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The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius: Selections Annotated and Explained Russell McNeil, PhD Editor, Malaspina Great Books In 1862 the English literary critic and poet Matthew Arnold described Marcus Aurelius as "the most beautiful figure in history." The Stoicism of Aurelius is grounded in rationality and rests solidly on an ethical approach rooted in nature. Stoicism promises real happiness and joy in this life and a serenity that can never be soured by personal misfortune. This philosophy has universal appeal with practical implications on problems ranging from climate change and terrorism to the personal management of sickness, aging, depression and addiction. I truly believe that the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius has much to offer us now...(Click on book cover for more)

Category:	Baroque Literature
Name:	Thomas Hobbes - World Philosophy Series
Birth Year:	1588
Death Year:	1679
Representative Image:
Biography, Lectures, and Research Links:	Biography - World Philosophy Series Blog Thomas Hobbes! SEARCH NOW: by title by author Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) was a great English political philosopher, most famous for his book Leviathan. In this book, he described human nature and the necessity of governments and societies. In the state of nature, while some men may be stronger or smarter than others, none are so far above as to be beyond fear of another man doing harm. Thus, each of us has rights to everything, and due to the scarcity of these things, we are in a constant state of war. However, man has a self-interested desire to end war, and so he forms societies by entering into a social contract. According to Hobbesism, such a society needs a leader to whom all members of that society surrender their authority, in order to secure a common defense. This benevolent sovereign is chosen at random and becomes the Leviathan, an unquestionable authority. Hobbes also wrote numerous other books on political philosophy and other matters, providing a fairly perceptive account of human nature as self-interested cooperation. He was also a contemporary of Descartes and wrote one of the replies to Descartes' Meditations. Philip Coates in "Wreaking Hobbes on mankind" (Independent Review, 06/01/97) postulates that Hobbes's pessimistic view of human nature reflected the social and political situation of his own times. The tiger in Bill Watterson's comic strip Calvin and Hobbes was named after Thomas Hobbes; the boy after John Calvin. [This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License and uses material adapted in whole or in part from the Wikipedia article on Thomas Hobbes.] The Great Books: Thomas Hobbes Please browse our Amazon list of titles about Thomas Hobbes. For rare and hard to find works we recommend our Alibris list of titles about Thomas Hobbes. Offer Comments, Questions or Suggestions! This database is maintained by Malaspina Great Books.
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Records from Related Period and Category:	Baroque Literature

About this Database:

This web page is part of a biographical database on Great Ideas. These are living ideas that have shaped, defined and directed world culture for over 2,500 years. By definition the Great Ideas are radical. As such they are sometimes misread, or distorted by popular simplifications. Understanding a Great Idea demands personal engagement. Our selection of Great Ideas is drawn from literature and philosophy, science, art, music, theatre, and cinema. We also include biographies of pivotal historical and religious figures, as well as contributions from women and other historically under-represented minorities. The result is an integrated multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary database built upon the framework of the always controversial Great Books Core List published in 1940 by the late Great Books Pioneer Mortimer Adler (1902-2001). Most of the works on that list are available in the 60 volume Great Books of the Western World.