Nicholas Popper's Books

Karl Popper, Science and Enlightenment

By: Nicholas Maxwell

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Karl Popper, Science and Enlightenment

By: Nicholas Maxwell

Here is an idea that just might save the world. It is that science, properly understood, provides us with the methodological key to the salvation of humanity. A version of this idea can be found in the works of Karl Popper. Famously, Popper argued that science cannot verify theories but can only refute them, and this is how science makes progress. Scientists are forced to think up something better, and it is this, according to Popper, that drives science forward.But Nicholas Maxwell finds a flaw in this line of argument. Physicists only ever accept theories that are unified – theories that depict the same laws applying to the range of phenomena to which the theory applies – even though many other empirically more successful disunified theories are always available. This means that science makes a questionable assumption about the universe, namely that all disunified theories are false. Without some such presupposition as this, the whole empirical method of science breaks down.By proposing a new conception of scientific methodology, which can be applied to all worthwhile human endeavours with problematic aims, Maxwell argues for a revolution in academic inquiry to help humanity make progress towards a better, more civilized and enlightened world.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

392

Publisher

UCL Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1787350401

ISBN 13

9781787350403

Zeno and the Tortoise

How to Think Like a Philosopher

By: Nicholas Fearn

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Zeno and the Tortoise

How to Think Like a Philosopher

By: Nicholas Fearn

From the author of The Latest Answers to the Oldest Questions, a philosophical guide that’s “great for sounding cleverer than you really are” (Men’s Health). For those who don’t know the difference between Lucretius’s spear and Hume’s fork, Zeno and the Tortoise explains not just who each philosopher was and what he thought, but exactly how he came to think in the way he did. In a witty and engaging style that incorporates everything from Sting to cell phones to Bill Gates, Fearn demystifies the ways of thought that have shaped and inspired humanity—among many others, the Socratic method, Descartes’s use of doubt, Bentham’s theory of utilitarianism, Rousseau’s social contract, and, of course, the concept of common sense. Along the way, there are fascinating biographical snippets about the philosophers themselves: the story of Thales falling down a well while studying the stars, and of Socrates being told by a face-reader that his was the face of a monster who was capable of any crime. Written in twenty-five short chapters, each readable during the journey to work, Zeno and the Tortoise is the ideal course in intellectual self-defense. Acute, often irreverent, but always authoritative, this is a unique introduction to the ideas that have shaped us all. “A large, crafty bag of brilliant tools . . . an academic arsenal of philosophical weapons that are keen for slicing and stabbing through the slippery profoundities of day-to-day decision-making and right into the middle of dinner-party conversations of which you would have otherwise been left out.” —Philosophy Now

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

229

Publisher

Open Road + Grove/Atlantic

Published Date

ISBN 10

0802199089

ISBN 13

9780802199089

The Metaphysics of Science and Aim-Oriented Empiricism

A Revolution for Science and Philosophy

By: Nicholas Maxwell

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Metaphysics of Science and Aim-Oriented Empiricism

A Revolution for Science and Philosophy

By: Nicholas Maxwell

This book gives an account of work that I have done over a period of decades that sets out to solve two fundamental problems of philosophy: the mind-body problem and the problem of induction. Remarkably, these revolutionary contributions to philosophy turn out to have dramatic implications for a wide range of issues outside philosophy itself, most notably for the capacity of humanity to resolve current grave global problems and make progress towards a better, wiser world. A key element of the proposed solution to the first problem is that physics is about only a highly specialized aspect of all that there is – the causally efficacious aspect. Once this is understood, it ceases to be a mystery that natural science says nothing about the experiential aspect of reality, the colours we perceive, the inner experiences we are aware of. That natural science is silent about the experiential aspect of reality is no reason whatsoever to hold that the experiential does not objectively exist. A key element of the proposed solution to the second problem is that physics, in persistently accepting unified theories only, thereby makes a substantial metaphysical assumption about the universe: it is such that a unified pattern of physical law runs through all phenomena. We need a new conception, and kind, of physics that acknowledges, and actively seeks to improve, metaphysical presuppositions inherent in the methods of physics. The problematic aims and methods of physics need to be improved as physics proceeds. These are the ideas that have fruitful implications, I set out to show, for a wide range of issues: for philosophy itself, for physics, for natural science more generally, for the social sciences, for education, for the academic enterprise as a whole and, most important of all, for the capacity of humanity to learn how to solve the grave global problems that menace our future, and thus make progress to a better, wiser world. It is not just science that has problematic aims; in life too our aims, whether personal, social or institutional, are all too often profoundly problematic, and in urgent need of improvement. We need a new kind of academic enterprise which helps humanity put aims-and-methods improving meta-methods into practice in personal and social life, so that we may come to do better at achieving what is of value in life, and make progress towards a saner, wiser world. This body of work of mine has met with critical acclaim. Despite that, astonishingly, it has been ignored by mainstream philosophy. In the book I discuss the recent work of over 100 philosophers on the mind-body problem and the metaphysics of science, and show that my earlier, highly relevant work on these issues is universally ignored, the quality of subsequent work suffering as a result. My hope, in publishing this book, is that my fellow philosophers will come to appreciate the intellectual value of my proposed solutions to the mind-body problem and the problem of induction, and will, as a result, join with me in attempting to convince our fellow academics that we need to bring about an intellectual/institutional revolution in academic inquiry so that it takes up its proper task of helping humanity learn how to solve problems of living, including global problems, and make progress towards as good, as wise and enlightened a world as possible.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

233

Publisher

Springer

Published Date

ISBN 10

3030041433

ISBN 13

9783030041434

Science and Enlightenment

Two Great Problems of Learning

By: Nicholas Maxwell

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Science and Enlightenment

Two Great Problems of Learning

By: Nicholas Maxwell

This book argues that two great problems of learning confront humanity: learning about the nature of the universe and about ourselves and other living things as a part of it; and learning how to become civilized. The author proposes that with the creation of modern science in the 17th century, the first problem was essentially solved. But the second problem has still not been solved today, and that combination of solving the first problem, but failing to solve the second one, puts us in a situation of unprecedented danger. All our current global problems are the result. The 18th century Enlightenment tried to solve the second great problem of achieving world enlightenment by learning from the solution to the first problem, but in implementing this idea, they made three serious blunders. These ancient blunders are still built into academia today. Correct the three blunders we have inherited from the Enlightenment, and we would have what we so urgently need: institutions of learning, universities and schools, rationally designed and devoted to helping us resolve our conflicts and global problems, and thus make progress towards a good, genuinely civilized world. Science and Enlightenment: Two Great Problems of Learning will interest a broad audience, ranging from academics, university students and teachers; journalists, politicians and general readers concerned about global problems and the fate of the world.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

115

Publisher

Springer

Published Date

ISBN 10

3030134202

ISBN 13

9783030134204

Divine Action and Modern Science

By: Nicholas Saunders

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Divine Action and Modern Science

By: Nicholas Saunders

A radical critique of current attempts to reconcile natural sciences with the concept of divine action.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

264

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0521524164

ISBN 13

9780521524162

Predicting the Future

An Introduction to the Theory of Forecasting

By: Nicholas Rescher

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Predicting the Future

An Introduction to the Theory of Forecasting

By: Nicholas Rescher

The future obviously matters to us. It is, after all, where we'll be spending the rest of our lives. We need some degree of foresight if we are to make effective plans for managing our affairs. Much that we would like to know in advance cannot be predicted. But a vast amount of successful prediction is nonetheless possible, especially in the context of applied sciences such as medicine, meteorology, and engineering. This book examines our prospects for finding out about the future in advance. It addresses questions such as why prediction is possible in some areas and not others; what sorts of methods and resources make successful prediction possible; and what obstacles limit the predictive venture. Nicholas Rescher develops a general theory of prediction that encompasses its fundamental principles, methodology, and practice and gives an overview of its promises and problems. Predicting the Future considers the anthropological and historical background of the predictive enterprise. It also examines the conceptual, epistemic, and ontological principles that set the stage for predictive efforts. In short, Rescher explores the basic features of the predictive situation and considers their broader implications in science, in philosophy, and in the management of our daily affairs.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

334

Publisher

SUNY Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0791435539

ISBN 13

9780791435533

International Theory at the Margins

Neglected Essays, Recurring Themes

By: Nicholas Greenwood Onuf

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

International Theory at the Margins

Neglected Essays, Recurring Themes

By: Nicholas Greenwood Onuf

This book brings together thirteen of Nicholas Onuf’s previously published yet rarely cited essays. They address topics that Onuf has puzzled over for decades, including the problem of materiality in social construction, epochal change in the modern world, and the power of language.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

282

Publisher

Policy Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1529229820

ISBN 13

9781529229820

Is Science Neurotic?

By: Nicholas Maxwell

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Is Science Neurotic?

By: Nicholas Maxwell

Is Science Neurotic? sets out to show that science suffers from a damaging but rarely noticed methodological disease — “rationalistic neurosis.” Assumptions concerning metaphysics, human value and politics, implicit in the aims of science, are repressed, and the malaise has spread to affect the whole academic enterprise, with the potential for extraordinarily damaging long-term consequences.The book begins with a discussion of the aims and methods of natural science, and moves on to discuss social science, philosophy, education, psychoanalytic theory and academic inquiry as a whole. It makes an original and compelling contribution to the current debate between those for and those against science, arguing that science would be of greater human value if it were more rigorous — we suffer not from too much scientific rationality, but too little. The author discusses the need for a revolution in the aims of science and academic inquiry in general and, in a lively and accessible style, spells out a thesis with profound importance for the long-term future of humanity.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

255

Publisher

World Scientific

Published Date

ISBN 10

1783260483

ISBN 13

9781783260485

Experimental Economics

Rethinking the Rules

By: Nicholas Bardsley,Robin Cubitt,Graham Loomes,Peter Moffat,Chris Starmer,Robert Sugden

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Experimental Economics

Rethinking the Rules

By: Nicholas Bardsley,Robin Cubitt,Graham Loomes,Peter Moffat,Chris Starmer,Robert Sugden

The authors explore the history of experiments in economics, provide examples of different types of experiments and show that the growing use of experimental methods is transforming economics into an empirical science. They explain that progress is being held back and debate on how to overcome these limitations.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

385

Publisher

Princeton University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0691124795

ISBN 13

9780691124797

Luck

The Brilliant Randomness Of Everyday Life

By: Nicholas Rescher

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Luck

The Brilliant Randomness Of Everyday Life

By: Nicholas Rescher

Luck touches us all. "Why me?" we complain when things go wrong—though seldom when things go right. But although luck has a firm hold on all our lives, we seldom reflect on it in a cogent, concerted way. In Luck, one of our most eminent philosophers offers a realistic view of the nature and operation of luck to help us come to sensible terms with life in a chaotic world. Differentiating luck from fate (inexorable destiny) and fortune (mere chance), Nicholas Rescher weaves a colorful tapestry of historical examples, from the use of lots in the Old and New Testaments to Thomas Gataker’s treatise of 1619 on the great English lottery of 1612, from casino gambling to playing the stock market. Because we are creatures of limited knowledge who do and must make decisions in the light of incomplete information, Rescher argues, we are inevitably at the mercy of luck. It behooves us to learn more about it.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

250

Publisher

University of Pittsburgh Pre

Published Date

ISBN 10

0822972271

ISBN 13

9780822972273

Incerto 4-Book Bundle

Fooled by Randomness, The Black Swan, The Bed of Procrustes, Antifragile

By: Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Incerto 4-Book Bundle

Fooled by Randomness, The Black Swan, The Bed of Procrustes, Antifragile

By: Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s landmark Incerto series is an investigation of luck, uncertainty, probability, opacity, human error, risk, disorder, and decision-making in a world we don’t understand, in nonoverlapping and standalone books. All four volumes—Antifragile, The Black Swan, Fooled by Randomness, and the expanded edition of The Bed of Procrustes, updated with more than 50 percent new material—are now together in one ebook bundle. ANTIFRAGILE “Startling . . . richly crammed with insights, stories, fine phrases and intriguing asides.”—The Wall Street Journal Just as human bones get stronger when subjected to stress and tension, many things in life benefit from disorder, volatility, and turmoil. What Taleb has identified and calls “antifragile” is that category of things that not only gain from chaos but need it in order to survive and flourish. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the antifragile gets better and better. What is crucial is that the antifragile loves errors, as it incurs small harm and large benefits from them. Spanning politics, urban planning, war, personal finance, economic systems, and medicine in an interdisciplinary and erudite style, Antifragile is a blueprint for living in a Black Swan world. THE BLACK SWAN “[A book] that altered modern thinking.”—The Times (London) A black swan is a highly improbable event with three principal characteristics: It is unpredictable; it carries a massive impact; and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appear less random and more predictable. The astonishing success of Google was a black swan; so was 9/11. In this groundbreaking and prophetic book, Taleb shows that black swan events underlie almost everything about our world, from the rise of religions to events in our own personal lives, and yet we—especially the experts—are blind to them. FOOLED BY RANDOMNESS “[Fooled by Randomness] is to conventional Wall Street wisdom approximately what Martin Luther’s ninety-five theses were to the Catholic Church.”—Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker Are we capable of distinguishing the fortunate charlatan from the genuine visionary? Must we always try to uncover nonexistent messages in random events? Fooled by Randomness is about luck: more precisely, about how we perceive luck in our personal and professional experiences. Set against the backdrop of the most conspicuous forum in which luck is mistaken for skill—the markets—Fooled by Randomness is an irreverent, eye-opening, and endlessly entertaining exploration of one of the least understood forces in our lives. THE BED OF PROCRUSTES “Taleb’s crystalline nuggets of thought stand alone like esoteric poems.”—Financial Times This collection of aphorisms and meditations expresses Taleb’s major ideas in ways you least expect. The Bed of Procrustes takes its title from Greek mythology: the story of a man who made his visitors fit his bed to perfection by either stretching them or cutting their limbs. With a rare combination of pointed wit and potent wisdom, Taleb plows through human illusions, contrasting the classical views of courage, elegance, and erudition against the modern diseases of nerdiness, philistinism, and phoniness.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

1253

Publisher

Random House

Published Date

ISBN 10

0812997697

ISBN 13

9780812997699

The Human World in the Physical Universe

Consciousness, Free Will, and Evolution

By: Nicholas Maxwell

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Human World in the Physical Universe

Consciousness, Free Will, and Evolution

By: Nicholas Maxwell

How is it possible for the world as we experience it to exist embedded in the physical universe? How can there be sensory qualities, consciousness, freedom, science and art, friendship, love, justice--all that which gives meaning and value to life--if the world really is more or less as modern science tells us it is? This is the problem that is tackled by this book. The solution proposed is that physics describes only a selected aspect of all that exists--that aspect which determines the way events unfold. Sensory qualities, inner experiences, consciousness, meaning and value, all these exist but lie beyond the scope of physics, and of that part of science that can be reduced to physics. Furthermore, these human features of the world are to be explained and understood, not scientifically, but "personalistically," a kind of understanding distinct from, and not reducible to, science. This view that the world is riddled with what may be called "double comprehensibility" leads to a proposed solution to the philosophical mind/body problem, and to the problem of free will; it leads to a reinterpretation of Darwin's theory of evolution, and to an account of the evolution of consciousness and free will. After a discussion of the location of consciousness in the brain, the book concludes with a proposal as to how academic inquiry might be changed so that it becomes a kind of inquiry rationally designed to help humanity create a more civilized human world in the physical universe.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

338

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield

Published Date

ISBN 10

0742512266

ISBN 13

9780742512269

Incerto 5-Book Bundle

Fooled by Randomness, The Black Swan, The Bed of Procrustes, Antifragile, Skin in the Game

By: Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Incerto 5-Book Bundle

Fooled by Randomness, The Black Swan, The Bed of Procrustes, Antifragile, Skin in the Game

By: Nassim Nicholas Taleb

The landmark five-book series—all together in one ebook bundle The Incerto is an investigation of opacity, luck, uncertainty, probability, human error, risk, and decision making when we don’t understand the world, expressed in the form of a personal essay with autobiographical sections, stories, parables, and philosophical, historical, and scientific discussions, in non-overlapping volumes that can be accessed in any order. The main thread is that while there is inordinate uncertainty about what is going on, there is great certainty as to what one should do about it. This ebook bundle includes: FOOLED BY RANDOMNESS THE BLACK SWAN THE BED OF PROCRUSTES ANTIFRAGILE SKIN IN THE GAME

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

1345

Publisher

Random House

Published Date

ISBN 10

0593243668

ISBN 13

9780593243664

The Black Swan: Second Edition

The Impact of the Highly Improbable: With a new section: "On Robustness and Fragility"

By: Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Black Swan: Second Edition

The Impact of the Highly Improbable: With a new section: "On Robustness and Fragility"

By: Nassim Nicholas Taleb

The most influential book of the past seventy-five years: a groundbreaking exploration of everything we know about what we don’t know, now with a new section called “On Robustness and Fragility.” A black swan is a highly improbable event with three principal characteristics: It is unpredictable; it carries a massive impact; and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appear less random, and more predictable, than it was. The astonishing success of Google was a black swan; so was 9/11. For Nassim Nicholas Taleb, black swans underlie almost everything about our world, from the rise of religions to events in our own personal lives. Why do we not acknowledge the phenomenon of black swans until after they occur? Part of the answer, according to Taleb, is that humans are hardwired to learn specifics when they should be focused on generalities. We concentrate on things we already know and time and time again fail to take into consideration what we don’t know. We are, therefore, unable to truly estimate opportunities, too vulnerable to the impulse to simplify, narrate, and categorize, and not open enough to rewarding those who can imagine the “impossible.” For years, Taleb has studied how we fool ourselves into thinking we know more than we actually do. We restrict our thinking to the irrelevant and inconsequential, while large events continue to surprise us and shape our world. In this revelatory book, Taleb will change the way you look at the world, and this second edition features a new philosophical and empirical essay, “On Robustness and Fragility,” which offers tools to navigate and exploit a Black Swan world. Taleb is a vastly entertaining writer, with wit, irreverence, and unusual stories to tell. He has a polymathic command of subjects ranging from cognitive science to business to probability theory. Elegant, startling, and universal in its applications, The Black Swan is a landmark book—itself a black swan.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

482

Publisher

Random House Trade Paperbacks

Published Date

ISBN 10

081297381X

ISBN 13

9780812973815

Global Philosophy

What Philosophy Ought to Be

By: Nicholas Maxwell

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Global Philosophy

What Philosophy Ought to Be

By: Nicholas Maxwell

This book is about education, learning, rational inquiry, philosophy, science studies, problem solving, academic inquiry, global problems, wisdom and, above all, the urgent need for an academic revolution. Despite this range and diversity of topics, there is a common underlying theme. Education ought to be devoted, much more than it is, to the exploration real-life, open problems; it ought not to be restricted to learning up solutions to already solved problems - especially if nothing is said about the problems that provoked the solutions in the first place. A central task of philosophy ought to be to keep alive awareness of our unsolved fundamental problems - especially our most fundamental problem of all, encompassing all others: How can our human world - and the world of sentient life more generally - imbued with the experiential, consciousness, free will, meaning and value, exist and best flourish embedded as it is in the physical universe? This is both our fundamental intellectual problem and our fundamental problem of living. The essays in this volume seek to provoke a concerted effort to transform our institutions of learning so that they become rationally and effectively devoted to helping us learn how to create a wiser world. Our most serious problems of living are so grim, so imbued with suffering, wasted lives and unnecessary death, that the idea of approaching them in a playful spirit seems sacrilegious. We need to keep alive tackling of intellectual problems so that playful capacities can be exercised - if for no other reason (and other reasons there are, of course, aplenty). There are two really worthy impulses behind all rational inquiry: delight and compassion.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

207

Publisher

Andrews UK Limited

Published Date

ISBN 10

1845407792

ISBN 13

9781845407797

World Crisis, The - And What To Do About It: A Revolution For Thought And Action

By: Nicholas Maxwell

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

World Crisis, The - And What To Do About It: A Revolution For Thought And Action

By: Nicholas Maxwell

Science and technology have made the modern world possible, but also created all the global problems that threaten our future: the climate crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, mass extinction of species, environmental degradation, overpopulation, lethal modern war, and the menace of nuclear weapons. Nicholas Maxwell, world-renowned philosopher of science and author of 14 books, argues that all these problems have come about because humans have solved only the first of two great problems of learning — how to acquire scientific knowledge and technological know-how — but not the second — how to create a civilized, wise world.The key disaster of our times is that we have science without wisdom. At present, universities all over the world are devoted to the pursuit of specialized knowledge and technology, or 'knowledge-inquiry'. Maxwell contends that they need to be radically transformed so that their basic function becomes to help humanity tackle global problems, with a more rigorous and socially beneficial perspective he calls 'wisdom-inquiry'. The World Crisis — And What to Do About It spells out in detail the changes that need to be made to academic inquiry, why they need to be made, and how they would enable universities to help humanity actively and effectively tackle and solve current global problems.Related Link(s)

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

208

Publisher

World Scientific

Published Date

ISBN 10

9811234620

ISBN 13

9789811234620

Knowledge at the Boundaries

By: Nicholas Rescher

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Knowledge at the Boundaries

By: Nicholas Rescher

The book offers a reflection on the nature, scope, and limits of knowledge that have been at the focus of the author's work over decades. The essays collected in this volume expound and extend these efforts in exploring the outer fringes of understanding: the outer boundaries of conceivability, the limits of cognition, and the ramifications of ineffability and paradox. They join in exploring the lay of the land at the boundaries of knowledge. The first chapters address basic facts regarding the conceptualization of knowledge. This is followed by a study on how to deal with problems relating to the affirmation and considerations of truth. The final chapters scrutinize the limits of demonstration and the inherent impossibility of realizing an ideal systematization of our knowledge of totalities. The book affords novel perspectives regarding the thought of a widely appreciated philosopher. It is an original work aimed for readers interested in the theory of knowledge and philosophy of cognition.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

257

Publisher

Springer Nature

Published Date

ISBN 10

3030484319

ISBN 13

9783030484316

Fooled by Randomness

The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets

By: Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Fooled by Randomness

The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets

By: Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Nassim Nicholas Taleb's landmark Incerto series is an investigation of luck, uncertainty, probability, opacity, human error, risk, disorder, and decision-making in a world we don't understand, in nonoverlapping and standalone books. All four volumes--Antifragile, The Black Swan, Fooled by Randomness, and the expanded edition of The Bed of Procrustes, updated with more than 50 percent new material--are now together in one boxed set. ANTIFRAGILE "Startling . . . richly crammed with insights, stories, fine phrases and intriguing asides."--The Wall Street Journal Just as human bones get stronger when subjected to stress and tension, many things in life benefit from disorder, volatility, and turmoil. What Taleb has identified and calls "antifragile" is that category of things that not only gain from chaos but need it in order to survive and flourish. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; the antifragile gets better and better. What is crucial is that the antifragile loves errors, as it incurs small harm and large benefits from them. Spanning politics, urban planning, war, personal finance, economic systems, and medicine in an interdisciplinary and erudite style, Antifragile is a blueprint for living in a Black Swan world. THE BLACK SWAN "[A book] that altered modern thinking."--The Times (London) A black swan is a highly improbable event with three principal characteristics: It is unpredictable; it carries a massive impact; and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appear less random and more predictable. The astonishing success of Google was a black swan; so was 9/11. In this groundbreaking and prophetic book, Taleb shows that black swan events underlie almost everything about our world, from the rise of religions to events in our own personal lives, and yet we--especially the experts--are blind to them. FOOLED BY RANDOMNESS "[Fooled by Randomness] is to conventional Wall Street wisdom approximately what Martin Luther's ninety-five theses were to the Catholic Church."--Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker Are we capable of distinguishing the fortunate charlatan from the genuine visionary? Must we always try to uncover nonexistent messages in random events? Fooled by Randomness is about luck: more precisely, about how we perceive luck in our personal and professional experiences. Set against the backdrop of the most conspicuous forum in which luck is mistaken for skill--the markets--Fooled by Randomness is an irreverent, eye-opening, and endlessly entertaining exploration of one of the least understood forces in our lives. THE BED OF PROCRUSTES "Taleb's crystalline nuggets of thought stand alone like esoteric poems."--Financial Times This collection of aphorisms and meditations expresses Taleb's major ideas in ways you least expect. The Bed of Procrustes takes its title from Greek mythology: the story of a man who made his visitors fit his bed to perfection by either stretching them or cutting their limbs. With a rare combination of pointed wit and potent wisdom, Taleb plows through human illusions, contrasting the classical views of courage, elegance, and erudition against the modern diseases of nerdiness, philistinism, and phoniness.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

1570

Publisher

Editeurs divers USA

Published Date

ISBN 10

0399590455

ISBN 13

9780399590450

The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy

By: Nicholas Bunnin,Jiyuan Yu

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy

By: Nicholas Bunnin,Jiyuan Yu

The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy ???The style is fresh and engaging, and it gives a broad and accurate picture of the western philosophical tradition. It is a pleasure to browse in, even if one is not looking for an answer to a particular question.??? David Pears ???Its entries manage to avoid the obscurities of an exaggerated brevity without stretching themselves out, as if seeking to embody whole miniature essays. In short it presents itself as a model of clarity and clarification.??? Alan Montefiore

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

788

Publisher

John Wiley & Sons

Published Date

ISBN 10

1405191120

ISBN 13

9781405191128

The Black Swan

By: Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Black Swan

By: Nassim Nicholas Taleb

In the author's point of view, a black swan is an improbable event with three principal characteristics - It is unpredictable; it carries a massive impact; and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appear less random, and more predictable, than it was. Why do we not acknowledge the phenomenon of black swans until after they occur? Part of the answer, according to Taleb, is that humans are hardwired to learn specifics when they should be focused on generalities. We concentrate on things we already know and time and time again fail to take into consideration what we don't know. We are, therefore, unable to truly estimate opportunities, too vulnerable to the impulse to simplify, narrate, and categorize, and not open enough to rewarding those who can imagine the 'impossible'.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

388

Publisher

Random House Digital, Inc.

Published Date

ISBN 10

0812979184

ISBN 13

9780812979183

How Universities Can Help Create a Wiser World

The Urgent Need for an Academic Revolution

By: Nicholas Maxwell

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

How Universities Can Help Create a Wiser World

The Urgent Need for an Academic Revolution

By: Nicholas Maxwell

In order to make progress towards a better world we need to learn how to do it. And for that we need institutions of learning rationally designed and devoted to helping us solve our global problems, make progress towards a better world. It is just this that we lack at present. Our universities pursue knowledge. They are neither designed nor devoted to helping humanity learn how to tackle global problems - problems of living - in more intelligent, humane and effective ways. That, this book argues, is the key disaster of our times, the crisis behind all the others: our failure to have developed our institutions of learning so that they are rationally organized to help us solve our problems of living - above all, our global problems. Having universities devoted almost exclusively to the pursuit of knowledge is a recipe for disaster. Scientific knowledge and technological know-how have unquestionably brought great benefits to humanity. But they have also made possible - even caused - our current global crises, above all the impending crisis of global warming. In this lucid and provocative book, Nicholas Maxwell argues convincingly that we need urgently to bring about a revolution in universities round the world so that their basic aim becomes wisdom, and not just knowledge.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

165

Publisher

Andrews UK Limited

Published Date

ISBN 10

1845407474

ISBN 13

9781845407476

Ecumenism, Christian Origins and the Practice of Communion

By: Nicholas Sagovsky

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Ecumenism, Christian Origins and the Practice of Communion

By: Nicholas Sagovsky

The theology of communion, or Koinonia, has been at the centre of the ecumenical movement for more than thirty years. It is central to the self-understanding of the Anglican, Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches, and has been prominent in the work of the World Council of Churches. This book, based on the 1996 Hulsean Lectures, examines the significance of Koinonia for contemporary ecumenical theology, tracing the development of contemporary understanding in critical engagement with the thoughts of Plato, Aristotle, the Hebrew Scriptures, the New Testament, the Cappadocian Fathers and Augustine. In each case, reflection on community life is related to actual communities in which texts were produced. The importance of conflict and the place of politics for the Koinonia that constitutes the Christian churches is a major theme throughout. Communion is seen as a gift to be received and a discipline to be cultivated in the continuing practice of ecumenism.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

235

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1139428381

ISBN 13

9781139428385

The Limits Of Science

Revised Edition

By: Nicholas Rescher

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Limits Of Science

Revised Edition

By: Nicholas Rescher

Perfected science is but an idealization that provides a useful contrast to highlight the limited character of what we do and can attain. This lies at the core of various debates in the philosophy of science and Rescher's discussion focuses on the question: how far could science go in principle—what are the theoretical limits on science? He concentrates on what science can discover, not what it should discover. He explores in detail the existence of limits or limitations on scientific inquiry, especially those that, in principle, preclude the full realization of the aims of science, as opposed to those that relate to economic obstacles to scientific progress. Rescher also places his argument within the politics of the day, where "strident calls of ideological extremes surround us," ranging from the exaggeration that "science can do anything"—to the antiscientism that views science as a costly diversion we would be well advised to abandon. Rescher offers a middle path between these two extremes and provides an appreciation of the actual powers and limitations of science, not only to philosophers of science but also to a larger, less specialized audience.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

297

Publisher

University of Pittsburgh Pre

Published Date

ISBN 10

0822972069

ISBN 13

9780822972068

Lukács Reads Goethe

From Aestheticism to Stalinism

By: Nicholas Vazsonyi

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Lukács Reads Goethe

From Aestheticism to Stalinism

By: Nicholas Vazsonyi

Long recognized as one of the foremost literary critics of the twentieth century, the Hungarian-born Georg Lukacs (1885-1971) shocked many by turning to Marxism in 1918. Using his formidable knowledge of European cultural history, he revitalized Marxist theory with his book History and Class Consciousness (1923), and continued to write extensively about literature. The ultimate question posed by this book is how Lukacs in the 1930s was able to write enthusiastically about Goethe, citing him as an ideal exponent of humanism, while simultaneously accepting and even condoning Stalinism.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

172

Publisher

Camden House

Published Date

ISBN 10

1571131140

ISBN 13

9781571131140

Hélène Cixous

Dreamer, realist, analyst, writing

By: Nicholas Royle

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Hélène Cixous

Dreamer, realist, analyst, writing

By: Nicholas Royle

A lucid, original and inventive critical introduction to Helene Cixous (1937-). Royle offers close readings of many of her works, from Inside (1969) to the present. He foregrounds Cixous's importance for 'English literature' as well as creative writing, autobiography, narrative theory, psychoanalysis, ecology, gender studies and queer theory.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

308

Publisher

Manchester University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1526140683

ISBN 13

9781526140685

The Price of Doubt

By: Nicholas Nathan

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Price of Doubt

By: Nicholas Nathan

First Published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

188

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1134567464

ISBN 13

9781134567461

The Humanity of Private Law

Part II: Evaluation

By: Nicholas McBride

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Humanity of Private Law

Part II: Evaluation

By: Nicholas McBride

Part II of The Humanity of Private Law charts a new course for English private law in the twenty-first century. Part I set out the vision of human flourishing that English private law has in mind in seeking to promote its subjects' flourishing. Part II argues in favour of a very different account of what human flourishing involves, and explains what private law would look like were it to base itself on this alternative vision of the nature of human flourishing. This volume: sets out and evaluates different models of what human flourishing involves; argues in favour of the view that human flourishing involves being engaged in a quest to lead a truthful life; explains in what ways a private law that sought to foster this distinctive vision of human flourishing would be different from English private law in its current state, in particular with regard to: (i) tackling fraud; (ii) promoting freedom of speech; (iii) preserving attention capacities; (iv) protecting people from being subjected to degrading or hateful treatment; and (v) enabling people to make a fresh start in their lives; and, considers whether and when it would be legitimate for the courts to transform English private law in the ways suggested in this volume. Part II of The Humanity of Private Law is a radical and prophetic book that is essential reading for anyone who is interested in understanding the contribution private law can make to our living in a society that promotes the flourishing of all its members.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

219

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1509912010

ISBN 13

9781509912018

Our Fundamental Problem

A Revolutionary Approach to Philosophy

By: Nicholas Maxwell

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Our Fundamental Problem

A Revolutionary Approach to Philosophy

By: Nicholas Maxwell

How can the world we live in and see, touch, hear, and smell, the world of living things, people, consciousness, free will, meaning, and value - how can all of this exist and flourish embedded as it is in the physical universe, made up of nothing but physical entities such as electrons and quarks? How can anything be of value if everything in the universe is, ultimately, just physics? In Our Fundamental Problem Nicholas Maxwell argues that this problem of reconciling the human and physical worlds needs to take centre stage in our thinking, so that our best ideas about it interact with our attempts to solve even more important specialized problems of thought and life. When we explore this fundamental problem, Maxwell argues, revolutionary answers emerge for a wide range of questions arising in philosophy, science, social inquiry, academic inquiry as a whole, and - most important of all - our capacity to solve the global problems that threaten our future: climate change, habitat destruction, extinction of species, inequality, war, pollution of earth, sea, and air. An unorthodox introduction to philosophy, Our Fundamental Problem brings philosophy down to earth and demonstrates its vital importance for science, scholarship, education, life, and the fate of the world.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

298

Publisher

McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP

Published Date

ISBN 10

0228002869

ISBN 13

9780228002864

The Specter of the Archive

Political Practice and the Information State in Early Modern Britain

By: Nicholas Popper

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Specter of the Archive

Political Practice and the Information State in Early Modern Britain

By: Nicholas Popper

An exploration of the proliferation of paper in early modern Britain and its far-reaching effects on politics and society. We are used to thinking of ourselves as living in a time when more information is more available than ever before. In The Specter of the Archive, Nicholas Popper shows that earlier eras had to grapple with the same problem—how to deal with too much information at their fingertips. He reveals that early modern Britain was a society newly drowning in paper, a light and durable technology whose spread allowed statesmen to record drafts, memoranda, and other ephemera that might otherwise have been lost, and also made it possible for ordinary people to collect political texts. As original paperwork and copies alike flooded the government, information management became the core of politics. Focusing on two of the primary political archives of early modern England, the Tower of London Record Office and the State Paper Office, Popper traces the circulation of their materials through the government and the broader public sphere. In this early media-saturated society, we find the origins of many issues we face today: Who shapes the archive? Can we trust the pictures of the past and the present that it shows us? And, in a more politically urgent vein: Does a huge volume of widely available information (not all of it accurate) risk contributing to polarization and extremism?

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

356

Publisher

University of Chicago Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0226825965

ISBN 13

9780226825960

Psychology Through the Eyes of Faith

By: David G. Myers, PhD,Malcolm A. Jeeves,Nicholas Wolterstorff

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Psychology Through the Eyes of Faith

By: David G. Myers, PhD,Malcolm A. Jeeves,Nicholas Wolterstorff

Identifies the major ideas that college and university students will encounter in a basic psychology course and explores connections with Christian belief.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

260

Publisher

Harper Collins

Published Date

ISBN 10

0062300431

ISBN 13

9780062300430

Book's by Nicholas Popper

Username

Password

Password again

Birthday

Email