Philosopher Biography

Our conventional image of Sokrates comes from dry scholarly accounts that present a wise, if ironic, old philosopher shuffling and lounging in the streets of Athens, asking questions that never lead to answers, and finally resigning himself in questionable fashion to a scapegoat death on philosophical principle. But who knows the stunning heroic stories of Sokrates from the battlefield, like how he alone stared down the entire Delium army? Or drinking everyone under the table 'til dawn, then beginning his day as usual, confronting as many people as he could to live a better life?

Trois femmes exceptionnelles, Jeanne Guyon, Simone Weil et Etty Hillesum, trois vies marquées par l'expérience mystique. Chacune emprunte le long chemin du délaissement de soi, du dénuement, du renoncement à toute forme de satisfaction, pour parvenir à une parfaite "indifférence", une disposition à ne pas faire de différence, apprendre à tout accueillir avec la même générosité désintéressée, au-delà du bien et du mal.

A reincarnated angel's tale of spiritual oneness, mental illness, the nut house, psychedelic drugs, gurus, meditation, romantic longing, mystical experience and the lesson of humility...Take the ride, because this book is gonna blow your mind.

Born in 355 CE in the aftermath of Constantine's reign, Hypatia of Alexandria lived in a collapsing Roman Empire - a world where obedience to religious authorities trumped science, where reason and logic threatened the new world order. It was a world on the edge of the Dark Ages, a world deciding the question of science verses religion, freedom verses orthodoxy, tolerance verses hate.

In Simply Hegel, Robert L. Wicks presents Hegel’s revolutionary philosophy in clear and simple language, illuminating not only his basic ideas, but also the deeper meanings hidden within the book. Wicks’s analysis also contextualizes Hegel’s thought by providing a vivid chronology of his times, which included such earth-shaking events as the French Revolution and Napoleon’s invasion of Prussia.

This small volume contains the recollections of Tolstoy's son, Count Ilya. Also included is a brief introduction to Tolstoy's thinking by Professor David Christopher Lane.

Der Klassiker über das Aussteigerleben und ein radikales Selbstexperiment in der Natur: Der 28-jährige Henry D. Thoreau zog sich 1845 an den Walden-See in eine einsame Waldregion Massachusetts in eine selbstgebaute Blockhütte zurück, um zwei Jahre lang ein Leben fernab der industrialisierten Zivilisation zu leben. Bis heute ist dieses sprachlich versierte Buch, das auf Thoreaus Tagebucheinträgen basiert, für alle interessant, die einen alternativen Lebensstil erstreben.

Join Laura on a secret intellectual and spiritual story. She experienced a series of intense dreams and spiritual interludes that seemed easier and more appropriate to ignore. Finally, it all catches-up with her as she never stops feeling driven to make sense of these experiences. She finds herself on a quest to utilize opportunities within her career to apply the broadest of philosophical principles to aspects of healthcare. At each step by drawing from the context of her surroundings, it seems as if there is some way to understand the true nature of knowledge.

Born and raised in a small town in Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900) began his career in philology (the study of language), and served as a professor at the University of Basel. In 1879, he was forced to leave due to health issues, which afflicted him throughout his life. Supported by his university pension and aided by friends, he spent the next decade as an independent author, writing the books for which he would become famous, including Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Beyond Good and Evil, and On the Genealogy of Morals.

What does it take to see the truth? For us to save ourselves, even if it sets fire to everything we’ve ever known. To become brave enough, sick enough, and tired enough to let go. To stop fighting the battles that were never even ours to fight. To hand back responsibility for the lives we’ve been saving at the expense of our own. To let go and begin to heal. To love what we never thought possible, and become the person our childhood selves knew us to be all along.

Ecce Homo, subtitled How One Becomes What One Is, is the final original book written by Friedrich Nietzsche before he succumbed to the insanity which lasted until his death in 1900. In this extraordinary autobiography, Nietzsche chronicles his life and development as a philosopher, his tastes as an individual, and his vision for humanity.

In diesem Essay berichtet und kommentiert Walter Jens das Leben des Erasmus von Rotterdam. Erasmus von Rotterdam, eigentlich Desiderius Erasmus von Rotterdam, geboren vermutlich 1469 in Rotterdam und gestorben 1536 in Basel, war ein bedeutender Gelehrter. Er war Theologe, Priester, Augustiner-Chorherr, Philologe und Autor. Er schrieb vor allem theologische Schriften in lateinischer Sprache. Regie: Julius Flach. Walter Jens (1923-2013) war ein deutscher Altphilologe, Literaturhistoriker, Schriftsteller, Kritiker und Übersetzer.

Ayn Rand is one of the most famous contemporary philosophers, particularly for her landmark books The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. She was the founder of Objectivist Philosophy which was largely rejected during her time but has recently enjoyed a huge surge in popularity among many political groups. Her works focused on free market capitalism and intense individual and property rights. Ironically, the woman who prized individualism above all else, and rejected all government support, rose to prominence and then ended her life surviving off of social programs.

Jørgen K.’s korte liv kom til at centrere sig om Det teologiske fakultet i Århus, hvor han tog sin uddannelse og havde sit virke. Han interesserede sig især for fire områder: videnskabsteori og hermeneutik, herunder digtningens rolle; teologi og religiøs tro; menneskesynet, hin enkelte, ikke mindst som det bliver reflekteret hos Søren Kierkegaard; og endelig synet på samfundet og institutionerne. Men det var karakteristisk for ham. at han tænkte bredere og spændte videre end alle andre i sin tid.

La filosofia di Berdjaev (1874-1948) è una delle più profonde affermazioni dell'esistenzialismo cristiano e risente dell'influsso di Dostoevskij. In particolare, la lettura della leggenda del "Grande Inquisitore" (che compare nei fratelli Karamazov sotto forma di racconto pensato da Ivan ed esposto ad Alëša) è stato un passo fondamentale per il filosofo russo, in quanto inserisce nella sua filosofia della storia, caratterizzata da una visione teologica, la riflessione sulla libertà.

I suffer from a most incurable disease. It is technically known as bibliomania, which simply translated means “book madness.” I love books too much. My family is convinced that I got it from my father, Warren, who also suffered from it but to a lesser degree.

Mark Rothko, Hannah Arendt, Romain Gary, Gidon Kremer. C'è un legame sotterraneo tra alcuni grandi nomi della cultura mondiale: i paesi baltici dove sono nati e la cui anima li ha accompagnati nella fuga oltre confine. È sulle tracce di quest'anima che Jan Brokken attraversa Lettonia, Lituania ed Estonia ricostruendo le vite straordinarie di personaggi celebri e persone comuni.

Terence McKenna (1946-2000) has been studying the ontological foundations of shamanism and the ethnopharmacology of spiritual transformation for the past quarter century. An innovative theoretician and spellbinding orator, McKenna emerged as a powerful voice for the psychedelic movement and the emergent societal tendency he calls The Archaic Revival, one of his most popular books. In 1993, McKenna wrote in This World and Its Double. It’s clearly a crisis of two things: of consciousness and conditioning.

Una vita esemplare e un pensiero folgorante. Eugenio Borgna ha trascorso molto della sua vita in dialogo con gli scritti di Simone Weil, che hanno saputo offrirgli infinite suggestioni per il suo cammino di medico e psichiatra, impegnato nell'ascolto e nella condivisione della sofferenza e della speranza.

This is an essay on the unique teaching of J. Krishnamurti. It starts with the question "What is consciousness?" - and carefully proposes a holistic definition, after reviewing the various psychological and spiritual theories that deal with this subject. The author actually goes a step ahead and focuses on a more particular issue, a provocative question asked by K: “How to empty consciousness of its content?”