Central Works of Philosophy is a major multi-volume collection of essays on the core texts of the Western philosophical tradition. From Plato's Republic to the present day, the five volumes range over 2,500 years of philosophical writing covering the best, most representative, and most influential work of some of our greatest philosophers. Each essay has been specially commissioned and provides an overview of the work, clear and authoritative exposition of its central ideas, and an assessment of the work's importance. Together these books provide an unrivaled companion for studying and reading philosophy, one that introduces the reader to the masterpieces of the western philosophical canon. This volume covers the central texts in the history of analytic philosophy from Quine's Word and Object (1960) to the present day. The texts range over political philosophy, ethics, metaphysics and the philosophies of language, mind and logic and represent some of the most important philosophical work of the last forty years. Students and non-specialists who may find the technicality of some of the texts forbidding will welcome the clarity of exposition and exegesis that the essays provide. Taken together the essays provide both a map and compass for the current philosophical landscape and will prove a valuable resource not only for undergraduate and postgraduate philosophy students but for teachers and researchers in allied disciplines who need an understanding of the preoccupations of contemporary philosophy.

Central Works of Philosophy is a major multi-volume collection of essays on the core texts of the Western philosophical tradition. From Plato's Republic to the present day, the five volumes range over 2,500 years of philosophical writing covering the best, most representative, and most influential work of some of our greatest philosophers. Each essay has been specially commissioned and provides an overview of the work, clear and authoritative exposition of its central ideas, and an assessment of the work's importance. Together these books provide an unrivaled companion for studying and reading philosophy, one that introduces the reader to the masterpieces of the western philosophical canon. This volume covers the central texts in the history of analytic philosophy from Quine's Word and Object (1960) to the present day. The texts range over political philosophy, ethics, metaphysics and the philosophies of language, mind and logic and represent some of the most important philosophical work of the last forty years. Students and non-specialists who may find the technicality of some of the texts forbidding will welcome the clarity of exposition and exegesis that the essays provide. Taken together the essays provide both a map and compass for the current philosophical landscape and will prove a valuable resource not only for undergraduate and postgraduate philosophy students but for teachers and researchers in allied disciplines who need an understanding of the preoccupations of contemporary philosophy.

This collection of essays showcases the most important and influential philosophical works of the ancient and medieval period, roughly from 600 BC to AD 1600. Each chapter takes a particular work of philosophy and discusses its proponent, its content and central arguments. These are: Plato's Republic; Aristotle' Nichomachean Ethics; Lucretius' On the Nature of the Universe; Sextus Emperiicus' Outlines of Pyrrhonism; Plotinus' The Enneads; Augustine's City of God; Anselm's Proslogion; Aquinas' Summa Theologia; Duns Scotus' Ordinatio; William of Ockham's Summa Logicae .

Delving into the deeply enigmatic nature of Artificial Intelligence (AI), AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable explores the various reasons why the field is so challenging. Written by one of the founders of the field of AI safety, this book addresses some of the most fascinating questions facing humanity, including the nature of intelligence, consciousness, values and knowledge. Moving from a broad introduction to the core problems, such as the unpredictability of AI outcomes or the difficulty in explaining AI decisions, this book arrives at more complex questions of ownership and control, conducting an in-depth analysis of potential hazards and unintentional consequences. The book then concludes with philosophical and existential considerations, probing into questions of AI personhood, consciousness, and the distinction between human intelligence and artificial general intelligence (AGI). Bridging the gap between technical intricacies and philosophical musings, AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable appeals to both AI experts and enthusiasts looking for a comprehensive understanding of the field, whilst also being written for a general audience with minimal technical jargon.

Plato’s dialogues are some of the most widely read texts in Western philosophy, and one would imagine them fully mined for elemental material. Yet, in Plato and Tradition, Patricia Fagan reveals the dialogues to be continuing sources of fresh insight. She recovers from them an underappreciated depth of cultural reference that is crucial to understanding their central philosophical concerns. Through careful readings of six dialogues, Fagan demonstrates that Plato’s presentation of Socrates highlights the centrality of tradition in political, erotic, and philosophic life. Plato embeds Socrates’s arguments and ideas in traditional references that would have been familiar to contemporaries of Socrates or Plato but that today’s reader typically passes over. Fagan’s book unpacks this cultural and literary context for the proper and full understanding of the philosophical argument of the Platonic dialogues. She concludes that, as Socrates demonstrates in word and deed, tradition is essential to successful living. But we must take up tradition with a critical openness to questioning its significance and future. Her original and compelling analyses may change the views of many readers who think themselves already well versed in the dialogues.

Pragmatist Neurophilosophy:American Philosophy and the Brain explains why the broad tradition of pragmatism is needed now more than ever. Bringing pragmatist philosophers together with cognitive psychologists and neuroscientists, this volume explores topics of urgent interest across neuroscience and philosophy from the perspective of pragmatism. Discussing how Charles Peirce, William James, John Dewey, and George Mead benefited from their laboratory-knowledge, contributors treat America's first-generation pragmatists as America's first cognitive scientists. They explain why scientists today should participate in pragmatic judgments, just as the classical pragmatists did, and how current scientists can benefit from their earlier philosophical explorations across the same territory. Looking at recent neuroscientific discoveries in relation to classical pragmatists, they explore emerging pragmatic views supported directly from the behavioral and brain sciences and describe how "neuropragmatism" engages larger cultural questions by adequately dealing with meaningful values and ethical ideals. Pragmatist Neurophilosophy is an important contribution to scholars of both pragmatism and neuroscience and a timely reminder that America's first generation of pragmatists did not stumble onto its principles, but designed them in light of biology's new discoveries.