自休谟与洛克以来，客观主义的认识论认为真正的知识必须经得起经验的检验，不得超越经验，如果知识与经验冲突，人们必须随时准备抛弃这种“知识”。依据这种认识论，我们必须尽力排除求知过程之中的个人系数，才能达至完全客观的理想该书认为，这种以主客观分离为基础的认识论不仅是错误的，而且还是有害的。事实上，求知是一种技能，是一种个人怀着责任感与普遍性意图、从启发性前兆不断趋近真实的过程，一旦缺少了个人的求知热情与参与，任何有意义的知识都无法获得。而个人对求知的寄托、科学社群对知识主张的共识，以及社会对自由思维的尊重，都是人类知识增长过程中环环相扣的要素。
严密的理路、详尽的论证，《个人知识》所呈现的，不仅是一个科学家对自己志业的热情与省思，更是一个公民对自由社会的忠贞与执着。

Alfred North Whitehead's SCIENCE AND THE MODERN WORLD, originally published in 1925, redefines the concept of modern science. Presaging by more than half a century most of today's cutting-edge thought on the cultural ramifications of science and technology, Whitehead demands that readers understand and celebrate the contemporary, historical, and cultural context of scientific discovery. Taking readers through the history of modern science, Whitehead shows how cultural history has affected science over the ages in relation to such major intellectual themes as romanticism, relativity, quantum theory, religion, and movements for social progress.

A Treatise of Human Nature (1739-40), David Hume's comprehensive attempt to base philosophy on a new, observationally grounded study of human nature, is one of the most important texts in Western philosophy. It is also the focal point of current attempts to understand 18th-century philosophy. The Treatise first explains how we form such concepts as cause and effect, external existence, and personal identity, and to form compelling but unconfirmable beliefs in the entities represented by these concepts. It then offers a novel account of the passions, explains freedom and necessity as they apply to human choices and actions, and concludes with detailed explanations of how we distinguish between virtue and vice and of the different kinds of virtue. Hume's Abstract of the Treatise, also included in the volume, outlines his 'chief argument' regarding our conception of, and belief in, cause and effect. The texts printed in this volume are those of the critical edition of Hume's philosophical works now being published by the Clarendon Press. The volume includes a substantial introduction explaining the aims of the Treatise as a whole and of each of its ten parts, extensive annotations, a glossary of terms, a comprehensive index, and suggestions for further reading.

The Wealth of Nations
by Adam Smith
It is symbolic that Adam Smith’s masterpiece of economic analysis, The Wealth of Nations, was first published in 1776, the same year as the Declaration of Independence.
In his book, Smith fervently extolled the simple yet enlightened notion that individuals are fully capable of setting and regulating prices for their own goods and services. He argued passionately in favor of free trade, yet stood up for the little guy. The Wealth of Nations provided the first--and still the most eloquent--integrated description of the workings of a market economy.
The result of Smith’s efforts is a witty, highly readable work of genius filled with prescient theories that form the basis of a thriving capitalist system. This unabridged edition offers the modern reader a fresh look at a timeless and seminal work that revolutionized the way governments and individuals view the creation and dispersion of wealth--and that continues to influence our economy right up to the present day.
"Adam Smith's enormous authority resides, in the end, in the same property that we discover in Marx: not in any ideology, but in an effort to see to the bottom of things."
--Robert L. Heilbroner
length: (cm)19.7 　　　 　　　　　 　　　　　 width:(cm)12.8

British economist ALFRED MARSHALL (1842-1924) was one of the most prominent thinkers of his age on the philosophy of finance, and this, considered his greatest work, was for years the standard text on the subject. First published in 1890, it serves as an excellent primer on such topics as: basic economic laws the purpose of economic studies fundamental concepts including wealth, production, consumption, labor, income, capital, and others understanding consumer demand an introduction to market studies and much more. This replica of the 1920 eighth edition is completely unabridged, and features the vital Mathematical Appendix, including all of Marshall's equations and diagrams.

Adam Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) lays the foundation for a general system of morals, and is a text of central importance in the history of moral and political thought. It presents a theory of the imagination which Smith derived from David Hume but which encompasses an idea of sympathy that in some ways is more sophisticated than anything in Hume's philosophy. By means of sympathy and the mental construct of an impartial spectator, Smith formulated highly original theories of conscience, moral judgment and the virtues. The enduring legacy of his work is its reconstruction of the Enlightenment idea of a moral, or social, science encompassing both political economy and the theory of law and government. This 2002 volume offers a new edition of the text with clear and helpful notes for the student reader, together with a substantial introduction that sets the work in its philosophical and historical context.

Andrew Hodges's biography of Alan Turing, the brilliant Cambridge mathematician who masterminded the cracking of the German Enigma code and indeed was the the father of the modern computer, was regarded as 'the paperback buy of the season' (Sunday Times) when it was first published. It is now reissued in Vintage with a new preface.

The second edition of "Exploring Innovation" offers a contemporary and fresh perspective on innovation in all its forms. Written with business students in mind, the book provides a clear and comprehensive introduction to defining, analysing, managing and fostering innovation. The book's lively, accessible style and many examples and cases of innovative products and services bring the new frontiers of business to life. The new edition has been comprehensively updated to feature: more coverage on the commercial aspects of innovation and business models; greater emphasis on user innovation; and an introduction to the concept of open innovation. It is fully revised coverage of innovation strategy and includes expanded material on the management of innovation, linking a number of managerial techniques to a specific model of the management process.

The Empiricists represent the central tradition in British philosophy as well as some of the most important and influential thinkers in human history. Their ideas paved the way for modern thought from politics to science, ethics to religion. The British Empiricists is a wonderfully clear and concise introduction to the lives, careers and views of Hobbes, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Mill, Russell, and Ayer.
Stephen Priest examines each philosopher and their views on a wide range of topics including mind and matter, ethics and emotions, freedom and the physical world, language, truth and logic. The book is usefully arranged so that it can be read by thinker or by topic, or as a history of key philosophical problems and equips the reader to:
- recognize and practice philosophical thinking;
- understand the methods of solving philosophical problems used by the British Empiricists;
- appreciate the role of empiricism in the history of Western philosophy.
For any student new to philosophy, Western philosophy or the British Empiricists, this masterly survey offers an accessible engaging introduction.

Edited with an Introduction by Ian Small.

Rationalism in Politics, first published in 1962, has established the late Michael Oakeshott as the leading conservative political theorist in modern Britain. This expanded collection of essays astutely points out the limits of 'reason' in rationalist politics. Oakeshott criticizes ideological schemes to reform society according to supposedly 'scientific' or rationalistic principles that ignore the wealth and variety of human experience. "Rationalism in politics," says Oakeshott, "involves a misconception with regard to the nature of human knowledge." History has shown that it produces unexpected, often disastrous results. "Having cut himself off from the traditional knowledge of his society, and denied the value of any education more extensive than a training in a technique of analysis," the Rationalist succeeds only in undermining the institutions that hold civilized society together. In this regard, rationalism in politics is "a corruption of the mind."