Philosophical traditions and schools of thought Books

Book SynopsisA classic in its field, this comprehensive book introduces the core history of phenomenology and assesses its relevance to contemporary psychology, philosophy of mind, and cognitive science. It provides a jargon-free explanation of central themes in the works of Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, and Merleau-Ponty. From artificial intelligence to embodiment and enactivism, Käufer and Chemero go on to trace how phenomenology has produced a valuable framework for analyzing cognition and perception, whose impact on contemporary psychological and scientific research, and philosophical debates, continues to grow. New to this second edition are a treatment of nineteenth-century precursors of experimental psychology; a detailed exploration of Husserl's analysis of the body; and a discussion of the work of Aron Gurwitsch and other philosophers and psychologists who explored the intersection of phenomenology and Gestalt psychology. The new material also includes an expanded consideration of enactivism, and an up-to-date examination of current work in phenomenologically informed cognitive science. This is an ideal introduction to phenomenology and cognitive science for the uninitiated, and will shed new light on the topic for experienced readers, showing clearly the contemporary relevance and influence of phenomenological ideas.Trade Review“Käufer and Chemero have written a superb introduction to phenomenology, not merely as a chapter in intellectual history or as a gallery of great thinkers, but as a living tradition in philosophy, psychology, and cognitive science.”Taylor Carman, Professor of Philosophy, Barnard College, Columbia University “A sparklingly clear and widely insightful introduction to phenomenology for beginners – which, if we are phenomenologists, includes all of us. Highly recommended.”Gayle Salamon, Professor of English, Princeton University Praise for the first edition:“A remarkably thorough and comprehensible account of the history of phenomenology that offers illuminating commentary on the work of Kant, Wundt, Husserl, Heidegger, Gestalt psychologists, Merleau-Ponty, Sartre, and Gibson.”Hubert Dreyfus, Former Professor of Philosophy, University of California, BerkeleyTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsList of FiguresIntroduction1 Kant: Eighteenth and Nineteenth-Century Background 1.1 Kant’s critical philosophy1.2 Intuitions and concepts1.3 The transcendental deduction1.4 Kantian themes in phenomenology 2 The Rise of Experimental Psychology2.1 Wilhelm Wundt and the rise of scientific psychology2.2 William James and functionalism2.3 The structuralism-functionalism debate3 Edmund Husserl and Transcendental Phenomenology3.1 Transcendental phenomenology3.2 Brentano3.3 Between logic and psychology3.4 Ideas3.5 The body 3.6 Phenomenology of time consciousness4 Martin Heidegger and Existential Phenomenology 4.1 The intelligibility of the everyday world4.2 Descartes and occurrentness4.3 Being-in-the-world4.4 Being-with others and the anyone4.5 The existential conception of the self4.6 Death, guilt, and authenticity5 Gestalt Psychology5.1 Gestalt criticisms of atomistic psychology5.2 Perception and the environment5.3 Influence of Gestalt psychology6 Aron Gurwitsch: Merging Gestalt Psychology and Phenomenology6.1 Phenomenology of Thematics and of the Pure Ego6.2 Others and the Social World7 Jean-Paul Sartre: Phenomenological Existentialism7.1 Transcendence of the Ego7.2 The Imagination and The Imaginary7.3 Being and Nothingness8 Maurice Merleau-Ponty: The Body and Perception8.1 Phenomenology of Perception8.2 Phenomenology, psychology, and the phenomenal field8.3 The lived body8.4 Perceptual constancy and natural objects9 Critical Phenomenology9.1 The path not taken9.2 Phenomenology and Gender9.3 Phenomenology and Race10 James J. Gibson and Ecological Psychology10.1 Gibson’s early work: Two examples10.2 The ecological approach10.3 Ecological ontology10.4 Affordances and invitations11 Hubert Dreyfus and the Phenomenological Critique of Cognitivism11.1 The cognitive revolution and cognitive science11.2 “Alchemy and artificial intelligence”11.3 What Computers Can’t Do11.4 Heideggerian artificial intelligence12 Enactivism and the Embodied Mind12.1 Embodied, Embedded, Extended, Enactive12.2 The Original Enactivism12.3 Other Enactivisms: The sensorimotor approach and radical enactivism12.4 Enactivism as a Philosophy of Nature13 Phenomenological Cognitive Science13.1 The frame problem13.2 Radical embodied cognitive science13.3 Dynamical systems theory13.4 Heideggerian cognitive science13.5 The future of scientific phenomenologyReferencesIndex

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In a series of 50 accessible essays, Ben Dupré introduces and explains the central ideas of politics, philosophy, religion, economics, science, and the arts that have engaged key thinkers and leaders, from Plato to the present day.From the Big Bang to romanticism, fate to democracy, 50 Big Ideas You Really Need to Know is a complete introduction to the most important concepts in history.

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Book SynopsisIt is frequently said that we are living through the end of politics, the end of social upheavals, the end of utopian folly. Consensual realism is the order of the day. But political realists, remarks Jacques Ranciere, are always several steps behind reality, and the only thing which may come to an end with their dominance is democracy. In these subtle and perceptive essays, Ranciere argues that since Plato and Aristotle politics has always constructed itself as the art of ending politics, that realism is itself utopian, and that what has succeeded the polemical forms of class struggle is not the wisdom of a new millennium but the return of old fears, criminality and chaos. Whether he is discussing the confrontation between Mitterrand and Chirac, French working-class discourse after the 1830 revolution, or the ideology of recent student mobilizations, his aim is to restore philosophy to politics and give politics back its original and necessary meaning: the organization of dissent.Trade ReviewRancière's writings offer one of the few consistent conceptualizations of how we are to continue to resist. -- Slavoj Zizek

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Book Synopsis"Introducing The Enlightenment" is the essential guide to the giants of the Enlightenment - Voltaire, Diderot, Adam Smith, Samuel Johnson, Immanuel Kant, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson. The Enlightenment of the 18th century was a crucial time in human history - a vast moral, scientific and political movement, the work of intellectuals across Europe and the New World, who began to free themselves from despotism, bigotry and superstition and tried to change the world. "Introducing The Enlightenment" is a clear and accessible introduction to the leading thinkers of the age, the men and women who believed that rational endeavour could reveal the secrets of the universe.

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Book SynopsisThis compilation of writings from Erasmus and Luther's great debate--over free will and grace, and their respective efficacy for salvation--offers a fuller representation of the disputants' main arguments than has ever been available in a single volume in English. Included are key, corresponding selections from not only Erasmus' conciliatory A Discussion or Discourse concerning Free Will and Luther's forceful and fully argued rebuttal, but--with the battle now joined--from Erasmus' own forceful and fully argued rebuttal of Luther. Students of Reformation theology, Christian humanism, and sixteenth-century rhetoric will find here the key to a wider appreciation of one of early modern Christianity’s most illuminating and disputed controversies.Trade ReviewAmong the most dramatic exchanges in Western intellectual history was the confrontation between Erasmus and Luther over freedom of the will--or, as Luther conceived of it, bound choice. Clarence H. Miller provides extensive selections from both sides of this vital debate--from Erasmus' A Discussion or Discourse concerning Free Will; from Luther's reply, The Enslaved Will; and from Erasmus' extensive rebuttal, The Shield-Bearer Defending 'A Discussion'--outfitting them with helpful notes that bring readers into the world of the texts. James D. Tracy's Introduction masterfully and concisely depicts the two participants in this literary disputation, the concerns that governed their thinking, and the intellectual context of their debate—one that still offers much to readers reflecting on what it means to be human in our own age. --Robert A. Kolb, Missions Professor of Systematic Theology Emeritus, Concordia SeminaryErasmus has the first and last word in this version of the famous debate on free will. He needs all the help he can get, given that Luther captivates the readers with his scathing wit, pristine deductive logic, and pithy if dismissive rejoinders. . . . This volume of substantial excerpts translated by Clarence H. Miller and Peter Macardle . . . provides Reformation scholars with the most comprehensive existing treatment of the exchange between Erasmus and Luther on the Reformation exegesis, philosophy, and politics of free will, grace, and Law. The comprehensive and detailed biographical and theological introduction concisely covers the cultural history and the central doctrinal issues informing the debate, most notably the Pauline influences." --Alice Crawford Berghof, English, UC Irvine (adapted from Comitatus)As James D. Tracy notes in the excellent introduction to Clarence H. Miller's Erasmus and Luther: The Battle over Free Will, 'In the history of the European Reformation, few issues were as important as the one debated by Erasmus and Luther: Are human beings capable of contributing to their own salvation by what they choose to do or not to do?' Miller's edition provides a more comprehensive view of the debate than the usual English texts used in classrooms and accurately reflects the history of the debate. Miller and Macardle's translation is clear and flows well. Compared to Winter’s text, this edition offers a stronger supportive apparatus, including helpful notes and an updated bibliography. Erasmus' and Luther's debate over the freedom of the will remains a central point of access to the study of the Reformation. It highlights the fundamental issues of the Reformation as well as the differences between those eager for reform within the Church and those who believed that the Church was so fundamentally off track that no reform could sufficiently set it right. Luther's vehemence and self-assurance in The Enslaved Will say almost as much about his reform movement as his arguments do. Erasmus' three efforts to defend the freedom of the will demonstrate not only his nuanced approach to theology, Scripture, and Church tradition, but also his concern for the consequences of Church schism." --Greta Grace Kroeker, History, University of Waterloo (condensed from Erasmus of Rotterdam Society Yearbook)Table of ContentsPreface; Introduction; An Outline of All Three Works; Erasmus: A Discussion or Discourse Concerning Free Will (1524); Luther: The Enslaved Will (1525); Erasmus: The Shield-Bearer Defending, A Discussion, Part 1 (1526); Erasmus: The Shield-Bearer Defending, A Discussion, Part 2 (1527); Bibliography & Abbreviations; Index.

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Book SynopsisErnst Bloch gives a striking account of materialism that traces emancipatory elements of modern thought to medieval Islamic philosophers’ encounter with Aristotle. He argues that the great medieval Islamic philosopher Avicenna (Ibn Sina) planted the seeds of a radical materialism still relevant for critical theory today.Trade ReviewAgainst the background of today's Islamophobia, Bloch's study is an extraordinary achievement. It demonstrates how one of the hidden origins of European modernity is Avicenna's interpretation of Aristotle. Islamic thought at the roots of our notions of freedom and emancipation? If you are shocked, read Bloch's book! It is only now, almost a century after its first publication, that the time for this book has arrived. -- Slavoj Žižek, author of Less Than Nothing and Absolute RecoilIn this beautiful and exciting essay, Ernst Bloch enables us to think differently, more alive, more openly and creatively, about matter and form by reading the history of metaphysics against the grain and across cultural divides. We get a taste of what real philosophy once was and what it might be again as the contours of world philosophy are beginning to emerge. Bloch’s irreducibly personal voice comes alive in this excellent translation. -- Johan Siebers, Director, Ernst Bloch Centre for German Thought, School of Advanced Study, University of LondonOver the years, Ernst Bloch has enjoyed a reputation as the most intransigently utopian of the Western Marxists, a prophetic figure with great erudition and a capacious imagination. This accessible and graceful translation makes his important book on the medieval roots of vitalist materialism available to English speakers for the first time. -- Martin Jay, author of Reason after Its Eclipse: On Late Critical TheoryAvicenna and the Aristotelian Left is seminal for understanding the utopian theory and cosmological interpretation of nature provided by one of the great thinkers of the twentieth century: Ernst Bloch. Its linkage of two philosophical worlds is unique and it should refashion conventional views on materialism and the 'canon.' The translators deserve our gratitude for making available a difficult work whose boldness and cosmopolitan character will surely inspire the intellectuals of our own time. -- Stephen Eric Bronner, author of Modernism at the Barricades: Aesthetics, Politics, UtopiaAvicenna and the Aristotelian Left, by Ernst Bloch, one of the most significant German philosophers of the twentieth-century, traces an alternative genealogy of materialism based on the identification of an important line of counter-interpretation of Aristotle’s ideas on form and matter. While the history of modern thought has been conventionally interpreted as a deliberate rejection of the Aristotelian tradition in science and philosophy, in this book Bloch introduces the surprising thesis of a connection between Aristotle and the Enlightenment. -- Humberto Beck, Kilachand Honors College, Boston UniversityBloch’s essay is engaging and erudite, bringing to light the philosophical heritage of twenty-first century new materialism... -- Steph Marston * Marx & Philosophy Society *Sheds light on the Muslim philosopher doctor’s contribution to a unified discipline of philosophy and science. * Arab Studies Quarterly *Table of ContentsA Note on the Text and TranslationAcknowledgmentsIntroduction, by Loren GoldmanAvicenna and the Aristotelian LeftNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewA Secular Age is a work of stupendous breadth and erudition. -- John Patrick Diggins * New York Times Book Review *A Secular Age represents a singular achievement… Taylor is somehow uniquely able to combine chutzpah and good manners, making bold and imaginative claims, yet always attending respectfully to the whole range of disciplines that touch on the philosophical trajectory being drawn, whether that be history, sociology, theology, art theory, cultural studies, anthropology or social theory… A Secular Age succeeds in the same way as his previous work: in illuminating through complicating. At the same time, this book seems to step up the ambition somewhat: by attempting to provide a final definitive account of all the narratives and complications that make up our contemporary age, as they implode on themselves and interact with one another… Hegel knew, of course, that ‘the owl of Minerva spreads its wings only with the falling of the dusk’; or, in other words, that philosophy can only fathom the truth about an age in hindsight, when the day has passed. But then again, that didn’t stop Hegel having a go; and we should be glad that it hasn’t stopped Charles Taylor, either. -- Christopher J. Insole * Times Literary Supplement *Charles Taylor’s remarkable book A Secular Age achieves something quite different from what other writers on secularization have accomplished. Most have focused on decline as the essence of secularism—either the removal of religion from sphere after sphere of public life, or the decrease of religious belief and practice. But Taylor focuses on what kind of religion makes sense in a secular age… Taylor is asking not only how secularism became a significant option in a civilization that not so long ago was explicitly Christian, but what that change means for the spiritual quest, both of those who are still religious and those who consider themselves secular. I doubt many people have even perceived that aspect of secularism, and Taylor’s book should be as much of a revelation to them as it was to me. -- Robert N. Bellah * Commonweal *Taylor’s book is a major and highly original contribution to the debates on secularization that have been ongoing for the past century. There is no book remotely like it. -- Alasdair MacIntyreOne finds big nuggets of insight, useful to almost anybody with an interest in the progress of human society… A vast ideological anatomy of possible ways of thinking about the gradual onset of secularism as experienced in fields ranging from art to poetry to psychoanalysis… Taylor also lays bare the inconsistencies of some secular critiques of religion. * The Economist *[A] thumping great volume. -- Stuart Jeffries * The Guardian *In A Secular Age, philosopher Charles Taylor takes on the broad phenomenon of secularization in its full complexity… [A] voluminous, impressively researched and often fascinating social and intellectual history…Taylor’s account encompasses art, literature, science, fashion, private life—all those human activities that have been sometimes more, sometimes less affected by religion over the last five centuries. -- Jack Miles * Los Angeles Times *A rich, complex book, but what I most appreciate is [Taylor’s] vision of a ‘secular’ future that is both open and also contains at least pockets of spiritual rigor, and that is propelled by religious motivation, a strong and enduring piece of our nature. -- David Brooks * New York Times *Taylor is arguably the most interesting and important philosopher writing in English today… What makes Taylor so important? Over more than 40 years, four large books, four or five slimmer essays and several volumes of articles, he has worked out a distinctive network of arguments and an exceptionally rich analysis of the modern self and its values—an analysis that reveals us to be altogether deeper and more interesting, but also less self-aware, than we tend to suppose… A Secular Age sets out to offer a richer characterization of secularization and the nature of contemporary belief, both religious and skeptical… Taylor writes brilliantly about the new social forms—the nation state, the market economy, the charitable enterprise—and the ideals of altruism and public service that have emerged with them… A Secular Age is effectively a polemic against dogmatic atheism… It is full of insights, and many of its component parts—notably Taylor’s discussion of the ‘pressures’ that make a settled view on the big ontological questions hard to sustain—are as good as anything by this magnificent philosopher. -- Ben Rogers * Prospect *Taylor’s masterful integration of history, sociology, philosophy, and theology demands much of the reader. In return you will be convinced that Charles Taylor is one of the smartest and deepest social thinkers of our time. -- Tyler Cowen * Slate *In an idiosyncratic blend of the philosophical, the historical, and the speculative, Taylor describes the shift from a world brim-full with spirits and magic to a world where divinity is absent. His account resists the idea that the rise of secularism is a process of subtraction, of loss, and of disenchantment. Rather, Taylor describes secularity’s birth as the migration of ideas, subtle changes in those ideas, and the opening of new possibilities. If Taylor’s communitarian scholarship celebrated historical and social rootedness, A Secular Age is an encomium to the sheer happenstance of how those circumstances arose. -- Azziz Huq * American Prospect *[A Secular Age] may become an enduring contribution to understanding religious belief, the evolution of the secular order, and the defining characteristics of modern secularism and contemporary spirituality. Like Charles Taylor’s earlier books, it is a product of prodigious erudition. Its 874 dense pages brim with original observation, cogent argument constructed from sources in a wide array of disciplines, and generous ecumenical gestures, even towards humanists. His story is complex, somewhat repetitious and yet unflaggingly interesting: it is loaded with so much novel detail and insight that the reader will be grateful for each scrap of familiar ground. -- Tamas Pataki * Australian Review of Books *Sophisticated, erudite…with excursions into history, philosophy and literature, A Secular Age is a weighty and challenging tome. It is also a brilliant account of the ‘sensed context’ in which secularization developed. And a moving meditation, by a believer, on the ‘ineradicable bent’ of human beings to respond to something beyond life, to keep open ‘the transcendent window.’ -- Glenn C. Altschuler * Baltimore Sun *If you are, as I am, often puzzled by the landscape of contemporary religious belief and unbelief, you will regard Charles Taylor’s huge and hugely rewarding intellectual history of the secularization of European and North American culture as a marvelous gift. A Secular Age is a first-class map of the spiritual terrain of Western modernity as well as the road that got us here. -- Robert Westbrook * Christian Century *A culminating dispatch from the philosophical frontlines. It is at once encyclopedic and incisive, a sweeping overview that is no less analytically rigorous for its breadth. Its subject is a philosophical history of the past, present and future of Western Christendom. As such, it begins with a deceptively simple question: How did it become possible for anyone to not believe in God?… A Secular Age recounts the history of an idea, in other words, but in it the past is not an inert, settled fact, but a reservoir to be drawn upon to shatter the sameness and the apparent inevitability of the present. As a history it clarifies crucial intellectual and theological divisions that continue to structure debates about divinity, but with the aim of reforming the way we think about them, ‘to show the play of destabilization and recomposition.’ Though this isn’t a book you take to the beach, it remains eminently readable. As philosophers go, Taylor is a kind of behaviorist, more concerned with elaborating the implications of a way of thinking than with showing its contradictions. Unlike most philosophers, though, Taylor seems at pains to remain accessible to a general audience to capture complex philosophical debate in ordinary language. An important part of Taylor’s argument is that religion and the belief in God, most particularly the experience of transcendence, are not at all outmoded… Though it avoids predictions or prescriptions, A Secular Age leaves us with the sense that the future will be a far poorer, less human place, if we do not discover some expression for that transcendent otherness. -- Steven Hayward * Cleveland Plain Dealer *It is, simply, the most comprehensive account of the process and meaning of secularization… Taylor’s depiction of the past two centuries is rich with insights and subtle analyses… Familiarity with Taylor’s book is now the entry ticket for any serious discussion of secularization. -- Peter Steinfels * Commonweal *Very occasionally there appears a book destined to endure. A Secular Age is such a book… A Secular Age is an important and deeply interesting work. Its central thesis is that secularization must be understood not simply as the decline of certain beliefs and institutions, but as a total change in our experience of the world… There are subtle, original discussions of the modern self, of changing conceptions of time, of the religious landscape of art, and much else besides. Taylor has a great gift of empathy, an ability to inhabit and bring to life the mental world of both believers and unbelievers. A true Hegelian, he sees the goal of philosophy as understanding, not judgment. -- Edward Skidelsky * Daily Telegraph *A Secular Age offers an invaluable map of how the modern religious–secular divide came into being. -- Andrew Koppelman * Dissent *Though this essential Canadian intellectual may overstate the triumph of secularity, his huge and elegant work takes on the transformation of the world from 1500, when it was almost impossible not to believe in a Creator, to 2000, when religion was simply one choice on a menu of belief systems. He finds the answer in ‘exclusive humanism,’ which sees ‘no final goals beyond human flourishing, nor any allegiance to anything else beyond this flourishing.’ -- Donald Harman Akenson * Globe & Mail *It is refreshing to read an inquiry into the condition of religion that is exploratory in its approach. Charles Taylor, a Roman Catholic as well as one of the world’s leading political theorists, does not aim to attack or defend any system of belief in his new book, A Secular Age. Rather, he wants to elucidate the very idea of a secular world. For Taylor, the difference between the pre-modern Western world and the modern West is not simply that beliefs held then are no longer accepted today; it is that the entire framework of thought has changed. -- John Gray * Harper’s *In a determinedly brilliant new book, Charles Taylor challenges the ‘subtraction theory’ of secularization which defines it as a process whereby religion simply falls away, to be replaced by science and rationality. Instead, he sees secularism as a development within Western Christianity, stemming from the increasingly anthropocentric versions of religion that arose from the Reformation. For Taylor, the modern age is not an age without religion; instead, secularization heralds ‘a move from a society where belief in God is unchallenged and indeed, unproblematic, to one in which it is understood to be one option among others.’ The result is a radical pluralism which, as well as offering unprecedented freedom, creates new challenges and instabilities. * London Review of Books *The real genius of this erudite and profound book resides in its grandeur of theme and richness of detail. For all its imposing intellectual density, it is a delight to read; at times, it was literally impossible to put down. Yet it is also a work that ought to be read by degrees—one chapter at a time, with ample pause for reflection. -- Lorenzo DiTommaso * Montreal Gazette *A salutary and sophisticated defense of how life was lived before the daring views of a tiny secular elite inspired mass indifference, and how it might be lived in the future. -- Michael Burleigh * New York Sun *Taylor reminds us that we remain spiritual creatures in our most essential natures, and that what we take for granted—our age’s lack of religious faith—is, in fact, an anomaly of history. Our forefathers did not live this way and our grandchildren might not either. Considering the doubts about extreme secularism, it is possible we are entering a new Age of Spirit. If so, Taylor’s latest magnum opus serves as a comprehensive guide to the reemergence of religious sensibility. -- Robert Sibley * Ottawa Citizen *The focus here is neither on the role of religion in public institutions nor on the extent of religious belief, but rather on its conditions… It is the slow emergence of secularity in this sense that Taylor sets out to explain, at formidable length, and in remarkable historical and philosophical detail. Binding all that detail together is an argument that Taylor manages to sustain over nearly eight hundred pages. Simply put, A Secular Age is a magisterial refutation of what Taylor calls the ‘subtraction story’ of secularisation. -- Jonathan Derbyshire * Philosopher’s Magazine *Taylor’s gargantuan philosophical history of modernity, which complicates the flattering and simplified story we like to tell ourselves about secularization, is a major intellectual event. -- Jonathan Derbyshire * Prospect *Grapples with the Christian–secular relationship, and with admirable nuance (unlike most theology). -- Theo Hobson * The Tablet *Taylor makes a strong case for the presence in ordinary moral life of something like Plato’s idea of the Good, however little acknowledged… A Secular Age carries the story further, into the question of the role of religion in constituting a person’s identity. Taylor wants to lay out what it takes to go on believing in God, in the absence of any equivalent to the intellectual, cultural and imaginative surroundings in which pre-modern religion was quietly embedded. This is what he calls our ‘social imaginary’: how we collectively sense what is normal and appropriate in our dealings with one another and with the world around us. This is something deeper and more diffused than philosophical theories or thought-out positions. -- Fergus Kerr * The Tablet *A Secular Age is a towering achievement… It shows the ways we have traveled from the automatic certainties of 1500 to the fragile alignments of today. It transforms the secularization debate. -- David Martin * The Tablet *Charles Taylor’s A Secular Age offers a uniquely rich historical and philosophical overview of how we came to take a disenchanted world for granted—quietly inviting us to reflect that if disenchantment and the absence of the divine were learned habits of mind, they might not necessarily be the self-evidently rational truths so many think they are. -- Rowan Williams * Times Literary Supplement *[A] big, powerful book… [Taylor’s] book is massive in its historical and philosophical scope. Penetrating and dense, it would take months to fully digest. Loosely structured, it’s crammed with original insights. Taylor, 75, can pack more into one of his complex paragraphs than most prevaricating, deconstructing academic philosophers can say in a chapter, or even a book… The book explores the immense ramifications of how the West shifted in a few centuries from being a society in which ‘it was virtually impossible not to believe in God’ to one in which belief is optional, often frowned upon. -- Douglas Todd * Vancouver Sun *If the author had accomplished nothing more than a survey of the voluminous body of ‘secularization theory,’ he would have done something valuable. But, although Taylor clearly articulates his disdain for the view that modernity ineluctably led to the death of God, he goes far beyond a literature review… In addition to its conceptual value, this study is notable for its lucidity. Taylor has translated complex philosophical theories into language that any educated reader will be able to follow, yet he has not sacrificed an iota of sophistication or nuance. A magisterial book. * Kirkus Reviews (starred review) *In his characteristically erudite yet engaging fashion, Taylor takes up where he left off in his magnificent Sources of the Self (1989) as he brilliantly traces the emergence of secularity and the processes of secularization in the modern age… Taylor sweeps grandly and magisterially through the 18th and 19th centuries as he recreates the history of secularism and its parallel challenges to religion. He concludes that a focus on the religious has never been lost in Western culture, but that it is one among many stories striving for acceptance. Taylor’s examination of the rise of unbelief in the 19th century is alone worth the price of the book and offers an essential reminder that the Victorian age, more than the Enlightenment, dominates our present view of the meanings of secularity. Taylor’s inspired combination of philosophy and history sparkles in this must-read virtuoso performance. * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *This is Charles Taylor’s breakthrough book, a book of really major importance, because he succeeds in recasting the whole debate about secularism. This is one of the most important books written in my lifetime. I am tempted to say the most important book, but that may just express the spell the book has cast over me at the moment. -- Robert N. Bellah

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Can thought explain why it cares about what it thinks? Can the mind account for its own minding? Drawing on his decades of reflection on German Idealism, Pippin supports Heidegger’s answer: no. The implications for the history of philosophy and for its future are profound.” -- Richard Polt, Xavier University“The Culmination is by far the deepest and most thorough study of Heidegger’s reading of Hegel and its centrality to his account of the history of metaphysics. Pippin makes a compelling case that the rationalist equation of thinking and being remains a dogmatic assumption absent a more radical reflection on how meaning is disclosed in nonrational ways. If, as Pippin says, Heidegger understood the idealist tradition better than anyone before him, it would be fair to add that Pippin has appreciated Heidegger’s reading of that tradition more profoundly than anyone yet has." -- Taylor Carman, Barnard College“With typical lucidity, Pippin executes his most extensive engagement with Heidegger to date, focusing on Heidegger’s insistence on the finitude of reason and its inability to do justice to the question of philosophy: the meaning of being. At the same time, The Culmination vividly illustrates how difficult it is to imagine an ‘other’ beginning, where thinking is not modeled as rational knowledge but as attunement to the sources of mattering and meaningfulness. An indispensable resource for anyone concerned about the future of philosophy.” -- Steven Crowell, Rice UniversityTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Sigla Preface Section One: Preliminaries 1. The Issues 2. What Is the Problem of the Meaning of Being? Section Two: Heidegger’s Kant 3. Being as Positing 4. Kant as Metaphysician 5. Finitude in Kant’s Moral Theory 6. The Thing Section Three: Heidegger’s Hegel 7. Hegel, Idealism, and Finitude 8. Hegel: The Culmination Section Four: Post-Culmination 9. Poetic Thinking? Bibliography

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Carlisle’s book is a finely written and thoughtful introduction to Spinoza’s philosophy for anyone who is curious as to why this thinker, dead for almost 350 years, remains vitally relevant today"---Steven Nadler, Literary Review"[Carlisle] admirably establishes that Spinoza’s philosophy can be interpreted as a distinctive and original form of rational religion."---Carlos Fraenkel, Times Literary Supplement"Carlisle has done us a great service by offering a convincing and newly rounded portrayal—and by reminding us that you can never exhaust the majesty of Spnoza's religious writing."---Alex Dean, Prospect"An intimate, religious reading of Spinoza’s Ethics, which allows his peculiar religion to emerge with all its promise and paradox." * Choice Reviews *"Carlisle’s interpretation of Spinoza is consistently fresh and surprising. . . . This book steps decisively away from the modes of rational reconstruction and conceptual analysis that now dominate Spinoza scholarship in the English language, and is all the better for it. . . . An excellent book that will reward readers of Spinoza of all levels."---Beth Lord, Philosophy"I’m sure I’m not the only person who feels excited to explore the new world of interpretation that Carlisle has opened up by taking Spinoza’s religion seriously."---Alexander Douglas, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews"Spinoza’s Religion is a joy to read. . . . It is a book that has the power to bring Spinoza deeper into our hearts, making his words a companion n our efforts to live with greater equanimity and delight. Spinoza's Religion also poses a compelling challenge to what we think we know about Spinoza."---Hasana Sharp, Journal of the History of Philosophy

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Book SynopsisLocke's Second Treatise is a classic of political philosophy. It helped entrench ideas of a social contract, human rights, and consent as guiding principles for modern Western democracy. His Letter calls for religious tolerance and separation of church and state. This edition offers an essential guide to these two foundational works.

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Book SynopsisWhat are human beings like? How is knowledge possible? What is truth? Where do moral values come from? Questions like these have stood at the centre of Western philosophy for centuries. In addressing them, philosophers have made certain fundamental assumptions,that we can know our own minds by introspection, that most of our thinking about the world is literal, and that reason is disembodied and universal,that are now called into question by well-established results of cognitive science. It has been shown empirically that:Most thought is unconscious. We have no direct conscious access to the mechanisms of thought and language. Our ideas go by too quickly and at too deep a level for us to observe them in any simple way.Abstract concepts are mostly metaphorical. Much of the subject matter of philosopy, such as the nature of time, morality, causation, the mind, and the self, relies heavily on basic metaphors derived from bodily experience. What is literal in our reasoning about such concepts is minimal and conceptually impoverished. All the richness comes from metaphor. For instance, we have two mutually incompatible metaphors for time, both of which represent it as movement through space: in one it is a flow past us and in the other a spatial dimension we move along.Mind is embodied. Thought requires a body,not in the trivial sense that you need a physical brain to think with, but in the profound sense that the very structure of our thoughts comes from the nature of the body. Nearly all of our unconscious metaphors are based on common bodily experiences.Most of the central themes of the Western philosophical tradition are called into question by these findings. The Cartesian person, with a mind wholly separate from the body, does not exist. The Kantian person, capable of moral action according to the dictates of a universal reason, does not exist. The phenomenological person, capable of knowing his or her mind entirely through introspection alone, does not exist. The utilitarian person, the Chomskian person, the poststructuralist person, the computational person, and the person defined by analytic philosopy all do not exist.Then what does?Lakoff and Johnson show that a philosopy responsible to the science of mind offers radically new and detailed understandings of what a person is. After first describing the philosophical stance that must follow from taking cognitive science seriously, they re-examine the basic concepts of the mind, time, causation, morality, and the self: then they rethink a host of philosophical traditions, from the classical Greeks through Kantian morality through modern analytic philosopy. They reveal the metaphorical structure underlying each mode of thought and show how the metaphysics of each theory flows from its metaphors. Finally, they take on two major issues of twentieth-century philosopy: how we conceive rationality, and how we conceive language. Philosopy in the Flesh reveals a radically new understanding of what it means to be human and calls for a thorough rethinking of the Western philosophical tradition. This is philosopy as it has never been seen before.Table of Contents* Introduction: Who Are We? How The Embodied Mind Challenges The Western Philosophical Tradition * The Cognitive Unconscious * The Embodied Mind * Primary Metaphor and Subjective Experience * The Anatomy of Complex Metaphor * Embodied Realism: Cognitive Science Versus A Priori Philosophy * Realism and Truth * Metaphor and Truth The Cognitive Science Of Basic Philosophical Ideas * The Cognitive Science of Philosophical Ideas * Time * Events and Causes * The Mind * The Self * Morality The Cognitive Science Of Philosophy * The Cognitive Science of Philosophy * The Pre-Socratics: The Cognitive Science of Early Greek Metaphysics * Plato * Aristotle * Descartes and the Enlightenment Mind * Kantian Morality * Analytic Philosophy * Chomskys Philosophy and Cognitive Linguistics * The Theory of Rational Action * How Philosophical Theories Work Embodied Philosophy * Philosophy in the Flesh

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Book SynopsisWhen it appeared in 1670, Baruch Spinoza's Theological-Political Treatise was denounced as the most dangerous book ever published - "godless," "full of abominations," "a book forged in hell ...by the devil himself." This title the tells of story of incendiary ideas and vicious backlash.Trade ReviewHonorable Mention for the 2011 PROSE Award in Philosophy, Association of American Publishers "In this clearly written and accessible book, Nadler offers up a historical and philosophical analysis of Spinoza's Theological-Political Treatise... Each chapter not only focuses on sections of the Treatise but also explains the historical context of the Treatise and why many saw it as such a dangerous and corrupting book... [Nadler] has definitely succeeded in writing an extremely rewarding and engaging book."--Library Journal (starred review) "[T]his is a groundbreaking analysis of an incendiary text."--Booklist "Steven Nadler's new study of the Treatise, A Book Forged in Hell, succeeds... While his tasks are primarily expository and contextual, Nadler, who is the author of the standard biography of Spinoza, puts forward a substantive thesis as well... Guided by this set of claims, Nadler takes us through the Treatise in a detailed but seamless account of Spinoza's arguments and aims. One measure of his integrity, indeed, is that while endorsing the common portrayal of Spinoza as a founder of modern secularism, Nadler is sensitive to some of the ways in which Spinoza is not to be taken as the harbinger of the secular mindset. In fact, A Book Forged in Hell raises the important question of how appropriate it is to view Spinoza as a philosophical founder of contemporary secularism and especially of contemporary liberalism. It also raises the question of whether Spinoza should be understood as a Jewish thinker, if so, to what extent."--Zachary Micah Gartenberg, Jewish Review of Books "Steven Nadler has written a delightfully lucid and philosophically thorough account of the Treatise that helps to explain how and why this singular text became the object of such opprobrium and why we should see its appearance as the 'the birth of the secular age.'... What makes Nadler's so welcome a contribution is the care and the clarity of his philosophical exposition, and his restraint when tracing the wider implications of Spinoza's work."--Peter Gordon, TNR.com's The Book "Without comparison the best among the available books on Spinoza in this category."--British Journal for the History of Philosophy "Nadler shows, for a general audience, why Spinoza's Tractatus Theologico-Politicus evoked such opposition from contemporary religious and political readers. Nadler places Spinoza and his book in their historical context, explains the issues that were at stake, and discusses the book's subsequent influence. Persons interested in the history of political liberalism, modern Judaism, biblical interpretation, and early modern philosophy will welcome this excellent book."--Choice "A Book Forged in Hell is ... without comparison the best among the available books on Spinoza in this category."--British Journal for the History of Philosophy "Steven Nadler, professor of philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has written a thoroughly engaging study of a book which, not only controversial in its day, may be said to have moved Biblical studies into a modern terminology and thrust. It will be a welcome addition to seminary and university libraries."--Morton J. Merowitz, Association of Jewish Library Reviews "[A]ccomplished... Few have accepted Spinoza's equation of God with Nature or his determinism. Yet his deconstruction of the Bible remains a towering achievement, a triumph of reason over ecclesiastical obfuscation. Nadler is to be applauded for making this achievement so accessible. God knows, the world still needs such enlightenment."--Jewish Chronicle "Philosophy professor Steven Nadler tells the story of the book that scandalized early modern Europe--and laid the groundwork for modern republican, anticlerical, and anti-sectarian movements--in his readable A Book Forged in Hell."--Reason "[L]ucid... Nadler does an excellent job of summarizing Spinoza's sometimes convoluted arguments."--Weekly Standard "Nadler's book is a biography of the treatise and very much a page turner, a philosophical and political thriller, which demands to be bought, read and shared."--Derek Wall, Morning Star Online "In this highly readable study, Steven Nadler persuasively shows that this scandalous work of modern philosophy deserves far more attention than it has actually received from scholars."--Grant Havers, European LegacyTable of ContentsPreface xi Acknowledgments xvii Chapter 1: Prologue 1 Chapter 2: The Theological-Political Problem 17 Chapter 3: Rasphuis 36 Chapter 4: Gods and Prophets 52 Chapter 5: Miracles 76 Chapter 6: Scripture 104 Chapter 7: Judaism, Christianity, and True Religion 143 Chapter 8: Faith, Reason, and the State 176 Chapter 9: Libertas philosophandi 200 Chapter 10: The Onslaught 215 A Note on Texts and Translations 241 Abbreviations 243 Notes 245 Bibliography 267 Index 277

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Book SynopsisThe influential work of speculative biology-and a key document in posthumanist studies-now available in a new, accurate English translation.Table of ContentsContents Introduction: Umwelt after Uexküll Dorion Sagan Translator's Introduction A Foray into the Worlds of Animals and Humans Foreword Introduction Environment Spaces The Farthest Plane Perception Time Simple Environments Form and Movement as Perception Marks Goal and Plan Perception Image and Effect Image The Familiar Path Home and Territory The Companion Search Image and Search Tone Magical Environments The Same Subject as Object in Different Environments Conclusion A Theory of Meaning Carriers of Meaning Environment and Dwelling-shell Utilization of Meaning The Interpretation of the Spider's Web Form Development Rule and Meaning Rule The Meaning Rule as the Bridging of Two Elementary Rules The Composition Theory of Nature The Sufferance of Meaning The Technique of Nature Counterpoint as a Motif/Motive of Form Development Progress Summary and Conclusion Afterword. Bubbles and Webs: A Backdoor Stroll through the Readings of Uexküll Geoffrey Winthrop-Young Notes Index

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Book SynopsisSlavoj Žižek gives us a reading of a philosophical giant that changes our way of thinking about the new posthuman era.No ordinary study of Hegel, this work investigates what he might have had to say about the idea of the ''wired brain'' what happens when a direct link between our mental processes and a digital machine emerges. Žižek explores the phenomenon of a wired brain effect, and what might happen when we can share our thoughts directly with others. He hones in on the key question of how it shapes our experience and status as ''free'' individuals and asks what it means to be human when a machine can read our minds.With characteristic verve and enjoyment of the unexpected, Žižek connects Hegel to the world we live in now, shows why he is much more fun than anyone gives him credit for, and why the 21st century might just be Hegelian.Trade ReviewHegel in a Wired Brain, mixes perspicacity and paradox in brain-teasing ways that have become his signature style but there is novelty too in this punchy addition to his oeuvre. * PopMatters *Table of ContentsIntroduction: “Un jour, peut-être, le siècle sera hégélien” 1. The Digital Police State: Fichte’s Revenge on Hegel 2. The Idea of a Wired Brain and its Limitation 3. The Impasse of Soviet Tech-Gnosis 4. Singularity: the Gnostic Turn 5. The Fall that Makes Us Like God 6. Reflexivity of the Unconscious 7. A Literary Fantasy: the Unnamable Subject of Singularity A Treatise on Digital Apocalypse Index

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Book SynopsisThis new translation of Aristotle's Politics is a model of accuracy and consistency and fits seamlessly with the translator's Nicomachean Ethics, allowing the two to be read together, as Aristotle intended. Sequentially numbered endnotes provide the information most needed at each juncture, while a detailed Index of Terms indicates places where focused discussion of key notions occurs. A general Introduction prepares the reader for the work that lies ahead, explaining what sort of work it is and what sort of evidence it relies on.Trade Review"David Reeve's new translation of the Politics is certain to become the primary and indispensable tool for anyone undertaking a careful study of Aristotle's great work. Newcomers to this treatise as well as advanced scholars will learn enormously from the Introduction, extensive notes, and detailed index." —Richard Kraut, Northwestern University"C. D. C. Reeve's study of Aristotle's Politics (translation with introduction, hundreds of notes, and a detailed index of terms) does justice to Aristotle's practical philosophy as a whole in an exceptional way. . . . [Far] from being a simple revision of his previous work (Hackett, 1998) [it] provides us with a totally fresh English text in harmony with his recent translation of the Nicomachean Ethics (Hackett, 2014). . . . Among the merits of the edition is Reeve's philosophically illuminating Introduction [which] attempts to situate politics within the framework of Aristotelian sciences. . . . It is a great merit of Reeve's Translation and Commentary that his own views are confined to his Introduction. In his sequentially numbered endnotes we most often hear Aristotle's own voice and not a commentary that might have promoted partial interpretations. Apart from the quotation of a wide range of passages from the Aristotelian corpus, the reader will also find clarifications providing her with the assistance necessary to find her own way in the text. . . . In general, comparing the new translation to the Greek text one can hardly fail to recognize that it attains an admirable balance between fidelity and smoothness: though following the syntax of the Greek text, it remains fluent and readable. . . . In a nutshell, Reeve's new translation and commentary is a masterful work. Both students who wish to study the Politics and advanced scholars will greatly profit from it." —Vasia Vergouli, University of Patras, in Bryn Mawr Classical Review

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Book SynopsisThe Collected Works of Spinoza provides, for the first time in English, a truly satisfactory edition of all of Spinoza's writings, with accurate and readable translations, based on the best critical editions of the original-language texts, done by a scholar who has published extensively on the philosopher's work. The centerpiece of this second volTrade ReviewOne of The Times Literary Supplement's Books of the Year 2016, chosen by Clare Carlisle "The Collected Works of Spinoza has been the labour of a lifetime, and it provides us with a fluent, meticulous, consistent and usefully annotated English version of everything Spinoza wrote (except the Hebrew grammar), and a fresh opportunity to see his arguments in detail and to see them whole."--Jonathan Ree, London Review of Books "A magnificent achievement and a beautiful companion to the first volume. This edition will last--I'm hesitant to say forever--but it's hard for me to see how it will ever be surpassed."--Steven Smith, Yale UniversityTable of ContentsGeneral Preface, ix Short titles and Abbreviations, xix Letters: September 1665-September 1669 Editorial Preface, 3 Letters 29-41, 10 A Critique of Theology and Politics Editorial Preface, 45 Theological-Political Treatise, 65 Letters: January 1671-Late 1676 Editorial Preface, 357 Letters 42-84, 374 Designs for Stable States Editorial Preface, 491 Political Treatise, 503 Glossary-Index Preface, 607 Glossary, 613 Latin-Dutch-English Index, 666 Index of Biblical and Talmudic References, 713 Index of Proper Names, 721 Works Cited, 725 Correlation of the Alm and Bruder Paragraph Numbers (ttp), 767

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Book SynopsisOriginally published in 1975, The Machiavellian Moment remains a landmark of historical and political thought. Celebrated historian J.G.A. Pocock looks at the consequences for modern historical and social consciousness arising from the ideal of the classical republic revived by Machiavelli and other thinkers of Renaissance Italy. Pocock shows thatTrade Review"The Machiavellian Moment reinterpreted the entire history of political ideology in early modern England and America."--T. H. Breen, New York TimesTable of ContentsIntroduction to the Princeton Classics edition vii Introduction xxiii Part One Particularity and Time: The Conceptual Background I The Problem and Its Modes A) Experience, Usage and Prudence 3 II The Problem and Its Modes B) Providence, Fortune and Virtue 31 III The Problem and Its Modes C) The Vita Activa and the Vivere Civile 49 Part Two The Republic and its Fortune: Florentine Political Thought from 1494 to 1530 IV From Bruni to Savonarola Fortune, Venice and Apocalypse 83 V The Medicean Restoration 114 A) Guicciardini and the Lesser Ottimati, 1512-1516 VI The Medicean Restoration 156 B) Machiavelli's Il Principe VII Rome and Venice A) Machiavelli's Discorsi and Arte della Guerra 183 VIII Rome and Venice B) Guicciardini's Dialogo and the Problem of Optimate Prudence 219 IX Giannotti and Contarini: Venice as Concept and as Myth 272 Part Three Value and History in the Prerevolutionary Atlantic X The Problem of English Machiavellism: Modes of Civic Consciousness before the Civil War 333 XI The Anglicization of the Republic A) Mixed Constitution, Saint and Citizen 361 XII The Anglicization of the Republic B) Court, Country, and Standing Army 401 XIII Neo-Machiavellian Political Economy The Augustan Debate over Land, Trade and Credit 423 XIV The Eighteenth-Century Debate: Virtue, Passion and Commerce 462 XV The Americanization of Virtue: Corruption, Constitution and Frontier 506 Afterword 553 Bibliography 585 Index 601

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Book SynopsisMartin Heidegger’s (1889-1976) influence has long been felt not just in philosophy, but also in such fields as art, architecture, and literary studies. Yet his difficult terminology has often scared away interested readers lacking an academic background in philosophy. In this new entry in the Ideas Explained series, author Graham Harman shows that Heidegger is actually one of the simplest and clearest of thinkers. His writings and analyses boil down to a single powerful idea: being is not presence. In any human relation with the world, our thinking and even our acting do not fully exhaust the world. Something more always withdraws from our grasp. As Harman shows, Heidegger understood that human beings are not lucid scientific observers staring at the world and describing it, but instead are thrown into a world where light is always mixed with shadow. The book concludes with a comprehensible discussion of the philosopher’s notoriously opaque concept of the fourfo

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Book SynopsisOn 25 October 1946, in a crowded room in Cambridge, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Karl Popper came face to face for the first and only time. The encounter lasted only ten minutes, and did not go well. Almost immediately, rumours started to spread around the world that the two philosophers had come to blows, armed with red-hot pokers. But what really happened? Wittgenstein''s Poker engagingly winds together philosophy, history and biography into a compelling piece of detective work. It ranges from the place of assimilated Jews in fin-de-siècle Vienna, to what happens to memory under stress, to a vivid portrait of Cambridge and its eccentric set of philosophy dons, including Bertrand Russell (who acted as umpire during the altercation). At the centre of the story stand the philosophers themselves, proud, irascible, larger than life, and spoiling for a fight.''Those ten minutes shook the world of Western philosophy literally to its foundations . . . Edmonds and

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Book SynopsisExamines the relationship between hope and knowledge by investigating how hope is produced in various forms of knowledge - Fijian, philosophical, anthropological. This book discusses the hope entailed in a range of Fijian knowledge practices and compares it with the concept of hope in the work of philosophers.Trade Review"Innovative and theoretically provocative."—Oceania"What is hope? Can one hope to understand it? Must one hope in order to understand it? Is hope, then, a method of knowing rather than an object of knowledge? In a brilliant synthesis of philosophy and anthropology, Miyazaki engages the reader with these questions in a path-breaking example of contemporary ethnography."—Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute"A lucid and compact work, The Method of Hope will ideally reorient anthropological knowledge, not only about Fiji but also about the ways in which, as Miyazaki writes, 'hope is a common operative in knowledge formation, academic and otherwise.'"—Anthropological Forum

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Book SynopsisThe texts in this volume represent Kristin Ross's attempt to think the question of the everyday across a range of discourses, practices and knowledges, from philosophy to history, from the visual arts to popular fiction, all the way to the forms taken by collective political action in the territorial struggles of today. If everyday life is, as many have come to believe, the ideal vantage point for an analysis of the social, it is also the crucial first step in its transformation.The volume opens with a return to Henri Lefebvre's powerful attempt to think the everyday as both residue and resource, as the site of profound alienation and-by the same token-the site where all emancipatory initiatives and desires begin. The second section focuses on our attempts to represent our lived reality to ourselves in cultural forms, from painting and literature and film to an analysis of the contemporary transformations of the sub-genre most embedded in the deep superficiality of everyday life: detective fiction. The final section turns to present-day ecological occupations in the wake of the zad at Notre-Dame-des-Landes, and locates the everyday as a site for rich oppositional resources and immanent social creativity.Trade ReviewIn these remarkably lucid essays, real critics, rebellious farmers, artisans, and diverse character-types are summoned to remind us of moments of conformist immobility, disavowals of colonialism, violence and class difference; but also, of how French cultural history offers paths toward public beauty, collectivity, ecological ways of living. Ross has an uncanny ability to zero in on what matters in the forms of the Paris Commune and beyond, letting participants speak without the usual virtue-signaling. -- Karen Pinkus, Professor of Romance Studies and Comparative Literature, Cornell UniversityThis volume recalls why Kristin Ross's work is a necessary point of entry into the infinite insurrection of everyday life envisaged by Karl Marx and Henri Lefebvre, Arthur Rimbaud and Jacques Ranciere, variously enacted from the Commune to May 68, and that animates the rural radicalism of today's Zad. Anyone interested in altering the questions of our day towards a new everyday life will find here an abundant reservoir to think and do anew. -- Manu Goswami, New York University

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Book SynopsisA radical thinker, Xunzi disagreed with Mencius on human nature. For him men are naturally evil. From this inverse assumption, he yet reached the same Mencian conclusion: moral education is paramount for society to function, and the ruler should be meritorious, protecting the people. This makes Xunzi a Confucianist, though Han Fei and Li Si, his students, were to subvert Confucian principles. From Xunzi, Mingyuan Hu selects and translates three treatises, illustrating his argument. This book is part of the Erstwhile Series.Table of ContentsMen Are Naturally Evil, Their Goodness a Matter of Cultivation Human Demeanour, All Too Human Demeanour, Not at All Becoming Water Carries the Boat; Water Overturns the Boat

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Book SynopsisThe Middle Ages, in our cultural imagination, are besieged with ideas of wars, tournaments, plagues, saints and kings, knights, lords and ladies. In his era-defining work, Inventing the Middle Ages, Norman Cantor shows that these presuppositions are in fact constructs of the twentieth century. Through close study of the lives and works of twenty of the twentieth century''s most prominent medievalists, Cantor examines how the genesis of this fantasy arose in the scholars'' spiritual and emotional outlooks, which influenced their portrayals of the Middle Ages. In the course of this vigorous scrutiny of their scholarship, he navigates the strong personalities and creative minds involved with deft skill.Written with both students and the general public in mind, Inventing the Middle Ages provided an alternative framework for the teaching of the humanities. Revealing the interconnection between medieval civilisation, the culture of the twentieth century and our own assumptions, Cantor providTable of ContentsPreface and Acknowledgements Credo 1. The Quest for the Middle Ages 2. Law and Society: Frederick William Maitland 3. The Nazi Twins: Percy Ernst Schramm and Ernst Hartwig Kantorowicz 4. The French Jews: Louis Halphen and Marc Bloch 5. The Formalists: Erwin Panofsky and Ernst Robert Curtius 6. The Oxford Fantasists: Clive Stephen Lewis, John Ronal Revel Tolkien, and Frederick Maurice Powicke 7. American Pie: Charles Homer Haskins and Joseph Reese Strayer 8. After the Fall: Michael David Knowles and Étienne Henry Gilson 9. The Once and Future King: Richard William Southern 10. Outriders: Johan Huizinga, Eileen Edna Power, Michael MoisseyPostan, Carl Erdmann, and Theodor Ernst Mommsen Notes A Core Bibliography in Medieval Studies Index

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Book SynopsisLet your love of fate go beyond the cards—and as far as the amor fati of Nietzsche! The Philosophers Tarot is chance’s tryst with reason: a marriage of philosophy’s conceptual creativity with the tarot’s path of intuition. Read your spreads in the traditional manner, or delve deeply into the rich philosophical implications that emerge with every draw. While every tarot deck seeks to lift the veil from the forces of the universe, The Philosopher’s Tarot does so by gesturing towards the wisdom of history’s most notable sages. The Philosopher’s Tarot is a tarot deck which infuses the classic 78 card Rider-Waite deck with popular philosophical figures and their theoretical creativity. With added flair and vibrance, The Philosopher’s Tarot elicits a mixture of classical interpretations and philosophical inquiry. The deck comprises mashups of the 22 major arcana with famous theorists. The minor arcana has also been reworked to highlight the deck’s convergence with philosophical themes. New spreads also engage the tarot’s capacity to reveal fresh perspectives to its user whilst invoking stimulating questions about the nature of reality, the machinations of the world we live in, and the limits of our minds and bodies. The Philosopher’s Tarot includes new renditions of the traditional 78 tarot cards and a 35-page booklet that briefly introduces the ideas of thinkers featured in the deck.

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Book SynopsisWhether viewed as extreme skepticism or enlightened common sense, the writings of Berkeley are a major influence on modern philosophy. Bishop Berkeley (1685-1753) was one of the great British empirical philosophers. He believed that the existence of material objects depends on their being perceived and The Principles of Human Knowledge sets out this denial of non-mental material reality. At first his views were unfavorably received by the London intelligentsia, and the entertaining Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous are a clarification of the Realist argument and a response to accusations of atheism and skepticism. In the nineteenth century John Stuart Mill wrote that he considered Berkeley's work to be of greatest philosophic genius, and it is true to say that its Immaterialism has influenced many recent philosophers.Table of ContentsPrinciples of Human Knowledge/Three Dialogues " cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" border="0"IntroductionTextual NoteNotesPrinciples of Human KnowledgeThree Dialogues between Hylas and PhilonousFirst DialogueSecond DialogueThird DialogueNotesSelect BibliographyBibliography of Further Reading

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Book SynopsisIn the posthumously published Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, the Enlightenment philosopher David Hume attacked many of the traditional arguments for the existence of God, expressing the belief that religion is founded on ignorance and irrational fears. Though calm and courteous in tone - at times even tactfully ambiguous - the conversations between Hume's vividly realized fictional figures form perhaps the most searching case ever mounted against orthodox Christian theological thinking and the 'deism' of the time, which pointed to the wonders of creation as conclusive evidence of God's Design. Hume's characters debate these issues with extraordinary passion, lucidity and humour, in one of the most compelling philosophical works ever written.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works througTable of ContentsDialogues Concerning Natural Religion - David Hume Edited with an Introduction by Martin BellIntroductionNotes to IntroductionTextual NotePAMPHILUS to HERMIPPUSPart IPart IIPart IIIPart IVPart VPart VIPart VIIPart VIIIPart IXPart XPart XIPart XIINotesSelect Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThroughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization, and helped make us who we are.

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Book SynopsisAn updated edition of Thoreau's most widely read worksSelf-described as a mystic, a transcendentalist, and a natural philosopher to boot, Henry David Thoreau dedicated his life to preserving his freedom as a man and as an artist. Nature was the fountainhead of his inspiration and his refuge from what he considered the follies of society. Heedless of his friends' advice to live in a more orthodox manner, he determinedly pursued his own inner bent-that of a poet-philosopher-in prose and verse. Edited by noted Thoreau scholar Jeffrey S. Cramer, this edition promises to be the new standard for those interested in discovering the great thinker's influential ideas about everything from environmentalism to limited government.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genr

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Book SynopsisBuddhism is one of the oldest and largest of the world''s religions. But it is also a tradition that has proven to have enormous contemporary relevance. Founded by Siddhartha Gautama, who came to be called the Buddha, the religion has spread from its origins in northeast India, across Asia, and eventually to the West, taking on new forms at each step of the way. Buddhism: What Everyone Needs to Know offers readers a brief, authoritative guide to one of the world''s most diverse religious traditions in a reader-friendly question-and-answer format. Dale Wright covers the origins and early history of Buddhism, the diversity of types of Buddhism throughout history, and the status of contemporary Buddhism. This is a go-to book for anyone seeking a basic understanding of the origins, history, teachings, and practices of Buddhism.Trade ReviewI think Buddhism: What Everyone Needs to Know takes its rightful place in bookstores for intelligent readers who would like to get an overall picture of the various Buddhist traditions. * Peter Feldmeier, Horizons: The Journal of the College Theology Society *Table of ContentsForeward 1. Origins and Early History 2. Buddhist Diversity 3. Buddhist Teachings 4. Buddhist Practices 5. Contemporary Global Buddhism Glossary Further Reading Index

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Book SynopsisRené Descartes (1596-1650) had a remarkably short working life, and his output was small, yet his contributions to philosophy and science have endured to the present day. He is perhaps best known for his statement ''Cogito, ergo sum''. By a mixture of ''intuition'' and ''deduction'' Descartes derived from the ''cogito'' principle first the existence of a material world. But Descartes did not intend the metaphysics to stand apart from his scientific work, which included important investigations into physics, mathematics, psychology, and optics. In this book Tom Sorrell shows that Descartes was, above all, an advocate and practitioner of a new mathematical approach to physics, and that he developed his metaphysics to support his programme in the sciences.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Trade ReviewSorell's account well portrays the intensely personal character of Descartes's thought, and in doing so tells us much about the thinker himself. The pages ... devoted to the Meditations surely constitute the best available introductory sketch of Descartes's classic. * Times Higher Education Supplement *concise and lucid ... it radiates authority * J. V. Field, Mathematical Reviews *

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Book SynopsisWhat are philosophers trying to achieve? How can they succeed? Does philosophy make progress? Is it in competition with science, or doing something completely different, or neither?Timothy Williamson tackles some of the key questions surrounding philosophy in new and provocative ways, showing how philosophy begins in common sense curiosity, and develops through our capacity to dispute rationally with each other. Discussing philosophy''s ability to clarify our thoughts, he explains why such clarification depends on the development of philosophical theories, and how those theories can be tested by imaginative thought experiments, and compared against each other by standards similar to those used in the natural and social sciences. He also shows how logical rigour can be understood as a way of enhancing the explanatory power of philosophical theories. Drawing on the history of philosophy to provide a track record of philosophical thinking''s successes and failures, Williams overturns widely held dogmas about the distinctive nature of philosophy in comparison to the sciences, demystifies its methods, and considers the future of the discipline.From thought experiments, to deduction, to theories, this Very Short Introduction will cause you to totally rethink what philosophy is. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Previously published in hardback as Doing PhilosophyTable of ContentsPreface 1: Introduction 2: Starting from common sense 3: Disputing 4: Clarifying terms 5: Doing thought experiments 6: Comparing theories 7: Deducing 8: Using the history of philosophy 9: Using other fields 10: Model-building 11: Conclusion: the future of philosophy References and Further Reading

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Book Synopsis`Anyone who wants to gain a quick idea of how before me everything was topsy-turvy should make a start with this work. That which is called idol on the title-page is quite simply that which was called truth hitherto. Twilight of the Idols - in plain words: the old truth is coming to an end...'' Nietzsche intended Twilight of the Idols to serve as a short introduction to his philosophy, and as a result it is the most synoptic of all his books. Continuing in the spirit of its immediate predecessors On The Genealogy of Morals and The Wagner Case, it is a masterpiece of polemic, targeting not only `eternal idols'' like Socratic rationality and Christian morality but also their contemporary counterparts, as Nietzsche the `untimely man'' goes roaming in the gloaming of nineteenth-century European culture. He allies philosophy with psychology and physiology, relentlessly diagnozing the symptoms of decadence, and his stylistic virtuosity is such that the sheer delight he takes in his ''demonic'' mischief-making communicates itself on every page. A brilliant new translation, this edition provides detailed commentary on a highly condensed and allusive work. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.Table of Contents1. Maxims and Barbs ; 2. The Problem of Socrates ; 3. "Reason" in Philosophy ; 4. How the "Real World" Finally Becomes a Fable ; 5. Morality as Anti-Nature ; 6. The Four Great Errors ; 7. The "Improvers " of Humanity ; 8. What Germans Lack ; 9. Reconnaissance Raids of an Untimely Man ; 10. What I Owe the Ancients ; 11. The Hammer Speaks

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Book SynopsisThough most historians remember her as the mistress of Voltaire, Emilie Du Chatelet (1706-49) was an accomplished writer in her own right, who published multiple editions of her scientific writings during her lifetime. This book features a selection of key sections from Du Chatelet's works.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"The sage of Walden Pond is himself in the mix with The Daily Henry David Thoreau, a quote-a-day compendium from Thoreau biographer Laura Dassow Walls of some of his best observations. In a pandemic year touched by window-gazing among homebound Americans, readers might especially respond to this musing from Christmas Eve, 1841: 'Will it not be employment enough to watch the progress of the seasons?'" * Wall Street Journal *

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“An outstanding work of Nietzsche scholarship.” -- Antoine Panaïoti * Mind *"Contesting Nietzsche is a helpful book in many ways, and it covers a wide range of topics central to Nietzsche’s philosophy. Readers interested in understanding more about how Nietzsche’s early philosophical career and view of the ancient Greeks affect his philosophical project as a whole must grapple with Acampora’s views on this topic." -- Joel A. Van Fossen * The Journal of Nietzsche Studies *"Acampora examines the importance of the agon, or contest, in Nietzsche’s writings . . . . Acampora’s treatment of the agon is the first concentrated and comprehensive analysis, with extensive detail that demonstrates the centrality of contestation throughout Nietzsche’s work. For those readers who may not have grasped the importance of the agon in Nietzsche’s philosophy, Acampora’s study does indeed provide a key to unlock his texts. . . . This is an important book that makes a major contribution to Nietzsche research." -- Lawrence J. Hatab * Political Theory *“Contesting Nietzsche is one of the finest pieces of Nietzsche scholarship to appear in many years. It offers both a comprehensive interpretation of the key texts in Nietzsche’s oeuvre and contributes significant insights to some of the key topics in Nietzsche scholarship, including his naturalism, account of agency, approach to science, and possible contribution to thinking about democracy.” -- Alan D. Schrift, Grinnell College“Contesting Nietzsche offers a compelling interpretation of Nietzsche’s overall philosophical project. By focusing on the concept and practice of contestation, Christa Davis Acampora is able to demonstrate that Nietzsche’s various polemics, seemingly free-swinging and indiscriminate, actually express the deeper unity that informs his philosophy. This is a timely and welcome contribution to the secondary literature on Nietzsche’s philosophy.” -- Daniel Conway, Texas A&M UniversityTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Abbreviations and Citations of Nietzsche’s Works Introduction 1 Agon as Analytic, Diagnostic, and Antidote 1.1 Valuing Animals 1.2 “Homer’s Wettkampf ” and the Good of the Second Eris 1.3 What Is an Agon? A Typology of Nietzsche’s Contests 1.4 Lessons from Pindar: The Economy of Agonistic Values and the Circulation of Power 1.5 The End of the Game: Hybris and Violence 1.6 Agon Model as Diagnostic 1.7 Wrestling with the Past: Nietzsche’s Agonistic Critique and Use of History 1.8 Introducing Nietzsche’s Agonists 2 Contesting Homer: The Poiesis of Value 2.1 Homer’s Contest as Exemplary Revaluation 2.2 The Apollinian (and the Dionysian): The Agon Begins 2.3 Deadly Modifi cations and the End of Agon 2.4 The Agon: Pessimism, Conservatism, and Racism 2.5 The Logic of the Contest 2.6 The “Ultimate Agony”: Agonistic Antipodes 3 Contesting Socrates: Nietzsche’s (Artful) Naturalism 3.1 Toward a “Superior Naturalism” 3.2 The Relation between Value and Inquiry 3.3 Toward the “Music-Practicing Socrates” 3.4 Semblance and Science 3.5 Artful Naturalism 3.6 Nietzsche’s Problem of Development and His Heraclitean Solution 3.7 The Subject Naturalized: Nietzsche’s Agonistic Model of the Soul 4 Contesting Paul: Toward an Ethos of Agonism 4.1 On the Possibility of Overcoming Morality 4.2 Fighting to the Death: The Agonies of Pauline Christianity 4.3 Confl icting Values and Worldviews 4.4 Sittlichkeit, Moral, and the Nature of Nietzsche’s Postmoralism 4.5 The (Moral) Subject Naturalized 4.6 “Das Thun ist Alles” 5 Contesting Wagner: How One Becomes What One Is 5.1 Becoming What One Is 5.2 The Promise and Problem of Wagner 5.3 Nietzsche’s Inheritance 5.4 Orders of Rank, Types, and Ruling Thoughts 5.5 Nietzsche as a Lover: Selfishness versus Selflessness 5.6 The Feeling of Power 5.7 Nietzsche’s Responsibility 5.8 Fighting Writing: Nietzsche’s Kriegs-Praxis5.9 How One Becomes What One IsAfterword Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Cooper's reading is Platonic without being Platonist, i.e., he reads Rousseau in dialogue with Plato as understood by Straussian interpreters, such that political philosophy, not metaphysics, forms the core of Platonic thought." * Choice *"Written with a combination of true insight, grace, and humility, this book is the first of which I’m aware that undertakes to read Rousseau’s Reveries—his most beautiful but mysterious work—as a single, consistent but unfolding story: the tale of Rousseau’s journey into and then within the philosophic life." -- Arthur M. Melzer, author of The Natural Goodness of Man“In his new book, Dreaming of Justice, Waking to Wisdom, Cooper, gives us a fascinating account of what it means to live philosophically, through an analysis of Rousseau's Promenades of a Solitary Walker. While Rousseau's life may be peculiar in many ways Cooper brilliantly uses Rousseau’s account of that life to open up for us what the experience of philosophizing can be like. Highly recommended!” -- Michael Allen Gillespie, Duke UniversityTable of ContentsCitations and Abbreviations Preface Introduction: After the Cave Part I Chapter 1 The Life of Philosophy and the Life of Rousseau Chapter 2 The Reveries of the Solitary Walker: An Introduction Part II Chapter 3 “What Am I?”: First Walk Chapter 4 “A Faithful Record”: Second Walk Chapter 5 Becoming a Philosopher: Third Walk Chapter 6 Being a Philosopher: Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Walks Chapter 7 Becoming a More Perfect Philosopher: Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Walks Coda: The Love of Wisdom and the Wisdom of Love: Tenth Walk Acknowledgments Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"In these exceptionally complex, wide-ranging lectures written for a 1975–76 course, Derrida takes very seriously Nietzsche's warning to 'beware . . . saying that death is opposed to life' . . . . Essential." * Choice *"Translated . . . with unparalleled grace and rigor.” * Philosophy Today *"One of Derrida’s most challenging and urgently relevant seminars.” * Style *"Daring and wide-ranging.” * Research in Phenomenology *“Derrida’s 1975-76 seminar, Life Death, is surely one of his greatest achievements. It begins with a deconstructive reading of François Jacob’s Logic of the Living, advancing to a critique of scientific ‘models’ in general. It then takes up Nietzsche’s notions of life and the living in terms of both biography and biology. Finally, it reads Freud’s Beyond the Pleasure Principle in an exciting and challenging way. The translation by Pascale-Anne Brault and Michael Naas is reliable and eminently readable.” -- David Farrell Krell, author of The Sea: A Philosophical Encounter“This is a splendid translation of one of Derrida’s most challenging seminars, one that relates, in unprecedented ways, the vocabulary and concepts of historical and contemporary biology and genetics with selected and relevant works of Marx, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Freud.” -- Dawne McCance, author of The Reproduction of Life Death: Derrida's La Vie la Mort"This one is lucid and rich, with sparing translators’ interventions . . . to see even republished material within its original scene is exciting. So too proves the book as a whole." * The Heythrop Journal *Table of ContentsForeword to the English Edition General Introduction to the French Edition Editorial Note Translators’ Note First Session: Programs Second Session: Logic of the Living (She the Living) Third Session: Transition (Oedipus’s Faux Pas) Fourth Session: The Logic of the Supplement: The Supplement of the Other, of Death, of Meaning, of Life Fifth Session: The Indefatigable Sixth Session: The “Limping” Model: The Story of the Colossus Seventh Session Eighth Session: Cause (“Nietzsche”) Ninth Session: Of Interpretation Tenth Session: Thinking the Division of Labor—and the Contagion of the Proper Name Eleventh Session: The Escalade—of the Devil in Person Twelfth Session: Freud’s Leg(acies) Thirteenth Session: Sidestep Detour: Thesis, Hypothesis, Prosthesis Fourteenth Session: Tightenings Index of Proper Names

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Book SynopsisAmerica's Philosopher examines how John Locke has been interpreted, reinterpreted, and misinterpreted over three centuries of American history. The influence of polymath philosopher John Locke (16321704) can still be found in a dizzying range of fields, as his writings touch on issues of identity, republicanism, and the nature of knowledge itself. Claire Rydell Arcenas's new book tells the story of Americans' longstanding yet ever-mutable obsession with this English thinker's ideas, a saga whose most recent manifestations have found the so-called Father of Liberalism held up as a right-wing icon. The first book to detail Locke's trans-Atlantic influence from the eighteenth century until today, America's Philosopher shows how and why interpretations of his ideas have captivated Americans in ways few other philosophersfrom any nationever have. As Arcenas makes clear, each generation has essentially remade Locke in its own image, taking inspiration and transmuting his ideas to suitTrade Review"Arcenas has done valuable work in documenting Americans’ affection for an empiricist philosopher. Her discussion of twentieth-century scholarly debates over Locke’s significance, from Leo Strauss to J.G.A. Pocock, are accurate and well-expressed." * Wall Street Journal *“As Arcenas [shows], with detailed documentation and persuasive narrative . . . Americans deformed and truncated [Locke into] the alleged father of liberalism . . . With regard to ‘Locke’s polyvalent influence,’ Arcenas argues that for two centuries after his death he was almost omnipresent in colonial libraries, college reading lists, and periodical polemics, and almost as well known for counsel on card-playing and commonplacing as for epistemology or educational prescriptions.” * Times Literary Supplement *“Original and surprising.” * London Review of Books *“Clearly argued and written. . . . Arcenas convincingly demonstrates that colonists looked to Locke for guidance on matters involving child rearing and self-development, knowledge and its foundation, ways to read the Bible, and moral education, not so much as a guide to political principles. The text that early and mid-twentieth-century historians and political theorists such as Merle Curti, Carl Becker and Louis Hartz defined as the core of Lockean philosophy, the Two Treatises of Government, was not unknown to colonists, but it took a decided backseat to the Locke who reinvented the human mind, and when colonists went looking for political principles, Locke also took a backseat to Montesquieu and many others.” * Modern Intellectual History *"Arcenas’s thesis in this book is that John Locke 'stands—and has always stood—at the center of American intellectual life' (p.1), and that, paradoxically, his true significance to America has often been mischaracterized. . . . The book is enhanced with copious notes and an extensive bibliography. . . . Recommended." * Choice *"Remarkable. . . In America’s Philosopher, Professor Arcenas has produced an entertaining and insightful book of political historiography that enlivens America’s intellectual past and stimulates thinking about its present." * Montana The Magazine of Western History *"Arcenas’s work is eye-opening. She unveils the true role of Locke, a popular figure since colonial times, in shaping American society. Arcenas’s investigation takes us on a journey through archives, newspapers, syllabi, diaries, philosophy, history, theology, and so on, to illustrate the undeniable influence that Locke had on America’s identity." -- Mario I. Juarez-Garcia * The Independent Review *"Groundbreaking. . . we can and should value this book for making an impressive case for how each generation of Americans has read [Locke] with its own politically distorting lenses." * Chronicles Magazine *“A wonderfully wide-ranging and insightful history of John Locke’s changing reputation in America, moving from the early eighteenth century to the present with terrific scholarly command and authority. Locke’s invention, more than a century after the fact, as the key political theorist of the American Revolution is only the most striking of its findings. This book will surprise and inform every reader invested in the history of American political culture. There is simply nothing comparable in the existing literature.” * Daniel Rodgers, Princeton University *“If you thought you understood John Locke’s vital role in American thought, Arcenas’s fascinating book will make your jaw drop. Make no mistake, Locke has indeed been ‘America’s philosopher’ since his ideas first arrived in the early eighteenth century. But as readers will discover in her meticulously researched and absorbing study, Locke has mattered to Americans in ways wholly unexpected.” * Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen, University of Wisconsin–Madison *“America’s Philosopher accomplishes two tasks at once: it brings to life the fullness of John Locke’s thought and tracks the multiple ways a dynamic and changing America engaged with varying aspects of that thought. Arcenas shows how the early modern British philosopher’s place in American thought and culture shifted over three centuries, from a cherished guide to child-rearing, education, and toleration in the eighteenth century to a one-dimensional libertarian hero in our own day. Drawing on common-place books and college curricula, the work of mid-century scholars and the speeches of senators, Arcenas tells this fascinating story with clarity and verve.” * Leslie A. Butler, Dartmouth College *Table of ContentsPreface Chapter 1: Locke’s Legacy in Early America Chapter 2: Locke’s Authority in the Revolutionary and Founding Eras Chapter 3: Problematizing Locke as Exemplar in the Early United States Chapter 4: Locke Becomes Historical Chapter 5: Making Locke Relevant Chapter 6: Locke and the Invention of the American Political Tradition Chapter 7: Lockean “-isms” Epilogue Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Notes Bibliography Index

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