If one were asked to name Nietzsche's primary concepts (e.g. will to power, death of God, eternal recurrence), education would likely appear near the bottom of the list. Nevertheless, Nietzsche was intensely occupied with the topic. To see how Nietzsche formulates his basic questions about the nature and aim of education, I begin with his lectures On the Future of our Educational Institutions. I then move to his third Untimely Meditation, 'Schopenhauer as Educator,' where he articulates hi...

Thomas Aquinas's Questions on the passions form part of the Summa Theologiae, Aquinas's best-known work. This first standalone edition shows, through a translation that is both rigorously accurate and mirrors the rapid tempo of Aquinas's Latin, what Aquinas says in his landmark treatment of the passions. Aquinas sets the parameters and terms of debate for numerous later theorists of the passions, including Descartes, Hobbes, Spinoza and Hume. Some have alleged that Paul and later Christian...

From bookshelves overflowing with self-help books to scholarly treatises on neurobiology to late-night infomercials that promise to make you happier, healthier, and smarter with the acquisition of just a few simple practices, the discourse of habit is a staple of contemporary culture high and low. Discussion of habit, however, tends to neglect the most fundamental questions: What is habit? Habits, we say, are hard to break. But what does it mean to break a habit? Where and how do habits ta...

This book is a historically informed and textually grounded study of the connections between Montaigne, the inventor of the essay, and Nietzsche, who thought of himself as an “attempter.” In conversation with the Essais, Nietzsche developed key themes of his oeuvre: experimental scepticism, gay science, the quest for drives beneath consciousness, the free spirit, the affirmation of sexuality and the body, and the meaning of greatness.Robert Miner explores these connections...

A fresh translation of quaestiones from the Summa theologiae of Thomas Aquinas, edited by Robert Miner. This volume provides direct access to the medieval theologian’s deepest thinking about the supreme goal of human life—blessedness—and the virtue most intimately related to this goal—charity. The edition also contains Aquinas’s treatment of charity’s effects—love, joy, peace, and mercy—and the vices opposed to them, such as hatred, envy, and war. Featuring five supplementa...

The Summa Theologiae is Thomas Aquinas' undisputed masterwork, and it includes his thoughts on the elemental forces in human life. Feelings such as love, hatred, pleasure, pain, hope and despair were described by Aquinas as 'passions', representing the different ways in which happiness could be affected. But what causes the passions? What impact do they have on the person who suffers them? Can they be shaped and reshaped in order to better promote human flourishing? The aim of this book is...

This brilliant and concise account of the lives and ideas of the world's great philosophers—Plato, Aristotle, Bacon, Spinoza, Voltaire, Kant, Schopenhauer, Spencer, Nietzsche, Bergson, Croce, Russell, Santayana, James, and Dewey—is "a delight" (The New York Times) and remains one of the most important books of our time.Will Durant chronicles the ideas of the great thinkers, the economic and intellectual environments which influenced them, and the personal ...

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 world view and by the powerful belief that wisdom and truth can ultimately only be reached through divine revelation. Thomas's writings, which contain highly influential statements of fundamental Christian doctrine, as well as observations on topics as ...

This surprisingly modern, twelfth-century classic has long been popular with monks. Now this new edition opens up the riches of this spiritual masterpiece to a wide audience of contemporary readers who see the spiritual life not as a solitary enterprise, but one intimately connected to relationships. Written in dialogue form, Spiritual Friendship offers wise counsel on many aspects of friendship. Dennis Billy, C.Ss.R., editor of the innovative Classics with Commentary series, has ...

This captivating collection brings together five of Friedrich Nietzche’s most important philosophical works, exploring themes such as nihilism, metaphysics, and the nature of morality—featuring an introduction by Peter Gay and commentary from Martin Heidegger, Albert Camus, and Gilles DeleuzeMore than one hundred years after his death, Friedrich Nietzsche remains the most influential philosopher of the modern era. Basic Writings of Nietzsche gathers the co...

"A passionate, humane intelligence addressing itself to the fundamental problem of how the mind operates." — NewsweekConsidered by many to be Hannah Arendt's greatest work, published as she neared the end of her life, The Life of the Mind investigates thought itself, as it exists in contemplative life. In a shift from her previous writings, most of which focus on the world outside the mind, this work was planned as three volumes that would explore ...

Augustine of Hippo, one of the greatest and most influential minds in the history of Christendom, was not only a Bishop and theologian, but the author of arguably the most influential and authoritative 'Grand Unified Theory', in the true sense, in the last two thousand years. Augustine's writings cover not only pastoral and ecclesiastical matters, but wander all over the knowable intellectual universe. Sometimes in large works such as the City of God, and still other times in bits and piec...