Philosophical traditions and schools of thought Books

Book SynopsisThrough the combination of text and images, comic books offer a unique opportunity to explore deep questions about aesthetics, ethics, and epistemology in nontraditional ways. The essays in this collection focus on a wide variety of genres, from mainstream superhero comics, to graphic novels of social realism, to European adventure classics. Included among the contributions are essays on existentialism in Daniel Clowes's graphic novel Ghost World, ecocriticism in Paul Chadwick's long-running Concrete series, and political philosophies in Hergé's perennially popular The Adventures of Tintin. Modern political concerns inform Terry Kading's discussion of how superhero comics have responded to 9/11 and how the genre reflects the anxieties of the contemporary world. Essayists also explore the issues surrounding the development and appreciation of comics. Amy Kiste Nyberg examines the rise of the Comics Code, using it as a springboard for discussing the ethics of censorship and child protection in America. Stanford W. Carpenter uses interviews to analyze how a team of Marvel artists and writers reimagined the origin of one of Marvel's most iconic superheroes, Captain America. Throughout, essayists in Comics as Philosophy show how well the form can be used by its artists and its interpreters as a means of philosophical inquiry. Jeff McLaughlin is assistant professor of philosophy at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia.

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Book SynopsisFranz Kafka is without question one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century despite the fact that much of his work remained unpublished when he died at a relatively young age in 1924. Kafka’s eccentric methods of composition and his diffident attitude toward publishing left most of his writing to be edited and published after his death by his literary executor, Max Brod. In Understanding Franz Kafka, Allen Thiher addresses the development of Kafka’s work by analyzing it in terms of its chronological unfolding, emphasizing the various phases in Kafka’s life that can be discerned in his constant quest to find a meaning for his writing. Thiher also shows that Kafka’s work, frequently self-referential, explores the ways literature can have meaning in a world in which writing is a dubious activity.After outlining Kafka’s life using new biographical information, Thiher examines Kafka’s first attempts at writing, often involving nearly farcical experiments. The study then shows how Kafka’s work developed through twists and turns, beginning with the breakthrough stories The Judgment and The Metamorphosis, continuing with his first attempt at a novel with Amerika, and followed by Kafka’s shifting back and forth between short fiction and two other unpublished novels, The Trial and The Castle. Thiher also calls on Kafka’s notebooks and diaries. These help demonstrate that Kafka never stopped experimenting in his attempt to find a literary form that might satisfy his desire to create some kind of transcendental literary text in an era in which the transcendent is at best an object of nostalgia or of comic derision. In short, Thiher contends, Kafka constantly sought the grounds for writing in a world in which all appears groundless.

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Book SynopsisA provocative look at how Jewish intellectuals thought about Jewish religion and existence within a German philosophical tradition

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Book SynopsisAlthough women alone have the ability to bring children into the world, modern Western thought tends to discount this female prerogative. In Giving Life, Giving Death, Lucien Scubla argues that structural anthropology sees women as objects of exchange that facilitate alliance-building rather than as vectors of continuity between generations.Examining the work of Lévi-Strauss, Freud, and Girard, as well as ethnographic and clinical data, Giving Life, Giving Death seeks to explain why, in constructing their master theories, our greatest thinkers have consistently marginalized the cultural and biological fact of maternity. In the spirit of Freud’s Totem and Taboo, Scubla constructs an anthropology that posits a common source for family and religion. His wide-ranging study explores how rituals unite violence and the sacred and intertwine the giving of death and the giving of life.

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Book SynopsisContinental and postmodern thinking has misidentified the source of violence as originating from Western metaphysics. It has further failed to acknowledge the Judeo-Christian source of its ethic-the ethic of concern for victims.In this volume Duane Armitage attempts a critique of continental philosophy and postmodernism through the lens of Rene Girard's mimetic theory. This critique is directed primarily at the philosophies of Nietzsche and Heidegger, both among the foremost representatives of continental and postmodern thought. Armitage argues that Girard's engagement with Heidegger and Nietzsche radically alters many of the axioms of current postmodern continental philosophy, in particular the overcoming of metaphysics on the theoretical level and continental philosophy's tacit commitments to (neo-)Marxism on the practical level.Detailed attention to the implications of Girard's philosophical thought results in a paradigm shift that deals perhaps a deadly blow to continental and postmodern thinking. Armitage further argues that Girard's thinking solves the very problems that continental and postmodern thinking sought (but failed) to solve, namely the problems of violence and victimization, particularly within the context of the aftermath of the Second World War. Ultimately, this volume shows that at the heart of postmodern thinking lies an entanglement with the violent sacred.Trade ReviewDuane Armitage masterfully deploys Girard to show that Nietzsche, Heidegger, and the continental and postmodern philosophy that are based on their ideas are rooted in an unacknowledged celebration of ritual violence, one explicitly formulated in terms of power in Nietzsche and less transparently in Heidegger’s critique of reason, metaphysics, and theology." —David H. Calhoun, professor of philosophy, Gonzaga University

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Book SynopsisDescribes the development of one of the first cohousing communities in the U.S. offering a social understanding of its commons. Cohousing, a form of communal living that clusters around shared common space, began about a half century ago in Denmark. We Built a Village describes the process of planning and building of an early cohousing community in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the way the people involved simultaneously built their homes and their social structure. As both a memoir and a sociological analysis that probes the differences between commons and markets, it is unique among books about cohousing. When this group of people began in the late 1990s to construct their cohousing community, they set in motion a counterpoint between the physical spaces and the social configurations that would guide their lives together, even up to creative responses to the recent pandemic.Trade Review“The Diane Margolis’ rendition of cohousing is a very human one, and overdue. Putting together a custom high-functioning neighborhood is never simple, and this book does not shy away from the complexities. But getting these communities together is getting easier—the foibles are fewer because of stories like this—and one day cohousing will be the norm, not the exception.” -- Charles Durrett * architect, AIA, and cofounder of cohousing in North America *“With a background as an author and sociologist, Diane Margolis has been an early pioneer and leader in the cohousing movement in America. She has a deep understanding of the social process critical to the creative and successful development and evolution of cohousing communities. I definitely recommend We Built a Village.” -- James W Leach * President, Wonderland Hill Development Company *“This book takes us back to the formation of the first cohousing communities in the United States, when ordinary people (not just architects, developers, and planners) decided they wanted a different kind of neighborhood where they collaborate with their neighbors on a daily basis. That Cambridge Cohousing, along with hundreds of other communities, is still thriving shows that Americans are looking for something the housing market is still not providing—authentic community. The book illustrates how people without “a leader” or shared spiritual practice can create strong enduring communities that attract their next generations of residents and stand the test of time. I am particularly intrigued by Diane’s discussions of how Americans struggle with private property rights vs the commons, conflicting values deeply embedded in most of us.” -- Kathryn McCamant * President, CoHousing Solutions; cofounder of cohousing in North America *

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Book SynopsisDescribes the development of one of the first cohousing communities in the U.S. offering a social understanding of its commons. Cohousing, a form of communal living that clusters around shared common space, began about a half century ago in Denmark. We Built a Village describes the process of planning and building of an early cohousing community in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the way the people involved simultaneously built their homes and their social structure. As both a memoir and a sociological analysis that probes the differences between commons and markets, it is unique among books about cohousing. When this group of people began in the late 1990s to construct their cohousing community, they set in motion a counterpoint between the physical spaces and the social configurations that would guide their lives together, even up to creative responses to the recent pandemic.Trade Review"“The Diane Margolis’ rendition of cohousing is a very human one, and overdue. Putting together a custom high-functioning neighborhood is never simple, and this book does not shy away from the complexities. But getting these communities together is getting easier—the foibles are fewer because of stories like this—and one day cohousing will be the norm, not the exception.” " -- Charles Durrett * architect, AIA, and cofounder of cohousing in North America *"“With a background as an author and sociologist, Diane Margolis has been an early pioneer and leader in the cohousing movement in America. She has a deep understanding of the social process critical to the creative and successful development and evolution of cohousing communities. I definitely recommend We Built a Village.” " -- James W Leach * President, Wonderland Hill Development Company *"“This book takes us back to the formation of the first cohousing communities in the United States, when ordinary people (not just architects, developers, and planners) decided they wanted a different kind of neighborhood where they collaborate with their neighbors on a daily basis. That Cambridge Cohousing, along with hundreds of other communities, is still thriving shows that Americans are looking for something the housing market is still not providing—authentic community. The book illustrates how people without “a leader” or shared spiritual practice can create strong enduring communities that attract their next generations of residents and stand the test of time. I am particularly intrigued by Diane’s discussions of how Americans struggle with private property rights vs the commons, conflicting values deeply embedded in most of us.” " -- Kathryn McCamant * President, CoHousing Solutions; cofounder of cohousing in North America *

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Book SynopsisIn this engaging introductory dialogue, Todd Moody maps the spectrum of philosophical arguments and counterarguments for the existence of God. Structuring colloquial conversations along classical lines, he presents a lively and accessible discussion of issues that are central to both theist and atheist thinking, including the burden of proof, the first cause, a necessary being, the natural order, suffering, miracles, experience as knowledge, and rationality without proof.The second edition is a significant and comprehensive revision. Moody broadens and deepens the conversation by addressing additional arguments, such as the problem of animal suffering, the moral argument, intelligent design, and human exceptionalism. The discussion of the cosmological argument is updated to reflect recent work on the Kalam Cosmological Argument.A short preface explains the scope of the work and the purpose of the dialogue form. Suggested further readings of contemporary and classical sources are also included.Trade ReviewComments on the first edition: . . . absolutely superb . . . simply brilliant, a perfect combination of philosophical depth, balance, clarity, and good writing. It is quite the best philosophical dialogue I have ever read, better than Plato in sustaining attention to the pros and cons of the issues in question. --James N. Jordan, Queens College

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Book SynopsisIn this engaging introductory dialogue, Todd Moody maps the spectrum of philosophical arguments and counterarguments for the existence of God. Structuring colloquial conversations along classical lines, he presents a lively and accessible discussion of issues that are central to both theist and atheist thinking, including the burden of proof, the first cause, a necessary being, the natural order, suffering, miracles, experience as knowledge, and rationality without proof.The second edition is a significant and comprehensive revision. Moody broadens and deepens the conversation by addressing additional arguments, such as the problem of animal suffering, the moral argument, intelligent design, and human exceptionalism. The discussion of the cosmological argument is updated to reflect recent work on the Kalam Cosmological Argument.A short preface explains the scope of the work and the purpose of the dialogue form. Suggested further readings of contemporary and classical sources are also included.Trade ReviewComments on the first edition: . . . absolutely superb . . . simply brilliant, a perfect combination of philosophical depth, balance, clarity, and good writing. It is quite the best philosophical dialogue I have ever read, better than Plato in sustaining attention to the pros and cons of the issues in question. --James N. Jordan, Queens College

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Book SynopsisThis anthology provides a set of distinctive selections that explore both Western and Eastern views of lying and truthfulness, including selections from Augustine, Grotius, Aristotle, the Mahābhārata, Confucius, Kant, Plato, Sunzi, Han Feizi, Aquinas, the Lotus Sutra, Hobbes, Hume, Locke, Bacon, Nietzsche, and more. Hackett Readings in Philosophy is a versatile series of compact anthologies, each devoted to a topic of traditional interest in philosophy or political theory. Selections are chosen for their accessibility, significance, and ability to stimulate thought and discussion.

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Book SynopsisThis anthology provides a set of distinctive selections that explore both Western and Eastern views of lying and truthfulness, including selections from Augustine, Grotius, Aristotle, the Mahābhārata, Confucius, Kant, Plato, Sunzi, Han Feizi, Aquinas, the Lotus Sutra, Hobbes, Hume, Locke, Bacon, Nietzsche, and more. Hackett Readings in Philosophy is a versatile series of compact anthologies, each devoted to a topic of traditional interest in philosophy or political theory. Selections are chosen for their accessibility, significance, and ability to stimulate thought and discussion.

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Book SynopsisThe Plotinus Reader provides a generous selection of translations from the fifty-four treatises that together make up the Enneads of Plotinus, a central work in the history of philosophy. They were prepared by a team of specialists in ancient philosophy and edited by Lloyd P. Gerson. Based on the definitive critical edition of the Greek along with decades of additional textual criticism by many scholars, these translations aim to provide a readable, accurate rendering of Plotinus’s often very difficult language. Included are extensive references to Plotinus’s sources, scores of cross-references, and an extensive glossary of technical terms.

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Book SynopsisFirst published in 1844, Søren Kierkegaard’s concise treatise identified—long before Freud—anxiety as a profound human condition, portraying human existence largely as a constant struggle with our own spiritual identities.Trade Review"“[A] book at once so profound and byzantine that it seems to aim at evoking the very feeling it dissects. Perhaps more than any other philosopher, Kierkegaard reflected on the question of how to communicate the truths that we live by.”" -- The New York Times"“[A] book at once so profound and byzantine that it seems to aim at evoking the very feeling it dissects. Perhaps more than any other philosopher, Kierkegaard reflected on the question of how to communicate the truths that we live by.”" -- The New York Times

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Book SynopsisThe future of the United States rests in many ways on how the ongoing challenge of racial injustice in the country is addressed. Yet, humanists remain divided over what if any agenda should guide humanist thought and action toward questions of race. In this volume, Anthony B. Pinn makes a clear case for why humanism should embrace racial justice as part of its commitment to the well-being of life in general and human flourishing in particular. As a first step, humanists should stop asking why so many racial minorities remain committed to religious traditions that have destroyed lives, perverted justice, and justified racial discrimination. Rather, Pinn argues, humanists must first confront a more pertinent and pressing question: why has humanism failed to provide a more compelling alternative to theism for so many minority groups? For only with a bit of humility and perspective—and a recognition of the various ways in which we each contribute to racial injustice—can we truly fight for justice.Trade Review"A must read for this moment in history!" Sharon D. Welch, Provost and Professor, Religion and Society, Meadville Lombard Theological School" When Colorblindness Isn't the Answer is a practical guide for understanding and actively working against white supremacy, racism, and their offspring called 'race.' While directed toward humanists, everyone can benefit from this immensely readable and practice-oriented analysis . . . . This book is a guide for the perplexed and fearful. It provides practical tools for antiracist action." William David Hart, professor, Religious Studies; holder of Margaret W. Harmon Chair, Macalaster College

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Book SynopsisA history of Kantian and post-Kantian thought and of a foundational stage of German orientalism. German orientalism has been understood, variously, as a form of latent colonialism, as a quest for academic hegemony in Europe, and as an effort to diagnose and treat the ills of modern Western culture. Nicholas Germana identifiesa different impetus for orientalism in German thought, seeing it as an effort to come to grips with the Other within German society at the turn of the nineteenth century and within the dynamics of subjectivity itself. Drawing largely on work by feminist scholars, the book uncovers an anxiety at the core of Kantian and post-Kantian thought, thus shedding light on its derogation (or elevation) of Oriental cultures. Kant's philosophy of freedom is a construction of modern, Western masculinity. Reason, which alone can make freedom possible, subverts and orders chaotic nature and protects the rational subject from the enervating influences of the senses and the imagination. The feminized, sexually charged Orient is a threat to the historical achievement of Western male rationality. Germana's book emphasizes aesthetics in the German orientalist discourse, a subject that has received little attention todate. In this tradition of German thought, aesthetics became a form of spiritual anthropology, ordering and classifying societies, races, and genders in terms of their ability to master the senses and the imagination, forces thatundermine rational autonomy, the very source of human (i.e., masculine) dignity. Nicholas A. Germana is Professor of History at Keene State College, New Hampshire.Trade Review[T]he merits of this well-researched volume lie in its dense argument and close attention to and analysis of its complex source materials, and Germana is sensitive to how philosophical and aesthetic interests interact. Equally laudable is the author's careful balance between philosophical and historical approaches to the period. -- Joanna Raisbeck * MODERN LANGUAGE REVIEW *A new history of Kantian and post-Kantian German philosophy. This is an important book...Nicholas Germana [breaks] new ground by illuminating the buried history of orientalism in German philosophy between Kant and Hegel. * JOURNAL OF EUROPEAN STUDIES *Table of ContentsIntroduction What Is Enlightenment? Moral Feeling The Philosophy of Art The Poetic State The Life of the Notion The End of Art Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisAlthough he is best known as a mentor to the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., Howard Thurman (1900-1981) was an exceptional philosopher and public intellectual in his own right. In Howard Thurman: Philosophy, Civil Rights, and the Search for Common Ground, Kipton E. Jensen provides new ways of understanding Thurman's foundational role in and broad influence on the civil rights movement and argues persuasively that he is one of the unsung heroes of that time. While Thurman's profound influence on King has been documented, Jensen shows how Thurman's reach extended to an entire generation of activists. Thurman espoused a unique brand of personalism. Jensen explicates Thurman's construction of a philosophy on nonviolence and the political power of love. Showing how Thurman was a "social activist mystic" as well as a pragmatist, Jensen explains how these beliefs helped provide the foundation for King's notion of the beloved community.Throughout his life Thurman strove to create a climate of "inner unity of fellowship that went beyond the barriers of race, class, and tradition." In this volume Jensen meticulously documents and analyzes Thurman as a philosopher, activist, and peacemaker and illuminates his vital and founding role in and contributions to the monumental achievements of the civil rights era.

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Book SynopsisNamed a Most Anticipated/Best Book of the Month by: NPR * USA Today * Time * Washington Post * Vulture * Women's Wear Daily * Bustle * LitHub * The Millions * Vogue * Nylon * Shondaland * Chicago Review of Books * The Guardian * Los Angeles Times * Kirkus * Publishers WeeklySo often deployed as a jingoistic, even menacing rallying cry, or limited by a focus on passing moments of liberation, the rhetoric of freedom both rouses and repels. Does it remain key to our autonomy, justice, and well-being, or is freedom's long star turn coming to a close? Does a continued obsession with the term enliven and emancipate, or reflect a deepening nihilism (or both)? On Freedom examines such questions by tracing the concept's complexities in four distinct realms: art, sex, drugs, and climate.Drawing on a vast range of material, from critical theory to pop culture to the intimacies and plain exchanges of daily life, Maggie Nelson explores how we might think, experience, or talk about freedom in ways responsive to the conditions of our day. Her abiding interest lies in ongoing practices of freedom by which we negotiate our interrelation withindeed, our inseparability fromothers, with all the care and constraint that entails, while accepting difference and conflict as integral to our communion.For Nelson, thinking publicly through the knots in our culturefrom recent art-world debates to the turbulent legacies of sexual liberation, from the painful paradoxes of addiction to the lure of despair in the face of the climate crisisis itself a practice of freedom, a means of forging fortitude, courage, and company. On Freedom is an invigorating, essential book for challenging times.

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Book SynopsisNamed a Most Anticipated/Best Book of the Month by: NPR * USA Today * Time * Washington Post * Vulture * Women?s Wear Daily * Bustle * LitHub * The Millions * Vogue * Nylon * Shondaland * Chicago Review of Books * The Guardian * Los Angeles Times * Kirkus * Publishers WeeklySo often deployed as a jingoistic, even menacing rallying cry, or limited by a focus on passing moments of liberation, the rhetoric of freedom both rouses and repels. Does it remain key to our autonomy, justice, and well-being, or is freedom?s long star turn coming to a close? Does a continued obsession with the term enliven and emancipate, or reflect a deepening nihilism (or both)? On Freedom examines such questions by tracing the concept?s complexities in four distinct realms: art, sex, drugs, and climate.Drawing on a vast range of material, from critical theory to pop culture to the intimacies and plain exchanges of daily life, Maggie Nelson explores how we might think, experience, or talk about freedom in ways responsive to the conditions of our day. Her abiding interest lies in ongoing ?practices of freedom? by which we negotiate our interrelation with?indeed, our inseparability from?others, with all the care and constraint that entails, while accepting difference and conflict as integral to our communion.For Nelson, thinking publicly through the knots in our culture?from recent art-world debates to the turbulent legacies of sexual liberation, from the painful paradoxes of addiction to the lure of despair in the face of the climate crisis?is itself a practice of freedom, a means of forging fortitude, courage, and company. On Freedom is an invigorating, essential book for challenging times.

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Book SynopsisThis study spans, in a single monograph, the entire life and work of the Russian philosopher Lev Shestov (1866-1938). It offers keys to understanding his thought, while also tracing the historical itinerary of his work. Shestov's thought is not only interesting in itself, as a "philosophy fighting against philosophy," but also because it reveals an entire world of cultural connections in its extraordinarily keen exploration of other "souls." The reader will find in Shestov some of the sharpest analyses of authors such as Shakespeare, Nietzsche, Tolstoi, Dostoevskii, Luther, Plotinus, Pascal, Kierkegaard and many others. This study will better determine the controversial and fascinating philosopher's place in the history of Russian and Western thought.Trade Review“Oppo’s study is impressively comprehensive…Students of Shestov will appreciate the meticulousness of Oppo’s research, which is reflected in an excellent bibliography that is in itself a reason to invest in this book.”— Ruth Coates, Slavic ReviewTable of Contents Acknowledgments Editorial Notes Introduction Part One: Shestov in Russia Chapter I: The Philosophy of Tragedy (1898-1905) 1.1 Introduction: The Birth of a Tragic Conscience 1.2 Shestov before Shestov: Shakespeare and Pushkin 1.3 Tolstoi's Struggle between "Yasnaya Polyana" and "Astapovo" 1.4 Friedrich Nietzsche: Truth against Morality 1.5 Dostoevskii and Nietzsche as "Philosophers of the Underground" 1.6 Apotheosis of "Bespochvennost'": Towards a Philosophy of Tragedy Chapter II: Art as Negativity-The Literary Criticism Years (1901-1910) 2.1 Introduction: Shestov and the Philosophical Problem of Art 2.2 Aestheticism and Ideology: On Merezhkovskii and Turgenev 2.3 Creatio ex Nihilo: Chekhov's Aesthetics 2.4 The "Oracular" Gratuity of Sologub's Prose and Poetry 2.5 Ibsen and the Destiny of Art 2.6 Retracting Tragedy: Dostoevskii as an Essayist 2.7 The "Magnificent" Vyacheslav Ivanov Part Two: Shestov in France Chapter III: Wandering Through the Souls (1914-1929) 3.1 Introduction: The Events of History-Shestov's Political Views 3.2 The Power of Keys: Faith and Church in Martin Luther 3.3 The Two Histories of Western Philosophy 3.4 The Fight against Self-Evidences: Dostoevskii, Pascal, and Spinoza 3.5 Philosophy's Revolt against Itself: Plotinus's Ecstasies 3.6 Audacities and Submissions: Shestov's Intellectual World 3.7 Shestov and the Russian Philosophers Chapter IV: Athens and Jerusalem-The Logic and the Thunder (1930-1938) 4.1 Introduction: Shestov as a "Jewish Philosopher" 4.2 The Bible and the Original Sin: In Dialogue with Martin Buber 4.3 The Last Encounter: Kierkegaard 4.4 Étienne Gilson and the Spirit of Medieval Philosophy 4.5 Philosophers in Chains: At the Sources of Metaphysics Conclusion 1. Reception and Legacy of Shestov's Philosophy 2. The Question of Irrationalism and of "Antiphilosophy" 3. The (Neo-)Platonic Paradigm: Shestov's "Third Sailing" 4. Afterword: Reading between the Lines Appendices 1. Shestov and Husserl 2. Shestov and Berdyaev 3. Shestov and Fondane Bibliography and Works Cited 1. Shestov's Works A.1 Books A.2 Articles and Correspondence 2. Selected Studies on Shestov B.1 Biographies, Memoirs, Specific Journals, and Bibliographies B.2 Books on Shestov B.3 Articles and Book Chapters on Shestov 3. Further References Index

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