Philosophy

After Confucius is a collection of eight studies of Chinese philosophy from the time of Confucius to the formation of the empire in the second and third centuries B.C.E. Goldin argues that the character of ancient Chinese philosophy can be appreciated only if we recognize the cultural codes underlying the circulation of ideas in that world. Goldin addresses several topics, including the origins, arguments, and responses of ancient Chinese philosophers.

This anthology includes selections from 24 various medieval philosophers. Wippel and Wolter are esteemed medieval scholars, and their collection provides a good introduction to the metaphysical philosophy of the time.

Public interest in religious debate in the UK and USA has recently been fed by a series of books of popular polemic against theism, religion and the discipline of theology itself. A small industry has grown up around these works by Dawkins, Dennett, Hitchens, and others. Many have complained not just of their theological illiteracy but also of their tendency to conflate religious belief with fundamentalism. Here, a series of philosophers reflect, in an exploratory and confessional spirit, upon the status and sources of their religion or other spiritual sympathies. The authors get down to the essentials of religious agnosticism, the limits of secular humanism, the idea of conversion, the nature of despair, and the possibility of moral objectivity.