A deliciously iconoclastic and often funny historical survey of Western philosophy. . . . This irreverent tour will goad armchair philosophers to independent thought. - Publishers WeeklyAnyone thinking of a major in philosophy would do well to read this . . . - Philadelphia City PaperHis acid humor and frank discussions are a welcome comic interlude for the serious student of philosophy. - Philosophy and Religion Expert Editor's Recommended Book, Amazon.com. . . delightful irreverence . . . brilliant ending. - New HumanityThroughout history, well-known theories of reality, knowledge, mind, and most particularly the professional philosophers who rely on them for their intellectual existence, have sought to isolate universal truths and structure the history of philosophy to distinguish schools and movements that seek a comprehensive understanding of our world. But in this well-intended pursuit of truth, have we lost sight of what philosophy is? Matthew Stewart believes we have.His rowdy guided tour of the search for truth romps through traditional histories of philosophy using parables, imaginary dialogues, and illustrations to demonstrate that knowing theories, recognizing revered schools, and distinguishing the views of the great philosophers isn't what philosophy should be about. Once removed from the clutches of historicism, the compulsion for universal answers, and the perception that reason is a peculiarly Western possession, the nature of philosophy can be seen as a genuine human disposition to love and respect knowledge coupled with a desire for critical thinking.Matthew Stewart (New York, NY) holds a doctorate in philosophy from Oxford University and is a founding partner of the Mitchell Madison Group, a management consulting firm.
A devastating bombardment of managerial thinking and the profession of management consulting…A serious and valuable polemic." —Wall Street Journal Fresh from Oxford with a degree in philosophy and no particular interest in business, Matthew Stewart might not have seemed a likely candidate to become a consultant. But soon he was telling veteran managers how to run their companies. In narrating his own ill-fated (and often hilarious) odyssey at a top-tier firm, Stewart turns the consultant’s merciless, penetrating eye on the management industry itself. The Management Myth offers an insightful romp through the entire history of thinking about management, a withering critique of pseudoscience in management theory, and a clear explanation of why the MBA usually amounts to so much BS—leading us through the wilderness of American business thought.
A trenchant analysis of how the wealthiest 9.9 percent of Americans -- those just below the tip of the wealth pyramid -- have exacerbated the growing inequality in our country and distorted our social values"--
Longlisted for the National Book Award. Where did the ideas come from that became the cornerstone of American democracy? America’s founders intended to liberate us not just from one king but from the ghostly tyranny of supernatural religion. Drawing deeply on the study of European philosophy, Matthew Stewart brilliantly tracks the ancient, pagan, and continental ideas from which America’s revolutionaries drew their inspiration. In the writings of Spinoza, Lucretius, and other great philosophers, Stewart recovers the true meanings of “Nature’s God,” “the pursuit of happiness,” and the radical political theory with which the American experiment in self-government began.
Exhilarating…Stewart has achieved a near impossibility, creating a page-turner about jousting metaphysical ideas, casting thinkers as warriors." —Liesl Schillinger, New York Times Book Review Once upon a time, philosophy was a dangerous business—and for no one more so than for Baruch Spinoza, the seventeenth-century philosopher vilified by theologians and political authorities everywhere as “the atheist Jew.” As his inflammatory manuscripts circulated underground, Spinoza lived a humble existence in The Hague, grinding optical lenses to make ends meet. Meanwhile, in the glittering salons of Paris, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was climbing the ladder of courtly success. In between trips to the opera and groundbreaking work in mathematics, philosophy, and jurisprudence, he took every opportunity to denounce Spinoza, relishing his self-appointed role as “God’s attorney.” In this exquisitely written philosophical romance of attraction and repulsion, greed and virtue, religion and heresy, Matthew Stewart gives narrative form to an epic contest of ideas that shook the seventeenth century—and continues today.
Set in mid-19th century Barcelona, this is the remarkable story of an unlikely genius who went on to change the course of science and the development of an entire culture. Monturiol's Dream weaves together several narratives to provide a compelling chapter in a secret history of the world's transition to modernity. It revolves around the strange and noble life of Narcis Monturiol, a utopian social revolutionary, political misfit and self-taught engineer who, improbably, invented the world's first fully operational submarine in Barcelona during the mid-19th century. His feat of visionary engineering was to Barcelona what the lunar landings would be to America in the 20th century. But Monturiol's utopian ideals would also be applied to the redesign of the city of Barcelona and ultimately contributing to the modern discipline of urban planning. Others inspired by Monturiol would contribute to the music, literature, art and architecture that spawned the celebrated rebirth of Catalan culture around the turn of the 20th century. This elegantly written and extensively illustrated book contains the story of an extraordinary individual and his pioneering technical achievement. But the story of Monturiol is also the story of a unique city and its remarkable transformation.
He includes a consideration of biographical and historical events that had a direct bearing on the work. Finally he places In Our Time in relation to later works by Hemingway, both those that grow out of it, and those that do not."--BOOK JACKET.
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