Recién cumplidos los trece años, en plenos años 50, Alberto Vázquez-Figueroa se fue a vivir con sus tíos a Cabo Juby, cerca de la frontera con el Sáhara Occidental en Marruecos. Al principio, un Alberto adolescente pensó que no podría soportar la soledad de aquel remoto e inhóspito lugar que parecía maldito. Pero el tiempo le haría cambiar de opinión; la escuela del desierto le transformaría para siempre y cuando años más tarde tuvo que abandonarlo definitivamente no dejó de añorarlo durante...
Two controversial authors debate the nature and methods of science, its dogmas, and its future. Rupert Sheldrake argues that science needs to free itself from materialist dogma while Michael Shermer contends that science, properly conceived, is a materialistic enterprise; for science to look beyond materialist explanations is to betray science and engage in superstition. Issues discussed include: materialism and its role in science, whether belief in God is compatible with a scientific...
ARGUMENT IN COMPOSITION provides access to a wide range of resources that bear on the teaching of writing and argument. The ideas of major theorists of classical and contemporary rhetoric and argument-from Aristotle to Burke, Toulmin, and Perelman-are explained and elaborated, especially as they inform pedagogies of argumentation and composition.
Two schools of thought have long dominated libertarian discussions about ethics: utilitarianism and natural rights. Those two theories are important, but they’re not the only ways people think about ethics and political philosophy. In Arguments for Liberty , you’ll find a broader approach to libertarianism. In each of Arguments for Liberty’s nine chapters a different political philosopher discusses how his or her preferred school of thought judges political institutions and why...
Our reasoning evolved not for finding the truth, but for social bonding and convincing. The best logical methods humans have created provide no path to truth, unless something is assumed as true from the start. Other than that, we only have methods for attempting to measure uncertainty. This book highlights the consequences of these facts for scientific practice, and suggests how to correct the mistakes we still make. But even our best methods to measure uncertainty might require infinite...
Philosophy for busy people. Read a succinct account of the philosophy of Aristotle in just one hour.The philosophy of Aristotle dominated Western thought for over a thousand years. He had a mind that mastered all disciplines from mathematics to politics and had a continuing impact on every sphere of knowledge he touched. Above all, Aristotle is credited with the founding of logic. He divided human knowledge into separate categories, and enabled our understanding of the world to develop in a...
