5. Science and philosophy
Jerry Brotton
in The Renaissance: A Very Short Introduction
The word ‘ambivalence’ best captures the mood of the transformations in popular and applied sciences of the 15th and 16th centuries. We want to know more, but can we know too much? ‘Science ...
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Postscript: From Classical Thought to the Modern Day
Sue Hamilton
in Indian Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction
The so-called classical period of Indian thought eventually came to an end. It flourished for 1,500 years, with the first 500 years seeing the most significant activity and variety. This ...
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2. Reason and revelation
Peter Adamson
in Philosophy in the Islamic World: A Very Short Introduction
‘Reason and revelation’ points out that in the Islamic world, there was no hard-and-fast distinction between theology, which draws on revelation, and philosophy, which uses only the natural ...
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4. Can Philosophy Change the World? Critique, praxis, emancipation
Simon Critchley
in Continental Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction
‘Can Philosophy Change the World? Critique, praxis, emancipation’ argues that much philosophy in the Continental tradition is concerned with giving a philosophical critique of the social ...
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3. The later philosophy
A. C. Grayling
in Wittgenstein: A Very Short Introduction
Prior to the mid-1930s, Wittgenstein‘s thought went through a period of transition in which new themes emerged as he reconsidered Tractatus. The writings of this period are genuinely ...
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1. Lost words, forgotten worlds
Catherine Osborne
in Presocratic Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction
‘Lost words, forgotten worlds’ examines the difficulties of attempting to reconstruct Empedocles's doctrines from the scraps of an ancient papyrus. It explains that, in order to make sense ...
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2. Plato's name, and other matters
Julia Annas
in Plato: A Very Short Introduction
We do not have independent access to Plato's individual personality as we do for more recent philosophers. In the dialogues he never speaks in his own voice. ‘Plato's name, and other ...
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4. ‘Early Romantic’ philosophy
Andrew Bowie
in German Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction
If all truth is relative, then the proposition is also relative that all truth is relative. So how does one sustain a sense of the Absolute which would enable one to avoid this paradox? ...
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8. Heidegger
Andrew Bowie
in German Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction
‘Heidegger’ examines why Heidegger's philosophy remains so important, despite the blatant moral and political failings of its author. For Heidegger, the aim of metaphysics is to explain ...
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1. The problem: what's the matter with causation?
Stephen Mumford and Rani Lill Anjum
in Causation: A Very Short Introduction
‘The problem: what's the matter with causation?’ asks a philosophical question: what is causation? We have to know what causation is (or at least have some idea of it) before we can start ...
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5. Modern Times I: The Christian Kabbalah
Joseph Dan
in Kabbalah: A Very Short Introduction
Towards the end of the fifteenth century, the Kabbalah transformed from a uniquely Jewish tradition to one mixed with European culture, Christian thinking, philosophy, science, and magic. ...
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Introduction
Helen Morales
in Classical Mythology: A Very Short Introduction
What is a myth? It is made up of three dimensions: lore, ideology, and pleasure. Scholars have come up with many definitions of a myth. The Introduction looks at what a myth is and its ...
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17. The Physics made Public
Tom Sorell
in Descartes: A Very Short Introduction
The Principles of Philosophy summarized Descartes' metaphysics before turning to physics. The rules of impact were introduced and motion defined in a way that distanced Descartes from the ...
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6. Paris
Tom Sorell
in Descartes: A Very Short Introduction
‘Paris’ describes the period 1626–8 when Descartes was resident there. He must have been aware of the controversies concerning atheism and scepticism that were rife in the city, but ...
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1. The Visit
Mary Beard and John Henderson
in Classics: A Very Short Introduction
‘The Visit’ explains what is meant by ‘Classics’ using a visit to the British Museum and the frieze from the Apollo Temple at Bassae. Classics is a subject that exists in that gap between ...
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1. Introduction
John Marenbon
in Medieval Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction
For many, Thomas Aquinas is almost a synonym for medieval philosophy, locating it in Western Europe and principally from the early 13th to the mid-14th century. Medieval philosophy is also ...
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4. Fields of medieval philosophy
John Marenbon
in Medieval Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction
‘Fields of medieval philosophy’ considers how logic, metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, ethics, political philosophy, and the philosophy of religion were ...
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Introduction: the Greek way
J. L. Heilbron
in The History of Physics: A Very Short Introduction
The Introduction explains that Greek physics—physica—with its eye to ethics, its indifference to mathematics and experiment, and its independence of states and courts, is noticeably ...
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6. Vagabond reverie
Robert Wokler
in Rousseau: A Very Short Introduction
‘Vagabond reverie’ assesses the inspiration and imagination that shaped Rousseau's work. The New Héloïse was written as a work of fantasy to help him to deal with his unrequited love for ...
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2. The humanist script
Jerry Brotton
in The Renaissance: A Very Short Introduction
‘The humanist script’ examines the rise of a complex and controversial philosophy, Renaissance humanism, and its relationship to the invention of the printing press. At the start of the ...
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