Baruch Spinoza

Dagobert D. Runes

The Ethics

Road to Inner Freedom

The Jew and the Cross

Philosophical Library

How a great American president communicated a changing worldview What made Franklin Delano Roosevelt an effective leader? His policies and decisions changed our nation’s and the world’s history. But more than his skill as a savvy politician and progressive thinker, FDR’s ability to directly and eloquently voice his thoughts on national concerns, social change, and humanity spoke to and reached the hearts of his people. In this selection of quotes drawn from his speeches and papers, FDR’s observations and opinions cover everything from faith, war, and peace, to religion, freedom, and the very definition of what it is to be an American. Essays include “The Four Freedoms,” “We Belong to Many Races,” “True Education,” “The Rights of the Common Man,” “Dynamic Democracy,” and “Government with a Soul.”

The Wisdom of FDR

Despotism - a pictoral history of tyranny

In his most recent philosophical work, one of the modern world’s pre-eminent thinkers offers a summation of his views on a wide range of topics of first and last importance, beginning with abstract art and ending with Zionism. Culled from years of patient research and fruitful introspection, his observations are bound to stimulate, challenge, and at times force upon the reader a shock of recognition grounded on timeless but at times obscured universal truths. Dr. Runes’ word magic, now aphoristic, now cadenced and metaphorical, creates countless gems of wisdom, frequently poetic, often irresistibly quotable, always profoundly moving. A humanitarian theme evolved partly from personal tragedies permeates his lifelong search for “a life of God the Spirit and the Giver/(Of) God unbound and unencumbered/By hate or prejudice/A god to love by Deeds/Not hollow hymns and vows.”

Handbook of Reason

Benjamin Rush was a Founding Father of the United States. He lived in Pennsylvania and was a physician, writer, educator, humanitarian and devout Christian, as well as the founder of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Rush was a signatory of the Declaration of Independence and attended the Continental Congress. Later in life, he became a professor of medical theory and clinical practice at the University of Pennsylvania. Despite having a wide influence on the development of American government, he is not as widely known as many of his American contemporaries. Rush was also an early opponent of slavery and capital punishment. Despite his great contributions to early American society, Rush may be more famous today as the man who, in 1812, helped reconcile the friendship of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams by encouraging the two former Presidents to resume writing to each other. The editor of the preface of this book gives an in-depth look into Benjamin Rush’s life. The writings of Rush, which are contained in this book, show a wide range of interest and knowledge embracing agriculture and the mechanical arts, chemistry and medicine, political science, and theology. Included are letters he wrote in an effort to dispel prejudice, to fight oppression, and to elevate the lot of the lowly.

The Selected Writings of Benjamin Rush

The Dictionary of Philosophy

The philosopher and founder of the Philosophical Library explores the nature of human thought, motivation, and logic. In The Art of Thinking, philosopher Dagobert D. Runes lays out his views on the relationship between logic and emotion. He argues that the human thought process is essentially alike from one person to another—and that if it was not, society would cease to function. What accounts for our diversity of views, however, is the role emotion plays in our formulation of propositions. Runes analyzes the underlying emotional motivations in the precepts, concepts, and attitudes of modern man. As he demonstrates through this series of essays, motivated thinking infiltrates, and often dominates, prevailing patterns of thought in social, religious, cultural, and even scientific organizations.

The Art of Thinking

The Dictionary of Judaism

An eye-opening classic volume on the enduring cultural impact of the Jewish people This authoritative work considers the creative and cultural influence of the Jews throughout our time. At more than 800 pages, D. D. Runes has complied a mid-twentieth century account of the various contributions in many spheres in which the Jews have had an impact on western civilization. Eminent scholars consider the ways in which the Jews contributed toward the making of modern society and helped in raising human standards and values. Richard Van Dyck, in “The Jewish Influence on Journalism,” observes that the preponderance of Jewish newspapermen disproves the commonly held belief that Jewish journalism is “necessarily subversive.” William B. Ziff’s “The Jew as Soldier, Strategist and Military Adviser” delineates the successes of Jewish military forces throughout history. Dr. Abraham I. Katsh discusses “The Hebraic Foundations of American Democracy,” noting the influence of Hebrew Scriptures on standards of conduct in western civilization. Curtis Lubinski’s “The Jew in Drama, Theatre, and Film” traces the success of Jewish performers and dramatists. The essays compiled in this volume are a fascinating and expansive look at the far-reaching impact Jews have had on Western life.

The Hebrew Impact on Western Civilization

This insightful work, from the pen of the well-known philosopher, is offered as an attempt to define the borderlines of human thinking and human morality. Dr. Runes, in his search for verities and true humanity, takes the reader on an arduous voyage through the depths of the mind. This type of soul-searching philosophy, unburdened by traditional manner and terminology, is sometimes baffling, frequently of melancholy character, but almost always fascinating and inspiring.

Dagobert D. Runes

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