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Freedom of speech, religion, choice, will—humans have fought, and continue to fight, for all of these. But what is human freedom really? Taking a broad approach across metaphysics, politics, and ethics, Lars Svendsen explores this question in his engaging book, while also looking at the threats freedom faces today. Though our behaviors, thoughts, and actions are restricted by social and legal rules, deadlines, and burdens, Svendsen argues that the fundamental requirement for living a human life is the ability to be free. A Philosophy of Freedom questions how we can successfully create meaningful lives when we are estranged from the very concept of freedom. Svendsen tackles such issues as the nature of free agency and the possibility of freedom in a universe governed by natural laws. He concludes that the true definition of personal freedom is first and foremost the liberty to devote yourself to what really matters to you—to realize the true value of the life you are living. Drawing on the fascinating debates around the possibility of freedom and its limits within society, this comprehensive investigation provides an accessible and insightful overview that will appeal to academics and general readers alike.
"Are we free, whether we know it or not? Or is our sense of freedom merely an illusion? Rudolf Steiner tackles this age-old problem in a new way. He shows that by taking account of our own activity of thinking, we can know the reasons for our actions. And if these reasons are taken from our world of ideals, then our actions are free, because we alone determine them. But this freedom cannot be settled for us by philosophical argument. It is not simply granted to us. If we want to become free, we have to strive through our own inner activity to overcome our unconscious urges and habits of thought. In order to do this we must reach a point of view that recognises no limits to knowledge, sees through all illusions, and opens the door to an experience of the reality of the spiritual world. Then we can achieve the highest level of evolution. We can recognise ourselves as free spirits. This special reprint, featuring the acclaimed translation by Michael Wilson, is being made available in response to public demand--Page 4 of cover
The Stoic philosopher Epictetus has been one of the most influential of ancient thinkers, both in antiquity itself and in modern times. Theodore Scaltsas and Andrew S. Mason present ten specially written papers which discuss Epictetus' thought on a wide range of subjects, including ethics, logic, theology, and psychology; explore his relations to his predecessors (including his two philosophical heroes, Socrates and Diogenes the Cynic, as well as the earlier Stoic tradition); and examine his influence on later thinkers. Written by some of the leading experts in the field, the essays in this volume will be a fascinating resource for students and scholars of ancient philosophy, and anyone with in an interest in the Stoic attitude to life.
Emily Starkiss undertakes the biography of the famous autodidactic and mononymous philosopher, Cometan, who is the first Astronic philosopher, the founder of Astronism, and the sole author of the Omnidoxy. Starkiss focuses on the latter teenage years of Cometan as his identity and philosophership are first created and begin to establish themselves. In this exclusive biography, Starkiss investigates how Brandon Taylorian created and dealt with his newfound identity as Cometan and the many challenges, worries, and tribulations that he was experiencing and that were facing him in the future as he struggled to establish the philosophy of Astronism. In addition, Starkiss chronicles the life of Cometan during his authorship of the philosophical treatise of the Omnidoxy, how the writing of Cometan's seminal work at such a young age change the young man's perceptions, identity, and personality. Emily Starkiss thoroughly analyses how Cometan became Cometan during the most pivotal years at the beginning of his philosophership during the founding of the philosophy of Astronism. Starkiss's chronicle of the young philosopher's earliest years provides a unique insight into a person whose ambitions quickly not only became the dominate force in their life, but also moulded their entire identity.
The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy ???The style is fresh and engaging, and it gives a broad and accurate picture of the western philosophical tradition. It is a pleasure to browse in, even if one is not looking for an answer to a particular question.??? David Pears ???Its entries manage to avoid the obscurities of an exaggerated brevity without stretching themselves out, as if seeking to embody whole miniature essays. In short it presents itself as a model of clarity and clarification.??? Alan Montefiore
How do we challenge the structures of late capitalism if all possible media through which to do do is inescapably capitalist? This urgent political question is at the heart of Peter Trawny's major new work. With searing precision Trawny demonstrates how our world has become wholly determined by technology, capital, and the medium. In this world of the 'TCM', we universal subjects remain in a state of apathy that is temporarily punctuated, but also reinforced, by the phantasmatic dream of difference offered us by the 'Hollywood machine.' Our sole motivation is to gain money and the power it brings. The only meaningful difference in the world of the TCM universal is the difference between wealth and poverty. Freedom is then only the freedom to dispose of things (particularly technological objects) and to gain pleasure. It makes our relation to our surroundings essentially 'touristic,' and our relation to the earth an essentially exploitative one. The notion of personal or societal freedom has never been more controversial or, seemingly, more far from our grasp. While exploring in details the difficulties we face in our attempts to be free, Trawny builds a vision of how to break out of the mediums in which we operate and experience a new kind of freedom. Escape from the TCM universal is impossible. Yet philosophy itself is the impossible. So when Trawny writes that “escape-the other-is impossible,” we can read this both as “escape is impossible” and as “escape is the impossible," that is, the only possible escape is through philosophy.
This book is an accessible text that explores what it means to be human. It is designed for an introductory course in Philosophy of the Human Being and contains an abundance of current examples, with embedded quotations from philosophers and selections from contemporary writers following the chapters. The author provides an introduction to philosophy, then discusses the topics of human sociability, intelligence, freedom, duality, individuality, and immortality. He concludes by highlighting the contrast between realism and materialism. This systematic approach focuses on issues, with a minimum of metaphysical superstructure and jargon, and provides connections between the readings. Book jacket.
This book explores the possibility of philosophical praxis by weaving an ontological thread through four principal thinkers: Heidegger, Schelling, Goethe, and Heraclitus. It argues that a special kind of redemptive power awaits the structural understanding of thought that is beyond semantic formations such as concepts and ideational systems. The author claims that the “power” is negative in nature, trans-personal, and derived directly from the understanding of thought as a structural pulse. The book travels backwards in time, encountering successively Heidegger’s critique of calculative thinking, Schelling’s Mind/Nature relation, Goethe’s Delicate Empiricism, and the aphoristic wisdom of Heraclitus in search of a redemptive power that lies in the self-knowledge of thought. This power is ontological and not historical or developmental; it is the same at all times and all points of history. The author refers to the praxis as “philosophical bilingualism.”