*This Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect etc., which we give you here, kind reader, in its unfinished [that is, defective] state, was written by the author many years ago now. He always intended to finish it. But hindered by other occupations, and finally snatched away by death, he was unable to bring it to the desired conclusion. But since it contains many excellent and useful things, which - we have no doubt - will be of great benefit to anyone sincerely seeking the truth, we did not wish to deprive you of them. And so that you would be aware of, and find less difficult to excuse, the many things that are still obscure, rough, and unpolished, we wished to warn you of them. Farewell.*

Treatise by Friedrich Nietzsche, written in four parts and published in German between 1883 and 1885 as Also sprach Zarathustra. The work is incomplete, but it is the first thorough statement of Nietzsche's mature philosophy and the masterpiece of his career. It received little attention during his lifetime but its influence since his death has been considerable, in the arts as well as philosophy. Written in the form of a prose narrative, Thus Spake Zarathustra offers the philosophy of its author through the voice of Zarathustra (based on the Persian prophet Zoroaster) who, after years of meditation, has come down from a mountain to offer his wisdom to the world. It is this work in which Nietzsche made his famous (and much misconstrued) statement that “God is dead” and in which he presented some of the most influential and well-known (and likewise misunderstood) ideas of his philosophy, including those of the Ubermensch (“overman” or “superman”) and the “will to power.” Though this is essentially a work of philosophy, it is also a masterpiece of literature. The book is a combination of prose and poetry, including epigrams, dithyrambs, and parodies as well as sections of pure poetry.

In the Clausewitzian view, “shock and awe” were necessary effects arising from application of military power and were aimed at destroying the will of an adversary to resist. Earlier and similar observations had been made by the great Chinese military writer Sun Tzu around 500 B.C. Sun Tzu observed that disarming an adversary before battle was joined was the most effective outcome a commander could achieve. Sun Tzu was well aware of the crucial importance of achieving Shock and Awe prior to, during, and in ending battle. He also observed that “war is deception,” implying that Shock and Awe were greatly leveraged through clever, if not brilliant, employment of force.

The Art of War is the Swiss army knife of military theory--pop out a different tool for any situation. Folded into this small package are compact views on resourcefulness, momentum, cunning, the profit motive, flexibility, integrity, secrecy, speed, positioning, surprise, deception, manipulation, responsibility, and practicality. Thomas Cleary's translation keeps the package tight, with crisp language and short sections. Commentaries from the Chinese tradition trail Sun-tzu's words, elaborating and picking up on puzzling lines. Take the solitary passage: “Do not eat food for their soldiers.” Elsewhere, Sun-tzu has told us to plunder the enemy's stores, but now we're not supposed to eat the food? The Tang dynasty commentator Du Mu solves the puzzle nicely, “If the enemy suddenly abandons their food supplies, they should be tested first before eating, lest they be poisoned.” Most passages, however, are the pinnacle of succinct clarity: “Lure them in with the prospect of gain, take them by confusion” or “Invincibility is in oneself, vulnerability is in the opponent.” Sun-tzu's maxims are widely applicable beyond the military because they speak directly to the exigencies of survival. Your new tools will serve you well, but don't flaunt them. Remember Sun-tzu's advice: “Though effective, appear to be ineffective.” --Brian Bruya

Unamuno's philosophy was not systematic, but rather a negation of all systems and an affirmation of faith “in itself.” He developed intellectually under the influence of rationalism and positivism, but during his youth he wrote articles that clearly show his sympathy for socialism and his great concern for the situation in which he found Spain at the time. The title of Unamuno's most famous work, Del Sentimiento Trágico de la Vida (The Tragic Sense of Life), refers to the human condition of the desire above all else for immortality when faced with the certainty of death. According to Unamuno, not only do we desire immortality, but the immortality of our friends and family, of our homes and nations, and of all aspects of life. This desire to live forever exactly as we do now is, of course, an irrational desire, but it is this desire that makes us human, and to be human is to be quixotic.

The many faces of Keanu Reeves as hero Neo-Christ, Buddha, Socrates-are explored in these essays on the philosophical implications of the sci-fi martial arts blockbuster The Matrix, collected by the editor of Seinfeld and Philosophy and The Simpsons and Philosophy. According to the academics assembled here, when messianic hacker Neo kick-boxes the Matrix's virtual-reality dream-prison, he is really struggling with some of mankind's biggest conundrums: the nature of truth and reality, the possibility of free will, the mind-body problem and the alienation of labor in late-capitalist society. The tacit goal here is to make philosophy fun for the general reader by orienting it to pop-culture reference points, so while some articles contain rather dense philosophical jargon, most are pitched at the level of a freshman intro course. But only a few chapters delve into the movie's aesthetics; the rest seem to use The Matrix as a peg on which to hang a canned philosophy lecture. The results are occasionally engaging, as with David Mitsuo Nixon's nifty refutation of the "reality is just an illusion" conceit, but they're too often dryly academic and liable to elicit no more than a drowsy "whoa" from the movie's legions of fans.

Professor Lou Marinoff's first book drew on the wisdom of the great philosophers to solve our everyday problems, launching a movement that restored philosophy to what it once was: useful in all walks of life. Now, in The Big Questions, he takes the concept to the next level, applying centuries of philosophy and great literature to answer central questions of modern existence. Urging us not to accept victimhood as the by-product of modern life, Professor Marinoff uses specific case studies from his counseling practice to show how wisdom from the great thinkers can help us define our own philosophy, and thereby reclaim our sense of well-being. He asks and answers questions that go to the heart of the human condition: How do we know what is right? How can we cope with change? Why can't we all get along? And, most centrally, how can we use the centuries of wisdom that have come before us to help us answer these questions and feel at ease in the world? Accessible, entertaining, and profoundly useful, The Big Questions mixes wisdom from the great thinkers with specific case studies to illuminate how a shift in perspective can truly be life changing.

The basic structure of the volumes corresponds to the way an educated seventeenth century European might have organized the domain of philosophy. Thus, the history of science, religious doctrine, and politics are prominently featured. The narrative begins by describing an intellectual world dominated by a synthesis of Aristotelianism and scholastic philosophy. However, by the end of the period, the mechanistic or "corpuscularian" philosophy has emerged and exerted its full impact on traditional metaphysics, ethics, theology, logic, and epistemology.
The ultimate comprehensive, authoritative overview of early-modern philosophy, written by an international team of specialists. The history of science, religious doctrine, and politics feature prominently. The narrative begins with Aristotle's intellectualism, but by the end of the period, the true science of philosophy that we know today had evolved. Two volumes boxed.