Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

A visionary analysis of how the politics of fear, secrecy, cronyism, and blind faith has combined with the degradation of the public sphere to create an environment dangerously hostile to reason At the time George W. Bush ordered American forces to invade Iraq, 70 percent of Americans believed Saddam Hussein was linked to 9/11. Voters in Ohio, when asked by pollsters to list what stuck in their minds about the... (more)

Being Logical: A Guide to Good Thinking

by Dennis Q. McInerny

Whether regarded as a science, an art, or a skill–and it can properly be regarded as all three–logic is the basis of our ability to think, analyze, argue, and communicate. Indeed, logic goes to the very core of what we mean by human intelligence. In this concise, crisply readable book, distinguished professor D. Q. McInerny offers an indispensable guide to using logic to advantage in everyday life. Written... (more)

Mere Christianity

by C. S. Lewis

THE BELOVED BESTSELLING CLASSIC OF CHRISTIAN FAITH Mere Christianity is C. S. Lewis's forceful and accessible doctrine of Christian belief. First heard as informal radio broadcasts and then published as three separate books -- The Case for Christianity, Christian Behavior, and Beyond Personality -- Mere Christianity brings together what Lewis sees as the fundamental truths of the religion. Rejecting the... (more)

Atlas Shrugged

by Ayn Rand

At last, Ayn Rand's masterpiece is available to her millions of loyal readers in trade paperback. With this acclaimed work and its immortal query, "Who is John Galt?", Ayn Rand found the perfect artistic form to express her vision of existence. Atlas Shrugged made Rand not only one of the most popular novelists of the century, but one of its most influential thinkers. Atlas Shrugged is the astounding... (more)

Nicomachean Ethics, 2nd Edition

by Aristotle

Building on the strengths of the first edition, the second edition of the Irwin Nicomachean Ethics features a revised translation (without extensive editorial intervention), expanded notes (including a summary of the argument of each chapter), an expanded Introduction, and a revised glossary. Terence Irwin is Susan Linn Sage Professor of Philosophy, Cornell University.

Faith and Reason

by Ronald H. Nash

This book explores philosophical questions that have important implications for the truth and rationality of the Christian faith.

Ethics: An Essay on the Understanding of Evil (Wo Es War)

Ethics: An Essay on the Understanding of Evil (Wo Es War)

by Alain Badiou

Alain Badiou, one of the most powerful voices in contemporary French philosophy, shows how our prevailing ethical principles serve ultimately to reinforce an ideology of the status quo and fail to provide a framework for an effective understanding of the concept of evil.

Taking Responsibility

by Nathaniel Branden

The bestselling author of The Psychology of Self-Esteem presents an illuminating guide to self-realization through self-reliance and a vision of a society transformed by a new ethical individualism.

The Common Sense of Science

by J. Bronowski

The late Dr. J. Bronowski was both a distinguished mathematician and a poet, a philosopher of science and a literary critic who wrote a well-known study of William Blake. Dr. Bronowski's very career was founded on the premise of an intimate connection between science and the humanities, disciplines which are still generally thought to be worlds apart. The Common Sense of Science , a book which remains as topical... (more)

Pragmatism: A Reader

by Louis Menand

Pragmatism has been called America's only major contribution to philosophy. But since its birth was announced a century ago in 1898 by William James, pragmatism has played a vital role in almost every area of American intellectual and cultural life, inspiring judges, educators, politicians, poets, and social prophets. Now the major texts of American pragmatism, from William James and John Dewey to Richard Rorty... (more)

The Art of Living Consciously: The Power of Awareness to Transform Everyday Life

The Art of Living Consciously: The Power of Awareness to Transform Everyday Life

by Nathaniel Branden

The Art of Living Consciously Is an Operating Manual for Our Basic Tool of Survival In The Art of Living Consciously, Dr. Nathaniel Branden, our foremost authority on self-esteem, takes us into new territory, exploring the actions of our minds when they are operating as our life and well-being require -- and also when they are not. No other book illuminates so clearly what true mindfulness means: * In... (more)

God Is Not Great

How Religion Poisons Everything

by Christopher Hitchens

In the tradition of Bertrand Russell's Why I Am Not a Christian and Sam Harris's recent bestseller, The End of Faith, Christopher Hitchens makes the ultimate case against religion. With a close and erudite reading of the major religious texts, he documents the ways in which religion is a man-made wish, a cause of dangerous sexual repression, and a distortion of our origins in the cosmos. With eloquent clarity,... (more)

The art of thinking: A guide to critical and creative thought

The art of thinking: A guide to critical and creative thought

by Vincent Ryan Ruggiero

Accessible and engaging, this unique book offers strategies for critical and creative thinking and includes many opportunities for practicing these fundamental skills. This book introduces readers to the principles and techniques of critical thinking, taking them step–by–step through the problem–solving process. Emphasizing creative and active thought processes, the author asserts that good thinking isn't merely... (more)

Hammer of the Gods: A Friedrich Nietzsche Reader

Hammer of the Gods: A Friedrich Nietzsche Reader

by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Friedrich Nietzsche’s most prophetic, futuristic and apocalyptic philosophies are traced against modern upheavals and our post-millennial anxiety. Integrating texts from all of Nietzsche's major writings, this is an exciting new and radical re-interpretation of Nietzsche's writings, suggesting that Nietzsche is the only guide to the madness in our society, which he prophesied a century ago. Includes, among many... (more)

The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius

by Marcus, Aurelius

A translation of the classic works by Marcus Aurelius.

Science and Human Values

by Jacob Bronowski

Thought-provoking essays on science as an integral part of the culture of our age from a leader in the scientific humanism movement. "A profoundly moving, brilliantly perceptive essay by a truly civilized man."-- Scientific American

Aristotle On Man In The Universe: Metaphysics, Parts of Animals, Ethics, Politics, and PoeticsAristotle

Aristotle On Man In The Universe: Metaphysics, Parts of Animals, Ethics, Politics, and Poetics

by Aristotle

Providing newly revised translations of selections from Aristotle's most important works, five lectures consider widespread topics that affect everyday people, from the natural world to human nature.

The rebel;: An essay on man in revolt

by Albert Camus

By one of the most profoundly influential thinkers of our century, The Rebel is a classic essay on revolution. For Albert Camus, the urge to revolt is one of the "essential dimensions" of human nature, manifested in man's timeless Promethean struggle against the conditions of his existence, as well as the popular uprisings against established orders throughout history. And yet, with an eye toward the French... (more)

Against All Gods: Six Polemics on Religion and an Essay on Kindness

Against All Gods: Six Polemics on Religion and an Essay on Kindness

by A C Grayling

In a series of bold, unsparing polemics, A C Grayling exposes the dangerous unreason he sees at the heart of religious faith and highlights the urgent need we have to reject it in all its forms, without compromise. In its place he argues for a set of values based on reason, reflection, and sympathy, taking his cue from the great ethical tradition of Western philosophy.

Descartes' Bones: A Skeletal History of the Conflict between Faith and Reason

Descartes' Bones: A Skeletal History of the Conflict between Faith and Reason

by Russell Shorto

On a brutal winter's day in 1650 in Stockholm, the Frenchman René Descartes, the most influential and controversial thinker of his time, was buried after a cold and lonely death far from home. Sixteen years later, the French Ambassador Hugues de Terlon secretly unearthed Descartes' bones and transported them to France. Why would this devoutly Catholic official care so much about the remains of a philosopher who... (more)

Shelfari Book Activity

Tags: reason

by Albert Gore

by Dennis Q. McInerny

by C. S. Lewis

by Ayn Rand

by Aristotle

by Ronald H. Nash

by Alain Badiou

by Nathaniel Branden

by J. Bronowski

by Louis Menand

by Nathaniel Branden

How Religion Poisons Everything

by Christopher Hitchens

by Vincent Ryan Ruggiero

by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

by Marcus, Aurelius

by Jacob Bronowski

by Aristotle

by Albert Camus

by A C Grayling

by Russell Shorto