From ancient Greece to nineteenth-century America, thiscollection traces the history of our civilization through theseminal works of its most influential thinkers. Perfect for anyoneinterested in understanding the progression of Western thought,this volume includes: Plato: Apology, Crito, and Death of Socrates from Phaedo Aristotle: Poetics St. Anselm: The Ontological Proof of St. Anselm, fromProslogium St. Thomas Aquinas: St. Thomas' Proofs of God's Existence, from TheSumma Theologica René Descartes: Meditations on the First Philosophy David Hume: An Inquiry Concerning Human Understanding Immanuel Kant: Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics John Stuart Mill: Utilitarianism William James: The Will to Believe

When it was first published in 1781, The Confessions scandalisedEurope with its emotional honesty and frank treatment of theauthor's sexual and intellectual development. Since then, it hashad a more profound impact on European thought. Rousseau leftposterity a model of the reflective life - the solitary,uncompromising individual, the enemy of servitude and habit and theselfish egoist who dedicates his life to a particular ideal. TheConfessions recreates the world in which he progressed fromincompetent engraver to grand success; his enthusiasm forexperience, his love of nature, and his uncompromising charactermake him an ideal guide to eighteenth-century Europe, and he wasthe author of some of the most profound work ever written on therelation between the individual and the state.