Henri Bergson’s Laughter, An Essay on the Meaning of the Comicis an essential read for scholars, academics, and students of philosophy. Through an examination of the psychological and physiological effects of laughter, Bergson argues that the comic arises from the perception of incongruity and mechanical inelasticity in the human world. Drawing on a range of sources, including philosophy, science, and literature, Bergson’s work offers a comprehensive and compelling exploration of the nature of comedy. Laughter, An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic is an invaluable resource for those interested in the philosophical, psychological, and sociological implications of humor. This edition is based on the 1911 translations by Cloudesley Brereton (1863-1937) and Fred Rothwell (1869-1934). Henri Bergson (18 October 1859 – 4 January 1941) was a French philosopher who was one of the most influential thinkers of the early 20th century. His work focused on the nature of time and memory and how they influence the human experience. He developed a unique philosophical approach, combining elements of philosophical idealism, realism, and pragmatism. Although his ideas were initially met with skepticism, they gained wide acceptance throughout the philosophical community. Bergson is best known for his two major works, Matter and Memory (1896) and Creative Evolution (1907). He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1927 for his contributions to philosophy. Bergson was born in Paris, France, to an affluent Jewish family. He was educated at the Lycee Condorcet and the Ecole Normale Superieure. After graduating, he began teaching philosophy at the University of Paris, where he quickly developed a reputation as an innovative and influential thinker. He argued that time and memory could not be understood through the traditional methods of scientific analysis and proposed a new approach to understanding the human experience. Bergson's philosophy was based on the concept of durée, or "duration," which argued that time and memory are inseparable, and that time is experienced differently by each individual. He also argued that memory is a creative force, allowing individuals to make choices based on their past experiences. His theories have had a lasting impact on the fields of psychology and philosophy, particularly in the areas of phenomenology and existentialism. Bergson's work has been the subject of numerous books and essays, and his influence has been felt across a variety of disciplines, including literature, film, and anthropology.

"This book brings together Vilém Flusser and intellectual Jewish history of the second half of the twentieth century. Flusser is viewed today by many scholars as the most original theoretician of media and photography in the second half of the twentieth century, and yet this is the first monograph about him in English. Combining elements of Flusser's biography with a rigorous study of his writing, this book shows that concepts of 'virtuality', 'medium', and 'embodiment' underpin not only Flusser's understanding of technological media, such as photography, but also his understanding of evolution and of real or imaginary biological organisms. This book argues that Flusser contended with Nazism in his writings on these biological and ecological themes. Two threads - and their relationship - are explored: the first bears on Nazism as undergirded by a biological perspective - an attempt to eradicate a population taken to be parasitic; in the second, Nazism is simply viewed as 'stupid'. Such a line of inquiry necessarily leads to and includes our dealing with the 'Nazi fantasy', because fantasy was fused into Nazism's own vision. This book will not only be an ideal resource for students and scholars of intellectual Jewish history but will interest anyone seeking an introduction to Flusser and the philosophy of science within the context of Nazism"--

Arabic contributions to medicine, mathematics, astronomy, and other fields have been extensively studied, yet Arabic logic has never been systematically investigated. In this book, Nicholas Rescher sheds new light on the major philosophical contribution of Arab logicians. He provides a historical account of the evolution of Arabic logic, from its inception in the early ninth century through the sixteenth century, when these tenets gained wide acceptance. The book also includes a bio-bibliography of 170 Arabic logicians, and a discussion of the place of each within the overall scheme of developments.