What is the number one? How can we be sure that 2+2=4? These apparently ssimple questions have perplexed philosophers for thousands of years, but discussion of them was transformed by the German philosopher Gottlob Frege (1848-1925).
Frege (pronounced Fray-guh)believed that arithmetic and all mathematics are derived from logic, and to prove this he developed a completely new approach to logic and numbers. Joan Weiner presents a very clear outline of Frege's life and ideas, showing how his thinking evolved through successive books and articles.

Hans-Georg Moeller has achieved the perfect blend with Daoism Explained. It is both a fascinating introduction on Daoist thought as well as an original and insightful contribution to Eastern philosophy. This book will take the place of The Tao of Pooh by Hoff. Like that book, Doaism Explained offers a comprehensive presentation of Daoist philosophy that is interesting and easy to follow. The study sheds new light on many Doaist allegories by showing how modern translations often concealed the original wit and humor of the Chinese original, or imposed alien philosophical frameworks on them. It...

What are systems? What is society? What happens to human beings in a hypermodern world? Niklas Luhmann addressed these questions in depth. This book introduces his social systems theory which explains specific functions like economy and mass media from a cybernetic perspective, integrating various schools of thought including sociology, philosophy, and biology. Luhmann Explained explores the great thinker's radical analysis of "world society." The book gives special attention to the present-day relevance of Luhmann's theory with respect to globalization, electronic mass media, ethics,...

Martin Heidegger's (1889-1976) influence has long been felt not just in philosophy, but also in such fields as art, architecture, and literary studies. Yet his difficult terminology has often scared away interested readers lacking an academic background in philosophy. In this new entry in the Ideas Explained series, author Graham Harman shows that Heidegger is actually one of the simplest and clearest of thinkers. His writings and analyses boil down to a single powerful idea: being is not presence. In any human relation with the world, our thinking and even our acting do not fully...

Atheism Explained explores the claims made both for and against the existence of God. On the pro side: that the wonders of the world can only be explained by an intelligent creator; that the universe had to start somewhere; telepathy, out-of-body experiences, and other paranormal phenomena demonstrate the existence of a spirit world; and that those who experience God directly provide evidence as real as any physical finding. After disputing these arguments through calm, careful criticism, author David Ramsay Steele presents the reasons why God cannot exist: monstrous, appalling evils;...

Jean-Paul Sartre is perhaps the most famous of the existentialists, and by far the most famous philosopher of the post-war era. Sartre was a highly prolific writer and thinker, and delving into his novels, plays, stories, essays, and memoirs can be challenging. Most books on Sartre focus on only one sphere of his astounding intellect -- either his philosophical treatises or his forays into fiction. Enter Sartre Explained, a comprehensive guide to Sartre's versatile work, as well as a valuable overview of his life and scholarly context. Detailing the philosophical notions central to all...

Ockham Explained is an important and much-needed resource on William of Ockham, one of the most important philosophers of the Middle Ages. His eventful and controversial life was marked by sharp career moves and academic and ecclesiastical battles. At 28, Ockham was a conservative English theologian focused obsessively on the nature of language, but by 40, he had transformed into a fugitive friar, accused of heresy, and finally protected by the German emperor as he composed incendiary treatises calling for strong limits on papal authority. This book provides a thorough grounding in...

John Rawls was arguably the most important political philosopher of the 20th century. Barely a word of political philosophy is written today that is not indebted in some way to the philosophical paradigm that Rawls bequeathed. Rawls Explained sets out the thinker's complex arguments in a way that makes them accessible to first-time readers of his hugely influential work. Both clear in its exposition of Rawls' ideas and true to the complex purposes of his arguments, this book also attends to the variety of objections that have been made to them. The book is divided into three parts...

Phenomenology is one of the most important and influential philosophical movements of the last one hundred years. It began in 1900, with the publication of a massive two-volume work, Logical Investigations, by a Czech-German mathematician, Edmund Husserl. It proceeded immediately to exert a strong influence on both philosophy and the social sciences. For example, phenomenology provided the central inspiration for the existentialist movement, as represented by such figures as Martin Heidegger in Germany and Jean-Paul Sartre in France. Subsequent intellectual currents in Europe, when...

Fifty-five years after Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand is more in the news than ever. Ayn Rand Explained is an accurate and riveting account of Rand's life, work, and influence, with the emphasis on her ideas.
The book covers Rand's career, from youth in Soviet Russia to Hollywood screenwriter and then to ideological guru; her novels and other fiction writings; her work in ethics, epistemology, and metaphysics; her influence on--and personal animosity toward--both conservatism and libertarianism.
Rand's Objectivism encompasses the ethics of rational egoism ('The Virtue of...