Philosophy

Includes the whole of the First Part of the Summa Theologica and substantial selections from the Second Part and the Summa Contra Gentiles. Pegis’s revision and correction of the English Dominican Translation renders Aquinas’ technical terminology consistently as it conveys the directness and simplicity of Aquinas’ writing; the Introduction, notes, and index aim at giving the text its proper historical setting, and the reader the means of studying St. Thomas within that setting.

Includes the whole of the First Part of the Summa Theologica. Pegis’s revision and correction of the English Dominican Translation renders Aquinas’ technical terminology consistently as it conveys the directness and simplicity of Aquinas’ writing; the Introduction, notes, and index aim at giving the text its proper historical setting, and the reader the means of studying St. Thomas within that setting.

Includes substantial selections from the Second Part of the Summa Theologica and the Summa Contra Gentiles. Pegis’s revision and correction of the English Dominican Translation renders Aquinas’ technical terminology consistently as it conveys the directness and simplicity of Aquinas’ writing; the Introduction, notes, and index aim at giving the text its proper historical setting, and the reader the means of studying St. Thomas within that setting.

“A good elementary introduction to the study of Hegel and his influence. . . . It places Hegel’s work in the intellectual context of his time very well.”
     —H. S. Harris, Glendon College, York University

“One of the most careful and intensive among the introductory texts that can be used with a wide range of students. It builds remarkably sophisticated technical skills, a good sense of the nature of a formal system, and a solid and extensive background for more advanced work in logic. . . . The emphasis throughout is on natural deduction derivations, and the text’s deductive systems are its greatest strength. Lemmon’s unusual procedure of presenting derivations before truth tables is very effective.”
     —Sarah Stebbins, The Journal of Symbolic Logic

Published by Van Nostrand Reinhold in the U.K. Available from Hackett in the U.S. only.

This volume fills a lamentable gap in the philosophical literature by providing a collection of writings from the pivotal generation of thinkers between Kant and Hegel. It includes some of Hegel’s earliest critical writings—which reveal much about his thinking before the first mature exposition of his position in 1807—as well as Schelling’s justification of the new philosophy of nature against skeptical and religious attack. This edition contains George di Giovanni’s extensive corrections, new preface, and thoroughly updated bibliography.

In this profound and profoundly controversial work, a landmark of 20th-century thought originally published in 1971, B. F. Skinner makes his definitive statement about humankind and society. Beyond Freedom and Dignity urges us to reexamine the ideals we have taken for granted and to consider the possibility of a radically behaviorist approach to human problems—one that has appeared to some incompatible with those ideals, but which envisions the building of a world in which humankind can attain its greatest possible achievements.

Volume I: Hobbes—Gay: Thomas Hobbes, Richard Cumberland, Ralph Cudworth, John Locke, Lord Shaftesbury, Samuel Clarke, Bernard Mandeville, William Wollaston, Francis Hutcheson, Joseph Butler, John Balguy, John Gay.

Volume II: Hume—Bentham: David Hume, David Hartley, Richard Price, Adam Smith, William Paley, Thomas Reid, Jeremy Bentham.

“These two attractive volumes replace Selby-Bigge’s well-known collection. . . . The present selection is superior in several respects. It is more inclusive, now that Hume, Hartley, Reid, and Cumberland are put in. . . . It is better arranged, the writers now appearing in chronological order. And besides reediting of the texts, the analytical index has been enormously enlarged and improved. . . . The book will be much more useful to students than its predecessor.”
     —British Book News

In Buddhism As Philosophy, Mark Siderits makes the Buddhist philosophical tradition accessible to a Western audience. Offering generous selections from the canonical Buddhist texts and providing  an engaging, analytical introduction to the fundamental tenets of Buddhist thought, this revised, expanded, and updated edition builds on the success of the first edition in clarifying the basic concepts and arguments of the Buddhist philosophers.

"Since the publication of the first edition of Buddhism As Philosophy, the need for such a book has only grown as even more undergraduate programs are teaching Buddhist philosophy and looking for accessible materials that still do justice to the tradition’s intellectual complexity. This updated version retains the first version's successful balancing act between fidelity to primary source material and application to general philosophical problems. The book teaches students how to do philosophy at the same time as it teaches them the particularities of Buddhist philosophy. Siderits moves fluidly from translations of primary texts to their explication and evaluation, both modeling expert philosophical methodology and pausing to explain to students how philosophical argumentation works." —Malcolm Keating, Yale-NUS College

The first edition of Buddhism As Philosophy is now out of print and has been replaced by a new second edition (October 2021). Click here for more information about the new second edition.

“The translation of Tatakis’ 1949 book is a welcome contribution to the field as it offers a remarkable overview of Byzantine philosophy for specialists and students alike. . . . Moutafakis has performed a great service to the English-speaking academic world not only with his very readable translation of what is standard reading material in many universities in Europe but also with the useful list (at the end of the book) of contributions to the field made after the original French edition.”
     —Yannis Papadoyannakis, Religious Studies Review

“Written in a lively and entertaining style, this little book, which deals with topics such as ‘personhood,’ animal rights, and artificial intelligence . . . makes some rather difficult philosophical points clear in an unpedantic fashion.”
     —M. E. Winston, Trenton State College

"Along with a brisk and very readable rendition of the text, this edition provides the material necessary for understanding the point of Voltaire’s satire. Wootton’s Introduction gives an excellent account of the dispute over optimism, and the supplementary texts show both the opposing points of view in this dispute, and its development on other texts of Voltaire." —Christopher J. Kelly, co-editor, The Collected Writings of Rousseau

Series: Early Modern and Modern Women Philosophers

"Margaret Cavendish (1623–1673) is a fascinating figure who is getting increasing attention by historians of philosophy these days, and for good reason. . . . She’s an interesting advocate of a vitalist tradition emphasizing the inherent activity of matter, as well as its inherent perceptive faculties. She’s also the perfect character to open students (and their teachers) up to a different seventeenth century, and a different cast of philosophical characters. This is an ideal book to use in the classroom. The Philosophical Letters (1664) gives us Cavendish’s view of what was interesting and important in the philosophical world at that moment, a view of philosophy as it was at the time by an engaged participant. There are few documents like it in the history of philosophy. Deborah Boyle’s Introduction provides a very accessible summary of Cavendish’s natural philosophy, as well as good introductions to the other figures that Cavendish discusses in the book. Boyle’s annotations are not extensive, but they are a great help in guiding the student toward an informed reading of the texts." —Daniel Garber, Princeton University

“The selections are well chosen . . . the Introduction and headnotes are extremely clear and well written . . . appropriately pegged for a very introductory audience.”
     —Steven Gerrard, Williams College

North American rights only.

". . . an admirably chosen set of selections, and the only anthology I know of which pulls together so many diverse strands of the recent attacks on traditional empiricist views."
     —Richard Rorty, University of Virginia

North American rights only.

"Moore and Raymond's Charmides is very impressive. The translation is excellent, and the Introduction and notes guide the reader into thorny problems in a way that renders them understandable: e.g., how to translate sôphrosunê, why we should care about self-knowledge, or how to seek to clarify important ethico-political concepts. The result provides almost all of what an instructor will need to introduce this unjustly neglected dialogue into a syllabus. Moreover, the volume is a wide-ranging resource for specialists. Students of the 'Socratic Dialogues' will profit greatly from this admirable contribution." —David J. Murphy is co-editor of Antiphontis et Andocidis Orationes (Oxford) and author of "The Basis of the Text of Plato's Charmides" (Mnemosyne) and many other contributions on the Charmides. He lives in New York City.

A literal translation, allowing the simplicity and vigor of the Greek diction to shine through.

"This book will make a major impact on the study, and especially the teaching, of Arabic philosophy.  A major difficulty with this field has been the lack of any adequate textbook of sources. . . . Reisman and McGinnis not only provide here a rich selection of texts that could be the basis for even a full-year course on Arabic thought, but also manage to translate several important works for the first time; they also include some standards that would probably be missed were they not here.  It will no doubt become the standard anthology used in courses on Arabic philosophy, and I will use it this way myself.  The team of McGinnis and Reisman is an ideal one. . . All in all, this project is to be greeted with immense enthusiasm."
     —Peter Adamson, King's College London

"Many students ask, 'What is the point of learning formal logic?' This book gives them the answer. Using the methods of deductive logic, Nelson Lande introduces each new element in exquisite detail, as he takes students through example after example, proof after proof, explaining the thinking behind each concept. Shaded areas and appendices throughout the book provide explanations and justifications that go beyond the main text, challenging those students who wish to delve deeper, and giving instructors the option of confining their course to the basics, or expanding it, when they wish, to more rigorous levels. Lande encourages students to think for themselves, while at the same time providing them with the level of explanation they need to succeed. It is a rigorous approach presented in a style that is informal, engaging, and accessible. Students will come away with a solid understanding of formal logic and why it is not only important, but also interesting and sometimes even fun. It is a text that brings the human element back into the teaching of logic."
     —Hans Halvorson, Princeton University

"Indispensable turn-by-turn directions for those navigating the ideas of nine philosophers who set the stage for thinking about art and society. Clear and comprehensive, Noël Carroll is the perfect guide to the history of aesthetics." —Dominic McIver Lopes, University of British Columbia

"Carroll’s Classics in Western Philosophy of Art is a masterful series of commentaries on nine classical writings on art by philosophers in the Western tradition—learned and penetrating in exegesis, equally penetrating in critique. It’s not just one philosopher after another. Carroll takes note of what later writers say, explicitly or implicitly, about earlier writers, and imagines what those earlier writers might have said in response. He is host to a conversation. How I wish these commentaries had been available when I was still teaching philosophy of art! I would have been spared my own exegetical labors over these often-difficult texts, and my teaching would have been immeasurably improved."
—Nicholas Wolterstorff, Noah Porter Professor Emeritus of Philosophical Theology, Yale University

This anthology of the central writings of the analytical tradition is widely regarded as the most useful such volume for teaching purposes. Clustered around issues in the philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, and metaphysics, many of the pieces were written in direct response to one another and illustrate a variety of approaches to key problems in the analytic tradition.

The fifth edition of Michael L. Morgan’s Classics of Moral and Political Theory broadens the scope and increases the versatility of this landmark anthology by offering new selections from Aristotle’s Politics, Aquinas’ Disputed Questions on Virtue and Treatise on Law, as well as the entirety of Locke’s Letter Concerning Toleration, Kant’s To Perpetual Peace, and Nietzsche’s On the Advantage and Disadvantage of History for Life.

The Eighth Edition of Steven M. Cahn's Classics of Western Philosophy offers the same exacting standard of editing and translation that made earlier editions of this anthology the most highly valued and widely used volume of its kind. But the Eighth Edition offers exciting new content as well, including Plato's Laches (complete), new selections from Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics (on courage), Descartes' Discourse on Method (complete), all previously omitted sections of Berkeley's A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, and Kant's Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics (complete).

"Since the appearance of Sommerstein’s very successful literal translation less than twenty years ago, there have been at least five further new published attempts at rendering the play into English. It is certainly a bold enterprise to introduce yet one more translation onto the scene, but Peter Meineck has risen well to the challenge. The translation is straightforward and idiomatic, as well as well-paced and funny. . . Ian Storey’s Introduction is perfect for undergraduates.” —Max Nelson, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

“Much the best philosophically orientated book about colour that has been written. . . . It has none of the philosophical crudity which mars scientific accounts of colour, and none of the scientific ignorance which makes so many philosophical accounts of colour worthless or worse. . . . Time and again I found myself unexpectedly convinced at a point whose opposite I had believed. I have in mind particularly the later sections on ‘Other colours, other minds’, language foci, and ‘boundaries and indeterminacy’. It is annoying, but also exhilarating, to be relieved of some stubborn and treasured opinions.”
     —Jonathan Westphal, Mind

Offering the first complete translation into modern English of Aquinas’ unfinished commentary on Aristotle’s Politics, this translation follows the definitive Leonine text of Aquinas and reproduces in English those passages of William of Moerbeke’s exacting yet elliptical translation of the Politics from which Aquinas worked.  Bekker numbers have been added to passages from the Politics for easy reference. Students of the history of political thought will welcome this study of a great classic, a commentary by a student of Aristotle who is also a great political theorist in his own right.

This brief volume supplements Lemmon’s classic introductory logic text with almost 200 new exercises, many of them solved, solutions to selected exercises in Beginning Logic itself, a helpful commentary on Lemmon’s use of key technical terms, alternative formulations, and advice to students.

"This translation is already a classic. It is the translation that has guided three generations of students and readers into a renewed appreciation of the beauty and urgency of a masterpiece of Christian autobiography. This is largely because the translator has caught not only the meaning of Augustine’s Confessions, but a large measure of its poetry.  It makes the Latin sing in English as it did when it came from the pen of Augustine, some sixteen hundred years ago. Deeply rooted in the tradition of which Augustine was himself a principal founder, this translation is not only modern: it is a faithful echo, in a language that has carried throughout the ages, of its author’s original passion and disquiet."  —Peter Brown

"To my ears, Sheed’s translation is the most beautiful English translation available. The same electric current that runs through Augustine’s original can be felt in this translation, which combines a slightly elevated style (more elevated in direct prayers) combined with the immediacy and transparency of a street preacher (not that different from Augustine’s own style). The latest edition includes an introduction by Peter Brown, the best biographer of Augustine, and notes and commentary by Michael Foley, a truly excellent reader of Augustine." —Jared Ortiz, Hope College, in Catholic World Report

"Williams’s masterful translation satisfies (at last!) a long-standing need. There are lots of good translations of Augustine’s great work, but until now we have been forced to choose between those that strive to replicate in English something of the majesty and beauty of Augustine’s Latin style and those that opt instead to convey the careful precision of his philosophical terminology and argumentation. Finally, Williams has succeeded in capturing both sides of Augustine’s mind in a richly evocative, impeccably reliable, elegantly readable presentation of one of the most impressive achievements in Western thought—Augustine’s Confessions."  —Scott MacDonald, Professor of Philosophy and Norma K. Regan Professor in Christian Studies, Cornell University

"The best overall translation of Augustine's Confessions to date. . . . Williams captures the immediacy of Augustine's prayer, the playfulness of his language, and (without striving too hard) the properly elevated poetry of the text. As priest and philosopher and an Anglican with a good sense of English, Williams understands Augustine from the inside. For the foreseeable future, this will be my go-to translation for the Confessions." —Jared Ortiz, Hope College, in Catholic World Report

A concise and accessible introduction to the evolution of the concept of moral self-cultivation in the Chinese Confucian tradition, this volume begins with an explanation of the pre-philosophical development of ideas central to this concept, followed by an examination of the specific treatment of self cultivation in the philosophy of Kongzi ("Confucius"), Mengzi ("Mencius"), Xunzi, Zhu Xi, Wang Yangming, Yan Yuan and Dai Zhen. In addition to providing a survey of the views of some of the most influential Confucian thinkers on an issue of fundamental importance to the tradition, Ivanhoe also relates their concern with moral self-cultivation to a number of topics in the Western ethical tradition. Bibliography and index are included.

“It is wonderful to have David Lowenthal’s splendid translation of Montesquieu’s Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline back in print. This neglected masterpiece deserves attention from all who are concerned with self-government—whether their focus is on history or on its prospects in our own time.”
     —Paul A. Rahe, University of Tulsa

"Entirely faithful to Boethius' Latin; Relihan's translation makes the philosophy of the Consolation intelligible to readers; it gives equal weight to the poetry—in fact, Relihan's metrical translation of Boethius' metra are themselves contributions of the first moment to Boethian studies. Boethius finally has a translator equal to his prodigious talents and his manifold vision."
     —Joseph Pucci, Brown University

“It is. . . remarkable that Reeve’s is the first new English translation since Fowler’s Loeb edition of 1926. Fortunately, Reeve has done an excellent job. His version is not slavishly literal but is in general very accurate. It is also very clear and readable. Reeve is particularly to be congratulated for having produced versions of some of the more torturous passages, which are not only faithful to the text but also make good sense in English. The long and detailed introduction is worth reading in its own right.”
     —R. F. Stalley, The Classical Review

“Pluhar maintains a fine, even tone throughout. . . . Those who have found the prospect of teaching the third Critique daunting will admire its clarity. . . . No one will be disappointed.”
      —Timothy Sean Quinn, The Review of Metaphysics

With this volume, Werner Pluhar completes his work on Kant’s three Critiques, an accomplishment unique among English language translators of Kant. At once accurate, fluent, and accessible, Pluhar’s rendition of the Critique of Practical Reason meets the standards set in his widely respected translations of the Critique of Judgment (1987) and the Critique of Pure Reason (1996). Stephen Engstrom's Introduction discusses the place of the second Critique in Kant's critical philosophy, its relation to Kant's ethics, and its practical purpose and provides an illuminating outline of Kant's argument.

“The text rendered by Pluhar is the work of an expert translator . . . the virtues of his text are manifold; his translation exhibits an incontrovertible mastery of both English and German. Equally important is the fact that Pluhar has given the original a very close read during the act of translating. . . . Pluhar consistently resists the tendency to translate woodenly word-for-word. . . . In point of fact, accuracy of translation stands in no direct relation to literalness; it is much more a product of meticulous textual reading and skilful writing, and in this respect Pluhar has no modern equals in English Kant translation.”
     —James Jakob Fehr, Kant-Studien

“Eric Watkins has done a fine job of abridging the Critique to a manageable size while preserving those sections most often assigned in a survey course, including enough of the Analytic to provide a continuous argument. Students will get a good sense of the whole from the parts he includes. I recommend it enthusiastically.”
     —Kenneth R. Winkler, Wellesley College

Series: The New Hackett Aristotle

"This is C. D. C. Reeve's entirely new version of Aristotle's fascinating, and at the same time superbly difficult, text. The translation is faithful, concise, and extraordinarily thoughtful. Any student of the De Anima will no doubt greatly profit from it. Reeve's Introduction focuses on the place of the study of the soul in Aristotle's biology and—controversially—theology. With this he provides a refreshing and highly instructive counterpoint to an idea still very powerful in the secondary literature. This is the thought that the De Anima pertains to the province of 'the philosophy of mind.' Reeve shows that the De Anima is much more than this. A remarkable contribution." —Klaus Corcilius, University of California, Berkeley and The University of Tübingen

"Shiffman's fidelity both to Aristotle's text and to opening the complex thought contained therein to the contemporary reader is evident throughout this translation. It neither attempts to resolve difficulty nor drown the reader in obscurity; instead, it invites the reader to puzzle through this magnificent and difficult text herself. The wonderful introduction supplies any number of tools to do so and is a model of the rigorous and restrained articulation of essential themes and contemporary resonances. The glossary contains an indispensable and illuminating discussion of terms. Readable and thought-provoking, this translation is particularly well-suited for the classroom. Students at all levels will benefit from its lucidity and provocation to thought." —Sara Brill, Fairfield University

Series: The New Hackett Aristotle

"The De Caelo can be quite difficult for a first-time reader. C. D. C. Reeve's fluid and accurate translation, along with his superb Introduction and 560 endnotes (in effect functioning as a commentary), are bound to make this work much more accessible, while at the same time being a highly useful tool for seasoned Aristotle scholars." —Robert Mayhew, Professor of Philosophy, Seton Hall University

"Reeve's lucid and accurate translation of this difficult work will be of great value both to historians of philosophy and to philosophers interested in the topics Aristotle addresses for their own sake. The generous Introduction and notes provide the reader without Greek with full access to Aristotle's thinking." —William Charlton, author of many works on Aristotle's philosophy of nature and contributor of five volumes to the Ancient Commentators on Aristotle series

"Warren Goldfarb's long-awaited Deductive Logic is an unusually perspicuous and effective logic textbook. It succeeds in achieving great precision without seeming pedantic and great depth without compromising accessibility. One main advantage of this book relative to its competitors is the lucidity with which it explains, in ways that even beginners can fully appreciate, the rapport between semantic and syntactic captures of logical consequence. Another marked advantage is the book's emphasis on deduction and its insistence on motivating the various clauses of the rules of deduction by showing, for example, what would ensue had these clauses been flouted. In this, Deductive Logic fills a real lacuna in logic-instruction and avoids the common pedagogical pitfalls of instruction via the tree method, where students find it rather mysterious why and how the method really works. The book is written in a clear and lively style and contains numerous exercises of varying degrees of difficulty. It is ideally suited for students in philosophy and computer science."
     —Ori Simchen, University of British Columbia

"A handy paperback edition offered primarily to teachers and students who can make no pretense of reading the entirety of the large work, but who want to sample some of its chief delights. . . . [Grant gives us an] exemplary translation . . . marked above all by great accuracy and fidelity to Tocqueville’s text. . . . Kessler’s editor’s Introduction is a model introduction to a classic text for today’s students. It is clearly written, compact (without being too short or dense), and nicely structured. . . . A tour—and translation—well worth the price of admission." —Paul Seaton, Perspectives on Political Science

Though Descartes never wrote a book specifically devoted to moral philosophy, his thought on ethical matters can be found throughout his correspondence and in parts of his work Passions of the Soul. In 1685, an anonymous editor in London gathered these writings in a textbook devoted to Descartes’s ethical thought.

Roger Ariew has translated, from Descartes’s original French texts, those selections included in the 1685 volume, adding to those writings an Appendix of relevant materials, including Part III of the Discourse on Method on the provisional morals, a portion of the Preface to the French edition of the Principles of Philosophy on the “tree” of philosophy, and portions of additional letters that help to illuminate the background for the correspondence included in the 1685 volume.

Includes notes on sources and editions and an editor's introduction.

John Perry revisits the cast of characters of his classic A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality in this absorbing dialogue on consciousness. Cartesian dualism, property dualism, materialism, the problem of other minds . . . Gretchen Weirob and her friends tackle these topics and more in a dialogue that exemplifies the subtleties and intricacies of philosophical reflection. Once again, Perry’s ability to use straightforward language to discuss complex issues combines with his mastery of the dialogue form. A Bibliography lists relevant further readings keyed to topics discussed in the dialogue. A helpful Glossary provides a handy reference to terms used in the dialogue and an array of clarifying examples.

"Perry’s work is an engaging, highly readable introduction to the problem of natural and moral evil with respect to belief in an omniscient, omnipotent, and morally perfect God. This dialogue would work well as a supplement in either an introduction to philosophy or philosophy of religion course. . . . Perry is to be commended for taking a very difficult subject and making it accessible to a more general audience.”
     —Jeff Wisdom, Biola University

Hume's brilliant and dispassionate essay "Of Miracles" has been added in this expanded edition of his Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, which also includes "Of the Immortality of the Soul," "Of Suicide," and Richard Popkin's illuminating Introduction.