SCM Briefly – serie

SCM Briefly 25 Great Philosophers offers a brief guide to the lives, writings and principal philosophical ideas of some of the world’s great philosophers, from Plato to Jean Paul Sartre. Here is a brief and accessible introduction to philosophy and its main proponents. In only five pages, readers get an introduction to the life, the context and the writing of each philosopher. A glossary of philosophical terms is provided at the end of the book. Philosophers covered in this book include: Plato (c. 429-347 BC), Aristotle (384-22 BC), Marcus Aurelius (121-80), Augustine (354-430), Anselm (1033-1109), Aquinas (1224/5-74), Montaigne (1533-92), Hobbes (1588-1679), Descartes (1596-1650), Locke (1632-1704), Spinoza (1632-77), Leibniz (1646-1716), Berkeley (1685-1753), Hume (1711-76), Rousseau (1712-78), Kant (1724-1804), Bentham (1748-1832), Hegel (1770-1831), Mill (1806-73), Kierkegaard (1813-55), Russell (1872-1970), Moore (1873-1958), Wittgenstein (1889-1951), Sartre (1905-80), Ayer (1910-89).

Briefly: Hume’s Dialogues is a summarized version of David Hume’s Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, which is designed to assist university and sixth-form students in acquiring knowledge and understanding of this key text in the Philosophy of Religion. Based on, and page referenced to, Popkin’s Hackett edition of the Dialogues, an important feature of the book is its close adherence to Hume’s text, enabling the reader to follow each development in the argument as it occurs. It will be of particular value in helping students to revise for university examinations in Philosophy and Theology (the Dialogues is a popular set text in both subjects) and for A-level examinations in Religious Studies. The introduction contains a brief biography of Hume, examines and assesses the importance of the main issues covered by the Dialogues, and indicates where they are to be found in the text. There is a comprehensive glossary of terms.

Briefly: Kant’s Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals is a summarized version of Immanual Kant’s original treatise, which is designed to assist university and sixth-form students in acquiring knowledge and understanding of this key text. Based on, and page referenced to, Mary Gregor's edition of the Groundwork, CUP an important feature of the book is its close adherence to Kant’s text, enabling the reader to follow each development in the argument as it occurs. It will be of particular value in helping students to revise for university examinations in Philosophy and Theology and for A-level examinations in Religious Studies. The introduction contains a brief biography of Kant, examines and assesses the importance of the main issues covered by his Groundwork, and indicates where they are to be found in the text. There is a comprehensive glossary of terms.

Briefly: Mill’s Utilitarianism is a summarized version of John Stuart Mill’s original treatise, which is designed to assist university and sixth-form students in acquiring knowledge and understanding of this key text. Based on, and page referenced to, George Sher’s Hackett edition an important feature of the book is its close adherence to Mill’s text, enabling the reader to follow each development in the argument as it occurs. It will be of particular value in helping students to revise for university examinations in Philosophy and Theology and for A-level examinations in Religious Studies. The introduction contains a brief biography of Mill, examines and assesses the importance of the main issues covered by his Utilitarianism, and indicates where they are to be found in the text. There is a comprehensive glossary of terms.

The Republic is arguably Plato’s most important work and was written in his middle period, around 370-5 BC. It is a philosophical masterpiece containing acute political theory as well as being great literature, and as such is not easily understood on first acquaintance. It has as its central problem the nature of justice. In a word, what is justice? The central character is said to be Socrates, Plato’s own teacher as a young man, whom he had seen tried and executed for his politics and religion. The Republic is an examination of the figure of the philosopher, an examination of metaphysics, and epistemology and is confirmation of Plato’s dedication to formulating a society based on eternal ideas of truth, goodness and justice.The SCM Briefly series is a series of summarized texts that are commonly used on the philosophy and philosophy of religion A level and Level One undergraduate courses in the UK. As students are less likely today to come to these subjects with language experience, the Briefly series, summarising the meaning of the original texts, is a painless and quick way to get to grips with what the philosophers were writing about. The language throughout is modern and approachable, but the books manage to avoid “dumbing down” by including line by line analysis and short quotes to give students a feel for the original. In addition each book begins with an introduction, which provides a context for the writer and his writings, the chapters contain summaries to ensure the student has a context for that particular piece of writing, and each book also contains a glossary of terms.

Aquinas' "Summa Theologica" is his most famous work. It was intended as a manual for beginners as a compilation of all of the main theological teachings of that time and consists of a summary of the reasonings for almost all points of the Catholic faith. It is the fullest presentation of his views and covers the widest range of subjects - reason, sin, just war to name but a few - in detailed philosophical language. He worked on it from 1265 until the end of his life in March 1274. When he died, he had reached Question ninety of Part III, on the subject of penance. The work is in three parts, dealing firstly with questions of God, then in part II with man's striving for the highest end, and in the third part with Christ and the union between human and divine. Each part is structured as a series of questions and assertions and relies heavily upon key thinkers and writers at that time, including Aristotle, St Augustine, Dionysius and Rabbi Moses.

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) wrote his most controversial work, On Liberty in 1859, the year in which Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species was also published. On Liberty contains a rational justification of the freedom of the individual in opposition to the claims of the state to impose unlimited control, and has become a classic of libertarian philosophy. Warning against the tyranny of the majority, this treatise argues that in the past the danger had been that monarchs held power at the expense of the common people and the struggle was one of gaining liberty by limiting such governmental power. But now that power has largely passed into the hands of the people at large through democratic forms of government, the danger is that the majority denies liberty to individuals, whether explicitly through laws ... or more subtly through morals and public opinion.

St Anselm (1033-1109) was an Italian theologian and philosopher and the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093-1097. He is best known for his work, Proslogion, in which he defends the Church and sets out his philosophy and argument for the existence of God, now known as the Ontological Argument. OA is now a commonly studied subject at schools and universities, yet this critical, original treatise outlining the OA is often misunderstood by readers. Here in the Briefly text, the author guides the reader through Anselm's argument concerning existence and whether it is an attribute of God in the same way omnipotence, omniscience and benevolence are believed to be. As such the argument is an a priori argument. It does not rest on proving God's existence from the empirical realm but on showing that God must exist logically (or that God's non-existence is illogical).The main idea behind Anselm's argument is that epistemology (what we know) IS ontology (what there is); or, that if it is possible to conceive of X, then X must surely exist. For further information on the series and the opportunity to take part in an open forum with the author please go to our new brieflys website at "http://www.scmbrieflys.co.uk/">www.scmbrieflys.co.uk

Kant's Religion Within The Bounds of Mere Reason was written late in his life, following his most famous works including Critique of Pure Reason and Groundwork of Metaphysics of Morals. In it he considers the consequences of transcendental criticism for theology. Kant identifies a moral core to the Christian faith and asserts that because of that core and because the faith contains a principle for dispensing with the morally extraneous statutes and history associated with it, this faith can count as a moral, world religion. Seen by most philosophers and theologians as one of the most significant texts by this world famous philosopher, understanding is crucial for completion of any basic theology or philosophical qualification.

George Edward Moore’s Principia Ethica was published by Cambridge University Press in 1903 and this was the birth of the science of ethics. So groundbreaking was this book at the time, that practically overnight, ethicists became meta-ethicists and the book ever since has been recognised as the definitive starting point for 20th century ethical theory. In it Moore is concerned with applying logic to ethics, and with demonstrating that logic can give ethics a better foundation. Moore defines ethics as an inquiry into what is good, including what is good in human conduct. Moore supposed that common sense beliefs about the world were correct as they were and shows how false premises about the way in which good is to be defined can lead to false conclusions about ethical conduct. Known to influence the thinking of Russell, Wittgenstein, Ryle and Keynes to mention but a few, understanding this key work in 20th C ethics is essential, and made achievable in this Briefly guide.

The first part of the Summa Theologica by Aquinas was dealt with in an SCM Briefly guide that published in May 06. The second part of the Summa Theologica is dealt with in this book. Aquinas' Summa Theologica is his most famous work. It was intended as a manual for beginners as a compilation of all of the main theological teachings of that time and consists of a summary of the reasonings for almost all points of the Catholic faith. It is the fullest presentation of his views and covers the widest range of subjects - reason, sin, just war to name but a few - in detailed philosophical language. He worked on it from 1265 until the end of his life in March 1274. When he died he had reached question ninety of Part III, on the subject of penance. Part I, dealing with questions of God, we have dealt with in a previously published Briefly, here we look in detail at Part II, which concerns man's striving for the highest end. It is structured as a series of questions and assertions and relies heavily upon key thinkers and writers at that time, including Aristotle, St Augustine, Dionysius and Rabbi Moses. All of this is dealt with succinctly, yet fully referenced to the original text, in this Briefly guide.For further information on the series and the opportunity to take part in an open forum with the author please go to our new brieflys website at http://www.scmbrieflys.co.uk/

Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy was published in 1641, designed for the philosopher and for the theologian. It consists of six meditations, Of the Things that we may doubt, Of the Nature of the Human Mind, Of God: that He exists, Of Truth and Error, Of the Essence of Material Things, Of the Existence of Material Things and of the Real Distinction between the Mind and the Body of Man. However many scientists were opposed to Descartes' ideas, even in his own lifetime. Although famous as a mathematician, his mechanics of how the world exists, were proven not to be possible by Newton. This did not stop his ideas being championed in Europe for over a hundred years. His philosophy is one that students cannot be without and this Briefly provides a thorough and accessible guide to one of his most important works.

A short summary of Jean-Paul Sartre's Existentialism and Humanism which is designed to assist university and school-leaving students in acquiring knowledge and understanding of this key text in the philosophy of religion. The book closely adheres to Sartre's text, enabling the reader to follow each development in the argument as it occurs. Following the detailed summary, which page references the original and includes useful key quotes, is a shorter summary acting as an overview of Existentialism and Humanism, which is intended to aid memory. With a brief introduction to Sartre, and the period in which he wrote, and why Existentialism and Humanism is so significant, as well as suggestions for further reading and an extensive glossary of terms, this book is a perfect introduction to this important philosophical text by Jean-Paul Sartre.

Each "Briefly" volume provides a very short chapter setting the scene by explaining who this writer is and why this book in particular was so important, or why it became so important to Western thought. This short contextualising chapter is then followed by an in-depth summary of the book in question. This includes line by line analysis and short quotes to give students a feel for the original text. Essentially a "Briefly" will allow students to become familiar with a key philosophical work in a very short time, but without missing out on the relevant parts of the original work. A glossary of terms follows the summary to help students with definitions of philosophical terms.

Each "Briefly" volume provides a very short chapter setting the scene by explaining who this writer is and why this book in particular was so important, or why it became so important to Western thought. This short contextualising chapter is then followed by an in-depth summary of the book in question. This includes line by line analysis and short quotes to give students a feel for the original text. Essentially a "Briefly" will allow students to become familiar with a key philosophical work in a very short time, but without missing out on the relevant parts of the original work. A glossary of terms follows the summary to help students with definitions of philosophical terms.

"The SCM Briefly" series is made up of short, accessible volumes which summarize books by philosophers and theologians, books that are commonly used on theology and philosophy A level (school leaving) and Level One undergraduate courses. Each "Briefly" volume includes line by line analysis and short quotes to give students a feel for the original text. In addition each book begins with a contextualizing introduction about the writer and his writings, and a glossary of terms follows the summary to help students with definitions of philosophical terms.

Fear and Trembling is one of Kierkegaard’s earliest works, which he wrote under the pseudonym Johannes de Silentio. Kierkegaard had been a student of theology in Copenhagen, and had come to hate the Danish Church. He produced hundreds of leaflets against the Church during his lifetime. However his writing was largely ignored, and he was not a popular or well-regarded thinker in his own time. Hegel’s writing largely dominated philosophical thought throughout Kierkegaard’s life. Hegel believed that the highest goal for a person should be to loose oneself in the Universal. One should put aside his personal goals and ambitions and be motivated exclusively by the general interests of all. Kierkegaard regarded the individual above all else and so was repelled by Hegel’s communitarian ethic. His Fear and Trembling is a sustained response to Hegel’s ideas. It uses the story of Genesis 22, 1-18, where Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac without question, and only faith, to put across his own ideas and philosophy. Fear and Trembling is a required text on the UK A level syllabus.

Presents a support resource for students being introduced to philosophical texts and to philosophy in general. This work contains a glossary of terms relating to the philosopher's use of terms.

In the Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (1789), Bentham strove ‘to cut a new road through the wilds of jurisprudence’. Laws should be socially useful and not merely reflect the status quo; and, that while he believed that human beings inevitably pursue pleasure and avoid pain, Bentham thought it to be a ‘sacred truth’ that ‘the greatest happiness of the greatest number is the foundation of morals and legislation’.

Kant’s Critique of Practical Reason (1788) is one of his most important works and a key text to understanding Kant’s philosophy and it the impact it had on later developments of moral philosophy and ethics.New Features:a new-style Context section with a list of key quotations as a helpful revision aida more user-friendly Overview section in bullet-point forman Index of all the terms in the Glossary, so that students can refer to topics they want to look at more easily.SCM Brieflys introduce texts commonly studied at A level and Level One undergraduate courses in Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies.A comprehensive introductory chapter sets the text and its author in their wider context. The texts are analysed and summarized in an accessible and yet thorough style that makes SCM Brieflys an essential study tool for all who want to engage in more depth with some of the key texts of philosophy, theology and related disciplines.