How do we judge whether we should be willing to follow the views of experts or whether we ought to try to come to our own, independent views? This book seeks the answer in medieval philosophical thought.In this engaging study into the history of philosophy and epistemology, Peter Adamson provides an answer to a question as relevant today as it was in the medieval period: how and when should we turn to the authoritative expertise of other people in forming our own b...

With the help of true stories from transformed patients, Dr. Peter Adamson provides an intimate glimpse into the experience of plastic surgery. Is it right for you? How do you find a doctor? What surgeries and procedures are available? What can you expect before, during, and after surgery? The answers to all these and more are revealed in Fabulous Faces.

'Nothing could be simpler… Don't wear a suit'Dr Michael Lowell—a mild–mannered American, unshakeably decent and at the top of his profession—accepts an invitation to a weekend reunion of Oxford college friends. He is looking forward to meeting some of them—including front-line Canadian medic Hélène Hevré and the Australian advertising genius Toby Jenks. But the big attraction is the serene young woman from Karachi who rejected him twenty years ago because he was 'just a little bit t...

Peter Adamson offers an accessible, humorous tour through a period of eight hundred years when some of the most influential of all schools of thought were formed: from the third century BC to the sixth century AD. He introduces us to Cynics and Skeptics, Epicureans and Stoics, emperors and slaves, and traces the development of Christian and Jewish philosophy and of ancient science. Chapters are devoted to such major figures as Epicurus, Lucretius, Cicero, Seneca, Plotinus, and Augustine. B...

In the history of philosophy, few topics are so relevant to today's cultural and political landscape as philosophy in the Islamic world. Yet, this remains one of the lesser-known philosophical traditions. In this Very Short Introduction, Peter Adamson explores the history of philosophy among Muslims, Jews, and Christians living in Islamic lands, from its historical background to thinkers in the twentieth century. Introducing the main philosophical themes of the Islamic world, Adam...

Peter Adamson explores the rich intellectual history of the Byzantine Empire and the Italian Renaissance. Peter Adamson presents an engaging and wide-ranging introduction to the thinkers and movements of two great intellectual cultures: Byzantium and the Italian Renaissance. First he traces the development of philosophy in the Eastern Christian world, from such early figures as John of Damascus in the eighth century to the late Byzantine scholars of the fifteenth century. ...

Classical Philosophy is the first of a series of books in which Peter Adamson aims ultimately to present a complete history of philosophy, more thoroughly but also more enjoyably than ever before. In short, lively chapters, based on the popular History of Philosophy podcast, he offers an accessible, humorous, and detailed look at the emergence of philosophy with the Presocratics, the probing questions of Socrates, and the first full flowering of philosophy with the dialog...

In this latest volume of A History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps, Peter Adamson presents a lively and accessible introduction to European philosophy during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Philosophy in the Reformation focuses on the parallel and intertwining emergence of humanism and of religious reform, as figures like Erasmus, Luther, and Calvin remade the intellectual and spiritual life of Europe. In the first three parts of the book, philosophical developments...

In this latest instalment of the series A History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps, Peter Adamson and Chike Jeffers delve into the fascinating world of Africana Philosophy. Africana Philosophy from Ancient Egypt to the Nineteenth Century is the first of two volumes in the History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps series to bring readers the story of Africana philosophy. This diverse topic is defined as philosophy emerging from and distinctively related to Africa or the Africa...

The latest in the series based on the popular History of Philosophy podcast, this volume presents the first full history of philosophy in the Islamic world for a broad readership. It takes an approach unprecedented among introductions to this subject, by providing full coverage of Jewish and Christian thinkers as well as Muslims, and by taking the story of philosophy from its beginnings in the world of early Islam all the way through to the twentieth century. Major figures like Av...

Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring This book provides an introduction to the most important philosopher of the Islamic world, Ibn Sīnā, often known in English by his Latinized name Avicenna. After introducing the man and his works, with an overview of the historical context in which he lived, the book devotes chapters to the different areas of Ibn Sīnā's thought. Among the topics covered are his innovations in logic, his theory of the human soul and its ...

Philosophy in the Islamic world from the 9th to 11th centuries was characterized by an engagement with Greek philosophical works in Arabic translation. This volume collects papers on both the Greek philosophers in their new Arabic guise, and on reactions to the translation movement in the period leading up to Avicenna. In a first section, Adamson provides general studies of the ’formative’ period of philosophy in the Islamic world, discussing the Arabic reception of Aristotle and of his co...