Philosophy Books

Book SynopsisOne of the most influential and controversial thinkers of the twentieth-century, Jacques Derrida's ideas on deconstruction have had a lasting impact on philosophy, literature and cultural studies.Jacques Derrida: Basic Writings is the first anthology to present his most important philosophical writings and is an indispensable resource for all students and readers of his work. Barry Stocker's clear and helpful introductions set each reading in context, making the volume an ideal companion for those coming to Derrida's writings for the first time. The selections themselves range from his most infamous works including Speech and Phenomena and Writing and Difference to lesser known discussion on aesthetics, ethics and politics.Table of ContentsIntroduction Part 1: Metaphysics 1. Of Grammatology: Exergue; The End of the Book and the Beginning of Writing 2. Dissemination: The Pharmakon Part 2: Language and Meaning 3. Speech and Phenomena 3: Meaning as Soliloquy 4. Margins of Philosophy: Signature Event Context Part 3: Consciousness 5. Speech and Phenomena 7. The Supplement of Origin 6. Margins of Philosophy: Form and Meaning Part 4: Epistemology 7. Introduction to Origin of Geometry 7 8. Writing and Difference 10: Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences Part 5: Ethics 9. ‘Hostipitality’ (Angelaki 5/3) 10. Politics of Friendship 1: Oligarchies: Naming, Enumerating, Counting Part 6: Politics 11. ‘Onto-Theology of National-Humanism’ (Oxford Literary Review 14) 12. ‘Admiration for Nelson Mandela’ (in For Nelson Mandela) Part 7: Literature and Aesthetics 13. Writing and Difference 1: Force and Understanding 14. Truth in Painting: Lemmata

Read more less

Book SynopsisDoes God exist? What about evil and suffering? How does faith relate to science? Is there life after death? These questions fascinate everyone and lie at the heart of philosophy of religion. Chad Meister offers an up-to-date introduction to the field, focussing not only on traditional debates but also on contemporary concepts such as the intelligent creator. Key topics, such as divine reality and the self and religious experience, are discussed in relation to different faiths. Introducing Philosophy of Religion: offers a lucid overview of contemporary philosophy of religion introduces the key figures in the history of philosophy of religion  explores the impact of religious diversity and pluralism  examines the main arguments for and against the existence of God and the nature of the divine  looks at science and issues of faith and reason  explores how the different religions approach the concept of life after Trade Review'…I’ve never seen anything as good as this: pitch perfect, well-structured, coherent, cross-cultural.' - Chris Fleming, University of Western Sydney, Australia'A clear, systematic, engaging introduction to philosophy of religion. There is no better single volume that covers the contemporary and classical themes and arguments with greater skill, fairness, comprehensiveness and efficiency. This is a brilliant book for newcomers as well as advanced scholars who want to take a fresh look at philosophy of religion today.' – Charles Taliaferro, St. Olaf College, USATable of ContentsPart One: Religion and the Philosophy of Religion 1. Religion and the World Religions 2. Philosophy and the Philosophy of Religion 3. Philosophy of Religion Timeline 4. Religious Beliefs and Practices Summary Part Two: Religious Diversity and Pluralism 5. The Diversity of Religions 6. Religious Inclusivism and Exclusivism 7. Religious Pluralism 8. Religious Relativism 9. Evaluating Religious Systems 10. Religious Tolerance Summary Part Three: Conceptions of Ultimate Reality 11. Ultimate Reality: The Absolute and the Void 12. Ultimate Reality: A Personal God Summary Part Four: Arguments for God's Existence: Cosmological 13. The Argument from Contingency 14. The Sufficient Reason Argument 15. The Kalam Argument 16. A Cosmological Argument for Atheism Summary Part Five: Arguments for God's Existence: Teleological 17. Paley's Design Argument 18. A Fine-Tuning Argument 19. An Intelligent Design Argument Summary Part Six: Arguments for God's Existence: Ontological 20. Anselm's Ontological Argument 21. Plantinga's Modal Ontological Argument Summary Part Seven: Problems of Evil 22. Sketching the Terrain 23. Theoretical Problems of Evil 24. The Existential Problem of Evil 25. Three Theodicies Summary Part Eight: Science, Faith and Reason 26. Religion and Science 27. Religious Belief and Justification Summary Part Nine: Religious Experience 28. The Nature and Diversity of Religious Experience 29. Religious Experience and Justification 30. Scientific Explanations of Religious Experience Summary Part Ten: The Self, Death and the Afterlife 31. Conceptions of the Self 32. Reincarnation and Karma 33. Arguments for Immortality 34. Arguments against Immortality

Read more less

Book SynopsisFirst Published in 1999. The purpose of this series is to provide a contemporary assessment and history of the entire course of philosophical thought. Each book constitutes a detailed, critical introduction to the work of a philosopher of major influence and significance. Understanding a philosophical doctrine stands close to seeing its strengths and weaknesses, how best it could be defended and how best attacked. The author therefore has tried, not merely to state Russell's philosophical doctrines, but also to appraise them: to determine, if possible, whether they are true, or at least what arguments tell in their favour, and what tell against them.Table of ContentsKnowledge VII Ontology VIII Mathematics

Read more less

Book SynopsisTemporalities presents a concise critical introduction to the treatment of time throughout literature. Time and its passage represent one of the oldest and most complex philosophical subjects in art of all forms, and Russell West-Pavlov explains and interrogates the most important theories of temporality across a range of disciplines. The author explores temporality''s relationship with a diverse range of related concepts, including: historiography psychology gender economics postmodernism postcolonialism Russell West-Pavlov examines time as a crucial part of the critical theories of Newton, Freud, Ricoeur, Benjamin, and explores the treatment of time in a broad range of texts, ranging from the writings of St. Augustine and Sterne's Tristram Shandy, to Woolf's Mrs Dalloway and Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.This comprehensive and accessible gTrade Review‘There is nothing that really brings it [the critical material] all together in a student introduction though, and I think that is an important opportunity for Routledge.’ – Professor Mark Currie, Queen Mary, University of London, UK‘I don’t know of a single book accessible to undergraduates on the topic.’ - Professor Kathleen Davis, University of Rhode Island, USA‘As far as I know, there is no comparable book. Relevant books on the market are usually more specifically devoted to one of the various aspects of temporality pulled together here, and are either more specifically academic/theoretical or more clearly "general interest". Also, the chapters on "Gender" and "Postcolonialism" in relation to time make this book quite unique.’ - Dr Christof Schöch, University of Kassel, GermanyTable of Contents1. Time-keeping 2. Philosophies of time 3. Histories 4. Language and Discourse 5. Gender and Subjectivity 6. Economics 7. Postmodern temporalities 8. Postcolonial temporalities

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhereas the relationship between truth and propositional content has already been intensively investigated, there are only very few studies devoted to the task of illuminating the relationship between truth and illocutionary acts. This book fills that gap. This innovative collection addresses such themes as: the relation between the concept of truth and the success conditions of assertions and kindred speech acts the linguistic devices of expressing the truth of a proposition the relation between predication and truth. Table of ContentsIntroduction Part 1: The Illocutionary Significance of the Concept of Truth Part 2: Truth and Assertion Part 3: The Normativity of Truth Part 4: Truth and Propositional Meaning

Read more less

Book SynopsisPhilosophy for Young Children is a concise, practical guide for teachers. It contains detailed session plans for 36 philosophical enquiries that will enable them to introduce philosophy to their children quickly and with confidence.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Political Philosophy: Fairness and Rules * The Teddy Bears’ Picnic – Fairness: Equality versus Need * Gavin Builds a Sandpit – Fairness and Refusing to Help * The Animal Snack – Sharing Fairly and Prudence * School Rules – Obeying the Rules 2. Environmental Philosophy: Green Land, Waste and Recycling * Greenhill Village – Use of Green Land * Emerald the Elephant – Wasting Water * Benny the Bin – Recycling 3. Social Philosophy: Friends and Relationships * Teddy’s Friends – Characteristics of a Good Friend * William and Arthur – Friendship and Sharing * Emma and Sally – Cooperation * Maisie the Sheep – Being Different from Others * Big Teddy’s New School – Inclusion 4. Ethics: Virtues and Vices * Sam’s Kind Day – Kindness * Kirsty – Telling the Truth * The Magic Words – Saying Thank You * Teddy Scrooge – Giving Presents * The Selfish Hippo – Selfishness * Charlotte the Lazy Caterpillar – Laziness * Pancake the Greedy Rabbit – Greed 5. Aesthetics: Beauty, Pictures and Stories * Beautiful Things – Beauty * Cats – Photographs and Drawings * A Walk on the Beach – Fantasy and Realistic Stories * The Cave Monster – Enjoying Scary Stories 6. Philosophy of Mind: Emotions, Beliefs and Persons * Patch and his Friends – Anger * Rabbit and Mouse – Fear * Happy Suzy – Happiness * Sad Teddy – Sadness * Andy’s Accident – Pain * Giants – Pretending and Believing * Isaac the Robot – Persons * 7. Epistemology: Dreams and Illusions * Milly’s Bad Dream – Things in Dreams Do Not Really Happen * Dreaming of School – Are You Dreaming Now? * A Stick in the Water – Visual Illusions * 8. Metaphysics: What is Real? * Angus the Cat – Do the Animals in a Story Really Exist? * Numbers – Are Numbers Real? * Theseus’s Ship – When are Things the Same? Further Reading

Read more less

Book SynopsisDevelopments in the philosophy of mind over the last 20 years have dramatically changed the nature of the subject. In this major new introduction, Tim Bayne presents an outstanding overview of many of the key topics, problems, and debates, taking account not only of changes in philosophy of mind itself but also of important developments in the scientific study of the mind. The following topics are discussed in depth: What distinguishes a physicalist conception of the mind? Behaviourism, the identity theory, functionalism, and eliminativism as accounts of the mental The nature of perception, including the issue of perceptual transparency, the admissible contents of perception, and the question of unconscious perception The nature of thought, including the language of thought hypothesis, Searleâs Chinese room argument, and the Turing test The basis of intentional content <Trade Review‘This is a marvelous introduction to the philosophy of mind. It focuses on the foundational issues that have made philosophy of mind such a vital area of inquiry for the last 50 years. And it places those issues in the context of contemporary research in both philosophy and science. The book deftly integrates the scientific work without losing sight of the deep philosophical problems. Bayne also achieves an excellent balance of accessibility and philosophical precision. It is likely to become the standard text on philosophy of mind for years to come.’ - Shaun Nichols, Cornell University, USA ‘This is a superb introduction to the philosophy of mind. Bayne focuses on fundamental aspects of mentality such as perception, thought, intentionality, consciousness, and the self, presenting the central debates in the field in a way that is both empirically informed and up to date. Each chapter is lucidly written and provides a skillfully crafted narrative. He has achieved the remarkable feat of writing a highly accessible book without ever sacrificing rigor or simplifying arguments. A jewel that belongs in every classroom!’ – René Jagnow, University of Georgia, USA ‘An ideal introduction to the subject by a leader in the field. It covers the traditional big questions, including the mind-body problem, mental causation, and self-knowledge. But it is also on the cutting edge, featuring detailed discussions of recent hot topics. And it is unique among introductions to the subject in giving a prominent place to both empirical considerations and a priori philosophical arguments. Lucidly written and neatly organized throughout, Bayne’s introduction will be a delight for students and teachers alike.’ - Adam Pautz, Brown University, USA ‘Tim Bayne covers a diverse array of both traditional and cutting-edge topics with clarity, depth, and rigor, making this book an excellent introduction to philosophy of mind and a fantastic launching pad for further investigation. Highly readable and accessible, it is a pleasure to read!’ - Angela Mendelovici, Western University, Canada ‘This is a terrific book! Bayne accomplishes the near-impossible task of giving the reader a sense of both the core issues in philosophy of mind, and the current state of the discipline and where it’s heading. Written in plain English, it does a very good job of explaining complicated issues in a clear manner.’ - Raamy Majeed, University of Auckland, New Zealand ‘This is a much-needed update to current introductory offerings in the philosophy of mind. Engaging and clear, Bayne presents philosophical problems in ways that will excite and motivate his readers. Most importantly, he demonstrates how empirical work can be used to evaluate philosophical theories, serving as an invaluable role-model for future generations of philosophers of mind.’ - Jane Suilin Lavelle, University of Edinburgh, UK Table of ContentsIntroduction: A Map of the Mind 1. Marks of the Mental 2. Physicalism 3. How to be a Physicalist 4. Perception 5. Thought 6. Grounding Intentionality 7. Externalism and the Extended Mind 8. The Metaphysics of Consciousness 9. Theories of Consciousness 10. Mental Causation 11. Other Minds 12. Self-Knowledge 13. The Self Conclusion: The Mind-Body Problem. Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisAround the world, what it is to be a university is a matter of much debate. The range of ideas of the university in public circulation is, however, exceedingly narrow and is dominated by the idea of the entrepreneurial university. As a consequence, the debate is hopelessly impoverished. Lurking in the literature, there is a broad and even imaginative array of ideas of the university, but those ideas are seldom heard. We need, consequently, not just more ideas of the university but better ideas. Imagining the University forensically examines this situation, critically interrogating many of the current ideas of the university. Imagining the University argues for imaginative ideas that are critical, sensitive to the deep structures underlying universities and are yet optimistic, in short feasible utopias of the university. The case is pressed for one such idea, that of the ecological university. The book concludes by offering a vision oTrade Review"Ronald Barnett, one of the world’s leading defenders of the university, calls upon us to free our imaginations in order to engage in the contemporary debate about university futures: what could and should it become? In Imagining the University he masterfully examines the form and structure of imagination in order to re-examine the concept of the public university to expand, contemplate and evaluate possibilities, and to assert and theorize the ecological university. This work is bound to become a classic within the genre." Professor Michael Peters, University of Waikato, New Zealand and Emeritus, University of Illinois"Universities, as Ronald Barnett has reminded us in a series of influential books, have always existed in the mind as well as on the ground. This is one explanation of their resilience, their ability to re-invent themselves, and their wide cultural appeal. Progress is enabled by acts of collective imagination. In this latest book, Barnett delicately probes how such acts originate, are evaluated and can succeed." David Watson, Professor of Higher Education and Principal of Green Templeton College, Oxford"The University has always been a place for imagination. This book offers a most timely critical account of the current state of imagining the modern University itself and opens up horizons for the public debate about the ‘good university’. It covers a wide expanse of concepts and ideas for the modern university and develops and applies tools for their assessment. It is academically stimulating and practically relevant, and I am sure it will become a key text about our universities and their future development."Prof Jürgen Enders, Center for Higher education Policy Studies, University of Twente, NL"In these uncertain times for higher education, Ron Barnett’s latest book invites us to ‘imagine’ a variety of possible futures for universities. In doing so, he presents us with his thoughts on the diversity of what is and has been ‘the university’ alongside his thoughts about the diversity of what could be ‘the university’, or in the author’s words, “the possibility of possibilities”. The reader is presented with many ‘imaginations’ from which to choose though the author’s sympathies for the ‘utopian’ form are pretty clear. This book is a good read, an important read, and a read that will change things. I strongly recommend it."John Brennan, Emeritus Professor of Higher Education Research at the Open University and a Visiting Professor at the University of Bath and London Metropolitan University."The function of the future of universities is being discussed now much more than at any point over the past half-century. In imagining the university, Ron Barnett challenges us to move beyond the established models of a university and to dare, intellectually and socially, to think better about what a university can and should be. This book should be compulsory reading for everyone interested in universities."Professor Michael Worton, Vice-Provost, University College London.Table of ContentsIntroduction Part I: Imagining the university 1. Losing, and regaining, the imagination 2. Perchance to dream 3. Valuing the imagination Part II: Structuring the imagination 4. Axes of the imagination 5. Sightings of the imagination Part III: Forms of the imagination 6. The ideological imagination 7. The dystopian imagination 8. The persuasive imagination 9. The utopian imagination Part IV: Being imaginative 10. Criteria of adequacy 11. Imagining the ecological university 12. The imaginative university Coda: A forgetting of air?

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhat is awareness? How is dreaming different from ordinary awareness? What does mathematics have to do with awareness? Are different kinds of awareness related? Awareness is commonly spoken of as mind, soul, spirit, consciousness, the unconscious, psyche, imagination, self, and other. The Phenomena of Awareness is a study of awareness as it is directly experienced.  From the start, Cecile T. Tougas engages the reader in reflective notice of awareness as it appears from moment to moment in a variety of ways. The book draws us in and asks us to focus on the flow of phenomena in living experience, not as a theoretical construct, nor an image, nor a biochemical product, but instead as phases, moments, or parts that cannot exist without one another. Tougas shows how these parts exist in mutual dependence as a continuum of awareness, as the flow of lived time, and how noticing time deepens psychological self-understanding and understanding of another.Trade Review"‘Jung would have appreciated clarification from Husserl’, says Tougas, a judgement that is justified by this short masterful book... It is written in the best new scientific style, which seamlessly melds both the subjective, that is, the experiences of Tougas as she writes the book, and the objective, the ideas of Husserl couched in his engendering experiences... Phenomena is an avowed labour of love and Tougas’s love illuminates everyone she writes about. As it is with us humans, the more we look, the more we see, and so we never tire of looking if the intent is exercised with thoughtfulness and agape-like goodwill, the attitude that the Kabbalah calls kavannah. To take this book in is once more to make such a journey oneself."- David Tresan, The Journal of Analytical PsychologyTable of ContentsPart 1 Seeking and noticing awareness; Chapter 1 Medieval Metaphysics; Chapter 2 The Equal; Chapter 3 Jung's “images” and Husserl's “phenomena”; Chapter 4 Edith Stein and Husserl in Göttingen; Chapter 5 Seeing the world as Husserl did; Chapter 6 World without soul; Chapter 7 Husserl, Jung, and the “unconscious”; Part 2 Observing and understanding the flow of phenomena; Chapter 8 Transfinite whole; Chapter 9 Transfinite number as limit and essence; Chapter 10 Subjectivity; Chapter 11 Double intenationality in time-consciousness; Part 3 Distinguishing intentional acts; Chapter 12 Memory and feeling; Chapter 13 Expectation and its double intentionality; Chapter 14 Double intentionality in dreaming; Chapter 15 Intentional activity as the work of spirit; Chapter 16 Nebulous knowing; Chapter 17 The Other in us; Part 4 Work in progress; Chapter 18 Analytical psychology; Chapter 19 Animus in a woman; Chapter 20 Child analysis and the dark mother;

Read more less

Book SynopsisPros and Cons: A Debaters Handbook offers a unique and invaluable guide to the arguments both for and against over 140 current controversies and global issues. Since it was first published in 1896 the handbook has been regularly updated and this nineteenth edition includes new entries on topics such as the right to possess nuclear weapons, the bailing out of failing industries, the protection of indigenous languages and the torture of suspected terrorists.Equal coverage is given to both sides of each debate in a dual column format which allows for easy comparison. Each entry also includes a list of related topics and suggestions for possible motions. The introductory essay describes debating technique, covering the rules, structure and type of debate, and offering tips on how to become a successful speaker. The book is then divided into eight thematic sections, where specific subjects are covered individually.Table of ContentsEditorial Team Foreword Preface How to Debate (A) Philosophical/ Political Theory (B) Constitutional/ Governance (C) Politics and Economics: UK (D) Politics and Economics: International (E) Moral and Religious (F) Education, Culture and Sport (G) Law and Crime (H) Health, Science and Technology

Read more less

Book SynopsisEpistemology, or âœthe theory of knowledge,â is concerned with how we know what we know, what justifies us in believing what we believe, and what standards of evidence we should use in seeking truths about the world and human experience. This comprehensive introduction to the field of epistemology explains the concepts and theories central to understanding knowledge. Along with covering the traditional topics of the discipline in detail, Epistemology explores emerging areas of research. The third edition features new sections on such topics as the nature of intuition, the skeptical challenge of rational disagreement, and âœthe value problemâ â the range of questions concerning why knowledge and justified true belief have value beyond that of merely true belief. Updated and expanded, Epistemology remains a superb introduction to one of the most fundamental fields of philosophy. Special features of the third edition of Epistemology include: Trade Review'Without a doubt, Robert Audi’s Epistemology, Third Edition, is the most authoritative, comprehensive, and state of the art textbook in the field. In clear, masterful prose, Audi covers all the main topics in epistemology. No textbook compares. Every student of epistemology – new and old – should read this book.' – Peter Graham, University of California, Riverside, USA 'An excellent introduction to the field, unusually comprehensive, elegantly structured, and accessible. The reader gets a clear view of all the traditional problems and projects and, in this new edition, a cutting-edge treatment of the latest debates about the nature of intuitions, the significance of rational disagreement, and the value of knowledge and justified true belief.' – Ralph Kennedy, Wake Forest University, USA 'Like the previous editions, this new third edition of Audi’s outstanding book is a well-motivated, comprehensive, accessible introduction for students as well as an original, exciting, cutting-edge work of epistemology in its own right. Novices and experts alike will continually profit—and tremendously so—from studying it. It is an ideal text for undergraduate courses in epistemology, and even graduate-level surveys of the field.' – E.J. Coffman, University of Tennessee, USA Praise for the second edition: 'Audi’s introduction is at once philosophically insightful and masterfully written – even more so in its new edition. Guaranteed to fascinate the beginner while retaining its exalted status with the experts.' – Claudio de Almeida, PUCRS, Brazil 'My students like this book and have learned much from it, as I have…Epistemology – especially in its second edition – is simply the best textbook in epistemology that I know of.' – Thomas Vinci, Dalhousie University, Canada Praise for the first edition: 'No less than one would expect from a first-rate epistemologist who is also a master expositor: lucid, comprehensive, well-structured, and excellently informed both by the tradition and by recent developments. A superb introduction.' – Ernest Sosa, Brown University, USA 'This is a massively impressive book, introducing the reader to virtually all the main areas of epistemology. Robert Audi's text is lucid and highly readable, while not shirking the considerable complexities of his subject matter.' – Elizabeth .M. Fricker, University of Oxford, UK 'A state-of-the-art introduction to epistemology by one of the leading figures in the field.' – William P. Alston, Syracuse University, USA 'Epistemology: A Contemporary Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge, 3rd Edition is an excellent introductory textbook by one of the world’s leading epistemologists. This textbook would be a good choice for use in advanced undergraduate courses or introductory graduate courses on epistemology because it manages to be accessible enough for advanced undergraduates to follow while being challenging enough for graduate students to profit from closely reading it.' – Kevin McCain, University of Rochester, USA 'Without a doubt, Robert Audi’s Epistemology, Third Edition, is the most authoritative, comprehensive, and state of the art textbook in the field. In clear, masterful prose, Audi covers all the main topics in epistemology. No textbook compares. Every student of epistemology – new and old – should read this book.' – Peter Graham, University of California, Riverside, USA 'An excellent introduction to the field, unusually comprehensive, elegantly structured, and accessible. The reader gets a clear view of all the traditional problems and projects and, in this new edition, a cutting-edge treatment of the latest debates about the nature of intuitions, the significance of rational disagreement, and the value of knowledge and justified true belief.' – Ralph Kennedy, Wake Forest University, USA 'Like the previous editions, this new third edition of Audi’s outstanding book is a well-motivated, comprehensive, accessible introduction for students as well as an original, exciting, cutting-edge work of epistemology in its own right. Novices and experts alike will continually profit—and tremendously so—from studying it. It is an ideal text for undergraduate courses in epistemology, and even graduate-level surveys of the field.' – E.J. Coffman, University of Tennessee, USA Praise for the second edition: 'Audi’s introduction is at once philosophically insightful and masterfully written – even more so in its new edition. Guaranteed to fascinate the beginner while retaining its exalted status with the experts.' – Claudio de Almeida, PUCRS, Brazil 'My students like this book and have learned much from it, as I have…Epistemology – especially in its second edition – is simply the best textbook in epistemology that I know of.' – Thomas Vinci, Dalhousie University, Canada Praise for the first edition: 'No less than one would expect from a first-rate epistemologist who is also a master expositor: lucid, comprehensive, well-structured, and excellently informed both by the tradition and by recent developments. A superb introduction.' – Ernest Sosa, Brown University, USA 'This is a massively impressive book, introducing the reader to virtually all the main areas of epistemology. Robert Audi's text is lucid and highly readable, while not shirking the considerable complexities of his subject matter.' – Elizabeth .M. Fricker, University of Oxford, UK 'A state-of-the-art introduction to epistemology by one of the leading figures in the field.' – William P. Alston, Syracuse University, USA Table of ContentsSelected Contents: Preface Introduction Part 1: Sources of Justification, Knowledge, and Truth 1. Perception: Sensing, Believing, and Knowing 2. Theories of Perception: Sense Experience, Appearances, and Reality 3. Memory 4. Consciousness: The Life of the Mind 5. Reason I: Understanding, Insight, and Intellectual Power 6. Reason II: Apriority, Necessity, and Provability 7. Testimony Part 2: The Structure and Growth of Justification and Knowledge 8. Inference and the Extension of Knowledge 9. The Architecture of Knowledge Part 3: The Nature and Scope of Justification and Knowledge 10. The Analysis of Knowledge: Justification, Certainty, and Reliability 11. Knowledge, Justification and Truth: Internalism, Externalism, and Intellectual Virtue 12. Scientific, Moral, and Religious Knowledge 13. Skepticism I: The Quest for Certainty 14. Skepticism II: The Defense of Common Sense in the Face of Fallibility 15. Conclusion. Annotated Bibliography. Index.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis collection of essays defy arbitrary distinctions between nature and culture and reveal the complex ways in which nature and culture interact to produce embodied subjects.Trade Review"This impressive group of philosophers have come together across the continental/analytic divide to reconceptualize the body in relation to philosophy. When we view the body as the subject of perception and not just the object, as Gail Weiss points out, it becomes essential to reconceptualize many of the fundamental concepts used in philosophies of action, of mind, and of consciousness. We will need to reconceptualize the cognitive sciences, given that perception is structured by the body as a whole rather than an abstracted perceptual organ. These essays provide an excellent entree into this exciting new area of philosophical discussion." -- Linda AlcoffTable of ContentsIntroduction Part 1. Identifying Bodies and Bodily Identifications. one Critical Resistance: Foucault and Bourdieu, two The Soul of America: Whiteness and the Disappearing of Bodies in the Progressive Era, three The Abject Borders of the Body Image, four Claiming One’s Identity: A Constructivist/Narrativist Approach, Part 2. Embodied Mind: Phenomenological Approaches to Cognitive Science, Psychology, and Anthropology. five Embodied Reason, six The Challenge of Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of Embodiment for Cognitive Science, seven Affordances: An Ecological Approach to First Philosophy, eight Embodiment and Cultural Phenomenology Part 3. Rewriting the History of the Body. nine Returning the Gaze: The American Response to the French Critique of Ocularcentrism, ten The Epoch of the Body: Need and Demand in Kojève and Lacan, eleven Disciplining the Dead, twelve The Preservation and Ownership of the Body

Read more less

Book SynopsisAnthropic Bias explores how to reason when you suspect that your evidence is biased by observation selection effects--that is, evidence that has been filtered by the precondition that there be some suitably positioned observer to have the evidence. This conundrum--sometimes alluded to as the anthropic principle, self-locating belief, or indexical information--turns out to be a surprisingly perplexing and intellectually stimulating challenge, one abounding with important implications for many areas in science and philosophy. There are the philosophical thought experiments and paradoxes: the Doomsday Argument; Sleeping Beauty; the Presumptuous Philosopher; Adam & Eve; the Absent-Minded Driver; the Shooting Room.And there are the applications in contemporary science: cosmology (How many universes are there?, Why does the universe appear fine-tuned for life?); evolutionary theory (How improbable was the evolution of intelligent life on our planet?); the problem ofTrade Review"From traffic analysis via a many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics and the problem of the fine-tuning of the universe to the purely philosophical problems of the Doomsday argument and the Sleeping Beauty problem, Bostrom succeeds in shining a new and interesting light on all of these issues." --Wouter Meijs"Bostrom presents a highly readable and widely relevant work which can be warmly recommended to everyone in philosophy of science."--Christian Wuthrich, Philosophy of Science"Probably the worst thing one can say about this book is that it is too short....Anthropic Bias is a wonderful achievement, which should find place on the shelf of every serious student of modern philosophy of science, epistemology, and cosmology." --Milan Cirkovic, Foundations of Science"Anthropic Bias is a synthesis of some of the most interesting and important ideas to emerge from discussion of cosmic fine-tuning, the anthropic principle, and the Doomsday Argument. It deserves a place on the shelves of epistemologists and philosophers of science, as well as specialists interested in the topics just mentioned."--Neil Manson, Notre Dame Philosophical ReviewsTable of ContentsPreface Content Acknowledgements Chapter1: Introduction Observation selection effects A brief history of anthropic reasoning Synopsis of this book Chapter 2: Fine- Tuning Arguments in Cosmology Does fine-tuning need explaining? No "Inverse Gambler's Fallacy" Roger White and Phil Dowe's analysis Surprising vs. unsurprising improbable events Modeling observation selection effects: the angel parable Preliminary conclusions Chapter 3: Anthropic Principles, the Motley Family The anthropic principle as expressing an observation selection effect Anthropic hodgepodge Freak observers and why earlier formulations are inadequate The Self-Sampling Assumption Chapter 4: Thought Experiments Supporting the Self-Sampling Assumption The Dungeon gedanken Two thought experiments by John Leslie The Incubator gedanken The reference class problem Chapter 5: The Self-Sampling Assumption in Science SSA in cosmology SSA in thermodynamics SSA in evolutionary biology SSA in traffic analysis SSA in quantum physics Summary of the case for SSA Chapter 6: The Doomsday Argument Background Doomsday a la Gottv The incorrectness of Gott's argument Doomsday a la Leslie The premisses of DA, and the Old evidence problem Leslie's views on the reference class problem Alternative conclusions of DA Chapter 7: Invalid Objections Against the Doomsday Argument Doesn't the Doomsday argument fail to "target the truth"? (Korb and Oliver) The "baby-paradox" (Delahaye; Korb and Oliver) Isn't a sample size of one too small? (Korb and Oliver) Couldn't a Cro-Magnon man have used the Doomsday argument? (Various) We can make the effect go away simply by considering a larger hypothesis space (Dieks; Eastmond; Korb and Oliver) Aren't we necessarily alive now? (Mark Greenberg) Sliding reference of "soon" and "late"? (Mark Greenberg) How could I have been a 16th century human? (Mark Greenberg) Doesn't your theory presuppose that what happens in causally disconnected regions affects what happens here? (Ken Olum) But we know so much more about ourselves than our birth ranks! (Various) The Self-Indication Assumption - Is there safety in numbers? (Various) Chapter 8: Observer-Relative Chances in Anthropic Reasoning? Leslie's argument, and why it fails Observer-relative chances: another go Discussion: indexical facts - no conflict with physicalism In conclusion Appendix: the no-betting results Chapter 9: Paradoxes of the Self-Sampling Assumption The Adam & Eve experiments Analysis of Lazy Adam: predictions and counterfactuals The UN++ gedanken: reasons and abilities Quantum Joe: SSA and the Principal Principle Upshot Appendix: The Meta-Newcomb problem Chapter 10: Observation Selection Theory: A Methodology for Anthropic Reasoning Building blocks, theory constraints and desiderata The outline of a solution SSSA: Taking account of indexical information of observer-moments Reassessing Incubator How the reference class may be observer-moment relative Formalizing the theory: the Observation Equation A quantum generalization of OE Non-triviality of the reference class: why must be rejected A subjective factor in the choice of reference class? Chapter 11: Observation Selection Theory Applied Cosmological theorizing: fine-tuning and freak observers The freak-observer problem places only lax demands on the reference class The Sleeping Beauty problem: modeling imperfect recall The case of no outsiders The case with outsiders Synthesis of the 1/2- and the 1/3-views Observation selection theory applied to other scientific problems Robustness of reference class and scientific solidity Wrap-up References

Read more less

Book SynopsisBeing a crime fighting superhero is a tough job and it comes with no shortage of social and moral responsibilities.Trade ReviewIn this, the latest in Wiley’s Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series (South Park and Philosophy, The Office and…, Metallica and…), editors White and Arp assert upfront, and without qualification (apparently, that’s the contributors’ job), their belief that Batman is “the most complex character ever to appear in comic books and graphic novels.” Exploring certain works that have broadened the philosophical undercurrents of the Batman mythos (Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One and The Dark Knight Returns are cited often, but rarely the new movies), a raft of professors, students and PhD candidates paint Bruce Wayne’s choices as, most often, either utilitarian or deontological, with basic descriptions of these systems helpfully provided for the novice. A few contributions broaden the discussion beyond the well-worn (origin stories of Batman and foes, etc.); casting butler Alfred as Kierkegaard’s “knight of faith” to Batman’s “knight of infinite resignation,” contributor Christopher M. Drohan actually gets close to the archetypal sources that keep the serialized exploits of Batman and other comic heroes from getting stale. Unfortunately, most of these essays get old fast. (July) (Publishers Weekly, July 28, 2008)Table of ContentsACKNOWLEDGMENTS: The Oscar Speech George Clooney Never Got to Make ix Introduction: Riddle Me This . . . 1 PART ONE DOES THE DARK KNIGHT ALWAYS DO RIGHT? 1 Why Doesn’t Batman Kill the Joker? 5Mark D. White 2 Is It Right to Make a Robin? 17James DiGiovanna 3 Batman’s Virtuous Hatred 28Stephen Kershnar PART TWO LAW, JUSTICE, AN D THE SOCIAL ORDER: WHERE DOES BATMAN FIT IN? 4 No Man’s Land: Social Order in Gotham City and New Orleans 41Brett Chandler Patterson 5 Governing Gotham 55Tony Spanakos 6 The Joker’s Wild: Can We Hold the Clown Prince Morally Responsible? 70Christopher Robichaud PART THREE ORIGINS AND ETHICS: BECOMING THE CAPED CRUSADER 7 Batman’s Promise 85Randall M. Jensen 8 Should Bruce Wayne Have Become Batman? 101Mahesh Ananth and Ben Dixon 9 What Would Batman Do? Bruce Wayne as Moral Exemplar 114Ryan Indy Rhodes and David Kyle Johnson PART FOUR WHO IS THE BATMAN? (IS THAT A TRICK QUESTION?) 10 Under the Mask: How Any Person Can Become Batman 129Sarah K. Donovan and Nicholas P. Richardson 11 Could Batman Have Been the Joker? 142Sam Cowling and Chris Ragg 12 Batman’s Identity Crisis and Wittgenstein’s Family Resemblance 156Jason Southworth 13 What Is It Like to Be a Batman? 167Ron Novy PART FIVE BEING THE BAT: INSIGHTS FROM EXISTENTIALISM AND TAOISM 14 Alfred, the Dark Knight of Faith: Batman and Kierkegaard 183Christopher M. Drohan 15 Dark Nights and the Call of Conscience 198Jason J. Howard 16 Batman’s Confrontation with Death, Angst, and Freedom 212David M. Hart PART SIX FRIEND, FATHER, . . . RIVAL? TH E MANY ROLES OF THE BAT 17 Why Batman Is Better Than Superman 227Galen Foresman 18 World’s Finest . . . Friends? Batman,Superman, and the Nature of Friendship 239Daniel P. Malloy 19 Leaving the Shadow of the Bat: Aristotle, Kant, and Dick Grayson on Moral Education 254Carsten Fogh Nielsen 20 The Tao of the Bat 267Bat-Tzu CONTRIBUTORS : The Clown Princes (and Princess) of Casuistry and Categorical Imperatives 279 INDEX : From the Secret Files of Oracle, Master Indexer to the DCU 285

Read more less

Book SynopsisA philosophical exploration of the entire seven-book Harry Potter series Harry Potter has been heralded as one of the most popular book series of all time and the philosophical nature of Harry, Hermione, and Ron''s quest to rid the world of its ultimate evil is one of the many things that make this series special. The Ultimate Harry Potter and Philosophy covers all seven titles in J.K. Rowling''s groundbreaking series and takes fans back to Godric''s Hollow to discuss life after death, to consider what moral reasoning drove Harry to choose death, and to debate whether Sirius Black is a man or a dog. With publication timed to coincide with the release of the movie Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 1), this book will be the definitive guide for all fans looking to appreciate the series on a deeper level. Covers a range of intriguing topics such as the redemption of Severus Snape, the power of love, and destiny in the wizaTrade Review'Packed with interesting ideas and insights...an ideal companion for anyone interested in unraveling the subtext and exploring the greater issues.' (Planet-Print Blog.com, July 2011).Table of ContentsFOREWORD BY TOM MORRIS xi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: Some House Points I’d Like to Award xv Introduction: Harry Potter and the Enchantment of Philosophy 1 PART ONE THE HORCRUX OF THE MATTER: DESTINY, IDENTITY, AND THE SOUL 1 The Soul in Harry Potter 7Scott Sehon 2 Sirius Black: Man or Dog? 22Eric Saidel 3 Destiny in the Wizarding World 35Jeremy Pierce PART TWO THE MOST POWERFUL MAGIC OF ALL 4 Choosing Love: The Redemption of Severus Snape 53Catherine Jack Deavel and David Paul Deavel 5 Love Potion No. 9¾ 66Gregory Bassham 6 Harry Potter, Radical Feminism, and the Power of Love 80Anne Collins Smith PART THREE POTTERWATCH: FREEDOM AND POLITICS 7 Patriotism, House Loyalty, and the Obligations of Belonging 97Andrew P. Mills 8 Dumbledore’s Politics 113Beth Admiraal and Regan Lance Reitsma 9 Dumbledore, Plato, and the Lust for Power 128David Lay Williams and Alan J. Kellner PART FOUR THE ROOM OF REQUIREMENT: A POTTER POTPOURRI 10 Is Dumbledore Gay? Who’s to Say? 143Tamar Szabó Gendler 11 Choices vs. Abilities: Dumbledore on Self-Understanding 157Gregory Bassham 12 The Magic of Personal Transformation 172S. Joel Garver 13 Just in Your Head? J. K. Rowling on Separating Reality from Illusion 185John Granger with Gregory Bassham 14 A Pensieve for Your Thoughts? Harry Potter and the Magic of Memory 198Amy Kind 15 A Hogwarts Education: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly 212Gregory Bassham PART FIVE BEYOND THE VEIL: DEATH, HOPE, AND MEANING 16 The Real Secret of the Phoenix: Moral Regeneration through Death 229Charles Taliaferro 17 Beyond Godric’s Hollow: Life after Death and the Search for Meaning 246Jonathan L. Walls and Jerry L. Walls 18 Why Harry and Socrates Decide to Die: Virtue and the Common Good 258Michael W. Austin CONTRIBUTORS: The Hogwarts (for Muggles) Faculty 271 THE MARAUDER ’ S INDEX 279

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe perfect companion to Lewis Carroll's classic book and director Tim Burton's remake of Alice in Wonderland releasing in March 2010 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is treasured by people of all ages who have followed young Alice on her trip down a rabbit hole and into a fantasy world filled with strange and whimsical characters.Table of ContentsACKNOWLEDGMENTS: “It’s My Own Invention”— Yeah, Right! ix Introduction: You’re Late for a Very Important Date 1 PART ONE “WAKE UP, ALICE DEAR” 1 Unruly Alice: A Feminist View of Some Adventures in Wonderland 7Megan S. Lloyd 2 Jam Yesterday, Jam Tomorrow, but Never Jam Today: On Procrastination, Hiking, and . . . the Spice Girls? 19Mark D. White 3 Nuclear Strategists in Wonderland 33Ron Hirschbein 4 “You’re Nothing but a Pack of Cards!”: Alice Doesn’t Have a Social Contract 47Dennis Knepp PART TWO “THAT’S LOGIC” 5 “Six Impossible Things before Breakfast” 61George A. Dunn and Brian McDonald 6 Reasoning Down the Rabbit-Hole: Logical Lessons in Wonderland 79David S. Brown 7 Three Ways of Getting It Wrong: Induction in Wonderland 93Brendan Shea 8 Is There Such a Thing as a Language? 107Daniel Whiting PART THREE “WE’RE ALL MAD HERE” 9 Alice, Perception, and Reality: Jell-O Mistaken for Stones 125Robert Arp 10 How Deep Does the Rabbit-Hole Go?: Drugs and Dreams, Perception and Reality 137Scott F. Parker 11 Perspectivism and Tragedy: A Nietzschean Interpretation of Alice’s Adventure 153Rick Mayock 12 Wishing It Were Some Other Time: The Temporal Passage of Alice 167Mark W. Westmoreland PART FOUR “WHO IN THE WORLD AM I?”13 Serious Nonsense 183Charles Taliaferro and Elizabeth Olson 14 “Memory and Muchness”: Alice and the Philosophy of Memory 197Tyler Shores CONTRIBUTORS: Pawns and Pieces: As Arranged before Commencement of Game 213 INDEX: “Down, Down, Down”: What You Will Find at the Bottom 219

Read more less

Book SynopsisHealth Economics and Financing What are the metaphysics of time travel? How can Hurley exist in two places at the same time? What does it mean for something to be possibly true in the flash-sideways universe? Does Jack have a moral obligation to his father? What is the Tao of John Locke? Dude. So there's, like, this island? And a bunch of us were on Oceanic flight 815 and we crashed on it. I kinda thought it was my fault, because of those numbers. I thought they were bad luck. We've seen the craziest things here, like a polar bear and a Smoke Monster, and we traveled through time back to the 1970s. And we met the Dharma dudes. Arzt even blew himself up. For a long time, I thought I was crazy. But now, I think it might have been destiny. The island's made me question a lot of things. Like, why is it that Locke and Desmond have the same names as real philosophers? Why do so many of us have trouble with our dads? Did Jack have a choice in becoming our lTable of ContentsIntroduction: Lost and F.O.U.N.D. 1 Part One F is for Fortune 1 Lost in Lost’s Times 9 Richard Davies 2 Imaginary Peanut Butter: The Puzzles of Time Travel in Lost 32 William J. Devlin 3 It Doesn’t Matter What We Do: From Metaphysics to Ethics in Lost’s Time Travel 47 Jeremy Pierce 4 If Sawyer Weren’t a Con Man, Then He Would Have Been a Cop: Counterfactual Reasoning in the Last Season of Lost 63 Deborah R. Barnbaum Part Two O is for Origin 5 Lost in Different Circumstances: What Would You Do? 75 Charles Taliaferro and Dan Kastrul 6 “Don’t Mistake Coincidence for Fate”: Lost Theories and Coincidence 91 Briony Addey 7 Lost and the Question of Life after Birth 107 Jeremy Barris 8 See You in Another Life, Brother: Bad Faith and Authenticity in Three Lost Souls 120 Sander Lee Part Three U is for Unity 9 Lost’s State of Nature 145 Richard Davies 10 Friends and Enemies in the State of Nature: The Absence of Hobbes and the Presence of Schmitt 164 Peter S. Fosl 11 Ideology and Otherness in Lost: “Stuck in a Bloody Snow Globe” 187 Karen Gaffney Part Four N is for Necessity 12 Escaping the Island of Ethical Subjectivism: Don’t Let Ben Bring You Back 207 George Wrisley 13 Lost Together: Fathers, Sons, and Moral Obligations 220 Michael W. Austin 14 Should We Condemn Michael? 233 Becky Vartabedian 15 The Ethics of Objectification and the Search for Redemption in Lost 241 Patricia Brace and Rob Arp Part Five D is for Destiny 16 The New Narnia: Myth and Redemption on the Island of Second Chances 253 Brett Chandler Patterson 17 I Once Was Lost: Aquinas on Finding Goodness and Truth 280 Daniel B. Gallagher 18 The Tao of John Locke 300 Shai Biderman and William J. Devlin 19 Lost Metaphysics: Keeping the Needle on the Record 312 Donavan S. Muir Appendix: Who Are Locke, Hume, and Rousseau? The Losties’ Guide to Philosophers 321 Scott F. Parkers Contributors: Jacob’s Candidates 341 Index: Oceanic Flight 815 Manifest 347

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Critical Thinking Toolkit is a comprehensive compendium that equips readers with the essential knowledge and methods for clear, analytical, logical thinking and critique in a range of scholarly contexts and everyday situations.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments xv Introduction The Very Idea of Critical Thinking 1 Critical thinking in the formal and empirical sciences 2 Critical thinking, critical theory, and critical politics 4 Critical thinking, finitude, and self-understanding 5 Using this book 5 Basic Tools for Critical Thinking about Arguments 1.1 Claims 7 Beliefs and opinions 8 Simple and complex claims 9 Truth functionality 10 1.2 Arguments 11 Logic vs. eristics 12 Arguments vs. explanations 12 1.3 Premises 13 Enthymemes 14 Identifying premises 14 1.4 Conclusions 16 Argument structure 16 Simple and complex arguments 16 Identifying conclusions 17 More Tools for Critical Thinking about Arguments 2.1 Deductive and Inductive Arguments 19 Deduction 20 Induction 21 2.2 Conditional Claims 22 Necessary and sufficient conditions 23 Biconditional claims 25 2.3 Classifying and Comparing Claims 26 Comparing claims 26 Classifying single claims 28 2.4 Claims and Definitions 29 Lexical, stipulative, ostensive, and negative definition 30 Extension and intension 30 Generic similarities and specific differences 31 Definiens and definiendum 31 2.5 The Critical Thinker’s “Two Step”: Validity and Soundness/Cogency and Strength 32 Structure before truth 33 2.6 Showing Invalidity by Counterexample 35 Tools for Deductive Reasoning with Categories 3.1 Thinking Categorically 39 Types and tokens 39 3.2 Categorical Logic 40 Quality, quantity, and standard form 40 Venn diagrams and the meaning of categorical claims 42 Distribution and its implications 44 Existential import 45 3.3 Translating English Claims to Standard Form 46 Implicit quantifiers 46 Individuals 47 Getting the verb right 47 Adverbials 48 Trust your instincts 50 A caveat 50 3.4 Formal Deduction with Categories: Immediate Inferences 50 Equivalences 51 Conversion 52 Contraposition 53 Obversion 56 The Aristotelian and Boolean Squares of Opposition 58 3.5 Formal Deduction with Categories: Syllogisms 63 Categorical syllogisms 64 Major and minor terms 64 Mood and figure 65 The Venn diagram test for validity 66 Five easy rules for evaluating categorical syllogisms 69 Gensler star test 70 Tools for Deductive Reasoning with Claims 4.1 Propositional vs. Categorical Logics 72 Translating claims into propositional logic 73 Truth tables for claims 76 Testing for validity and invalidity with truth tables 78 Indirect truth tables 79 Strange validity 82 4.2 Common Deductively Valid Forms 83 Modus ponens 83 Modus tollens 84 Hypothetical syllogism 86 Disjunctive syllogism 86 Constructive and destructive dilemmas 87 4.3 Equivalences 90 Double negation 90 Tautology 91 Commutativity 91 Associativity 92 Transposition 92 Material implication 93 Material equivalence 93 Exportation 94 Distribution 95 DeMorgan’s Law 95 4.4 Formal Deduction with Forms and Equivalences 96 Three simple rules 97 4.5 Common Formal Fallacies 101 Affirming the consequent 101 Denying the antecedent 103 Affirming a disjunct 104 Tools for Detecting Informal Fallacies 5.1 Critical Thinking, Critical Deceiving, and the “Two Step” 107 5.2 Subjectivist Fallacy 109 5.3 Genetic Fallacies 112 5.4 Ad Hominem Fallacies: Direct, Circumstantial, and Tu Quoque 113 Direct 114 Circumstantial 115 Tu quoque 118 5.5 Appeal to Emotions or Appeal to the Heart (argumentum ad passiones) 120 Appeal to pity (argumentum ad misericordiam) 120 Appeal to fear (argumentum ad metum) 122 Appeal to guilt 122 5.6 Appeal to Force (argumentum ad baculum) 124 5.7 Appeal to Ignorance (argumentum ad ignorantiam) 125 Negative evidence and no evidence 126 5.8 Appeal to Novelty (argumentum ad novitatem) 127 5.9 Appeal to the People (argumentum ad populum) 128 Bandwagon 128 Appeal to snobbery 129 Appeal to vanity 129 5.10 Appeal to Unqualified Authority (argumentum ad verecundiam) 132 5.11 Fallacy of Accident 135 5.12 False Dilemma 137 5.13 Semantic and Syntactic Fallacies 138 Ambiguity, two types: lexical and syntactic 138 Vagueness vs. ambiguity 139 Vagueness, two types: degree and context 139 Equivocation and fallacious amphiboly 140 5.14 Begging the Question (petitio principii) 143 5.15 Question-Begging Sentences 144 5.16 Missing the Point (ignoratio elenchi) 145 5.17 Fallacy of Composition 146 5.18 Fallacy of Division 148 5.19 Is-Ought Fallacy 149 5.20 Appeal to Tradition 152 5.21 Quoting Out of Context 153 5.22 Red Herring 158 5.23 Straw Man and Fidelity 159 5.24 Hasty Fallacization 161 5.25 A Brief Argument Clinic 162 Context 162 Charity 162 Productivity 163 Tools for Critical Thinking about Induction 6.1 Inductive vs. Deductive Arguments Again 166 6.2 Analogies and Arguments from Analogy 167 Criticizing analogies 168 6.3 Fallacies about Causation 170 Post hoc ergo propter hoc 170 Correlation is not always causation 171 Cum hoc ergo propter hoc 172 Neglecting a common cause 172 Oversimplified and contributing causes 174 Proximate, remote, and intervening causes 175 6.4 Inductive Statistical Reasoning 177 Sampling: random and biased 177 Stratification 178 The gambler’s fallacy 179 Averages: mean, median, and mode 179 Distributions 180 6.5 Base Rate Fallacy 182 6.6 Slippery Slope and Reductio ad Absurdum 184 6.7 Hasty Generalization 188 6.8 Mill’s Five Methods 189 1. Method of Concomitant Variation 189 2. Method of Agreement 190 3. Method of Difference 191 4. Joint Method of Agreement and Difference 191 5. Method of Residues 192 Tools for Critical Thinking about Experience and Error 7.1 Error Theory 195 7.2 Cognitive Errors 197 Perceptual error 197 Memory 199 Stress and trauma 201 Projection 202 Transference 203 Confirmation bias 203 Denial 204 A little bit of knowledge … 204 The fallacy of false consensus 205 Naïve realism 205 7.3 Environment and Error 206 Obstruction and distraction 206 Duration 207 Motion 207 Distance 207 Context and comparison 208 Availability error 208 7.4 Background and Ignorance 209 7.5 Misleading Language 210 Suspect the negative 210 Implications and connotations 210 Damning by silence or understatement 211 7.6 Standpoint and Disagreement 211 The mosaic of truth 213 Incommensurability and deep disagreement 213 Tools for Critical Thinking about Justification 8.1 Knowledge: The Basics 215 Ordinary belief and hinge propositions 216 Plato’s definition of knowledge 216 Chisholm and belief 217 8.2 Feelings as Evidence 219 Some important features of all types of feelings 220 The importance of distinguishing sense experience from emotion 222 8.3 Skepticism and Sensory Experience 223 The weaknesses of sense experience as evidence 224 The strengths of sense experience as evidence 227 8.4 Emotions and Evidence 229 The weaknesses of emotional experience as evidence 229 The strengths of emotional experience as evidence 232 Tips for eliminating the negative effects of emotions 235 8.5 Justifying Values 237 The role of moral values in arguments 238 Four common views of value judgment 239 Tools for reasoning about moral values 241 8.6 Justification: The Basics 242 Justification and the problem of access 243 No reasons not to believe 244 Beyond a reasonable doubt 244 Obligation and permission to believe 245 8.7 Truth and Responsible Belief 246 Why is responsibility relevant to belief? 247 Responsibility without truth 247 8.8 How Does Justification Work? 248 Claims as evidence 248 Experience as evidence 249 8.9 A Problem for Responsible Belief 251 Gettier cases 252 Processes and probabilities as justification 253 Varieties of externalism 254 8.10 Evidence: Weak and Strong 256 Direct and indirect evidence 256 Testimony as evidence 258 Strong enough evidence? 259 Suppressed evidence fallacy 260 Four tips for recognizing “good” evidence 261 8.11 Justification: Conclusions 266 Tools for Critical Thinking about Science 9.1 Science and the Value of Scientific Reasoning 271 Useful, durable, and pleasant goods 271 An agreement engine 272 A path to knowledge 272 9.2 The Purview of Science 273 The limits of empiricism 274 What is and what ought to be 274 Different kinds of science 275 Critiques of science 279 9.3 Varieties of Possibility and Impossibility 280 Logical possibility 281 Physical possibility 281 Other types of possibility 282 9.4 Scientific Method 283 Causal explanation 283 Observation 284 Verification and falsification 285 Paradigms: normal and revolutionary science 288 9.5 Unfalsifiability and Falsification Resistance 289 Ad hoc hypotheses and the fallacy of unfalsifiability 290 Falsification and holism: hypothesis vs. theory 291 The “no true Scotsman” fallacy 291 9.6 Experiments and Other Tests 293 Controls and variables 293 Epidemiological studies 294 Personal experience and case studies 295 Blinding and double blinding 296 In vitro studies 297 Non-human animal studies 297 9.7 Six Criteria for Abduction 298 1. Predictive power 299 2. Scope 299 3. Coherence with established fact 300 4. Repeatability 300 5. Simplicity 300 6. Fruitfulness 301 9.8 Bad Science 302 Junk science 302 Pseudo-science 302 Fringe science 303 Ideological science 303 Tools from Rhetoric, Critical Theory, and Politics 10.1 Meta-Narratives 305 Stories that govern stories plus a whole lot more 305 Governing, varying, and disintegrating narratives 306 10.2 Governing Tropes 308 Simile, analogy, metaphor, and allegory 308 Metonymy and synecdoche 309 10.3 The Medium Is the Message 311 10.4 Voice 313 10.5 Semiotics: Critically Reading Signs 316 Peirce and Saussure 316 Of virgins, ghosts, and cuckolds 316 The semiological problem 317 10.6 Deconstruction 319 Critique of presence 320 Undermining binaries 320 The politics of deconstruction 321 10.7 Foucault’s Critique of Power 322 Archeological method 323 Genealogical method 323 Microphysics of power and biopower 324 Normalization 324 10.8 The Frankfurt School: Culture Critique 326 Lipstick is ideology 326 Makers who are made 327 The Dialectic of Enlightenment 327 10.9 Class Critiques 328 Classical Marxism: superstructure and substructure 328 It’s the class hierarchy, stupid 329 Exploitation, alienation, and class struggle 329 False consciousness 330 Criticizing class critique 330 10.10 Feminist and Gender Critiques 332 Politics and gender 333 Feminist critique 335 Text and gender 336 10.11 Critiques of Race and Racism 338 Scientific critique of race 338 Liberal critique of race 338 Marxist critique of race 339 Critical race theory 340 10.12 Traditionalist and Historicist Critiques 341 A history of thinking about history 342 Views from nowhere 342 The harm in forgetting 343 The importance of careful listening 343 10.13 Ecological Critiques 345 Consumption and pollution 345 Ecological justice 346 Non-human life 347 Appendix: Recommended Web Sites 349 Index 351

Read more less

Book SynopsisDoes sexism against men exist? What it looks like and why we need to take it seriously This book draws attention to the "second sexism," where it exists, how it works and what it looks like, and responds to those who would deny that it exists. Challenging conventional ways of thinking, it examines controversial issues such as sex-based affirmative action, gender roles, and charges of anti-feminism. The book offers an academically rigorous argument in an accessible style, including the careful use of empirical data, and includes examples and engages in a discussion of how sex discrimination against men and boys also undermines the cause for female equality.Trade Review“I recommend The Second Sexism to scholars who investigate gender relations, and I urge academic feminists to take Benatar’s thesis seriously and to respond to it with respect rather than with disbelief or derision.” (American Philosophical Association's Newsletter on Feminism and Philosophy, 1 May 2013) “This book simply must be read . . . . Highly, highly recommended.” (Mens News Daily, 4 January 2013) “The Second Sexismis well researched, with voluminous references. As such, it serves the useful function of raising consciousness about an important social issue. Benatar’s research makes a strong case for an in-depth examination of the injustices and discriminations that men suffer in this and other societies in the 21st century.” (PsycINFO/PsycCRITIQUES, 21 November 2012) “The Second Sexism is a strong and early step on the way to the awareness, amelioration, and treatment of a widespread and unaddressed problem that affects a not insignificant portion of the human population.” (New Male Studies Review 3, Jonathan Badiali's, 26 September 2012) “Benatar’s analysis brings much needed clarity to contemporary debates in gender studies, whose discourse runs the risk of becoming stagnant and dogmatic against a constantly changing social backdrop. Benatar does well to remind us that it is not only females who are constrained and disadvantaged by the roles that they have been socially encouraged to take up.” (New Male Studies Review 2, J.P. Messina's, 26 September 2012) “And now, thanks to Professor Benatar, we have an incisive, comprehensive discussion of the phenomenon that feminism has unwittingly brought to the forefront . . . The writing is jargon-free. As a philosopher, Professor Benatar is attentive to conceptual nuance and clear, precise usage.” (New Male Studies Review 1, Miles Groth's, 26 September 2012) “This is a very well-argued book that presents an unorthodox thesis and defends it ably. It would be a useful text in both undergraduate and graduate courses in philosophy and gender studies, where it is certain to arouse a lot of discussion, much of it excited. Since it is very clearly written, and would be interesting and accessible also to the educated layperson. Most importantly, however, it is likely to change our understanding of gender relations.” (Metapsychology, 21 August 2012)Table of ContentsPreface x 1 Introduction 1 What Is the Second Sexism? 1 Disadvantage 2 Discrimination 3 Wrongful discrimination 3 Sexism 5 The First Sexism 12 Two Kinds of Denialist 13 Forestalling Some Fallacies 16 Structure and Method of the Book 18 2 Male Disadvantage 25 Conscription and Combat 26 Violence 30 Corporal Punishment 33 Sexual Assault 36 Circumcision 41 Education 46 Family and Other Relationships 50 Custody 50 Paternity 51 Paternity leave 53 Homosexuals 54 Bodily Privacy 54 Life Expectancy 57 Imprisonment and Capital Punishment 59 Conclusion 61 3 Explaining Male Disadvantage and Thinking about Sex Differences 77 Beliefs about Males 77 Questions about the Beliefs 84 To what extent, if at all, are the beliefs true? 85 What makes the beliefs true? 89 What, if any, implications are there? 93 Conclusion 96 4 From Disadvantage to Wrongful Discrimination 101 Conscription and Combat 102 Kingsley Browne’s basic argument 103 “Slippage” 104 Military effectiveness 106 Dangers of conservatism 109 Statistical differences 113 Final thoughts on combat and conscription 121 Violence 122 “The perpetrators are men” 123 “Men are better able to defend themselves” 124 “Men pose a greater threat” 125 Two kinds of discrimination 127 Corporal Punishment 128 “Males are more badly behaved” 128 “Corporal punishment is not as damaging to males” 129 Sexual Assault 132 Circumcision 134 Education 135 Family and Other Relationships 137 Bodily Privacy 142 “Women have a greater interest in bodily privacy than do men” 143 “The conditions are different” 145 Equal employment opportunity 148 Life Expectancy 152 Imprisonment and Capital Punishment 155 Conclusion 163 5 Responding to Objections 173 The Inversion Argument 174 Conscription and combat 175 Violence 179 Circumcision 182 Education 183 Sexual assault 185 Bodily privacy 186 Custody 188 Life expectancy 189 Imprisonment 193 The Costs-of-Dominance Argument 194 The Distraction Argument 199 Defining Discrimination 202 6 Affirmative Action 212 Rectifying Injustice 215 The past discrimination argument 216 The present discrimination argument 218 Lessons from “Summers School” 225 Consequentialist Arguments 228 The viewpoint diversity argument 228 The role-model argument 229 The legitimate-sex-preference argument 231 The ideal argument 232 Conclusion 233 7 Conclusion 239 Does Feminism Discriminate against Men? 239 Are Men Worse off than Women? 246 Taking the Second Sexism Seriously 254 Conclusion 259 Bibliography 266 Index 285

Read more less

Book SynopsisWritten in a blend of scientific discourse and lyrical outburst, classical philosophical idiom and conversational intimacy, by turns playful, refined or discordant, Genesis is an attempt to think outside of metaphysical categories of unity or rational order and to make us hear the ""sound and the fury"" that are the background of life and thought.Trade ReviewAn intensely beautiful and rigourous meditation on the birth of forms amid chaos and multiplicity from a major philosopher who is also an exquisite craftsman of the written word." —William Paulson, University of Michigan"Serres exhibits a rare, raw tendentiousness refreshing in its vitriol . . . it's the sort of light-hearted, perverse, and basically liberal tirade one hears too infrequently of late." —Word

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis is a collection of all Hegel's writings that are available in English. It contains four important "early writings", as well as selections from Hegel's mature writings and lectures.Trade Review"Stephen Houlgate has produced what is, without question, the most comprehensive and useful selection of Hegel texts yet. Not only has he provided generous selections from the whole range of Hegel's output, from the early writings through the mature system, but somehow he has also managed to include nearly every passage that has become important to later philosophers from Marx and Feuerbach through Heidegger, Adorno, Derrida and Deleuze. Add to this Houlgate's splendid introduction in which he lucidly outlines the fundamental gestures of Hegel's thought as radicalising and completing Kant's project for a critical philosophy, and one has a one-volume 'Hegel' that will deservedly dominate the field for years to come." J. M. Bernstein, Vanderbilt University "Houlgate's collection is the best and most thoughtful assembly of Hegel's key writings in one volume to date. In some ways, this is the 'encyclopaedic' presentation of Hegel's thought that Hegel should have collected himself instead of the Encyclopaedia that he actually wrote." Terry Pinkard, Georgetown UniversityTable of ContentsPreface. Acknowledgements. General Introduction. Part I: Early Writings:. Introduction. 1. The Earliest System-Programme of German Idealism. 2. Love. 3. Fragment of a System. 4. The Difference Between Fichte's and Schelling's System of Philosophy: The Need of Philosophy. Part II: Phenomenology of Spirit:. Introduction. 5. Phenomenology of Spirit: Preface. 6. Phenomenology of Spirit: Introduction. 7. Phenomenology of Spirit: Consciousness. Sense-certainty. 8. Phenomenology of Spirit: Self-consciousness. 9. Phenomenology of Spirit: Spirit. Absolute Freedom and Terror. 10. Phenomenology of Spirit: Spirit. Absolute Knowing. Part III: Logic:. Introduction. 11. Encyclopaedia Logic: Introduction. 12. Encyclopaedia Logic: Preliminary Conception. 13. Science of Logic: Introduction. 14. Science of Logic: With What Must the Science Begin?. 15. Science of Logic: Doctrine of Being. 16. Science of Logic: Doctrine of Essence. 17. Science of Logic: Doctrine of the Notion [Concept]. Part IV: Philosophy of Nature and Philosophy of Subjective Spirit:. Introduction. 18. Philosophy of Nature: Introduction. 19. Philosophy of Nature: Mechanics. Space and Time. 20. Philosophy of Nature: Organics. The Animal Organism. 21. Philosophy of Spirit: Introduction. 22. Philosophy of Subjective Spirit: Anthropology and Phenomenology of Spirit. 23. Philosophy of Subjective Spirit: Psychology. Part V: Philosophy of Objective Spirit: Philosophy of Right and Philosophy of History:. Introduction. 24. Philosophy of Right: Preface and Introduction. 25. Philosophy of Right: Abstract Right and Morality. 26. Philosophy of Right: Ethical Life. 27. Philosophy of History: Introduction. Part VI: Philosophy of Absolute Spirit: Aesthetics, Philosophy of Religion and History of Philosophy:. Introduction. 28. Aesthetics: The Ideal. 29. Aesthetics: The Particular Forms of Art. 30. Aesthetics: Tragedy, Comedy and Drama. 31. Philosophy of Religion: Preface and the Consummate Religion. 32. History of Philosophy: Introduction. Bibliography. Index.

Read more less

Book Synopsis* Provides an overview of the debates surrounding postmodernism and its impact on theology. * Powerfully critiques the works of central figures in contemporary theology and philosophy including Derrida, Serres, Marion and Lacoste. * Cosolidates Blackwella s contribution in such cutting edge debates. .Trade Review"Highly recommended." Fergus Kerr, Blackfriars, Edinburgh "After Writing establishes Catherine Pickstock as one of the most promising young theologians in the English-speaking world. The book is insightful, provocative, and of consistently high scholarly quality." L. Gregory Jones, Duke University "I applaud the thesis of this impressive work." Paul Avis, Center for the study of the Christian Church Exeter "One could in conscience recommended this volume only to the ambitious and determined, but they will find it rich, and Pickstock is a name to be watching for." William C. Placher, Christian Century "Catherine Pickstock, has perhaps written the best riposte yet to the archbishop's request for a 'spiritual space' within the Millennium Dome." C. W. Kemp "Pickstock's discussion of Derrida is sophisticated." Bryan D. Spinks, Yale University "Lightning may now be said to have struck in the form of Catherine Pickstock's After Writing, a bright flash in the sometimes murky world of religion and Postmodernism." David Williams, Religion & Literature "its theses are destined to be the subject of much discussion." Tracey Rowland, Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge "Her argument deserves to be widely discussed: it is genuine theology, an example of what might be done were Christian theologians to abandon idolatry and take seriously the reality of the triune God to whom their work is supposed to be subject." Paul Griffiths, University of Chicago "The proposal of a radical self-surpassing giftedness in the eucharist invites the possibility of future conversations with other hermeneutical positions." David Livingston, Mercyhurst College "This a book of real originality, and in its finest moments it achieves an almost visionary intensity ... She is extraordinarily gifted, and I suspect that in this book we have merely glimpsed her portent." Pro EcclesiaTable of ContentsPart I: The Polity of Death:. 1. Socrates Goes Outside the City: Writing and Exteriority. 2. Spatialization: The Middle of Modernity. 3. Signs of Death. Transition: "Can My Eating Slake Your Hunger": The Evacuation of Liturgy. Part II: The Sacred Polis:. 4. I Will Go Unto the Altar of God: The Impossible Liturgy. 5. Seraphic Voices: The Space of Doxology. 6. The Resurrection of the Sign. Conclusion. Index.

Read more less

Book Synopsis* Provides a comprehensive guide to ancient philosophy from the pre--Socratics to late antiquity. * Written by a cast of distinguished philosophers. * Covers the pre--Socratics, the sophistic movement, Epicureanism, academic skepticism, stoicism, and the neo--Platonists.Trade Review"Beginners will find in these essays clear and helpful accounts of some of the main philosophical issues raised by the Greek philosophers. The essays display the scope and variety of Greek philosophy, from the beginnings to later Platonism, and its permanent philosophical significance." Terence Irwin, Cornell UniversityTable of ContentsNotes on Contributors vii Editor’s Introduction ix Part I Philosophy before Socrates: Introduction 1 1 Presocratic Philosophy 5 Richard McKirahan 2 The Sophists 27 John Gibert Part II Socrates: Introduction 51 3 Socrates 55 Thomas C. Brickhouse and Nicholas D. Smith Part III Plato: Introduction 71 4 Plato: Metaphysics 75 Daniel Devereux Copyrighted Material 5 Plato: Epistemology 100 Nicholas White 6 Plato: Ethics 118 Gerasimos Santas 7 Plato: Psychology 130 Allan Silverman Part IV Aristotle: Introduction 145 8 Aristotle: Epistemology and Methodology 151 Robert Bolton 9 Aristotle: Metaphysics 163 Michael Loux 10 Aristotle: Ethics and Politics 184 Fred D. Miller, Jr. 11 Aristotle: Psychology 211 Gareth Matthews Part V Hellenistic Philosophy: Introduction 229 12 Epicureanism 237 David Konstan 13 Stoicism 253 Phillip Mitsis 14 Academics and Pyrrhonists 268 R. J. Hankinson Part VI Late Antique Philosophy: Introduction 301 15 Neoplatonism 303 Lloyd P. Gerson Bibliography 324 Index 329

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe papers in this volume examine the processes by which cities grow and how current public policy, both in the areas of zoning and town planning respond to this process. The volume contains a number of case studies describing the experiences of major cities such as Phoenix, Arizona.Table of ContentsCity and Country: an Interdisciplinary Collection:. 1. Editor's Introduction: Laurence S. Moss. Part I: Historical Perspectives on the Agglomeration Approach to Economic Growth:. 1. Henry George and Classical Growth Theory: A Significant Contribution to Modeling Scale Economies : John Whitaker. 2. Modeling Agglomeration and Dispersion in City and Country Gunnar Myrdal, François Perroux, and the New Economic Geography: Stephen J. Meardon. 3. City and Country: Lessons from European Economic Thought: Jürgen G. Backhaus; Gerrit Meijer. 4. Making the Country Work for the City: Von Thünen's Ideas in Geography, Agricultural Economics and the Sociology of Agriculture: Daniel Block, E. Melanie DuPuis. Part II: New Research on Size, Geography, Specialization and Productivity:. 1. Agglomeration and Congestionin the Economics of Ideas and Technological Change: Norman Sedgley; Bruce Elmslie. 2. Zipf's Law for Cities and Beyond: The Case of Denmark: Thorbjørn Knudsen. 3. The Structure of Sprawl: Identifying and Characterizing Employment Centers in Polycentric Metropolitan Areas: Nathan B. Anderson, William T. Bogart. 4. Edge Cities and the Viability of Metropolitan Economies: Contributions to Flexibility and External Linkages by New Urban Service Environments: David L. McKee; Yosra A. McKee. 5. Manufacturing and Rural Economies in the United States: The Role of Nondurable Producers, Labor Costs and State Taxes: Mark Jelavich. Part III: Case Studies: Land Value Taxation and Real Estate Development:. 1. Value Capture as a Policy Tool in Transportation Economics: An Exploration in Public Finance in the Tradition of Henry George: H. William Batt. 2. Coordinating Opposite Approaches to Managing Urban Growth and Curbing Sprawl: A Synthesis: Thomas L. Daniels. 3. Leapfrogging, Urban Sprawl, and Growth Management: Phoenix, 1950–2000: Carol E. Heim. 4. A City without Slums: Urban Renewal, Public Housing, and Downtown Revitalization in Kansas City, Missouri: Kevin Fox Gotham. 5. A City Divided by Political Philosophies: Residential Development in a Bi-Provincial City in Canada: Gura Bhargava. Part IV: The Transformation of the City in the 21st Century:. 1. International Sister-Cities: Bridging the Global-Local Divide: Rolf D. Cremer; Anne de Bruin; Ann Dupuis. 2. The Completely Decentralized City: The Case for Benefits Based Public Finance: Fed E. Foldvary. Index.

Read more less

Book SynopsisConvention was immediately recognized as a major contribution to the subject and its significance has remained undiminished since its first publication in 1969.Trade Review"This book is my attempt at an analysis of our common, established concept of convention, so that you will recognize that it explains what you must have in mind when you say that language is governed by conventions. Language is only one among many activities governed by conventions that we did not create by agreeing and that we cannot describe." David Lewis "Readers will be indebted to the author of this book." Philosophical Quarterly "The notion of convention has served philosophers since Aristotle as a convenient exploration of the arbitrary character of referential word meaning. In 1936 Willard Quine, pursuing the notion of analyticity, called attention to the emptiness of this explanation. David Lewis has attempted to re-establish the notion of convention as a partial explanation of analytic truth [and his] explication of "convention" is a tour de force of Humean analysis." Philosophy and Rhetoric "This book has been published for quite some time. Its significant contribution is no longer in question [and it will] remain a central reference for discussions on the nature of conventions. An excellent book for teaching purposes." Australasian Journal of PhilosophyTable of ContentsAcknowledgements. Foreword by W.V. Quine. Introduction. I. Coordination and Convention. Sample Coordination Problems. Analysis of Coordination Problems. Solving Coordination Problems. Convention. Sample Conventions. II. Convention Refined. Common Knowledge. Knowledge of Conventions. Alternatives to Convention. Degrees of Convention. Consequences of Conventions. III. Convention Contrasted. Agreement. Social Contracts. Norms. Rules. Conformative Behavior. Imitation. Meaning of Signals. IV. Convention and Communication. Sample Signals. Analysis of Signaling. Verbal Signaling. Conventional Meaning of Signals. V. Conventions of Language. Possible Languages. Grammars. Semantics in a Possible Language. Conventions of Truthfulness. Semantics in a Population. Conclusion. Index.

Read more less

Book SynopsisTaking up three urgent problems of social justice—those with physical and mental disabilities, all citizens of the world, and nonhuman animals—neglected by current theories and thus harder to tackle in practical terms, Martha Nussbaum seeks a theory of social justice that can guide us to a richer, more responsive approach to social cooperation.Trade ReviewIn her new and pathbreaking book, Martha Nussbaum shows that the social contract tradition, despite its great insights, cannot handle some of the most important political problems of our day, and she points the way to a conception of justice more attuned to our human frailty, our global society, and our place in the natural world. This work will change how we think about the nature of social justice. -- Charles Larmore, University of ChicagoFor over thirty years, thanks to John Rawls's great work, the idea of a social contract has provided the dominant framework for liberal theories of justice. Frontiers of Justice is the most important challenge to this framework from within liberalism since the ascendancy of Rawls's theory. Eschewing utilitarianism, Nussbaum draws on the capabilities approach she developed elsewhere to show deep problems with using the social contract idea for modeling the liberal ideals of inclusiveness and equal respect for human dignity. The book's impact on liberal political thought will be resounding. Its arguments and program are bound to be discussed for a long time. -- John Deigh, University of Texas at AustinPrevailing ethical theories neglect three important subjects: the treatment of persons with disabilities, the scope of justice beyond the nation state, and duties owed to non-human animals. Martha Nussbaum's landmark book offers a courageous and bold approach to these issues based on fellowship and respect. Honest about where it builds on past theories and where it departs from them, Frontiers of Justice boldly and elegantly charts the territory for much needed theoretical and policy debates. -- Martha Minow, Harvard Law SchoolIn this groundbreaking work, Nussbaum develops her capabilities approach—enlarging our conceptions of reciprocity, dignity, and flourishing—in an effort to make it adequate to the three problem areas. The results of this original, erudite investigation include major contributions to moral and political theory, disability studies, the international relations literature, and animal ethics. -- David DeGrazia, George Washington UniversityMartha C. Nussbaum's impressive new book Frontiers of Justice can be easily summarized as Rawls meets Aristotle...Well-argued and beautifully written, Frontiers of Justice is an important, provocative and thoroughly admirable book, and will be essential reading for anyone interested in the concepts of justice and moral entitlement. -- Mark Rowlands * Times Literary Supplement *[Nussbaum] aims to widen the reach of Rawlsian theory by addressing questions it has thus far largely neglected, such as the role of distributive justice in international relations, the claims of disabled people and the moral status of nonhuman animals. Nussbaum's resourceful and imaginative exploration of Rawls's work displays a command of the longer tradition of political philosophy that matches and even surpasses that of Rawls, along with a notably richer sensitivity to the history and variety of constitutional arrangements. The result is a notable contribution to philosophical inquiry that merits the most careful study by all who try to think seriously about public policy. -- John Gray * The Nation *Professor Nussbaum calls her work a "picture of who we are" in a world "more complicated, and interdependent, than philosophical theory has often acknowledged." But it may also be a map for navigating that complicated world in the pursuit of justice. * Harvard Law Review *Martha Nussbaum has written a substantial philosophical treatise on the difficulties that recent fashions in political theory have put in the way of understanding the nature of justice for the mentally and physically disabled, foreigners, and animals...She is philosophically deft...One real achievement of Frontiers of Justice is to stir up the reader's imagination. Some books beat the reader into submission; Martha Nussbaum has never done that, and here she invites the reader into an open-ended discussion in just the way one wishes that all other philosophers did. -- Alan Ryan * New York Review of Books *The task of the public intellectual is to ensure that important areas of common life (public policy, cultural activities, moral understandings, and so on) live up to the standards thoughtful reflection reveals. The United States has not proved the most fertile ground for this sort of person, but now and then contenders arise, and Martha Nussbaum is surely one of the more formidable candidates of our time, discharging the responsibilities of that role with a dizzying industriousness...In Frontiers of Justice she brings her considerable talents and energy to a set of questions which, she persuasively argues, public discourse and philosophical reflection have too long ignored: namely, what are our obligations to the disabled in our midst, the poor around the globe, and nonhuman animals everywhere? -- David McCabe * Commonweal *Nussbaum's explication of the human and animal capabilities essential for lives of dignity sets a demanding, detailed, moral and political standard to strive for. -- Ernest Dempsey * Philosophy Now *Table of Contents* Abbreviations * Introduction *1. Social Contracts and Three Unsolved Problems of Justice * i. The State of Nature * ii. Three Unsolved Problems * iii. Rawls and the Unsolved Problems * iv. Free, Equal, and Independent * v. Grotius, Hobbes, Locke, Hume, Kant * vi. Three Forms of Contemporary Contractarianism * vii. The Capabilities Approach * viii. Capabilities and Contractarianism * ix. In Search of Global Justice *2. Disabilities and the Social Contract * i. Needs for Care, Problems of Justice * ii. Prudential and Moral Versions of the Contract; Public and Private * iii. Rawls's Kantian Contractarianism: Primary Goods, Kantian Personhood, Rough Equality, Mutual Advantage * iv. Postponing the Question of Disability * v. Kantian Personhood and Mental Impairment * vi. Care and Disability: Kittay and Sen * vii. Reconstructing Contractarianism? *3. Capabilities and Disabilities * i. The Capabilities Approach: A Noncontractarian Account of Care * ii. The Bases of Social Cooperation * iii. Dignity: Aristotelian, not Kantian * iv. The Priority of the Good, the Role of Agreement * v. Why Capabilities? * vi. Care and the Capabilities List * vii. Capability or Functioning? * viii. The Charge of Intuitionism * ix. The Capabilities Approach and Rawls's Principles of Justice * x. Types and Levels of Dignity: The Species Norm * xi. Public Policy: The Question of Guardianship * xii. Public Policy: Education and Inclusion * xiii. Public Policy: The Work of Care * xiv. Liberalism and Human Capabilities *4. Mutual Advantage and Global Inequality: The Transnational Social Contract * i. A World of Inequalities * ii. A Theory of Justice: The Two-Stage Contract Introduced * iii. The Law of Peoples: The Two-Stage Contract Reaffirmed and Modified * iv. Justification and Implementation * v. Assessing the Two-Stage Contract * vi. The Global Contract: Beitz and Pogge * vii. Prospects for an International Contractrarianism *5. Capabilities across National Boundaries * i. Social Cooperation: The Priority of Entitlements * ii. Why Capabilities? * iii. Capabilities and Rights * iv. Equality and Adequacy * v. Pluralism and Toleration * vi. An International "Overlapping Consensus"? * vii. Globalizing the Capabilities Approach: The Role of Institutions * viii. Globalizing the Capabilities Approach: What Institutions? * ix. Ten Principles for the Global Structure *6. Beyond "Compassion and Humanity": Justice for Nonhuman Animals * i. "Beings Entitled to Dignified Existence" * ii. Kantian Social-Contract Views: Indirect Duties, Duties of Compassion * iii. Utilitarianism and Animal Flourishing * iv. Types of Dignity, Types of Flourishing: Extending the Capabilities Approach * v. Methodology: Theory and Imagination * vi. Species and Individual * vii. Evaluating Animal Capabilities: No Nature Worship * viii. Positive and Negative, Capability and Functioning * ix. Equality and Adequacy * x. Death and Harm * xi. An Overlapping Consensus? * xii. Toward Basic Political Principles: The Capabilities List * xiii. The Ineliminability of Conflict * xiv. Toward a Truly Global Justice *7. The Moral Sentiments and the Capabilities Approach * Notes * References * Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisScanlon reframes current philosophical debates as he explores the moral permissibility of an action. Blame, he argues, is a response to the meaning of an action rather than its permissibility. This analysis leads to a novel account of the conditions of moral responsibility and to important conclusions about the ethics of blame.Trade ReviewScanlon offers a detailed account of a new analysis of key distinctions in theoretical ethics. These distinctions have very real consequences in a wide variety of practical issues, including debates regarding justified acts of war, the effort to justify terror or campaigns against terror, and seemingly intractable debates in biomedical ethics. Scanlon examines the permissibility of actions and the evaluations of actors, with a new account of both the initial--and as he sees it, illusory--attraction of the "doctrine of double effect." He argues that the illusion stems from confusion between two types of moral judgment, which apply principles in what Scanlon terms either "critical" or "deliberative" uses. Scanlon uses this difference to make an important new distinction between the permissibility of actions and their meaning, and to develop accounts of blame (linked to the meaning of an action) and moral responsibility that bear close attention. -- J. H. Barker * Choice *The first half of the book, on permissibility and meaning, amounts to masterful and insightful philosophical housekeeping. The second half is revolutionary in the ways it tells us to think about blame. -- Allan Gibbard * London Review of Books *Moral Dimensions is a penetrating study that forces--and enables--us to see the moral landscape in a fresh and nuanced way...Moral Dimensions culminates in a masterly exploration of blame, understood as a distinctive response to meaning. -- Gary Watson * Times Literary Supplement *Table of Contents* Preface * Introduction * The Illusory Appeal of Double Effect * The Significance of Intent * Means and Ends * Blame * Notes * Bibliography * Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn the spring of 1929, Martin Heidegger and Ernst Cassirer met for a public conversation in Davos, Switzerland. They were arguably the most important thinkers in Europe, and their exchange touched upon the most urgent questions in the history of philosophy. This title shows how the life and work of these philosophers remained closely intertwined.Trade ReviewWhen they met at Davos in 1929, Cassirer and Heidegger sent tremors through the world of continental philosophy that radically transformed the terrain of European thought. With the hermeneutic skill of a master seismologist, Peter E. Gordon identifies the forces that produced their explosive meeting and traces the aftershocks that continue to reverberate to this day. -- Martin Jay, University of California, BerkeleyContinental Divide conjugates an even-handed reconstruction of the debate and its lasting significance with an astute analysis of how philosophy revisits its own past in order to define its present circumstances. Of interest to both specialists and generalists, this study sets the benchmark for all future discussions of the relation of Heidegger and Cassirer. -- Thomas Sheehan, Stanford UniversityA paradigm of philosophically informed intellectual history, this fascinating, wide-ranging book provides a comprehensive account of an epic intellectual confrontation, and uses it as a lens through which to focus on the ideas, forces, characters, and personalities that shaped the debate at a crucial cusp of European thought. -- Robert B. Brandom, University of PittsburghIn Rosenzweig and Heidegger, Gordon concludes with a reading of the 1929 debate between Heidegger and Cassirer at a philosophical conference at Davos, Switzerland...Gordon here returns to this primal scene and reconstructs the event with extraordinarily thoughtful and scrupulous precision. This debate has achieved legendary status in the history of contemporary thought and is regarded as opening an abyss between those who base philosophy on scientific reason, and the human power of reflection, and those who are haunted by the unthinkable, the unsaid, and the unsayable...By judiciously reconstructing Cassirer's and Heidegger's arguments, Gordon definitively unveils the subtle refinement of Heidegger's positions and shows with new clarity that this struggle over Kant's legacy has relentlessly unfolded over the 20th century. A work of exceptional significance. -- N. Lukacher * Choice *[An] extraordinary book...Each of its pages of sustained philosophical explication excites and astonishes, and in the process teaches us new ways of thinking about the history of ideas...After [Gordon's] brilliant reading, we can no longer simply ascribe Heidegger's and Cassirer's differences to inimical philosophies...Gordon's manifesto will resonate with historians of my generation. -- David Nirenberg * New Republic *Continental Divide provides the definitive narrative and analysis of the Davos incident, its background, its context and its aftermath. Gordon neither abstracts the philosophical debate from its contemporary setting, nor reduces it to its extraphilosophical ramifications. He has a masterly understanding of the philosophy, but insists that abstract ideas, too, very often wear layers of historical clothing...He sees that the hermeneutic disagreement was genuine and that real philosophical issues were at stake in the collision of Cassirer's celebration of rational spontaneity with Heidegger's concept of thrownness--the collision, that is, of idealism with existentialism. Gordon refuses to boil those ideas off in either uncritical historicism or easy political editorializing. He is not afraid to get his hands dirty, and his narrative never ascends to such a lofty historical perspecti ve that the philosophical air becomes too thin to breathe. -- Taylor Carman * Times Literary Supplement *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review[This] is a selective moral progress report, an ‘intimate sociology and anthropology of ethics’ that is engaging, articulate and richly descriptive… Ignatieff’s deft histories, vivid sketches, and fascinating interviews are the soul of this important book. They take us from Los Angeles to Rio de Janeiro, to Bosnia, Myanmar, South Africa and Japan; and they inform his answer to its guiding question. For Ignatieff, the ideology of human rights has fallen short. What sustains the fragile flourishing of global cities and diverse communities is not faith in human rights but the ‘ordinary virtues’ of tolerance, forgiveness, resilience and trust, made possible by adequate maintenance of the rule of law. The ordinary virtues are an open-source operating system, a moral vernacular by which members of different ethnic and religious groups are able to live, if not together, then side by side. -- Kieran Setiya * Times Literary Supplement *Makes for illuminating reading. -- Simon Winchester * New York Review of Books *[An] admirable little book. -- James Traub * New York Times Book Review *Ignatieff combines powerful moral arguments with superb storytelling. There are unforgettable accounts of the massacres in the former Yugoslavia and how people try to live with memories of loss and—perhaps even harder—with neighbors who were among the perpetrators…What is perhaps most interesting about The Ordinary Virtues is the contrast between the hopes and aspirations of the 1990s and the realities of the early 21st century. -- David Herman * New Statesman *This is a work of a statesman at the height of his powers…Ignatieff makes his case, lucidly, vividly, persuasively…This book has the potential to make as big a wave in the field of human rights and global ethics as After Virtue did in the philosophical and theological academy. At a time of much confusion, paralysis, and despair, few hands on the global tiller are as sure as those of Ignatieff. -- Samuel Wells * Christian Century *Michael Ignatieff has long served as a bellwether of liberal internationalism, and what he has to say is important in itself and a reflection of a temperament evolving in time. Ignatieff’s writerly gifts make reading The Ordinary Virtues a wonderful experience, whether one agrees or not with the contentious thesis he advances about virtue ethics and human rights. Readers interested in global politics cannot afford to miss this intervention. -- Samuel Moyn, author of The Last Utopia: Human Rights in HistoryMichael Ignatieff has written his most important book. It speaks to the moral dilemmas of our times in a language that grapples with the profound contradictions between the universal languages that many global elites speak and the ‘ordinary virtues’ of ordinary citizens that come to life in local contexts in local languages. It is not hard to extend Ignatieff’s reasoning to the contemporary crisis in liberal democracies in the developed world. -- Janice Stein, University of TorontoIn this extraordinary book, Michael Ignatieff travels across the globe to explore two apparently opposite things: what divides us from each other, and what enables communities of strangers to live side by side. He doubts whether a single legal, religious, or philosophical code can unite us. Globalization in our economies does not produce globalization in our hearts. He emphasizes the role of ordinary virtues, not grand principles, in guiding us through the maze of competing ideas and obligations. At a time when liberal and democratic principles are widely challenged, and funeral orations are being delivered prematurely for the international order that has lasted since 1945, this book provides a much-needed reminder that societies can, somehow, not just muddle through, but create a moral order of sorts that actually works. -- Adam Roberts, University of OxfordMichael Ignatieff is an exceptionally distinguished historian, journalist, and thinker. The Ordinary Virtues is an engrossing, creative, and elegantly written addition to his other excellent books. Considering a globalizing world troubled by terrible inequality, Ignatieff makes a moral argument by illustration, with sophistication enough for trained political theorists as well as a real-world engagement that gives the work heft. -- Gary Bass, Princeton UniversityIgnatieff long has been seen as one of the principal theoreticians of human rights, a task to which he has devoted his career since reporting on the Bosnian Civil War in the late 1990s… He deserves praise for wrestling with the devolution of our moral worlds over recent decades… [In] The Ordinary Virtues: Moral Order in a Divided World, Ignatieff betrays an admirable recognition of the poverty of our moral politics today. -- Patrick William Kelly * Los Angeles Review of Books *[Ignatieff] has never been afraid to ask the big questions. And as his new book The Ordinary Virtues shows, he is no less willing to take them on today. His question is whether, just as globalization has brought different economies closer together, it has also made our ethical codes more similar. -- Alex Dean * Prospect *A book of considerable style and substance…There is much wisdom in this book. -- Joe Humphreys * Irish Times *

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhere accounts of the relation between language and mind often rest on the concept of representation, Brandom sets out an approach based on inference, and on a conception of certain kinds of implicit assessment that become explicit in language. It is the first attempt to work out a detailed theory rendering linguistic meaning in terms of use.Trade ReviewMaking It Explicit has already developed a justified reputation as a major contribution to the philosophy of language. It takes the traditional ill-fitting story of the relationship between language and the world and turns it upside down. Instead of starting with the existence of the world and explaining what it is for language to represent the world, it starts with language and explains what it is for the world to be represented by language...With tremendous panache, he launches into accounts of normativity, inference, meaning, truth, reference and objectivity, trying to show that the later concepts in that list are made intelligible by the earlier. -- Rowland Stout * Times Literary Supplement *Making It Explicit is a landmark in theoretical philosophy comparable to that constituted in the early seventies by A Theory of Justice in practical philosophy...Drawing upon the resources furnished by his intricate theory of language, Brandom succeeds in offering a thoroughly convincing description of the practices within which beings capable of language and action express their rationality and autonomy. -- Jürgen Habermas * Wahrheit und Rechtfertigung *Robert Brandom's magnificent book is an attempt to rework the whole of the philosophy of language in terms of normative, socially articulated pragmatics. His approach, inferentialism, which he traces through Kant and Frege to Wittgenstein and Sellars, is opposed to a more standard approach, representationalism...Making It Explicit is written with an exhilarating argumentative relish and tremendous assurance and thoroughness. -- Rowland Stout * Mind *Wilfrid Sellars described his project as an attempt to usher analytic philosophy out of its Humean and into its Kantian stage...Brandom's work can usefully be seen as an attempt to usher philosophy from its Kantian to its Hegelian stage...This sort of free and easy transition between philosophy of language and mind on the one hand, and world-historical vision on the other, is reminiscent not only of Mead and Dewey but also of Gadamer and Habermas. -- Richard Rorty, Introduction to Sellars' Empiricism and the Philosophy of MindAn extraordinary philosophical book. Brandom has produced a work of great power, scope, and originality. He gives a plausible and powerful reading to the claim that "meaning is normative," or that the concept of meaning is a normative concept, and elucidates it at length. It turns out, in his hands, to be a claim of great philosophical fertility and power. -- Allan Gibbard, University of MichiganRobert Brandom's Making it Explicit is an unusual book on the Anglo-American scene...What Brandom achieves is a convincing elaboration of the view of intentionality as a linguistic, normative and social-pragmatic affair...Brandom's book is the first detailed elaboration of the position that it is normative attitudes which distinguishes us, insofar as we are thinking and acting beings, from the physical. It will hopefully contribute to giving that position the attention it deserves in contemporary philosophy of mind. -- Michael Epsfield * Erkenntnis *Table of ContentsPreface PART ONE Toward a Normative Pragmatics Introduction From Intentional State to Normative Status From Norms Explicit in Rules to Norms Implicit in Practices From Normative Status to Normative Attitude From Assessment to the Social Institution of Norms From Intentional Interpretation to Original Intentionality Appendix: Wittgenstein's Use of Regel Toward an Inferential Semantics Content and Representation The Priority of the Propositional Conceptual Classification and Inference Material Inference, Conceptual Content, and Expression Circumstances and Consequences of Application Conclusion Linguistic Practice and Discursive Commitment Intentional States and Linguistic Practices Deontic Status and Deontic Attitudes Asserting and Inferring Scorekeeping: Pragmatic Significance and Semantic Content Perception and Action: The Conferral of Empirical and Practical Conceptual Content Assertions as Knowledge Claims Reliability Observation Reports and Noninferential Authority Rational Agency Practical Reasoning: Inferences from Doxastic to Practical Commitments Intentions PART TWO The Expressive Role of Traditional Semantic Vocabulary: 'True' and 'Refers' From Inference to Truth, Reference, and Representation Truth in Classical Pragmatism From Pragmatism to Prosentences Reference and Anaphorically Indirect Descriptions The Function of Traditional Semantic Vocabulary Is Expressive, Not Explanatory Substitution: What Are Singular Terms, and Why Are There Any? Multivalued Logic and Material Inference Substitution, Sentential Embedding, and Semantic Roles Subsentential Expressions What Are Singular Terms? Why Are There Singular Terms? Objections and Replies Conclusion Appendix: From Substitutional Derivation of Categories to Functional Derivation of Categories Appendix: Sentence Use Conferring the Status of Singular Terms on Subsentential Expressions--An Application Anaphora: The Structure of Token Repeatables Frege's Grundlagen Account of Picking Out Objects Definite Descriptions and Existential Commitments Substitution, Token Recurrence, and Anaphora Deixis and Anaphora Interpersonal Anaphora and Communication Appendix: Other Kinds of Anaphora--Paychecks, Donkeys, and Quantificational Antecedents Ascribing Propositional Attitudes: The Social Route from Reasoning to Representing Representation and De Re Ascription of Propositionally Contentful Commitments Interpretation, Communication, and De Re Ascriptions De Re Ascriptions and the Intentional Explanation of Action From Implicit Attribution to Explicit Ascription Epistemically Strong De Re Attitudes: Indexicals, Quasi-Indexicals, and Proper Names The Social-Perspectival Character of Conceptual Contents and the Objectivity of Conceptual Norms Appendix: The Construction and Recursive Interpretation of Iterated Ascriptions That Mix De Dicto and De Re Content Specifications Conclusion Two Concepts of Concepts Norms and Practices We Have Met the Norms, and They Are Ours Abbreviations Notes Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisDanto argues that recent developments in art—in particular the production of works that cannot be told from ordinary things—make urgent the need for a new theory of art. He demonstrates the relationship between philosophy and art and the connections that hold between art, social institutions, and art history.Trade ReviewThis book is a long meditation on Brillo boxes putting themselves forward as works-of-art, or, ‘gerrymandered’ (Danto raids everywhere for his brilliant figurations) by interpretation into expressiveness, into metaphoricality. Malraux proposes seeing art as a metamorphosis performed by museums and juxtaposition and time (history). Danto proposes art as a metaphor of the commonplace. Art makes obvious things odd; it paradoxicalizes the ordinary. It defamiliarizes. Danto is fun… Buy it and read. * Commonweal *One of the most philosophically interesting books to date in the philosophy of art. Concerned with defining ‘work of art’…Danto demonstrates an enviable breadth of knowledge in both philosophy and art history. The result is a volume that is certain to be at the center of discussion in this area in the coming years. -- Marcia M. Eaton * Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism *By focusing on the question ‘How do banal objects become transfigured into works of art?,’ the author exposes the definitive qualities of a work of art… The book contains an excellent discussion of ‘style’ in art. Danto both builds on and challenges some of the basic tenets of Nelson Goodman… This book will be heard of for some time to come. * Choice *Table of Contents*1. Works of Art and Mere Real Things *2. Content and Causation *3. Philosophy and Art *4. Aesthetics and the Work of Art *5. Interpretation and Identification *6. Works of Art and Mere Representations *7. Metaphor, Expression, and Style * Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisSince Socrates, and through Descartes onwards, the problems of self-knowledge have been central to philosophy's understanding of itself. This book argues for a reconception of the first-person and its claims. It develops a view of self-knowledge that concentrates on the self as agent rather than spectator.Trade Review"Authority and Estrangement is simply one of the most striking and original books in the Philosophy of Mind written in the last ten years. It is a terrific book. It has been anticipated for a long time, and it will not disappoint. In quality of content, it is first rate through and through. Moreover, it is positively exciting to read." - George Wilson, University of California at DavisTable of ContentsOutline of the Chapters xi Preface xxvii Acknowledgments xxxvii CHAPTER ONE The Image of Self-Knowledge 1 1.1 The Fortunes of Self-Consciousness: Descartes, Freud, and Cognitive Science 4 1.2 The Possibility of Self-Knowledge: Introspection, Perception, and Deflation 12 1.3 Constitutive Relations and Detection 20 1.4 "Conscious Belief": Locating the First-Person 27 CHAPTER TWO Making Up Your Mind: Self-Interpretation and Self-Constitution 36 2.1 Self-Interpretation, Objectivity, and Independence 38 2.2 Self-Fulfillment and Its Discontents 42 2.3 The Whole Person's Discrete States 48 2.4 Belief and the Activity of Interpreting 51 2.5 The Process of Self-Creation: Theoretical and Deliberative Questions 55 2.6 Relations of Transparency 60 CHAPTER THREE Self-Knowledge as Discovery and as Resolution 66 3.1 Wittgenstein and Moore's Paradox 69 3.2 Sartre, Self-Consciousness, and the Limits of the Empirical 77 3.3 Avowal and Attribution 88 3.4 Binding and Unbinding 94 CHAPTER FOUR The Authority of Self-Consciousness 100 4.1 Expressing, Reporting, and Avowing 100 4.2 Rationality, Awareness, and Control: A Look Inside 107 4.3 From Supervision to Authority: Agency and the Attitudes 113 4.4 The Retreat to Evidence 120 4.5 First-Person Immediacy and Authority 124 4.6 Introspection and the Deliberative Point of View 134 4.7 Reflection and the Demands of Authority: Apprehension, Arrest, and Conviction 138 4.8 The Reflective Agent 148 CHAPTER FIVE Impersonality, Expression, and the Undoing of Self-Knowledge 152 5.1 Self-Other Asymmetries and Their Skeptical Interpretation 153 5.2 The Partiality of the Impersonal Stance 158 5.3 Self-Effacement and Third-Person Privilege 166 5.4 Paradoxes of Self-Censure 170 5.5 Incorporation and the Expressive Reading 182 5.6 "Not First-Personal Enough?" 187 Bibliography 195 Index 201

Read more less

Book SynopsisPessimism is thought of as an exclusively negative stance that inevitably leads to resignation. Even when pessimism looks like utter truth, we are told that it makes the worst of a bad situation. This book challenges the received wisdom about pessimism, arguing that there is an unrecognized yet vibrant pessimistic philosophical tradition.Trade ReviewWinner of the 2006 Award for Best Professional/Scholarly Book in Philosophy, Association of American Publishers "Mr. Dienstag aims to rescue pessimism from the philosophical sidelines, where it has been shunted by optimists of all ideologies. The book is seductive, because pessimists are generally more engaging and entertaining than optimists, and because, as the author notes, 'the world keeps delivering bad news.' It is almost tempting to throw up one's hands and sign on with Schopenhauer."--Adam Cohen, The New York Times "The pessimism that Joshua Foa Dienstag seeks to celebrate in his engaging book can be joyful... Philosophical pessimism is an ethic that offers practices to tackle a mistaken belief in human progress... His version of pessimism is of the best sort because it leads to activity."--Mark Vernon, Times Literary Supplement "[An] absorbing study... Pessimism: Philosophy, Ethic, Spirit examines the pessimistic tradition in all its variants--cultural, metaphysical and existential--and analyzes the works of some of its chief practitioners... When at his best in making his case for the vitality and pertinence of pessimism, Mr. Dienstag may well cause readers to wonder whether they should take up pessimism as their own philosophy."--Joseph Epstein, Wall Street Journal "A necessary corrective to the unfettered optimism or faith in progress seen in recent world history... [C]omprehensive, readable, and thought provoking."--Library Journal "Joshua Foa Dienstag's rich and subtle book blows away ... facile and narrow-minded understandings of pessimism, which invariably reduce it to little more than a mood or a character trait. Dienstag ... holds that pessimism is a serious and coherent philosophical perspective... Pessimistm: Philosophy, Ethic, Spirit is a work of exact scholarship... [T]he value of the book comes from its brilliant nuances."--Scott McLemee, Newsday "Dienstag's gallery of incompatibles proves that pessimists can't be made to march in step, even as a coherent philosophical tradition. And the other thing that this densely argued, but always lively and engaging, book successfully proves is that pessimism works best when it drops the arguments in its favor and settles for bitter laughter."--Lawrence Klepp, Weekly Standard "These studies are quite insightful. A critic might object that, in attempting to discern the limits of meliorism, pessimism fails to recognize that those limits themselves may be discerned only in hindsight. Pessimism might respond that this is itself another instance of those limits... Highly recommended."--Choice "Dienstag manages to make Nietzschean pessimism seem attractive--even to optimists."--Raymond B. Marcin, Review of Politics "Dienstag's ... book is not just a study in political theory but a challenge to its contemporary practice, and for this he deserves our gratitude... [B]old, original and admirable."--Ryan Patrick Hanley, American Political Science Review "Pessimism was a very enjoyable read and I would recommend it to anyone who is remotely interested in the theme. The author's use of aphorisms at the end of the book was especially stirring, as it was clear that the author was enjoying his subject. Dienstag's work is creative and learned, and even with the critical remarks above, is well argued and will hopefully open up a space where more research into this marginalized tradition will arise."--Michael Bruce, Metapsychology Online Reviews "There is much to admire in [this] book, especially [its] ambitious scope and original choice of characters... Dienstag's book is a balanced appraisal and a nuanced endorsement of a long tradition in modern thought, that attempts to reframe the history of political thought so that pessimism becomes one of its major strands."--Aurelian Craiutu, European Journal of Political TheoryTable of ContentsPREFACE ix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xv ABBREVIATIONS xvii PART I CHAPTER ONE: The Anatomy of Pessimism 3 PART II CHAPTER TWO: "A Philosophy That Is Grievous but True": Cultural Pessimism in Rousseau and Leopardi 49 CHAPTER THREE: "The Evils of the World Honestly Admitted": Metaphysical Pessimism in Schopenhauer and Freud 84 CHAPTER FOUR "Consciousness Is a Disease": Existential Pessimism in Camus, Unamuno, and Cioran 118 PART III CHAPTER FIVE: Nietzsche's Dionysian Pessimism 161 CHAPTER SIX: Cervantes as Educator: Don Quixote and the Practice of Pessimism 201 CHAPTER SEVEN: Aphorisms and Pessimisms 226 CHAPTER EIGHT: Pessimism and Freedom (The Pessimist Speaks) 244 AFTERWORD 265 BIBLIOGRAPHY 273 INDEX 283

Read more less

Book Synopsis`Deepak Chopra`s thoughts on spirituality and child rearing are original, profound and fascinating' BENJAMIN SPOCK, MD Deepak Chopra`s Seven Spiritual Laws of Success have touched a chord around the globe because of their simplicity and trust.

Read more less

Book Synopsisaeo An important re--assessment of the idea of agency in the context of changing relations between men and women. aeo Brings together the owrk of leading feminist theorists with the work of key continental social theorists.Trade Review'This is a fine piece of theoretical work that deftly negotiates some complex debates. It is rigorous, scholarly and has something significant to say.' Feminist Theory 'Complex and elegantly written ... Anyone frustrated by the simple assertion that identity is like a trap which necessarily forecloses the prospect of true female agency will find this book to be a useful contribution to the ways we think about what it means to become a female subject in culture.' Canadian Journal of Sociology Online "McNay's book would benefit very greatly from the use of examples, to demonstrate the power of the approach she endorses in relation to contemporary feminist dilemmas and contentions." European Journal of Social TheoryTable of Contents1. Gender, Subjectification and Agency: Introductory Remarks. 2. Body, Position, Power: Bourdieu and Butler on Agency. 3. Gender and Narrative: Ricoeur on the Coherence of Self. 4. Psyche and Society: Castoriadis and the Creativity of Action. 5. Gender and Change: Concluding Remarks. Notes. References. Index.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis new textbook is a lively and highly accessible introduction to philosophy. From the fundamental issues of philosophical thought to the latest theories in the philosophy of mind, An Introduction to Philosophy provides clear and incisive discussion of the key areas of philosophy for students new to the subject. Provides the tools new students need to tackle philosophical arguments themselves Clearly presents and explains contemporary issues and current debates Covers the key areas of philosophy, including perception, epistemology, metaphysics, the mind, philosophy of religion, ethics and political philosophy Contains numerous learning features such as introductions, summaries, questions and further reading An Introduction to Philosophy is an ideal text for AS level, A level and first-year undergraduate students or anyone studying the subject for the first time.Trade Review"This book, a welcome addition to a crowded field, is a lucid and wide-ranging introduction that will give students a very good sense of what philosophy is. Nuttall is particularly successful at integrating contemporary and historical sources, and he brings to his discussion both an enthusiasm and a lightness of touch." Nick Everitt, Department of Philosophy, University of East Anglia "Crisp, and written with exceptional clarity, this book will entice readers keen to explore the major issues debated in philosophy. Beginning with Descartes, Nuttall demonstrates a deep and wide-ranging understanding of the main questions in philosophy. The book will be valuable for those engaging with philosophy for the first time, including students studying it for AS- and A-level. "K. T. Maslin, Head of Philosophy, Esher Sixth Form CollegeTable of ContentsPhilosophers Past and Present xv Acknowledgements xvii 1 The Nature of Philosophy 1 2 The Start of Modern Philosophy: Descartes’ Meditations 11 3 Perception and Reality 34 4 Knowledge, Belief and Logic 59 5 Space, Time, Causality and Substance 81 6 The Mind 115 7 God 139 8 Morality 170 9 Political Issues 213 Guide to Further Reading 240 Index 249

Read more less

Book Synopsis* A core introductory text to feminist philosophy, pitched at level 1/2 undergraduates. * Lays out theories and concepts in a highly accessible way for students with no previous knowledge of feminist thought. * Covers all the major feminist thinkers, including de Beauvoir, Butler, Gilligan, Irigaray, and MacKinnon.Trade Review"Alison Stone explains with a rare clarity the many theories of feminist philosophies which revolve around some basic concepts (sex, gender, sexual diversity, essentialism, birth, feminism) and reveals the many prejudices that these concepts carry to the detriment of both women and men." Epistemologia "Moving deftly through an impressive range of literature in psychoanalysis, gender theory, equality-difference debates, and complex questions about gender essentialism, Stone offers a thoughtful, scholarly and practical introduction to a range of interpretive strategies and symbolic structures that sustain gendered oppression and subordination. The book is a fine resource for professional philosophers, and an excellent, accessible teaching text." Lorraine Code, YorkUniversity, Toronto "The considerable accomplishment of this comprehensive and reliable guide is the fine balance it achieves. It stands as a model of clarity and of philosophical argument, which on the one hand avoids making unexplained assumptions, and on the other hand manages to avoid being reductive. It constitutes a valuable resource for readers who want to familiarize themselves with the field, and a useful tool for those who seek clarification of central debates." Tina Chanter, DePaul University, ChicagoTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsHow to use this bookIntroduction: What is Feminist Philosophy?Chapter 1 SexChapter 2 GenderChapter 3 SexualityChapter 4 Sexual DifferenceChapter 5 EssentialismChapter 6 BirthChapter 7 FeminismBibliographyIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisContract and Domination offers a bold challenge to contemporary contract theory, arguing that it should either be fundamentally rethought or abandoned altogether. Since the publication of John Rawls''s A Theory of Justice, contract theory has once again become central to the Western political tradition. But gender justice is neglected and racial justice almost completely ignored. Carole Pateman and Charles Mills''s earlier books, The Sexual Contract (1988) and The Racial Contract (1997), offered devastating critiques of gender and racial domination and the contemporary contract tradition''s silence on them. Both books have become classics of revisionist radical democratic political theory. Now Pateman and Mills are collaborating for the first time in an interdisciplinary volume, drawing on their insights from political science and philosophy. They are building on but going beyond their earlier work to bring the sexual and racial contracts together.Trade Review"An extraordinarily helpful and enlightening work for both non-contract and contract theorists alike, and for everyone concerned with racial, gender and class inequality." Political Studies Review "Charles Mills and Carole Pateman are two exemplary philosophers of freedom. This book is a grand contribution to our understanding of justice. Don't miss it!" Cornel West, Princeton University "A provocative book that hopefully will generate intense debate and discussion." Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society "Engaging and often thought-provoking ... [Contract and Domination] raises good questions and portends more research into the continued viability of contracts as a basis for thinking about law." Law and Politics Book Review "This is the most sustained intersectional analysis of race and gender to date, providing a theoretical account of how these categories connect, overlap, mediate one another, and comparatively structure oppression. It is also a debate in political philosophy over the utility of the contract model for conceptualizing a more just society. The disagreements between the authors will make this book especially fruitful for classroom use." Lind Martin Alcoff, Syracuse UniversityTable of ContentsAcknowledgments vi Introduction 1Carole Pateman and Charles W. Mills 1 Contract and Social Change 10A Dialogue between Carole Pateman and Charles W. Mills 2 The Settler Contract 35Carole Pateman 3 The Domination Contract 79Charles W. Mills 4 Contract of Breach: Repairing the Racial Contract 106Charles W. Mills 5 Race, Sex, and Indifference 134Carole Pateman 6 Intersecting Contracts 165Charles W. Mills 7 On Critics and Contract 200Carole Pateman 8 Reply to Critics 230Charles W. Mills References 267 Index 296

Read more less

Book SynopsisClimate change, habitat loss, rising extinction rates - such problems call for more than just new policies and practices. They raise fundamental questions about the world and our place in it.Trade Review"Environmental Philosophy is an extremely readable introduction to the field. Clearly written and carefully argued, its discussion of recent philosophical approaches is admirably broad. It draws on a rich set of real-world cases and shows a keen awareness of contemporary environmental issues such animal ethics, climate change, and ecosystem services."Emily Brady, Professor of Environment and Philosophy, University of Edinburgh 'Simon James has written an engaging book that covers many of the most important philosophical questions raised by environmental issues, and is well suited to serve as a text for a course in environmental philosophy.' Peter Singer, AC, Princeton University 'Addressing a subject both diffuse and urgent, James's account concentrates on a well-chosen handful of its most essential challenges. He also ensures that theory, no matter how complex, is grounded in practice. The result is the most comprehensive and accessible introduction to environmental philosophy I know.' Patrick Curry, University of Wales Trinity St DavidTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction: What is Environmental Philosophy? 1: Animal Suffering, and Why it Matters 2: Beyond Animal Liberation, 3: Biocentrism and Ecocentrism 4: Questions of Value 5: How Should one Live? 6: The Aesthetics of Nature 7: Nature, Wild and Restored 8: Climate Change Summary

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Philosophy of Art is a highly accessible introduction to current key issues and debates in aesthetics and philosophy of art. Chapters on standard topics are balanced by topics of interest to today's students, including creativity, authenticity, cultural appropriation, and the distinction between popular and fine art. Other topics include emotive expression, pictorial representation, definitional strategies, and artistic value. Presupposing no prior knowledge of philosophy, Theodore Gracyk draws on three decades of teaching experience to provide a balanced and engaging overview, clear explanations, and many thought-provoking examples. All chapters have a strong focus on current debates in the field, yet historical figures are not neglected. Major current theories are set beside key ideas from Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Marx, and Hegel. Chapters conclude with advice on further readings, and there are recommendations of films that will serve as a basis for further reflection and discussion. Key ideas are immediately accompanied by exercises that will test students' reactions and understanding. Many chapters call attention to ideology, prejudices, and common cliches that interfere with clear thinking. Beautifully written and thoroughly comprehensive, The Philosophy of Art is the ideal resource for anyone who wants to explore recent developments in philosophical thinking about the arts. It is also provides the perfect starting point for anyone who wants to reflect on, and challenge, their own assumptions about the nature and value of art.Trade Review"A valuable introduction which is unusual in both offering students extremely clear accounts of philosophers’ efforts in the field and also highly provocative and relevant questions for them to use as ways of digesting the material." Consciousness, Literature and the Arts "Gracyk's Philosophy of Art mingles deft presentation of philosophical positions with insightful examples of artworks that illustrate or challenge those positions. This clear and methodical introduction considers fine art as well as popular culture, and the text is interspersed with thought-provoking exercises. An excellent read for students and professionals alike." Carolyn Korsmeyer, University at Buffalo (SUNY) "Gracyk's book introduces classical questions in philosophy of art and fresh contemporary issues that will capture the interest of undergraduates. Written in a clear, accessible style, it is replete with examples drawn from the fine arts and popular culture. Gracyk succeeds in being both rigorous and engaging. Highly recommended." James O. Young, University of Victoria "With its fresh and even-handed approach to the most recent developments, its delightful use of example, and its clean prose, this book is the perfect introduction to how to use philosophy to think clearly, creatively, and deeply about art and the aesthetic." Dominic McIver Lopes, University of British ColumbiaTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsPreface1 Meaning, Interpretation, and Picturing1 Representations and pictures2 Theories of picturing3 Intentions and transparency in pictures and photographs4 Indiscernible counterparts5 Fine art2 Art as Expression1 Overview of expression theories2 Tolstoy's account of expressive art3 Collingwood's account of expressive art4 The expressive persona 5 Expression as arousal6 Revising the arousal theory7 Expression as cognitive recognition3 Meaning and Creativity1 Plato on creativity2 Kant on genius3 Metaphorical exemplification4 Hegel and Marx5 Material bases of creativity6 Feminism and creativity4 Fakes, Originals, and Ontology1 Multiples and singularities2 Abstract objects3 Problems and implications4 Fakes and originals5 Objections and alternatives5 Authenticity and Cultural Origins1 Two kinds of contextualism2 Four kinds of appropriation3 Moral concerns4 Culture5 Authenticity6 Modernity and authenticity6 Defining Art1 Philosophical definition2 Historical background 3 Functional definitions4 Institutional definitions 5 Historical definitions6 The cluster account7 Aesthetics1 Aesthetic judgments and properties2 Supervenience3 Two complications4 Aesthetics and nature 5 Formalism and detachment 6 Making special 7 Pleasure and appreciation8 Beyond the Fine Arts1 Popular and mass art2 Standard criticisms of popular art3 Social consequences of popular culture4 Gender and race5 Everyday aesthetics9 Artistic and aesthetic value1 Three kinds of value2 The uniqueness thesis3 Value empiricism4 Instrumental value 5 An alternative analysis6 Appreciation7 Cognitive value10 ConclusionReferencesIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisSocial factors have a powerful influence on human health and longevity. Yet the social dimensions of health are often obscured in public discussions due to the overwhelming focus in health policy on medical care, individual-level risk factor research, and changing individual behaviours.Trade Review"A wonderful feat of interdisciplinary scholarship." Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics "Provides a lucent account of the intersection of health policy and social justice and helps explains why it is unfair to saddle the poor with expectations that they may not be able to meet ... There is an elegance to the writing and an intellectual depth in its formulation that builds to a crescendo of argument richly accessible to the nonspecialized reader. I have little doubt that Health Justice will become a classic in the ever-important 'health-rights' genre, a literature that will be profoundly influenced by the addition of this important contribution." Journal of the American Medical Association "Venkatapuram presents a highly persuasive philosophical argument that the capability to be healthy needs to be recognized as a basic moral entitlement in the same way as other fundamental human rights ... This is a stimulating read which, while presenting a challenging philosophical argument, is rooted in the real world." Journal of Public Health "A landmark achievement, dense, carefully argued and bold in its conclusions … An excellent read for anyone who takes an interest in the moral and political aspects of health and health inequalities." Sociology of Health and Illness "In contrast to many books that garner praiseful quotations from prominent scholars, this one actually lives up to its laudatory appraisals. For those of us deeply interested in the interrogation of moral arguments for health and health care entitlements, the book is a must read." Journal of Social Policy "Rich and inspiring" Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights "Venkatapuram elegantly and ambitiously articulates a new theory of health justice, which directly engages with alleviating the daily suffering of those who endure health injustice ... Health Justice is a thought-provoking, extensively researched book, which should reinvigorate the health and human rights debate in global health governance circles." International Affairs "Health Justice is a hugely important contribution to practical reason and to public policy. It presents an illuminating investigation of why the capability to be healthy is central to social justice, and identifies what can be done here and now to pursue that much neglected philosophical perspective." Amartya Sen, Harvard University "Do not mistake Sridhar Venkatapuram's Health Justice for an arcane treatise of interest to a small number of political philosophers. It is, rather, a bold consideration of human entitlement to 'the capability to be healthy.' The book which illuminates a stubborn ‘blind spot' in modern political philosophy, is also a call to action: as Venkatapuram notes, theories of justice serve as both goal and guide, highlighting health disparities while also laying the moral groundwork for social change. I have no doubt that Health Justice will be required reading for philosophers and those interested in health disparities, but hope, too that it will be widely read by all those who formulate social policy - and by those, including physicians, who implement them." Dr. Paul Farmer, Harvard Medical School & Partners in Health "A very impressive achievement. Sridhar Venkatapuram is uniquely placed to bring together the literature in political philosophy and social epidemiology to generate a very persuasive capability approach to health justice. This book is a major contribution to debates in the definition of health, in the capability approach to justice, and in global health ethics." Jonathan Wolff, University College London, and Director of the Centre for Philosophy, Justice and Health "Health Justice is a crucial and impressive work. In contrast to earlier theorists, the author argues convincingly for a theory of social justice that recognizes people's moral right to the capability of being healthy. In his argument Venkatapuram combines a wealth of insights from various sources, such as philosophy of health and welfare, political science and economics. Thereby he makes a fascinating original contribution to the theory of health and welfare." Lennart Nordenfelt, Linköping UniversityTable of ContentsAcknowledgements vi Foreword ix Introduction 1 Part I 1 Health as Capability 41 2 Causation and Distribution of Health 73 Part II 3 The Capabilities Approach 113 4 The Capability to be Healthy 143 Part III 5 Alternative Approaches 173 6 Groups and Capabilities 201 7 The Capability to be Healthy and Global Justice 215 Conclusion 233 Notes 239 References 247 Index 265

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"A real blast. No other beginner-level book in philosophy of physics provides such a synoptic view of the subject. But what really makes the book fun is Rickles' ability to convey how astonishing these physical puzzles are, in with an informal, witty voice." Craig Callender, University of California, San Diego "A wonderfully insightful and refreshing approach to the philosophy of physics, Rickles' book lays out the philosophical issues in an extremely clear and highly absorbing way, taking the reader on a fascinating journey through the twists and turns that lie at the heart of modern physics. Highly recommended!" Margaret Morrison, University of Toronto "The Philosophy of Physics is impressively written in a fully accessible and lively style." Midwest Book ReviewTable of ContentsPreface Acknowledgements 1 Interpreting Physical Theories 2 General Concepts of Physics 3 Symmetries in Physics 4 Getting Philosophy from Symmetry 5 Further Adventures in Space and Time 6 Linking Micro to Macro 7 Quantum Philosophy 8 On the Edge: A Snapshot of Advanced Topics Glossary Notes References

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn summer 1960, Adorno gave the first of a series of lectures devoted to the relation between sociology and philosophy. One of his central concerns was to dispel the notion, erroneous in his view, that these were two incompatible disciplines, radically opposed in their methods and aims, a notion that was shared by many. While some sociologists were inclined to dismiss philosophy as obsolete and incapable of dealing with the pressing social problems of our time, many philosophers, influenced by Kant, believed that philosophical reflection must remain 'pure', investigating the constitution of knowledge and experience without reference to any real or material factors. By focusing on the problem of truth, Adorno seeks to show that philosophy and sociology share much more in common than many of their practitioners are inclined to assume. Drawing on intellectual history, Adorno demonstrates the connection between truth and social context, arguing that there is no truth that cannot be manipulated by ideology and no theorem that can be wholly detached from social and historical considerations. This systematic account on the interconnectedness of philosophy and sociology makes these lectures a timeless reflection on the nature of these disciplines and an excellent introduction to critical theory, the sociological content of which is here outlined in detail by Adorno for the first time.Trade Review"The continued relevance of Adorno's radical thought is confirmed by these published lectures."—Marx & Philosophy Review of BooksTable of ContentsOverviewLecturesAdorno’s Notes for the LecturesEditor’s NotesEditor’s AfterwordIndex

Read more less