Shelfology Book Pairing

by Thomas Hobbes

'He that is to govern a whole Nation, must read inhimself, not this, or that particular man; but Man-kind.' Thomas Hobbes's Leviathanis not just one of the greatest philosophicaltexts in the English language; it is one of the most important works in thehistory of Western political thought. Almost every major tradition in thecenturies after Hobbes - from radical democracy to authoritarianism - hasbeen influenced by its arguments. Written in exile in a period of dramaticdevelopments - civil war and regicide - Leviathanis in some ways theproduct of its own special circumstances. And yet, at the same time,it deals with fundamental issues that matter to all of us today: the natureand purpose of the state, the relation between human nature and politics,the idea of natural rights, the justification of authority, the concept ofrepresentation, the nature of sovereignty, the limits of obedience, andthe relationship between religious obligations and human ones. This new edition offers a definitive text drawn from more than twentyyears of research by Noel Malcolm, including, in English translation, allthe most significant revisions made in Hobbes's later Latin translation of Leviathan, as well as extensive explanatory notes that elucidate Hobbes'slanguage and identify the many Biblical, classical, and other allusionsthat are scattered through his text.

50th Anniversary Edition

by Thomas S. Kuhn

A good book may have the power to change the way we see the world, but a great book actually becomes part of our daily consciousness, pervading our thinking to the point that we take it for granted, and we forget how provocative and challenging its ideas once were—and still are. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions is that kind of book. When it was first published in 1962, it was a landmark event in the history and philosophy of science. Fifty years later, it still has many lessons to teach. With The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Kuhn challenged long-standing linear notions of scientific progress, arguing that transformative ideas don’t arise from the day-to-day, gradual process of experimentation and data accumulation but that the revolutions in science, those breakthrough moments that disrupt accepted thinking and offer unanticipated ideas, occur outside of “normal science,” as he called it. Though Kuhn was writing when physics ruled the sciences, his ideas on how scientific revolutions bring order to the anomalies that amass over time in research experiments are still instructive in our biotech age. This new edition of Kuhn’s essential work in the history of science includes an insightful introduction by Ian Hacking, which clarifies terms popularized by Kuhn, including paradigm and incommensurability, and applies Kuhn’s ideas to the science of today. Usefully keyed to the separate sections of the book, Hacking’s introduction provides important background information as well as a contemporary context. Newly designed, with an expanded index, this edition will be eagerly welcomed by the next generation of readers seeking to understand the history of our perspectives on science.