Essays & Short Works
- Philosophical Travelogues
- Essays on Society and Culture
- Essays for Personal Growth
- Explorations in Science and Thought
- Explorations in Psychology
- Political Essays and Reflections
- Political Essays and Manifestos
- Philosophical Essays on Existence
On the Duty of Civil Disobedience
Civil Disobedience (Resistance to Civil Government) is an essay by American transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau that was first published i…
Pragmatism
'Pragmatism' contains a series of public lectures held by William James in Boston 1906–7. James provides a popularizing outline of his view …
Common Sense
Thomas Paine has a claim to the title The Father of the American Revolution because of Common Sense, the pro-independence monograph pamphlet…
A Short History of England
Gilbert Keith Chesterton was a prolific writer on many topics. His views of history were always from the standpoint of men and their interac…
The Golden Bough
The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion is a wide-ranging comparative study of mythology and religion, written by Scottish anthropol…
What is Property?
What Is Property?: or, An Inquiry into the Principle of Right and of Government (French: Qu'est-ce que la propriété ? ou Reche…
The Ghosts of Piccadilly
Nothing spooky or supernatural, but a very personal gathering of gossip, letters, and fragments of biography of famous people who have lived…
Sadhana, The Realisation of Life
A collection of essays on the Hindu/Buddhist view of humankind's place in the universe. As the author says in his introduction: "in the…
The Alhambra
This is a collection of essays, verbal sketches, and stories by Washington Irving. Irving lived at the Alhambra Palace while writing some of…
The Human Machine
Bennett asks us to consider our brains as the most wonderful machine, a machine which is the only thing in this world that we can control. A…
Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting One’s Reason and of Seeking Truth
The Discourse on Method is best known as the source of the famous quotation “cogito ergo sum”, “I think, therefore I am.” …. It is a method …
Old Times on the Mississippi
Old Times on the Mississippi offers a vivid glimpse into the life and culture along the Mississippi River as seen through the eyes of Mark T…
Lectures of Col. R.G. Ingersoll
Colonel Robert Green Ingersoll was a Civil War veteran, American political leader and orator during the Golden Age of Freethought, noted for…
Contra Gentes
Contra Gentes is the first of a two volume work published by Athanasius of Alexandria prior to the outbreak of the Arian controversy (ca. 31…
All Things Considered
Another delightful and sharply pointed excursion into the topics of the day, and of this day as well, with Gilbert Keith Chesterton. These r…
Utilitarianism
In Utilitarianism, John Stuart Mill presents a thorough examination of the ethical theory that advocates for actions that promote the greate…
Ten Days in a Madhouse
In 1887 Nellie Bly, one of the first female newspaper writers, and a young reporter who would soon go on to make a career for herself as an …
The Origin and Development of Psychoanalysis
A series of lectures given in the USA by Freud in German, later translated into English - Summary by Peter Tucker
On the Babylonian Captivity of the Church
Early in the course of the Reformation (1520) Martin Luther penned a trilogy of foundational documents addressing the German Nobility, the C…
A Modest Proposal
Jonathan Swift almost defines satire in this biting and brutal pamphlet in which he suggests that poor (Catholic) Irish families should fatt…