These readings from the literature of western philosophy have been collected to serve a practical home and classroom purposes: to make available to readers a sampling of the ideas of some of history's great thinkers on the subject of human values. The selection is eclectic but not random. The excerpts included have been used in philosophy classes and have been the basis for thoughtful and spirited discussions. The intent of the anthologists is not to instill values but to encourage readers to test their own assumptions and opinions against a variety of ideas and to emerge from the encounter...

This book contains selected passages from significant works by some of the most influential thinkers in European history, to include: Machiavelli Descartes Marx Luther Spinoza Engels Calvin Kant Darwin Voltaire De Tocqueville Zwingli Rousseau Bismarck Locke Paine Lenin Newton Burke Churchill More . . . The biographical sketches that accompany these documents are designed to help students place each source in its proper context. Readers are urged to contemplate why, when, where, and how these words were first delivered. In some cases students may discern that the cares and concerns of those...