{"title":"Steven Nadler","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSteven Nadler\u003c\/strong\u003e explores the depths of philosophical thought with clarity and insight, offering readers a profound look into the minds of historic thinkers such as Descartes and Menasseh ben Israel. His works skilfully blend rigorous scholarship with accessible storytelling, inviting readers to engage with complex ideas on belief, reason, and human nature.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBeyond philosophy, Nadler's writings touch on the interplay of history and personal narrative, enriching the reader's understanding of intellectual heritage. Whether through biography, critical analysis, or even the graphic novel form, his books illuminate the enduring impact of philosophy on both individual lives and broader culture.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"descartes-by-steven-nadler-9781789146837","title":"Descartes","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA critical biography of René Descartes, whose first principle (\"I think therefore I am.\") reshaped modern philosophy.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOften called 'the father of modern philosophy', René Descartes' contributions to philosophy, mathematics, and natural science set the intellectual agenda for the seventeenth century. In this biography and assessment of his works, based on the most up-to-date research, Steven Nadler follows Descartes from his early years and education in France to the Dutch Republic, where he lived most of his adult life, to his final months as tutor to Queen Christina of Sweden.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNadler shows how Descartes' 'renewal' of philosophy involved a transformation in both the way philosophy is done and the fundamental understanding of the cosmos, the natural world, and human nature. His work served as a springboard for many of the metaphysical and epistemological problems that continue to engage philosophers today.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSteven Nadler's outstanding biography achieves a fine balance of life, ideas, and context, allowing Descartes's philosophy to emerge from its eclectic seventeenth-century milieu in all its dazzling originality and strangeness. Lucid, compelling, and unfailingly judicious, this is a marvellous new study of a magisterial modern thinker. - Clare Carlisle Tresch, King's College London\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"NewSouth Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46804543078636,"sku":"9781789146837","price":72.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/27997413482824.jpg?v=1757417461"},{"product_id":"menasseh-ben-israel-by-steven-nadler-9780300224108","title":"Menasseh ben Israel","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eFrom the prizewinning Jewish Lives series, an illuminating biography of the great Amsterdam rabbi and celebrated populariser of Judaism in the seventeenth century.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMenasseh ben Israel\u003c\/em\u003e (1604–1657) was among the most accomplished and cosmopolitan rabbis of his time, and a pivotal intellectual figure in early modern Jewish history. He was one of the three rabbis of the “Portuguese Nation” in Amsterdam, a community that quickly earned renown worldwide for its mercantile and scholarly vitality.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBorn in Lisbon, Menasseh and his family were forcibly converted to Catholicism but suspected of insincerity in their new faith. To avoid the horrors of the Inquisition, they fled first to southwestern France, and then to Amsterdam, where they finally settled. Menasseh played an important role during the formative decades of one of the most vital Jewish communities of early modern Europe, and was influential through his extraordinary work as a printer and his efforts on behalf of the readmission of Jews to England. In this lively biography, Steven Nadler provides a fresh perspective on this seminal figure.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout Jewish Lives:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eJewish Lives is a prizewinning series of interpretative biography designed to explore the many facets of Jewish identity. Individual volumes illuminate the imprint of Jewish figures upon literature, religion, philosophy, politics, cultural and economic life, and the arts and sciences. Subjects are paired with authors to elicit lively, deeply informed books that explore the range and depth of the Jewish experience from antiquity to the present.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn 2014, the Jewish Book Council named Jewish Lives the winner of its Jewish Book of the Year Award, the first series ever to receive this award.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMore praise for Jewish Lives:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eExcellent.\u003c\/em\u003e – New York Times\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eExemplary.\u003c\/em\u003e – Wall Street Journal\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDistinguished.\u003c\/em\u003e – New Yorker\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSuperb.\u003c\/em\u003e – The Guardian\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46855810810092,"sku":"9780300224108","price":44.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/24238823482294.jpg?v=1759278838"},{"product_id":"the-portraitist-by-steven-nadler-9780226698366","title":"The Portraitist","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA biography of the great portraitist Frans Hals that takes the reader into the turbulent world of the Dutch Golden Age.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFrans Hals was one of the greatest portrait painters in history, and his style transformed ideas and expectations about what portraiture can do and what a painting should look like.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHals was a member of the great trifecta of Dutch Baroque painters alongside Rembrandt and Vermeer, and he was the portraitist of choice for entrepreneurs, merchants, professionals, theologians, intellectuals, militiamen, and even his fellow artists in the Dutch Golden Age. His works, with their visible brush strokes and bold execution, lacked the fine detail and smooth finish common among his peers, and some dismissed his works as sloppy and unfinished. But for others, they were fresh and exciting, filled with a sense of the sitter’s animated presence captured with energy and immediacy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSteven Nadler gives us the first full-length biography of Hals in many years and offers a view into seventeenth-century Haarlem and this culturally rich era of the Dutch Republic. He tells the story not only of Hals’s life, but also of the artistic, social, political, and religious worlds in which he lived and worked.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Portraitist\u003c\/em\u003e by Steven Nadler is a captivating exploration into the life and times of Frans Hals, revealing the artist's unique contribution to portraiture and his enduring legacy in art history.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46855887716588,"sku":"9780226698366","price":66.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/19211943482268.jpg?v=1759281949"},{"product_id":"a-book-forged-in-hell-by-steven-nadler-9780691160184","title":"A Book Forged in Hell","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen it appeared in 1670, Baruch Spinoza's \u003cem\u003eTheological-Political Treatise\u003c\/em\u003e was denounced as the most dangerous book ever published—\"godless,\" \"full of abominations,\" \"a book forged in hell... by the devil himself.\" Religious and secular authorities saw it as a threat to faith, social and political harmony, and everyday morality. Its author was almost universally regarded as a religious subversive and political radical who sought to spread atheism throughout Europe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eYet, Spinoza's book has contributed as much as the Declaration of Independence or Thomas Paine's \u003cem\u003eCommon Sense\u003c\/em\u003e to modern liberal, secular, and democratic thinking. In \u003cem\u003eA Book Forged in Hell\u003c\/em\u003e, Steven Nadler tells the fascinating story of this extraordinary book: its radical claims and their background in the philosophical, religious, and political tensions of the Dutch Golden Age, as well as the vitriolic reaction these ideas inspired.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt is not hard to see why Spinoza's \u003cem\u003eTreatise\u003c\/em\u003e was so important or so controversial, or why the uproar it caused is one of the most significant events in European intellectual history. In the book, Spinoza became the first to argue that the Bible is not literally the word of God but rather a work of human literature; that true religion has nothing to do with theology, liturgical ceremonies, or sectarian dogma; and that religious authorities should have no role in governing a modern state.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHe also denied the reality of miracles and divine providence, reinterpreted the nature of prophecy, and made an eloquent plea for toleration and democracy. A vivid story of incendiary ideas and vicious backlash, \u003cem\u003eA Book Forged in Hell\u003c\/em\u003e will interest anyone who is curious about the origin of some of our most cherished modern beliefs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"NewSouth Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47000408457452,"sku":"9780691160184","price":56.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/1588983482434.jpg?v=1763278680"},{"product_id":"think-least-of-death-by-steven-nadler-9780691233956","title":"Think Least of Death","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom Pulitzer Prize-finalist Steven Nadler, an engaging guide to what Spinoza can teach us about life's big questions.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1656, after being excommunicated from Amsterdam's Portuguese-Jewish community for 'abominable heresies' and 'monstrous deeds,' the young Baruch Spinoza abandoned his family's import business to dedicate his life to philosophy. He quickly became notorious across Europe for his views on God, the Bible, and miracles, as well as for his uncompromising defense of free thought.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eYet, the radicalism of Spinoza's views has long obscured that his primary reason for turning to philosophy was to answer one of humanity's most urgent questions: How can we lead a good life and enjoy happiness in a world without a providential God? In \u003ci\u003eThink Least of Death\u003c\/i\u003e, Pulitzer Prize-finalist Steven Nadler connects Spinoza's ideas with his life and times to offer a compelling account of how the philosopher can provide a guide to living one's best life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn the \u003ci\u003eEthics\u003c\/i\u003e, Spinoza presents his vision of the ideal human being, the 'free person' who, motivated by reason, lives a life of joy devoted to what is most important—improving oneself and others. Untroubled by passions such as hate, greed, and envy, free people treat others with benevolence, justice, and charity. Focusing on the rewards of goodness, they enjoy the pleasures of this world, but in moderation. '\u003ci\u003eThe free person thinks least of all of death,'\u003c\/i\u003e Spinoza writes, '\u003ci\u003eand his wisdom is a meditation not on death but on life.\u003c\/i\u003e'\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'A helpful explication of [Spinoza's] ideas about ethics, the afterlife, and human nature.' - \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Gardners Books Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47000826708204,"sku":"9780691233956","price":52.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/2326703482434.jpg?v=1763307988"},{"product_id":"think-least-of-death-by-steven-nadler-9780691183848","title":"Think Least of Death","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom Pulitzer Prize-finalist Steven Nadler, an engaging guide to what Spinoza can teach us about life's big questions.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1656, after being excommunicated from Amsterdam's Portuguese-Jewish community for 'abominable heresies' and 'monstrous deeds,' the young Baruch Spinoza abandoned his family's import business to dedicate his life to philosophy. He quickly became notorious across Europe for his views on God, the Bible, and miracles, as well as for his uncompromising defence of free thought. Yet the radicalism of Spinoza's views has long obscured that his primary reason for turning to philosophy was to answer one of humanity's most urgent questions: How can we lead a good life and enjoy happiness in a world without a providential God?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThink Least of Death\u003c\/i\u003e, Pulitzer Prize-finalist Steven Nadler connects Spinoza's ideas with his life and times to offer a compelling account of how the philosopher can provide a guide to living one's best life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn the \u003ci\u003eEthics\u003c\/i\u003e, Spinoza presents his vision of the ideal human being, the 'free person' who, motivated by reason, lives a life of joy devoted to what is most important—improving oneself and others. Untroubled by passions such as hate, greed, and envy, free people treat others with benevolence, justice, and charity. Focusing on the rewards of goodness, they enjoy the pleasures of this world, but in moderation. \"\u003ci\u003eThe free person thinks least of all of death,\u003c\/i\u003e\" Spinoza writes, \"\u003ci\u003eand his wisdom is a meditation not on death but on life.\u003c\/i\u003e\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"A helpful explication of [Spinoza's] ideas about ethics, the afterlife, and human nature.\" - \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"NewSouth Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47000826773740,"sku":"9780691183848","price":79.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/1825623482434.jpg?v=1763307999"},{"product_id":"when-bad-thinking-happens-to-good-people-by-lawrence-shapiro-9780691227955","title":"When Bad Thinking Happens to Good People","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhy the tools of philosophy offer a powerful antidote to today's epidemic of irrationality\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThere is an epidemic of bad thinking in the world today. An alarming number of people are embracing crazy, even dangerous ideas. They believe that vaccinations cause autism. They reject the scientific consensus on climate change as a \"hoax.\" And they blame the spread of COVID-19 on the 5G network or a Chinese cabal. Worse, bad thinking drives bad acting—it even inspired a mob to storm the U.S. Capitol.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn this book, Steven Nadler and Lawrence Shapiro argue that the best antidote for bad thinking is the wisdom, insights, and practical skills of philosophy. \u003cem\u003eWhen Bad Thinking Happens to Good People\u003c\/em\u003e provides an engaging tour through the basic principles of logic, argument, evidence, and probability that can make all of us more reasonable and responsible citizens.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eWhen Bad Thinking Happens to Good People\u003c\/em\u003e shows how we can more readily spot and avoid flawed arguments and unreliable information; determine whether evidence supports or contradicts an idea; distinguish between merely believing something and knowing it; and much more. In doing so, the book reveals how epistemology, which addresses the nature of belief and knowledge, and ethics, the study of moral principles that should govern our behaviour, can reduce bad thinking. Moreover, the book shows why philosophy's millennia-old advice about how to lead a good, rational, and examined life is essential for escaping our current predicament.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn a world in which irrationality has exploded to deadly effect, \u003cem\u003eWhen Bad Thinking Happens to Good People\u003c\/em\u003e is a timely and essential guide for a return to reason.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"NewSouth Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47000842698988,"sku":"9780691227955","price":44.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/2266693482434.jpg?v=1763309517"},{"product_id":"when-bad-thinking-happens-to-good-people-by-lawrence-shapiro-9780691232942","title":"When Bad Thinking Happens to Good People","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhy the tools of philosophy offer a powerful antidote to today's epidemic of irrationality\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThere is an epidemic of bad thinking in the world today. An alarming number of people are embracing crazy, even dangerous ideas. They believe that vaccinations cause autism. They reject the scientific consensus on climate change as a \"hoax.\" And they blame the spread of COVID-19 on the 5G network or a Chinese cabal. Worse, bad thinking drives bad acting—it even inspired a mob to storm the U.S. Capitol. In this book, Steven Nadler and Lawrence Shapiro argue that the best antidote for bad thinking is the wisdom, insights, and practical skills of philosophy. \u003cem\u003eWhen Bad Thinking Happens to Good People\u003c\/em\u003e provides an engaging tour through the basic principles of logic, argument, evidence, and probability that can make all of us more reasonable and responsible citizens.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eWhen Bad Thinking Happens to Good People\u003c\/em\u003e shows how we can more readily spot and avoid flawed arguments and unreliable information; determine whether evidence supports or contradicts an idea; distinguish between merely believing something and knowing it; and much more. In doing so, the book reveals how epistemology, which addresses the nature of belief and knowledge, and ethics, the study of moral principles that should govern our behaviour, can reduce bad thinking. Moreover, the book shows why philosophy's millennia-old advice about how to lead a good, rational, and examined life is essential for escaping our current predicament.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn a world in which irrationality has exploded to deadly effect, \u003cem\u003eWhen Bad Thinking Happens to Good People\u003c\/em\u003e is a timely and essential guide for a return to reason.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47487762071788,"sku":"9780691232942","price":39.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/687da5f07b9f8aefbb0858877ad4b87e.jpg?v=1775769097"},{"product_id":"heretics-by-steven-nadler-9780691168692","title":"Heretics!","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn entertaining, enlightening, and humorous graphic narrative of the dangerous thinkers who laid the foundation of modern thought.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis entertaining and enlightening graphic narrative tells the exciting story of the seventeenth-century thinkers who challenged authority—sometimes risking excommunication, prison, and even death—to lay the foundations of modern philosophy and science and help usher in a new world. With masterful storytelling and colour illustrations, \u003cem\u003eHeretics!\u003c\/em\u003e offers a unique introduction to the birth of modern thought in comics form—smart, charming, and often funny.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThese contentious and controversial philosophers—from Galileo and Descartes to Spinoza, Locke, Leibniz, and Newton—fundamentally changed the way we look at the world, society, and ourselves, overturning everything from the idea that the Earth is the centre of the cosmos to the notion that kings have a divine right to rule.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMore devoted to reason than to faith, these thinkers defended scandalous new views of nature, religion, politics, knowledge, and the human mind. \u003cem\u003eHeretics!\u003c\/em\u003e tells the story of their ideas, lives, and times in a vivid new way. 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