Books in the Guides for the Perplexed series

Christology, the study of the nature and person of Christ, caused the first major schism with the Christian church. This guide provides a basic definition of Christology and examines the key debates and defining moments in the early Church and the Reformation.

Presenting a commentary on the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein, this book offers guidance to reading Wittgenstein and a methodology for interpreting his works. It covers the entirety of Wittgenstein's career, examining the relationship between the early, middle and later periods of his philosophy.

Provides an introduction to literary theory from basic information and orientation for the uninformed leading on to sophisticated readings. This book offers a guide to the major theories and theorists, including: humanism; structuralism; poststructuralism; psychoanalytic approaches; feminist approaches; ideology and discourse; and more.

Soren Kierkegaard was the progenitor of existentialism, as well as a major literary figure and philosopher of ethics and religion. This work offers a comprehensive account of Kierkegaard's philosophy. It also covers the literary and philosophical challenges raised by Kierkegaard's 'direct' and 'indirect' forms of communication.

A comprehensive and bang up-to-date guide - ideal for undergraduates - to the work of Jurgen Habermas, one of the most important living philosophers, that provides a clear, accessible and authoritative account of his wide-ranging and ambitious philosophical project.

Gottfried Leibniz is one of the most influential and important European philosophers of the early modern period. This work gives an account of Lebniz's philosophy. It examines his ideas, including the intersections between his metaphysics, epistemology, ethical and political thought and his famous claim that reality consists of monads (unities).

Providing an introduction to Hegel's thought, this title offers an account of the most important parts of his philosophical system: his theory of intersubjectivity; his theory of the modern state; his accounts of art and religion; and his idea of a speculative logic. It explores his engagement with thinkers including Fichte, Jacobi and Rousseau.

Henri de Lubac is a dominating figure in the renewal of catholic theology in the twentieth century, opposing neo-Thomist orthodoxy with a pluriform and historical notion of tradition based on the creative reappropriation of patristic sources. This introduction to De Lubac also provides an overview of the 20th century French Catholic theology.

Offers a comprehensive introduction to relativism and how it applies to the different parts of the basic, foundational areas of philosophy and, indeed, to various areas of human enquiry. This book provides a summary of the role of relativism in three key academic disciplines: science, politics, and religion.

Noam Chomsky is one of the influential thinkers of the twentieth-century. His work in linguistics, philosophy and political theory has spanned six decades, and has been met with critical acclaim and controversy in equal measure. This book is not only an introduction to Chomsky's theoretical writings, but also a critical engagement with his work.

John Locke is a clear and lucid writer who wrote on many subjects and founded many new schools of thought. This title presents a concise and coherent overview of Locke. It is suitable for second- or third-year undergraduates who require more than just a simple introduction to his work and thought.

Hannah Arendt is considered to be one of the influential political thinkers of the twentieth century. This book provides a comprehensive introduction to Arendt's key ideas and texts. It examines some of the important themes of Hannah Arendt's work, as well as the controversies surrounding it.

Thomas Aquinas is the most widely read and arguably most influential of the medieval philosophers. He is famous for his coherent synthesis of Greek Philosophy and Christian Theology and his "Summa Theologiae" is an important, and enduring, text in the history of philosophy. This is a student's guide to the life and thought of Thomas Aquinas.

Investigating what the atheists mean when they use the words 'atheism' and 'God', this book explores the differences and similarities between 'old' and 'new' atheism, and places atheism of either variety in context by examining the naturalistic worldview that grounds it. It also examines various arguments against God-belief.

The history of the development of Zoroastrianism spans over 3000 years, beginning in prehistory as an oral tradition, with roots in a common Indo-Iranian mythology. This guide presents the history, development and beliefs of this ancient religion, and its continuation as a lived religion.

Provides an introduction to the work of Sartre, the twentieth-century thinker and writer. This book identifies four themes that run through his oeuvre, consciousness, freedom, bad faith and authenticity, and explores them, building up an overview of Sartre's philosophy in its entirety. It covers the core concepts that recur throughout his work.

Offers an introduction to the major elements of the prevalent metaphysical system of Judaism, Kabbalah. This book covers the historical and theoretical essence of Kabbalah, providing a definition of the term and the limitations of what Kabbalah is and is not. It provides an overview of the history of the movement.

Christianity concerns itself with salvation. But salvation implies something from which one must be saved, as reconciliation implies an estrangement and redemption a loss. The classical theological symbol naming the problem to which salvation is the solution is sin. This work introduces the doctrine and understanding of sin in modern theology.

Explores central challenges to religious belief raised by evil and suffering in the world as well as significant responses to them from both theistic and non-theistic perspectives.

Offers an introduction to how to do theology in an academic context. This book provides a historical survey of key figures and concepts that bear on an understanding of difficult methodological issues in Christian theology. It summarizes the various theological methods deployed by theologians and churches over two millennia of Christian thought.

An introduction to the 'Father of Modern Theology'.

Marshall McLuhan was dubbed a media guru when he came to prominence in the 1960s. The Woodstock generation found him cool; their parents found him perplexing. This guide offers a close reading of all of his work with a focus on tracing the systematic development of his thought.