Author: Andrew Bernstein
Publisher: For Beginners
Keywords: beginners, press, steerforth, ayn, rand
Number of Pages: 112
Published: 2009-08-18
List price: $14.99
ISBN-10: 1934389374
ISBN-13: 9781934389379

Ayn Rand, author of the best-selling novels, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, is beloved by millions of readers, and equally despised by a significant number of detractors. Her novels and her revolutionary philosophy of Objectivism have acquired a world-wide following. They have also created legions of readers who are hungry for a deeper understanding of her writings.   Despite her undeniably significant contributions to the literary canon and the progression of philosophy, there has been no simple, comprehensive introduction to Rand’s books and ideas, until now. Ayn Rand For Beginners

Author: Donald D. Palmer
Publisher: For Beginners
Keywords: beginners, sartre
Number of Pages: 216
Published: 2007-08-21
List price: $14.95
ISBN-10: 1934389153
ISBN-13: 9781934389157

Sartre For Beginners is an accessible, yet sophisticated introduction to the life and works of the famous French philosopher, Jean Paul Sartre. Sartre was a member the French underground during World War II, a novelist, a playwright, and a major influence in French political and intellectual life. The book opens with a biographical section, introducing the significant events in the life of the man who coined the term, “Existentialism.” Then it examines Sartre’s early philosophical works. Ideas from Sartre’s other fictional and dramatic works are discussed, but the greatest part of th

Author: Donald D. Palmer
Publisher: For Beginners
Keywords: beginners, kierkegaard
Number of Pages: 160
Published: 2007-08-21
List price: $14.95
ISBN-10: 1934389145
ISBN-13: 9781934389140

Philosophically, Søren Kierkegaard was the “bridge” that led from Hegel to Existentialism. Kierkegaard abhorred Hegel’s abstract, know-it-all idealism that tried to capture reality in a few words. Kierkegaard’s attack on social and religious complacency and his single-handed assault on traditional Western philosophy generated a crisis that produced a radically new way of philosophizing and made him the founder of the school that would later be called Existentialism. To Kierkegaard, reality was personal, subjective–it began and ended with the individual–and philosophy was not so

Author: Jim Powell
Publisher: For Beginners
Keywords: beginners, deconstruction
Number of Pages: 168
Published: 2008-01-08
List price: $14.95
ISBN-10: 1934389269
ISBN-13: 9781934389263

Deconstruction is so labyrinthine that it has become the monster that murdered philosophy. When Jacques Derrida, the father of deconstruction, uses buzzwords such as “phallogocentrism” and “transcendental signified,” humanities students and aspiring philosophers may get weak in the knees. Following the success of his For Beginners title Derrida, Jim Powell’s Deconstruction is an irreverent romp through deconstructive domains. Though Powell offers lucid explanations of the most important deconstructive ideas and texts, he also dives into lesser-known works. One of these, The Right to

Author: David Cogswell
Publisher: For Beginners
Keywords: beginners, existentialism
Number of Pages: 192
Published: 2008-10-14
List price: $14.95
ISBN-10: 1934389218
ISBN-13: 9781934389218

Existentialism For Beginners is a lighthearted romp through the history of a philosophical movement that had broad-reaching influence on Western culture, politics and the arts during the period of mid-19th century through the late 20th century, and still exerts influence in the 21st century. Tracing its beginning with close-up views of seminal 19th century writers like Kierkegaard, Dostoevsky and Nietzsche, Existentialism For Beginners follows the trail of existential thought and literature through 20th century German philosophers Jaspers and Heidegger, and finally through to the flowering of

Author:  Brandon Toropov
Publisher: For Beginners
Keywords: beginners, press, steerforth, shakespeare
Number of Pages: 224
Published: 2008-06-17
List price: $14.95
ISBN-10: 1934389293
ISBN-13: 9781934389294

Despite the reshifting of values that has affected every aspect of life in the 21st century, William Shakespeare still stands as the greatest writer the English language has ever produced. Even so, many people have never read him. If you have never read “the Bard”–or if you’ve tried and given up in frustration–you need Shakespeare For Beginners.Author Brandon Toropov opens with the observation that Shakespeare’s genius is not in his (or England’s) history, it’s in his words, most notably, his plays–in his brilliant stories, unforgettable characters, and the impossible beauty

Author: Jim Powell
Publisher: For Beginners
Keywords: beginners, postmodernism
Number of Pages: 192
Published: 2007-08-21
List price: $14.95
ISBN-10: 1934389099
ISBN-13: 9781934389096

If you are like most people, you’re not sure what Postmodernism is. And if this were like most books on the subject, it probably wouldn’t tell you. Besides what a few grumpy critics claim, Postmodernism is not a bunch of meaningless intellectual mind games. On the contrary, it is a reaction to the most profound spiritual and philosophical crises of our time–the failure of the Enlightenment. Jim Powell takes the position that Postmodernism is a series of “maps” that help people find their way through a changing world. Postmodernism For Beginners features the thoughts of Foucault