Philosophy Books

Book SynopsisOur contemporary horror stories are written in a world where there seems little faith, lost hope, and no salvation. All that remains is the fragmentary and occasionally lyrical testimony of the human being struggling to confront its lack of reason for being in the vast cosmos. This is the terrain of the horror genre. Eugene Thacker explores this situation in Tentacles Longer Than Night. Extending the ideas presented in his book In The Dust of This Planet, Thacker considers the relationship between philosophy and the horror genre. But instead of taking fiction as the mere illustration of ideas, Thacker reads horror stories as if they themselves were works of philosophy, driven by a speculative urge to question human knowledge and the human-centric view of the world, ultimately leading to the limit of the human-thought undermining itself, in thought. Tentacles Longer Than Night is the third volume of the "Horror of Philosophy" trilogy, together with the first volume, In The Dust of This Planet, and the second volume, Starry Speculative Corpse.

Read more less

Book SynopsisConfronting harsh ecological realities and the multiple cascading crises facing our world today, An Inconvenient Apocalypse argues that humanity's future will be defined not by expansion but by contraction.For decades, our world has understood that we are on the brink of an apocalypseand yet the only implemented solutions have been small and convenient, feel-good initiatives that avoid unpleasant truths about the root causes of our impending disaster. Wes Jackson and Robert Jensen argue that we must reconsider the origins of the consumption crisis and the challenges we face in creating a survivable future. Longstanding assumptions about economic growth and technological progressthe dream of a future of endless bountyare no longer tenable. The climate crisis has already progressed beyond simple or nondisruptive solutions. The end result will be apocalyptic; the only question now is how bad it will be.Jackson and Jensen examine how geographic determinism shTrade Review“An Inconvenient Apocalypse pulls no punches. Wes Jackson and Robert Jensen, in this work of Anthropocenic soul-searching, offer an honest, accessible, and ruefully playful look at their own lives and at the predicament of human civilization during this century of upheaval and denial.” —Scott Slovic, co-editor of Ecoambiguity, Community, and Development“The problematic human/earth relationship will not be resolved anytime soon, and Jackson and Jensen’s book makes an important contribution to assessing our situation and envisioning a way forward. Anyone who has a nagging feeling that something is wrong and doesn’t understand the breadth and depth of the problem or how to grapple with it should read this book.” —Lisi Krall, author of Proving Up"While making no religious claims, Jackson and Jensen engage the core questions that religious people must ask, if their own witness is to be credible: Who are we, and where are we in history? Do we have the capacity to make drastic change for the sake of a decent human future? Can we live with humility and grace instead of arrogance and an infatuation with knowledge devoid of wisdom? Read and consider." —Ellen F. Davis, author of Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture"With intrepid honesty, tenderness, and grace, Jackson and Jensen lay out a clear framework for making sense of the most elusive complexities of climate crisis. Through kindred reflections and incisive analysis, they boldly enlighten readers of the probable and the possible in the decades to come. An affirmation and solace for the weary. A beacon for those seeking courage and understanding in unsettling times." —Selina Gallo-Cruz, author of Political Invisibility and Mobilization"The nature of all living organisms, so this book argues, is to go after 'dense energy,' resulting eventually in crisis. If that is so, then the human organism is facing a tough question: Can we overcome our own nature? Courageous and humble, bold and provocative, the authors of An Inconvenient Apocalypse do not settle for superficial answers." —Donald Worster, author of Shrinking the Earth"This is one of the most important books of our lifetime. An Inconvenient Apocalypse can help us face the difficult choices that confront us all and enable us to acknowledge the urgency of our current circumstance." —Frederick L. Kirschenmann, author of Cultivating an Ecological Conscience"Wes Jackson and Bob Jensen have written Common Sense for our time. This book might be the spark that catalyzes the American Evolution." —Peter Buffett, co-president of the NoVo Foundation“In this essential contribution to the public debate, Wes Jackson and Robert Jensen critique the capitalist forces accelerating the climate crisis and the intellectual-activists who have balked at calling for the radical changes in human behavior that could mitigate, if not prevent, environmental and societal collapse. Their contribution will prove as enduring as it is timely.” —Jason Brownlee, author of Authoritarianism in an Age of Democratization“If you’re already concerned about our species’ survival prospects, this book will take you to the next level of understanding. Jackson and Jensen are clear and deeply moral thinkers, and their assessment of humanity’s precarious status deserves to be widely read.” —Richard Heinberg, author of Power"Jackson and Jensen take a hard look at the near future as climate change intensifies and predict looming crises will lead to human suffering and radical changes. . . . [The authors] cut through pervasive denial about humanity's destiny in a more hostile environment. As in an effective seminar, they posit a situation and then raise questions that will resonate with readers." —Library Journal"Harrowing and accessible, this is just the thing for readers interested in a sociological or philosophical examination of the climate crisis." —Publishers Weekly"A hard-hitting philosophical reckoning with climate breakdowns, and with the social collapses that they may entail. ... Climate disasters may render hope for the future tenuous, but the philosophical book An Inconvenient Apocalypse asserts that working toward social justice is still purpose-giving." —Foreword Reviews (starred review)"The goal of An Inconvenient Apocalypse isn’t to try to convince people of the reality of humankind’s environmental and societal crises. . . . Instead the book takes these threats as a starting point and spends the majority of its lean page count exploring their implications and how we might best respond to them. It succeeds commendably in this regard." —Resilience"In An Inconvenient Apocalypse, authors Wes Jackson and Robert Jensen style themselves as heralds of some very bad news: societal collapse on a global scale is inevitable, and those who manage to survive the mass death and crumbling of the world as we know it will have to live in drastically transformed circumstances. . . . The current way of things is doomed, and it’s up to us to prepare as best we can to ensure as soft a landing as possible when the inevitable apocalypse arrives." —The Guardian"Global warming is headed in a calamitous direction. Even if humans can limit the increase in the Earth’s temperature, other factors are pushing us to an apocalypse. . . . This a sobering examination of current trends in human behavior and likely existential consequences." —Intelligencer: Journal of U.S. Intelligence Studies"We are in the midst of a major environmental catastrophe for which we are little prepared, but for which action is desperately needed. An Inconvenient Apocalypse seeks to engage this problem with a deep concern for social justice, equality, and reverence for us and the planet that we have so deeply scarred." —New York Journal of Books"Unlike many works in the eco-catastrophe genre, An Inconvenient Apocalypse isn’t strident, angry, or panicked about the impending collapse. It’s more of an elegy for a dying civilization, which takes a pragmatic but soft-spoken approach to the problems we face; so soft-spoken that it’s a slight shock when we realize what the authors are saying." —Medium"An Inconvenient Apocalypse is one powerful book. It will move many of its readers out of the past and into a reasonable, informed, and passionate space for assessing a difficult future." —Ecological Economics"Read this personal manifesto of wisdom and passion for our suffering planet, a very important, timely, and riveting book." —CounterPunch"Few books can shake up and awaken long-time climate activists, environmental activists, and sustainability activists to expansive new levels of understanding of the big picture of our major crises, but this is one of those books." —Job One for Humanity Climate Blog“Right now, the questions posed by Jackson and Jensen carry more potency than the answers we are being led to believe will resolve the predicaments we are in. That is because we have been asking the wrong questions. Jackson and Jensen ask new, and inconvenient, questions. Get the book and start asking the same questions.” —Rainbow Juice“The authors seek to redefine what hope can be, as the day-to-day expectations of most of us are off the table... Compulsory reading.” —Hastings Independent Press"If we are to see a better future realized, not only do we need to rethink our individual patterns of behavior, but we must also resist cultural formations that reduce our humanity to marketplace identities. . . . If we decide this is who we are, our future may still be bright, even if it is not convenient." —The Christian CenturyTable of ContentsIntroductions: Who are we? 1. Who is “we”? 2. Four hard questions: Size, scale, scope, speed 3. We are all apocalyptic now 4. Saving remnant 5. Ecospheric grace Conclusions: The sum of all hopes and fears

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe best review of renal physiology available for USMLE Step 1âcompletely updated with the latest researchCombining the latest research with a fully integrated teaching approach, Vanderâs Renal Physiology, Tenth Edition clearly and expertly explains how the kidneys affect other body systems and how they in turn are affected by these systems. There is no better way to learn the fundamental principles of the structure, function, and pathologies of the human kidney that are essential for an understanding of clinical medicine, than this time-tested resource.Hereâs why Vanderâs is the best review of renal physiology available for the USMLE Step 1: The text begins with the basics and works up to advanced principles All chapters have been revised to reflect the latest research and developments in the field Includes learning aids such as flow charts, diagrams, key concepts, clinical examples, boxed statements to emphasize major

Read more less

Book SynopsisEveryone must become a philosopher. The alternate is to forego living a human life, or as D. Q. McInerny illustrates, to run while choosing to be hamstrung. But not all philosophizing is equal, and it requires discipline and systematic study. In "creative impatience with ignorance" and "an unswerving commitment to the truth," one can be confident he is at least moving in the right direction toward genuine philosophy. But most importantly, philosophy requires teachers. To philosophize is, after all, to be an eternal student, a person who even while instructing others relies on the guidance found in the 'fertile' human wisdom cultivated throughout the ages. And the most fecund of all philosophy, according to McInerny, is that contained in Aristotelian-Thomism. His concise and thorough defense of the philosophical life and its lodestar, Thomism, must be read as deliberately as it was written. For McInerny makes a bold claim: if one is truly serious about philosophizing, an encounter with the essentials of Thomism is fundamental and indicates a path for the human mind unlike anything other systems or traditions of thought can offer. This book begins with logic and is followed by introductions to the philosophy of nature, philosophical psychology, epistemology, ethics, political philosophy, metaphysics and natural theology. It is a companion for students of all ages who have yet to spend quality time with Thomas Aquinas. And it is a real delight to do so in the company of McInerny, who in Being Ethical (2019) has already proven himself to be the affable and able teacher every thinking person longs to meet along the course of his search for truth.

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"One of Bloomberg’s Best Nonfiction Books of 2021""Shortlisted for the Gladstone Book Prize, Royal Historical Society""Shortlisted for the ECPR Political Theory Prize, European Consortium for Political Research""[A] path-breaking study. . . . The hitherto unexplored relationship between these two giants is fascinating not just for its simmering acrimony but because, as a pair, they are as much alike as they are antipodes."---Norman Lebrecht, Wall Street Journal"An impeccably researched work, providing lucid explanation of the political thought of both Arendt and Berlin, and successfully brings the arguments of both (and their flaws) into sharp relief."---Caroline Ashcroft, Perspectives on Politics"The tone of the book is thoughtful and equable; the writing is admirably clear; and Hiruta certainly provides a fair and detailed chronology of the Arendt/Berlin encounters and of Berlin’s various expressions of hostility."---Jeremy Waldron, Society"Contextualized, dialogical, and even-handed."---Richard Shorten, The Review of Politics"Historically careful and theoretically rich."---Shmuel Lederman, German Studies Review"[An] even-handed study. . . .The book sheds a great deal of light on the protagonists and on essential historical and political issues so significant for our time." * Paradigm Explorer *

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisAgainst Happiness is a thorough and powerful critique of the “happiness agenda,” revealing the flaws of its concept of happiness and advocating a renewed focus on equality and justice.Trade ReviewHappiness studies started as an idealistic project but took shortcuts and so did not fulfill its ambitions. This important and trustworthy book takes us back to the drawing board to rebuild the foundations of this field. The new vision won’t make the science and policy of happiness easier, but it will make them more humane, more inclusive, and truer to life. -- Anna Alexandrova, author of A Philosophy of Science for Well-BeingReading this book made me happy, but more importantly, I learned a great deal from it. This book is a tour de force: written in a lively, accessible manner; well argued; and empirically well-informed. It is the best available critique of the ideology of the ‘happiness agenda,’ which confuses subjective positive mental states and reported life satisfaction with what really matters. -- Allen Buchanan, author of Our Moral Fate: Evolution and the Escape from TribalismHumankind has been preoccupied with happiness since we invented philosophy. We try to cultivate happiness with pithy little sayings, like 'Happiness is a journey, not a destination' and 'Happiness is a state of mind.' We regulate happiness with religion. We judge the quality of a life by the amount of happiness achieved, and the success of a country by the average happiness of its citizens. And yet, no one can agree on exactly what happiness is or what it's worth. Against Happiness masterfully reveals that happiness is not a single experience, physical condition, or unified state of meaning. It's a population of instances that vary across situations and cultures (as are all other categories of emotion). And each instance blooms from unexamined assumptions and preconceptions that likewise vary by situation and culture. This book is a must-read for anyone who has felt happy, hungered for more happiness, or pondered the emotional lives of humans and how happiness matters to the quality of a life. -- Lisa Feldman Barrett, author of How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the BrainIf you are happy read this book. If you are not happy read this book. Either way you will learn about the complexity of the very idea and how it is widely sprinkled throughout our mental space while still remaining an elusive reality. -- Michael Gazzaniga, author of Cognitive Neuroscience: The Biology of MindThis book is an attempt at doing cross-cultural and thus real philosophy in that it is the love of the wisdom of all peoples, rather than that of the WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic) people. It is also an attempt at interdisciplinary works and thus grounded philosophy. While showing the relativity of happiness, it also insists on the universality of certain human goods, such as human rights and sustainable development goals. -- Bai Tongdong, author China: The Middle Way of the Middle KingdomAgainst Happiness moves beyond the one-dimensional and reductionist approaches that have hitherto limited our understanding of happiness to narrow aspects or have obliterated non-western, non-white, and marginalized experiences of well-being. The authors persuasively outline shortcomings of definitions of happiness across different disciplines and different cultural philosophical traditions, a crucial step for investigating more accurate, inclusive, and expansive definitions of happiness in the future. -- Liya Yu, author of Vulnerable Minds: The Neuropolitics of Divided SocietiesTable of ContentsPrefaceIntroductionPart I: Happiness Philosophy and Happiness Science1. Introduction: The Happiness Agenda2. Varieties of Theories and Measures of Well-Being and Happiness3. How Should We Think About the Emotion of Happiness Scientifically? Lessons from the Science of Fear4. Why Averaging Happiness Scores and Comparing Them Is a Terrible IdeaPart II: Culture and Happiness5. Positive and Negative Emotions: Culture, Content, and Context6. Happiness and Well-Being as Cultural Projects: Immigration, Biculturalism, Cultural Belonging7. Happiness and Well-Being in Contemporary ChinaPart III: Race, Racism, Resignation8. Happiness, Race, and Hermeneutical Justice: The Case of African American Mental Health9. Interpreting Self-Reports of Well-BeingPart IV: Conclusions10. Recommendations for Policy Use of Happiness Metrics11. Universal Rights, Sustainable Development, and Happiness: Two out of Three Ain’t BadPart V: Responses by Four Critics12. On Ersatz Happiness, by Jennifer A. Frey13. Why the Analysis and Assessment of Happiness Matters, by Hazel Rose Markus14. Three out of Three Is Better, by Jeffrey D. Sachs15. What the Gallup World Poll Could Do to Deepen Our Understanding of Happiness in Different Cultures, by Jeanne L. TsaiNotesReferencesIndex

Read more less

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

Read more less

Book SynopsisClassic study by noted authority provides accessible introduction to mysticism and its relation to metaphysics, psychology, theology, magic, and symbolism. Also, detailed study of mystical consciousness: awakening of the self, purification of the self, voices and visions, ecstasy and rapture, dark night of the soul, much more.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn this book, Reiner Schürmann argues that what is most original about Marx is his philosophical axis. Extending his highly original engagement with the history of philosophy, Schürmann draws out this axis, which determines and localizes his theories of history, social relations, and economy. Whereas Marxist readings of Marx conceive history, classes, and social relations as primary realities, Schürmann brings out a radically immanent understanding of praxis that introduces multiplicity. This edition is complemented by a reprinting of Schürmann’s Anti-Humanism essay, in which he reads Marx alongside Nietzsche and Heidegger as spelling out the dissociation of being and action. Reading Marx showcases underappreciated facets of Schürmann’s work and offers an interpretation of Marx that resonates with the readings of Jacques Derrida, Michel Henry, Antonio Negri, and François Laruelle.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn God and the New Physics, Paul Davies explains how science has come of age, and can now offer a surer path to divinity than religion.Science is now on the verge of answering our most profound questions about the nature of existence. Here Paul Davies explains how the far-reaching discoveries of recent physics are revolutionizing our world and, in particular, throwing light on many of the questions formerly posed by religion, such as:Why is there a universe?Where did we come from?What is life?How is the world organized?Examining subjects from the creation to the soul, free will to time, black holes to miracles, he travels through science and religion to show us that there is more to the world than meets the eye.''Excellent ... explains with fluent simplicity some of the profoundest questions of cosmology'' - Daily Telegraph''One of the finest science writers of this generation'' - Independent''PaTable of ContentsScience and religion in a changing world; genesis; did God create the universe?; what is life? - Holism vs reductionism; mind and soul; the self; the quantum factor; time; free will and determinism; the fundamental structure of matter; accident or design?; black holes and cosmic chaos; miracles; the end of the universe; is the universe a "free lunch"?; the physicist's conception of nature.

Read more less

Book SynopsisA new, annotated reader, The Philosophy of Love and Sex, presents not only classic readings on love and sex from a diverse selection of philosophical perspectives, but also groundbreaking work in this rapidly changing field. Unlike existing readers, this comprehensive reader takes an interdisciplinary approach, choosing to include the voices of philosophers and philosophically minded thinkers from many different traditions, emphasizing not only the core writers who have defined the tradition, such as Plato and Stendhal, but work as recent as 2015 from feminists, transgendered persons, and others.Trade ReviewThe authors' willingness to step out of the philosophy bubble, while still offering a solid grounding in the stand bys of the field, is a welcome and, I think, needed change". * Ruth Tallman, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Barry University *This book offers undergraduate students the perfect balance between accessibility and intellectual rigor". * Nancy Williams, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Wofford College *While [the authors'] include some critical classical readings, it is clear that they do not allow the weight of tradition to hold them back. Rather, it appears to me that this volume's construction is led by: the editors' experience with teaching students and what excites them, and what is most present and challenging in contemporary scholarship. * Sarah LaChance Adams, Associate Professor of Philosophy at University of Wisconsin, Superior *Table of ContentsPart One: Love I. What is Love? 1. Thomas Merton, " 10. Clancy Martin, Love & Lies (selections) 11. Pope Francis, " 41. Catharine MacKinnon,

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn The Evolution of Moral Progress, Allen Buchanan and Russell Powell resurrect the project of explaining moral progress. They avoid the errors of earlier attempts by drawing on a wide range of disciplines including moral and political philosophy, evolutionary biology, evolutionary psychology, anthropology, history, and sociology. Their focus is on one especially important type of moral progress: gains in inclusivity. They develop a framework to explain progress in inclusivity to also illuminate moral regression--the return to exclusivist and tribalistic moral beliefs and attitudes. Buchanan and Powell argue those tribalistic moral responses are not hard-wired by evolution in human nature. Rather, human beings have an evolved adaptively plastic capacity for both inclusion and exclusion, depending on environmental conditions. Moral progress in the dimension of inclusivity is possible, but only to the extent that human beings can create environments conducive to extending moral standing to all human beings and even to some animals. Buchanan and Powell take biological evolution seriously, but with a critical eye, while simultaneously recognizing the crucial role of culture in creating environments in which moral progress can occur. The book avoids both biological and cultural determinism. Unlike earlier theories of moral progress, their theory provides a naturalistic account that is grounded in the best empirical work, and unlike earlier theories it does not present moral progress as inevitable or as occurring in definite stages; but rather it recognizes the highly contingent and fragile character of moral improvement.Trade ReviewHighly recommended. * J.H. Barker, CHOICE *This is a well-written book in which a novel and insightful theory of moral progress is developed. The analysis is rich and the research on which it rests is extensive. This will be of interest to students and researchers concerned with the interface of ethics and evolution, philosophy of biology, evolutionary psychology, and the importance of moral progress. * R. Paul Thompson, The Quarterly Review of Biology *Buchanan and Powell's rich book will justly be of interest to a broad variety of readers, philosophers as well as non-philosophers ... an illuminating book on a vitally important and intriguing topic. * Toni Rønnow-Rasmussen, Metascience *It seems that the book discussed might be regarded as obligatory reading for everyone interested in the idea of moral progress, but also for those who as-sume that the evolutionary past strongly affects - usually in a negative way - our current moral intuitions and patterns. * Konrad Szocik, European Society for the Study of Science and Theology *an illuminating book on a vitally important and intriguing topic. * Toni Ronnow-Rasmussen, Metascience *This book is neither about Marx nor Marxism, yet it will be of interest to any reader who, like Marx, is interested in the phenomenon of progress, and the material conditions that underlie it. Allen Buchanan and Russell Powell, philosophers with respective specializations in the fields of ethics and the philosophy of biology, offer a novel 'biocultural' theory of the conditions amenable to moral progress, and take issue with so-called 'evoconservative' views according to which our evolved psychology imposes severe constraints on the possibility of progress [...] Especially illuminating about Buchanan and Powell's biocultural theory is their analysis of the conditions that are likely to lead to an inclusivist moral response, and those likely to lead to moral exclusivism. * Jeroen Hopster, Utrecht University, Marx & Philosophy Review of Books *A compelling, well-researched, and timely book. It articulates arguably the most persuasive naturalistic theory of moral progress to date, and lays the groundwork for important and impactful research. * Michael Brownstein and Daniel Kelly, The British Journal of Philosophy of Science *This is a marvelous book...none of my worries about how to develop their proposals further lessen to any substantial degree my enthusiasm for their book [which] is remarkable in bringing us as I hope closer to a point where we can sketch and begin to confirm the kind of account they seek. * Allan Gibbard, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Why a Theory of Moral Progress is Needed Part One: What is Moral Progress? Chapter 1: A Typology of Moral Progress Chapter 2: Contemporary Accounts of Moral Progress Chapter 3: A Pluralistic, Dynamic Conception of Moral Progress Part Two: Evolution and the Possibility of Moral Progress Chapter 4: Is Evolved Human Nature an Obstacle to Moral Progress? Chapter 5: The Inclusivist Anomaly and the Limits of Evolutionary Explanation Chapter 6: Toward a Naturalistic Theory of Inclusivist Moral Progress Chapter 7: Naturalizing Moral Regression: A Biocultural Account Chapter 8: De-Moralization and the Evolution of Invalid Moral Norms Part Three: The Path Traveled and the Way Forward Chapter 9: Improvements in Moral Understanding and the Human Rights Movement Chapter 10: Human Rights Naturalized Chapter 11: Biomedical Moral Enhancement and Moral Progress Conclusion: The Future of Human Morality Appendix: Topics for Further Research

Read more less

Book SynopsisExplores the possiblity and process of evolution beyond the standard and established scientific principles.Trade ReviewA World Beyond Physics, broken into short chapters and written with infectious enthusiasm and exclamation marks, is meant as an introduction to the importance of emergence in biology. * Kevin Schilbrack, Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture *makes for stimulating reading . . . [Kauffman's] prose is reader-friendly and thought-provoking . . . I highly recommend Kauffman's book to anyone interestedin the ongoing scientific enterprise to model the transition from physical to living systems. * Ragnar van der Merwe, University of Johannesburg, Metascience *This is a delightful little book that considers the classic question, "What is life?" * P. K. Strother, CHOICE *A World Beyond Physics is a well-written and thought provoking book. It should prove a worthwhile read for anyone with an undergraduate knowledge of biology and physics who is interested in amore philosophical take on the origins, complexities, and evolution of life. * Rebekah Hall, Mathematical & Statistical Sciences and Daniel A. Charlebois, Physics, University of Alberta, The Quarterly Review of Biology *For persons with the requisite scientific background, the book will be very rewarding to read...The book has many applications to the science and theology interchange... * Jay R. Feierman, European Society for the Study of Science and Theology News and Reviews *Table of ContentsPROLOGUE CHAPTER 1: The World Is Not a Machine CHAPTER 2: The Function of Function CHAPTER 3: Propagating Organization CHAPTER 4: Demystifying Life CHAPTER 5: How to Make a Metabolism CHAPTER 6: Protocells CHAPTER 7: Heritable Variation CHAPTER 8: The Games We Play CHAPTER 9: The Stage is Set CHAPTER 10: Exaptations and Screwdrivers CHAPTER 11: AWorld Beyond Physics EPILOGUE: The Evolution of the Economy

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis is the first book to explore how to identify future-proof science. Peter Vickers takes a transdisciplinary approach in his analysis of 'scientific fact' in order to defend science against potentially dangerous scepticism.Trade ReviewHow do scientists reach consensus? It's a simple question with increasing relevance in our polarized world. Peter Vickers draws from disparate examples in physics, anatomy, palaeontology, and virology to give an under-the-hood insight into how science really works. Although his subject is weighty, his conversational prose makes for both an enlightening and engaging read. * Steve Brusatte, University of Edinburgh, author of The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs *Vickers' discussion of the Tiktaalik blends together scientific results with sophisticated and nuanced philosophical argumentation. It is to be commended for its focus on areas of science often neglected by philosophers. It's also admirably clear and accessible. This will be readable by undergraduate and postgraduate students. * Henry Taylor, University of Birmingham *This rich but accessible, example-driven book relocates the realism debate from frontier physics to the sciences that most matter to us - shifting the burden of proof in the process. * Kerry McKenzie, University of California, San Diego *Peter Vickers has written just the book we need to move forward in the ongoing debate between scientific realism and its competitors. He investigates a wide range of heterogeneous historical examples and deploys them thoughtfully to challenge virtually all of the standard positions in that debate while making the case for a novel alternative proposal of his own. I suspect that the weight of the historical evidence he has gathered will force many contributors to the realism debate to substantially modify their own existing views-it certainly had that effect on me! * P. Kyle Stanford, University of California, Irvine *Peter Vickers gives clear, convincing philosophical arguments and fascinating case studies to support bold predictions about which scientific findings will stand the test of time. * Mike T. Stuart, NYCU Taiwan and London School of Economics *For the last sixty years, history has often been interpreted as creating profound challenges for those who ascribe to more positive views about the rationality of scientific progress and the significance of scientific success. [...] Too often we hear hardened skeptics dismiss the authority of scientists on the grounds that science has been wrong before. It will be convenient in the future to direct such individuals to Vickers' book. * Metascience *Table of ContentsPreface List of Figures 1: What is future-proof science? 2: The historical challenge to future-proof science: the debate so far 3: Meckel's successful prediction of gill slits: a case of misleading evidence? 4: The Tiktaalik 'missing link' novel predictive success and the evidence for evolution 5: The judgement of the scientific community: lessons from continental drift 6: Fundamental physics and the special vulnerability to underdetermination 7: Do we know how the dinosaurs died? 8: Scientific knowledge in a pandemic 9: Core argument, objections, replies, and outlook Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisAesthetic judgements that are formed on the basis of testimony are commonly held to be defective, illegitimate, or otherwise problematic. This book assesses the debate surrounding aesthetic testimony and argues for the surprising conclusion that this widespread view is mistaken. Aesthetic testimony is in no way inferior as a source of judgement when compared to either first-hand aesthetic judgement or testimony concerning non-aesthetic matters. Alongside establishing this position (an extreme form of ''optimism'' concerning aesthetic testimony), Jon Robson also responds to the most prominent arguments for the opposing view (''pessimism'' concerning aesthetic testimony). Along the way, it also re-examines our understanding of the norms which govern both judgement and assertion in aesthetics.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1: Optimism and Pessimism 2: Constitutive Pessimism 3: The Presumption of Optimism 4: Pessimism and the Appeal to Cases 5: Optimism and the Appeal to Cases 6: Pessimism, Assertion, and Signalling 7: The Debate Concerning Assertion

Read more less

Book SynopsisStephen Mulhall explores how J. M. Coetzee's 'Jesus' Trilogy engages with themes drawn from Wittgenstein's later philosophy, and how Wittgenstein's and Coetzee's thought relates to the critique of modernity elaborated in the work of Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Sartre.Table of ContentsIntroduction Acknowledgements Part One Novilla: The Deviant Pupil Part Two Estrella: The Marionette Part Three Estrella: The Orphan Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewIn this accessible and compelling book, Karen Stohr captures the beauty, elegance, and wisdom of Kants system of moral philosophy without sacrificing its complexity. Emphasizing the importance of understanding our all-too-human fallibilities, Stohrs Kant shows us how to engage in honest self-assessment, avoid the temptations of self-deception, and do the hard but necessary work required to become a better person. * Carol Hay, author of Think Like a Feminist: The Philosophy Behind the Revolution *Choosing Freedom is about doing what we can to be better persons. What are the vicious attitudes we must try to avoid, and what kind of character and social relationships should we try to develop? Karen Stohr explains Kant's ideas on these matters in a remarkably engaging, informal style, making them accessible to beginning students and other non-specialists. She does not hesitate to criticize and reject Kant's cultural biases (for example, on race), but she provides a well-informed, richly illustrated, and wise commentary on positive features of Kant's advice. The book should be welcomed by any students, teachers, and general readers who want a plain explanation of basic points of Kantian moral theory and its practical relevance to their lives.Karen Stohr has accomplished an amazing thing: she has given us an introduction to Kant's ethics that is accessible and lively, without sacrificing any accuracy. She deftly explains the attractive moral concepts and ideals at the heart of Kant's view and demonstrates the practical relevance of the theory with a wealth of contemporary examples. Along the way she combats some of the persistent misconceptions that continue to plague the reception of Kant's moral theory. The book is perfect for introductory ethics courses or for any curious reader. * Kyla Ebels-Duggan, Philosophy, Northwestern University *Instead of looking down on us from the heavens of abstraction, Karen Stohr's Kant spends most of his time addressing how we might live more morally in our daily lives. Stohr turns from the major texts to Kant's essays and lectures, finding nuggets of wisdom ranging from ways to overcome self-conceit to how to organize a dinner party. A clear, enjoyable, and engaging introduction to a thinker who too often inspires fear, confusion, and a desire to curl up in a fetal position. * Todd May, Philosophical Advisor to "The Good Place" *Table of ContentsPart One: Kantian Basics Chapter 1 - Getting to Know Kant Chapter 2 - Freedom Chapter 3 - Human Nature Chapter 4 - Moral Commitment Chapter 5 - The Categorical Imperative: Equality Chapter 6 - The Categorical Imperative: Dignity Chapter 7 - The Categorical Imperative: Community Chapter 8 - Love and Respect Chapter 9 - Kantian Duties Part Two: Moral Assessment Chapter 10 - Knowing Ourselves Chapter 11 - Judging Ourselves Chapter 12 - Judging Others Part Three: Kantian Vices Chapter 13 - Servility: Acting Like a Doormat Chapter 14 - Arrogance: Being Full of Ourselves Chapter 15 - Contempt: Looking Down on People Chapter 16 - Defamation: Spreading Gossip Chapter 17 - Mockery: Making Fun of Others Chapter 18 - Deceitfulness: Bending the Truth Chapter 19 - Drunkenness: Losing Our Grip on Reason Part Four: Kantian Life Goals Chapter 20 - Personal Development: Making Something of Ourselves Chapter 21 - Stoic Cheerfulness: Learning to Grin and Bear It Chapter 22 - Judicious Reserve: Knowing When to Shut Up Chapter 23 - Useful Beneficence: Lending a Genuinely Helpful Hand Chapter 24 - Heartfelt Gratitude: Acknowledging Our Debts Part Five: Socializing, Kantian-Style Chapter 25 - Friends and Frenemies Chapter 26 - A Kantian Love Life Chapter 27 - Good Manners Chapter 28 - Dinner Parties without Drama Part Six: Looking Forward Chapter 29 - Staying Hopeful Chapter 30 - Kant as a Guide to Life Bibliograhy

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe book is both an introduction to a thinker, Gilles Deleuze, whose current influence on multiple sectors of the humanities and social sciences arguably exceeds that of any other, and a book-length demonstration of the ramifications of Deleuzian thought for critical biblical scholarship.Trade ReviewArguably the most prominent and prolific critic when it comes to reading the Bible with theory, Moore has done it again with what he calls 'post-poststructuralist' theory. * Tat-siong Benny Liew *Yet another prodigy from Moore's cabinet of wonders. * A K M Adam *Stephen D. Moore produces an impressively generative approach to Deleuze (and Guattari) and affect. * Gregory J. Seigworth *The Bible after Deleuze contributes to this growing literature by reading the New Testament through the lens of Deleuzian theory. * Brent Adkins, The Heythrop Journal *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Abbreviations INTRODELEUZE (who and why?) Deleuze in Theory The Box and the Machine The Deleuze Affect ELand the Bible? 1. TEXT (the Bible without organs) Part I: At the Bible Study with Foucault and Deleuze What Is a Biblical Author? Knowledge, Power, Desire Part II: At the Bible Study with Deleuze and Guattari In Flux, in Assemblage The Book of Order-Words A Bible That Expresses Everything While Communicating Nothing How Do You Make Yourself a Bible without Organs? 2. BODY (why there are no bodies in the Bible, and how to read them anyway) Part I: The Eclipse of the Ancient Body Bodies Discoursed and Performed Bodies in a Noumenal Night Part II: The Ponderous Weight of the Incorporeal Synoptic Body Nonrepresenting the Synoptic Body What Is a Body When It Is Incorporeal? The Mundane Miracle of Reading (Everywhere Enacted Daily) 3. SEX (a thousand tiny sexes, a trillion tiny Jesuses) Part I: The Deleuzian Queer Desiring and Naming The Proletariat of Eros (Producing the Product Society Cannot Want) Part II: Queer Mark The Coming, and Becoming, of Christ The Crucified Body without Organs The Risen Body without Organs 4. RACE (Jesus and the white faciality machine) Part I: The Matter of Race White Light Dark Matter, I Jesus in Jackboots Dark Matter, II Is Race Structured Like a Language? Part II: Race and Face Assembling Race Facing Race Defacing Race 5. POLITICS (beastly boasts, apocalyptic affects) Unmethodological Prelude Tweets from the Bottomless Abyss Larval Fascisms, Insect Apocalypses Horrible Hope Post-Beast Postscript Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisXiong Shili (1885-1968) is widely recognized as a founding figure of the modern New Confucian school of philosophy and seen by many as one of the most important and creative Chinese philosophers of the twentieth century. His ultimate concern throughout his long intellectual career was to show that Reality (ti) and function (yong) are non-dual. Reality is the locus that ontologically grounds the phenomenal yet is not different from the phenomenal. His onto-cosmology draws syncretically on a diverse range of resources in the Chinese philosophical tradition to construct his own overarching metaphysical vision, articulated within the broader context of advancing a systematic critique of both Madhyamaka and Yogacara Buddhist thought, the culmination of nearly four decades of critical engagement.Treatise on Reality and Function (Ti yong lun) is the mature expression of Xiong''s signature metaphysical doctrine. Published in 1958, Xiong considered it to be his most important philosophical achiTable of ContentsForeword by Han Yuankai Superfluous Things Chapter 1: Explaining Transformation Chapter 2: Buddhist Teachings, A Chapter 3: Buddhist Teachings, B Chapter 4: Forming Material Things Chapter 5: Explaining the Mind (Listed as "Forthcoming") Works Cited Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisHonesty is an important virtue. Parents want to develop it in their children. Close relationships depend upon it. Employers value it in their employees. Surprisingly, however, philosophers have said very little about the virtue of honesty over the past fifty years. In this book, Christian B. Miller aims to draw much greater attention to this neglected virtue. The first part of the book looks at the concept of honesty. It takes up questions such as: What does honesty involve? What are the motives of an honest person? How does practical wisdom relate to honesty? Miller explores what connects the many sides of honesty, including not lying, not stealing, not breaking promises, not misleading others, and not cheating. He argues that the honest person reliably does not intentionally distort the facts as she takes them to be. Miller then examines the empirical psychology of honesty. He takes up the question of whether most people are honest, dishonest, or somewhere in between. Drawing extensively on recent studies of cheating and lying, the model Miller articulates ultimately implies that most of us have a long way to go to reach an honest character. Honesty: The Philosophy and Psychology of a Neglected Virtue provides both a richer understanding of what our character looks like, as well as what the goal of being an honest person actually involves. Miller then leaves it up to us to decide if we want to take steps to shrink the character gap between the two.Trade ReviewThis book provides a clear picture of where things stand with honesty in an academic context. Miller, who directs the Honesty Project at Wake Forest, offers an extended philosophical account of the concept of honesty and what being an honest person means. He reflects on the nature of character and offers interesting diversions on cheating, self-deception, stealing, promising, and so on. * R. White, Creighton University, Choice Connect *Table of ContentsPreface I. The Philosophy of Honesty 1. Preliminaries to Developing an Account of Honesty 2. A Preliminary Account of Honesty 3. Refining the Account: Considering Challenges and Counterexamples 4. Motivation and Honesty 5. Practical Wisdom and Honesty 6. Dishonesty and the Virtuousness of Honesty Interlude 7. Classification and Taxonomy II. The Empirical Data 8. Research on Stealing and Promise-Breaking 9. Research on Lying and Cheating 10. The Emerging Psychological and Moral Picture Afterword: Improving our Less Than Honest Characters Works Cited Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewIn a riveting work, Michah Gottlieb tells the story of the Jewish Reformation-namely, the endeavor to reconstruct a new form of Judaism grounded in German middle-class modernity. Gottlieb both unsettles and reconstitutes the boundaries between Protestantism and Judaism, and redefines, in original ways, such terms as Orthodoxy and Reform. This excellent work raises fascinating questions about how we read religious texts; what is specific about such readings and what is universal about them; and how translation, education, and novel understandings of culture and cultural production generate new exegetical practices. * Perspectives in History *In The Jewish Reformation, Michah Gottlieb skillfully restores the Bible to center stage in the process of German Jewry's emancipation, its endeavor to gain equal rights and acceptance in German society and culture. He significantly highlights the role of Bible translation in the ambitious effort to identify with the surrounding culture and fashion an appropriate version of 'bourgeois' piety while concomitantly maintaining Judaism's foundational distinctiveness. * David Sorkin, author of Jewish Emancipation: A History Across Five Centuries *Why were German Jews so preoccupied with Bible translation? From 1783 to 1961 there were fifteen Jewish translations of the Pentateuch into German. Among the translators were Moses Mendelssohn, Leopold Zunz, Samson Raphael Hirsch, Martin Buber, and Franz Rosenzweig. Michah Gottlieb, a leading interpreter of German-Jewish thought, explores this question and gives surprising answers. His important book tells the heroic story of German-Jewish piety, erudition, controversy, and bourgeois integrity. * Warren Zev Harvey, Professor Emeritus, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem *In The Jewish Reformation: Bible Translation and Middle-Class German Judaism as Spiritual Enterprise, Michah Gottlieb has brilliantly employed the biblical translations of Mendelssohn, Zunz, and S.R. Hirsch as gauges to measure the cultural transition of German Judaism and German Jews to the bourgeois world of modern Germany. Gottlieb provides a remarkably detailed and insightful exposition of these works and provides a delightfully rich historical and intellectual contextualization of his subjects. The Jewish Reformation constitutes an invaluable contribution to our understanding of modern Judaism! * David Ellenson, Chancellor Emeritus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis University *Table of ContentsPreface Introduction: The Jewish Reformation Part I: Haskalah: Moses Mendelssohn's Conservative Reformation Chapter One: The Bible as Cultural Translation Chapter Two: Biblical Education and the Power of Conversation Part II: Wissenschaft and Reform: Leopold Zunz between Scholarship and Synagogue Chapter Three: Translation vs. Midrash Chapter Four: Bible Translation and the Centrality of the Synagogue Part III: Neo-Orthodoxy: The Samson Raphael Hirsch Enigma Chapter Five: A Man of No Party: The Neunzehn Briefe as Bible Translation Chapter Six: The Road to Orthodoxy: Hirsch in Battle Chapter Seven: The Innovative Orthodoxy of Hirsch's Der Pentateuch Chapter Eight: The Fracturing of German Judaism: Ludwig Philippson's Israelitische Bibel and Hirsch's Sectarian Orthodoxy Conclusion: The Jewish Counter Reformation Appendix: Mendelssohn on the Decalogue Bibliography

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

Book SynopsisEverything around us is made of ''stuff'', from planets, to books, to our own bodies. Whatever it is, we call it matter or material substance. It is solid; it has mass. But what is matter, exactly? We are taught in school that matter is not continuous, but discrete. As a few of the philosophers of ancient Greece once speculated, nearly two and a half thousand years ago, matter comes in ''lumps'', and science has relentlessly peeled away successive layers of matter to reveal its ultimate constituents. Surely, we can''t keep doing this indefinitely. We imagine that we should eventually run up against some kind of ultimately fundamental, indivisible type of stuff, the building blocks from which everything in the Universe is made. The English physicist Paul Dirac called this ''the dream of philosophers''. But science has discovered that the foundations of our Universe are not as solid or as certain and dependable as we might have once imagined. They are instead built from ghosts and phantoTrade ReviewThe book is very clearly structured and has a glossary, so 'dipping' is facilitated. The author condenses and combines sources as listed in his bibliography. * Michael Jewess, Royal Society of Chemistry Historical Group newsletter *How did our understanding of mass evolve from the geometric atoms of ancient Greece to the quantum ghostliness of today? Jim Baggott ingeniously contextualizes that eventful science history. * Barbara Kiser, Nature *Encourages the reader to really think about the nature of matter and how something as apparently straightforward as mass is not what it seems. That delight in revealing the unexpected typifies, for me, the joy of physics. * Brian Clegg, Popular Science *Jim Baggott is one of the UK's best popular science writers and never disappoints. * Brian Clegg, Popular Science *Jim Baggott provides an excellent introduction on this topic for non-specialists and general science enthusiasts ... The book is a gem in introducing the abstract ideas of modern science to general audience even without formal training in STEM disciplines ... In summary, this book by Jim Baggott is a joy to read and will be especially inspiring to students (senior high school and junior undergraduate) interested in pursuing a career in fundamental physics. * Yee Sin Ang, Contemporary Physics *Baggott smartly renders particle physics, typically a dense and opaque topic for the nonexpert, clear and captivating. Not only will readers grasp the building blocks of the standard model, they will forever look at mass differently. * Publishers Weekley *An imaginative book that seeks the answer to the question, what is matter? ... Baggott provides a wild but expert and comprehensive ride. * Kirkus Review *Table of ContentsPreface Part I: Atom and Void 1: The Quiet Citadel 2: Things-In-Themselves 3: An Impression of Force 4: The Sceptical Chymists Part II: Mass and Energy 5: A Very Interesting Conclusion 6: Incommensurable 7: The Fabric 8: In the Heart of Darkness Part III: Wave and Particle 9: An Act of Desperation 10: The Wave Equation 11: The Only Mystery 12: Mass Bare and Dressed Part IV: Field and Force 13: The Symmetries of Nature 14: The Goddamn Particle 15: The Standard Model 16: Mass without Mass Epilogue Endnotes Glossary Select Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisBeing and Freedom is a panoramic account of ethics in Europe from the French Revolution to the end of the nineteenth century. In this period the influence of ethics ran far beyond philosophy, eventually dominating politics and religion in the West. Developments came from France, Germany, and Britain: this is the first book to treat them together as a Europe-wide phenomenon, paying attention to the context of events and ideas from which they emerged. Skorupski begins by examining the philosophical conflict at the heart of the French revolution, between the individualism of the Enlightenment and two very different forms of holistic ethics: the old regime''s ethic of service and the radical-democracy of the Rousseauian left. Responses analysing freedom and modern social relations came from a series of French liberal thinkers. In Germany the reaction was to two revolutions seen as inaugurating modernity: the political revolution in France and the philosophical revolution of Kant. Here, theTrade ReviewBeing and Freedom is as much a consideration of European moral thought in the age of the rise of mass democracy and the age of a crisis in Christianity as it is an examination of what 'late modern' philosophers have to say about normativity and reasons. It is a remarkable achievement. * James Harris, Philosophical Quarterly *An impressive and important contribution to our understanding of late modern ethics and will be an essential resource for anyone with serious interests in the history of ethics. * David O. Brink, Mind *This is more than a work of intellectual history; Skorupski's discussion is critical, and he applies some of the lessons from this period to contemporary issues in ethics and metaethics. The range and depth of this book make it an indispensable resource for study of ethics, political theory, or the history of ideas * M. A. Michael, Choice *Ce livre est indispensable, à la fois par sa clarté et sa lucidité, par la profondeur de son enquête historique, par l'originalité des vues d'un des philosophes britanniques les plus importantes dans les discussions contemporaines sur les norms et les raisons, et par son sens, si rare chez les philosophes analytiques, de la synthèse et de l'histoire. * Pascal Engel, Revue de Metaphysique et de Morale *This book is indispensable for its clarity and lucidity, for the depth of its historical investigation, for the originality of the views of one of the most important British philosophers in contemporary discussion of norms and reasons, and for its sense of synthesis and history, so rare among analytic philosophers. * Pascal Engel, Revue de Metaphysique et de Morale *Table of ContentsPreface Introduction 1: Freedom and the French Revolution 2: Freedom in Kant s Revolution 3: Freedom and Faith Between Kant and Hegel 4: Freedom and Spirit: Hegel 5: Retrospect: France and Germany 6: Ethics in the Anglo-Scottish Enlightenment 7: Freedom and Well-Being: Mill 8: Green and Sidgwick: Idealism and Utilitarianism at the End of the Century 9: Concluding Reflection Appendix: The two revolutions Further Reading References

Read more less

Book SynopsisTraditionally, philosophers of quantum mechanics have addressed exceedingly simple systems: a pair of electrons in an entangled state, or an atom and a cat in Dr. Schrödinger''s diabolical device. But recently, much more complicated systems, such as quantum fields and the infinite systems at the thermodynamic limit of quantum statistical mechanics, have attracted, and repaid, philosophical attention. Interpreting Quantum Theories has three entangled aims. The first is to guide those familiar with the philosophy of ordinary QM into the philosophy of ''QM infinity'', by presenting accessible introductions to relevant technical notions and the foundational questions they frame. The second aim is to develop and defend answers to some of those questions. Does quantum field theory demand or deserve a particle ontology? How (if at all) are different states of broken symmetry different? And what is the proper role of idealizations in working physics? The third aim is to highlight ties between Trade ReviewEach of these chapters by itself makes an important contribution to philosophy of physics; but amazingly, Ruetsche ties them each to the overarching argument against pristine interpretations and for a modification of traditional scientific realism. ... It is a book that repays close study and which should be discussed extensively by philosophers in the years to come. * Hans Halvorson, Metascience *All in all, the book is a remarkable achievement: at one and the same time a cohesive account of a major body of work by the author and others, an accessible and philosophically sensitive introduction to the field, a powerful defence of a largely novel position in philosophy of science through careful attention to scientific details, and an impressive advertisement for the value of that strategy in philosophy of science that places a high premium on mathematical rigour, without losing focus on the philosophical issues at hand. It is not the only strategy available but, in Reutsches hands at least, it is remarkably effective. * David Wallace, The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science *Ruetsche's book is set apart from many of the recent books of the philosophy of physics, not only in its engagement with the quantum theory of infinite systems (including quantum field theory), but also in its explicit engagement with questions from general philosophy of science... It is a book that repays close study and which should be discussed extensively by philosophers in the years to come. * Metascience *Table of ContentsContents ; Preface ; Abbreviations and Symbols ; 1. Exegesis Saves: Interpreting Physical Theories ; 2. Quantizing ; 3. Beyond the Stone-von Neumann Theorem ; 4. Representation Without Taxation ; 5. Axioms for Quantum Theories ; 6. Interpreting Quantum Theories: Some Options ; 7. Extraordinary QM ; 8. Interpreting Extraordinary QM ; 9. Is Particle Physics Particle Physics? ; 10. Particles and the Void ; 11. Phenomenological Particle Notions ; 12. A Matter of Degree: Making Sense of Phase Structure ; 13. Interlude: Symmetry Breaking in QSM ; 14. Broken Symmetry and Physicists' QFT ; 15. Morals? ; References

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book talks of perhaps one of the greatest education experiments in the history of America. In 1894 John Dewey moved his position as Chairman of the Philosophy Department at the University of Michigan to assume the position as Chairman of the Department of Philosophy, Psychology, and Pedagogy at the University of Chicago. He would remain there until 1904, his departure prompted in great part by his dissatisfaction regarding his wife''s treatment by the administration in her role of principal of the Laboratory School. At this time Dewey was anxious to translate his more abstract ideas into practical form and he saw the position at Chicago affording him a rare opportunity to do this.The school itself was conceived by Dewey as having an organic functional relation to the theoretical curriculum. Just as Dewey was anxious to merge philosophy and psychology and to relate both of these disciplines to the theoretical study of education, similarly he saw the school as a laboratoryTable of ContentsI: Historical Development and Organization; I: General History; II: Experimental Basis of Curriculum; II: The Curriculum-Social Occupations; III: Experimental Practices Developing the Curriculum; IV: Household Occupations; V: Social Occupations Serving The Household; VI: Progress Through Invention and Discovery; VII: Progress Through Exploration and Discovery; VIII: Local History; IX: Colonial History and The Revolution; X: European Background of The Colonists; XI: Experiments in Specialized Activities; XII: Experiments in Specialized Activities; XIII: Experiments in Specialized Activities; XIV: Principles of Growth Guiding Selection of Activities; III: Educational Use of Scientific Method; XV: Experimental Activities Developing Scientific Method and Concepts; XVI: Experimental Activities Developing Origins and Backgrounds of Social Life; XVII: Experimental Activities Developing Skills in Communication and Expression; IV: Personnel—Organization—Evaluation; XVIII: Teachers and School Organization; XIX: Parents and Children; XX: Evaluation of Principles and Practices

Read more less

Book SynopsisIntroduces revisions throughout and expands authors' restatement of his position in light of Kojeve's commentary to bring it into conformity with the text as it was originally published in France.Trade Review"Through Strauss's interpretation, Xenophon appears to us as no longer the somewhat dull and flat author we know, but as a brilliant and subtle writer, an original and profound thinker. What is more, in interpreting this forgotten dialogue, Strauss lays bare great moral and political problems that are still ours." (Alexandre Kojeve) "On Tyranny is a complex and stimulating book with its 'parallel dialogue' made all the more striking since both participants take such unusual, highly provocative positions and so force readers to face substantial problems in what are often wholly unfamillar, even shocking ways." (Robert Pippin, History and Theory)"

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhat is most impressive about this book is its intelligence, its sophistication, and its charm. . . . This book presents Piaget's work and his person better than anything else that I know about.David Elkind, Tufts UniversityThe tone is one of constant movement from the most ordinary to the most abstruse. There are 14 conversations with 'le Patron,' some in 1969, some in 1975, and several more with co-workers in various fields. . . . In Mr. Bringuier's book, in a pleasant informal way, we see a sophisticated non-scientist exploring Piaget's domain with the master. Some of Piaget's best-known findings about children as explained along the way, but Mr. Bringuier has ways of bringing out the relation of this psychological work to the whole of Piaget's enterprise, and we get a good sense of the man and his work.Howard E. Gruber, New York Times Book Review

Read more less

Book SynopsisAddressing issues in the philosophy of action and moral theory, this volume features papers on Kant, von Wright, Sellars and Chisholm. It also covers questions in applied ethics - such as the morality of Truman's decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Read more less

Book SynopsisFeaturing a rereading of Aristotle, Seneca, Thomas Hobbes, and Judith Butler, this book considers emotions as psychosocial phenomena. It offers insight into the reasons why political passions are distributed to some people but not to others. It explains how psyches are shaped by power.

Read more less

Book SynopsisExplores the connections between cognitive science, language, and meaning that first begun in the classic Metaphors We Live By. This work concludes that the arts are the culmination of human attempts to find meaning and that studying the aesthetic dimensions of our experience is crucial to unlocking meaning's bodily sources.Trade Review"Mark Johnson demonstrates that the aesthetic and emotional aspects of meaning are fundamental - central to conceptual meaning and reason, and that the arts show meaning-making in its fullest realization. If you were raised with the idea that art and emotion were external to ideas and reason, you must read this book. It grounds philosophy in our most visceral experience." - George Lakoff, author of Moral Politics"

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis text reflects on the centuries-old debate in Christianity: how do we reconcile the existence of evil in the world with the goodness of an omnipotent God, and how does God's omnipotence relate to people's responsibility for their own salvation or damnation?

Read more less

Book SynopsisErasmus of Rotterdam was the greatest Christian humanist scholar of the Northern European Renaissance, a correspondent of Sir Thomas More and many other learned men of his time, known to his contemporaries and to posterity for subtlety of his thought and the depth of his learning. He was also, according to some modern writers, an anti-Semite. In this complete analysis of all of Erasmus' writings on Jews and Judaism, Shimon Markish asserts that the accusation cannot be sustained. For Markish, to ask whether Erasmus was a friend or enemy of the Jews is to ask a modern question of a sixteenth-century man, whose attitude can best be called asemitism. Erasmus' chief preoccupation was with the future of the true philosophy of Christ; he had little interest in the Jewish community of his own time. Erasmus and the Jews discusses Erasmus' critique of Mosaic law and his view of the conflict between Judaism as legalistic morality and Jesus' teaching; his judgment on the Pharisees of Jesus' time; his emphasis on the importance of the study of Hebrew; and his opinions of sixteenth-century Jews. This meticulous analysis reveals an Erasmus who defended his vision of true piety by rejecting Judaizing Christians more than Jews and who saw the Old Testament as integral to the Christian worldview. As a Christian, he regretted nonbelief and pitied unbelievers, without vicious hostility toward any single people. His theological opposition to a form of religious thought which he identified with Judaism was not translated into crude prejudice against actual Jews. In general, his calm consideration of the strange and the foreign and his willingness to restrict his judgments to the philosophical realm were, Markish argues, early and significant steps toward enlightened toleration. Markish's discussion of Erasmus is supplemented with an Afterword by theologian and philosopher Arthur A. Cohen, who offers a variant interpretation of Erasmus' writings and attitudes. The juxtaposed arguments of the two scholars make this an especially illuminating work for any student of Erasmus and his influence. Erasmus and the Jews also gives a necessary clarity to our understanding of the meaning of anti-Semitism and the history of religious toleration. Markish's profound knowledge of Erasmus allows him to demonstrate thefundamentalimportance of putting arguments and terminology in the context of a thinker's work and hisown time.

Read more less

Book SynopsisArgues that the history of televising philosophy is crucial to understanding the struggle over French national identity in the postwar period. This work insists that we jettison presumptions about the anti-intellectual nature of the visual field, and engages critical questions about the survival of national cultures in a globalizing world.Trade Review"Anyone who wants to understand the unique role that philosophy continues to play in contemporary France can now read Tamara Chaplin's superbly documented study of philosophy on French TV. For American readers, Turning On the Mind raises a host of serious issues for comparison and debate." - Alice Kaplan, author of French Lessons"

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhat, if anything, does biological evolution tell us about the nature of religion, ethical values, or even the meaning and purpose of life? The Moral Meaning of Nature sheds new light on these enduring questions by examining the significance of an earlierand unjustly neglecteddiscussion of Darwin in late nineteenth-century Germany. We start with Friedrich Nietzsche, whose writings staged one of the first confrontations with the Christian tradition using the resources of Darwinian thought. The lebensphilosophie, or life-philosophy, that arose from his engagement with evolutionary ideas drew responses from other influential thinkers, includingFranz Overbeck, Georg Simmel, and Heinrich Rickert. These critics all offered cogent challenges to Nietzsche's appropriation of the newly transforming biological sciences, his negotiation between science and religion, and his interpretation of the implications of Darwinian thought. They also each proposed alternative ways of making sense of Niet

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"A stunning set of lectures given by Foucault that focus on the history of 'avowing' one's acts and the truth of who one is. Foucault seeks to understand at what point it became important not only to confess to a crime, but to avow one's act in public. For Foucault, avowal of one's criminality before an established authority becomes a way of reestablishing that authority, and resisting avowal becomes tantamount to civil disobedience. The political implications of his analysis become especially clear in the interviews included here. This is wonderful and arresting read."--Judith Butler, University of California, Berkeley "Reconstructed through the patient labours of Fabienne Brion and Bernard Harcourt, . . . [the lectures] are now available in a scrupulous English translation."--Times Literary Supplement "Fabienne Brion and Bernard Harcourt are to be congratulated for their invaluable work."--Berfrois "The Louvain lectures show us an aspect of Foucault's work that is often neglected in an attempt to focus on his commitment to historicizing: that for histories, even genealogical histories, to be constructed, one must not only trace the changes themselves but also that which is changed and therefore remains, in its changes, continuous."--Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews "These lectures are unique and valuable in that, consistent with the direction of Foucault's work at the time, they expand his explorations of the various modalities of truth and subjectivity into the criminal justice context. Additionally, Foucault's genealogical work in these lectures situates these specific criminal justice practices within a more far-reaching history than that with which we are familiar. . . . A valuable contribution to both Foucaultian and criminological scholarship."-- (05/22/2015) "Wrong-Doing, Truth-Telling is one of Foucault's most stirring inquiries into what he has named 'the hermeneutics of oneself.' These lectures stage the concept of avowal in performances as varied as Greek tragedy, criminal justice, and confessional practices; and they provide us with some of Foucault's most illuminating observations on the intimate and agonistic relations between sites of enunciation, orders of truth, and investments of power. The subject of avowal is never free of the ethical exigency and the discursive contingency of 'chang[ing] itself, transform[ing] itself, displac[ing] itself, and becom[ing] to some extent other than itself, ' and Foucault's genius lies in providing us with critical and genealogical reflections on the worldly practices of avowal. Bernard Harcourt and Fabienne Brion's essential afterword provides both a frame and a ballast to the book. This is a considerable addition to the English archive of the work of Michel Foucault."--Homi K. Bhabha, Harvard University "The publication of Foucault's Louvain lectures, Wrong-Doing, Truth-Telling, beautifully and rigorously established and commented upon by Fabienne Brion and Bernard Harcourt, is an important event in the contemporary blossoming of Foucault studies. In no way is it redundant with the lectures at the College de France, whose series is now practically complete. With this amazingly rich inquiry, focusing on the mythical, religious, and judiciary dimensions of 'avowal, ' we are offered a unique possibility to understand how Foucault's genealogy articulated the order of discourse and the power of institutions."--Etienne Balibar, Universite Paris Ouest Nanterre La Defense, author of Politics and the Other SceneTable of ContentsEditor’s Preface Fabienne Brion and Bernard E. Harcourt INAUGURAL LECTURE April 2, 1981 Dr. Leuret, avowal, and the therapeutic operation. — The supposed effects of truth-telling on oneself and of knowledge of the self. — Characteristics of avowal. — The spread of avowal within Western Christian societies: individuals bound to their truth and obligated in their relationships to others through the truth told. — A historical-political problem: how the individual binds himself to his truth and to the power that exerts itself upon him. — A historical-philosophical problem: how individuals are bound by forms of veridiction. — A counterpoint to positivism: a critical philosophy of veridictions. — The problem of “who is being judged” in penal institutions. — Penal practices and technologies of government. — Governing through truth. FIRST LECTURE April 22, 1981 A political and institutional ethnology of truthful speech. — Truth-telling and speaking justice. — Scope of the study. — Veridiction and jurisdiction in Homer’s Iliad. — The competition between Menelaus and Antilochus. — The object of Antilochus’s avowal. —Justice and agon; agon and truth. —The chariot race and the challenge of the oath, two liturgies of truth, two games designed to represent justly the truth of their respective strengths. — A ritual of commemoration. — Veridiction and jurisdiction in Hesiod’s Works and Days. — Dikazein and krinein. — The oath of the accusers and the co-jurors in dikazein: a game of two parties, the criteria being the social status of the adversaries. — The oath of the judge in krinein: a game of three parties, the criteria being dikaion. — The social weight of adversaries and “the reality of things”: dikaion and alethes. SECOND LECTURE April 28, 1981 The representation of law in Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex. — A judicial paradigm. — Essential elements of the tragedy. — Two recognitions, three alethurgies. — Veridiction and prophecy. — Veridiction and tyranny. — Veridiction and witnessing avowal. — Grandeur of the parties, freedom to speak, and the effect of truth in the inquiry. — Recognition by the chorus, conditions for recognition by Oedipus. — From truth-telling to saying “I.” — A procedure that conforms to nomos, a veridiction that repeats the word of the prophet and completes that of the man of techne technes. THIRD LECTURE April 29, 1981 Hermeneutics of the text and hermeneutics of the self in early Christianity. — Veridiction of the self in pagan antiquity. — The Pythagorean examination of conscience: purification of self and mnemotechnics. — The Stoic examination of conscience: the government of the self and the remembering of codes. — The Stoic expositio animae: medicine of passions and degrees of liberty. — Penance in early Christianity. — The problem of reintegration. — Penance as a status that manifests a particular state. — The meanings of exomologesis. — A life in the form of avowal, an avowal in the form of life. — A ritual of supplication. — Beyond the medical or judicial, the model of the martyr. — Veridiction of the self and mortification of the self. — From the public manifestation of the self as sinner to the verbalization of the self: temptation and illusion. FOURTH LECTURE May 6, 1981 Practice of veridiction in monastic institutions of the fourth and fifth centuries: the Apophthegmata patrum and the writings of Cassian. — Monasticism: between the life of penance and philosophical existence. — Characteristics of the direction of conscience in ancient culture. — Characteristics of the direction of conscience in monasticism: an obedience that is continuous, formal, and self-referential; humility, patience, and submission; the inversion of the relationship to verbalization. — Characteristics of the examination of conscience in monasticism: from action to thought. — Mobility of thought and illusion. — Discrimen and discretio: avowal and the origin of thought. — Veridiction of the self, hermeneutics of thought, and the rights-bearing subject. FIFTH LECTURE May 13, 1981 Characteristics of exagoreusis in the fourth and fifth centuries. — Renunciation of the self. — Truth of the text and truth of the self. — The separation and adjustment of the hermeneutics of the text and the hermeneutics of the self in Protestantism. — Illusion, evidence, and meaning (Descartes and Locke). — Illusion of the self about the self and the unconscious (Schopenhauer and Freud). — Juridification of avowal in the ecclesiastical tradition from the fourth to the seventh centuries. — Co-penetration of exagoreusis and exomologesis in the first monastic and lay communities. — Characteristics and origins of fixed penance: the monastic model and the model of Germanic law. — Sacramentalization and institutionalization of obligatory confession in the thirteenth century. — Juridification of the relationship between man and God. — Forms and meanings of avowal in the confessio oris. SIXTH LECTURE May 20, 1981 Juridification in ecclesiastical and political institutions. — From God as judge to a state of justice: sovereignty and truth. — Avowal, torture, and inquisitorial tests of truth. — Avowal, torture, and legal proofs. — Avowal, sovereign law, sovereign conscience, and punitive engagement. — Auto-veridiction, evidence, and penal dramaturgy. — Hetero-veridiction, examination, and legal psychiatry. — Relating the act to its author: the question of criminal subjectivity in the nineteenth century. — Monomania and the constitution of crime as psychiatric object. — Degeneration and the creation of the criminal as object for social defense. — From responsibility to dangerousness, from the rights-bearing subject to the criminal individual. — The question of criminal subjectivity in the twentieth century. — Hermeneutics of the subject and the meaning of crime for the criminal. — Accident, probability, and indices of criminal risk. — Veridiction of the subject and the breach in the contemporary penal system. Appendixes Michel Foucault Interview with André Berten May 7, 1981 Michel Foucault Interview with Christian Panier and Pierre Watté May 14, 1981 Michel Foucault Interview with Jean François and John De Wit May 22, 1981 The Louvain Lectures in Context Fabienne Brion and Bernard E. Harcourt Acknowledgments to the French Edition Acknowledgments to the English Edition Index of Notions and Concepts Index of Proper Names

Read more less

Book SynopsisOne of the most significant political philosophers of the twentieth century, Carl Schmitt is a deeply controversial figure who has been labeled both a Nazi sympathizer and a modern-day Thomas Hobbes. This work uses the Enlightenment philosopher's enduring symbol of the protective Leviathan to address the nature of modern statehood.Trade Review"The English translation of this work is truthful to the German original and permits the critical reader to understand Schmitt... the way he understood himself." - Mark Lilla, New York Review of Books "Carl Schmitt is surely the most controversial German political and legal philosopher of this century.... We deal with Schmitt, against all odds, because history stubbornly persists in proving many of his tenets right." - Perspectives on Political Science "A significant contribution.... The relation between Hobbes and Schmitt is one of the most important questions surrounding Schmitt: it includes a distinct, though occasionally vacillating, personal identification as well as an association of ideas." - Telos"

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

Book SynopsisUntying Things Together helps to clarify the stakes of the last fifty years of literary and cultural theory by proposing the idea of a sexuality of theory. In 1905, Freud published hisThree Essays on the Theory of Sexuality,the book that established the core psychoanalytic thesis that sexuality is central to formations of the unconscious. With this book, Eric L. Santner inverts Freud's title to take up the sexuality of theoryor, more exactly, the modes of enjoyment to be found in the kinds of critical thinking that, since the 1960s, have laid claim to that ancient word, theory. Santner unfolds his argument by tracking his own relationship with this tradition and the ways his intellectual and spiritual development has been informed by it. Untying Things Together is both an intellectual history of major theoretical paradigmsanda call for their reexamination and renewal. Revisiting many of the topics he has addressed in previous work, Santner proposes a new way of conceptualizing theTrade Review“It is said that a great work of literature either concludes a genre or initiates one. Untying Things Together invents its own fascinating form. A brilliant work of literary criticism, it is also an incisive genealogy of what the author calls, tragicomically, ‘Odradek studies,’ as well as an often hilarious portrait of the philosopher as a no-longer-young man. Is there such a thing as auto-theory? There is now. Yet here Santner dissolves his ‘I’ in such a way that an entire generation of intellectuals is caught in his mirror. Untying Things Together urges us to enjoy our ideas as much as we do our symptoms—and to delight in the fact that we can’t always tell the two apart.” * Hal Foster, Princeton University *“I have long admired Eric Santner’s writing for its immaculate ethic of critical care in his readings of literary and philosophical works. Untying Things Together is a masterful engagement with diverse threads of contemporary thought that is all the more impressive because Santner refuses both the glib display of critical consciousness and the postcritical turn to the refinements of feeling. He offers instead an inspiring experiment in an affiliative criticism, one that embraces its own scholarly kinship to make possible a wider association with the lives and thoughts of others. Untying Things Together provides the careful reader with a web of intellectual wonder.” * Homi K. Bhabha, Harvard University *Table of ContentsPreface Introduction On Some Causes for Excitement Chapter One A Life in Theory Chapter Two Theory and the Jewish Question Chapter Three Too Much Sad Chapter Four Caninical Theory Chapter Five The Manafold of Experience Chapter Six Will Wonders Never Cease: Remarks on Post-Thaumatic Stress Disorder Chapter Seven The Stranger Order of Things Epilogue Acknowledgments Index

Read more less