Philosophical Library: 167 books

An early collection of Kahlil Gibran’s writings showcases the many styles of this prolific thinker, all profoundly beautiful   Kahlil Gibran reveals his vision of the soul and understanding of the world—past, present, and future—in this rich sampling of more than twenty works....

A collection of poetry by Kahlil Gibran, Eastern literature’s most prolific thinker and the author of The Prophet, one of the most renowned books of the last century.   Kahlil Gibran’s reflections on the wistful beauty, lofty majesty, and abiding peace of Eastern wisdom revolutionized...

Harvard philosopher William James’s compiled lectures on religion, considered to be among the most brilliant studies of mankind’s relation to the divine William James’s Varieties of Religious Experience brings together twenty lectures on the nature of religion, delivered at the University...

The landmark political treatise that refuted the so-called divine right of kings and established the principles of representative government   “Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.”   With these stirring words, Jean-Jacques Rousseau begins The Social Contract—the first shot in...

The Authorized Albert Einstein Archives Edition: An homage to the men and women of science, and an exposition of Einstein’s place in scientific history. In this fascinating collection of articles and speeches, Albert Einstein reflects not only on the scientific method at work in his own theoretical...

Shostakovich: The Man and His Work is a rich and compelling biography of one of the most famous composers of all time. Author Ivan Martynov brings together extensive research, including interviews and conversations with Shostakovich himself, to shed light on the man behind the music.   This edition was translated from Russian by T. Guralsky and includes a list of musical works.

The seventeenth-century philosopher and mathematician’s influential treatise in support of religion. Blaise Pascal was not a gambler, but he posited one of the most famous wagers of all time: Every man’s life is a bet against God. It is a wager that any man can win, however. Sacrifice earthly...

Nobel Prize–winning writer André Gide marks his voyage toward self-discovery in this imaginative allegorical work   When Urien and his sailing companions begin their voyage, it is to places unknown and, perhaps, only dreamed. This allegorical masterpiece from André Gide, a key figure...

Discover the compelling private world of the most infamous philosopher of the nineteenth century in Unpublished Letters. Comprised of correspondence between Nietzsche’s inner circle—including several titillating letters to his sister—Unpublished Letters gives readers a never-before-seen look into the philosopher’s daily life.

This collection of reflective essays forms a “spiritual autobiography” of André Gide, a key figure of French letters   André Gide, a literary and intellectual giant of twentieth-century France, mines his memories and personal observations in this collection of essays. Gide’s...

The thinking and suffering of the author of Remembrance of Things Past are intimately exposed in these letters to Mauriac.

France’s great Catholic author and Nobel Prize winner unfolds his thoughts on a variety of topics in a series of letters written to such men as Albert Camus, Jean Cocteau, Pierre Schaeffer and Jacques Rivière. Readers of Proust’s Way, Men I Hold Great, and The Stumbling Block will find intense...

Renowned French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre references artists such as Tintoretto, Calder, Lapoujade, Titian, Raphael, and Michaelangelo in discussing how great art of the past relates to the challenges of his era Essays in Aesthetics is a provocative collection that considers the nature of...

An inspiring discourse on the power of music from one of the twentieth century’s most important figures, André Gide   André Gide, one of the great intellectuals of the twentieth century and a devoted pianist, invites readers to reevaluate Frédéric Chopin as a composer “betrayed...