Spinoza: A Guide for the Perplexed
Spinoza: A Guide for the Perplexed

Author: Charles Jarrett

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2007-06-11

Total Pages: 199

ISBN-13: 1441120343

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Continuum's Guides for the Perplexed are clear, concise and accessible introductions to thinkers, writers and subjects that students and readers can find especially challenging. Concentrating specifically on what it is that makes the subject difficult to fathom, these books explain and explore key themes and ideas, guiding the reader towards a thorough understanding of demanding material. Benedict de Spinoza is a major philosopher of enduring influence and importance, whose work is encountered by all serious students of Western philosophy; his Ethics is one of the seminal works of moral, religious and political thought. Nevertheless, Spinoza is a considerable challenge for the modern student; his language, rooted in the vocabulary of late Medieval scholasticism is frequently opaque, while the esoteric themes explored in his work often require elucidation. Spinoza: A Guide for the Perplexed provides that elucidation, offering a thorough account and analysis of Spinoza's key works and overall philosophical project. The text equips the reader with the necessary means to draw full and clear understanding from Spinoza's often inaccessible language and complex philosophical system and method. His Ethics and political treatises are covered in detail; Spinoza's 'geometrical' approach to his subject is opened up, and his obscure terminology fully explained. The book concludes with a valuable assessment of Spinoza's enduring influence and his relevance for contemporary philosophical debates and concerns. It is an excellent support resource for anyone trying to get to grips with this challenging and important philosopher.

GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED
GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED

Author: E. F. Schumacher

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 1978-05-31

Total Pages: 164

ISBN-13: 0060906111

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The author of the world wide best-seller, Small Is Beautiful, now tackles the subject of Man, the World, and the Meaning of Living. Schumacher writes about man's relation to the world. man has obligations -- to other men, to the earth, to progress and technology, but most importantly himself. If man can fulfill these obligations, then and only then can he enjoy a real relationship with the world, then and only then can he know the meaning of living. Schumacher says we need maps: a "map of knowledge" and a "map of living." The concern of the mapmaker--in this instance, Schumacher--is to find for everything it's proper place. Things out of place tend to get lost; they become invisible and there proper places end to be filled by other things that ought not be there at all and therefore serve to mislead. A Guide for the Perplexed teaches us to be our own map makers. This constantly surprising, always stimulating book will be welcomed by a large audience, including the many new fans who believe strongly in what Schumacher has to say.

Kierkegaard: A Guide for the Perplexed
Kierkegaard: A Guide for the Perplexed

Author: Clare Carlisle

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2006-01-01

Total Pages: 180

ISBN-13: 9780826486103

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Kierkegaard is an important literary and religious figure, as well a major philosopher whom students may have a difficult time comprehending- this guide provides a clear and concise understanding of his work

Maimonides & Spinoza
Maimonides & Spinoza

Author: Joshua Parens

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2012-04-09

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13: 0226645762

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Until the last century, it was generally agreed that Maimonides was a great defender of Judaism, and Spinoza—as an Enlightenment advocate for secularization—among its key opponents. However, a new scholarly consensus has recently emerged that the teachings of the two philosophers were in fact much closer than was previously thought. In his perceptive new book, Joshua Parens sets out to challenge the now predominant view of Maimonides as a protomodern forerunner to Spinoza—and to show that a chief reason to read Maimonides is in fact to gain distance from our progressively secularized worldview. Turning the focus from Spinoza’s oft-analyzed Theologico-Political Treatise, this book has at its heart a nuanced analysis of his theory of human nature in the Ethics. Viewing this work in contrast to Maimonides’s Guide of the Perplexed, it makes clear that Spinoza can no longer be thought of as the founder of modern Jewish identity, nor should Maimonides be thought of as having paved the way for a modern secular worldview. Maimonides and Spinoza dramatically revises our understanding of both philosophers.

A Guide for the Perplexed
A Guide for the Perplexed

Author: Dara Horn

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2013-09-09

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13: 0393064891

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While consulting at an Egyptian library, software prodigy Josie Ashkenazi is kidnapped and her talent for preserving memories becomes her only means of escape as the power of her ingenious work is revealed, while jealous sister Judith takes over Josie's life at home.

A Book Forged in Hell
A Book Forged in Hell

Author: Steven Nadler

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2011-10-09

Total Pages: 299

ISBN-13: 069113989X

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When it appeared in 1670, Baruch Spinoza's Theological-Political Treatise was denounced as the most dangerous book ever published. Religious and secular authorities saw it as a threat to faith, social and political harmony, and everyday morality, and its author was almost universally regarded as a religious subversive and political radical who sought to spread atheism throughout Europe. Steven Nadler tells the story of this 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. A vivid story of incendiary ideas and vicious backlash, A Book Forged in Hell will interest anyone who is curious about the origin of some of our most cherished modern beliefs--Jacket p. [2].

Aristotle: A Guide for the Perplexed
Aristotle: A Guide for the Perplexed

Author: John Vella

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2008-03-15

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13: 1441154183

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For more than a millennium, Aristotle was regarded as the foremost authority in the western world in nearly every subject. His corpus spans a daunting array of subjects and he made significant contributions to every known field of inquiry in the ancient world. In Aristotle: A Guide for the Perplexed, John Vella explores the historical, philosophical and political context in which aristotle's theories evolved. The book offers a clear and thorough account of the work and thought of this key thinker, providing an outline of his central ideas and the ways in which they have influenced the history of western philosophy. Thematically structured, the book considers all Aristotle's key works and is geared towards the specific requirements of students who need to reach a sound understanding of his theories and ideas.

Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed
Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed

Author: Daniel Frank

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2021-07

Total Pages: 327

ISBN-13: 1108480519

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This is the first scholarly collection in English devoted to Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed.

Maimonides' "Guide of the Perplexed" in Translation
Maimonides'

Author: Josef Stern

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2019-08-15

Total Pages: 490

ISBN-13: 022645763X

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Moses Maimonides’s Guide of the Perplexed is the greatest philosophical text in the history of Jewish thought and a major work of the Middle Ages. For almost all of its history, however, the Guide has been read and commented upon in translation—in Hebrew, Latin, Spanish, French, English, and other modern languages—rather than in its original Judeo-Arabic. This volume is the first to tell the story of the translations and translators of Maimonides’ Guide and its impact in translation on philosophy from the Middle Ages to the present day. A collection of essays by scholars from a range of disciplines, the book unfolds in two parts. The first traces the history of the translations of the Guide, from medieval to modern renditions. The second surveys its influence in translation on Latin scholastic, early modern, and contemporary Anglo-American philosophy, as well as its impact in translation on current scholarship. Interdisciplinary in approach, this book will be essential reading for philosophers, historians, and religious studies scholars alike.

Western Esotericism: A Guide for the Perplexed
Western Esotericism: A Guide for the Perplexed

Author: Wouter J. Hanegraaff

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2013-02-14

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 1441188975

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Western esotericism has been a pervasive presence in Western culture from late antiquity to the present day, but until recently it was largely ignored by scholars and surrounded by misconceptions and prejudice. This accessible guide provides readers with the basic knowledge and tools that will allow them to find their way in this bewildering but fascinating field. What is it that unites phenomena as diverse as ancient gnosticism and hermetism, the "occult sciences" of astrology, alchemy, and magic, rosicrucianism, as well as Christian theosophy, occultism, spiritualism, and the contemporary New Age spiritualities? What can the study of them teach us about our common cultural and intellectual heritage, and what is it that makes them relevant to contemporary concerns? How do we distinguish reliable historical knowledge from legends and fictions about esoteric traditions? These and many other questions are answered clearly and succinctly, so that the reader can find his way into the labyrinth of Western esotericism and out of it again.