Philosophy

Expanded and updated to include a wide range of classic and contemporary works, this new edition of David Rosenthal's anthology provides a selection of the most important and influential writings on materialism and the mind-body problem.

Forthcoming - April 2024

Meaning Is Everywhere sketches a theory of meaning from the ground up—with potentially profound consequences. In a sweeping narrative that arcs from the origins of meaning through the emergence of present-day science and technology, Prashant Parikh offers a fresh perspective on some of the most significant challenges and opportunities of the contemporary world, including the promise of AI, relief from scarcity and polarization, and the possibility of at least partial utopias.

"Prashant Parikh is a leading researcher in the interdisciplinary study of meaning, with important contributions in philosophy, linguistics, game theory, and AI. In this remarkably original and wide-ranging book, he suggests potentially revolutionary applications of meaning and game theory to broadly human concerns. For intelligent and curious readers who want to understand the deep and surprisingly ubiquitous phenomenon of meaning, this book will be a wonderful introduction." —John Perry, Henry Waldgrave Stuart Professor of Philosophy Emeritus, Stanford University.

"This is the Medea we have been waiting for.  It offers clarity without banality, eloquence without pretension, meter without doggerel, accuracy without clumsiness.  No English Medea can ever be Euripides', but this is as close as anyone has come so far, and a good deal closer than I thought anyone would ever come.  Arnson-Svarlien has shown herself exceedingly skillful in making Euripides sound Euripidean." —David M. Schaps, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"Fluid, lively, and accurate!" —Amy Vail, Department of Classics, Baylor University

"The new version of Cress's translation of Descartes's Meditations has attained an unusually high degree of readability . . . and at the same time, of fidelity to the original."
    —Roger Ariew, University of South Florida, and Marjorie Grene (1910-2009), Virginia Polytechnic Institute

This edition features reliable, accessible translations; useful editorial materials; and a straightforward presentation of the Objections and Replies, including the objections from Caterus, Arnauld, and Hobbes, accompanied by Descartes' replies, in their entirety. The letter serving as a reply to Gassendi—in which several of Descartes' associates present Gassendi's best arguments and Descartes' replies—conveys the highlights and important issues of their notoriously extended exchange. Roger Ariew's illuminating Introduction discusses the Meditations and the intellectual environment surrounding its reception.

"The Mengzi is one of the richest philosophical texts in classical Chinese philosophy, and Van Norden's translation is among the few that do it justice. His translation is further distinguished by its accessibility and is unique in including substantial selections from later commentaries. As such it is both an essential scholarly resource and a great introduction to Confucian thought." —Justin Tiwald, San Francisco State University

Audiobook: An audiobook of Mengzi: With Selections from Traditional Commentaries, published by Ukemi Audiobooks, is available exclusively from Audible. Learn more about the Audible audiobook on Amazon.com.

"This new translation of the Meno by Anastaplo and Berns has several distinctive features that make it useful for teaching and studying the dialogue. Generally achieving a balance between clarity and faithfulness, it includes valuable annotation, two appendices . . . and an innovative division of the text through the provision of numbers for each of it's speeches. . . . The overall result is a text that would give a reader unschooled in Greek a fairly reliable sense of the flow of ideas in the original."
     —William A. Welton, Loyola College, in Review of Metaphysics

“As one would expect from the team of Brann, Kalkavage and Salem, their edition of Plato's Meno is a fine one. The translation meets their stated goal of remaining 'as faithful as possible to the Greek, while using lively, colloquial English.' Their notes are consistently helpful and will be particularly useful to those readers willing to explore the nuances of Plato's extraordinary prose. Their introduction is clear and compact, and it highlights the most philosophically important themes of the dialogue. One particularly useful feature of this edition is the manner in which it displays the diagrams Socrates draws in order to illustrate his famous 'square within a square.' Instead of relegating them to the notes, it integrates them into the text of the dialogue itself. Readers are able to follow along, and 'watch' Socrates actually construct them." —David Roochnik, Boston University

"This trio from St. John’s has produced the most high-fidelity English translation of the Meno available. The Introduction offers a no-nonsense summary of the dialogue, and ample footnotes alert the reader to important Greek terms, while also situating significant claims in their historical context as well as in the context of Plato’s larger corpus. The Glossary helpfully places the focus on core philosophical concepts, and the Select Bibliography makes for a manageable introduction to some of the standard scholarship. This volume is an all-around success." —Charles Ives, University of Washington

“Fine translation, good notes—inexpensive, too!”
     —D.A. Rohatyn, University of San Diego

This volume offers the complete text of Kant’s Metaphysics of Morals, Part I, translated by John Ladd, along with Ladd’s illuminating Introduction to the first edition, expanded to include discussion of such issues as Kant’s conception of marriage and its relevance to his view of women. An updated bibliography, glossary, and index are also provided.

Series: The New Hackett Aristotle

"C. D. C. Reeve adds to his already remarkable series of translations of Plato and Aristotle another stellar accomplishment: a full translation of Aristotle’s daunting Metaphysics. He has managed to present Aristotle’s often ungainly Greek into perfectly flowing English syntax without sacrificing the core meaning of the text. Any translator of Aristotle will recognize what an impressive achievement this is. All readers will benefit from the over 1,600 explicative notes accompanying the translation: Reeve has a discerning eye for determining what requires amplification for the purposes of understanding and an admirable gift for saying just as much as needs to be said in order to achieve it." —Christopher Shields, George N. Shuster Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame

“About as close to Aristotle’s Greek, syntax and all, as one can get in English.”
     —Arthur Madigan, S.J., Boston College

Since its publication in 1996, many thousands of students have first encountered key issues in the philosophy of mind in the pages of Rocco J. Gennaro's introductory work, Mind and Brain: A Dialogue on the Mind-Body Problem. In this new edition, Gennaro updates and expands the work to reflect current topics and discussions. The dialogue provides a clear and compelling overview of the mind-body problem suitable for both introductory students and those who have some background in the philosophy of mind.

The first edition of Mind and Brain is now out of print and has been replaced by a new second edition (February 2020). Click here for more information about the new second edition

"Kukla and Walmsley state in their preface that they intend this volume as 'an introduction to the science of psychology for the nonspecialist who isn't afraid to do a little thinking.'  This goal is admirably achieved.  The authors present viewpoints about the mind held in the various schools of psychological thought.  The summary of each major perspective focuses on the central tenets of each model as they relate to the discipline as a whole. . . . [T]he authors' presentation of these sometimes-thorny, often-difficult constructs is clear. . . . This book offers not only a history of the most important contributions of the field but also an understanding of where psychology is at present.  The conclusion is simple but profound.  After more than a century of exploration, 'the mind is still a mystery.'  Summing up: Highly recommended."
     —D. M. Chirico, CHOICE

Explores the ideas of Turing, Lucas, Scriven, Putnam, and Searle, and renders the Gödel-Church-Lucas argument in terms intelligible to beginning students. Updated and expanded to take into account important arguments and developments in the ten years since its original publication, this provocative dialogue explores the ideas of Turing, Lucas, Scriven, Putnam, and Searle, and renders the complex Godel-Church-Lucas argument in transparent terms.  It includes a new argument, based loosely on Tarski's work on truth and the liar paradox, and a new section dealing with the problem of qualitative features of experience, such as color properties.

The most widely read anthology for the study of modern philosophy, this volume provides key works of philosophers and other leading thinkers of the period, chosen to enhance the reader’s understanding of modern philosophy and its relationship to the natural sciences of the time. The third edition incorporates important contributions of women and minority thinkers into the canon of the modern period, while retaining all of the material of the previous edition. Included are works by Princess Elisabeth, Margaret Cavendish Duchess of Newcastle, Lady Anne Conway, Anton Wilhelm Amo, Lady Damaris Masham, Lady Mary Shepherd, and Emilie Marquise Du Châtelet.

"This is a wonderful text. . . . [T]he changes made for the 3rd edition are very welcome (especially the new selections from women and philosophers of color). I can't see using any other text, particularly at this very reasonable price point." —Steven Burgess, Benedictine University

Download the complete Table of Contents (PDF)

The second edition of David Wootton's Modern Political Thought: Readings from Machiavelli to Nietzsche offers a new unit on modern constitutionalism with selections from Hume, Montesquieu, the Federalist, and Constant. In addition to a new essay by Wootton, this unit features his new translation of Constant's 1819 essay "On Ancient and Modern Liberty". Other changes include expanded selections from Machiavelli's Discourses on Livy and a new Hegel selection, all of which strengthen an already excellent anthology.

"Williams's translations are scrupulously faithful and accurate without being slavishly literal, and yet are lively and graceful."
     —Paul Vincent Spade, Indiana University

"A superb achievement, one that successfully brings together in accessible form the work of two major writers of Renaissance France. This is now the default version of Montaigne in English." —Timothy Hampton, University of California, Berkeley

"Inspired. In every page—beginning with Atkinson's brilliant Introduction—this magical Montaigne betrays a lifetime of meditation on its subject." —Stephen G. Nichols, Johns Hopkins University

“Professor Richter has long been one of our most knowledgeable commentators on the French intellectual tradition. Having written on Montesquieu, Tocqueville, and Durkheim, he is well positioned to provide us not only with an historically informed translation of Montesquieu’s major writings, but also with an excellent introduction to what is important about Montesquieu as a thinker.”
     —Lawrence Dickey, University of Wisconsin

“A great resource for beginning ethics courses. The book is short and yet it richly embodies the methods of ethical thinking about practical moral problems that are hard for students to learn unless they see them in action. McGinn perspicuously sets out a small set of basic principles and then attacks the problems of our treatment of animals, abortion, sex, censorship, and so on, with a masterful blend of attention to real-life cases and imaginary thought experiments. McGinn hardly claims to have the last word on the complex issues he discusses, and students will find many exciting problems and points to take up.”
     —Owen Flanagan, Duke University

This collection of classic and contemporary readings in ethics presents sharp, competing views on a wide range of fundamentally important topics: moral relativism and objectivism, ethical egoism, value theory, utilitarianism, deontological ethics, virtue ethics, ethics and religion, and applied ethics. The Fourth Edition dramatically increases the volume’s utility by expanding and updating the selections and introductions while retaining the structure that has made previous editions so successful. (North American rights only)

"The risk, when teaching ethics to undergraduates, is that the issues may easily sound too abstract and bookish to them. Timm Triplett's Morality's Critics and Defenders: A Philosophical Dialogue is the best antidote. By adopting a dialogical form and setting the stage in a classroom, with four very credible students and one teaching assistant as the protagonists, this concise but very valuable book will engage students and stimulate great class discussions. Big issues such as the relationship between religion and morality, the possibility of ethical relativism, animal rights and the moral implications of racism are engagingly covered and so are the most relevant moral perspectives. Students and teachers will undoubtedly find this book very useful, deep, and entertaining."
    —Mario De Caro, Tufts University

The most comprehensive collection of Neoplatonic writings available in English, this volume provides translations of the central texts of four major figures of the Neoplatonic tradition: Plotinus, Porphyry, Iamblichus, and Proclus. The general Introduction gives an overview of the period and takes a brief but revealing look at the history of ancient philosophy from the viewpoint of the Neoplatonists. Historical background—essential for understanding these powerful, difficult, and sometimes obscure thinkers—is provided in extensive footnotes, which also include cross-references to other works relevant to particular passages.

“An admirable account of a very difficult subject, remarkable for the erudition that clearly lies behind it as well as for its lucidity and good sense.”
     —Times Literary Supplement

Out of print - replaced by the third edition (September 2019), click here for more information.

Building on the strengths of the first edition, the second edition of the Irwin Nicomachean Ethics features a revised translation (with little editorial intervention), expanded notes (including a summary of the argument of each chapter), an expanded Introduction, and a revised glossary.

Terence Irwin’s edition of the Nicomachean Ethics offers more aids to the reader than are found in any modern English translation. It includes an Introduction, headings to help the reader follow the argument, explanatory notes on difficult or important passages, and a full glossary explaining Aristotle’s technical terms. The Third Edition offers additional revisions of the translation as well as revised and expanded versions of the notes, glossary, and Introduction. Also new is an appendix featuring translated selections from related texts of Aristotle.

"The translation is absolutely reliable and is supplemented with notes that highlight any and all possible problems. Rich and easy to use. I love that 40 pages of supplementary texts from Aristotle are included. . . . Sometimes new editions seem pointless. This is worth it!" —James C. Klagge, Virginia Tech

The second edition of C. D. C. Reeve's translation of Nicomachean Ethics features Bekker numbers in the margins as well as a significantly revised translation that combines accuracy, consistency, and readability and fits seamlessly with the other volumes in the series. Anglophone readers can now read Aristotle's works in a way previously not possible. Sequentially numbered, cross-referenced endnotes provide the information most needed at each juncture, while a detailed Index guides the reader to places where focused discussion of key notions occurs.

"Sachs's translations of Aristotle are truly exemplary. They combine a rare sensitivity to Aristotle's use of the Greek language with an English style that is straightforward and imaginative. But what makes Sachs's translations even more noteworthy is their attunement born of profound awareness of the untranslatability of this thought into modern philosophical concepts. For anyone seriously interested in Aristotle's philosophy, Sachs's translations are indispensable." —Burt Hopkins, Seattle University

Dostoevsky's disturbing and groundbreaking novella appears in this new annotated edition with an Introduction by Charles Guignon and Kevin Aho. An analogue of Guignon's widely praised Introduction to his 1993 edition of "The Grand Inquisitor," the editors' Introduction places the underground man in the context of European modernity, analyzes his inner dynamics in the light of the history of Russian cultural and intellectual life, and suggests compelling reasons for our own strange affinity for this nameless man who boldly declares, "I was rude and took pleasure in being so."

"Margaret Cavendish's philosophical work is at last taking its rightful place in the history of seventeenth-century thought, but her writings are so voluminous and wide-ranging that introducing her work to students has been difficult—at least until this volume came along. This carefully edited abridgment of Observations upon Experimental Philosophy will be indispensable for making Cavendish's fascinating ideas accessible to students. Marshall's Introduction provides a helpful overview of themes in Cavendish's natural philosophy, and the footnotes contain useful background information about some of the texts and philosophers that Cavendish mentions. The additional selections from Descartes, Hobbes, Boyle, and Hooke also help contextualize Cavendish's views."  —Deborah Boyle, College of Charleston

This volume contains selections of Ockham’s philosophical writings which give a balanced introductory view of his work in logic, metaphysics, and ethics. This edition includes textual markings referring readers to appendices containing changes in the Latin text and alterations found in the English translation that have been made necessary by the critical edition of Ockham’s work published after Boehner prepared the original text. The updated bibliography includes the most important scholarship produced since publication of the original edition.

"A clear, vigorous, spare, actable translation, and with it, excellent apparatus (Intro., notes, bibliography); all in a slim and affordable volume. I will use when I next teach Oedipus. Hackett is an invaluable resource!” —Rachel Hadas, Rutgers University

"I have enjoyed all of the recent Hackett editions of translations of Greek literature and "Oedipus Tyrannus” is certainly no exception. Meineck and Woodruff got things just right, from employing "Tyrannus” instead of "Rex” in the title (as has become traditional, though it lends an erroneous sense to the play from the outset) to Woodruff’s very fine and accessible Introduction to the suspenseful, poetic and powerful rendering of the play itself. Meineck’s theatrical sensibility and knowledge are evident, yet the text never becomes too "stagey” nor wanders far from the Greek. I will definitely use this text along with other terrific Hackett editions in my courses." —Lisa Rengs George, Arizona State University

"Brittain's On Academic Scepticism is more than a translation.  It is a thorough introduction to the study of one of Cicero's most important philosophical dialogues, a work which is the key to understanding Hellenistic scepticism and a great deal of the Latin philosophical tradition shaped by Cicero.  The translation is sharp and philosophically sensitive without betraying Cicero's elegant style; the Introduction (historical, philosophical, and philological) is compact, lucid, and authoritative.  At last this important work is accessible to those who do not read Latin; even those who do will turn to Brittain's book as a fundamental resource for years to come."
     —Brad Inwood, Canada Research Chair in Ancient Philosophy, University of Toronto

The famous introductory lectures collected in this volume represent the distillation of Hegel’s mature views on the three most important activities of spirit, and have the further advantage, shared by his lectures in general, of being more comprehensible than those works of his published during his lifetime. A new Introduction, Select Bibliography, Analytical Table of Contents, and the restoration in the section headings of the outline of Hegel’s lectures make this new edition particularly useful and welcome.

Includes a translator’s preface, note on the text, and suggestions for further reading.

“An excellent selection. There is nothing else like it available in print, and the price makes it very attractive for use in courses. . . . overall the editors did a superb job of choosing those excerpts from Darwin’s published works and his correspondence and notebooks that will give the reader a sense of the full range of his interests and the substance of his ideas. The editorial remarks are . . . perceptive and directly relevant to the content.”
     —Gene Cittadino, New York University

"Stephen Brown of Boston College has done an extremely useful service in providing this anthology of appropriate readings on Aquinas and his views on ‘faith and reason.’ The selections are intelligently chosen; the introduction to the book is excellent, especially the section locating Aquinas over against Augustine."
     —Ian Markham, Theological Book Review

"Over the years that I've been teaching—nearly 44 at this point—I've come to rely on Hackett for editions of classical texts that are well done and affordable. For example, I greatly appreciate C.D.C. Reeve's the Republic, and I've used it as a text in my ancient and medieval philosophy class. The copy I just received of Augustine's On the Free Choice of the Will, translated and annotated by Thomas Williams, continues the Hackett tradition of affordable excellence." —Frank Fair, Sam Houston State University

“The substantial Introduction and the selection have been done . . . extremely well. The Introduction makes illuminating connections between the thought of Aquinas and Descartes. . . . The book’s usefulness is enhanced by the bibliography.”
      —Ian Markham, Theological Book Review

The second edition of Aquinas, On Law, Morality, and Politics retains the selection of texts presented in the first edition but offers them in new translations by Richard J. Regan—including that of his Aquinas, Treatise on Law (Hackett, 2000). A revised Introduction and glossary, an updated select bibliography, and the inclusion of summarizing headnotes for each of the units—Conscience, Law, Justice, Property, War and Killing, Obedience and Rebellion, and Practical Wisdom and Statecraft—further enhance its usefulness.

Contents include a selected bibliography and an editor's Introduction broken into two sections. The first section provides a brief sketch of the historical, social, and biographical context in which Mill wrote and the second traces the central line of argument in the text to aid in the comprehension of the essay's structure, method, and major theses.

Contains the Poetics and the first twelve chapters of the Rhetoric, Book III.

(Part II of Thoughts Out of Season)

"Schopenhauer’s On the Basis of Morality deserves to be a standard text for courses in religious ethics. It doesn’t fit into the prevalent genealogies of virtue ethics and utilitarianism, thus reminding us of other genealogies (pessimism, Nietzsche, Buddhism). It poses fundamental questions about the monotheistic background to the dominant ethical systems of the day as virtually no other work does. I have found that reading it after an intensive study of Kant’s ethical and religious writings leads to fantastic discussions, which open the floor for great insights into the relation of religion and ethics.”
     —Mark Larrimore, Princeton University

Reflecting the broad range of interests of a major Renaissance philosopher and his distinctive brand of syncretism, this anthology offers in their entirety three central works of Pico’s. On the Dignity of Man, the quintessential expression of Renaissance humanism, appears in the context of two lesser known but equally representative mature works: On Being and the One, a treatise defending what Pico held to be the agreement between Aristotle and Plato on the relation between unity and being, and Heptaplus, an interpretation, influenced by a blend of cabalism and Christian doctrine, of the first verses of Genesis. New Selected Bibliography.

"Hackett’s On the Genealogy of Morality (we now have even the correct title!) may very well change the entire climate for reading Nietzsche in English—especially if read in conjunction with their equally splendid Twilight of the Idols. . . . Competing translations of Nietzsche’s late, utterly influential masterpieces have often made them a chore, rather than a delight, to read; and their introductions generally obscure, rather than illuminate, the texts’ situations. Clark and Swensen (and Polt and Strong) have made the Genealogy and Twilight accessible and exhilarating—while leaving them, as they are, enigmatic and problematic. Finally, readers of Nietzsche in English can—begin!”
     —William Arctander O’Brien, University of California, San Diego

Both an anthology of Augustine’s writings and a commentary on them, this work features substantial selections from On the Trinity, Confessions, The City of God, and On Freedom of the Will, as well as selections from lesser known works—all brilliantly knit together and illuminated by philosopher Robert Meagher.

"Like Hanslick, Professor Payzant is both musician and philosopher; and he has brought the knowledge and insights of both disciplines to this large undertaking."
     —Gordon Epperson, Journal of Aesthetics & Art Criticism