In this clear, critical examination of the ideas of one of the greatest and most influential of modern philosophers, M.J. Inwood makes Hegel's arguments fully accessible. He reconstructs Hegel's thought throughout the book by arguing with him, considering Hegel's system as a whole and examining the wide range of problems that it was designed to solve - metaphysical, epistemological, theological and political.
Inwood concentrates especially on the logical and metaphysical ideas which underpin the system and which supply the key to understanding much of what is obscure in Hegel's thought. He...

Nicolas Malebranche (1638-1715) is one of the most important philosophers of the seventeenth century after Descartes. A pioneer of rationalism, he was one of the first to champion and to further Cartesian ideas.
Andrew Pyle places Malebranche's work in the context of Descartes and other philosophers, and also in its relation to ideas about faith and reason. He examines the entirety of Malebranche's writings, including the famous The Search After Truth, which was admired and criticized by both Leibniz and Locke. Pyle presents an integrated account of Malebranche's central theses,...

Timothy O'Hagan investigates Jean-Jacques Rousseau's writings concerning the formation of humanity, of the individual and of the citizen in his three master works: the Discourse on the Origin of Inequality among Men, Emile and the Social Contract. He explores Rousseau's reflections on the sexes, language and religion.

O'Hagan gives Rousseau's arguments a close and sympathetic reading. He writes as a philosopher, not a historian, yet he never loses sight of the cultural context of Rousseau's work.

Few philosophers have been as widely misunderstood as Nietzsche. His detractors and followers alike have often fundamentally misinterpreted him, distorting his views and intentions and criticizing or celebrating him for reasons removed from the views he actually held. Now Nietzsche assesses his place in European thought, concentrating upon his writings in the last decade of his productive life.

No serious philosopher or student of philosophy can afford to neglect Wittgenstein's work. Professor Fogelin provides an authoritative critical evaluation of both the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and Philosophical Investigations, enabling the reader to come to grips with these difficult yet key works.
Fogelin explains Wittgenstein's attempt in the Tractatus to combine a picture theory of propositional structure, and also explores Wittgenstein's own criticisms of the Tractarian synthesis. He gives particular attention to topics in the philosophy of language,...