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24 books with the same feel
Include books by the same authorOf Grammatology
Jacques Derrida · 354 pages
Jacques Derrida's revolutionary theories about deconstruction, phenomenology, psychoanalysis, and structuralism, first voiced in the 1960s, forever changed the face of European and American criticism. The ideas in De la grammatologie sparked lively debates in intellectual circles that included students of literature, philosophy, and the humanities, inspiring these students to ask questions of thei
Elements of Semiology
Roland Barthes · 111 pages
Philosophical Investigations
Ludwig Wittgenstein · 250 pages
The Philosophical Investigations of Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) present his own distillation of two decades of intense work on the philosophies of mind, language and meaning.
Metaphors We Live By
George Lakoff, Mark Johnson · 259 pages
Metaphor, the authors explain, is a fundamental mechanism of mind, one that allows us to use what we know about our physical and social experience to provide understanding of countless other subjects. Because such metaphors structure our most basic understandings of our experience, they are "metaphors we live by"--Metaphors that can shape our perceptions and actions without our ever noticing them.
How to Do Things with Words
J.L. Austin · 166 pages
This work sets out Austin's conclusions in the field to which he directed his main efforts for at least the last ten years of his life. Starting from an exhaustive examination of his already well-known distinction between performative utterances and statements, Austin here finally abandons that distinction, replacing it with a more general theory of 'illocutionary forces' of utterances which has i
Naming and Necessity
Saul A. Kripke · 172 pages
Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
Douglas R. Hofstadter · 777 pages
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, this book applies Godel's seminal contribution to modern mathematics to the study of the human mind and the development of artificial intelligence.
A Clockwork Orange
Anthony Burgess · 188 pages
A Clockwork Orange is a dystopian satirical black comedy novel by English writer Anthony Burgess, published in 1962. It is set in a near-future society that has a youth subculture of extreme violence. The teenage protagonist, Alex, narrates his violent exploits and his experiences with state authorities intent on reforming him. The book is partially written in a Russian-influenced argot called "Na
On Bullshit
Harry G. Frankfurt · 80 pages
Most people are rather confident of their ability to recognize bullshit and to avoid being taken in by it, yet we have no clear understanding of what bullshit is, why there is so much of it, or what functions it serves--and we lack a conscientious appreciation of what it means to us. In other words, as Harry Frankfurt writes, "we have no theory." Frankfurt, one of the world's most influential mora
Philosophical Hermeneutics
Hans-Georg Gadamer · 243 pages
Published in German during the last 15 years, the 13 essays in this volume provide readers with valuable knowledge of the much discussed theme of hermeneutics today. Gadamer was an early student of Martin Heidegger and has been a lifelong friend and interpreter. These essays are an outgrowth of Gadamer's Truth and Method. They can be understood, however, independently of it. Gadamer's standpoint i
The Logic of Sense
Gilles Deleuze · 393 pages
The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century
Steven Pinker · 368 pages
" A short and entertaining book on the modern art of writing well by New York Times bestselling author Steven Pinker Why is so much writing so bad, and how can we make it better? Is the English language being corrupted by texting and social media? Do the kids today even care about good writing? Why should any of us care? In The Sense of Style, the bestselling linguist and cognitive scientist Steve
Literary Theory: An Introduction
Terry Eagleton · 244 pages
This classic work covers all of the major movements in literary studies in this century. Noted for its clear, engaging style and unpretentious treatment, Literary Theory has become the introduction of choice for anyone interested in learning about the world of contemporary literary thought.
Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal About the Mind
George Lakoff · 614 pages
Focusing on studies of how humans categorize objects and ideas, this book examines the new understanding of human thought which proposes that human reason is imaginative, metaphorical, and intrinsically linked with the human body.
Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction
Jonathan Culler · 152 pages
Culler offers insights into theories about the nature of language and meaning, looks at whether literature is a form of self-expression or a method of appeal to an audience, and outlines the ideas behind deconstruction and semiotics.
Language and Mind
Noam Chomsky · 194 pages
This is the long-awaited third edition of Chomsky's outstanding collection of essays on language and mind. The first six chapters, originally published in the 1960s, made a groundbreaking contribution to linguistic theory. This new edition complements them with an additional chapter and a new preface, bringing Chomsky's influential approach into the twenty-first century. Chapters 1-6 present Choms
Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why
Bart D. Ehrman · 256 pages
For almost 1,500 years, the New Testament manuscripts were copied by hand — — and mistakes and intentional changes abound in the competing manuscript versions. Religious and biblical scholar Bart Ehrman makes the provocative case that many of our widely held beliefs concerning the divinity of Jesus, the Trinity, and the divine origins of the Bible itself are the results of both intentional and ac
On Language
Noam Chomsky, Mitsou Ronat · 269 pages
In Part I, Language and Responsibility, Chomsky presents a fascinating self-portrait of his political, moral, and linguistic thinking. In Part II, Reflections on Language, Chomsky explores the more general implications of the study of language and offers incisive analyses of the controversies among psychologists, philosophers, and linguists over fundamental questions of language.
The Languages of Tolkien's Middle-Earth
Ruth S. Noel, J.R.R. Tolkien · 207 pages
Presents a comprehensive pocket guide to the fourteen languages of Tolkien's Middle-Earth and contains a dictionary and English/Elvish glossary, rules of grammar and pronunciation, and how to write the Elvish alphabet.
Language in Thought and Action
S.I. Hayakawa, Alan R. Hayakawa · 307 pages
Introduces the principles of semantics, explains how language works, and how an understanding of semantics is useful in everyday life situations.
Excitable Speech: A Politics of the Performative
Judith Butler · 200 pages
Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English
John McWhorter · 230 pages
Why do we say "I am reading a catalog" instead of "I read a catalog"? Why do we say "do" at all? Is the way we speak a reflection of our cultural values? Delving into these provocative topics and more, author McWhorter distills hundreds of years of lore into one lively history. Covering the little-known Celtic and Welsh influences on English, the impact of the Viking raids and the Norman Conquest,