Written by a leading expert, this is the ideal guide to the only book Wittgenstein published during his lifetime, the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. Michael Morris makes sense of Wittgenstein s brief but often cryptic text, highlighting its key themes. He introduces and analyzes:

• Wittgenstein s life and the background to the Tractatus
• the ideas and text of the Tractatus
• the continuing importance of Wittgenstein's work to philosophy today,

Wittgenstein is the most important twentieth-century philosopher in the English...

Aristotle's Politics is widely acknowledged as a classic and one of the founding texts of political theory and philosophy. Written by a leading expert in ancient philosophical thought, Aristotle and the Politics is a coherent guide that makes sense of an often difficult and disorganized work, carefully explaining its key themes. Jean Roberts introduces and assesses:

• Aristotle's life and the background to Politics
• the ideas and text of Politics
• the continuing importance of Aristotle's work to philosophy...

Maurice Merleau-Ponty is increasingly hailed as one of the key philosophers of the Twentieth century. Phenomenology of Perception is his most famous and influential work and an essential text for anyone seeking to understand phenomenology. In this Guidebook Komarine Romdenh-Romluc introduces and assesses

• Merleau-Ponty’s life and the background to his philosophy
• The key themes and arguments of Phenomenology of Perception
• The continuing importance of Merleau-Ponty’s work to philosophy

Merleau-Ponty...

Baruch Spinoza is one of the most influential and controversial political philosophers of the early modern period. Though best-known for his contributions to metaphysics, Spinoza s "Theological-Political Treatise" (1670) and his unfinished "Political Treatise" (1677) were widely debated and helped to shape the political writings of philosophers as diverse as Rousseau, Kant, Marx, Nietzsche, and (although he publicly denied it) even Locke. In addition to its enormous historical importance, Spinoza s political philosophy is also strikingly contemporary in its advocacy of toleration of...

Baruch Spinoza is one of the most influential and controversial political philosophers of the early modern period. Though best-known for his contributions to metaphysics, Spinoza's Theological-Political Treatise (1670) and his unfinished Political Treatise (1677) were widely debated and helped to shape the political writings of philosophers as diverse as Rousseau, Kant, Marx, Nietzsche, and (although he publicly denied it) even Locke. In addition to its enormous historical importance, Spinoza's political philosophy is also strikingly contemporary in its advocacy of toleration...