First published in 1689, "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding" is British philosopher John Locke's important and influential exposition on the foundation of human knowledge and understanding. Arranged into four books, the first book begins by rejecting the notion of innate ideas proposed by Descartes and proposes instead that humans are born as blank slates. Book two argues that all knowledge is derived from experience and reflection. Locke also...

David Hume's Enquiry concerning Human Understanding is the definitive statement of the greatest philosopher in the English language. His arguments in support of reasoning from experience, and against the "sophistry and illusion"of religiously inspired philosophical fantasies, caused controversy in the eighteenth century and are strikingly relevant today, when faith and science continue to clash. The Enquiry considers the origin and processes of human...

Written sometime during the 4th century BC, "Symposium" is one the most poetic and sublime works by the Greek philosopher Plato. The action of the dialogue is set during a party hosted by the poet Agathon to celebrate his first victory in a dramatic competition. The title 'Symposium', or 'Banquet' refers to the setting of the work, however the more literal translation from the Greek is a 'drinking party.' At this party several notable figures from...

Dive into the foundational questions of philosophy with Bertrand Russell's The Problems of Philosophy. This classic work, penned by one of the 20th century's most influential philosophers, provides an accessible and thought-provoking introduction to philosophical inquiry. Bertrand Russell, a renowned philosopher, logician, and Nobel laureate, examines some of the most enduring problems in philosophy, presenting them in a clear and engaging manner....

Published in 1605, Sir Francis Bacon's 'The Advancement of Learning' is a ground-breaking philosophical work that outlines his empirical scientific method. Addressed to King James I, this two book treatise argues the importance of utilising observable facts over reason or feeling in science. Cutting through the noise of the English Renaissance, Bacon clearly and concisely explains his ideas for human progress, and where scientific thought could take...

In 1781, Immanuel Kant published his first and most famous work, the "Critique of Pure Reason". To the German philosopher's dismay, the work was at first poorly received and largely misunderstood by his readers. As a result, two years later Kant produced his "Prolegomena to any Future Metaphysics that will be Able to Present Itself as a Science" to serve as an introduction to the "Critique". He restated the main ideas of his philosophy in what Schopenhauer,...

"The complete story of the universe and absolutely everything in it (minus the boring parts). Despite our clever linguistic abilities, humans are spectacularly ill-equipped to comprehend what's happening in the universe. Our senses and intuition routinely mislead us. The Complete Guide to Absolutely Everything (Abridged) tells the story of how we came to suppress our monkey minds and perceive the true nature of reality. Written with wit and humor,...

Raymond Tallis steps into the gap between mind and world to explore what is at stake in our attempts to make sense of our world. He reveals how philosophers, theologians and scientists have sought to demystify our extraordinary sense-making capabilities and how their attempts are of little help in explaining the intelligibility of the world.

Catherine Z. Elgin is Professor of the Philosophy of Education at Harvard University. Her books include With Reference to Reference and Between the Absolute and the Arbitrary. She coauthored Reconceptions in Philosophy and Other Arts and Sciences with Nelson Goodman. Philosophy long sought to set knowledge on a firm foundation, through derivation of indubitable truths by infallible rules. For want of such truths and rules, the enterprise foundered....

George Berkeley was an Irish Philosopher who is best known for putting forward the idea of subjective idealism. "Principles of Human Knowledge" is one of Berkeley's best known works and in it Berkeley expounds upon this idea of subjective idealism, which in other words is the idea that all of reality, as far as humans are concerned, is simply a construct of the way our brains perceive and according to Berkeley no other sense of reality matters beyond...