Philosopher Biography

In a series of poignant vignettes, a preeminent historian makes a compelling case for Machiavelli as an unjustly maligned figure with valuable political insights that resonate as strongly today as they did in his time.

After the publication of Atlas Shrugged in 1957, Ayn Rand occasionally lectured in order to bring her philosophy of Objectivism to a wider audience and apply it to current cultural and political issues. These taped lectures and the question-and-answer sessions that followed added not only an eloquent new dimension to Ayn Rand's ideas and beliefs, but a fresh and spontaneous insight into Ayn Rand herself.

The Age of Genius explores the eventful intertwining of outward event and inner intellectual life to tell, in all its richness and depth, the story of the 17th century in Europe. It was a time of creativity unparalleled in history before or since, from science to the arts, from philosophy to politics. Acclaimed philosopher and historian A. C. Grayling points to three primary factors that led to the rise of vernacular (popular) languages in philosophy, theology, science, and literature.

Ecce Homo is Nietzsche's compelling autobiography, written in 1888, just weeks before he succumbed to madness. Nietzsche's last great work, a fascinating and bizarre text, traces the development of his own philosophy and the thinkers who influenced him along the way.

As a young man, Albert Schweitzer seemed destined for greatness. His immense talent and fortitude propelled him to a place as one of Europe's most renowned philosophers, theologians, and musicians in the early 20th century. Yet Schweitzer shocked his contemporaries by forsaking worldly success and embarking on an epic journey into the wilds of French Equatorial Africa, vowing to serve as a lifelong physician to "the least of these" in a mysterious land rife with famine, sickness, and superstition.

In the spring of 1940, the aspiring but unknown writer Albert Camus and budding scientist Jacques Monod were quietly pursuing ordinary, separate lives in Paris. After the German invasion and occupation of France, each joined the Resistance to help liberate the country from the Nazis and ascended to prominent, dangerous roles. After the war and through twists of circumstance, they became friends, and through their passionate determination and rare talent they emerged as leading voices of modern literature and biology, each receiving the Nobel Prize in their respective fields.

As President Clinton's senior adviser, George Stephanopoulos saw it all: the endless arguments, the back-hall scheming, the protracted decisions, and the last minute flip-flops that somehow produced real accomplishments but also set in motion an almost tragic series of events that placed the fate of the president in the hands of the Senate. Now, with the natural ease of a born storyteller and the sensitive eye for detail of a novelist, Stephanopoulos tells his extraordinarily gripping story.

Israel Meir Lau, one of the youngest survivors of Buchenwald, was just eight years old when the camp was liberated in 1945. Descended from a 1,000-year unbroken chain of rabbis, he grew up to become Chief Rabbi of Israel--and like many of the great rabbis, Lau is a master storyteller. Out of the Depths is his harrowing, miraculous, and inspiring account of life in one of the Nazis' deadliest concentration camps, and how he managed to survive against all possible odds.

For centuries, Augustine's writings have moved and fascinated readers. With the keen eye of a writer whose own intellectual analysis won him a Pulitzer Prize, Gary Wills examines this famed fourth-century bishop and seminal thinker whose grounding in classical philosophy informed his interpretation of Christian doctrine. Saint Augustine explores Augustine's thought as well as the everyday man who set pen to parchment. It challenges many misconceptions.

Walter Benjamin (1892 - 1940), war vieles: Philosoph, Kulturkritiker, Übersetzer - aber auch ein Schriftsteller. Auf der Flucht vor den Nazis, die Frankreich besetzt hatten, nahm er sich an der spanischen Grenze das Leben. In seinem autobiografischen Werk Berliner Kindheit um neunzehnhundert beschreibt er in kunstvollen Miniaturen einzelne Bilder und Bruchstücke von Reminiszenzen seiner Kindheit, die an Kunstfertigkeit kaum zu übertreffen sind.

El filósofo y escritor rumano Emil Cioran fue un escritor de aforismos contradictorios, amargos, irónicos, líricos y potentes sobre los temas más diversos: la alienación humana, el pecado original, el sentido trágico de la historia, el fin de la civilización, la negativa del consuelo de la fe, la obsesión por la vida eterna, el exilio, los totalitarismos, etc. Detestó nacer y tener que enfrentarse a la vida, pero leyó, se cultivó y no dejó de trasladar sus ideas para inducir a la reflexión.

"The others form the human being, I depict him; and here I present an individual who is quite poorly formed and whom I would certainly make largely differently if I had to reshape him. But now that's the way he is." This phrase from the famous essays of Michel de Montaigne outlines the character of the author and his work. Montaigne wrote his essays not from a position of certainty but from an awareness of his inadequacy. He thus reveals a level of critical self-reflection that, before his time, was rarely put on paper.

I korte tekststykker, der fortæller om samtiden og den betydning de fik for den, portrætterer Stefan Zweig to af det 19. århundredes helt store personligheder - den russiske forfatter Fjodor Dostojevski og den tyske filosof Friedrich Nietzsche. Stefan Zweig (1881-1942) var en østrigsk forfatter, dramatiker og journalist. Han voksede op i Wien i et velhavende, jødisk hjem, studerede filosofi og litteraturhistorie og blev som ung forfatter del af de avantgardistiske kredse. I 1920'erne og 30'erne var han en af Europas førende forfattere.

This audiobook contains biographies on five prominent Stoics: Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Epictetus, Cato, and Zeno. Get an inside look at the lives of the men who made Stoicism famous.

In 1967 at the age of nineteen, Ethan was unsuspectingly catapulted from his self-imposed, fortress of atheism to swimming in the ocean of the Divine in one blinding, mind-melting flash of insight. He never looked back. This is one man's journey, spanning more than fifty years, through the brambles and the thickets; through the ancient halls of mystery, the pure emptiness of being and into the bliss of the Divine Light. This is a story of love, love and more love; a transfiguration from mind to Heart.

Die große neue Biografie. "Ich glaube nicht, dass es irgendeinen Denkvorgang gibt, der ohne persönliche Erfahrung möglich ist. Alles Denken ist Nachdenken, der Sache nach – denken." Für Thomas Meyer bilden diese Sätze den Leitfaden seiner Biografie Hannah Arendts. Ihm folgt Meyer, wenn er anhand neuer Quellen ihr Leben und Werk von Königsberg nach New York, von der Dissertation über Augustinus bis hin zum unvollendeten Opus magnum "Vom Leben des Geistes" nachzeichnet und deutet.

T. W. Adorno (1903-1969) was a German philosopher and social and cultural theorist. His work has come to be seen as increasingly relevant to understanding the pathologies of contemporary society evident in today's climate emergency, the financial crash, the reappearance of fascism in many countries, and the growing instability of the world order. This Very Short Introduction covers Adorno's work and life, explaining his key philosophical concepts and the philosophical background and historical context of Adorno's thinking.

Ecoutez ce livre audio, c'est cheminer auprès de Rudolf Steiner pendant ses 35 premières années. Vous allez y découvrir son enfance et son adolescence en famille puis ses hautes études qui le conduiront à de multiples rencontres qui forgeront en lui sa pensée et ses investigations. Très tôt Rudolf Steiner est en contact avec des réalités spirituelles qui échappent à ses congénères.

St. Augustine was the greatest Western philosopher for 1,000 years and a dominant influence on the history of Christian theology. From his conversion in 386 to his death in 430, he remained a great teacher, church statesman, and polemical theologian. St. Thomas Aquinas was one of many scholars influenced by Augustine’s theories.

Lies viel, vergiss das meiste wieder, und sei schwer von Begriff! - Habe ein Hinterzimmer in deinem Geschäft! - Tu etwas, was noch nie zuvor jemand getan hat! - Mach deinen Job gut, aber nicht zu gut! - Philosophiere nur zufällig! - Bedenke alles, bereue nichts! Mit diesen und anderen Antworten auf die eine Frage "Wie soll ich leben?" führt Sarah Bakewell durch das ungewöhnliche Leben des Weingutbesitzers, Liebhabers, Essayisten, Bürgermeisters und Reisenden Michel de Montaigne.