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This is Ayn Rand's first popular novel which brought her fame and a large following. "It is the story of a gifted young architect, his violent battle against conventional standards, and his explosive love affair with a beautiful woman who struggled to defeat him." (back cover) It shows man as a heroic being: Howard Roark, the perfect Egoist.

The story of people finding the moral conviction to live their own lives, and of a man who stops the motor of the world to pave the way.  This is Ayn Rand's magnum opus. It is her comprehensive philosophical novel, dealing with each of the major categories of philosophy. This book lays down the basis of her entire philosophy in a compelling story. ...

A remarkable series of lectures on the art of creating effective nonfiction by one of the 20th century's most profound writers and thinkers-now available for the first time in print. Culled from sixteen informal lectures Ayn Rand delivered to a select audience in the late 1960s, this remarkable work offers indispensable guidance to the aspi... (See the whole review)

In 1958, Ayn Rand, already the world-famous author of such bestselling books as "Atlas Shrugged" and "The Fountainhead", gave a private series of extemporaneous lectures in her own living room on the art of fiction. Tore Boeckmann and Leonard Peikoff for the first time now bring readers the edited transcript of these exciting personal statements. "... (See the whole review)

In this extraordinary bestseller, Steven Pinker, one of the world's leading cognitive scientists, does for the rest of the mind what he did for language in his 1994 book, "The Language Instinct". He explains what the mind is, how it evolved, and how it allows us to see, think, feel, laugh, interact, enjoy the arts, and ponder the mysteries of life.... (See the whole review)

Carl Sagan muses on the current state of scientific thought, which offers him marvelous opportunities to entertain us with his own childhood experiences, the newspaper morgues, UFO stories, and the assorted flotsam and jetsam of pseudoscience. Along the way he debunks alien abduction, faith-healing, and channeling; refutes the arguments that scienc... (See the whole review)

Our conceptions of human nature affect every aspect of our lives, from child-rearing to politics to morality to the arts. Yet many fear that scientific discoveries about innate patterns of thinking and feeling may be used to justify inequality, to subvert social change, and to dissolve personal responsibility. In "The Blank Slate", Steven P... (See the whole review)

From the Back Cover "An original work of synthesis...a program of unrivalled ambition: to unify all the major branches of knowledge--sociology, economics, the arts and religion--under the banner of science." --The New York Times "As elegant in its prose as it is rich in its ideas...a book of immense importance." --Atlanta Journal & C... (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)

This is the magnum opus of Ludwig von Mises. Being one of the best books on economics ever written, its philosophical content is often ignored. This is applied philosophy at its best, and a careful analysis will show a variety of ideas useful outside of this particular field.

Literally encyclopedic -- almost the length of a volume of the Britannica in terms both of number of pages and content per page --" Capitalism: A Treatise on Economics" is regarded by some as philosophically and intellectually the strongest and most comprehensive book in the defense of laissez-faire capitalism that can be found anywhere in the worl... (See the whole review)

Based on interviews with Rand and discussions with those close to her, this biography describes her life from her youth in Russia, to her stint in Hollywood as a screenwriter, and through her marriage, the publication of her novels, and the evolution of her philosophy.

The classic world history of the events, ideas and personalities of the twentieth century. While you are unlikely to agree with Johnson all of the time, his understanding of statism and capitalism make this book a refreshing departure from Marxist interpretations of history.

A fascinating portrait of the minds that have shaped the modern world. In an intriguing series of case studies, Rousseau, Shelley, Marx, Ibsen, Tolstoy, Hemingway, Bertrand Russell, Brecht, Sarte, Edmund Wilson, Victor Gollancz, Lillan Hellman, Cyril Connolly, Norman Mailer, James Baldwin, Kenneth Tyan, Noam Chomsky, and others are revealed as inte... (See the whole review)

Thomas Paine played a vital role in the American Revolution of 1776. This was the last book he wrote, which centers almost entirely around Christianity. To Paine, it made sense to question everything in order to make valid answers possible. He puts forth many questions in this book regarding Christianity, confronting many beliefs with pure and rati... (See the whole review)

In this book Smith dissects atheism and theism with an epistemological scalpel. He discusses the distinction between belief and knowledge, what counts as knowledge, Occam's Razor, Rand's view of contextual certainty and modern empiricism. Smith also takes on the Ontological argument for God (not included in his earlier work).

Robert G. Ingersoll (1833-99), the "Great Agnostic," was the greatest freethought orator in the history of the United States. No public speaker before or since has enjoyed the reputation accorded him. After the Civil War, Ingersoll embarked upon a career as a lecturer, touring the United States to make his thoughts on religion, women's right... (See the whole review)

A comprehensive analysis and refutation of the arguments made over the centuries to prove the existence of a god. Insists that reason, not faith, should be man's guide in all matters.

In "Philosophy in a New Key", Suzanne Langer developed a theory of symbolism, there applied to music, which she felt could be developed to embrace all the arts. In "Feeling and Form" she did just that. It offers the reader nothing less than a systematic, comprehensive theory of art, applied in turn to painting, sculpture, architecture, literature, ... (See the whole review)

While Unrugged Individualism is only 65 pages long, the information inside is so succinct and essential that this is one of the best books around. This book explores the topic of benevolence -- why it's a virtue and what it consists of. But it is not just about benevolence. In order to discuss such things as the difference between benevolence and a... (See the whole review)

This book annihilates the false notion that natural resources are limited and diminishing. In fact, the market price of every raw material has steadily decreased over the years. Why? Because people are the true ultimate resource. On average, each person produces more than he consumes. The more people, the more abundant the production and the cheape... (See the whole review)

The biography of US abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, a newspaperman who brought the issue of slavery to the foreground, and changed the morals of a country. Garrison brought reason and passion together to inspire and provoke, culminating in the eventual abolition of slavery in this country.

Based on the author's seminal article in Foreign Affairs, Samuel P. Huntington's The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order is a provocative and prescient analysis of the state of world politics after the fall of communism. In this incisive work, the renowned political scientist explains how "civilizations" have replaced nations and... (See the whole review)

Basic Economics has been written with the thought that learning economics should be not only a relaxed experience, but also an enjoyable one. This is the revised and enlarged edition of a new kind of introduction to economics for the general public-without graphs, statistics, or jargon. In addition to being updated, Basic Economics has also ... (See the whole review)

This book is a fantastic introduction to economics. It explains a simple but important idea, and the entire rest of the book is an elaboration on the idea. The "one lesson" is the need to look beyond the first order effect of an action or policy, and see the many different consequences.  Each subsequent chapter goes on to apply that lesson to diffe... (See the whole review)