Philosophy

In the course of a lively drinking party, a group of Athenian intellectuals exchange views on eros, or desire. From their conversation emerges a series of subtle reflections on gender roles, sex in society and the sublimation of basic human instincts. The discussion culminates in a radical challenge to conventional views by Plato's mentor, Socrates, who advocates transcendence through spiritual love. The Symposium is a deft interweaving of different viewpoints and ideas about the nature of love--as a response to beauty, a cosmic force, a motive for social action and as a means of ethical education.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

As tensions simmer, and often explode, between the secular and the religious forces in modern life, the big questions about human belief press ever more urgently. Where does belief, or its lack, originate? How can we understand and appreciate religious traditions different from our own? Featuring conversations with twelve skeptics, atheists, agnostics, and believers--including Alvin Plantinga, Philip Kitcher, Michael Ruse, and John Caputo--Talking God offers new perspectives on religion, including the challenge to believers from evolution, cutting-edge physics and cosmology; arguments both for and against atheism; and meditations on the value of secular humanism and faith in the modern world. Experts offer insights on Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism, as well as Judaism and Christianity. Topical and illuminating, Talking God gives readers a deeper understanding of faith today and how philosophers understand it.

From Talking God:

"[Some say] Buddhism is not a religion because Buddhists don't believe in a supreme being. This simply ignores the fact that many religions are not theistic in this sense. Chess is a game, despite the fact that it is not played with a ball, after all."
--Jay Garfield, from chapter 10, "Buddhism: Religion Without Divinity"

"Why think that the creator was all-knowing and omnipotent?-- Maybe the creator was a student god, and only got a B minus on this project?"
--Louise Antony, from chapter 2, "A Case for Atheism"

"There are a large number--maybe a couple of dozen--of pretty good theistic arguments. None is conclusive, but each, or at any rate the whole bunch taken together, is about as strong as philosophical arguments ordinarily get."
--Alvin Plantinga, from chapter 1, "A Case for Theism"

"If you cease to 'believe' in a particular religious creed, like Calvinism or Catholicism, you have changed your mind and adopted a new position-- But if you lose 'faith, '--everything is lost. You have lost your faith in life, lost hope in the future, lost heart, and you cannot go on."
--John Caputo, from chapter 3, "Religion and Deconstruction"

The Tao Te Ching, or Book of the Way of Virtue, is a touchstone of Eastern philosophy and mysticism. It has been called the wisest book ever written. Its author, Lao Tzu, is known as the Great Archivist, but some say he has never lived or is the synthesis of many people. Shakespeare, the Bard, was the West's greatest writer and even invented human nature, according to some. The Tao and the Bard is the delightful conversation between these two unlikely spokesmen, who join in a free exchange of views in its pages.

Here, in his own words, Lao Tzu offers the eight-one verses that comprise the Tao, and, responding to each verse, the Bard answers with quotations from his plays and poems. In sometimes surprising ways, Shakespeare's words speak to Lao Tzu's, as the two trade observations on such topics as good and evil, love and virtue, wise fools and foolish wisdom, and being the "nothing from which all things are." As moderator, Phillip DePoy sometimes adds his own helpful comments, and the reader is invited to take part--whether to parse the meanings closely or sit back and enjoy the entertainment!

And that's a clue to the secret wisdom of the Taoists.

Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching is not only the single most important text ever composed in China, it is probably the most influential spiritual text in human history. In the past, virtually all translations of this text have been produced either by sinologists having little poetic facility in English, or writers having no ability to read the original Chinese. Hinton's fluency in ancient Chinese and his acclaimed poetic ability provide him the essential qualifications. Together, they allow a breathtaking new translation that reveals how remarkably current and even innovative this text is after 2500 years.

Written more than two thousand years ago, the Tao Teh Ching is part poetry and part paradox, yet always dynamic and profound. Today, Lao Tzu's words are as useful in mastering the arts of leadership in business and politics as they are in developing a sense of balance and harmony in everyday life. To follow the Tao--or Way of all things--and realize their true nature is to embody humility, spontaneity, and generosity.

This book is part of the Shambhala Pocket Library series.

The Shambhala Pocket Library is a collection of short, portable teachings from notable figures across religious traditions and classic texts. The covers in this series are rendered by Colorado artist Robert Spellman. The books in this collection distill the wisdom and heart of the work Shambhala Publications has published over 50 years into a compact format that is collectible, reader-friendly, and applicable to everyday life.