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Confession (Leo Tolstoy)
''Confession'' ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform ), or ''My Confession'', is a short work on the subject of melancholia, philosophy and religion by the Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy. It was written in 1879 to 1880, when Tolstoy was in his early fifties. Content The book is a brief autobiographical story of the author's struggle with a mid-life existential crisis. It describes his search for the answer to the ultimate philosophical question: "If God does not exist, since death is inevitable, what is the meaning of life?" Without the answer to this, for him, life had become "impossible". The story begins with the Eastern fable of the dragon in the well. A man is chased by a beast into a well, at the bottom of which is a dragon. The man clings to a branch inside the well that is being gnawed on by two mice (one black, one white, representing night and day and the relentless march of time). In this hopeless situation the man looks for and finds a few drops of honey which stick ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leo Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution reform, pre-reform Russian orthography. ; ), usually referred to in English as Leo Tolstoy, was a Russian writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential authors of all time. Born to an aristocratic family, Tolstoy achieved acclaim in his twenties with his semi-autobiographical trilogy, ''Childhood (Tolstoy novel), Childhood'', ''Boyhood (novel), Boyhood'' and ''Youth (Tolstoy novel), Youth'' (1852–1856), and with ''Sevastopol Sketches'' (1855), based on his experiences in the Crimean War. His ''War and Peace'' (1869), ''Anna Karenina'' (1878), and ''Resurrection (Tolstoy novel), Resurrection'' (1899), which is based on his youthful sins, are often cited as pinnacles of Literary realism, realist fiction and three of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and jurisdictional groups of Christianity, with approximately 230 million baptised members. It operates as a Communion (Christian), communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its Bishop (Orthodox Church), bishops via local Holy Synod, synods. The church has no central doctrinal or governmental authority analogous to the pope of the Catholic Church. Nevertheless, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is recognised by them as ''primus inter pares'' (), a title held by the patriarch of Rome prior to 1054. As one of the oldest surviving religious institutions in the world, the Eastern Orthodox Church has played an especially prominent role in the history and culture of Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. Since 2018, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1882 Non-fiction Books
Year 188 (CLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in the Roman Empire as the Year of the Consulship of Fuscianus and Silanus (or, less frequently, year 941 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 188 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * Publius Helvius Pertinax becomes pro-consul of Africa from 188 to 189. Japan * Queen Himiko (or Shingi Waō) begins her reign in Japan (until 248). Births * April 4 – Caracalla (or Antoninus), Roman emperor (d. 217) * Lu Ji (or Gongji), Chinese official and politician (d. 219) * Sun Shao, Chinese general of the Eastern Wu state (d. 241) Deaths * March 17 – Julian, pope and patriarch of Alexandria * Fa Zhen (or Gaoqing), Chinese scholar (b. AD 100) * Lucius Antistius Burrus, Roman politician (executed) * Ma Xiang, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jonathan Birch (philosopher)
Jonathan Birch is a British philosopher and professor of philosophy at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His work addresses the philosophy of biology and behavioural sciences, especially questions concerning sentience, bioethics, animal welfare, and the evolution of social behaviour and social norms. In 2017, he published the book ''The Philosophy of Social Evolution,'' which explores social behaviour in everything from microorganisms to humans and higher primates. In 2021, he was the Principal Investigator of a review that led the UK to recognize cephalopods and decapod crustaceans as sentient.Commentary: * * * * * In 2024, he published the book ''The Edge of Sentience,'' which examines the concept of sentience, whether artificial intelligence or animals like Insect, insects may be sentient, and how to handle the Ethics of uncertain sentience, uncertainty. Education Birch read for a BA (Hons), Bachelor of Arts with Honours degree, honours in Natural Scien ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maurice O'Connor Drury
Maurice O'Connor Drury (3 July 1907 – 25 December 1976) was an Irish psychiatrist, best known for his accounts of his conversations, and close friendship, with the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. Early life and education 'Con' Drury (as he would be known to his friends) was born in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England of Irish parents. He grew up in Exeter, Devon, England, where his father, Henry D'Olier Drury, who had been a teacher in Marlborough College, retired. Drury was educated at Exeter Grammar School. He then studied philosophy at Trinity College, Cambridge. His tutors included G. E. Moore, C. D. Broad and Ludwig Wittgenstein. Drury became Wittgenstein's friend for many years to come, until the latter's death in 1951. After graduation Drury entered the Cambridge theological college Westcott House, leaving after one year. He then enrolled in the medical school in Trinity College Dublin, graduating in 1939. Medical career Drury joined the Royal Army Medical Corps, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Longman
Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publisher, publishing company founded in 1724 in London, England, which is owned by Pearson PLC. Since 1968, Longman has been used primarily as an imprint by Pearson's Schools business. The Longman brand is also used for the Longman Schools in China and the ''Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman Dictionary''. History Beginnings The Longman company was founded by Thomas Longman (1699–1755), Thomas Longman (1699 – 18 June 1755), the son of Ezekiel Longman (died 1708), a gentleman of Bristol. Thomas was apprenticed in 1716 to John Osborn, a London bookseller, and at the expiration of his apprenticeship married Osborn's daughter. In August 1724, he purchased the stock and household goods of William Taylor (bookseller), William Taylor, the first publisher of ''Robinson Crusoe'', for 9s 6d. Taylor's two shops in Paternoster Row, London, were known respectively as the ''Black Swan (St. Paul's Churchyard), Bl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Varieties Of Religious Experience
''The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature'' is a book by Harvard University psychologist and philosopher William James. It comprises his edited Gifford Lectures on natural theology, which were delivered at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland between 1901 and 1902. The lectures concerned the psychological study of individual private religious experiences and mysticism, and used a range of examples to identify commonalities in religious experiences across traditions. Soon after its publication, ''Varieties'' entered the Western canon of psychology and philosophy and has remained in print for over a century. James later developed his philosophy of pragmatism. There are many overlapping ideas in ''Varieties'' and his 1907 book ''Pragmatism''. Historical context Psychology of religion In the 1890s, a "new psychology" emerged in European and American universities which coincided with the establishment of many new psychology laboratories and the appointment of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William James
William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher and psychologist. The first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States, he is considered to be one of the leading thinkers of the late 19th century, one of the most influential philosophers and is often dubbed the "father of American psychology." Born into a wealthy family, James was the son of the Swedenborgian theologian Henry James Sr. and the brother of both the prominent novelist Henry James and the diarist Alice James. James trained as a physician and taught anatomy at Harvard, but never practiced medicine. Instead, he pursued his interests in psychology and then philosophy. He wrote widely on many topics, including epistemology, education, metaphysics, psychology, religion, and mysticism. Among his most influential books are '' The Principles of Psychology'', a groundbreaking text in the field of psychology; '' Essays in Radical Empiricism'', an important text in phil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geneva
Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the capital of the Canton of Geneva, Republic and Canton of Geneva, and a centre for international diplomacy. Geneva hosts the highest number of International organization, international organizations in the world, and has been referred to as the world's most compact metropolis and the "Peace Capital". Geneva is a global city, an international financial centre, and a worldwide centre for diplomacy hosting the highest number of international organizations in the world, including the headquarters of many agencies of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, IFRC of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, Red Cross. In the aftermath ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Russkaya Mysl
''Russian Mind'' (; French – ''La Pensée Russe'') is a pan-European sociopolitical and cultural magazine, published on a monthly basis both in Russian and in English. The modern edition follows the traditions of the magazine laid down in 1880 by its founder, Vukol Mikhailovich Lavrov. At the time of its first publications, ''Russkaya Mysl,'' (originally: ''Russian Thought)'', adhered to moderate constitutionalism – the idea which paved the way for the ideological and organizational creation of the Cadet Party. In 1918 the magazine was closed by the Bolsheviks as a bourgeois press organ. From 1921 to 1923 it was published in Sofia, Prague and in Berlin. The last issue of ''Russian Thought'', in the format of a magazine, was published in Paris in 1927. In 1947 ''Russkaya Mysl'' was revived as a weekly newspaper. The publication was first issued in Paris and did not relocate its headquarters until 2006. In that year, the publishing house settled in London. In 2011, ''Russka ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reforms Of Russian Orthography
Russian orthography has been reformed officially and unofficially by changing the Russian alphabet over the course of the history of the Russian language. Several important reforms happened in the 18th–20th centuries. Early changes Old East Slavic adopted the Cyrillic script, approximately during the 10th century and at about the same time as the introduction of Eastern Christianity into the territories inhabited by the Eastern Slavs. No distinction was drawn between the vernacular language and the liturgical, though the latter was based on South Slavic languages, South Slavic rather than East Slavic languages, Eastern Slavic norms. As the language evolved, several letters, notably the ''yuses'' (Ѫ, Ѭ, Ѧ, Ѩ) were gradually and unsystematically discarded from both secular and church usage over the next centuries. The emergence of the centralized Russian state in the 15th and 16th centuries, the consequent rise of the state bureaucracy along with the development of the com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Gospel In Brief
''The Gospel in Brief'' () is a 1892 synthesis of the four gospels of the New Testament into one narrative of the life of Jesus by Russian author Leo Tolstoy. Included in a larger volume in 1892, the 1896 account published as ''The Gospel in Brief'' is notable in that it excludes many of the supernatural aspects of the original gospels, such as their claims of Jesus's divine origins and ability to perform miracles. Instead, the work focuses on Jesus's teachings to his followers, presumably those which Tolstoy found most compelling. ''The Gospel in Brief'' is thought by some to be deeply reflective of Tolstoy's own interpretation of Christianity. ''The Gospel in Brief'' is said to be the result of Tolstoy's close study of the original Koine Greek New Testament. The account presented in Tolstoy's gospel is also notable in its sharp contrast with the contemporaneous views of the Russian Orthodox Church. Tolstoy was a fierce critic of the Russian Orthodox Church, which went so far ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
