The Library of Liberal Arts

"Because Utilitarianism is a work of enduring value, it is easy to forget that Mill meant for it to be a topical and relevant contribution to the moral debates of his time. In this edition of Mill's essay, Colin Heydt situates the work in its historical context by supplementing the text of the essay with appendices containing excerpts of related works by Mill's predecessors, Mill himself, and prominent critics of his views. The historical richness of this edition of Utilitarianism would surely have pleased Mill, and will surely benefit today's readers." Ben Eggleston, University of Kansas -- "Colin Heydt has made judicious choices about which additional readings to place alongside Utilitarianism itself. In addition, his clearly written introduction paints a very plausible and attractive portrait of Mill as a committed moral reformer, albeit one who recognized that the improvement of the received morality must proceed incrementally. This volume is well suited both for introducing Mill to students and as a resource for scholars who would like to have the most pertinent texts in easy reach." Dale E. Miller, Old Dominion University -- John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism is a philosophical defence of utilitarianism, a moral theory stating that right actions are those that tend to promote overall happiness. The essay first appeared as a series of articles published in Fraser's Magazine in 1861; the articles were collected and reprinted as a single book in 1863. Mill discusses utilitarianism in some of his other works, including On Liberty and The Subjection of Women, but Utilitarianism contains his only sustained defence of the theory. -- In this Broadview Edition, Colin Heydt provides a substantial introduction that will enable readers to understand better the polemical context for Utilitarianism. Heydt shows, for example, how Mill's moral philosophy grew out of political engagement, rather than exclusively out of a speculative interest in determining the nature of morality. Appendices include precedents to Mill's work, reactions to Utilitarianism, and related writings by Mill. --Book Jacket.

Ancinus Boethius (ca. 480-524 AD) came from a politically connected family. He was a Roman senator by the age of 25, eventually becoming a Consul, as was his father and eventually both of his sons. Although these roles were political, he was primarily a philosopher who valued principle. Perhaps it was inevitable that he would fall out on the wrong side of a political issue. About 524, he was arrested for treason, stripped of all of his property and imprisoned in exile in Pavia, knowing that he would eventually be killed. He claimed that evidence against him was fabricated and he was innocent; there is no way to know now. While he was in prison, Boethius wrote this book. In this allegorical prose and verse conversation between himself and the character of Philosophy, the author looks clearly at the coincidences and vagaries of fortune, the meaning of happiness, the aspects of free will, and the roles of good and evil. He uses Philosophy's instruction to comfort and enlighten him, a philosopher to the end. In 524 or 525 AD, Boethius was tortured and bludgeoned to death. He died that day, but the wealth he left in Consolation of Philosophy is timeless. Rich in references to many classical scholars, this book was a staple of medieval Europe's study, and underpins later works by Dante and Chaucer. So why read an old book like this now? Life is hard, bad things happen, the veneer of civilization is thin. Instead of resorting to bitterness in his imprisonment, instead of retreating into the role of falsely accused victim, Boethius spent his condemned days writing what is perhaps the greatest work about the persistent nobility of the human spirit. This book is an inspiration that pays tribute to every wounded human who still gets up in the morning, puts on both socks and shoes and does his or her best to live, to heal, to survive, to thrive. Consolation of Philosophy opens a window of awe into the persistence and reach of the human spirit in a way that has everything to do with inspiration and nothing to do with religion. This should be required reading for every health care practitioner, every police officer, every attorney, every social worker, anyone whose work requires the recounting of suffering on a daily basis. Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living." The corollary to that is: the examined life of a sentient human is not for the faint of heart. This book arms each sentient human with tools that allow the examined life for self and others.

Reprint of the 1861 edition

"This translation of St. Augustine's De doctrina Christiania is based on the Benedictine text. Quotations from the Bible appear in the Douay-Rheims version, but the footnotes contain reference in brackets to indicate the location of corresponding verses in the King James Bible where the Bible contains the same material arranged according to a different system. Essentially, On Christian Doctrine is an introduction to the interpretation and explanation of the Bible."--Translator's preface and introduction.

This 1573 English edition of Niccolo' Machiavelli's Dell' Arte Della Guerra, translated by Peter Whitehorne, presents Machiavelli's influential dialogue on military organization, discipline, and strategy. It outlines the structure of a well-ordered army, the training of soldiers, the use of formations, and the principles of effective command. This printing includes additional material by Whitehorne, along with related military treatises bound with the volume in later years. The work reflects Renaissance thinking on warfare and the revival of classical Roman military principles.

This is regarded as a seminal text of Epicurean science and philosophy. Epicurians discarded both the idea of immortality and the superstitious worship of wilful gods for a life of serene contentment in the available pleasures of nature. Lucretius (c100-c55BC), in elucidating this belief, steers the reader through an extraordinary breadth of subject matter, ranging from the indestructibility of atoms and the discovery of fire to the folly of romantic love and the phenomena of clouds and rainstorms.

"Bergson's central contention is that time is not measurable by any objective standard; in Duration and Simultaneity, that position is tried out against the major movement in physics of the day - Relativity. Bergson argues that Relativity fails to live up to the promise of a truly relative physics, and counter to its own spirit retains some of the objectivist assumptions of previous world views. Duration and Simultaneity was conceived in the desire to make good the new paradigm to which Relativity was bound to lay claim; in the desire to be more Einsteinian than Einstein."--BOOK JACKET.