding house as the world’s foremost authority on magick.

Ken Davis began his career as a small-town radio DJ during his college years. Little did he know he would later find himself face-to-face with a notorious serial killer in the middle of the night; be nearly shot by a world-famous music producer; or unexpectedly come across the lifeless body of a legendary Hollywood bombshell. Along the way, he hung out with everyone from Barack Obama to Walter Cronkite to Sting.

Nacido en Italia en el año 1224, Aquino fue un teólogo y filósofo católico perteneciente a la Orden de Predicadores, principal representante de la tradición escolástica, y fundador de la escuela tomista de teología y filosofía. Conocido también como Doctor Angélico o Doctor Común, es considerado santo por la Iglesia Católica y autor de la gran "Suma Teológica", tratado en el cual pretende exponer de modo ordenado la doctrina católica.

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 Bacon, Galileo and the modern scientific view of nature, as well as Dante and many passages from Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton. Many phrases such as "liberal education" and "theory" contrasted with "practice" originated with this student of Plato and tutor of Alexander the Great. Writing to inform the beginner and stimulate the expert, eminent scholar A.E. Taylor presents a searching analysis of Aristotle's thought, including classification of the sciences; formal logic; theory of knowledge; matter and form; the four causes; God; physics; biology; sensation; ethics; theory of the state; the fine arts. He also considers Aristotle's provincialism, errors regarding the nervous system and astronomy, and defense of slavery.

Henry David Thoreau is a beloved American author, poet and philosopher. He was a lifelong abolitionist, advocate of civil disobedience againts unjust or corrupted goverments, and he defended the idea of abandoning illusory matters in favor of simple living, in order to discover life's authentic essential needs. He is best known for Walden, or Life in the woods, the book he wrote during his two-year experiment in minimalist living: having built himself a cabin in the woods, he stayed there to study, write, and enjoy his newfound communion with nature.

The first definitive biography of Moses Maimonides, one of the most influential intellects in all of human history, illuminates his life as a philosopher, physician, and lawgiver. Recalling such bestsellers as David McCullough's John Adams and Walter Isaacson's Einstein, Maimonides is a biography on a grand scale, brilliantly explicating one man's life against the background of his time.

A symbol of liberated womanhood, Simone de Beauvoir’s unconventional relationships inspired and scandalised her generation. A philosopher, writer, and feminist icon, she won prestigious literary prizes and transformed the way we think about gender with The Second Sex. But despite her successes, she wondered if she had sold herself short. This ground-breaking biography draws on never-before-published diaries and letters to tell the fascinating story of how Simone de Beauvoir became herself.

From Leonardo Da Vinci to John Dee and Comenius, from George Eliot to Oliver Sacks and Susan Sontag, polymaths have moved the frontiers of knowledge in countless ways. But history can be unkind to scholars with such encyclopaedic interests. All too often these individuals are remembered for just one part of their valuable achievements. In this engaging, erudite account, renowned cultural historian Peter Burke argues for a more rounded view.

Beyond the rehashed clichés, this book inspires us to rediscover Diogenes' philosophical legacy—whether it be the challenge to the established order, the detachment from materialism, the choice of a return to nature, or the formulation of a cosmopolitan ideal strongly rooted in the belief that virtue is better revealed in action than in theory.

David Hume (1711–1776) is a towering and intriguing figure. He was the preeminent philosopher in what is now called the Scottish Enlightenment, a time that was “crowded with genius” and in a place regarded as the rebirth of the golden era of Athens. His writing displayed an astonishing range, addressing everything from metaphysics to politics, and in subject after subject, he produced fresh, novel, and brilliant insights.

Stoicism may be an ancient philosophy, but it is one that has even more relevance to our daily lives now that we are in the modern world. With Stoicism, we learn that we can control some things, such as our emotions and our reactions, and this can help to lead us to happiness. In this complete guidebook, we are going to take you from the very basics of using Stoicism in your daily life, to complete mastery. We will show you how this ancient philosophy is going to work to make you feel happier and more virtuous.

The Age of Genius explores the eventful intertwining of outward event and inner intellectual life to tell, in all its richness and depth, the story of the 17th century in Europe. It was a time of creativity unparalleled in history before or since, from science to the arts, from philosophy to politics. Acclaimed philosopher and historian A. C. Grayling points to three primary factors that led to the rise of vernacular (popular) languages in philosophy, theology, science, and literature.

When Pliny the Elder perished at Stabiae during the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79, he left behind an enormous compendium of knowledge, his 37-volume Natural History, and a teenaged nephew who revered him as a father. Grieving his loss, Pliny the Younger inherited the Elder's notebooks - filled with pearls of wisdom - and his legacy. At its heart, The Shadow of Vesuvius is a literary biography of the younger man, who would grow up to become a lawyer, senator, poet, collector of villas, and chronicler of the Roman Empire.

Johannes Sløk gør i denne bog på en forståelig og pædagogisk veltilrettelagt måde rede for, hvad der var anliggendet og tankeudviklingen bag Kierkegaards livsværk. Bogen er en uundværlig nøgle for alle, der ønsker at stifte bekendtskab med Danmarks mest geniale og berømte tænker. "Den bedste og lettest tilgængelige indføring til Kierkegaards univers, der nogensinde er skrevet på dansk". - Niels Jørgen Cappelørn, direktør, Søren Kierkegaard Forskningscenteret "... et lysende eksempel på formidling, der forener personlig lidenskab med overlegen indsigt i stoffet.

To say Edith Stein lived a remarkable life would be a dramatic understatement. Born in Breslau (then part of Germany) at the end of the 19th century, Edith was raised as an observant jew, only to turn her back on religion right around the time World War I devastated the continent. In the wake of the war, during which she earned a doctorate and began working as an assistant at the University of Freiburg, she began reading the works of the legendary St. Teresa of Ávila, one of the most influential Catholic saints in history.

Con este libro, Nietzsche se adentra en el estilo aforístico que llegaría a dominar sus escritos, discutiendo una variedad de conceptos en párrafos cortos. En sus páginas se encuentra la apertura a conceptos cruciales para la filosofía posterior de Nietzsche, como la voluntad de poder y la necesidad de trascender la moral cristiana convencional. El resultado es una de las piedras angulares de la obra de su vida.

Baron Giulio Cesare Andrea Evola, known to the English-speaking world as Julius Evola (1898-1974), was an Italian philosopher, magician, painter, occultist, Orientalist, linguist, and champion mountain climber. Often considered a pillar of Neo-Fascist thought, Evola opposed Fascism and called himself a “radical traditionalist”.

Few would question that Albert Camus (1913-1960), novelist, playwright, philosopher and journalist, is a major cultural icon. His widely quoted works have led to countless movie adaptions, graphic novels, pop songs, and even t-shirts. In this Very Short Introduction, Oliver Gloag chronicles the inspiring story of Camus' life. From a poor fatherless settler in French-Algeria to the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Gloag offers a comprehensive view of Camus' major works and interventions.