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Language
English
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Description
"For more than two thousand years, Sun-tzu's The Art of War has provided leaders with essential advice on battlefield tactics, managing troops and terrain, and employing cunning and deception. But its underlying philosophy lends itself to infinite applications: an elemental part of Chinese culture, it has also become a touchstone for the Western struggle for survival and success, whether in battle or in business or in relationships. Now, in his crisp,...
2) [Utopia.]
Author
Series
Language
English
Formats
Description
First published in 1516, Saint Thomas More's Utopia is one of the most important works of European humanism. Through the voice of the mysterious traveler Raphael Hythloday, More describes a pagan, communist city-state governed by reason. Addressing such issues as religious pluralism, women's rights, state-sponsored education, colonialism, and justified warfare, Utopia seems remarkably contemporary nearly five centuries after it was written, and it...
3) Poetics
Author
Publisher
Dover Publications
Pub. Date
1997
Language
English
Description
Greek philosopher and scientist, Aristotle, lived in the 4th century B.C. and is thought of as one of the most important figures from classical antiquity. Aristotle was probably the most famous member of Plato's Academy in Athens, whose writings would ultimately form the first comprehensive system of Western philosophy. His writings were not constrained to simply one field of inquiry but covered such various subjects as physics, biology, metaphysics,...
4) The Republic
Author
Language
English
Description
Presented in the form of a dialogue between Socrates and three different interlocutors, it is an inquiry into the notion of a perfect community and the ideal individual within it. During the conversation other questions are raised: what is goodness; what is reality; what is knowledge? The Republic also addresses the purpose of education and the role of both women and men as "guardians" of the people. With remarkable lucidity and deft use of allegory,...
Author
Series
Publisher
Communican
Pub. Date
uuuu
Language
English
Description
The landmark political treatise that refuted the so-called divine right of kings and established the principles of representative government "Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains." With these stirring words, Jean-Jacques Rousseau begins The Social Contract-the first shot in a battle of ideas that would set the stage for the American War of Independence and the French Revolution. In the feverish days of the Enlightenment, Rousseau...
8) Rhetoric
Author
Publisher
Modern Library
Pub. Date
[1954]
Language
English
Description
Written sometime in the 4th Century BC, Aristotle's "Rhetoric" is the definitive treatise on the art of persuasive public speaking. The art of oratorical persuasion was an essential skill for the successful politician during the days of ancient Greece and Aristotle's "Rhetoric" is considered one of the greatest works from antiquity on the subject. Like many of the surviving works attributable to Aristotle, "Rhetoric" was not intended for public dissemination,...
Author
Publisher
New York : Random House
Pub. Date
[1668]
Language
English
Description
First published in 1653, Izaak Walton's "The Compleat Angler" is a classic and much-loved treatise on the art of fishing. Immediately popular after its publication, "The Compleat Angler" was reprinted and updated numerous times by Walton. Written as a conversation between the fictional characters of the experienced angler Piscator and his student Viator, which was changed to a hunter named Venator in later editions, the treatise is part an instructional...
Author
Series
Publisher
Barnes & Noble Classics
Pub. Date
[2003]
Language
English
Description
One of historys greatest political philosophers, Niccolò Machiavelli is notorious for his treatise The Prince, which has become a cornerstone of modern political theory. Written in 1513 and published in 1532, after Machivellis death, The Prince immediately provoked controversy that has continued unabated to this day.
Defining human nature as inherently selfish, Machiavelli proposes that social conflict and violence are natural phenomena that help...
11) The Art of War
Author
Publisher
Recorded Books LLC
Pub. Date
2001
Language
English
Description
This ancient Chinese military text dissects thirteen aspects of warfare from a strategical and intellectual point of view. Deploring the use of excess force causing economic and civilian losses while discussing strategies that are still relevant to modern warfare, the text continues to resonate with readers around the world and has been considered fundamental in military doctrine for over two thousand years.
The Art of War was first translated...
Author
Publisher
Dover Publications
Pub. Date
[1956?]
Language
English
Description
Written in the 12th century in Arabic by a faithful Jewish man, "The Guide for the Perplexed" is a work that explores the contradiction a very intelligent mind clearly saw between the tradition in which he was raised to believe and the growing philosophy of Arabian and Western culture. In Maimonides' time, there was an emerging disparity between the Law and a new level of philosophical sophistication, which he attempts to bridge in this work, primarily...
13) The Prince
Author
Series
Accelerated Reader
IL: UG - BL: 9.3 - AR Pts: 7
Language
English
Description
The most famous book on politics ever written, The Prince remains as lively and shocking today as when it was written almost five hundred years ago. Initially denounced as a collection of sinister maxims and a recommendation of tyranny, it has more recently been defended as the first scientific treatment of politics as it is practiced rather than as it ought to be practiced. Harvey C. Mansfield's brilliant translation of this classic work, along with...
Author
Language
English
Description
Long regarded as the most accurate rendering of Plato's Republic that has yet been published, this widely acclaimed work is the first strictly literal translation of a timeless classic. This second edition includes a new introduction by Professor Bloom, whose careful translation and interpretation of The Republic was first published in 1968. In addition to the corrected text itself there is also a rich and valuable essay-as well as indexes-which will...
Author
Publisher
Digireads.com pub
Pub. Date
c2005
Language
English
Description
First published anonymously in December 1689, John Locke's "Two Treatises of Government" are considered to be some of the most important works of political philosophy ever written. In the first treatise, Locke disputes the divine right of monarchial rule principle that is put forth in the book "Patriarcha" by Sir Robert Filmer. The first treatise is in fact a sentence by sentence refutation of "Patriarcha." Filmer asserts the idea that absolute authority...
Author
Series
Language
English
Formats
Description
The Dialogues of Plato, written between 427 and 347 b.c., rank among the most important and influential works in Western thought. Most famous are the first four, in which Plato casts his teacher Socrates as the central disputant in colloquies that brilliantly probe a vast spectrum of philosophical ideas and issues. Socrates' ancient words are still true, and the ideas found in Plato's Dialogues still form the foundation of a thinking person's education....