"Taking the form of a dialogue between Socrates, Gorgias, Polus and Callicles, the Gorgias debates crucial questions about the nature of government. While the aspiring politician Callicles propounds the view that might is right, and the rhetorician Gorgias argues that oratory and the power to persuade represent 'the greatest good', Socrates insists on the duty of politicians to consider the welfare of their citizens--a duty he believed had been dishonoured...

While Tolstoy may be best remembered as the talented Russian author of such monumentally great works as "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina", he also wrote prolifically in essay format on various subjects. In this volume Tolstoy turns his attention to the study of aesthetics and art in all its forms. Based on fifteen years of research, "What is Art?" is Tolstoy's intellectual exposition into answering the titular question. Rich with criticism for his...

Edmund Burke's "Reflections on the Revolution in France" is considered by many to be a masterpiece of political analysis and a compelling rationale against the French Revolution. Originally written as a letter in response to a young Parisian and later expanded upon and published in book format in January 1790, the work has greatly influenced conservative and classic liberal intellectuals and stands as a powerful argument against violent revolutions,...

In 1781, Immanuel Kant published his first and most famous work, the "Critique of Pure Reason". To the German philosopher's dismay, the work was at first poorly received and largely misunderstood by his readers. As a result, two years later Kant produced his "Prolegomena to any Future Metaphysics that will be Able to Present Itself as a Science" to serve as an introduction to the "Critique". He restated the main ideas of his philosophy in what Schopenhauer,...

Fleeing the ashes of Troy, Aeneas, Achilles' mighty foe in the Iliad, begins an incredible journey to fulfill his destiny as the founder of Rome. His voyage will take him through stormy seas, entangle him in a tragic love affair, and lure him into the world of the dead itself--all the way tormented by the vengeful Juno, Queen of the Gods. Ultimately, he reaches the promised land of Italy where, after bloody battles and with high hopes, he founds what...

Plato's "Meno" is a Socratic dialogue between the two main speakers, Socrates and Meno, and explores the definition of virtue and whether it is something that can be taught. Meno is an attractive and well-to-do young man visiting Athens and is a student of the sophist Gorgias, who has greatly influenced Meno's ideas on virtue and knowledge. The dialogue begins abruptly with a question posed by Meno, who asks Socrates whether virtue can be taught....

Need to seize a country? Have enemies you must destroy? In this handbook for despots and tyrants, the Renaissance statesman Machiavelli sets forth how to accomplish this and more, while avoiding the awkwardness of becoming generally hated and despised. "Men ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones they cannot; therefore the injury that is to be done to a man ought to be...