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$104.00
81. Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy:
$7.49
82. The Consolation of Philosophy:
$54.00
83. Quodlibetal Questions: Volumes
$7.99
84. A Summary of Philosophy
$17.00
85. Abelard and Heloise (Great Medieval
$248.00
86. Divine Omniscience and Omnipotence
 
$43.00
87. Duns Scotus and Medieval Christian
$28.16
88. The Legend of the Middle Ages:
$4.50
89. The Longman Standard History of
$86.01
90. An Introduction to Classical Islamic
91. Medieval Philosophy Selected Readings
$47.21
92. An Anthology of Philosophy in
$231.86
93. The Medieval Hebrew Encyclopedias
$27.15
94. Hildegard of Bingen: On Natural
$7.99
95. Stoic Philosophy of Seneca: Essays
$80.00
96. Routledge Philosophy GuideBook
$25.20
97. Looking Beyond: Visions, Dreams
$27.50
98. Medieval Sovereignty: Marsilius
 
99. Leibniz: Metaphysics and Philosophy

81. Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy: Summer 2004 Volume XXVI: Summer 2004
Hardcover: 392 Pages (2004-06-03)
list price: US$120.00 -- used & new: US$104.00
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Asin: 0199272492
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Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy is a volume of original articles on all aspects of ancient philosophy. The articles may be of substantial length, and include critical notices of major books. OSAP is now published twice yearly, in both hardback and paperback. In this volume, articles range from Heraclitus to Proclus, with several on each of Aristotle and Plato. Editor: David Sedley, Laurence Professor of Ancient Philosophy, University of Cambridge. "Standard reading among specialists in ancient philosophy."--Brad Inwood, Bryn Mawr Classical Review ... Read more


82. The Consolation of Philosophy: Revised Edition (Penguin Classics)
by Ancius Boethius
Paperback: 155 Pages (1999-05-01)
list price: US$15.00 -- used & new: US$7.49
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Asin: 0140447806
Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars
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Boethius was an eminent public figure under the Gothic emperor Theodoric, and an exceptional Greek scholar. When he became involved in a conspiracy and was imprisoned in Pavia, it was to the Greek philosophers that he turned. "The Consolation" was written in the period leading up to his brutal execution. It is a dialogue of alternating prose and verse between the ailing prisoner and his 'nurse' Philosophy. Her instruction on the nature of fortune and happiness, good and evil, fate and free will, restore his health and bring him to enlightenment. "The Consolation" was extremely popular throughout medieval Europe and his ideas were influential on the thought of Chaucer and Dante. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (25)

5-0 out of 5 stars A Rare and Varied Consolation
Boethius's "The Consolation of Philosophy" is a rare and unusual philosophical work in that it continues to be read by many people who are not philosophers or students of philosophy. This is witnessed by the thoughtful reader reviews here on Amazon. The work continues to be read, I think, because Boethius placed his philosophy in the context of his own experience. The book has a personal and immediate tone. Boethius also broadened the book to make his own experience speak to many people of his own and later times. Most readers will find at least some of Boethius's philosophical teachings valuable and persuasive. The book also combines philosophy with a beautiful literary style. Poetry alternates with and supplements philosophy.Philosophy is personified and speaks to Boethius in the form of a beautiful woman.The book is full of allusions to classical Greek and Roman literature.

Boethius (480 -- 524 A.D.) wrote this book near the end of life that was both active and scholarly. He had occupied a high position in the Roman Empire before he was imprisoned for treason. He wrote the book in prison in the months before he was brutally tortured and killed. At the beginning of the Consolation, Boethius is morose and grieving over the injustice of his imprisonment and impending fate. He feels that his life has been meaningless.

When she enters, the figure of philosophy largely recalls Boethius to himself. The discussion proceeds in layers, moving from the concrete and specific to the abstract. Philosophy tells Boethius that she must take him and his situation as she finds them and move gradually to help Boethius understand himself. As the book proceeds, it becomes more of a teaching by philosophy than a dialogue between philosophy and Boethius.Prose and argument take the place of poetry as the book becomes heavily Neoplatonic and theistic in tone.

I understood best the earlier parts of this short works, largely books I -- III of the five books in which it is divided. Here, with philosophy's guidance, Boethius meditates on what makes life worthwhile.He comes to understand that what he had primarily valued in life -- things such as pleasure, power, money, success -- are evanescent and pass away. They do not produce true happiness because they are not part of what a person is and can be taken away.They are inherently changeable and fickle. In an important passage in Book II, philosophy says (p.31):

"Why then do you mortal men seek after happiness outside yourselves, when it lies within you? You are led astray by error and ignorance. I will briefly show you what complete happiness hinges upon. If I ask you whether there is anything more precious to you than your own self, you will say no.So if you are in possession of yourself you will possess something you would never wish to lose and something Fortune could never take away.In order to see that happiness can't consist in things governed by chance, look at it this way.If happiness is the highest good of rational nature and anything that can be taken away is not the highest good-since it is surpassed by what can't be taken away -- Fortune by her very mutability can't hope to lead to happiness."

Boethius introduces the figure of the wheel of fortune which, apart from the personification of philosophy, is the most striking figure of the book. He was not the first to use this metaphor, but he made it his own.The figure of the wheel and the emphasis of change and suffering in life reminded me of Buddhist teachings which I have been studying for the past several years. Boethius does not take his philosophy this way but instead develops a Neoplatonic vision of the One or of God which culminates in a beautiful poem at the conclusion of Book III section 9 of the Consolation (pp 66-67).In the remaining portions of the Consolation, Boethius seeks for further understanding of happiness and of the good. Philosophy's answer becomes more difficult and theological.If focuses on the claimed non-existence of evil, the difference between eternity and time, and the nature of Providence.

In rereading the book, I thought Boethius convincingly presented what people today would call an existential or experiential situation -- he was imprisoned far from home and awaiting a gruesome death. He learns some highly particular and valuable ways of understanding that help him -- and the reader -- with his condition. As he develops his understanding, Boethius and philosophy adopt a Neoplatonic synthesis of Plato and Aristotle that contemporary readers are likely to reject or not understand. There is a further difficult question whether Boethius's teachings are exclusively Neoplatonic and pagan, or whether they are Christian as well. (Christianity and Jewish-Christian texts go unmentioned in the Consolation.)

Thus, I think the Consolation continues to be read and revered largely because of the situation it develops in its initial pages and because of Boethius's poetically moving teaching of the nature of change, suffering and loss. It is valuable to have the opportunity to see these things.With change in times and perspective, not all readers will agree with or see the necessity for the Neoplatonic (or Jewish-Christian, given one's reading of the work) underpinnings with which Boethius girds his teaching of change and suffering. As I mentioned, it is tempting to see parallels with Buddhism.But it is more likely that modern readers will try to work out Boethius's insights for themselves in a framework which is primarily secular. I thought that much of the early part of the book, for example, could well have been written by Spinoza. The Consolation remains a living book both because of what it says and also because it allows the reader to take Boethius's insights and capture them while moving in somewhat different directions.

Robin Friedman


5-0 out of 5 stars Calm before the storm
Boethius as he is waiting to be unjustly gruesomely tortured writes this classic of Western Civilization. This as well as Aristotle, were two of the major guiding works through the Middle Ages translated by King Alfred and Queen Elizabeth as well.

5-0 out of 5 stars Consolation for Us All
The Consolation of Philosophy is a work of genius.In the Middle Ages, it was the second most widely read book after the Bible.Combining allegory, poetry, and platonic thought, Boethius (475-525 CE), sought to address philosophical questions that still plague us today:issues of God, time, free will, and justice.And he did it all while in prison, awaiting his execution by the Gothic emperor Theodoric, which makes it all the more immediate, urgent, and absorbing.

Boethius illustrates, among other things, that evil people live in their own hells; that vanity and worldly pursuits are empty; that God is good.And Boethian thought is reassuring and familiar; partly due to the fact that many of us are products of the Middle Ages culture that he helped to create, but also because the Greek philosophy that supports his philosophic contentions is also implicitly pervasive.Whatever the reason, reading him feels like being aquainted with, and being consoled by, an old friend.

5-0 out of 5 stars Philosophy in Action
The Lady Philosophy appeared to Boethius in a vision while Boethius was in prison for political crimes.This book, while highly entertaining, set the stage for medieval philosophy.Among others, St Thomas Aquinas would be in constant conversation with Boethius.

The first section contains a fiery retort by Boethius concerning his imprisonment.

Eventually he and Lady Philosophy get into a discussion concerning true happiness (which St Thomas would essentially copy several centuries later).They define happiness as participating in the highest good, which is God. All other definitions of happiness cannot simultaneously maintain the qualifications for happiness.

The problem of evil:Boethius follows St Augustine in defining evil as a privation of being.Boethius takes it one step further in saying that evil men do not exist!I will let you figure this one out.

Time and eternity:Boethius defines eternity as the simultaneously possessing the fullness of life without end, always appearing in the present.

Conclusion:A masterful and stirring read.Philosophy at its best.A few qualms:I don't think Boethius fully held together is discussion of fate and free will and providence.Good yes and quite original, but...

Anyway, a wonderful read.

5-0 out of 5 stars Recovering from amnesia
Each time I teach Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy in my Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy course, I'm struck by what a wonderful text it is.There are at least three reasons for this.

First, it's as good an introduction to the worldview of the late antiquity/early medieval periods as one's likely to find.That worldview is likely to strike contemporary ears as foreign--Boethius' conflation, for example, of the good, happiness, and God in Book III--but it's well worth attending to.

Second, reading Boethius is an education in good argumentation.One can disagree with the premises upon which his arguments rest while still admiring and profiting from the rigor of the arguments themselves.Boethius himself tells us that his method is to "unfold" conclusions "without the help of any external aid"--tradition or authority--"but [instead] with one internal proof grafted upon another so that each [draws] its credibility from that which preceded" (p. 82).And he lives up to his word.

Finally, the existential questions Boethius explores in the Consolation are astoundingly vital today.Here's a guy who was once one of the most powerful men in the Roman empire fallen from grace and facing a very messy death.In writing the Consolation, he tries to come to terms with the fickleness of fortune, the problem of evil (why do bad things happen to good people), the secret of happiness, the issue of free will, and the meaning of human existence.Boethius finally concludes that he, like most humans, had been suffering from what might be called philosophical amnesia.He'd allowed his fast-paced lifestyle to induce forgetfulness of who he was and the way he should live his life.In those final months of his life, living in a solitary jail cell and pondering his own mortality, Boethius begins to remember.Reading his wonderful little book can help us, fifteen hundred years later, to awaken from our own amnesias.

Of all the translations of the Consolation I've read, Victor Watts' is my favorite.But be forewarned:his Introduction to the book will tell you almost nothing about the contents and issues of Boethius' book. ... Read more


83. Quodlibetal Questions: Volumes 1 and 2, Quodlibets 1-7 (Yale Library of Medieval Philosophy Seri)
by William of Ockham
Paperback: 730 Pages (1998-05-25)
list price: US$60.00 -- used & new: US$54.00
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Asin: 0300075065
Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars
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This book offers the first English translation of the Quodlibetal Questions of William of Ockham (c. 1285-1347)-reflections on a variety of topics in logic, ontology, natural philosophy, philosophical psychology, moral theory, and theology by one of the preeminent thinkers of the Middle Ages. It is based on the recent critical edition of Ockham`s theological and philosophical works. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

5-0 out of 5 stars Get this book while it is still available!
This book is a monster text! It is 702 pages and covers every imaginable question that could be asked. For example, "Is an angel in a place through his substance?" or "Does a spoken word lose its significance when a thing [it signifies] ceases to exist?" and many, many more (about 170 questions in all).

This is a paperback one-volume edition to the earlier two volume edition, which means this volume is substantially less expensive than the two volume set. Moreover, the topics covered in this volume are practically exhaustive - logic, ontology, natural philosophy, philosophical psychology, ethics, moral theory, theology, metaphysics, etc.

Added features to this already great text include a lengthy and exhaustive subject index, a short but good introduction, nice explanatory footnotes throughout the text, a short but good selective bibliography, and an index of names and works.

Fred Freddoso (Notre Dame) and the late Francis Kelley have translated this work in such a way that both the scholar of Ockham and the student of Ockham will benefit. Moreover, this is a great introductory work to Ockham for students (such as myself) interested in digging a little deeper into the thoughts and writings of one of the more prominent Medieval thinkers.

The work is laid out as such: a question is posed or asked, if there is something to be noted about the question then it is noted with a nice explanation, a reply to the question is given, and sometimes, depending on the question and the content, a reply to the main argument is given. If there are problems or issue which have arisen about a particular question Ockham is careful to cover these problems and issues. And, all along, footnotes are provided by the translators which help the reader understand the Latin usages (if that issue arises), the context of the question and response, cross references to other works or issues which might help the reader branch out into deeper research, and descriptions and explanations of terms, works, etc. So the book is quite helpful and friendly to all readers, which actually makes reading this text quite helpful. I highly recommend this work! Moreover, buy it soon because it has been my experience that books like these (the really good ones!) for some odd reason usually have a short shelf life! ... Read more


84. A Summary of Philosophy
by Thomas Aquinas
Paperback: 224 Pages (2003-03-01)
list price: US$13.95 -- used & new: US$7.99
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Asin: 0872206572
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This compact collection of philosophical texts from the Summa Theologica—on God, creation, the soul, human acts, moral good and evil, love, habits, virtue, and law—is presented newly translated in abridged form and cast in a modified version of the medieval quaestio. Included are only the most important objections and Aquinas’ replies; appeals to scriptural, theological, and philosophical authorities have been omitted. Unlike the ordering of the originals, questions and answers are here presented prior to objections and replies; the result is a sharp, rich, topically organized question-answer presentation of Aquinas’ major philosophical arguments within a brief compass. A general Introduction, headnotes, a glossary, an index, and a select bibliography offer expert guidance to the work of this major philosopher. ... Read more


85. Abelard and Heloise (Great Medieval Thinkers)
by Constant J. Mews
Paperback: 328 Pages (2005-01-06)
list price: US$35.00 -- used & new: US$17.00
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Asin: 0195156897
Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars
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This is a brief, accessible introduction to the lives and though of two of the most controversial personalities of the Middle Ages. Their names are familiar, but it is their "star quality" argues Mews, that has prevented them from being seen clearly in the context of 12th-century thought--the task he has set himself in this book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

5-0 out of 5 stars Abelard and Heloise (Great Medieval Thinkers)
Very good book and should be read with the others in the (Great Medieval Thinkers)series to get a complete overview where the foundations of our thelogy system developed from. ... Read more


86. Divine Omniscience and Omnipotence in Medieval Philosophy: Islamic, Jewish and Christian Perspectives (Synthese Historical Library)
Paperback: 316 Pages (2010-11-02)
list price: US$248.00 -- used & new: US$248.00
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Asin: 9048183952
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87. Duns Scotus and Medieval Christian Philosophy
by World of Philosophy Series
 Audio Cassette: Pages (1996-05)
list price: US$17.95 -- used & new: US$43.00
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Asin: 1568230419
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88. The Legend of the Middle Ages: Philosophical Explorations of Medieval Christianity, Judaism, and Islam
by Remi Brague
Hardcover: 304 Pages (2009-04-15)
list price: US$35.00 -- used & new: US$28.16
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Asin: 0226070808
Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars
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Modern interpreters have variously cast the Middle Ages as a benighted past from which the West had to evolve and, more recently, as the model for a potential future of intercultural dialogue and tolerance. The Legend of the Middle Ages cuts through such oversimplifications to reconstruct a complicated and philosophically rich period that remains deeply relevant to the contemporary world.

 

Featuring a penetrating interview and sixteen essays—only three of which have previously appeared in English—this volume explores key intersections of medieval religion and philosophy. With characteristic erudition and insight, Rémi Brague focuses less on individual Christian, Jewish, and Muslim thinkers than on their relationships with one another. Their disparate philosophical worlds, Brague shows, were grounded in different models of revelation that engendered divergent interpretations of the ancient Greek sources they held in common. So, despite striking similarities in their solutions for the philosophical problems they all faced, intellectuals in each theological tradition often viewed the others’ ideas with skepticism, if not disdain.

 

Such divisions, Brague contends, debunk notions that the medieval Mediterranean world was a European or Islamic cultural center in which different groups of people harmoniously mingled. His clear-eyed and revelatory portrayal of this misunderstood age brings to life not only its philosophical and theological nuances, but also its true lessons for our own time.

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Customer Reviews (2)

4-0 out of 5 stars review
This book presents several highly philosophical and intellectual discussions. Yet it is written in a very beautiful and readable style. A layman such as myself obtained much knowledge and pleasure from this book.

4-0 out of 5 stars Refreshingly revisionist vs. "the golden age of Moorish Spain"
Rémi Brague, a French historian, seeks to revise our notions of medieval thought, or what we mistakenly perceive as that era's lack of reason. His essays collected as "The Legend of the Middle Ages," explore philosophical intersections of Islamic, Jewish, and Christian pursuits of truth.

Modern intellectuals look at science differently than their medieval, yes, predecessors did. It's not that they did not study it, but that they studied it with an eye, literally, to seek another reason why to study natural phenomena. Here's a summary of key arguments Brague makes.

The Jewish scholars of the time looked to the world as they did to the heavens. There was not the separation from the Creator that distinguishes for most moderns who enter the laboratory or the observatory today the walling off of God from matter. Modernity itself would not have emerged, the professor opines, without the tremendous push from the medievals who sought in Aristotle the summa of knowledge, next to the Prophet, for the Arabic translators in Spain who transferred Greek wisdom and ancient knowledge into their own language. Once carried over, the Greek could be discarded by the Arab: their sacred tongue then subsumed that of the infidel's vernacular.

Certainly, this differed from those Jews who learned Arabic to rescue, as it were, the Greek storehouse of Aristotelian science, or the Catholics who did the same by learning Hebrew to delve more deeply into the shared scholarship of their own times. Brague goes on to insist that the legacy of Aristotle we inherit comes from Arabic-speaking Jews and Christians who turned the texts into Latin for dissemination across Christian Europe. The Arabs, contrarily, held that once the Greeks had been rendered into the language of the Qur'an, that no more transmission was needed. Perfection had been attained in the tongue of the Prophet.

For the Jews, they bridged the divide opened in Spain by their expulsion fromthe southern part of Iberia by the Almohid dynasty in the twelfth century. The Spanish Jews fled north and brought with them fluency in Arabic and a knack for polyglot survival. The Christians learned what the Jews had learned from the Muslims, who had found what they wanted in Aristotle's Greek.

Brague contrasts the relative openness of Jews and Christians towards their "pagan" inspirations with the rather more smug confidence of those in power and tenure, as it were, over Moorish Spain. The Arabs threw away the Greek corpus, so to speak, once it was safely transformed into the holy Arabic. The context fell away; the core remained intact, if approved for incorporation into what jibed with Islamic understanding.

Greeks gained commentary, line-by-line, when edited by Jews and Christians, contrarily. By keeping a sense of the original source texts along with what the Spanish intellectuals added or remarked upon, they allowed greater interaction between the Greek and Arab contexts and their own application of such complex frameworks to a wider European audience.

I wonder if the commonplace observation of Islamic stagnation intellectually under centralized power and fear of unorthodox opinions that would run counter to the Qur'an can be traced back to such diasporic forces? These foreshadow, in their institutional arrogance and clerical domination, the dispersion of both the Jews and the last Muslims from Spain. That final conquest by Christians ended in 1492 with the great Sephardic scattering-- when some fleeing Jews found themselves back in Salonika, speaking of Greece, at the source again?
... Read more


89. The Longman Standard History of Medieval Philosophy
by Daniel Kolak, Garrett Thomson
Paperback: 432 Pages (2007-06-24)
list price: US$71.60 -- used & new: US$4.50
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Asin: 0321235142
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With selections of philosophers from Plotinus to Bruno, this anthology provides significant learning support, historical context, and pedagogical tools to help the reader understand the often complex and abstract concepts encountered in philosophy.  Features such as “Philosophical Bridges,” “Biographical Histories,” “Prologues,” and “Study Questions” offer historical context, contemporary relevance, and provide starting points for discussion.  In addition to this volume of Medieval Philosophy, other individual volumes for each of the major historical eras are also available.

... Read more

90. An Introduction to Classical Islamic Philosophy
by Oliver Leaman
Hardcover: 270 Pages (2001-12-17)
list price: US$105.00 -- used & new: US$86.01
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Asin: 0521793432
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Although Islamic philosophy represents one of the most important philosophical traditions in the world, it has only relatively recently begun to receive attention in the non-Islamic world. This is a new edition of a successful introductory book, expanded and updated to take account of recent scholarship. It focuses on what is regarded as Islamic philosophy's golden age, and will appeal to students and to any general reader interested in this philosophical tradition. ... Read more


91. Medieval Philosophy Selected Readings from Augustine to Buridan
Hardcover: Pages (1964)

Asin: B000NXKTAK
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92. An Anthology of Philosophy in Persia, Volume 3: Philosophical Theology in the Middle Ages and Beyond
Hardcover: 390 Pages (2010-01-15)
list price: US$69.95 -- used & new: US$47.21
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Asin: 1845116054
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Persia is home to one of the few civilizations in the world that has had a continuous tradition of philosophical thought for over two and a half millennia. As Islamic theology developed in the Middle Ages, many of its schools interacted with existing Persian philosophical currents and evolved into a distinctive philosophical 'Kalam', or dogmatic theology. Among the definitive masters of both Shi'i and Sunni theologians were numerous Persians, chief among them Al-Ghazzali and Fakhr al-Din Al-Razi, who are prominently represented here. Important selections from both Shi'i and Sunni theological schools (including Mu'tazila and Ash'ariyya) are included in the volume, many of which have never before been available in translation in the West until now.
... Read more

93. The Medieval Hebrew Encyclopedias of Science and Philosophy (AMSTERDAM STUDIES IN JEWISH THOUGHT Volume 7) (Amsterdam Studies in Jewish Philosophy)
Hardcover: 560 Pages (2000-03-01)
list price: US$299.00 -- used & new: US$231.86
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Asin: 079236242X
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In January 1998 leading scholars from Europe, the United States, and Israel in the fields of medieval encyclopedias (Arabic, Latin and Hebrew) and medieval Jewish philosophy and science gathered together at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat-Gan, Israel, for an international conference on medieval Hebrew encyclopedias of science and philosophy. The primary purpose of the conference was to explore and define the structure, sources, nature, and characteristics of the medieval Hebrew encyclopedias of science and philosophy. This book, the first to devote itself to the medieval Hebrew encyclopedias of science and philosophy, contains revised versions of the papers that were prepared for this conference. This volume also includes an annotated translation of Moritz Steinschneider's groundbreaking discussion of this subject in his Die hebraeischen Ubersetzungen.The Medieval Hebrew Encyclopedias of Science and Philosophy will be of particular interest to students of medieval philosophy and science, Jewish intellectual history, the history of ideas, and pre-modern Western encyclopedias. ... Read more


94. Hildegard of Bingen: On Natural Philosophy and Medicine
by Margaret Berger Jackson, Margaret Berger Jackson
Paperback: 184 Pages (1999-04-01)
list price: US$34.95 -- used & new: US$27.15
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Asin: 0859915514
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Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), an important figure in her own time, has come increasingly to critical attention in recent years. Cause et Cure, attributed to Hildegard, is both a cosmological text and a medical handbook; it is a densely layered work woven together from diverse threads. It begins with a chapter on cosmology which leads to consideration of the human being as a small-scale copy of the universe. From here the focus shifts to the diseases and disorders which afflict human beings. The sections on treatment which follow provide information on medieval pharmacology and herbal healing. The text discusses the differences between male and female, human sexuality, embryology, sleep and dreams, signs predicting death or survival, astrological influences.The Introduction sketches Hildegard's life and career, and describes the cultural context with emphasis on medieval medicine. The Interpretive Essay discusses the selections presented in translation and alerts the reader to the benefits as well as the limits of medieval health care. ... Read more


95. Stoic Philosophy of Seneca: Essays and Letters
by Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Paperback: 261 Pages (1968-09-17)
list price: US$15.95 -- used & new: US$7.99
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Asin: 0393004597
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars
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The philosophy of Seneca has extended in influence from first-centuryRome to the essays of Montaigne, to Elizabethan tragedy, to thetheology of Calvin and the doctrines of the French Revolution.In The Stoic Philosophy of Seneca, representative selections from Seneca's writings offer the reader an excellent introduction to the range of his work.

The selections are drawn from the essays, or dialogues, and the "Consolations;" from the treatises, of which "On Clemency," addressed to the young Nero, is included here; and from the Letters to Lucilius, which have to do not only with philosophical subjects but also with Seneca's personal experiences, such as journeys and visits.

Moses Hadas has selected letters and essays which reveal Seneca's major philosophical themes—the relationship of the individual to society and to the gods; the meaning of pain and misfortune; man's attitudes to change, time, and death; and the nature of the highest good and of the happy life. In his Introduction, Professor Hadas discusses Seneca's life and work, tracing the history of his reputation; comments on Seneca's style; and outlines the origins and tenets of Stoicism. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

5-0 out of 5 stars quick & neat
The product came in a timely manner & was just what I had intended on getting.In good shape

5-0 out of 5 stars goldstars for ancient thought carried to modern times
This text is good for those who love to think and ponder the greater things in life.A must have for aspiering philosophers!!It's !Wit and wisdom is needed in a cold and calous age

1-0 out of 5 stars Unreadable bore
I have a moderate interest in philosophy, and watched that recent show on PBS called Consolations of Philosophy, with some interest.Based on de Botton's interpretation of Seneca, I bought this book.I found it absolutely unreadable and boring.Furthermore, it does NOT contain De Irae/On Anger.I can't imagine anyone benefiting from reading this book, or enjoying it.

5-0 out of 5 stars Wisdom of the Ages
Even though this book was written over two thousand years ago, there is so much wisdom that is appropriate today.

I must be honest and tell you that it is not an easy read.Writers of that age did not believe in simple sentence structure.And unless you are a student of ancient history, there are lots of references whom you will not know.However the value is so great that I recommend you spend the time and effort and learn from a great thinker.

Thankfully we have moved to a democratic form of government.The rulers of that day generally ruled by brute force, eliminating those who opposed them.A large part of his writings were to teach people how to deal with the problems of the day.

While our problems are different in name, the underlying principles for dealing with them have not changed.We have learned more about the mind and how it works, so his discourse on the mind is a little dated.

Some examples of his insight:

"It is not that we have so little time but that we lose (waste) so much."

"Many people, I imagine could attain wisdom if they were not convinced they already had it, ..."

"...we are tormented alike by the future and the past.Our superiority brings us much distress; memory recalls the torment of fear, foresight anticipates it.No one confines his misery to the present."

His lessons are still very valuable today.

5-0 out of 5 stars The Good Book
Seneca's one hundred and twenty four letters to Lucilius constitute a secular bible, an ethical catechism written in a gnomic and epigrammatic style that sparkles as it enlightens. So impressed were the early church fathers with Seneca's moral insights that they advanced (fabricated?) the speculation that he must have come within the influence of Christian teachings. T.S. Eliot sneers at Seneca's boyish, commonplace wisdom and points out that the resemblances between Seneca's 'stoic philosophy' and Christianity are superficial. For those seeking a practical, modern manual on how to do good and how to do well, written in the 'silver point' style that values brevity, concision and memorable expression, Seneca's letters are indeed the Good Book.

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96. Routledge Philosophy GuideBook to Descartes and the Meditations (Routledge Philosophy GuideBooks)
by Gary Hatfield
Hardcover: 384 Pages (2002-11-15)
list price: US$100.00 -- used & new: US$80.00
(price subject to change: see help)
Asin: 0415111927
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars
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Product Description
Descartes' Meditations is one of the most widely read philosophical texts and has marked the beginning of what we now consider as modern philosophy. It is the first text that most students of philosophy are introduced to and this guidebook will be an indispensable introduction to what is undeniably one of the most important texts in the history of philosophy. Gary Hatfield offers a clear and concise introduction to Descartes' background, a careful reading of the Meditations and a methodological investigation of its main themes. As with all the Guidebooks , this is an exemplary companion to any reading of the Meditations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

5-0 out of 5 stars Superb exigesis of the Meditations
This is the third of these Routledge Guidebooks that I've purchased, and they have all been extremely good. Hatfield has written extensively on Descartes and knows his work inside and out.He also provides the background and context that show what Descartes was up to, and what was at issue in those days that drove his agenda.Long story short, he was out to overthrow Aristotle in the interest of improving empirical science, not to establish some world-denying skepticism.The Meditations are an attempt to first wipe the slate of what we think we know and then, by the end of the 6th Meditation, to have trained the reader in an entirely new way of thinking about the world.The Meditations are a narrative meant to gradually bring you along on that project, which was a tricky and even dangerous one for Descartes, because Aristotle was the Church's intellectual saint.

If you haven't read the Meditations before, or only long ago, I recommend reading Hatfield's treatment of each one first.If you read Descartes first, you are likely to find that Hatfield has added so much to your understanding that you'll be going back for a second read, anyway.I haven't read any other full-length expositions of the Meditations, but I can't imagine how anyone could do a better job than Hatfield has done here.

4-0 out of 5 stars Good Commentary, Bad Binding
This is an excellent introduction to Descartes' Meditations.Throughout the commentary, Hatfield presents and considers alternative interpretations to reading one of Descartes' seminal works.He also illuminates the background in which the text was written - Descartes' philosophical and scientific influences, as well as considering political circumstances at the time.Regardless, this book only receives 4 stars, but not for any reason on Hatfield's part or the content.The 4 stars is based on, what another reviewer said, the horrible binding of the book.Fortunately, my spine is still intact, but it is surely in poor condition (and I take great care of my books).They definitely could have done better with the binding.

5-0 out of 5 stars comprehensive intro
This is a first rate introduction, not just to the "Meditations," but to Descartes work as a whole. Hatfield situates Descartes' most famous text in relation to his other works, arguing that the "Meditations" is most profitably read as a work on the foundations of physics. His Descartes is a "mathematician and natural philosopher" before he is a metaphysician or epistemologist. Hatfield offers illuminating discussions of the scientific and philosophical context in which Descartes wrote, stressing his contributions to both physics and metaphysics. We get a good account of the scholastic doctrines against which Descartes reacted. The "Meditations" emerges as a work on the "first principles" of our knowledge of god, the mind, and the natural world. Hatfield thus downplays the epistemolgoical side of Descartes' work, shifting the focus away from skepticism and concerns about the limits of knowledge. He also does a good job explaining how the literary form of the work contributes to its overall aims, clarifying the significance of the "meditative" first-person narrative and the "analytic" method it's designed to exemplify. The book concludes with a helpful, if brief, account of the Cartesian legacy. In general, the book presents a heavily contextualized reading of the "Meditations," one that will surely surprise readers familar only with the standard picture of Descartes and his work. Despite the emphasis on contexts unfamilar to most, readers will find this book very accessible. It's organized well, and Hatfield handles the techinical terminology adroitly, explaining things patiently, while, at the same time, avoiding a burdensome amount of detail. (I have only one complaint: the paper back edition is not put together very well. It's stiff as a board, and the spine cracked as soon as I got going. So I don't expect it to last very long.) ... Read more


97. Looking Beyond: Visions, Dreams and Insights in Medieval Art and History (The Index of Christian Art)
by Colum Hourihane
Paperback: 400 Pages (2010-03-22)
list price: US$35.00 -- used & new: US$25.20
(price subject to change: see help)
Asin: 0976820285
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This is one of the first large-scale art-historical studies to look at the concept of representing visions and dreams in the medieval period. The studies range from the Insular world of Saint Patrick in the mid-fifth century to Mediterranean France and Italy in the fifteenth. Paralleling these are essays on modern visions that highlight how our belief in the noncorporal world still exists. Why do visions and dreams exist in the first place, and who determines who gets them? What is the difference between a dream and a vision? Have they been used for ulterior motives? These and many more topics are all dealt with in the sixteen essays in this volume.
The contributors are Alison I. Beach, Hans Belting, Lisa Bitel, Luis R. Corteguera, Richard Emmerson, Georgia Frank, Matt Gainer, Michelle Garceau, Peter Jeffery, Jacqueline Jung, Peter Klein, David Morgan, Eric Palazzo, Glenn Peers, Ann Marie Yasin, and Nino Zchomelidse. ... Read more


98. Medieval Sovereignty: Marsilius of Padua and Bartolus of Saxoferrato
by Francesco Maiolo
Paperback: 256 Pages (2008-01-15)
list price: US$27.50 -- used & new: US$27.50
(price subject to change: see help)
Asin: 9059720814
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Medieval Sovereignty examines the idea of sovereignty in the Middle Ages and asks if it can be considered a fundamental element of medieval constitutional order. Francesco Maiolo analyzes the writings of Marsilius of Padua (1275/80–1342/43) and Bartolous of Saxoferrato (1314–57) and assesses their relative contributions as early proponents of popular sovereignty. Both are credited with having provided the legal justification for medieval popular government. Maiolo’s cogent reconsideration of this primacy is an important addition to current medieval studies.
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99. Leibniz: Metaphysics and Philosophy of Science (Oxford Readings in Philosophy)
 Paperback: 190 Pages (1981-12-24)
list price: US$14.95
Isbn: 0198750501
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