'Those most capable of being moved by passion are those capable of tasting the most sweetness in this life.'Descartes is most often thought of as introducing a total separation of mind and body. But he also acknowledged the intimate union between them,...

AN NYRB Classics OriginalIn 1869, at the age of twenty-four, the precociously brilliant Friedrich Nietzsche was appointed to a professorship of classical philology at the University of Basel. He seemed marked for a successful and conventional academic...

To what extent should government be permitted to intervene in personal choices? In grappling with this question, liberal theory seeks to balance individual liberty with the advancement of collective goals such as equality. Too often, however, society's...

Most Americans believe they possess an immaterial soul that will survive the death of the body. In sharp contrast, the current scientific consensus rejects the traditional soul, although this conclusion is rarely discussed publicly. In this book, a...

Revolutionary ideas and strategies to save the planet.

An argument that under capitalism, debt has become infinite and unpayable, expressing a political relation of subjection and enslavement.Experts, pundits, and politicians agree: public debt is hindering growth and increasing unemployment. Governments...

The fiftieth anniversary edition of a landmark work in generative grammar that continues to be influential, with a new preface by the author.Noam Chomsky's Aspects of the Theory of Syntax, published in 1965, was a landmark work in generative grammar that...

An argument that draws on empirical findings in psychology to offer a blueprint for cultivating a widespread commitment to public reason.At the core of liberal theory is the idea—found in thinkers from Hobbes to Rawls—that the consent of the governed is...

How a famous painting opens a window into the life, times, and philosophy of René DescartesIn the Louvre museum hangs a portrait that is considered the iconic image of René Descartes, the great seventeenth-century French philosopher. And the painter of...

Philosophical foundations of the physics of space-timeThis concise book introduces nonphysicists to the core philosophical issues surrounding the nature and structure of space and time, and is also an ideal resource for physicists interested in the...

Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536) was a Dutch humanist, scholar, and social critic, and one of the most important figures of the Renaissance. The Praise of Folly is perhaps his best-known work. Originally written to amuse his friend Sir Thomas More, this...

From the bestselling coauthor of Wittgenstein's Poker, a fascinating tour through the history of moral philosophyA runaway train is racing toward five men who are tied to the track. Unless the train is stopped, it will inevitably kill all five men. You...

How can we achieve and sustain a "decent" liberal society, one that aspires to justice and equal opportunity for all and inspires individuals to sacrifice for the common good? In this book, a continuation of her explorations of emotions and the nature of...

With stop-and-frisk laws, new immigration policies, and cuts to social welfare programs, majorities in the United States have increasingly supported intensified forms of punishment and marginalization against Black, Latino, Arab and Muslim people in the...

Pontius Pilate is one of the most enigmatic figures in Christian theology. The only non-Christian to be named in the Nicene Creed, he is presented as a cruel colonial overseer in secular accounts, as a conflicted judge convinced of Jesus's innocence in...

A lucid introduction to the philosophical complexities and the practical limits of the political thought of Karl Marx. When Karl Marx was buried at Highgate Cemetery in North London in 1883, his longtime friend and collaborator, Friedrich Engels,...

An essential, comprehensive, and accessible guide to the life and works of Machiavelli. In On Machiavelli: The Search for Glory, Alan Ryan illuminates the political and philosophical complexities of the often-reviled godfather of realpolitik. Thought by...

Longlisted for the National Book Award. Where did the ideas come from that became the cornerstone of American democracy?America’s founders intended to liberate us not just from one king but from the ghostly tyranny of supernatural religion. Drawing...

This book brings together a group of Judith Butler's philosophical essays written over two decades that elaborate her reflections on the roles of the passions in subject formation through an engagement with Hegel, Kierkegaard, Descartes, Spinoza,...

Descartes' Discourse marks a watershed in European thought; in it, the author sets out in brief his radical new philosophy, which begins with a proof of the existence of the self (the famous "cogito ergo sum"). Next he deduces from it the existence and...