ContentsWhat is Philosophy?The Value of ContemptOn MethodOn True ReligionThe Ethical Ramifications of LogicPhilosophical AnthropologyThe Metaphysics of GodFreedom from ReligionThe Dictatorship of the IntelligentsiaForm, Content, and PowerTherefore We Must Go Back to Aristotle!

"Luft's conception of socialism is far distant from the socialism of the gulag and the secret police; it is a socialism that free people of good will could actually live with and flourish under, and it would certainly be a kinder, more just, and more inspiring social order than we have presently. This original and thoughtful, albeit problematic, contribution to the discussion of socialism is well worth the attention of serious readers. Recommended for high school, public, and academic libr...

Contents:IntroductionWhat is America?What is Conservatism?Ralph Waldo Emerson, "The Conservative" (1841)From Revolution to UnityFrom Reconstruction to DepressionAndrew Carnegie, "Wealth" (1889)From Recovery to Freedom, Equality, and DignityTrickling Down into the War of All Against AllInstitutionalizing the Inconsistent and the IrrationalConflict of Interest as a Way of LifeR...

Disclaimer 1 (November 2015): I have never met Muhammad Ali and he probably does not know who I am. The contents of this book are, as the title says, purely imaginary - which is not to say fictitious, for Ali and I are real people, and there is no "story" here, only social, political, literary, and cultural criticism and commentary, presented as if it were a conversation between us two. The annotations are all editorial additions.Disclaimer 2 (August 2016): Muhammad Ali died in Jun...

Key texts in the history of socialist theory and practice, selections from Victor Berger, Elizabeth Blackwell, Eugene Victor Debs, Ron Dellums, Havelock Ellis, the Fabian Society, William Godwin, Moses Hess, Mother Jones, Dennis Kucinich, Meyer London, Ramsay MacDonald, Cynthia McKinney, Robert Owen, Emmeline Pankhurst, Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Arnold Ruge, Henri de Saint-Simon, Bernie Sanders, George Bernard Shaw, Upton Sin...

From the Preface:Since the 1970s I have pursued three separate but overlapping and sometimes simultaneous careers: (1) philosopher / writer / teacher / historian of the long nineteenth century, 1789-1914; (2) editor / translator / photographer / publisher / biographer / encyclopedist; (3) cataloging librarian / rare books and special collections librarian / historian of medicine. Somehow these three vocations have garnered me some acclaim, even an entry in Who's Who in America. Eac...

Since its publication in 1902, John Grier Hibben's classic work on Hegel's Encyclopedia Logic has been one of the clearest, most illuminating, most helpful, and most popular expositions of this rich and difficult text. Nevertheless, its language has needed to be modernized, its interpretations have needed to be revised and updated in view of recent Hegel scholarship, and its findings have needed to be related to a wider context in the history of philosophy. Writing as Hibben's co-author, E...

This book has two purposes: one philosophical, the other polemical. The philosophical purpose will reveal itself plainly in due course, but the polemical purpose is sometimes implicit - between the lines, as it were. The target of the polemic is religionism. Religionists are those who are so bound up in whatever they believe that they will not change their minds about these beliefs even when presented with the most compelling evidence, facts, or even deductive proof against these beliefs. ...

This book is meant to be disconcerting. It asks many more questions than it answers, but perhaps that is how philosophy should be, especially if the questions posed are capable of rousing interest in a topic and stimulating individual thought. It challenges, sometimes attacks, and even ridicules, various traditions and theoretical positions in the history of the philosophy of art, not for merely destructive or polemical purposes, but rather to encourage insightful readers to proceed beyond...

This book is not about the medical, psychological, psychiatric, sociological, statistical, or even theological aspects of suicide. It does not investigate the pathology of why some people kill themselves and it certainly does not attempt either to prevent or to encourage suicide. It is a book on the philosophy of suicide. It examines (1) the ontology of suicide, i.e., what suicide is from the perspective of being, and (2) the ethics of suicide, i.e., whether suicide ought to be morally per...

Four lighthearted autobiographical essays: My Life as a Sports Fan. A Boyhood in North Bay, Ontario. My Life as a Bridge Player. How I Became a Librarian.

The New York Times –bestselling author and social philosopher explores the function of ethics and morality in the human psyche: "A fascinating volume . . . magnificent in its implications" ( Saturday Review ).Are we primarily determined by nature or nurture? What are the best ways that people can live productively? In Man for Himself, renowned social philosopher Erich Fr...