Philosophy Knowledge

The world's best introduction to philosophy, Knowledge, Reality, and Value explains basic philosophical problems in epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics, such as: How can we know about the world outside our minds? Is there a God? Do we have free will? Are there objective values? What distinguishes right actions from wrong actions? The text clearly explains the most important arguments about these things, and it does so a lot less boringly than most books written by professors.

This book explores the limits of perception, the traps of intuition and prejudice, the illusions of objectivity, and the chains of history that bind every act of thought. Here, knowledge is not a shining monument but a lantern in fog—its light flickering, its shadows multiplying. Creation, far from pure, emerges as a paradox: invention born of fragments, originality stitched from memory, progress inseparable from destruction. In this book, philosophy meets satire, science confronts ambition, and art wrestles with the weight of necessity.

As a botanist and professor of plant ecology, Robin Wall Kimmerer has spent a career learning how to ask questions of nature using the tools of science. As a Potawatomi woman, she learned from elders, family, and history that the Potawatomi, as well as a majority of other cultures indigenous to this land, consider plants and animals to be our oldest teachers.

This reissue of Thomas Sowell’s classic study of decision making, which includes a preface by the author, updates his seminal work in the context of The Vision of the Anointed. Sowell, one of America’s most celebrated public intellectuals, describes in concrete detail how knowledge is shared and disseminated throughout modern society. He warns that society suffers from an ever-widening gap between firsthand knowledge and decision making—a gap that threatens not only our economic and political efficiency but our very freedom.

Madness, sexuality, power, knowledge—are these facts of life or simply parts of speech? In a series of works of astonishing brilliance, historian Michel Foucault excavated the hidden assumptions that govern the way we live and the way we think. The Archaeology of Knowledge begins at the level of things aid and moves quickly to illuminate the connections between knowledge, language, and action in a style at once profound and personal. A summing up of Foucault's own methodological assumptions, this book is also a first step toward a genealogy of the way we live now.

E. D. Hirsch, author of The Knowledge Deficit, draws on recent findings in neuroscience and data from France to provide new evidence for the argument that a carefully planned, knowledge-based elementary curriculum is essential to providing the foundations for children's life success and ensuring equal opportunity for students of all backgrounds. In the absence of a clear, common curriculum, Hirsch contends that tests are reduced to measuring skills rather than content, and that students from disadvantaged backgrounds cannot develop the knowledge base to support high achievement.

The world's best introduction to epistemology, Understanding Knowledge discusses basic philosophical problems in epistemology.

Imagination is a core aspect of being human. Our imagination allows us to fully experience ourselves in relation to the world and reality. Since the 17th century, however, imagination has been sidelined and dismissed as "make believe". Four centuries ago, a new way of knowing the world and ourselves emerged in the west and has gone on to dominate human life: science. Imagination has been marginalized - depicted as a way of escaping reality, rather than coming to grips with it - and its significance to our humanity has been downplayed.

A paradigm-shifting work that revolutionizes our understanding of the origins and structure of science.

The History of Classification Systems: How Humans Organize Knowledge, from Libraries to Biology to Algorithms is a deep, accessible exploration of one of the most fundamental yet overlooked forces shaping human thought. From the earliest survival based distinctions made by hunter gatherers to the complex digital systems that sort information, people, and behavior today, classification has always been central to how humans understand the world. This book traces how categories, taxonomies, and organizational systems evolved across history, revealing how knowledge itself has been shaped by ...

Conjectures and Refutations is one of Karl Popper’s most wide-ranging and popular works, notable not only for its acute insights into the way scientific knowledge grows, but also for applying those insights to politics and to history. It provides one of the clearest and most accessible statements of the fundamental idea that guided his work: not only our knowledge but our aims and our standards grow through an unending process of trial and error.

Knowledge and Power: Understanding the Enduring Ideas of Francis Bacon explores the revolutionary thought of one of history’s most important philosophers. Francis Bacon, often called the father of modern science, reshaped the way humanity approaches knowledge, truth, and progress. His vision of experimentation, observation, and inductive reasoning laid the foundations for the scientific method and inspired centuries of discovery. This engaging book guides readers through Bacon’s life and work, from his critique of human bias and the “Idols of the Mind” to his bold belief that ...

Prepare to fortify your inner self: ✓ When will you finally stand up for what you deserve? ✓ Where exactly do you seek? ✓ Happiness? ✓ Build strength? ✓ In what ways might we confront our fears? ✓ Cope with a loved one's passing? ✓ What about those negative ideas that keep popping into your head? This is precisely what the great philosophical schools of antiquity were all about: instructing students in the art of living, which is something that traditional schooling fails to achieve. Reading this book will provide you a foundation in stoic philosophy & the tools you need to ...

Philosophy Explained for Non-Philosophers: Clear Guides to the Ideas That Shape Human Thought Rationalism Explained for Non-Philosophers: How Reason, Logic, and Innate Ideas Shape Knowledge and Truth is a clear, engaging guide to one of philosophy’s most influential traditions. Written for curious readers with no background in philosophy, this book explains how rationalist thinkers argue that reason itself is a fundamental source of knowledge. Rather than beginning with abstract jargon or historical name lists, the book focuses on core concepts such as certainty, necessity, logic, and ...

“A witty, learned, authoritative survey of philosophical thought.” —The New York Times Book Review The first authoritative and accessible single-volume history of philosophy to cover both Western and Eastern traditions, from one of the world’s most eminent thinkers The story of...

A “flip,” writes Jeffrey J. Kripal, is “a reversal of perspective,” “a new real,” often born of an extreme, life-changing experience. The Flip is Kripal’s ambitious, visionary program for unifying the sciences and the humanities to expand our minds, open our hearts, and negotiate a peaceful resolution to the culture wars.

Reason as the Path to Truth: Exploring the History, Principles, and Legacy of Rationalism takes readers on a comprehensive journey through one of philosophy’s most influential traditions. From the bold speculations of the ancient Greeks to the grand systems of Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz, rationalism has shaped how humanity understands knowledge, science, morality, and the very structure of reality. This book provides an accessible yet detailed exploration of rationalism’s origins, development, and ongoing relevance, making it an essential resource for students of philosophy and ...

Artificial intelligence powers Google's search engine, enables Facebook to target advertising, and allows Alexa and Siri to do their jobs. AI is also behind self-driving cars, predictive policing, and autonomous weapons that can kill without human intervention. These and other AI applications raise complex ethical issues that are the subject of ongoing debate. This volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series offers an accessible synthesis of these issues.

Theosophy for Beginners: Unlocking the Ancient Wisdom of the Masters, Symbols, and the Path to Spiritual Awakening is your comprehensive guide to the timeless spiritual philosophy known as Theosophy. Whether you’re new to metaphysical teachings or seeking a deeper understanding of the universe and your place within it, this accessible book offers clear insights into the esoteric principles that have inspired generations of seekers. Explore the profound teachings of Helena Blavatsky, the origins of the Theosophical Society, and key concepts like karma, reincarnation, and the divine nature ...

Called the "fifth-most important sociological book of the 20th century" by the International Sociological Association, this groundbreaking study of knowledge introduces the concept of "social construction" into the social sciences for the first time. In it, Berger and Luckmann reformulate the task of the sociological subdiscipline that, since Max Scheler, has been known as the sociology of knowledge.