Jean-Paul Sartre in one of the most widely read and important of twentieth-century philosophers, an iconic figure, whose ideas and writings continue to resonate. A confident understanding of Sartre is essential for students of Continental philosophy.

Sartre: A Guide for the Perplexed is an illuminating and comprehensive introduction to the work of this major twentieth-century thinker. It identifies the four key themes that run through Sartre's writings - consciousness, freedom, bad faith and authenticity. It explores each theme in detail, building up a clear and thorough overview of...

Utilitarianism is the ethical theory advanced by Jeremy Bentham, J.S. Mill, and Henry Sidgwick and has contributed significantly to contemporary moral and political philosophy. Yet it is not without controversy and is a subject that students can often find particularly perplexing. Utilitarianism: A Guide for the Perplexed offers a concise, yet fully comprehensive introduction to utilitarianism, its historical roots, key themes, and current debates.
Krister Bykvist provides a survey of the modern debate about utilitarianism and goes on to evaluate utilitarianism in comparison...

"In clear and simple prose, Mahon explains how to connect this little black box to the Joycean engine. Just pull some gears, it falls into place and works." -Jean-Michel Rabate, Vartan Gregorian Professor in the Humanities at the University of Pennsylvania
James Joyce's work has been regarded as some of the most obscure, challenging, and difficult writing ever committed to paper; it is also shamelessly funny and endlessly entertaining. Joyce: A Guide for the Perplexed celebrates the daring, humor and playfulness of Joyce's complex work while engaging with and elucidating...

What does it mean to be human and to be made in the image of God? What does it mean to be a 'person'? What constitutes a human person? What does it mean to affirm that humans are free beings? And, what is gender? Marc Cortez guides the reader through the most challenging issues that face anyone attempting to deal with the subject of theological anthropology. Consequently, it addresses complexities surrounding such questions as: Each chapter explains first both why the question under consideration is important for theological anthropology and why it is also a contentious issue within the...

Marshall McLuhan was dubbed a media guru when he came to prominence in the 1960s. The Woodstock generation found him cool; their parents found him perplexing. By 1963, McLuhan was Director of the Centre for Culture and Technology at the University of Toronto and would be a public intellectual on the international stage for more than a decade, then linked forever to his two best known coinages: the global village and the medium is the message.
Taken as a whole, McLuhan's writings reveal a profound coherence and illuminate his unifying vision for the study of language,...

The introduction to this new guide sets out the sources (Graeco-Roman, Jewish and Christian), noting the problems connected with them, paying particular attention to the nature of the gospels, and the Synoptic versus the Johannine tradition. A substantial section will discuss scholarship on Jesus from the nineteenth century to the explosion of works in the present day, introducing and explaining the three different 'quests' for the historical Jesus.

Subsequent chapters will analyse key themes in historical Jesus research: Jesus' Galilean origins; the scope of his ministry...