Disappointed by the public reception to "A Treatise of Human Nature", published anonymously between 1739 and 1740, David Hume decided to produce a shorter more polemic version of that work nearly ten years later. That revision, which was published in 1748, would be entitled "An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding". Dispensing with much of the extraneous material from the "Treatise", Hume focuses on his more vital propositions in the "Enquiry"....

Self-Reliance is an 1841 essay written by American transcendentalist philosopher and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson. It contains a stirring call for each individual to avoid conformity and false consistency, and to follow their own instincts and ideas. It contains one of Emerson's most famous quotations: A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines." The essay, possibly Emerson's most...

French philosopher Henri Bergson produced four major works in his lifetime, the second of which, "Matter and Memory", is a philosophical and complex nineteenth century exploration of human nature and the spirituality of memory. In this work, Bergson investigates the function of the brain, and opposes the idea of memory being of a material nature, lodged within a particular part of the nervous system. He makes a claim early in this essay that matter...

This edition includes a modern introduction and a list of suggested further reading. One of the most interesting features of A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge is the symbiosis between a radical empiricism and a bold and uncompromising idealism. An artful combination of analytical rigor and unfettered speculation, of crystal-like precision of language and winged metaphors or sparkling images, George Berkeley's work is essentially...

Do you choose your next thought? Our thoughts drive our actions and color all we experience. While we can influence our thinking, do we consciously *choose* each of our thoughts? We each have a unique window into life. My brother and I grew up with an abusive father and our lives became even harder after he started losing his mind. He died when I was fifteen, leaving me with a lot to figure out. In this book I share part of that story and others...

In The Ladder, I claim that Plato was right. All human beings are born into a kind of cave, the darkness of which symbolizes our natural ignorance. What we call philosophy is just a determined attempt to escape the cave and break out into the light of day. The ladder referred to in the title is the power of human reason, which provides the means of reaching that light. Has anyone ever succeeded in reaching it? I do not know. All I know for sure is...

Existential Rednecks is a book composed of three short novellas that must be read together. It's a story of love and transformation. You'll meet true rednecks who were interested mainly in sex and moonshine, but who morph into benevolent lovers of literature. You'll also discover a mind-reading sprite, a human lie detector, slightly kinky septuagenarians and pilgrim who speaks to fish, trees and an invisible dog. You'll laugh, weep, and never look...

Volume 2 of the definitive English translation of one of the most important philosophical works of the 19th century, the basic statement in one important stream of post-Kantian thought. Corrects nearly 1,000 errors and omissions in the older Haldane-Kemp translation. For the first time, this edition translates and locates all quotes and provides full index.

Success by Choice Not By Chance gives a road map which clearly shows the potential for any one to succeed in life whether they came from Tupelo, Mississippi or was born on Wall Street. This book is about Ernie Tucker who defied the laws of success and has lived a charmed life by following the principles of having faith, repetition, imagination and above all persistence. He says success has no room for excuses it is all up to you. It is a choice one...

UNFOLDING DREAMS - Journey beyond the Rio Summits On January 1, 1992, carpenter Mario Houle and geography student Patrice Boyer embarked on a journey, planning to cross North, Central and South America in a self-initiated campaign called Green Light to Rio. Their plan was to raise awareness about environmental issues that concerned them personally. Thousands of signatures, slogans, petitions, poems and messages of hope were collected on a giant wooden...