Classic Philosophy for the Modern Man
Page 16
The second option is to accept the inevitability of change. It is to undergo a degree of disruption as certain of our beliefs and values are recognized to be no longer convincing or sustainable. But it is also to take part in the process of building a new and hopefully better world.
Classic works such as those found in this book will serve as an anchor during these times of change. They provide thoughtful reflection as a corrective and counterbalance to the more extreme belief systems that surround us. They are also a source of inspiration for renewal. As the ideologies of the twentieth century fail and pass, there will come a time to create new ways of thinking. We cannot as yet know what these new ways of thinking will be. What we can say is that they will be built in some way on the materials passed down to us from our forebears.
George Orwell once said that he who controls the past controls the future.
It is now time to take control of that past and make it our own again.
Bibliography
Aristotle. The Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle. Translated by F.H. Peters. 5th ed. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co, 1909.
Aurelius, Marcus. The Meditations of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. Translated by George Long. London and New York: The Chesterfield Society, 1890.
Castiglione, Baldassare. The Book of the Courtier. Translated by Leonard Eckstein Opdyke. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1903.
Chuang-tzu. Chuang Tzu: Mystic, Moralist, and Social Reformer. Translated by Herbert Giles. London: Bernard Quaritch, 1889.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Essays: First Series. Cambridge, MA: The Riverside Press, 1893.
Gracián, Baltasar. The Art of Worldly Wisdom. Translated by Joseph Jacobs. London and New York: Macmillan & Co, 1892.
Hazlitt, William. The Plain Speaker: Opinions on Books, Men, and Things. London: Bell & Daldy, 1870.
Machiavelli, Niccolò. Machiavelli’s Prince. Translated by W.K. Marriott. London and Toronto: J.M. Dent & Sons and E.P.Dutton & Co, 1908.
Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Complete Works of Friedrich Nietzsche Volume Twelve: Beyond Good and Evil. Translated by Helen Zimmern. Edinburgh: The Edinburgh Press, 1909.
Plato. The Republic of Plato. Translated by Benjamin Jowett. 3rd ed. London: Oxford University Press, 1888.
Also Available
Classic Political Philosophy for the Modern Man
Andrew Lynn
Classic Political Philosophy for the Modern Man serves three purposes: it provides an introduction to the greatest political philosophers of the Western tradition; it allows these profound thinkers to speak to the assumptions and prejudices of our own era on topics ranging from democracy and human rights to equalism and speech laws; and it brings the most enduringly relevant of their works alive again for the modern reader. There is no better starting point for those who seek a genuinely fresh and insightful view on the major questions of our political existence.
Classic Spirituality for the Modern Man
Andrew Lynn
‘ The basic premise of this book is that strength and weakness have a spiritual dimension. ’
Classic Spirituality for the Modern Man brings the spiritual classics alive so that they can once again serve their original and true purpose: to guide and inspire us as we make our way through life. These works speak to us of the fundamental principles of spiritual wisdom, the mysterious primordial force of the ‘Tao’, the Buddhist art of maintaining mental and emotional equilibrium, and the essential features of Hindu and Sufi self-cultivation, as well as modern approaches to self-realization. There is no better primer in the art of awakened living.
Shakespeare Tales
Andrew Lynn
Shakespeare is widely considered to be the greatest playwright the world has known. But it has always been difficult and time-consuming to understand his works.
This series gives you classic prose retellings of the complete works, preserving as far as possible for the modern reader Shakespeare’s original language and mood. In this totally new edition, the tales are collected by genre and arranged chronologically. Each genre and each tale is provided with a fresh and insightful introduction. The tales are presented in five volumes: Comedies; Tragedies; Tragicomedies; Roman Tales; and English Histories. They are sumptuously illustrated by Sir John Gilbert.
Perfect for the Shakespeare aficionado, the student, and the general reader. There is no better way to understand the Bard.