Philosophy: metaphysics and ontology Books
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Sex and the Failed Absolute
Book SynopsisIn the most rigorous articulation of his philosophical system to date, Slavoj Žižek provides nothing short of a new definition of dialectical materialism.In forging this new materialism, Žižek critiques and challenges not only the work of Alain Badiou, Robert Brandom, Joan Copjec, Quentin Meillassoux, and Julia Kristeva (to name but a few), but everything from popular science and quantum mechanics to sexual difference and analytic philosophy. Alongside striking images of the Möbius strip, the cross-cap, and the Klein bottle, Žižek brings alive the Hegelian triad of being-essence-notion. Radical new readings of Hegel, and Kant, sit side by side with characteristically lively commentaries on film, politics, and culture.Here is Žižek at his interrogative best.Trade Review[This] is certainly the best organized and clearly structured of the author's “big” books … Žižek's writing style is much clearer (relatively speaking) than it was in earlier works and thus reflects the fact that many careless readers have (mis)read him simplistically … Summing Up: Highly recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty. * CHOICE *Few thinkers illustrate the contradictions of contemporary capitalism better than Slavoj Žižek. * John Gray, New York Review of Books *Like Socrates on steroids ... breathtakingly perceptive. The most formidably brilliant exponent of psychoanalysis, indeed of cultural theory in general, to have emerged in many decades * Terry Eagleton *The excitable fluency, ursine congeniality and gleeful readiness to provoke and offend all feed the sense of authentic sponanaeity and energy that has made Žižek somethig like European philosophy’s punk icon, packing out auditoriums around the world. * Josh Cohen, New Statesman *A gifted speaker—tumultuous, emphatic, direct—he writes as he speaks. * Jonathan Rée, Guardian *The most dangerous philosopher in the West * Adam Kirsch, New Republic *Žižek leaves no social or cultural phenomenon untheorized, and is master of the counterintuitive observation * New Yorker *A penetrating new study that redefines a term that most would be wary of returning to: dialectical materialism. What the feeling of déjà vu in reading Sex and the Failed Absolute does come from is the re-experiencing of the excitement that characterised reading his first book back in 1989. * Scottish Left Review *a relentless iconoclast, a restless wordsmith, an inventive thinker with a hatred of received wisdom, an underminer of conventionally acknowledged truths. * Bookforum *Sex and the Failed Absolute is to Žižek’s corpus what Malevich’s Black Square was to his artistic oeuvre. In this watershed book, interweaving the odd couple of quantum physics and sexuality, Žižek offers readers the distilled essence of a new dialectical materialism. This reinvents the very foundations of Žižekian ontology * Adrian Johnston, Professor and Chair of Philosophy, University of New Mexico, U.S.A *Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION: THE UNORIENTABLE SURFACE OF DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM THEOREM I: THE PARALLAX OF ONTOLOGY Modalities of the Absolute—Reality and Its Transcendental Supplement – Varieties of the Transcendental in Western Marxism - The Margin of Radical Uncertainty COROLLARY 1: INTELLECTUAL INTUITION AND INTELLECTUS ARCHETYPUS: REFLEXIVITY IN KANT AND HEGEL Intellectual Intuition from Kant to Hegel—From Intellectus Ectypus to Intellectus Archetypus SCHOLIUM 1.1: BUDDHA, KANT, HUSSERL SCHOLIUM 1.2: HEGEL’S PARALLAX SCHOLIUM 1.3: THE “DEATH OF TRUTH” THEOREM II: SEX AS OUR BRUSH WITH THE ABSOLUTE Antinomies of Pure Sexuation—Sexual Parallax and Knowledge—The Sexed Subject - Plants, Animals, Humans, Posthumans COROLLARY 2: SINUOSITIES OF SEXUALIZED TIME Days of the Living Dead – Cracks in Circular Time SCHOLIUM 2.1: SCHEMATISM IN KANT, HEGEL… AND SEX SCHOLIUM 2.2: MARX, BRECHT, AND SEXUAL CONTRACTS SCHOLIUM 2.3: THE HEGELIAN REPETITION SCHOLIUM 2.4: SEVEN DEADLY SINS THEOREM III: THE THREE UNORIENTABLES Möbius Strip, or, the Convolutions of Concrete Universality—The “Inner Eight”—(((Suture Redoubled)))—Cross-Capping Class Struggle—From Cross-Cap to Klein Bottle—A Snout in Plato’s Cave COROLLARY 3: THE RETARDED GOD OF QUANTUM ONTOLOGY The Implications of Quantum Gravity—The Two Vacuums: From Less than Nothing to Nothing – Is the Collapse of a Quantum Wave Like a Throw of Dice? SCHOLIUM 3.1: THE ETHICAL MOEBIUS STRIP SCHOLIUM 3.2: THE DARK TOWER OF SUTURE SCHOLIUM 3.3: SUTURE AND HEGEMONY SCHOLIUM 3.4: THE WORLD WITH(OUT) A SNOUT SCHOLIUM 3.5: TOWARDS A QUANTUM PLATONISM THEOREM IV: THE PERSISTENCE OF ABSTRACTION Madness, Sex, War— How to Do Words with Things—The Inhuman View – The All-Too-Close In-Itself COROLLARY 4: IBI RHODUS IBI SALTUS! The Protestant Freedom—Jumping Here and Jumping There—Four Ethical Gestures SCHOLIUM 4.1: LANGUAGE, LALANGUE SCHOLIUM 4.2 - PROKOFIEV’S TRAVELS SCHOLIUM 4.3: BECKETT AS THE WRITER OF ABSTRACTION
£14.24
Inner Traditions Bear and Company The Spiritual Journey of Alejandro Jodorowsky:
Book SynopsisIn 1970, John Lennon introduced to the world Alejandro Jodorowsky and the movie, El Topo,that he wrote, starred in, and directed. The movie and its author instantly became a counterculture icon. The New York Timessaid the film "demands to be seen," and Newsweekcalled it "An Extraordinary Movie!" But that was only the beginning of the story and the controversy of El Topo, and the journey of its brilliant creator. His spiritual quest began with the Japanese master Ejo Takata, the man who introduced him to the practice of meditation, Zen Buddhism, and the wisdom of the koans. Yet in this autobiographical account of his spiritual journey, Jodorowsky reveals that it was a small group of wisewomen, far removed from the world of Buddhism, who initiated him and taught him how to put the wisdom he had learned from his master into practice. At the direction of Takata, Jodorowsky became a student of the surrealist painter Leonora Carrington, thus beginning a journey in which vital spiritual lessons were transmitted to him by various women who were masters of their particular crafts. These women included Doña Magdalena, who taught him "initiatic" or spiritual massage; the powerful Mexican actress known as La Tigresa (the "tigress"); and Reyna D'Assia, daughter of the famed spiritual teacher G. I. Gurdjieff. Other important wisewomen on Jodorowsky's spiritual path include María Sabina, the priestess of the sacred mushrooms; the healer Pachita; and the Chilean singer Violeta Parra. The teachings of these women enabled him to discard the emotional armor that was hindering his advancement on the path of spiritual awareness and enlightenment.Trade Review"Rather than clarifying the meaning of his imagery, this book only inspires readers to enjoy its 'mystery'. . . . a worthy read, filled with growing pains and crises that end in artistic triumph and achievement of wisdom and compassion." * Griselda Steiner, Scene4 Magazine, Jan 2009 *"Jodorowsky's interactions with the motley crew of magas are fascinating and his words are always entertaining . . . " * filmcomment, Film Society of Lincoln Center, NYC, Sep/Oct 2008 *"How this man has lived into the koan of his life is intriguing and vividly related." * Branches of Light, Issue 33, Fall-Winter-Spring 2008-09 *" . . . for anyone who enjoys reading memoirs about truly interesting and influential people, this is definitely a book to check out." * Curled Up with a Good Book, Nov 2008 *Table of ContentsPrologue 1 “Intellectual, Learn to Die!” 2 The Secret of Koans 3 A Surrealist Master 4 A Step in the Void 5 The Slashes of the Tigress’s Claws 6 The Donkey Was Not Ill-Tempered after So Many Blows from the Stick7 From Skin to Soul 8 Like Snow in a Silver Vase 9 Work on the Essence 10 Master to Disciple, Disciple to Master, Disciple to Disciple, Master to MasterAppendix: A Collection of Anecdotes The Works of Alejandro Jodorowsky Index
£999.99
Hackett Publishing Co, Inc The Theaetetus of Plato
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewMyles Burnyeat, the Lawrence Professor of Ancient Philosophy at Cambridge, has revised Levett's translation to catch the charm and wit of the original in modern English, and has written a magnificent introduction and commentary of 250 pages that is lucid, rigorous, fair and un-put-downable. --Philip Howard, The Times (London)A masterly contribution to the understanding of the subject in a work of altogether exceptional intelligence. --Sir Hugh Lloyd-Jones, Christ Church, OxfordBurnyeat's introduction to the Theaetetus is easily the best available treatment of the dialogue; it is clear, stimulating, sympathetic but not uncritical, full of novel insights. Students at all levels, including professional philosophers, cannot fail to learn from it, to enjoy it. A real gem. --Gail Fine, Cornell University
£999.99
Oxford University Press Vagueness and Thought
Book SynopsisVagueness is the study of concepts that admit borderline cases. The epistemology of vagueness concerns attitudes we should have towards propositions we know to be borderline. On this basis Andrew Bacon develops a new theory of vagueness in which vagueness is fundamentally a property of propositions, explicated in terms of its role in thought.Trade ReviewThough I find Bacon's view of vagueness impossible to accept, I still think this is a terrific book. Bacon has a wonderful sense for which issues are substantive and which merely superficial, and in focusing our attention on Rational Supervenience and Indifference, he has opened up some genuinely new questions. In addition to the main line of thought sketched above, the book contains illuminating treatments of many connected topics (for example, the connections between necessity and determinacy). It will richly reward anyone with an interest in its subject. * John MacFarlane, Philosophical Review *This is a remarkable book. I accept its main thesis, that propositional vagueness is more fundamental than sentential vagueness. I am in favor of treating vague beliefs in probabilistic terms, and the investigation of how we should reason with vague beliefs and vague desires is a valuable project. There has been relatively little work on this, and Bacon's book goes much further than any before. The idea of using Jeffrey conditioning to explain the impact of vague beliefs is an excellent one. * Dorothy Edgington, Journal of Philosophy *Table of ContentsPart I: Background 1: Non-Classical and Nihilistic Approaches 2: Classical Approaches: An Overview of the Current Debate 3: An Outline of a Theory of Propositional Vagueness Part II: Epistemological Matters 4: Vagueness and Language 5: Vagueness and Ignorance 6: Vagueness and Evidence 7: Probabilism, Assertion and Higher-order Vagueness 8: Vagueness and Uncertainty 9: Vagueness and Decision 10: Vagueness and Desire Part III: Logical Matters 11: Vague Propositions 12: Vagueness and Precision 13: Symmetry Semantics 14: Vagueness and the World 15: Vagueness and Modality 16: Vague Objects 17: Beyond Vagueness 18: Appendices
£28.99
Yale University Press God and Philosophy
Book SynopsisIn this work, the Catholic philosopher Etienne Gilson deals with one of the most important and perplexing metaphysical problems: the relation between our notion of God and demonstrations of his existence.Trade Review"[I] commend to another generation of seekers and students this deeply earnest and yet wistfully gentle little essay on the most important (and often, at least nowadays, the most neglected) of all metaphysical—and existential—questions. . . . The historical sweep is breathtaking, the one-liners arresting, and the style, both intellectual and literary, altogether engaging."—Jaroslav Pelikan, from the foreword
£12.34
Taylor & Francis Ltd Is There a God
Book SynopsisBertrand Russell famously quipped that he didn't believe in God for the same reason that he didn't believe in a teapot in orbit between the earth and Mars: it is a bizarre assertion for which no evidence can be provided. Is belief in God really like belief in Russell's teapot? Kenneth L. Pearce argues that God is no teapot. God is a real answer to the deepest question of all: why is there something rather than nothing? Graham Oppy argues that we should believe that there are none but natural causal entities with none but natural causal propertiesand hence should believe that there are no gods. Beginning from this basic disagreement, the authors proceed to discuss and debate a wide range of philosophical questions, including questions about explanation, necessity, rationality, religious experience, mathematical objects, the foundations of ethics, and the methodology of philosophy. Each author first presents his own side, and then they interact through two rounds of objections and repTrade Review"Kenneth Pearce and Graham Oppy are first-rate philosophers of religion. This book offers an engaging and fruitful dialogue between a theist and an atheist, addressing all key concepts and arguments in the contemporary debate on the existence of God. I recommend the book to all readers who are interested in studying both sides of the debate."Yujin Nagasawa, H. G. Wood Professor of the Philosophy of Religion, University of Birmingham, U.K."This exchange between Oppy and Pearce represents the finest in philosophical inquiry. Together they create a new chandelier with structure and detail as they systematically discuss questions of worldview along the cutting edge of philosophical inquiry. Their exchange is professional, productive, and elegant."Joshua Rasmussen, Department of Philosophy, Azusa Pacific University, U.S.A.Table of ContentsForeword: Worldview comparison and religious commitment, by Helen De Cruz Opening Statements 1. Classical Theism: An Exposition and Defense 2. Are There Any Gods? First Round of Replies 3. Reply to Graham Oppy’s Opening Statement4. Reply to Kenny Pearce’s Opening Statement Second Round of Replies 5. Reply to Graham Oppy's Reply 6. Reply to Kenny Pearces’s Reply
£27.99
Princeton University Press Spinozas Religion A New Reading of the Ethics
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
£29.75
Edinburgh University Press Spinozas Paradoxical Conservatism
Book SynopsisFrancois Zourabichvili wrote two major contributions to Spinoza scholarship. While Une physique de la pensee (PUF, 2002) concerns Spinoza's epistemology and metaphysics of ideas, Spinoza's Paradoxical Conservatism focuses on his political philosophy.
£22.49
Edinburgh University Press Marx with Spinoza
Book SynopsisFranck Fischbach suggests that by reading Spinoza and Marx together we may better understand both history and nature, as well as ourselves, making possible a new understanding of human nature. Rather than see history and nature as opposed, history is nothing but the constant transformation of nature.
£17.99
Oxford University Press Perception and Idealism An Essay on How the World
Book SynopsisPerception and Idealism examines how perception makes objects manifest to us, and what the world must be like for objects to be manifest in that way. Howard Robinson argues for a version of sense-datum theory about perception and theistic phenomenalism about metaphysical reality.Trade ReviewRobinson's book is clearly and beautifully written, and argumentatively persuasive ... a refreshing blast of curative air breathed into the dank enclosures of Direct Realism, Disjunctivism and Reductive Representationalism. * David Pitt, California State University, Los Angeles *Robinson argues for a kind of idealism, providing well-organized, well-documented discussions of both early modern and recent philosophers' views on the nature of perception and its relationship to the world. * Choice *Table of ContentsIntroduction Part I: How the World Manifests Itself to Us 1: The Causal Argument for Sense-Data, 'Philosophers' Hallucinations', and the Disjunctive Response 2: Naïve Realism and the Argument from Illusion 3: Intentionality and Perception (I): The Fundamental irrelevance of Intentionality to Phenomenal Consciousness 4: Intentionality and Perception (II): Attempts to Articulate the 'Content' and 'Object' Distinction 5: Singular Reference and its Relation to Intentionality 6: Objectivity: How is It Possible? 7: Semantic Direct Realism, Critical Realism, and the Sense-Datum Theory 8: Building the Manifest World Part II: What the World Is, in Itself 9: The Problematic Nature of the Modern Conception of Matter 10: Two Suggestive Berkeleyan Arguments 11: Bishop Berkeley and John Foster on Problems with Physical Realism about Space 12: Mentalist Alternatives to Berkeleyan Theism, and their Failure General Conclusion
£72.20
Oxford University Press Philosophical Manuscripts
Book SynopsisDavid Lewis (1941-2001) was a celebrated and influential figure in analytic philosophy. When Lewis died, he left behind a large body of unpublished notes, manuscripts, and letters. This volume contains two longer manuscripts which Lewis had originally intended to turn into books, and thirty-one shorter items. The longer manuscripts are ''The Paradoxes of Time Travel'', his David Gavin Young Lectures at the University of Adelaide, and ''Confirmation Theory'', which is based on a graduate course on probability and logic that he gave at UCLA. Lewis''s described his purposes in ''The Paradoxes of Time Travel'' as being, `(1) to solve a philosophical problem hitherto largely ignored or casually mis-solved by philosophers []; (2) to introduce the layman to various topics in metaphysics, since our problem turns out to connect with many more familiar ones; and (3) to show of several of my favorite doctrines and methods in metaphysics''. By contrast, ''Confirmation Theory'' is a technical work Table of ContentsFrederique Janssen-Lauret and Fraser MacBride: Editors' Introduction Frederique Janssen-Lauret and Fraser MacBride : An Intellectual Biography Of The Young David Lewis Part I: Longer Manuscripts The Paradoxes of Time Travel: The Gavin David Young Lectures at the University of Adelaide (1971) 1: Time Travel without Hyperkinesis 2: Mapping Exercise 3: Personal Identity and Personal Time 4: Reversed Causation 5: Changing the Past: Failure 6: Changing the Past: Success References Confirmation Theory (1969) 0: Intensional Semantics 1: Probability Measures 2: Rational Belief: Statistics 3: Rational Belief: Kinematics 4: Scientific Method 5: Principles of Indierence 6: Carnap's lm-system: One Family 7: Carnap's lm-system: Many Families 8: Hintikka's lm-pa-system Confirmation Theory Bibliography Part II: Short Posthumously Published Papers (1965-2001) 1: Particular and General Causal Claims (c. 1965-66) 2: On the Nature of Certain Nonidentities: A Reply to Montague (1968) 3: Reply to Sommers (1969) 4: Contagion without Rigidity (1971) 5: Counterfactual Probability (1971) 6: Reply to Davidson (1972) 7: Insatiable Quantifiers (1972) 8: Counterfactual and Objective Probability (1973) 9: Counterpart Theory Mk. II (1974) 10: To the Thursday Logic Seminar (1976) 11: Reply to Pollock (1979) 12: Supervenience of Chances (1979) 13: Reply to Adams (1979) 14: From Phenomenal to Epiphenomenal (1981) 15: The Monty Hall Problem (c. 1982) 16: Richter's Problem (1983) 17: Russian Roulette (1984) 18: Mass and Value (1985) 19: De Se Detectivism (1986) 20: A Fifth Solution to the Problem of Temporary Intrinsics (c. 1987) 21: Acceptance Speech for the Behrman Award (1991) 22: Reply to Cresswell (1991) 23: Exclusion (1991) 24: Modal Demifictionalism (1994) 25: Merlin and Morgana (1999) 26: Reply to Martin's reply (1999) 27: Nihil Obstat: An Analysis of Ability (2001) 28: Divine Evil (2001) 29: Double Explanation by Double Having (2001) 30: Jack Is Unprovable (2001) 31: You Can't Win (2001)
£28.50
Oxford University Press Medieval Philosophy
Book SynopsisPeter Adamson presents a lively introduction to six hundred years of European philosophy, from the beginning of the ninth century to the end of the fourteenth century. The medieval period is one of the richest in the history of philosophy, yet one of the least widely known. Adamson introduces us to some of the greatest thinkers of the Western intellectual tradition, including Peter Abelard, Anselm of Canterbury, Thomas Aquinas, John Duns Scotus, William of Ockham, and Roger Bacon. And the medieval period was notable for the emergence of great women thinkers, including Hildegard of Bingen, Marguerite Porete, and Julian of Norwich. Original ideas and arguments were developed in every branch of philosophy during this period - not just philosophy of religion and theology, but metaphysics, philosophy of logic and language, moral and political theory, psychology, and the foundations of mathematics and natural science.Trade ReviewAccessible and comprehensive. * Alban McCoy, The Tablet, Books of the Year 2019 *Peter Adamson's Medieval Philosophy gives fantastically compendious account of medieval philosophy. Adamson manages to be accessible, lucid, witty, incisive; luminously conveying the rambunctious ambivalences of the logic-chopping, devout, doubting, bawdy, bloodthirsty, mystical medievals. * Jane O'Grady, The Tablet *a volume that— despite its weight and heft—one could easily give to a non-philosopher as a first introduction to the field. For even the most obscure authors (such as that most prolific of medieval philosophers, Anon) and the most arcane of topics comes to life under Adamson's magic touch. But what is most impressive about the book is its sheer scope of knowledge. . . . If you want a good, light-touch, yet still not glossing over the difficulties, introduction to medieval philosophy, this is the book for you. * Sara L. Uckelman, Philosophical Quarterly *Adamson's history of medieval philosophy has, among its many merits, two great ones. First, is very clearly written and philosophically acute. . . .A second merit is that it proposes an updated interpretation of medieval philosophy, obtained by taking into account the most dominant trends present in literature. This makes Peter Adamson's volume a fine piece of work and a recommended volume. The history of medieval philosophy is investigated in its depth and full development, no significant gap can be found indeed in the proposed reconstruction. * Fabrizio Amerini, Philosophical Inquiries *Let me say at once on the evidence of this volume, [Adamson] succeeds brilliantly. Over some 78 sections he covers a huge range of figures ... Special attention is given - and rightly so - to female philosophers, such as Catherine of Siena ... This book (and the others in the series), which are a delight to read, will be of great interest to general readers, aside from students of culture. * Peter Costello, The Irish Catholic *Adamson writes with a light style, beginning each short chapter with an anecdote, which rewards both sticking with the long narrative and dipping in and out. * Nick Mattiske, Journey, Isolation Reading Recommendations *A staggering philosophical achievement ... the clarity of the animated text is further enhanced by the authors humour, bringing a light touch to complex matters ... This volume will surely attain classic status, and can be read either sequentially or consulted as a detailed encyclopaedia of mediaeval philosophy and its variegated personalities. * Paradigm Explorer *Table of ContentsPreface Early Medieval Philosophy 1: Arts of Darkness: Introduction to Medieval Philosophy 2: Charles in Charge: Alcuin and the Carolingian Period 3: Grace Notes: Eriugena and the Predestination Controversy 4: Much Ado About Nothing: Eriugena's Periphyseon 5: Philosophers Anonymous: The Roots of Scholasticism 6: Virgin Territory: Peter Damian on Changing the Past 7: A Canterbury Tale: Anselm's Life and Works 8: Somebody's Perfect: Anselm's Ontological Argument 9: All or Nothing: The Problem of Universals 10: Get Thee to a Nunnery: Heloise and Abelard 11: It's the Thought that Counts: Abelard's Ethics 12: Learn Everything: The Victorines 13: Like Father, Like Son: Debates over the Trinity 14: On the Shoulders of Giants: Philosophy at Chartres 15: The Good Book: Philosophy of Nature 16: One of a Kind: Gilbert of Poitiers on Individuation 17: Two Swords: Early Medieval Political Philosophy 18: Law and Order: Peter Lombard and Gratian 19: Leading Light: Hildegard of Bingen 20: Rediscovery Channel: Translations into Latin 21: Straw Men: The Rise of the Universities The Thirteenth Century 22: No Uncertain Terms: Thirteenth Century Logic 23: Full of Potential: Thirteenth Century Physics 24: Stayin' Alive: Thirteenth Century Psychology 25: It's All Good: The Transcendentals 26: Do the Right Thing: Thirteenth Century Ethics 27: A Light That Never Goes Out: Robert Grosseteste 28: Origin of Species: Roger Bacon 29: Stairway to Heaven: Bonaventure 30: Your Attention Please: Peter Olivi 31: None for Me, Thanks: Franciscan Poverty 32: Begin the Beguine: Hadewijch and Mechtild 33: Binding Arbitration: Robert Kilwardby 34: Animal, Vegetable, Mineral: Albert the Great's Natural Philosophy 35: The Shadow Knows: Albert the Great's Metaphysics 36: The Ox Heard Round the World: Thomas Aquinas 37: Everybody Needs Some Body: Aquinas on Soul and Knowledge 38: What Comes Naturally: Ethics in Albert and Aquinas 39: What Pleases the Prince: The Rule of Law 40: Onward Christian Soldiers: Just War Theory 41: Paris When it Sizzles: The Condemnations 42: Masters of the University: "Latin Averroism" 43: The Neverending Story: The Eternity of the World 44: Let Me Count the Ways: Speculative Grammar 45: Love, Reign Over Me: the Romance of the Rose 46: Frequently Asked Questions: Henry of Ghent 47: Here Comes the Son: The Trinity and the Eucharist 48: Once and for All: Scotus on Being 49: To Will or Not to Will: Scotus on Freedom 50: On Command: Scotus' Ethics 51: One in a Million: Scotus on Universals and Individuals The Fourteenth Century 52: Time of the Signs: the Fourteenth Century 53: After Virtue: Marguerite Porete 54: To Hell and Back: Dante Alighieri 55: Church and State: Theories of Political Authority 56: Keeping the Peace: Marsilius of Padua 57: Do As You're Told: Ockham on Ethics and Political Philosophy 58: A Close Shave: Ockham's Nominalism 59: What Do You Think? Ockham on Mental Language 60: Keeping it Real: Responses to Ockham 61: Back to the Future: Divine Foreknowledge 62: Trivial Pursuits: Fourteenth Century Logic 63: Quadrivial Pursuits: the Oxford Calculators 64: Get to the Point: Fourteenth Century Physics 65: Portrait of the Artist: John Buridan 66: Seeing is Believing: Nicholas of Autrecourt's Skepticism 67: On the Money: Medieval Economic Theory 68: Down to the Ground: Meister Eckhart 69: Men in Black: The German Dominicans 70: A Wing and a Prayer: Angels in Medieval Philosophy 71: Alle Maner of Thyng Shall be Welle: English Mysticism 72: Say it With Poetry: Chaucer and Langland 73: The Good Wife: Gender and Sexuality in the Middle Ages 74: The Most Christian Doctor: Jean Gerson 75: Morning Star of the Reformation: John Wyclif 76: The Prague Spring: Scholasticism Across Europe 77: Renaissance Men: Ramon Llull and Petrarch
£12.34
Oxford University Press Objective Imperatives An Exploration of Kants
Book SynopsisObjective Imperatives defends the validity of Kant's Categorical Imperative as an account of objective moral imperatives. Ralph C. S. Walker argues that most of the common objections can be shown to be due to misunderstandings.Trade ReviewAiming at a succinct yet wide-ranging reconsideration of Kant's moral theory. * Choice *
£72.20
Oxford University Press Two Arguments for the Identity of Indiscernibles
Book SynopsisGonzalo Rodriguez-Pereyra presents two arguments for the principle that no two objects can differ only numerically. He shows that the principle cannot be reduced to a triviality, and that restricted versions concerning only qualitative propeties face problems.Trade ReviewThe book contains four new arguments about the Identity of Indiscernibles. * MathSciNet *
£53.20
Oxford University Press Phenomenalism
Book SynopsisJ.S. Mill famously equated physical things with permanent possibilities of sensation. This view, known as phenomenalism, holds that a rock is a tendency for experiences to occur as they do when people perceive a rock, and similarly for all other physical things. In Phenomenalism, Michael Pelczar develops Mill''s theory in detail, defends it against the objections responsible for its current unpopularity, and uses it to shed light on important questions in metaphysics, the philosophy of science, and the philosophy of mind. Identifying physical things with possibilities of sensation establishes a transparent connection between the world of physics and the world of sense, provides an attractive alternative to currently fashionable structuralist and panpsychist metaphysics, offers a fresh perspective on the problem of consciousness, and yields a satisfying theory of perception, all by taking two things notoriously resistant to reduction, chance and experience, and constructing everything eTrade ReviewThe text is clearly written, elegant in its presentation, and effectively implements all the tools of the analytic philosopher. * Choice *Table of Contents1: The World as Hypertext 2: Mill's Metaphysics 3: A Signal in the Noise 4: Possibilities for What? 5: What Kind of Possibility? 6: A Revealing Correspondence 7: Phenomenalism and Science 8: Phenomenalism and Consciousness 9: A Phenomenalist Theory of Perception 10: Choose Your Own Adventure Appendix: Defining Spacetime Relations
£72.20
Oxford University Press Oxford Studies in Epistemology 7
Book SynopsisOxford Studies in Epistemology is a periodical publication which offers a regular snapshot of state-of-the-art work in this important field. Under the guidance of a distinguished editorial board, it publishes exemplary papers in epistemology, broadly construed. Anyone wanting to understand the latest developments in the discipline can start here.Table of ContentsEditors' Preface Contributors 1: Nicolas Bommarito and Jonardon Ganeri: Selfless Receptivity: Attention as an Epistemic Virtue 2: Nilanjan Das: Knowledge and Independent Checks in M=im=a.ms=a 3: Robin Dembroff and Dennis Whitcomb: Content-Focused Epistemic Injustice 4: Jason Konek: The Art of Learning 5: Harvey Lederman: Conceptions of Genuine Knowledge in Wang Yangming 6: Sarah Moss: Knowledge and Legal Proof 7: C. Thi Nguyen: Trust as an Unquestioning Attitude 8: Catherine Prueitt and Katia Samoilova: There's More to Transparency than Windows 9: Hagop Sarkissian: Me-Knowledge and Effective Agency 10: Miriam Schoenfield: Meditations on Beliefs Formed Arbitrarily 11: Justin Tiwald: "Getting It Oneself" as an Alternative to Testimonial Knowledge and Deference to Tradition 12: Anand Vaidya: Elements of Knowledge-First Epistemology in Ga:nge'sa 13: Timothy Williamson: Vaidya on Ny=aya and Knowledge-First Epistemology
£87.00
Oxford University Press Inc Susan Stebbing
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£28.49
Oxford University Press Inc Xiong Shilis Treatise on Reality and Function
Book SynopsisXiong Shili (1885-1968) is widely recognized as a founding figure of the modern New Confucian school of philosophy and seen by many as one of the most important and creative Chinese philosophers of the twentieth century. His ultimate concern throughout his long intellectual career was to show that Reality (ti) and function (yong) are non-dual. Reality is the locus that ontologically grounds the phenomenal yet is not different from the phenomenal. His onto-cosmology draws syncretically on a diverse range of resources in the Chinese philosophical tradition to construct his own overarching metaphysical vision, articulated within the broader context of advancing a systematic critique of both Madhyamaka and Yogacara Buddhist thought, the culmination of nearly four decades of critical engagement.Treatise on Reality and Function (Ti yong lun) is the mature expression of Xiong''s signature metaphysical doctrine. Published in 1958, Xiong considered it to be his most important philosophical achiTable of ContentsForeword by Han Yuankai Superfluous Things Chapter 1: Explaining Transformation Chapter 2: Buddhist Teachings, A Chapter 3: Buddhist Teachings, B Chapter 4: Forming Material Things Chapter 5: Explaining the Mind (Listed as "Forthcoming") Works Cited Index
£30.32
Oxford University Press Causation
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£105.60
Oxford University Press Time Tense And Causation
Book SynopsisMichael Tooley presents a major new philosophical study of time and its relation to causation. The nature of time has always been one of the most fascinating and perplexing problems of philosophy. In recent years it has become the focus of vigorous debate between advocates of rival theories, as traditional, ''tensed'' accounts of time, which hold that time has a direction and that the flow of time is part of the nature of the universe, have been challenged by ''tenseless'' accounts of time, according to which past, present, and future are merely subjective features of experience, rather than objective features of events. Time, Tense, and Causation offers a new approach, in many ways intermediate between these two rivals. Tooley shares with tensed approaches the view that the universe is dynamic, holding that the past and the present are real while the future is not; but he rejects the view that this entails that there are irreducible tensed facts. Tooley''s approach accounts for time Trade ReviewGood arguments abound. But it seems to me that the greatest virtue of the book is the admirable originality, creativity, and philosophical fecundity that Tooley displays. In this book, as in Tooley's previous works, he displays his usual independence of mind and philosophical courage. He takes on the presuppositions of the entire tradition of the tensed versus tenseless theory of time debate (rejecting both standard positions) and also takes on many other "received views," and the result is the most novel book on the tensed and tenseless theories of time that has been published in recent memory. * Philosophical Review *I cannot but admire this book very deeply. Tooley has tackled one sacred cow after another in the debate over tense, and argued every point with exemplary clarity and explicitness. The result is a brilliant, original and provocative essay that changes the metaphysical landscape in this area. It provides fresh impetus to an issue which, thought its roots go back further, is as long as this century. Time, Tense, and Causation will be read and discussed well into the next. * Robin Le Poidevin, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science *Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION; PART I: CAUSATION, TIME, AND ONTOLOGY; PART II: SEMANTICAL ISSUES; PART III: TENSED FACTS; PART IV: TEMPORAL RELATIONS; PART V: OBJECTIONS; PART VI: A SUMMING-UP; BIBLIOGRAPHY; INDEX
£999.99
Oxford University Press Building Better Beings A Theory of Moral Responsibility
Book SynopsisBuilding Better Beings presents a new theory of moral responsibility. Beginning with a discussion of ordinary convictions about responsibility and free will and their implications for a philosophical theory, Manuel Vargas argues that no theory can do justice to all the things we want from a theory of free will and moral responsibility. He goes on to show how we can nevertheless justify our responsibility practices and provide a normatively and naturalistically adequate account of of responsible agency, blame, and desert. Three ideas are central to Vargas'' account: the agency cultivation model, circumstantialism about powers, and revisionism about responsibility and free will. On Vargas'' account, responsibility norms and practices are justified by their effects. In particular, the agency cultivation model holds that responsibility practices help mold us into creatures that respond to moral considerations. Moreover, the abilities that matter for responsibility and free will are not metTrade ReviewHe does an admirable job of showing how his agency cultivation model is largely immune to the sorts of worries thought to plague other versions of the approach ... anyone interested in the questions of whether and how praise and blame can be justified will want read this book and think seriously about its arguments. * Justin A. Capes, Journal of Moral Philosophy *extraordinarily rich . . . Vargas has achieved something that is quite rare: he has given us an entirely new way to approach an ancient and, yes, seemingly intractable problem. * Tamler Sommers, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *Vargas sets out and defends a subtle and powerful view, according to which holding one another morally responsible is justified by the effects of our practices on cultivating moral agency. * Neil Levy, Philosophical Quarterly *Recommended. * J. Hoffman, CHOICE *Table of ContentsPART I. BUILDING BLOCKS; PART II. A THEORY OF MORAL RESPONSIBILITY; APPENDIX: ACTIVITY AND ORIGINATION
£999.99
Oxford University Press Method and Metaphysics Essays in Ancient Philosophy I
Book SynopsisMethod and Metaphysics presents twenty-six essays in ancient philosophy by Jonathan Barnes, one of the most admired and influential scholars of his generation. The essays span four decades of his career, and are drawn from a wide variety of sources: many of them will be relatively unknown even to specialists in ancient philosophy. Several essays are now translated from the original French and made available in English for the first time; others have been substantially revised for republication.The volume opens with eight essays about the interpretation of ancient philosophical texts, and about the relationship between philosophy and its history. The next five essays examine the methods of ancient philosophers. The third section comprises thirteen essays about metaphysical topics, from the Presocratics to the late Platonists. This collection will be a rich feast for students and scholars of ancient philosophy.Trade ReviewThis volume collects several invaluable essays not only for the specialist or those interested in ancient philosophy or the history of philosophy. It is also a source of exegetical and conceptual riches in the form of rigorous discussions of crucial philosophical problems, theses, and arguments. Even the papers which are reviews of other theorists' works are characterized not only by astute critical spirit but also by a wealth of positive proposals ... Barnes's volume of collected papers on method and metaphysics is indispensable: it contains works of scholarly excellence, advances arguments of admirable clarity and cogency, and raises all the crucial questions growing out of the fields it examines. The volume itself is beautifully presented, includes new footnotes with helpful citations of most of the original Greek texts discussed, and retains (in brackets) the pagination of the papers in their original place of publication. * Michail Peramatzis, Mind *Table of ContentsPreface ; 1. Ancient philosophers ; 2. The history of philosophy ; 3. Philosophy within quotation marks? ; 4. Anglophone attitudes ; 5. Brentano's Aristotle ; 6. Heidegger in the cave ; 7. 'There was an old person from Tyre' ; 8. The Presocratics in context ; 9. Argument in ancient philosophy ; 10. Philosophy and dialectic ; 11. Aristotle and the methods of ethics ; 12. Metacommentary ; 13. An introduction to Aspasius ; 14. Parmenides and the Eleatic One ; 15. Reason and necessity in Leucippus ; 16. Plato's cyclical argument ; 17. Death and the philosopher ; 18. Aristotelian arithmetic ; 19. The principle of plenitude ; 20. 'Aristotle's opinion concerning destiny and what is up to us' ; 21. 'Belief is up to us' ; 22. The same again: the Stoics and eternal recurrence ; 23. Bits and pieces ; 24. Partial wholes ; 25. 'Drei Sonnen sahe ich': Syrianus and astronomy ; 26. Immaterial causes ; Bibliography ; Indexes
£999.99
Oxford University Press, USA Oxford Studies in Agency and Responsibility Volume 3
Book SynopsisOxford Studies in Agency and Responsibility is a forum for outstanding new work in an area of vigorous and broad-ranging debate in philosophy and beyond. What is involved in human action? Can philosophy and science illuminate debate about free will? How should we answer questions about responsibility for action?Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. Free Will and Agential Powers ; 2. Injecting the Phenomenology of Agency Into the Free Will Debate ; 3. Coherence of Attitudes, Integration of the Self, and Personal Integrity ; 4. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Moral Agency ; 5. Sensitivity to Reasons and Actual Sequences ; 6. Responsibility and the Actual Sequence ; 7. Moral Luck Reexamined ; 8. The Hard Problem of Responsibility ; 9. Rationality, Authority, and Bindingness: An Account of Communal Norms ; 10. A Difference-Making Framework for Intuitive Judgments of Responsibility ; 11. Moral Responsibility, Reasons, and the Self ; Index
£35.99
Oxford University Press The Minds Construction The Ontology of Mind and Mental Action
Book SynopsisPhilosophers working on the ontology of mind have highlighted various distinctions that can be drawn between the ways in which different aspects of our minds fill time. For example, they note that whereas some elements of our mental lives obtain over time, others unfold over time, and some continue to occur throughout intervals of time. Matthew Soteriou explores ways in which such distinctions can be put to work in helping to inform philosophical accounts of both sensory and cognitive aspects of consciousness. Part One of The Mind''s Construction argues that work in the ontology of mind that focuses on distinctions of temporal character has much to contribute to philosophical accounts of the phenomenology of various elements of sensory consciousness--e.g. the phenomenology of perceptual experience, bodily sensation, and perceptual imagination. Part Two argues that these ontological considerations can inform our understanding of conscious thinking, and the form of self-conscious conscioTrade ReviewThe Mind's Construction makes light dawn across vast swathes of philosophy of action, epistemology, philosophy of perception and philosophy of consciousness. It is a marvellous book, with which it is absolutely impossible to remain unimpressed. * Helen Steward, Mind *Table of ContentsPART I. SENSORY CONSCIOUSNESS; PART II. CONSCIOUS THINKING
£999.99
OUP Oxford Descartes
Book SynopsisThis volume in the Oxford Readings in Philosophy series brings together some of the most influential and stimulating essays on Descartes' philosophy to have appeared in recent years. Edited by the renowned Descartes specialist Professor John Cottingham, the selection of essays covers the full range of Descartes' thought, including chapters on the central issues in Cartesian metaphysics, the relationship between mind and body, human nature and the passions, and thestructure of scientific explanation. These broad-ranging and accessible perspectives on Descartes' work will be essential reading for students and specialists.Table of ContentsIntroduction ; I. Descartes and the Metaphysics of Doubt ; II. The Cogito and its Importance ; III. Clearness and Distinctness in Descartes ; IV. Foundationalism, Epistemic Principles and the Cartesian Circle ; V. Descartes on the Will ; VI. Descartes' Theory of Modality ; VII. The Epistemological Argument for Mind-Body Distinctness ; VIII. Descartes and the Unity of Human Being ; IX. Descartes' Theory of the Passions ; X. Descartes' Treatment of Animals ; XI. Descartes, Method and the Role of Experiment ; XII. Descartes' Concept of Scientific Explanation ; XIII. Force (God) in Descartes' Physics ; Notes on the Contributors ; Bibliography ; Table of Citations of Descartes' Works ; Index
£999.99
Oxford University Press Persons Animals Ourselves
Book SynopsisThe starting point for this book is a particular answer to a question that grips many of us: what kind of thing are we? The particular answer is that we are animals (of a certain sort)--a view nowadays called ''animalism''. This answer will appear obvious to many but on the whole philosophers have rejected it. Paul F. Snowdon proposes, contrary to that attitude, that there are strong reasons to believe animalism and that when properly analysed the objections against it that philosophers have given are not convincing. One way to put the idea is that we should not think of ourselves as things that need psychological states or capacities to exist, any more that other animals do. The initial chapters analyse the content and general philosophical implications of animalism--including the so-called problem of personal identity, and that of the unity of consciousness--and they provide a framework which categorises the standard philosophical objections. Snowdon then argues that animalism is conTrade ReviewIt is good that Snowdon's arguments and ideas have finally been presented together in a prominent venue. The book offers a valuable treatment of some standard anti-animalist arguments, and it has much to teach anyone thinking about animalism or personal identity. * Andrew M. Bailey, Australasian Journal of Philosophy. *Table of ContentsPreface Introduction 1: Animalism 2: Animalism and some Philosophical Problems 3: Animals and Persons 4: Animals and Us 5: Some Questions about Animals 6: [A & not P] Cases: An Introduction 7: Multiple Personality Disorder 8: Animalism and the Unity of Consciousness 9: [P & not A] Cases: An Introduction 10: Brain Transplants, Animals, and Us 11: Strengthening the Rejection of Transplant Arguments 12: Conclusions and Consequences
£999.99
Oxford University Press Consciousness and the Limits of Objectivity The Case For Subjective Physicalism
Book SynopsisIn Consciousness and the Limits of Objectivity Robert J. Howell argues that the options in the debates about consciousness and the mind-body problem are more limited than many philosophers have appreciated. Unless one takes a hard-line stance, which either denies the data provided by consciousness or makes a leap of faith about future discoveries, one must admit that no objective picture of our world can be complete. Howell argues, however, that this is consistent with physicalism, contrary to received wisdom. After developing a novel, neo-Cartesian notion of the physical, followed by a careful consideration of the three major anti-materialist arguments--Black''s ''Presentation Problem'', Jackson''s Knowledge Argument, and Chalmers'' Conceivability Argument--Howell proposes a ''subjective physicalism'' which gives the data of consciousness their due, while retaining the advantages of a monistic, physical ontology.Trade ReviewA clear account of how consciousness could be physical even if we can't fully know it from an objective standpoint. Howell shows that there is still much to be discussed in what might look like well-worn territory, and his book is deserving of attention . . . I think this is the best version of the supervenience approach currently on the market. * Richard Brown, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *The book is aimed at professional philosophers . . . and its breezy, informal (by academic standards) tone make the book a pleasant read. * Derek Ball, TPM *Consciousness and the Limits of Objectivity is carefully argued, clear, full of creative insights, and advances a number of debates. It should be read by anyone with an interest in physicalism, consciousness, and the limits of objective understanding. * Kevin Morris, The Philosophical Quarterly *Short, sharply-focused, and well-written, this volume develops an improved version of supervenience-based physicalism . . . an excellent addition to the literature on the hard problem of consciousness . . . Highly recommended. * W. Seager, Choice *Table of ContentsPART I: DEFINING PHYSICALISM; PART II: THE THREAT OF THE SUBJECTIVE; PART III: SAVING PHYSICALISM
£999.99
Oxford University Press The Structure of the World Metaphysics and Representation
Book SynopsisIn The Structure of the World, Steven French articulates and defends the bold claim that there are no objects. At the most fundamental level, modern physics presents us with a world of structures and making sense of that view is the central aim of the increasingly widespread position known as structural realism. Drawing on contemporary work in metaphysics and philosophy of science, as well as the ''forgotten'' history of structural realism itself, French attempts to further ground and develop this position. He argues that structural realism offers the best way of balancing our need to accommodate the results of modern science with our desire to arrive at an appropriately informed understanding of the world that science presents to us. Covering not only the realism-antirealism debate, the nature of representation, and the relationship between metaphysics and science, The Structure of the World defends a form of eliminativism about objects that sets laws and symmetry principles at the heTrade Review[T]his superb defence of OSR deserves to be considered French's magnum opus. The book should be lauded for its scope, detail, and scientific sophistication. The intricacies of the view will be most accessible to those with a background in physics, but the discussion is of interest to those who work in metaphysics and philosophy of science broadly and should be required reading for those interested in scientific realism specifically. * Lisa Leininger, Philosophical Quarterly *this book does a great service to the community in fully laying out the case for - a radical, ontic - structural realism. It is a must for everyone interested in the philosophy of physics and the metaphysics of science in general. * Michael Esfeld, Mind *The book is extraordinary in its depth, breadth, and exhaustiveness and leaves no part of the modern debate on structuralism and structural realism unexamined . . . It does not fall short of high expectations and provides strong motivation for further developments in structuralist metaphysics of science. * Thomas Meier, International Studies in the Philosophy of Science *superb . . . this is an extremely rich and fascinating book, well worth reading. * Alyssa Ney, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *Table of Contents1: Theory Change: From Fresnel's Equations to Group Theoretic Structure 2: Mixing in the Metaphysics 1--Underdermination 3: Mixing in the Metaphysics 2--Humility 4: Scenes from the Lost History of Structuralism 5: The Presentation of Objects and the Representation of Structure 6: OSR and 'Group Structural Realism' 7: The Elimination of Objects 8: Mathematics, 'Physical' Structure and the Nature of Causation 9: Modality, Structures, and Dispositions 10: The Might of Modal Structuralism 11: Structure, Modality, and Unitary Inequivalence 12: Shifting to Structures in Biology and Beyond Bibliography Index
£999.99
Oxford University Press Free Will Agency and Meaning in Life
Book SynopsisDerk Pereboom articulates and defends an original conception of moral responsibility. He argues that if determinism were true we would not be morally responsible in the key basic-desert sense at issue in the free will debate, but that we would also lack this kind of moral responsibility if indeterminism were true and the causes of our actions were exclusively states or events. It is possible that if we were undetermined agent causes--if we as substances had the power to cause decisions without being causally determined to cause them--we would have this kind of free will. But although our being undetermined agent causes has not been ruled out as a coherent possibility, it''s not credible given our best physical theories. Pereboom then contends that a conception of life without the free will required for moral responsibility in the basic-desert sense would nevertheless allow for a different, forward-looking conception of moral responsibility. He also argues that our lacking this sort of Trade ReviewWith Free Will, Agency, and Meaning in Life (2014), Pereboom has written yet another outstanding book. This one is certainly as good as the last, and it promises to have the same sort of influence. In numerous ways, he has yet again moved the debate much further along, and he has done so in the interest of genuine philosophical progress. Free Will, Agency, and Meaning in Life is an extraordinary defense of free will and moral responsibility skepticism. * Michael McKenna, Criminal Law and Philosophy *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1: Defending a Source View 2: Problems for Event-Causal and Non-Causal Libertarianisms 3: The Prospects for Agent Causal Libertarianism 4: A Manipulation Argument against Compatibilism 5: Free Will Skepticism and Rational Deliberation 6: Blame without Basic Desert 7: Free Will Skepticism and Criminal Behavior 8: Personal Relationships and Meaning in Life Bibliography
£999.99
Oxford University Press Berkeleys Argument for Idealism
Book SynopsisSamuel C. Rickless presents a novel interpretation of the thought of George Berkeley. In A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge (1710) and Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous (1713), Berkeley argues for the astonishing view that physical objects (such as tables and chairs) are nothing but collections of ideas (idealism); that there is no such thing as material substance (immaterialism); that abstract ideas are impossible (anti-abstractionism); and that an idea can be like nothing but an idea (the likeness principle). It is a matter of great controversy what Berkeley''s argument for idealism is and whether it succeeds. Most scholars believe that the argument is based on immaterialism, anti-abstractionism, or the likeness principle. In Berkeley''s Argument for Idealism, Rickless argues that Berkeley distinguishes between two kinds of abstraction, ''singling'' abstraction and ''generalizing'' abstraction; that his argument for idealism depends on the impossibilityTrade ReviewSamuel C. Rickless Berkeleys Argument for Idealism is an excellent book. It is clearly written, tightly focused, and rigorously argued ... a must-read for historians of early modern philosophy ... I am confident that it will shape this debate for many years to come. * Robert Watt, European Journal of Philosophy *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1: Mediate and immediate perception 2: The perception of sensible objects 3: The argument for idealism in the Principles 4: The argument for idealism in the first Dialogue Conclusion Bibliography Index
£999.99
Oxford University Press Experiencing Time
Book SynopsisOur engagement with time is a ubiquitous feature of our lives. We are aware of time on many scales, from the briefest flicker of change to the way our lives unfold over many years. But to what extent does this encounter reveal the true nature of temporal reality? To the extent that temporal reality is as it seems, how do we come to be aware of it? And to the extent that temporal reality is not as it seems, why does it seem that way? These are the central questions addressed by Simon Prosser in Experiencing Time.These questions take on a particular importance in philosophy for two reasons. Firstly, there is a view concerning the metaphysics of time, known as the B-theory of time, according to which the apparently dynamic quality of change, the special status of the present, and even the passage of time are all illusions. Instead, the world is a four-dimensional space-time block, lacking any of the apparent dynamic features of time. If the B-theory is correct, as the book argues, then itTrade ReviewOne of the central debates in contemporary discussions of the philosophy of time is the one between the A-theory and B-theory... Despite the fact that the detector and multi-detector arguments fail to undermine the A-theory, there are still many interesting and useful suggestions in these chapters pertaining to the issue of how to make sense of certain features of human experience in terms that are amenable to the B-theory. For this reason, I highly recommend Prosser's book to anyone working in the field. * P.X Monaghan, Philosophy in Review *Experiencing Time addresses an exciting topic: what bearing the phenomenology of our experience of time might have on some key disputes over the nature of temporal reality, centrally whether the character of that phenomenology favours an 'A-theory' of time, which holds that there is temporal passage, over a 'B-theory' or 'static block' view... Prosser's book is rich in argument. * Barry Lee, Analysis *Prosser carefully explains unfamiliar terms and issues as they arise, making this an excellent introduction to issues in both the philosophy of time and the philosophy of mind for the general philosophical reader ... Exploring Time is a provocative, engaging and yet accessible exploration of the many different elements of our temporal experience, while at the same time being a stalwart defence of the B-theory of time. ... He draws not just on work in metaphysics and the philosophy of the mind but also on recent empirical work in psychology and cognitive science. This is a must-read for anyone interested in the philosophy of time and the psychology of temporal experience. * Heather Dyke, Philosophy Now *The most ambitious attempt I know of to explain how the B-theory of time can account for the dynamic features of experience The book does a good job of presenting what the issue is, and introduces interesting new perspectives to it . . . I thoroughly recommend it. * R.D. Ingthorsson, Metascience Review *Prosser's proposals are important and his discussion engaging. His treatment also contains much of value even to those who do not share his guiding interest in defending the B-theory . . . In short, whatever one's perspective, Prosser's book is rich fare for thought, and essential reading for anyone puzzled by our experiential encounter with time. * Ian Phillips, Notre Dame Philosophical Review *Table of Contents1: Introduction: The Metaphysics of Time 2: Experience and the Passage of Time 3: Attitudes to the Past, Present, and Future 4: Experiencing Rates and Durations 5: Is Experience Temporally Extended? 6: Why Does Change Seem Dynamic? 7: Moving Through Time, and the Open Future Bibliography
£999.99
Oxford University Press Causation and Free Will
Book SynopsisCarolina Sartorio argues that only the actual causes of our behaviour matter to our freedom. Although this simple view of freedom clashes with most theories of responsibility, including the most prominent ''actual sequence'' theories currently on offer, Sartorio argues for its truth. The key, she claims, lies in a correct understanding of the role played by causation in a view of that kind. Causation has some important features that make it a responsibility-grounding relation, and this to the success of the view. Also, when agents act freely, the actual causes are richer than they appear to be at first sight; in particular, they reflect the agents'' sensitivity to reasons, where this includes both the existence of actual reasons and the absence of other (counterfactual) reasons. So acting freely requires more causes and quite complex causes, as opposed to fewer causes and simpler causes, and is compatible with those causes being deterministic. The book connects two different debates, tTrade ReviewIn five densely argued but accessible chapters, Sartorio draws connections between previously isolated debates so obvious in retrospect that it's easy to wonder why they weren't noticed before. The result is an elegant account of free action that avoids many of the problems that have plagued its competitors ... we welcome the new standards of metaphysical rigour that she has brought to the debate. We recommend her book without hesitation, especially to anyone who still doubts that there is much to learn from the metaphysics of causation about the central concepts of ethical and legal theory. * Alex Kaiserman and Daniel Kodsi, Criminal Law and Philosophy *Sartorio's book offers a brilliant contribution to the literature on free will. It deserves serious study by philosophers and doctoral students. Legal theorists would also benefit from aquainting themselves with this sophisticated defence of compatibilism. Sartorio's ideas will shape the terms of the debate about free will for a long time. * Horacio Spector, Mind *Carolina Sartorio has produced a rich and stimulating set of reflections on the intersection of the metaphysics of free will and causation. * Christopher Evan Franklin, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews Online *Excellent book. * Helen Beebee, Australasian Journal of Philosophy *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1: The Grounds of Freedom 2: The Underlying Metaphysics: The Fundamentals 3: The Underlying Metaphysics: Completing the Picture 4: The Right Kind of Cause 5: Causal Sources Conclusion References Index
£999.99
Oxford University Press Oxford Studies in Normative Ethics
Book SynopsisOxford Studies in Normative Ethics is an annual forum for new work in normative ethical theory. Leading philosophers present original contributions to our understanding of a wide range of moral issues and positions, from analysis of competing approaches to normative ethics (including moral realism, constructivism, and expressivism) to questions of how we should act and live well. OSNE is an essential resource for scholars and students working in moral philosophy.
£83.60
Oxford University Press Reality A Very Short Introduction Very Short
Book Synopsis''What is real?'' has been one of the key questions of philosophy since its beginning in antiquity. It is a question that, due to such films as The Matrix, has also made its way into popular culture. But it is not just a question philosophers ask. It is also asked by scientists when they investigate whether the fundamental constituents of matter are actually ''out there'' or just a mere abstraction from a successful theory. Cognitive scientists ask it when trying to find out which set of the bewildering array of data processed by our brain could constitute the basis for such supposedly fundamental entities like the free agent or the self.This Very Short Introduction discusses what reality is by looking at a variety of arguments, theories and thought-experiments from philosophy, physics, and cognitive science.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 perfecTable of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. What is real? Dreams and simulations ; 2. Is matter real? ; 3. Are persons real? ; 4. Is time real? ; Conclusion ; References and Further Reading
£9.49
Oxford University Press Inc Nothing
Book SynopsisAn entertaining history of the idea of nothing - including absences, omissions, and shadows - from the Ancient Greeks through the 20th centuryHow can nothing cause something? The absence of something might seem to indicate a null or a void, an emptiness as ineffectual as a shadow. In fact, ''nothing'' is one of the most powerful ideas the human mind has ever conceived. This short and entertaining book by Roy Sorensen is a lively tour of the history and philosophy of nothing, explaining how various thinkers throughout history have conceived and grappled with the mysterious power of absence -- and how these ideas about shadows, gaps, and holes have in turned played a very positive role in the development of some of humankind''s most important ideas. Filled with Sorensen''s characteristically entertaining mix of anecdotes, puzzles, curiosities, and philosophical speculation, the book is ordered chronologically, starting with the Taoists, the Buddhists, and the ancient Greeks, moving forwaTrade ReviewSorensen (Univ. of Texas at Austin; frequent visiting professor, St. Andrew's Univ., Scotland) has written a book that seeks above all to be comprehensive both geographically and chronologically. Spanning the ancient Greeks to today and traversing multiple cultures and thus multiple faith traditions, Nothing leaves no stone unturned in this survey of nonbeing. The text is not only informative but also entertaining; Sorensen's analysis is quite quippy at times...this book will provide a broad understanding of the meaning of absence. * Choice *Table of ContentsIntroduction Nothing Represented 1 The Makapansgat Hominid: Pictorial Absence 2 Hermetes Trismegistus: Discursive Absence Relative Nothing 3 Lao Tzu: Absence of Action 4 Buddha: Absence of Wholes 5 Nagarjuna: Absence of Ground Absolute Nothing 6 Parmenides: Absence of Absence 7 Anaxagoras: Absence of Total Absences 8 Leucippus: Local Absolute Absences Potential Nothing 9 Plato: Shades of Absence 10 Aristotle: Potential Absence meets Absence of Potential 11 Lucretius: Your Future Infinite Absence Divine Nothing 12 Saint Katherine of Alexandria: Absence of Non-existent Women Philosophers 13 Augustine: The Evil of Absence is an Absence of Evil 14 Fridugisus: Synesthesia and Absences 15 Maimonides: The Divination of Absence Scientific Nothing 16 Bradwardine: Absence of Determination 17 Newton: A Safe Space for Absence 18 Leibniz: Absence of Contradiction Secular Nothing 19 Schopenhauer: Absence of Meaning 20 Bergson: The Evolution Absence 21 Sartre: Absence Perceived 22 Bertrand Russell: Absence of Referents References
£21.14
The University of Chicago Press Violence in Modern Philosophy
Book SynopsisFollowing on the arguments adumbrated in his previous works, Piotr Hoffman here argues that the notion of and concern with violence are not limited to political philosophy but in fact form the essential component of philosophy in general. The acute awareness of the ever-present possibility of violence, Hoffman claims, filters into and informs ontology and epistemology in ways that require careful analysis. In his previous book, Doubt, Time, Violence, Hoffman explored the theme of violence in relation to Descartes' problematic of doubt and Heidegger's work on temporality. The pivotal notion deriving from that investigation is the notion of the other as the ultimate limit of one's powers. In effect, Hoffman argues, our practical mastery of the natural environment still leaves intact the limitation of human agents by each other. In a violent environment, the other emerges as an insurmountable obstacle to one's aims and purposes or as an inescapable danger which one is powerless to hold at
£42.75
Taylor & Francis Ltd Do We Have Free Will
Book SynopsisIn this little but profound volume, Robert Kane and Carolina Sartorio debate a perennial question: Do We Have Free Will? Kane introduces and defends libertarianism about free will: free will is incompatible with determinism; we are free; we are not determined. Sartorio introduces and defends compatibilism about free will: free will is compatible with determinism; we can be free even while our actions are determined through and through. Simplifying tricky terminology and complicated concepts for readers new to the debate, the authors also cover the latest developments on a controversial topic that gets us entangled in questions about blameworthiness and responsibility, coercion and control, and much more. Each author first presents their own side, and then they interact through two rounds of objections and replies. Pedagogical features include standard form arguments, section summaries, bolded key terms and principles, a glossary, and annotated reading lists. ShTrade Review'This superb introduction to free will is highly accessible without paying the price in over-simplification. The debate format does a wonderful job of highlighting the pros and cons of Kane’s and Sartorio’s competing positions on free will. Ideal for an undergraduate course on free will.' - Alfred R. Mele, Florida State University, USA'This is an outstanding book by two of the very top philosophers working on free will and moral responsibility. They are each perfect representatives of the best recent developments of two important positions: libertarianism and compatibilism. The book is clear and lively, and it is a perfect text for an undergraduate course on these topics. Highly recommended!' - John Martin Fischer, University of California, Riverside, USATable of ContentsSeries Preface Foreword Saul Smilansky Opening Statements 1. The Problem of Free Will: A Libertarian Perspective Robert Kane 2. Free Will and Determinism: A Compatibilism Carolina Sartorio First Round of Replies 3. Reply to Carolina Sartorio’s Opening Statement Robert Kane 4. Reply to Bob Kane’s Opening Statement Carolina Sartorio Second Round of Replies 5. Reply to Carolina Sartorio's Reply Robert Kane 6. Reply to Bob Kane’s Reply Carolina Sartorio Further Readings Glossary References Index
£27.99
Taylor & Francis Ltd Should You Choose to Live Forever
Book SynopsisIn this book, Stephen Cave and John Martin Fischer debate whether or not we should choose to live forever. This ancient question is as topical as ever: while billions of people believe they will live forever in an otherworldly realm, billions of dollars are currently being poured into anti-ageing research in the hope that we will be able to radically extend our lives on earth. But are we wise to wish for immortality? What would it mean for each of us as individuals, for society, and for the planet?In this lively and accessible debate, the authors introduce the main arguments for and against living forever, along with some new ones. They draw on examples from myth and literature as well as new thought experiments in order to bring the arguments to life. Cave contends that the aspiring immortalist is stuck on the horns of a series of dilemmas, such as boredom and meaninglessness, or overpopulation and social injustice. Fischer argues that there is a vision of radically longer lTrade Review“Scientists may eventually be able to extend some people’s lives for many hundreds or even thousands of years. This book is a friendly argument between two eminent philosophers about whether this would be good or bad for those people. Even if none of us now will be fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to be around to experience radical life extension, we can still benefit enormously from this debate’s illuminating exchanges, conducted with wit and verve, about death, the meaning and value of life, the nature of well-being, the metaphysics of personal identity, and many other fascinating and fundamentally important topics.” -- Jeff McMahan, University of Oxford"This book will reward anyone interested in the question of whether there's reason to live forever. And let's be honest, that's all of us. Cave and Fischer offer up a timely debate on a timeless issue." -- Benjamin Mitchell-Yellin, Sam Houston State UniversityTable of ContentsForeword Part 1: Opening Statements 1. Why You Should Not Choose to Live Forever (Stephen Cave) 2. Why You Should Choose to Live Forever (John Martin Fischer) Part 2: First Round of Replies 3. Reply to John Martin Fischer (Steven Cave) 4. Reply to Stephen Cave (John Martin Fischer) Part 3: Second Round of Replies 5. Reply to John Martin Fischer's Reply (Stephen Cave) 6. Reply to Steven Cave's Second Essay (John Martin Fischer) Further Readings Glossary References Index
£27.99
Taylor & Francis Metaphysics
Book SynopsisInformative, accessible, and fun to read this is an excellent reference guide for undergraduates and anyone wanting an introduction to the fundamental issues of metaphysics. I know of no other resource like it.' Meghan Griffith, Davidson College, USA''Marvellous! This book provides the very best place to start for students wanting to take the first step into understanding metaphysics.Undergraduates would do well to buy it and consult it regularly. The quality and clarity of the material are consistently high.'' Chris Daly, University of Manchester, UKEver wondered about Gunk, Brains in a Vat or Frankfurt's Nefarious Neurosurgeon?With complete explanations of these terms and more, Metaphysics: The Key Concepts is an accessible and engaging introduction to the most widely studied and challenging concepts in metaphysics. The authors clearly and lucidly define and discuss key terms and concepts, under theTrade Review'...[A] unique, very useful A-Z guide to the key concepts, distinctions, and disputes in metaphysics as well as the philosophers who produced them ... [T]his volume is a superb piece of work.'– CHOICETable of ContentsA-Z list of concepts Introduction Metaphysics: The Key Concepts Bibliography
£32.99
Institute of Physics Publishing Philosophy of Physics
Book SynopsisThis book is about the ways that philosophers inquire into science. They do so with several different approaches, which this book parses into three. One analyzes the results of inquiry, another the process of inquiry, and still another inquiring, or what it means to be an inquirer. Each approach puts a different feature of science centre-stage - its logic, practice, and being-inquiring - questions it in different vocabularies for different ends, and ends up with different kinds of conclusions. This book outlines these approaches in a non-technical way, and highlights their differences by showing how they engage specific topics and issues in physics, including method, discovery, and theory. The key audiences for this book include the wider physics community, as well as philosophy and physics students.Key Features:Author is well respected in the field and well known, in particular through his writings in Physics World
£999.99
Taylor & Francis Ltd (Sales) Being as Communion A Metaphysics of Information
Book SynopsisFor a thing to be real, it must be able to communicate with other things. If this is so, then the problem of being receives a straightforward resolution: to be is to be in communion. So the fundamental science, indeed the science that needs to underwrite all other sciences, is a theory of communication. Within such a theory of communication the proper object of study becomes not isolated particles but the information that passes between entities. In Being as Communion philosopher and mathematician William Dembski provides a non-technical overview of his work on information. Dembski attempts to make good on the promise of John Wheeler, Paul Davies, and others that information is poised to replace matter as the primary stuff of reality. With profound implications for theology and metaphysics, Being as Communion develops a relational ontology that is at once congenial to science and open to teleology in nature. All those interested in the intersections of theology, philosophy and science should read this book.Trade Review’This is a clear, fresh, stimulating, and provocative book. I enjoyed reading it, and recommend it to anyone who would like to think more deeply about information, evolution and creativity.’ Rupert Sheldrake, University of Cambridge, UK 'Being as Communion is a masterpiece. Dembski's treatment of information is deep, rich and staggeringly original, gathering together many different threads from theology, philosophy and science. In an intellectual world that prizes outrageous proposals, Dembski modestly seeks to turn the world upside down by making the case that information is more fundamental than matter or energy. He thereby illuminates the primacy of mind in the cosmos. This book is a fresh and significant threat to materialist imperialism.’ Mark Fitzmaurice, General Medical Practitioner, Sydney, Australia ’William Dembski is one of the most original and rigorous thinkers of his generation, and his new book, Being as Communion, pulls together in a satisfying way the many threads in the theory of design and information that he has developed over the last 15 years. Philosophical and theological critics of the intelligent design movement need to read this book, since here Dembski definitively smashes the common caricatures and misrepresentations of the movement, including the notion that ID is committed to a metaphysics that is mechanist, dualist, interventionist, or occasionalist. Dembski argues persuasively that information cannot be simply identical with its physical manifestations, and that the concepts of information and teleology are indispensable tools for the contemporary metaphysician.’ Robert C. Koons, University of Texas - Austin, USA ’The first Scientific Revolution was the recognition that the book of nature was written in mathematics. The second Scientific Revolution - that the chapter on biology is written in information theory - is taking place in our lifetime. Biology is replete with information, from the genetic code and intricaTable of ContentsPreface 1 The Challenge of a Material World 2 Free Will: The Power of No 11 3 Information as Ruling Out Possibilities 4 Possible Worlds 5 Matrices of Possibility 6 Measuring Information 7 Information Theory 8 Intelligence vs. Nature? 9 Natural Teleological Laws 10 Getting Matter from Information 11 The Medium and the Message 12 Embodiment and Transposition 13 Energy 14 An Informationally Porous Universe 15 Determinism 16 Contingency and Chance 17 Search 18 Conservation of Information 19 Natural Selection 20 The Creation of Information 21 A World in Communion
£39.99
Fordham University Press Form and Event
Book SynopsisDiano's Form and Event has long been known in Europe as a major work not only for classical studies but even more for contemporary philosophy, anticipating the work of Deleuze, Badiou, Esposito, and Agamben. It now appears in English for the first time, with a substantial Introduction that situates the book in the genealogy of modern political philosophy.Table of ContentsIntroduction by Jacques Lezra | 1 Form and Event | 27 Illustrations | 105 Notes | 115
£55.50
Temple Lodge Publishing Michael and the TwoHorned Beast The Challenge of
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£18.00
Cambridge University Press The Attitude of Agnosticism
£21.84
Cambridge University Press Metaphysics of Causation
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£17.00
Cambridge University Press God and Happiness
Book SynopsisThis Element explores the connection between God and happiness, with happiness understood as a life of well-being or flourishing that goes well for the one living it. It provides a historical and contemporary survey of philosophical questions, theories, and debates about happiness, and it asks how they should be answered and evaluated from a theistic perspective. The central topics it covers are the nature of happiness (what is it?), the content of happiness (what are the constituents of a happy life?), the structure of happiness (is there a hierarchy of goods?), and the possibility of happiness (can we be happy?). It argues that God''s existence has significant, positive, and desirable implications for human happiness.
£17.00
Cambridge University Press Contemporary NonPositivism
Book SynopsisThis Element defends and clarifies the thesis that the legality of a system of rules depends on its moral features. Positivists who deny this dependence struggle to explain: (1) the traditional classification of moral norms as a form of a priori law; (2) judicial reliance on moral norms in legal discovery; (3) persistent theoretical disagreement about intra-systemic, law-determining facts; (4) why radically arbitrary or immoral schemes of social organization represent borderline cases of law; and (5) why law, like other artifacts, can be evaluated in a kind-relative sense (?as law?). Meanwhile, traditional versions of non-positivism overstate the dependence going further than the desiderata warrant. A moderate theory is formulated: law is an artifact whose existence depends on adequately performing an essentially normative function. The theory''s justification lies in its explanatory power: a comparison with other ?value-driven? artifacts, such as artworks, proves vital for understanding legal language, reasoning, and practice.
£17.00
Cambridge University Press Social Ontology
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£17.00
