Penguin Classics: Philosophy & Psychology

Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life The Decay of Lying includes two of Wilde's most comprehensive—and witty—explorations of his aesthetic philosophy: The Decay of Lying and The Critic as Artist. GREAT IDEAS. Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves—and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war, and...

Timaeus and Critias holds a central place in Western thought and is best known to many for the story of Atlantis. Timaeus and Critias is a Socratic dialogue in two parts. A response to an account of an ideal state told by Socrates, it begins with Timaeus's theoretical exposition of the cosmos and his story describing the creation of the...

One of the most important essays on religious tolerance and freedom of thought. In 1762, Jean Calas, a merchant from Toulouse, was executed after being falsely accused of killing his son. As it became clear that Calas was, in fact, persecuted for being a Protestant, Voltaire began a campaign to get his sentence overturned. In the process, he made the...

A selection from Nietzsche's major philosophical works designed to give an overview of this thought. The literary career of Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) spanned less than 20 years but a vast range of subjects. R.J. Hollingdale presents the breadth and depth of Nietzsche's thought. Whether he is addressing conventional western philosophical problems or breaking new ground, Nietzsche is always thought-provoking and...

A witty introduction to the mind of Goethe, a classic in a new translation for the first time in 150 years. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was the world's most celebrated poet, novelist, critic, and thinker, and this is the best way of knowing him. Today, his name is echoed as that of a 'great man' alongside Plato, Montaigne, and Shakespeare....

Don't hope that events will turn out the way you want, welcome events in whichever way they happen. How can we cope when life's events seem beyond our control? These words of consolation and inspiration from the three great Stoic philosophers—Epictetus, Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius—offer ancient wisdom on how to face life's adversities and live well in the world. GREAT...

No philosopher has held a higher opinion of art than Hegel, yet nor was any so profoundly pessimistic about its prospects despite living in the German golden age of Goethe, Mozart, and Schiller. For if the artists of classical Greece could find the perfect fusion of content and form, modernity faced complicating and ultimately disabling questions. Christianity, with its code...

Descartes was prepared to go to any lengths in his search for certainty—even to deny those things that seemed most self-evident. In his Meditations of 1641, and in the Objections and Replies that were included with the original publication, he set out to dismantle and then reconstruct the idea of the individual self and its existence. In doing so, Descartes...

Schiller's famous treatise on art, politics and society On the Aesthetic Education of Man is one of the most profound works of German philosophy, in which Friedrich Schiller analyses politics, revolution and the history of ideas to define the relationship between beauty and art. Resulting from Schiller's deep disillusionment with the course of the French Revolution and expressed as a...

This revised edition has been completely re-set with an updated index and a new preface. Isaiah Berlin witnessed the excesses of the Russian Revolution as a child, and in becoming one of the key liberal intellects of the last century, some of his most important contributions were on the subject of Russia and the concept of freedom. In the ten...

Selected Writings brings together the major writings of the great Italian philosopher. In his reflections on Christianity, Saint Thomas Aquinas forged a unique synthesis of ancient philosophy and medieval theology. Preoccupied with the relationship between faith and reason, he was influenced both by Aristotle's rational worldview and by the powerful belief that wisdom and truth can ultimately only be reached...

A new and original anthology that introduces the use of rhetoric in the classical world, from Aristotle to Cicero and beyond Classical rhetoric is one of the earliest versions of what is today known as media studies. It was absolutely crucial to life in the ancient world, whether in the courtroom, the legislature or on ceremonial occasions, and was described...

A Tough Mind and a Tender Heart states that 'far from being the pious injunction of a Utopian dreamer, the command to love one's enemy is an absolute necessity for our survival.' Advocating love as strength and non-violence as the most powerful weapon there is, these sermons and writings from the heart of the civil rights movement exhibit Martin Luther...

The definitive portrait of the real Socrates Rich in drama and humour, they include the controversial Ion, a debate on poetic inspiration; Laches, in which Socrates seeks to define bravery; and Euthydemus, which considers the relationship between philosophy and politics. Together, these dialogues provide a definitive portrait of the real Socrates and raise issues still keenly debated by philosophers, forming...

One Swallow Does Not Make a Summer: 'One swallow does not make a summer; neither does one day. Similarly neither can one day, or a brief space of time, make a man blessed and happy.' How can one live well in the world? What does it mean to be happy? In this selection from The Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle probes the...

A selection of Cicero's philosophical writings on 'the good life', in a lively new translation by Thomas Habinek In the first century BC, Marcus Tullius Cicero, orator, statesman, and defender of republican values, created these philosophical treatises on such diverse topics as friendship, religion, death, fate and scientific inquiry. A pragmatist at heart, Cicero's philosophies were frequently personal and ethical,...

I have relinquished all that ties me to the world, but the one thing that still haunts me is the beauty of the sky. These simple, inspiring writings by three medieval Buddhist monks offer peace and wisdom amid the world's uncertainties, and are an invitation to relinquish earthly desires and instead taste life in the moment. GREAT IDEAS. Throughout history,...

This second of two parts concentrates on Descartes' work on the nature and limits of human knowledge and the methods by which we can hope to acquire knowledge. It also includes the first seven chapters of The World and a selection of Descartes' correspondence and replies to his critics. The first volume (0-14-04470-1) focuses on Descartes' Meditations.

Since its first publication in 1762, Of the Social Contract has shaped political thinking. Viewed by some as a revolutionary statement of democratic freedoms and by others as a precursor of tyranny, it has guided and inspired activists from the. 'Man was born free, and everywhere he is in chains.' These are the famous opening words of a treatise that...

The first collection of its kind—a compendium of source texts on yoga, translated, introduced, and edited by two of the foremost yoga scholars in the world. Despite the immense popularity of yoga today, there is surprisingly little knowledge of its roots amongst practitioners. Roots of Yoga collects together, for the first time, the core teachings of yoga in the words...

A key work of ancient Chinese philosophy is brought back to life in Ian Johnston's compelling, definitive translation. Very little is known about Master Mo, or the school he founded. However, the book containing his philosophical ideas has survived centuries of neglect and is today recognised as a fundamental work of ancient Chinese philosophy. The book contains sections explaining the...

A unique new volume illuminating the philosophy of the ancient Greek and Roman Cynics From their founding in the fifth century BC and for over 800 years, the Cynic philosophers sought to cure humanity of greed and vice with their proposal of living simply. They guaranteed happiness to their adherents through freedom of speech, poverty, self-sufficiency and physical hardiness. In...

There are certain words which possess, in themselves, when properly used, a virtue which illumines and lifts up towards the good. In these selected writings by Simone Weil—philosopher, activist, mystic—she explores the influence of language employed by the powerful, an individual's rights and responsibilities, and foods of the soul such as liberty, truth, security, and equality. Provocative, eloquent, and deeply...

One of the greatest philosophical works of all time, in a new translation for the twenty-first century. Widely regarded as one of the most influential philosophical works of the twentieth century, Ludwig Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus is a succinct yet wide-ranging exploration of language and logic, science and mysticism, which has inspired generations of thinkers, artists and poets. In a series...

From: An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (Jeremy Bentham) From: A System of Logic (J.S. Mill) Bentham (J.S. Mill) Coleridge (J.S. Mill) Whewell on Moral Philosophy (J.S. Mill) Utilitarianism (J.S. Mill)

A beautiful edition of the great Stoic philosopher's writings, designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith and new to the Penguin Pocket Hardbacks series. I must die. But must I die bawling? Epictetus, a Greek Stoic and freed slave, ran a thriving philosophy school in Nicopolis in the early second century CE. His animated discussions were celebrated for their rhetorical wizardry and were...

One of the greatest philosophical works of all time, in a new translation for the twenty-first century. Widely regarded as one of the most influential philosophical works of the twentieth century, Ludwig Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus is a succinct yet wide-ranging exploration of language and logic, science and mysticism, which has inspired generations of thinkers, artists and poets. In a series...

The brilliant writings of a highly influential Greek philosopher, with a foreword by Daniel Klein, author of Travels with Epicurus. The teachings of Epicurus—about life and death, religion and science, physical sensation, happiness, morality, and friendship—attracted legions of adherents throughout the ancient Mediterranean world and deeply influenced later European thought. Though Epicurus faced hostile opposition for centuries after his death,...

Aphorisms on Love and Hate is part of the Little Black Classics series, introduced to commemorate Penguin's 80th anniversary. 'We must learn to love, learn to be kind, and this from our earliest youth ... Likewise, hatred must be learned and nurtured, if one wishes to become a proficient hater.'

Little Black Classics - the new series to celebrate Penguin's 80th anniversary Socrates' Defence 'I'll stop doing it as soon as I understand what I'm doing.'

Interpreting Dreams by Sigmund Freud is his most famous work and one of the most renowned books in modern European history, now published as a Penguin Modern Classic. Through a detailed examination of the universal phenomenon of dreaming, Freud uncovered a radical new approach to exploring the unconscious mind. He recognised that dreams represent a conflict and compromise between conscious...