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Philosophy

  • Auteur:
    Greene, Brian
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    From the world-renowned physicist, co-founder of the World Science Festival, and best-selling author of The Elegant Universe comes this utterly captivating exploration of deep time and humanity's search for purpose. Brian Greene takes readers on a breathtaking journey from the big bang to the end of time and invites us to ponder meaning in the face of this unimaginable expanse. He shows us how, from its original orderly state the universe has been moving inexorably toward chaos, and, still, remarkable structures have continually formed: the planets, stars, and galaxies that provide islands in a sea of disorder; biochemical mechanisms, including mutation and selection, animate life; neurons, information, and thought developed into complex consciousness which in turn gave rise to cultures and their timeless myths and creativity. And he describes, as well, how, in the deep reaches of the future, the nature of the universe will threaten the existence of matter itself. Through a series of nested stories Greene provides us with a clearer sense of how we came to be, a finer picture of where we are now, and a firmer understanding of where we are headed. Taken together, it is a completely new perspective on our place in the universe and on what it means to be human.

  • Auteur:
    Kingwell, Mark
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    Meet the 'fast zombie' citizen of the current world. He is a rapid, brainless carrier of preference-driven consumption. His Facebook-style 'likes' replace complex notions of personhood. Legacy college admissions and status-seekers gobble up his idea of public education, and positional market reductions hollow out his sense of shared goods. Meanwhile, the political debates of his 24-hour-a-day newscycle are picked clean by pundits, tortured by tweets. Forget the TV shows and doomsday scenarios; when it comes to democracy, the zombie apocalypse may already be here. Since the publication of'A Civil Tongue'(1995), philosopher Mark Kingwell has been urging us to consider how monstrous, self-serving public behaviour can make it harder to imagine and achieve the society we want. Now, with'Unruly Voices, Kingwell returns to the subjects of democracy, civility, and political action, in an attempt to revitalize an intellectual culture too-often deadened by its assumptions of personal advantage and economic value. These 17 new essays, where zombies share pages with cultural theorists, poets, and presidents, together argue for a return to the imagination'and from their own unruly voices rises a sympathetic democracy to counter the strangeness of the postmodern political landscape.

  • Auteur:
    Jenkins, Carrie, Nappi, Carla
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    Plato's Symposium depicts a group of men giving a series of speeches about the nature of love, with themes ranging from religion and metaphysics to medicine and pregnancy. The lone woman in the room, a "flute girl," is sent away as the discussion turns to serious matters; at the same time, the wisest of the men attributes his theories to a woman, the possibly fictional Diotima. Despite their absence from this important intellectual exchange, women are part of Symposium. What can contemporary feminist readers do with this troubling yet immeasurably influential work? In Uninvited historian Carla Nappi and philosopher Carrie Jenkins talk back to Plato in poetry, inspired by the voices of women characters who were not previously permitted to speak. Images and ideas from Symposium are refracted through multiple lenses to reveal a tumult of mystical, intellectual, pedagogical, and sexual ideologies. Sometimes beautiful, sometimes horrific, these poems dance within and between the lines of Symposium, carving space for new kinds of conversations about love, with themes ranging from gender and voice to power and violence. Designed to be read with or without prior knowledge of Plato, this book invites the uninvited to join a strange, amorphous, and unending conversation on the nature of love and desire - and on the possibilities intellectual and creative activity can offer.

  • Auteur:
    Barrette, Paul
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    Cet ouvrage propose au lecteur diverses pistes de réflexion sur des enjeux existentiels déterminants. Tous les sujets élaborés suggèrent des voies d’accomplissement personnel par l’élargissement de son horizon de sens. L’auteur pose ainsi l’indépassable question du sens de l’existence – du tréfonds de laquelle émerge une soif de vivre en plénitude. Ce besoin s’ouvre sur la quête d’un Sens ultime. Aucun raisonnement, exclusivement rationnel, ne saurait jamais ni le limiter ni l’épuiser, car il paraît toujours irréductible aux promesses d’un monde par trop superficiel et unidimensionnel. Tout à l’opposé d’une science, d’une philosophie, d’une théologie dont les recherches, les interrogations, les hypothèses sont en reformulations constantes. Ce besoin fondamental de trouver des raisons significatives de vivre, souvent arrachées au non-sens du néant, au non-être, exige aussi qu’on en éprouve les valeurs. Et jamais avec autant d’acuité, voire d’urgence, en ces jours où il devient vital de garder espoir. Car il faut surmonter les inévitables embûches se dressant sur son parcours de vie, pour éviter de la voir s’engloutir parfois dans l’absurde, la folie…jusqu’au suicide – plus fréquent que jamais – tel l’ultime recours pour échapper aux tourments d’une détresse d’enfer. Alors même qu’on baigne dans une culture sans âme, se conjuguant à l’éphémère, au « toujours plus », à la marchandisation des relations et du corps, non sans creuser un dramatique déficit de sens, jusqu’à désespérer de soi-même et d’autrui…

  • Auteur:
    Huenemann, Charles
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    The three great historical philosophers most often associated with rationalism - Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz - opened up ingeneous and breathtaking vistas upon the world. Yet their works are so difficult that readers often find themselves stymied. Understanding Rationalism offers a guide for anyone approaching these thinkers for the first time. It unlocks their intricate metaphysical systems, which are by turns surprising, compelling and sometimes bizarre. It also lays out their controversial stanceson moral, political and religious problems. The study is framed by an opening discussion of the broad themes and attitudes common to these three philosophers and a closing analysis of the legacy they left for the rest of philosophy.

  • Auteur:
    De Gaulejac, Clément
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    Depuis 2012, Clément de Gaulejac a produit un grand nombre d’affiches et d’illustrations qui ont contribué à équiper visuellement la critique sociale et politique au Québec. Ce livre offre un prolongement à son travail d’illustrateur engagé sur le terrain des idées.

  • Auteur:
    McClellan, Joseph
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    Trans women-assigned male at birth and later transitioned into a female gender- are recently in media because of celebrities and controversial legislation. Therefore cis men-who identify with a masculine gender they were assigned at birth-are now called upon to share their experiences as lovers of trans women. Using theory and personal anecdotes, the author questions the codes that cis men and trans women use to interpret their own and others' gendered bodies. Joseph McClellan has taught philosophy, Buddhism, and gender studies, and translated and introduced contemporary French philosopher Michel Onfray's A Hedonist Manifesto: The Power to Exist.

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    Major thinkers engage with King's less studied writing, arguing its marginalization has let King be drafted into projects he would not endorse.

  • Auteur:
    Jahanbegloo, Ramin
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    Sorbonne-educated and the author of almost 30 books, Ramin Jahanbegloo, a philosopher of non-violence in the tradition of Tolstoy and Gandhi, was arrested and detained in Iran's notorious Evin prison in 2006.

  • Auteur:
    Nietzsche, Frederich
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    In Nietzsche’s classic philosophical novel, the prophet Zarathustra has come down from the mountains to offer his wisdom and philosophy to the world. Impress all your friends by actually knowing the context for some of Nietzsche’s most famous ideas, such as the Ubermensche (“overman”), the will to power and the pronouncement that “God is Dead.” Written in alternating epigrams and bracing prose, this work is certainly not for the faint of heart, but if you're willing to give it a shot, it will give you back much to think about.

  • Auteur:
    Strathern, Paul
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    In Thomas Aquinas in 90 Minutes, Paul Strathern offers a concise, expert account of Aquinas's life and ideas and explains their influence on man's struggle to understand his existence in the world.

  • Auteur:
    Tuckness, Alex
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    This is Political Philosophy is an accessible and well-balanced introduction to the main issues in political philosophy written by an author team from the fields of both philosophy and politics. This text connects issues at the core of political philosophy with current, live debates in policy, politics, and law and addresses different ideals of political organization, such as democracy, liberty, equality, justice, and happiness. Written with great clarity, This is Political Philosophy is accessible and engaging to those who have little or no prior knowledge of political philosophy and is supported with supplemental pedagogical and instructor material on the This Is Philosophy series site.

  • Auteur:
    Judt, Tony, Snyder, Timothy
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    Renowned historian Tony Judt's final work brings the twentieth century's conflicted intellectual history to life as the age of ideas. Spanning the entire era and all currents of thought, this book restores clarity to the classics of modern thought.

  • Auteur:
    De George, Richard T.
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    Moral problems are unique to humans, and moral awareness is a fundamental aspect of the human experience. Yet questions continue about whether morals are innate or acquired, and whether moral laws are human or divine. Are some actions inherently right or wrong, or must we always consider circumstances, results and intentions?

  • Auteur:
    Wald, George
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    "All men, everywhere, have asked the same questions: Whence we come, what kind of thing we are, and at least some intimation of what may become of us..." So begins Nobel Prize-winning scientist George Wald's 1970 Massey Lectures, now in print for the first time ever. Where did we come from, who are we, and what is to become of us - these questions have never been more urgent. Then, as now, the world is facing major political and social upheaval, from overpopulation to nuclear warfare to environmental degradation and the uses and abuses of technology. Using scientific fact as metaphor, Wald meditates on our place, and role, on Earth and in the universe. He urges us to therefore choose life - to invest in our capabilities as human beings, to heed the warnings of our own self-destruction, and above all to honour our humanity.

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    Humans have been attempting to understand for thousands of years what knowledge truly is and how we aquire it, but the more we learn about the human body, our brains, and the world around us, the more challenging the quest becomes. The 21st century is a fast-paced world of technological change and expanding social networks, a world where information is plentiful and cheap, but where truth is in short supply. Delve into the exciting world of knowledge, belief, and truth in Theories of Knowledge: How to Think about What You Know. Taught by acclaimed Professor Joseph H. Shieber of Lafayette College, these 24 mind-bending lectures take you from ancient philosophers to contemporary neurobiologists, and from wide-ranging social networks to the deepest recesses of your own brain. Epistemology is as old as philosophy itself. Your survey takes you back to Plato, who defined knowledge in terms of "true belief"--A personal belief that corresponds with some external truth. You'll see how this relationship between knowledge, belief, and the truth aligns with what 20th-century developmental psychologists have learned about children and the way we first begin to access information. These types of connections--between philosophical history and our world today, and between abstract theory and observed, real-world examples--make this course a rare treat, transforming how you think about yourself, the world around you, and the very nature of reality.

  • Auteur:
    Szabo, Gyorgyi, Lemyre, Carl
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    Author Gyorgyi Szabo was Ervin Laszlo’s Personal Assistant for many years and travelled around the globe with him on numerous occasions. A highly accomplished Hungarian-born world citizen herself, Gyorgyi participated in the lectures and seminars with Ervin and met with countless fascinating thought-leaders from all walks of life. She undertook to recount these experiences in a story-telling style that is both witty and profound. Her book provides us, the reader, with a unique inside-look at the life, thinking, and personality of whom many consider the greatest living philosopher of our time. “Gyorgyi Szabo’s book illuminates the many gifts of a renaissance man dedicated to a deep understanding the nature of the universe and a hopeful path for the human journey. This book takes us inside the complex life and work of Ervin Laszlo – a compassionate global citizen who encourages us to awaken as a species and move from a path of devastation to one of transformation.” Duane Elgin, author of The Living Universe, Awakening Earth, and Voluntary Simplicity Gyorgyi went on to present a doctoral thesis at the Sorbonne, the historic University of Paris on the work of Ervin Laszlo, for which she received a Ph. D. with the highest distinction. Dr. Szabo is looking forward to her continued collaboration with her friend and mentor – Ervin Laszlo.

  • Auteur:
    Heighton, Steven
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    Most people go through life chasing illusions of success, fame, wealth, happiness, and few things are more painful than the reality-revealing loss of an illusion. But if illusions are negative, why is the opposite, being disillusioned, also negative? In this essay based on his inaugural writer-in-residence lecture at Athabasca University, internationally acclaimed writer Steven Heighton mathematically evaluates the paradox of disillusionment and the negative aspects of hope. Drawing on writers such as Herman Melville, Leonard Cohen, Kate Chopin, and Thich Nhat Hanh, Heighton considers the influence of illusions on creativity, art, and society. This meditation on language and philosophy reveals the virtues of being disillusioned and, perhaps, the path to freedom.

  • Auteur:
    Franklin, Ursula
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    Feminist, educator, Quaker, and physicist, Ursula Franklin has long been considered one of Canada's foremost advocates and practitioners of pacifism. The Ursula Franklin Reader: Pacifism as a Map is a comprehensive collection of her work, and demonstrates subtle, yet critical, linkages across a range of subjects: the pursuit of peace and social justice, theology, feminism, environmental protection, education, government, and citizen activism. This thoughtful collection, drawn from more than four decades of research and teaching, brings readers into an intimate discussion with Franklin, and makes a passionate case for how to build a society centered around peace.

  • Auteur:
    Saul, John Ralston
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    Governor General's Award Winner Tenth Anniverary Edition, with a new preface Our society, John Ralston Saul argues in his 1995 CBC Massey Lectures, is only superficially based on the individual and democracy. Increasingly it is conformist and corporatist, a society in which legitimacy lies with specialist or interest groups and decisions are made through constant negotiations between these groups. The paradox of our situation is that knowledge has not made us conscious. Instead, we have sought refuge in a world of illusion where language is cut off from reality. Reconnecting language to reality, clarifying what we mean by individualism and democracy, making these realities central to the citizen's life, identifying ideologies in order to control them, these are among the first elements of equilibrium which Saul proposes in these lectures.

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