The history of the philosophers we know, but who will write the history of the philosophic amateurs and readers? Who will tell us of the circulation of Descartes, who read the book and who understood it? Or do philosophers, like the mythical people on the island, take in each other’s washing? Are they the only readers of each other’s books? For I take it, a man who understands philosophy is inevitably irritated into writing it. The few who have learnt the jargon must repay themselves by em...

Reflections on Violence was an explosive and controversial book in 1906, and it remains so today. In it, Georges Sorel rejects the decadence of bourgeois democracy and calls for a heroic vitalism of the working class, to be brought about by any means necessary, including violence.Sorel chastises the republicanism and parliamentary socialism of his day, but his insights apply to any vanguardist movement, making him of interest beyond the left, and a precursor to fa...

Sorel developed an original and provocative theory on the positive, even creative, role of myth and violence in the historical process. Sorel was a civil servant who fervently believed that only the clearest and most brutal expression of class war could effect lasting social change. This, his most important work, is a passionate outcry for the socialist overthrow of society.Reflections on Violence first appeared as a series of articles in Le Mouvement Socialiste in...

The Communist Manifesto**,** German Manifest Der Kommunistischen Partei, (1848; “Manifesto of the Communist Party”), pamphlet written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels to serve as the platform of the Communist League. It became one of the principal programmatic statements of the European socialist and communist parties in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Benedict de Spinoza (1632-77) was at once the father of the Enlightenment and the last sad guardian of the medieval world. In his brilliant synthesis of geometrical method, religious sentiment, and secular science, he attempted to reconcile the conflicting moral and intellectual demands of his epoch, and to present a vision of humanity as simultaneously bound by necessity and eternally free. In this book Roger Scruton presents a clear and systematic analysis of Spinoza's thought,and shows ...

"The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles." Outlining the theory of communism by Marx and Engels, this political document explains the material conception of history and presents their theories and ideas of how in due course socialism would replace the capitalist society of the time. It discusses the relationship between the proletarians and the bourgeoisie, the Communists and the proletarians, and the Communists and other opposition parties. The Commu...

Roger Scruton is one of the most widely respected philosophers of our time, whose often provocative views never fail to simulate debate. In Modern Philosophy he turns his attention to the whole of the field, from the philosophy of logic to aesthetics, and in so doing provides us with an essential and comprehensive guide to modern thinking.

'An astonishing masterpiece ... a political classic ... has an almost biblical force' Eric HobsbawmThe Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels' revolutionary 1848 summons to the working classes, is one of the most influential political theories ever formulated. After four years of collaboration, the authors produced this incisive account of their idea of Communism, in which they envisage a society without classes, private property or a state. They argue that ...

This new edition of the political classic comes with a foreword by historian Rupert Matthews and includes a number of other early works relating to 19th Century Communism.The Communist Manifesto, originally titled Manifesto of the Communist Party (German: Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei) is a short 1848 publication written by the German Marxist political theorists Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. It has since been recognized as one of the world's most influential political manus...

Called by many France's foremost philosopher, Gilles Deleuze is one of the leading thinkers in the Western World. His acclaimed works and celebrated collaborations with Félix Guattari have established him as a seminal figure in the fields of literary criticism and philosophy. The long-awaited publication of What Is Philosophy? in English marks the culmination of Deleuze's career.Deleuze and Guattari differentiate between philosophy, science, and the arts, seeing as means o...

Written by the British philosopher Bertrand Russell,'Proposed Roads to Freedom' was written at the end of the first world war in the midst of rapid world change. This book is an account of progressive intellectual politics that was taking shape at the turn of the twentieth century.

Who am I? What is justice? What does it mean to live a good life? Many of the fundamental questions of philosophy are questions that we begin to ask ourselves as young adults when we look at the world around us, at ourselves, and try to make sense of things.This engaging and accessible book invites the reader to explore the questions and arguments of philosophy through the work of one hundred of the greatest thinkers within the Western intellectual tradition. Covering philosophical...