"Since its origins in India over two thousand years ago, Buddhism has not only spread throughout Asia, but also around the world. In this new edition of the Very Short Introduction to Buddhism, Damien Keown looks at how the tradition began and how it evolved into its present-day form. Explaining its central teachings and practices as well as key topics such as karma and rebirth, meditation and ethics, Keown also includes updates related to the evolution...
In this Very Short Introduction David F. Ford provides a balanced survey, for both believers and non-believers, of the central questions in contemporary theology. Considering the principles underlying religious belief, including the importance of salvation and the various concepts of God, as well as the issue of sin and evil, he probes the nature of experience, knowledge, and wisdom in theology. This new edition explores the contemporary relevance...
Outlines the basics of practical Judaism and considers how Judaism has responded to, and dealt with, a number of key issues and debates, including the impact of the Holocaust and the establishment of the State of Israel.
Normon Solomon's succinct book is an ideal introduction to Judaism as a religion and way of life. Demonstrating the diverse nature and ethnic origin of Jewish people, Solomon explores how the religion has developed in the 2,000 years...
"Drawing on studies of social class, crime and deviance, education, work in bureaucracies, and religious and political divides, this "Very Short Introduction" examines the foundation principles of sociology by considering how the self is shaped by society, and vice versa. In this new edition, Steve Bruce clarifies the nature of the discipline. Championing the 'science' in social science, he argues that, while new agendas and ideas are shaping sociology,...
"The Bible: A Very Short Introduction explores the material, cultural, and religious history of the Bible. The Bible is both one of the most read and the most influential books in the world. Its stories form the heart of Western civilization, while biblical language is interwoven into literature and everyday speech. As a source of shared Abrahamic beliefs, it has both drawn communities together and fuelled bitter disputes. This VSI examines how the...
"In the new edition of this Very Short Introduction, Peter Salway makes a number of essential updates in light of recent research in the area. He looks at issues of ethnicity, "Britishness", and post-colonialism, provides alternative theories to the end of the Roman period in Britain, and draws parallels between the history of Roman Britain and a wide range of other periods, territories, and themes, including the modern experience of empires and national...
John Blair's Very Short Introduction to the Anglo-Saxon Age covers the emergence of the earliest English settlements to the Norman victory in 1066. This book is a brief introduction to the political, social, religious, and cultural history of Anglo-Saxon England.
"Martin Heidegger, considered by some to be the greatest charlatan ever to claim the title of "philosopher", by some as an apologist for Nazism, and by others as an acknowledged leader in continental philosophy, is probably the most divisive thinker of the twentieth century.In the second edition of this Very Short Introduction, Michael Inwood focuses on Heidegger's most important work, Being and Time, to explore its major themes of existence in the...
From the Publisher: The tradition of ancient philosophy is a long, rich and varied one, in which the notes of discussion and argument constantly resound. This book aims to introduce readers to some ancient debates and to get them to engage with the ancient developments of some themes. Getting away from the presentation of ancient philosophy as a succession of Great Thinkers, the book aims to give readers a sense of the freshness and liveliness of...
"Karl Marx's theories have shaped and directed political economic, and social thought for 150 years. Here the renowned philosopher Peter Singer describes Marx's life and early ideas before clearly and concisely identifying the central vision that unifies Marx's thought and enables us to grasp it as a whole. In this new edition. Singer explores whether Marx and his ideas remain relevant to politics and society today. Assessing Marx's impact and the...
"Niccolò Machiavelli taught that political leaders must be prepared to do evil so that good may come of it, and his name has been a byword ever since for duplicity and immorality. Is his sinister reputation deserved? In answering this question Quentin Skinner traces the course of Machiavelli's adult life, from his time as Second Chancellor of the Florentine republic, during which he met with kings, the pope, and the Holy Roman Emperor; to the fall...
"David Hume, philosopher, historian, economist, librarian, and essayist, was one of the great figures of the European Enlightenment. Unlike some of his famous contemporaries, however, he was not dogmatically committed to idealised conceptions of reason, liberty, and progress. Instead, Hume was a sceptic whose arguments questioned the reach and authority of human rationality, and who put the rivalrous passions of commercial life at the centre of his...
This introduction to the philosopher's life and work examines the numerous ambiguities inherent in his writings and corrects many misconceptions fostered in the hundred years since Nietzsche wrote, 'Do not, above all, confound me with what I am not!'
