Soren Kierkegaard (1813-55), one of the most original thinkers of the nineteenth century, wrote widely on religious, psychological, and literary themes. This book shows how Kierkegaard developed his views in emphatic opposition to prevailing opinions. It describes his reaction to the ethical and religious...

How much faith should we place in what scientists tell us? Is it possible for scientific knowledge to be fully 'objective'? What, really, can be defined as science? In the second edition of this Very Short Introduction, Samir Okasha explores the main themes and...

"Indistractable provides a framework that will deliver the focus you need to get results.” —James Clear, author of Atomic Habits "If you value your time, your focus, or your relationships, this book is essential reading. I’m putting these ideas into practice." —Jonathan Haidt, author of The Righteous...

Cook's great voyages marked the end of an era in world history. As he sailed into Hawaii in January 1778 he made contact with the last of the human civilizations to grow up independently of the rest of the world. But equally for the...

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...

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER“A wake-up call for the entire planet . . . [A New Earth] helps us to stop creating our own suffering and obsessing over the past and what the future might be, and to put ourselves in the now.” —Oprah WinfreyWith his bestselling...

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERThe “lively” (The New Yorker), “convincing” (Forbes), and “riveting pick-me-up we all need right now” (People) that proves humanity thrives in a crisis and that our innate kindness and cooperation have been the greatest factors in our long-term success as a species.If there...

Unapologetic is a brief, witty, personal, sharp-tongued defence of Christian belief, taking on Dawkins' The God Delusion and Christopher Hitchens' God is Not Great.But it isn't an argument that Christianity is true - because how could anyone know that (or indeed its opposite)?It's an argument that Christianity is recognisable,...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER One of The Roots' 28 Brilliant Books by Black Authors in 2018 "A writer to be reckoned with." —Roxane Gay Named one of the Most Anticipated Books of 2018 by Esquire, Elle, Vogue, Nylon, The Millions, Refinery29, the Huffington Post, Book Riot, Bitch Media, Electric Literature,...

What would you do if you knew you could never fail? That no matter what life threw at you, whatever challenges you faced, you could keep moving forward to build a happy and successful life. With Bounce you can. Nobody goes through life without ups and...

The classic personal account of Watson and Crick’s groundbreaking discovery of the structure of DNA, now with an introduction by Sylvia Nasar, author of A Beautiful Mind.By identifying the structure of DNA, the molecule of life, Francis Crick and James Watson revolutionized biochemistry and won...

This is the most lucid and timely introduction to the thought of Carl Gustav Jung available to date. Though he was a prolific writer and an original thinker of vast erudition, Jung lacked a gift for clear exposition, and his ideas are less widely...

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948) was one of the few men in history to fight simultaneously on moral, religious, political, social, economic, and cultural fronts. During his time as a lawyer in South Africa he developed his strategy of non-violence: the idea of opposing unjust...

Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, developed a totally new way of looking at human nature. Only now, with the hindsight of the half-century since his death, can we assess his true legacy to current thought. As an experienced psychiatrist himself, Anthony Storr offers...

This Very Short Introduction introduces readers to the key concepts of political philosophy: authority, democracy, freedom and its limits, justice, feminism, multiculturalism, and nationality. Accessibly written and assuming no previous knowledge of the subject, it encourages the reader to think clearly and critically about the leading...

Father of the Enlightenment and the last guardian of the medieval world, Spinoza made a brilliant attempt to reconcile the conflicting moral and intellectual demands of his epoch and to present a vision of man as simultaneously bound by necessity and eternally free. Ostracized...

Immanuel Kant is arguably the most influential modern philosopher, but is also one of the most difficult. In this illuminating Very Short Introduction, Roger Scruton--a well-known and controversial philosopher in his own right--tackles his exceptionally complex subject with a strong hand, exploring the background...

Karl Marx is one of the most influential philosophers of all time, whose theories have shaped and directed political, economic, and social thought for 150 years. Considering Marx's life and impact, renowned philosopher Peter Singer identifies the central vision that unifies Marx's thought, enabling...

Stoicism is two things: a long past philosophical school of ancient Greece and Rome, and an enduring philosophical movement that still inspires people in the twenty-first century to re-think and re-organize their lives in order to achieve personal satisfaction. What is the connection between...

What is the philosophy of religion? How can we distinguish it from theology on the one hand and the psychology/sociology of religious belief on the other? What does it mean to describe God as "eternal"? And should religious people want there to be good...

Clinical psychology makes a significant contribution to mental health care across the world. The essence of the discipline is the creative application of the knowledge base of psychology to the unique, personal experiences of individuals who are facing difficulties or changes in their lives....

Why must we believe that God is dead? Can we accept that traditional morality is just a 'useful mistake'? Did the principle of 'the will to power' lead to the Holocaust? What are the limitations of scientific knowledge? Is human evolution complete or only...

A BOOK OF THE YEARGUARDIAN , THE ECONOMIST , NEW STATESMAN , FINANCIAL TIMES , BLOOMBERGAnil Seth's radical new theory of consciousness challenges our understanding of perception and reality, doing for brain science what Dawkins did for evolutionary biology.A brilliant beast of a book....

Bertrand Russell changed Western philosophy forever. He tackled many puzzles--how our minds work, how we experience the world, and what the true nature of meaning is. In "Introducing Bertrand Russell "we meet a passionate eccentric, active in world politics, who had outspoken views on...

INTRODUCING guide to the hugely influential German thinker. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel is one of the greatest thinkers of all time. No other philosopher has had such a profound impact on the ideas and political events of the 20th century. Hegel's influential writings on...

The anniversary edition of this beloved bestseller is celebrated in Prefaces by Oprah Winfrey and Maya Angelou and contains a new Foreword by the author, website links, and a new Study Guide to help readers find even deeper meaning and fulfillment.The Seat of the...

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER · WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER  · USA TODAY BESTSELLER “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse is not only a thought-provoking, discussion-worthy story, the book itself is an object of art.”- Elizabeth Egan, The New York Times From British illustrator, artist, and author Charlie Mackesy comes a...

THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER In twenty-one bite-sized lessons, Yuval Noah Harari explores what it means to be human in an age of bewilderment. '21 Lessons is, simply put, a crucial book' Adam Kay How can we protect ourselves from nuclear war, ecological cataclysms and...

THE MILLION COPY BESTSELLER Sapiens showed us where we came from. In uncertain times, Homo Deus shows us where we're going. 'Homo Deus will shock you. It will entertain you. It will make you think in ways you had not thought before' Daniel Kahneman,...

Many people regard Hegel's work as obscure and extremely difficult, yet his importance and influence are universally acknowledged. Professor Singer eliminates any excuse for remaining ignorant of the outlines of Hegel's philosophy by providing a broad discussion of his ideas and an account of...

The #1 Sunday Times bestseller from 'the most influential public intellectual in the Western world right now' (New York Times) - now in paperback.How should we live properly in a world of chaos and uncertainty?Jordan Peterson has helped millions of people, young and old,...

Relax and find happiness amid the swirl of the modern world with this internationally bestselling guide to simplifying your life by a Japanese monk who embodies the wisdom of Zen. Drawing on centuries of wisdom, renowned Zen Buddhist priest Shunmyo Masuno applies the essence...

An international bestseller with over five million copies in print, The Power of Positive Thinking has helped men and women around the world to achieve fulfillment in their lives through Dr. Norman Vincent Peale’s powerful message of faith and inspiration.In this phenomenal bestseller, “written with the...

Susan Cain, New York Times bestselling author of Quiet: "The world could surely use a little more love, a little more compassion, and a little more wisdom. In Love for Imperfect Things, Haemin Sunim shows us how to cultivate all three, and to find beauty in the most imperfect...

The companion volume to 12 Rules for Life offers further guidance on the perilous path of modern life.  In 12 Rules for Life, clinical psychologist and celebrated professor at Harvard and the University of Toronto Dr. Jordan B. Peterson helped millions of readers impose order on the chaos of their lives. Now,...

Do you ever think you’re the only one making any sense? Or tried to reason with your partner with disastrous results? Do long, rambling answers drive you crazy? Or does your colleague’s abrasive manner rub you the wrong way?You are not alone. After a...

The multimillion-copy bestselling book of spiritual wisdom about the importance of slowing down in our fast-paced world, by the Buddhist author of Love for Imperfect Things“Wise advice on how to reflect and slow down.” —ElleIs it the world that’s busy, or is it my mind?The...

The phrase "silk road" evokes vivid scenes of merchants leading camel caravans across vast stretches to trade exotic goods in glittering Oriental bazaars, of pilgrims braving bandits and frozen mountain passes to spread their faith across Asia. Looking at the reality behind these images,...

Logic is often perceived as having little to do with the rest of philosophy, and even less to do with real life. In this lively and accessible introduction, Graham Priest shows how wrong this conception is. He explores the philosophical roots of the subject,...

From the Sunday Times bestselling author of Surrounded by Idiots.Some people are exceptionally manipulative. They can convince anyone about anything and lure them with their charm. They enjoy controlling others and will do anything to get what they want.Sound familiar?The bad news is that you...

How did we get from the Big Bang to today's staggering complexity, in which seven billion humans are connected into networks powerful enough to transform the planet? And why, in comparison, are our closest primate relatives reduced to near-extinction? Big History creator David Christian...

In The Emperor of All Maladies, Siddhartha Mukherjee, doctor, researcher and award-winning science writer, examines cancer with a cellular biologist's precision, a historian's perspective, and a biographer's passion. The result is an astonishingly lucid and eloquent chronicle of a disease humans have lived with...

Jay Shetty, social media superstar and host of the #1 podcast On Purpose, distills the timeless wisdom he learned as a monk into practical steps anyone can take every day to live a less anxious, more meaningful life.When you think like a monk, you’ll understand:-How...

The most well-known, long-lived, and tried-and-tested relationships guide ever: the phenomenal #1 New York Times bestseller Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus. In this classic guide to understanding the opposite sex, Dr. John Gray provides a practical and proven way for men and women to...

In Thinking 101 you can transform your life with clear actionable steps to overcome challenges and biases in your thinking, from renowned Yale psychologist Woo-kyoung Ahn.We all make thinking errors more often than we wish; we misjudge, mispredict and misunderstand things happening around us....

The concept of law lies at the heart of our social and political life, shaping the character of our community and underlying issues from racism and abortion to human rights and international war. Legal philosophy, or jurisprudence, explores the notion of law and its...

The most well-known, long-lived, and tried-and-tested relationships guide ever: the phenomenal #1 New York Times bestseller Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus. In this classic guide to understanding the opposite sex, Dr. John Gray provides a practical and proven way for men and women to...

The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius is one of the best-known and most popular works of ancient philosophy, offering spiritual reflections on how best to understand the universe and one's place within it. In short, highly charged comments, Marcus draws on Stoic philosophy to confront challenges that...