early works to 1800

"Presents three works by Thomas Paine "Common Sense," "The Rights of Man", and "The Age of Reason." In "Common Sense", which swayed public opinion in favor of American independence from England. "The Rights of Man and The Age of Reason" further advocated for universal human rights, a republican instead of monarchical government, and truth and reason in politics."--Provided by publisher.

Presents selections from Thomas Paine's political pamphlets "Common Sense" and "The Crisis." Includes writing and reading exercises.

Draws on the words, proofs, and diagrams of sixteenth-century Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus to examine the lasting impact his work had on intellectual history and his own beliefs about his theories and their importance.

Captain Lemuel Gulliver travels to a variety of strange lands, such as Lilliput, meeting strange new people and learning about the dangers of modern society and the fallacies of the English Enlightenment.

Presents a sketch of the life and times of seventeenth-century British political philosopher John Locke; provides an overview of his five major writings; analyzes the structure and content of Locke's "Two Treatises of Government"; and discusses the interpretation and significance of Locke's political teaching.

No book except the Bible itself had a greater influence on the Middle Ages than City of God. Since medieval Europe was the cradle of today's Western civilization, this work by consequence is vital for an understanding of our world and how it came into being. St. Augustine is often regarded as the most influential Christian thinker after St. Paul, and this book is his masterpiece, a vast synthesis of religious and secular knowledge. It began as a reply to the charge that Christian otherworldliness was causing the decline of the Roman Empire. Augustine produced a wealth of evidence to prove that paganism bore within itself the seeds of its own destruction. Then he proceeded to his larger theme, a cosmic interpretation of history in terms of the struggle between good and evil: the City of God in conflict with the Earthly City or the City of the Devil. This, the first serious attempt at a philosophy of history, was to have incalculable influence in forming the Western mind on the relations of church and state, and on the Christian's place in the temporal order. The original City of God contained twenty-two books and fills three regular-sized volumes. This edition has been skillfully abridged for the intelligent general reader by Vernon J. Bourke, author of Augustine's Quest of Wisdom. The heart of this monumental work is now available to a much wider audience.

Called "the most sublime of all the Spanish mystics," distinguished Carmelite monk John of the Cross holds a singular place in the world of mystical theology.

Cicero made it his task to resolve the contradictory systems of earlier philosophers.