Books: Philosophy

How the Martians Discovered Algebra: Explorations in Induction and the Philosophy of Mathematics by Roger E. Bissell delivers an algorithm for generating Pythagorean Triples. Central to the thesis of the work, Bissell explains how he discovered this by means of induction, not deduction. From there, Bissell takes the reader into number theory in ord... (See the whole review)

Edited by Ellen F. Paul, Fred Miller Jr., Jeffrey Paul. One can read most of the Introduction, which gives an overview, using Amazon's "Look Inside" feature. So I made my review a short one. (See the whole review)

It is a book about political philosophy published in 2012. I put a review of it on Amazon. It is among the 4-star ones with a date of June 3, 2015. (See the whole review)

I have not read it yet and may post a review or comments after reading it.

The American Pragmatists looks excellent. There is a very informative review of it here. I'm getting this one (re: a, b, c, d, e). (See the whole review)

Since Socrates and Plato, there have been philosophers arguing that morality is a requirement of rationality. Kant made an original and influential pitch for such a thesis. James Sterba, professor of philosophy at Notre Dame, makes his own attempt in From Rationality to Equality (Oxford 2013), hewing closer to Kant’s conception of the way morality ... (See the whole review)

Philosophy in World Perspective David A. Dilworth (Yale 1989) What the publisher said of this book on the back cover is exactly right:In this original work of systematic philosophy, David Dilworth places the major texts of Western and Oriental philosophy and religion, both ancient and modern, into one comparative framework. His study reve... (See the whole review)

Put this in your Rand-sighting file: "Egoless Egoists: The Second-Hand Lives of Mad Men" by Robert White, published in Mad Men and Philosophy: Nothing Is as It Seems (part of the Philosophy and Pop Culture Series.) Much of Mad Men fits the theme of The Fountainhead in its expose of second-handers, and White gets it right: "Presumably, Coo... (See the whole review)

Gotthelf reports that the book (a collection of papers delivered to the Ayn Rand Society of the APA) has gone to the publishers (University of Pittsburgh Press).  It's the first volume in the Ayn Rand Society Philosophical Papers.  No publication date given.  <eom> (See the whole review)

This is my latest a work with the focus on the non-Utopian nature of the free society.

Coming Soon! Wittgenstein, Austrian Economics and the Logic of Action Roderick Long (Routledge 2009) Preview from the Author // Where does Wittgenstein stand on this issue? As I read him, he rejects the distinction between analytic and synthetic propositions. As traditionally understood, analytic truths are linguistic stipu... (See the whole review)

This looks excellent! ... (See the whole review)

Social Philosophy and Policy - 2008 ... (See the whole review)

Crimes Against Logic: Exposing the Bogus Arguments of Politicians, Priests, Journalists, and Other Serial Offenders by Jamie Whyte. (McGraw-Hill 2004, 157 pages.) ... (See the whole review)

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I have found Steven Pinker's works to be uneven. His How the Mind Works is perhaps his best work, addressing consciousness largely at the perceptual level. This current book approaches the mind from a physico-linguistic standpoint, dealing with words not primarily as tags for conceptual abstractions, but rather as mental nexuses which are processed... (See the whole review)

Stephen Colbert : A good friend of Objectivism ... (See the whole review)

The Loeb Classical Library of the classical Greek and Roman writers in affordable bilingual hardcover editions is an essential for the student of history, literature, politics, or philosophy. An example is Suetonius' upon which Robert Graves' historical fiction I, Claudius was based. Availabnle are Homer, Aristotle, Epictetus, Julius Caesar, Marc... (See the whole review)

While I have only just begun reading it, this book further proves that there is no prose writer alive with more wit, acumen, erudition, or clarity. Even when you disagree with him on minor points, you do so with enjoyment, because Hitchens always makes himself so clear that you cannot help but know both where and why you differ with him. A small ex... (See the whole review)

I am happy to announce Objectivity Archive. This site is an archive and library of Objectivity, now freely open to all readers and researchers.   Objectivity is a journal of metaphysics, epistemology, and theory of value informed by modern science. It consists of two volumes, each with six issues. It was a hardcopy journal, for subscribers, p... (See the whole review)

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Been going thru this book, and find it of much interest --especially regarding many comments made in the threads on religious moderates and fundamentalists... for instance -- "Religious moderation springs from the fact that even the least educated person among us simply knows more about certain matters than anyone did two thousand y... (See the whole review)

At the encouragement of someone who has in the past shown interest in Objectivism, I read The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.  While I did not consider the reading a complete waste of time, I did consider the author so profoundly wrong about so many things that I cannot honestly recommend the book.  His thesis that "mind identification" serves as th... (See the whole review)

Years ago, when I began engaging others in Internet discussion forums, I found myself groping for tools to analyze arguments.  As a sad statement of my college education, the logic course I took as a freshman only focused on "truth table" construction and never discussed the powerful body of informal fallacies compiled over the centuries.  A trip t... (See the whole review)

Aristotle’s PHYSICS, translated by Joe Sachs. Rutgers University Press, 1994, 260 + xi. Include Introduction, Commentary, Glossary and Index. Aristotle was Ayn Rand’s favorite philosopher and it is a pity that she had to read him through Latinized spectacles, rather than in an English translation that tries to be as true to Aristotle’s G... (See the whole review)

This book by the late millionaire Charles Givens, though not a formal philosophical treatise, bursts forth with Success Principles that the author argues "work, work every time, and work for everyone."  He employs these to outline an integrated body of Success Strategies which he argues persuasively meet that three-fold requirement. Objectiv... (See the whole review)

This is a truly great book.  The title says it all. ... (See the whole review)

I have just begun to read this book, spurred on by recent discussions on SOLO. In what has become his trademark, this elegant, and well argued book is a must read for anyone interested in our most distinguishing feature, FREE WILL. It is not a debate for the academics alone, but has implications for our culture, and our future. A full descr... (See the whole review)

I first read this years ago while in graduate school. It was one of the few I carried around with me in my backpack. Today, Classical Individualism is one of only a handful that I re-read every now and then, to refresh my mind and spirit. I say refresh, because in an age where communitarianist and socialist denial of true human liberty and flourish... (See the whole review)

No matter your age, September signals a return to the shark-infested waters of school or workplace. Here is a darkly comic and enticingly designed primer for survival.   Right in tune with the millennial thirst for power and sanctimonious view of children, A Child's Machiavelli -- distilled from the sixteenth-century Italian political philos... (See the whole review)

Self-proclaimed lesbian pro-choice feminist Bruce, ex-president of the Los Angeles chapter of NOW and author of The New Thought Police, blames the decline of civilization on other lesbian pro-choice feminists in this lurid right-wing screed. Bruce argues that multiculturalism, identity politics and "relativism" have turned American society into a "... (See the whole review)

This book should be in every student’s backpack.  In the post-modern intellectual battleground in which each student find himself submerged – and sometimes drowning - this book offers essential intellectual self-defence for every student who still cares to think. No matter if you already know every answer to all the sundry irrationalities y... (See the whole review)

Civil War veteran, successful lawyer, spellbinding orator, and controversial iconoclast, Robert G. Ingersoll (1833-1899) was one of the best-known intellectuals of the nineteenth century. He rose to national prominence through his oratorical skills, which he publicly displayed on numerous lecture circuit tours. For almost twenty years this dedicate... (See the whole review)

Capitalism and Commerce provides an outstanding and accessible introduction to the best philosophical , moral, and economic arguments for capitalism. This excellent and interesting work makes a convincing case that capitalism is the only moral social system because it protects a man's mind, his primary means of survival and flourishing.Younkins tho... (See the whole review)

With all the talk of failing schools these days, we forget that schools can fail their brightest students, too. We pledge to "leave no child behind," but in American schools today, thousands of gifted and talented students fall short of their potential. In Genius Denied, Jan and Bob Davidson describe the "quiet crisis" in education: gifted students... (See the whole review)

Dedicated as few men have been to the life of reason, Bertrand Russell has always been concerned with the basic questions to which religion also addresses itself -- questions about man's place in the universe and the nature of the good life, questions that involve life after death, morality, freedom, education, and sexual ethics. He brings to his t... (See the whole review)

The complete text of several of Aristotle's most important and influential works, in the famous and authoritative Oxford translations by W. Rhys Roberts and Ingram Bywater. Complete texts include: "Categories," "On Interpretation," "The Posterior Analytics," "On the Soul," "Metaphysics," "Nicomachean Ethics," "Politics" and "Poetics." It also has t... (See the whole review)