Philosophy Books

Book SynopsisIn The Long Emancipation Rinaldo Walcott posits that Black people globally live in the time of emancipation and that emancipation is definitely not freedom. Taking examples from across the globe, he argues that wherever Black people have been emancipated from slavery and colonization, a potential freedom has been thwarted. Walcott names this condition the long emancipation—the ongoing interdiction of potential Black freedom and the continuation of the juridical and legislative status of Black nonbeing. Stating that Black people have yet to experience freedom, Walcott shows that being Black in the world is to exist in the time of emancipation in which Black people must constantly fashion alternate conceptions of freedom and reality through expressive culture. Given that Black unfreedom lies at the center of the making of the modern world, the attainment of freedom for Black people, Walcott contends, will transform the human experience worldwide. With The Long EmancipatioTrade Review“Essential reading. From its first paragraphs Rinaldo Walcott's The Long Emancipation shifts the axis of thought about Black freedom. The astonishing and devastating idea at the center of this book lays out the condition of Black being in the Americas as existing, still, in a state of juridical unfreedom. Once that idea's recalibrating weight and urgency strike you, you must think again where analysis and theory begin. You must begin again.” -- Dionne Brand, poet, novelist, essayist“In The Long Emancipation Rinaldo Walcott has opened up whole new avenues for thinking about the causes and conditions, the global logics of ‘unfreedom’ that continue to haunt and imperil Black lives. This rich collection of provocations challenges us to consider the terms and possibilities of living beyond the death zones and extractive economies of capitalism; it invites us to see and feel the audacious eruptions of a blackness exceeding these limits—moving and struggling toward freedom.” -- Deborah E. McDowell, University of Virginia"Engaging with the works of Sylvia Wynter and Frantz Fanon, Walcott issues a call to rethink the post-Enlightenment conception of the human. It is through this reworking that the book elucidates how we might be able to find real freedom. . . . in Black freedom lies the freedom of us all. Perhaps—if we heed Walcott’s call and respond to his challenge to think again and again—then, maybe, freedom is coming, tomorrow." -- Lwando Scott * Public Books *"A must-have of any Black reader’s library. . . . [H]ighly recommended if you are in search of answers on how to explore oppression and articulate the depths of the Black experience." -- Jordannah Elizabeth * Amsterdam News *"Rinaldo Walcott’s The Long Emancipation gave me new tools to think with in Black studies." -- Elias Rodriques * Bookforum *"Walcott argues that Black people today live in what he calls the "long emancipation," in which, though emancipated from slavery and colonization, they are still not free. . . . Recommended. General readers through faculty; professionals." -- J. A. Kegley * Choice *"This book is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand how race relations still affect much of everyday socio-economic and political life in North America, Europe, and the rest of the world." -- Ibrahim Bahati * E3W Review of Books *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix 1. Moving Toward Black Freedom 1 2. Black Life-Forms 9 3. Death and Freedom 11 4. Black Death 15 5. Plantation Zones 19 6. Diaspora Studies 23 7. The Atlantic Region and 1492 27 8. New States of Being 33 9. The Long Emancipation 35 10. Catastrophe, Wake, Hauntology 43 11. Bodies of Water 47 12. Slave Ship Logics/Logistics 51 13. Problem of the Human, or the Void of Relationality 55 14. No Happy Story 59 15. I Really Want to Hope 65 16. Funk: A Black Note on the Human 69 17. Newness 75 18. Toward a Saggin' Pants Ethic 81 19. Black Men, Style, and Fashion 87 20. No Future 91 21. (Future) Black Studies 99 22. The Long Emancipation Revisited 105 Notes 111 Bibliography 119 Index 125

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn Between Gaia and Ground Elizabeth A. Povinelli theorizes the climatic, environmental, viral, and social catastrophe present as an ancestral catastrophe through which that Indigenous and colonized peoples have been suffering for centuries. In this way, the violence and philosophies the West relies on now threaten the West itself. Engaging with the work of Glissant, Deleuze and Guattari, Césaire, and Arendt, Povinelli highlights four axioms of existence—the entanglement of existence, the unequal distribution of power, the collapse of the event as essential to political thought, and the legacies of racial and colonial histories. She traces these axioms'' inspiration in anticolonial struggles against the dispossession and extraction that have ruined the lived conditions for many on the planet. By examining the dynamic and unfolding forms of late liberal violence, Povinelli attends to a vital set of questions about changing environmental conditions, the legacies of viTrade Review“Engaging with modern philosophy’s original problem of how to ground truth (approached in ontological terms) within the limits of human existence (delimited in historical terms), Between Gaia and Ground proposes a starting point for thinking about the capitalist present that foregrounds precisely what pre- and post-Enlightenment European thinkers have consistently foreclosed. Locating colonial and racial power at the core of the thinking of existence, Elizabeth A. Povinelli provides an urgently needed corrective to contemporary critical theorizing's insistence on ignoring its existential conditions of emergence (thought in political terms).” -- Denise Ferreira da Silva, author of * Unpayable Debt *“Between Gaia and Ground not only extends the trajectory of Elizabeth A. Povinelli’s pathbreaking work, it participates in a highly promising movement to unsettle disciplines and narrative genres in the aftermath of global capital, militarism, and accelerating environmental destruction. Provocative and timely.” -- Joseph Masco, author of * The Future of Fallout, and Other Episodes in Radioactive World-Making *“Drawing on wide-ranging intellectual and political itineraries, Between Gaia and Ground offers a provoking way to theorize environmental violence that will be sure to attract and stir up readers.” -- Michelle Murphy, author of * The Economization of Life *"One of the book’s greatest contributions is that it generates dialogue between a significant part of prevailing critical theory and the issue of power. This is achieved through detailed attention to the implications of the task of analysis and development of concepts for understanding social processes and seeking transformations to situations of violence and injustice. This could be useful not only in academic contexts, but also in struggles in which indigenous peoples, Afro-Americans, and other excluded groups participate." -- Pablo Rojas-Bahamonde * Social & Cultural Geography *"Ambitious in scope and far-reaching in its critique, Povinelli’s Between Gaia and Ground offers invaluable insights toward a decolonial environmental theory that can inspire more just ecological practices. It will undoubtedly shape future discussions across many fields." -- Mirra-Margarita Ianeva * Contemporary Political Theory *"Bringing a range of critical thinkers into discussion with each other, such as Hannah Arendt, Gregory Bateson, Edouard Glissant, and Aime Cesaire, Povinelli illuminates the implications of political action when critical theory is differently positioned across colonialism. . . . Between Gaia and Ground is a timely book to shine a light on the limits of Western critical thought, and its co-option into late liberal violence." -- Angie Sassano * Thesis Eleven *

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn Couplets, Brian Massumi presents twenty-four essays that represent the full spectrum of his work during the past thirty years. Conceived as a companion volume to Parables for the Virtual, Couplets addresses the key concepts of Parables from different angles and contextualizes them, allowing their stakes to be more fully felt. Rather than organizing the essays chronologically or by topic, Massumi pairs them into couplets to encourage readers to make connections across conventional subject matter categories, to encounter disjunctions, and to link different phases in the evolution of his work. In his analyses of topics ranging from art, affect, and architecture to media theory, political theory, and the philosophy of experience, Massumi charts a field on which a family of conceptual problems plays out in ways that bear on the potentials for acting and perceiving the world. As an essential guide to Massumi''s oeuvre, Couplets is both a primer for his nTrade Review“This collection of essays, perhaps more than any other of his groundbreaking books, shows Brian Massumi to be a profoundly political thinker. Its analyses of capitalism are startling, radical, and convincing. And its presentation of domination and violence as the curtailment of a more primary force that is life-enhancing and life-changing will alter the way you think about the political future. Readers will also find elegant accounts of many of Massumi's key concepts, including perception, the virtual, affect, aesthetics (as that which pertains to qualities of experience), sympathy, the outside, dividuality, and the supernormal. A fabulous resource for thinking otherwise.” -- Jane Bennett, author of * Influx and Efflux: Writing Up with Walt Whitman *“Couplets is both an extraordinary speculative and political toolbox for thinking about our time and a magnificent introduction to Brian Massumi's own work, which is undoubtedly among the most original in contemporary thought.” -- Didier Debaise, author of * Nature as Event: The Lure of the Possible *"Valuable as an experiential introduction to the work of Massumi-Deleuze. Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty." -- R. M. Paddags * Choice *Table of ContentsNote to the Reader vii Couplet 1 2019. Extreme Realism: In Sixteen Series 2 1986. Realer Than Real: The Simulacrum According to Deleuze and Guattari 15 Couplet 2 2000. On the Right of the Noncommunication of Cultural Difference 26 1998. Event Horizon 63 Couplet 3 2017. Becoming Animal in the Literary Field 72 2008. The Virtual, Double Capture, and the Urban-Architecture Manifold 94 Couplet 4 2009. Simondon's "Technical Mentality" Revisited 104 2012. The Supernormal Animal 119 Couplet 5 1997. Sensing the Virtual, Building the Insensible 134 2004. Not Determinately Nothing: Building Experience 158 Couplet 6 2014. The Crannies of the Present: On the Subject of Decision 177 2018. Dim, Massive, and Important: Atmosphere in Process 188 Couplet 7 2005. Going Kinetic: What Is Decision in a Post-Deliberative World? 209 2005. Barely There: The Power of the Image at the Limit of Life 232 Couplet 8 1995. Requiem for Our Prospective Dead: A Participatory Critique of Capitalist Power 286 2017. The Political Is Not Personal: Affect, Power, Violence 315 Couplet 9 2001. Tell Me Where Your Pain Is: Pointing to the Body without an Image 324 2015. The Art of the Relational Body: From Mirror-Touch to the Virtual Body 342 Couplet 10 2000. Parable of the Cave (Blind Version) 359 2003. Panoscopia 376 Couplet 11 2003. Urban Appointment: A Possible Rendezvous with the City 376 1999. Purple Phosphene 402 Couplet 12 2007. On Critique 406 2019. How Do You Make Yourself a Proposition? For a Whiteheadian Laboratory (with Erin Manning) 410 Notes 427 References 447 Index 461 Sources 485 Image Credits 489

Read more less

Book SynopsisHope, hope, where have you gone, our work is not yet done? Hope, hope, rise again, light up again . . . In this book through a variety sort of some of my philosophical essays, poems and quotes (a small fragment from a large collection), I have written and continue to write, I share with you and with everyone my interpretation of my observations and experiences of life good and bad, some of my own and others of the lives of others whom I have known and not known; in hopes that my words can shed some light to you and many others and help you find some comfort.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisFor Elena del Río, extreme cinema is not only qualitatively different from the representations of violence we encounter in popular, mainstream cinema; it also constitutes a critique of the socio-moral system that produces (in every sense of the word) such violence. Drawing inspiration from Deleuze's ethics of immanence, Spinoza's ethology of passions and Nietzsche's typology of forces, The Grace of Destruction examines the affective extremities common in much of global, contemporary cinema from the affirmative perspective of vital forces and situationsextremities such as moral/religious oppression, biopolitical violence, the pain involved in gender relations, the event of death and planetary extinction. Her analysis diverges from the current literature on extreme cinema through its selection of films, which include key international examples, and through its foregrounding of relational, affective politics over representations of sexuality and graphic violence. Detailed formal Trade ReviewDel Río’s Grace of Destruction… [continues] to invigorate the conversation surrounding the new extreme cinema while also expanding the applicability of its terms in productive and challenging ways that particularly encourage us to consider the ethical and philosophical ramifications that only the extreme encounter can engender. * Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media *The exploration of how Deleuze’s inflections of Nietzschean and Spinozan thought are brought out ... are precise, well-researched, pertinent and compelling. he philosophies are engaged with and pursued in rigorous fashion often via contemporary scholarly reworkings, which elicit surprising yet convincing conclusions ... The chapters are well linked and build neatly upon one another, but readers familiar with the book’s philosophical touchpoints could nonetheless dive directly into individual chapters should they be so inclined. * Film-Philosophy *[The Grace of Destruction]... is an inspiring and thought-provoking book that should appeal to a broad readership (interested in global film, film philosophy, cine-ethics, extreme cinemas, and politics) and is fit for an era when critically interrogating the habitual ways in which we think, live, and act (as citizens and a species) has never been more important. -- David H. Fleming * SYMPOSIUM: The Canadian Journal of Continental Philosophy *Elena del Río's The Grace of Destruction is a remarkable book combining a passion for cinema that yields stunning critical insights with an acute theoretical genealogy of contemporary culture’s moralism. Although thoroughly attuned to the most recent developments in Deleuzian philosophies of cinema and affect, and without being negatively reactive against the contemporary field of cinema studies, del Río's work manages to be breathtakingly original. Anyone interested in cinematic aesthetics and the radical potential of cinema as a mode of thought should read this book. * Claire Colebrook, Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of English, The Pennsylvania State University, USA *In her formidable new book, The Grace of Destruction, Elena del Río examines a corpus of violent, shocking, and ultimately extreme films—the very films that moralists might otherwise condemn—in order to mount furious critique of the transcendent values of modern morality. In conversation with Spinoza, Nietzsche, Deleuze, and Guattari, among others, The Grace of Destruction dares its readers to conceive of cinema as a vitalist ethics, but also to grasp ethics in the absence of humanism. A brave, uncompromising, and important book. * Gregory Flaxman, Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: From Violence to Forces: Extreme Cinemas as Ethological Experimentation Chapter 1: The Disease of Morality Chapter 2: Bare Life Chapter 3: Physics of Violence, Folds of Pain Chapter 4: Ethology of Death Chapter 5: Extinction Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisWe live in an era of aesthetics. Art has become both pervasive and powerful – it is displayed not only in museums and galleries but also on the walls of corporations and it is increasingly fused with design. But what makes art so powerful, and in what does its power consist? According to a widespread view, the power of art – its beauty – lies in the eye of the beholder. What counts as art appears to be a function of individual acts of evaluation supported by powerful institutions. On this account, the power of art stems from a force that is not itself aesthetic, such as the art market and the financial power of speculators. Art expresses, in a disguised form, the power of something else – like money – that lies behind it. In one word, art has lost its autonomy. In this short book, Markus Gabriel rejects this view. He argues that art is essentially uncontrollable. It is in the nature of the work of art to be autonomous to such a degree that the art world will never manage to overpower it. Ever since the cave paintings of Lascaux, art has taken hold of the human mind and implemented itself in our very being. Thanks to the emergence of art we became human beings, that is, beings who lead their lives in light of an image of the human being and its position in the world and in relation to other species. Due to its structural, ontological power, art itself is and remains radically autonomous. Yet, this power is highly ambiguous, as we cannot control its unfolding. In this book, a leading proponent of New Realism applies this philosophical perspective to art to create a new aesthetic realism.Trade Review"Brilliant and stimulating."Les Echos"Markus Gabriel is a speculative wunderkind."Neue Zürcher Zeitüng"Few living philosophers can match Markus Gabriel in breadth of interest and competence. Here he defends the radical autonomy of art."Graham Harman, Author of Art and Objects (Polity, 2020)

Read more less

Book SynopsisAs a philosopher and a novelist, Tristan Garcia inhabits two worlds, metaphysics and literary fiction, like an amphibious creature moving between the land and the sea, breathing in both air and water. He is drawn to metaphysics because, as he puts it, metaphysics is the edge of the abyss of thought, the unstable frontier of indeterminacy where thinking is no longer constrained by the principles of logic or the law of non-contradiction. Metaphysics seeks to describe the world from outside one’s own point of view. It aims at an ecstatic reconstruction of what keeps us locked up in our conditions, in our time and place, here among the living, with our subjectivities and within our situations. It gives us an idea of all constraints from a point of view that posits the possible absence of the constraint of having a point of view. The ambition of this slender book – which is at the same time a concise introduction to Garcia’s work and thought – is to help us grasp and transform the conditions of our existence by paying equal attention to what is ending and what is just beginning, to the dusk and to the dawn. Until we cannot hold our breath any longer.Trade Review“The primary trait of Tristan Garcia as an author is his consistent freshness: to read him is to press the reset button in your brain and awaken with a new hope. In this book, his most personal so far, he pulls off the impressive feat of reviving the reader's courage while speaking primarily of himself. Such is the disarming modesty of this multi-talented thinker.”Graham Harman, Southern California Institute of ArchitectureTable of ContentsLanguage, Thought, and Fiction Philosophical Feeling Philosophical Orientation Intensification, Extension, Breaking Point Literature: Ideas in a Body Models of Concision and Models of Profusion Childhood and Irenicism War Finding a Viewpoint Solitude Activists Nuanced Minds and Rough Minds Radicalness The Enemy Friends Progress and Movement The World After Thinking Saves

Read more less

Book SynopsisUtilitarianism a commitment to the greatest happiness for the greatest number' has been the target of endless opposition. According to its critics, it ignores the separateness of persons, cannot secure the protections of basic rights, demands extreme sacrifice, can justify anything the list goes on. It has been implicated in the horrors of settler colonialism, imperialism, and racial capitalism, both historically and today, as the neoliberal world order faces a profound legitimation crisis.Bart Schultz argues that utilitarian philosophy must be decolonized and reimagined for the current moment: a time of new and looming existential threats, in a world desperate for social change. Where dominant ethical and political approaches have failed to adequately deal with the enormous challenges we face, utilitarianism as a set of lived practices, not simply a theoretical construction may hold out some hope of seriously addressing them. Drawing on alternatives to the well-known

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis highly engaging analysis of the contemporary, global social and political landscape of trans antagonisms draws specific attention to gender-critical mobilizations of Simone de Beauvoir''s account of becoming a woman inThe Second Sexto advance and justify trans exclusionary positions. Through a careful examination andapplication ofBeauvoir''s philosophical and political commitments,Becoming a Womancompellingly explores the significance of her notion of becoming as not only affirmative of trans women, but also as an ethical demand to affirm trans possibilities. More than a reply to gender-critical readings of Beauvoir, this book develops an original, Beauvoirian ethics of gender affirmation offering that show why we ought to challenge trans exclusion and anti-trans movements.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisTechnologies cannot simply be understood as neutral tools or instruments; they embody the values of their creators and may unconsciously reinforce existing inequalities and biases. Technology Ethicsshows how responsible innovation can be achieved. Demonstrating how design and philosophy converge, the book delves into the intricate narratives that shape our understanding of technology from instrumentalist views to social constructivism. Yet, at its core, it champions interactionalism as the most promising and responsible narrative. Through compelling examples and actionable tools this book unravels the nuances of these philosophical positions, and is tailored to foster responsible innovation and thoughtful design. As our everyday lives further intertwine with technology, understanding and implementing these design principles becomes not just beneficial, but essential.This concise and accessible introduction is essential reading for students and scholars of

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisCan social theories forge new paths into an uncertain future? The future has become increasingly difficult to imagine. We might be able to predict a few events, but imagining how looming disasters will coincide is simultaneously necessary and impossible. Drawing on speculative fiction and social theory, Theory for the World to Come is the beginning of a conversation about theories that move beyond nihilistic conceptions of the capitalism-caused Anthropocene and toward generative bodies of thought that provoke creative ways of thinking about the world ahead. Matthew J. Wolf-Meyer draws on such authors as Kim Stanley Robinson and Octavia Butler, and engages with afrofuturism, indigenous speculative fiction, and films from the 1970s and ’80s to help think differently about the future and its possibilities.Forerunners: Ideas First Short books of thought-in-process scholarship, where intense analysis, questioning, and speculation take the lead

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn Love and Freedom, Jorge Ferrer proposes a paradigm shift in how romantic relationships are conceptualized, a step forward in the evolution of modern relationships. In the same way that the transgender movement surmounted the gender binary, Ferrer defines how a parallel step can—and should—be taken with the relational style binary. This book offers the first systematic discussion of relationship modes beyond monogamy and polyamory, as well as introduces the notion of “relational freedom” as the capability to choose one’s relational style free from biological, psychological, and sociocultural conditionings. To achieve these goals, Ferrer first discusses a number of critical categories—specifically, monopride/polyphobia, and polypride/monophobia—that mediate the contemporary “mono–poly wars,” that is, the predicament of mutual competition among monogamists and polyamorists. The ideological nature of these “mono–poly wars” is demonstrated through a review of available empirical literature on the psychological health and relationship quality of monogamous and polyamorous individuals and couples. Then, after showing how monogamy and polyamory ultimately reinforce each other, Ferrer articulates three relational pathways to living in-between, through, and beyond the mono/poly binary: fluidity, hybridity, and transcendence. Moving beyond that binary opens a fuzzy, liminal, and multivocal relational space that Ferrer calls novogamy. In this groundbreaking book, readers will learn practical tools to not only transform jealousy, but also enhance their relational freedom while being aware of key issues of diversity and social justice. They will also learn novel criteria to evaluate the success of their intimate relationships, and be introduced to a transformed vision of romantic love beyond both monocentrism and emerging polynormativities.Trade ReviewJorge N. Ferrer's Love and Freedom is a powerful, thought-provoking book, and a very welcome addition to the literature on consensual non-monogamy, and relationships more broadly. Written in a highly engaging and well-informed style, this book contains much of interest to the academic reader while being accessible to activists and general readers as well. Ferrer provides a timely overview on the relationship literature and the ways in which monogamy and polyamory have generally been framed, before heading into binary-busting territory. The divisions between monogamy and non-monogamy, jealousy and compersion, and love and freedom themselves, are all opened up for enjoyable and important exploration and challenge. Drawing on theory and research from biological science through to Buddhist philosophy, Ferrer suggests ways in which we could all occupy more fluid and transbinary positions in relation to love, engage in contemplative practices in order to experience love differently, and cultivate relationships which enable both interconnectedness and personal freedom. -- Meg-John Barker, author, The Psychology of SexLike previous groundbreaking works that have suggested a blurring of established and cherished identity categories, Jorge Ferrer’s Love and Freedom boldly introduces the notion of “relational freedom” into the collective consciousness. The central premise of this book is refreshing: the idea that style of connection—monogamous, polyamorous, even asexual or aromantic—might not be fixed or essential personality categories, but rather stops along a long, personal road, perhaps even (for some) facets of more complicated orientations (e.g., monogamish, ambisexual, or Ferrer’s proposed frame of the fuzzy, liminal, queered relational space of “novogamy”). This provocative volume cuts across multiple politics and investments in a way that might cause both monogamous and nonmonogamous alike to clutch their pearls, and for that alone it is worth the read. -- Nathan Rambukkana, author, Fraught Intimacies: Non/Monogamy in the Public SphereI read this book with a sigh of relief and renewed energy that the study and living of consensual non-monogamies is not heading down the monogamist track of binary, division, fixity and hierarchy. All too soon social movements meant to enlarge and embrace fluidity and possibility in our intimate lives may become entrenched in having to pick a new term for one's relationship and stick to it for life. We know where that too often ends up for too many relationships in coerced monogamy, and we don’t want to repeat that in the exploration of relationship diversity across the lifespan, place, and contexts. Bring on what Jorge calls novogamy with its freedoms and ethics, its possibilities and care! -- Maria Pallota-Chiarolli, author, Border Sexualities, Border Families in Schools

Read more less

Book SynopsisThree American Hegels explores Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel's influence on three seminal, yet overlooked, philosophers: Henry C. Brokmeyer, Horace Williams, and John William Miller. Each of them was, in his own way, both an apprentice of Hegel and a true American original: Brokmeyer, the backwoods translator of Hegel; Williams, the mentor of Southern Hegelianism; Williams, the Hegelian teacher of democracy. Until now, their influence on the one school of philosophy that is distinctly grounded in the U.S. experiencepragmatismhas been overlooked, along with the intellectual history of how their contributions developed. Such neglect has resulted in an underestimation of the role that the theories of Hegel played in the development of American philosophy. To unearth these formative yet forgotten works and influences, Johnson explores their respective untapped archives and unearths a three-generation story of a Hegel that is thoroughly practical, concrete, and alive.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis new anthology includes both classic and contemporary readings on the methods and scope of science. Jeffrey Foss depicts science in a broadly humanistic context, contending that it is philosophically interesting because it has reshaped nearly all aspects of human culture—and in so doing has reshaped humanity as well. While providing a strong introduction to epistemological and metaphysical issues in science, this text goes beyond the traditional topics, enlarging the scope of philosophical engagement with science. Substantial introductions and critical questions are provided for each reading.Trade Review“Science and the World is a very useful two part collection. The first contains classic papers on the philosophy of science (realism, explanation, induction). The second part is devoted to science, religion, and social issues (creationism, Darwin and ethics, and so on). Both sections are worthy in their own right. What makes the volume particularly valuable, and a real service to teaching, is the inclusion of both general topics under one cover. They are equally relevant to a full understanding of the single most important institution in our lives—science.” — James Robert Brown, University of Toronto“This is a very thoughtful collection that does a great job of laying out the basic nature of science and then connecting our understanding to real world problems. It will be wonderful for students, and general readers will find much of interest and value.” — Michael Ruse, Florida State University“Foss sets out to achieve a formidable task: to integrate, in a single volume, a collection of seminal articles on the nature of scientific knowledge and methodology with a discussion of the social, ethical, and political implications of science. The result is impressive. The skillful blend of classic and contemporary readings, individually introduced and enriched by an extensive list of study questions, makes this volume a remarkable pedagogical tool.” — Prof, Marco J. Nathan, University of Denver“Science and the World will appeal to a wide range of readers interested in the history and philosophy of science and in science and society. It addresses questions of power, gender, and ethical concerns in scientific theory and practice. Introductions to essay selections are accessible and informative, written in a style that will engage students in philosophy and in other disciplines who are interested in the issues covered in this anthology.” — Suzanne Bailey, Trent UniversityTable of ContentsIntroduction for StudentsIntroduction for InstructorsSECTION ONEScience and Method: From Proof to ModelsIntroduction Isaac Newton, Newton on Scientific Method David Hume, “Skeptical Doubts Concerning the Operations of the Understanding” Carl G. Hempel, “Scientific Inquiry: Invention and Test” Israel Scheffler, “Explanation” Karl Popper, “The Problem of Induction” Thomas Kuhn, from The Structure of Scientific Revolutions Sandra Harding, “Why ‘Physics’ Is a Bad Model for Physics” Ronald Giere, “The Feminism Question in the Philosophy of Science” Susan Haack, “Nail Soup: A Brief, Opinionated History of the Old Deferentialism” Jeffrey Foss, “Science, Maps, and Models” Bas van Fraassen, “Arguments Concerning Scientific Realism” Paul Churchland, “Theoretical Science, Creativity, and Reaching behind the Appearances” Kent A. Peacock, “Realism in a Quantum World” SECTION TWOScience, Religion, and Ethics: Our Relationships to the WorldIntroduction Galileo Galilei, Letter to the Grand Duchess Christina Extracts from The Book of Genesis Patricia Smith Churchland, “Religion and the Brain” Henry M. Morris, Extracts from Scientific Creationism Michael Ruse, “Creationism Considered” Daniel C. Dennett, Extracts from Darwin’s Dangerous Idea Edward O. Wilson, “Heredity” and Michael Ruse and Edward O. Wilson, “The Evolution of Ethics” Steven Pinker, “Psychological Correctness” Richard Dawkins, “What’s Wrong with Cloning?” David Tracy, “Human Cloning and the Public Realm: A Defense of Intuitions of the Good” Philip Kitcher, “Whose Self Is It, Anyway?” Karen Green and John Bigelow, “Does Science Persecute Women? The Case of the 16th-17th Century Witch-Hunts” DICTIONARYAcknowledgements

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn this stunning act of synthesis, Abraham Edel captures the entire range of Aristotle's thought in a manner that will prove attractive and convincing to a contemporary audience. Many philosophers approach Aristotle with their own, rather than his, questions. Some cast him as a partisan of a contemporary school. Even the neutral approach of classical scholarship often takes for granted questions that reflect our modern ways of dissecting the world.Aristotle and His Philosophy shows him at work in asking and answering questions. Abraham Edel fashions a sound comparative way of using current analysis to deepen our understanding of Aristotle rather than argue with or simply appropriate him. Edel examines how Aristotle's basic ideas operated in his scientific and humanistic works, what they enabled him to do, what they kept him from doing, and what in turn we can learn from his philosophical experimentation.The purpose of this volume is twofold: to provide a comprehensive introduction to Aristotle's thought, and to throw fresh light on its patterned and systematic character. First, tracing the pattern in Aristotle's metaphysical and physical writings, he then explores the psychology, epistemology, ethics and politics, rhetoric and poetics. In the process, Edel discusses the way interpretations of Aristotle are built up and how different philosophical outlooks—Catholic, Hegelian, Marxian, linguistic, naturalistic, and pragmatic—have affected the reading of Aristotelian texts and ideas.The new introduction probes the general problem of interpreting a philosophy, and suggests how working through the different interpretations can contribute to a fuller understanding. This methodological self-consciousness makes Aristotle and His Philosophy markedly different from other studies of Aristotle. Martha C. Nussbaum of Brown University has described Edel as having "philosophical sensitivity and good sense throughout. His scholarship is comprehensive, but handled with grace and clarity."Table of Contents1: The Works, The Man, The Thought; 1: Aristotle’s Works and The Problem of Interpretation; 2: The Man Behind The Works and The Man Within The Works; 3: The Character of Aristotle’s Thought and his Philosophic Method; 2: The Metaphysical Network; 4: Matter and Change: A Preliminary Sketch; 5: Explanation and The Teleological Model; 6: Continuity and Potentiality; 7: Being and Its Partitions; 8: Substance and The Substances; 3: Man and his Powers; 9: Methodological Aspects of Psychology; 10: Sense and Thought; 11: Movement and Emotion; 4: The Theory of Knowing: Mind at Work; 12: Reasoning and The Analysis of Knowing; 13: Demonstration, Explanation, and Verification; 14: Meaning, Definition, and Classification; 15: Truth, Reality, and Essentialism; 5: The Theory of Practice; 16: The Network of Ethical Concepts; 17: Justice, Internal Conflict, and Friendship; 18: Social and Political Concepts; 6: The Theory of Production; 19: Rhetoric; 20: Poetics; 7: Epilogue; 21: Predicaments of Aristotelian Scholarship

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn anthology of previously unpublished essays from some of the most outstanding scholars working in philosophy, mathematics, and computer science today, Self-Reference reexamines the latest theories of self-reference, including those that attempt to explain and resolve the semantic and set-theoretic paradoxes. With a thorough introduction that contextualizes the subject for students, this book will be important reading for anyone interested in the general area of self-reference and philosophy.

Read more less

Book SynopsisA brilliant dissection and reconstruction of the three major faith-based systems of belief in the world today - Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThinking Through Questions is an accessible and compact guide to the art of questioning, covering both the use and abuse of questions. Animated by wide-ranging and engaging exercises and examples, the book helps students deepen their understanding of how questions work and what questions do, and builds the skills needed to ask better questions. Cowritten by two of today's leading philosopher-teachers, Thinking Through Questions is specifically designed to complement, connect, and motivate today’s standard curricula, especially for classes in critical thinking, philosophical questioning, and creative problem- solving (called here "expansive questioning"). Offering students a wide and appreciative look at questions and questioning, this small book will also appeal to faculty and students across the disciplines: in college writing courses, creativity workshops, education schools, introductions to college thinking, design thinking projects, and humanities and thinking classes. Open-ended, creative, and critically self-possessed thinking is its constant theme—what field doesn’t need more of that?Trade Review"This small book holds big value for teachers of philosophy and teachers of critical thinking in any discipline. If you want your students to be more ‘curious, critical, exploratory, and creative,’ this book will serve well as a supplementary or core text. It offers appreciation for the power of questioning, opportunities to identify types of questions, and practice in questioning skills. The authors, both recognized as master teachers, bring their own considerable pedagogical experience and engaging style to encouraging better questioning in all of us." —Donna Engelmann, Alverno College"Highly accessible, Thinking Through Questions guides students to greater freedom regarding how, why, when, and when not to ask or answer critical, expansive, and philosophical questions. It is an especially good choice for courses where critical thinking figures prominently, both because of its content and because of the practice exercises it contains. But more fundamentally, this book leaves readers more able to resist coercive questions, reconfigure false dilemmas, question more creatively, and diagnose embedded philosophical and other assumptions. It teaches how to profitably answer questions, do valuable things with questions other than answer them, ask better questions, and liberate oneself from cognitive traps many questions set." —David Concepción, professor of philosophy, Ball State University"Thinking Through Questions can be put to many good uses in the classroom. Weston and Bloch-Schulman have done an admirable job of creating a text which embodies a novel approach to the numerous pedagogical situations instructors might find themselves in across the academy, especially in humanities courses and any course centered on critical reasoning and writing." —Michael Gifford, Arizona State University, in Teaching Philosophy

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisRULES TO LIVE BY FOR WEALTH, HEALTH & HAPPINESS“There is a lot in this book that can turn lives around, towards fulfillment and happiness.”—The Jewish PressBorn in Spain during the height of the Middle Ages, Maimonides, also known as Rambam, is recognized as one of the greatest scholars of all time. Influential throughout the Middle East, he was both a traditionalist and an innovator - a Rabbi, physician, and philosopher - and his teachings continue to be widely respected today by Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike. Jeffrey Katz is recognized as one of the foremost contemporary interpreters of Maimonides’ teachings. In RULES TO LIVE BY: Maimonides'' Guide to a Wonderful Life, Katz shows today’s readers how the strategies and advice of this medieval philosopher stand the test of time and serve as a roadmap to health, wealth, and satisfaction

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisMicrochips, government-replaced bird drones, QAnon and vaccine tracers: these are just a few of the most common conspiracies we have heard over and over again throughout most of 2020-2021's news cycles. There are common categories of conspiracy theories, variants of which pop up over and over again, and new and outrageous theories that seemingly appear overnight. While most of them are easily debunked, conspiracy theories and their root causes can be used to closely track people’s most significant philosophical concerns at a point in time. In this up-to-date study of conspiracy theories, the authors look at the history of conspiracy theories, discuss the history and hallmarks of such theories, and examine what counts as a conspiracy theory--and what doesn’t.Trade Reviewskip to conteWSU & USU professors examine popular conspiracy theories in new bookJune 8, 2022OGDEN, Utah – In a time when conspiracy theories have made their way into mainstream media in unprecedented amounts, two Utah professors are exploring the impact conspiracy theories have on society with their new book “Conspiracy Theories in the Time of Coronavirus: A Philosophical Treatment.”Conspiracy theories meet at the intersection of the specialties of Weber State University philosophy professor Richard Greene and Utah State University philosophy professor Rachel Robison-Greene. The couple began writing “Conspiracy Theories in the Time of Coronavirus” before the 2020 presidential election, just as the conspiracy theory landscape began to change rapidly. Greene specializes in the best practices of belief formation and the study of epistemology - theories of knowledge, while Robison-Greene is an expert on ethics and moral psychology. Both also study pop culture and their publisher thought they were well suited to research the impact of conspiracy theories on society.“Our account of what a conspiracy theory was didn’t change very much,” Richard Greene said. “However, all the social implications and the ways conspiracy theories spread and affected society changed quite a bit during the time of the election. We had to rethink a lot of our previous research.” According to Richard and Rachel, conspiracy theories have almost always existed and will continue to exist, but harmful conspiracy theories being shared in unprecedented amounts on social media affects people’s health, lives and political leanings. “The conspiracy theories surrounding the pandemic had significant real world implications,” Richard Greene said. “We're talking about people's lives here, and as we note in the book, conspiracy theories are being passed about in unprecedented ways and numbers — it’s a public health crisis really. So that’s why we wanted to focus on it in the book. We knew it was the case that everyone was being impacted by conspiracy theories related to the pandemic.”Each chapter of the book begins with discussing different conspiracy theories that have been popular at various points throughout history such as birds not being real, the Illuminati and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. “So many conspiracy theories employ racsist and antisemitic motifs,” said Richard and Rachel. “We hope to help people avoid becoming susceptible to that mindset.”Richard and Rachel also hope that readers get a clearer understanding of what conspiracy theories are and how they’ve been used over time. Though the book covers lighter and heavier material, it is written for all ages. “I think conspiracy theories at their core are about people feeling marginalized and frustrated at power imbalances,” Rachel Robison-Greene said. “If we constructed social systems where people felt less marginalized and focused on societal inequalities, we could mitigate some of the harmful conspiracy theories we’re seeing now.”“Conspiracy Theories in the Time of Coronavirus: A Philosophical Treatment” launches on June 14. It will be available globally at Target, Walmart, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and is currently available for Kindle download. Visit weber.edu/wsutoday for more news about Weber State University. Author: Kennedy Jones, Marketing & Communications801-626-7948 • kennedyjones1@weber.edu Contact: Richard Greene, philosophy professor801-626-6694 • rgreene@weber.edu Rachel Robison-Greene, philosophy professorrachel.robison@usu.edu Share this article: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Google + Ogden, Utah 844081-801-626-6000 Contact Us Popular Majors, Minors & Programs Admissions Bookstore Stewart Library Jobs at Weber Weber State Tickets eWeber Directories Class Schedule Calendars Catalog Campus Directory Maps & Locations Resources CARES Act - HEERF Report Safe@Weber Nondiscrimination & Accessibility Public Disclosures WSU Terms of Use and Privacy © Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved | Google Translate skip to content WSU Home eWeber Campus Directory WSU Online Info for NEWS & ARCHIVE Recent News Archives For the Media Images of WSU Contribute News Promote Your WSU Event WSU in the News WSU PUBLICATIONS & MEDIA The Signpost KWCR-88.1 Studio 76 My Weber Media WSU & USU professors examine popular conspiracy theories in new bookJune 8, 2022OGDEN, Utah – In a time when conspiracy theories have made their way into mainstream media in unprecedented amounts, two Utah professors are exploring the impact conspiracy theories have on society with their new book “Conspiracy Theories in the Time of Coronavirus: A Philosophical Treatment.”Conspiracy theories meet at the intersection of the specialties of Weber State University philosophy professor Richard Greene and Utah State University philosophy professor Rachel Robison-Greene. The couple began writing “Conspiracy Theories in the Time of Coronavirus” before the 2020 presidential election, just as the conspiracy theory landscape began to change rapidly. Greene specializes in the best practices of belief formation and the study of epistemology - theories of knowledge, while Robison-Greene is an expert on ethics and moral psychology. Both also study pop culture and their publisher thought they were well suited to research the impact of conspiracy theories on society.“Our account of what a conspiracy theory was didn’t change very much,” Richard Greene said. “However, all the social implications and the ways conspiracy theories spread and affected society changed quite a bit during the time of the election. We had to rethink a lot of our previous research.” According to Richard and Rachel, conspiracy theories have almost always existed and will continue to exist, but harmful conspiracy theories being shared in unprecedented amounts on social media affects people’s health, lives and political leanings. “The conspiracy theories surrounding the pandemic had significant real world implications,” Richard Greene said. “We're talking about people's lives here, and as we note in the book, conspiracy theories are being passed about in unprecedented ways and numbers — it’s a public health crisis really. So that’s why we wanted to focus on it in the book. We knew it was the case that everyone was being impacted by conspiracy theories related to the pandemic.”Each chapter of the book begins with discussing different conspiracy theories that have been popular at various points throughout history such as birds not being real, the Illuminati and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. “So many conspiracy theories employ racsist and antisemitic motifs,” said Richard and Rachel. “We hope to help people avoid becoming susceptible to that mindset.”Richard and Rachel also hope that readers get a clearer understanding of what conspiracy theories are and how they’ve been used over time. Though the book covers lighter and heavier material, it is written for all ages. “I think conspiracy theories at their core are about people feeling marginalized and frustrated at power imbalances,” Rachel Robison-Greene said. “If we constructed social systems where people felt less marginalized and focused on societal inequalities, we could mitigate some of the harmful conspiracy theories we’re seeing now.”“Conspiracy Theories in the Time of Coronavirus: A Philosophical Treatment” launches on June 14. It will be available globally at Target, Walmart, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and is currently available for Kindle download. Visit weber.edu/wsutoday for more news about Weber State University. Author: Kennedy Jones, Marketing & Communications801-626-7948 • kennedyjones1@weber.edu Contact: Richard Greene, philosophy professor801-626-6694 • rgreene@weber.edu Rachel Robison-Greene, philosophy professorrachel.robison@usu.edu Share this article: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Google + Ogden, Utah 844081-801-626-6000 Contact Us Popular Majors, Minors & Programs Admissions Bookstore Stewart Library Jobs at Weber Weber State Tickets eWeber Directories Class Schedule Calendars Catalog Campus Directory Maps & Locations Resources CARES Act - HEERF Report Safe@Weber Nondiscrimination & Accessibility Public Disclosures WSU Terms of Use and Privacy © Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved | Google Translate ShareThis Copy and PastReviewer's ChoiceConspiracy Theories in the Time of CoronavirusRichard Greene and Rachel Robison-GreeneCarus Bookswww.carusbooks.com9781637700068, $19.95 PB, $8.99 Kindle, 240pphttps://www.amazon.com/Conspiracy-Theories-Coronavirus-Richard-Greene/dp/1637700067Conspiracy Theories in the Time of Coronavirus is recommended not just for philosophy and political science students, but for students of medical history and social issues who receive a powerful philosophy-based assessment of conspiracy theories. Its timely discussions range from the harm in politically weaponizing pandemic concerns to considering the underlying messages in conspiracy charges and how they change and grow beyond their initial incarnation. Readers interested in conspiracy ideas and their political and social impact will find no better contemporary assessment than Conspiracy Theories in the Time of Coronavirus, which should not just be in library holdings, but used as classroom discussion points and for debates.Table of ContentsPart IUnderstanding Conspiracy Theories 11. Conspiracy Theories Past and Present 32. Conspiracy and Theory 153. What Are Conspiracy Theories? 274. The Various Natures of Conspiracy Theories 395. The Epistemology of Conspiracy Theories 516. A Puzzle about Identity 67Part IIConspiracy Theories in the Modern World 797. Conspiracy Theories as Jokes 818. The Politics of Conspiracy Theories 919. Conspiracy Theories, Social Media, and theInternet 10310. Existential Matters and Categories ofConspiracy 11511. The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories 135Part IIIConspiracy Theories and Values 15112. The Ethics of Belief 15313. Conspiracy Theories and Human Virtues 16314. What’s at Stake When We Believe ConspiracyTheories? 18315. Conspiracy Theories as a Social Problem 195References 209Index 215

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Poet's Perfume picks up where Mullaney's last book of poems, 'A Divine Appointment', left off. It is divided into four sections: 1: You & I – Linking Body and Mind 2: You & I & Spirit – Unfolding the Spirit of Man and Humanity 3: You & I & Love – Joining the Soul with Spirit through Love (Spiritual & Physical) 4: Food for Thought & Thought for Food – Contemplations & Reflections.This book explores the different aspects of love; love of life, love of beauty, love of nature, love for oneself, and a deep attraction one feels for another. The poems also probe topics of a starker nature such as suicide, death, and heartbreak. Ultimately, the impression or takeaway after reading this small book of poetic verse is a feeling of gratitude for that miraculous gift of life.If you sit and spend some time with these poems, their words will find their way into your heart and you might notice that they will also refresh and enliven your own undying spirit.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn ancient Roman myth and religion, Janus was the god of physical and emotional gateways. He is traditionally shown as having two faces pointing in opposite directions, representing different perspectives, or perhaps a reconciliation of two points of view. He is the god of the past and the future, looking fore and aft, as Homer says. He is the god of transitions, doorways, beginnings and endings, passageways, options, change, entrances and exits.The Janus figure is a fitting symbol for this book, which concerns conflict and agreement between pairs of ideas. Janus, of course, is everyone – all of us -- as we struggle to reach decisions on the choices that punctuate our lives. We are unsure which is the real face of the Janus figure, or whether there is a right direction to point, although compasses are oriented toward true north. Janus is two-faced, not from hypocrisy or insincerity, but as a result of reflection. He always looks at both sides of the question, reflectively and deeply within the conscious mind. The ideas we will explore include such apparent polarities as justice and forgiveness, belief and skepticism, the ascetic and the sensuous. When we unpack these concepts, we discover that in some cases the two sides align and a compromise is possible. In other cases, they repel each other, like identical poles of magnets. All of the ideas will receive critical airings so that we can be clear on what we can believe, which choices can be avoided, and which ones must be confronted as alternatives.

Read more less

Book SynopsisA personal and engaging tribute to nature from a world-famous theoretical physicist. Marcelo Gleiser has had a passion for science and fishing since he was a boy growing up on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro. As a world-famous theoretical physicist with hundreds of scientific articles and several books of popular science to his credit, he felt it was time to once again connect with nature in less theoretical ways. After seeing a fly-fishing class on the Dartmouth College green, he decided to learn to fly-fish, a hobby, he says, that teaches humility. In The Simple Beauty of the Unexpected, Gleiser travels the world to scientific conferences, fishing wherever he goes. At each stop, he ponders the myriad ways physics informs the act of fishing; how, in its turn, fishing serves as a lens into nature's inner workings; and how science engages with questions of meaning and spirituality, inspiring a sense of mystery and awe of the not yet known. Personal and engaging, The Simple Beauty of the Unexpected is a scientist's tribute to nature, an affirmation of humanity's deep connection with and debt to Earth, and an exploration of the meaning of existence, from atom to trout to cosmos. This softcover edition features a new essay by Gleiser on how we need a profound change of worldview if we are to have a vibrant future for our species in this fragile environment. He describes how this book was an incubator for his current thinking.Trade Review“You will not learn how to fly fish from this book. You may decide to try it out. Or you may feel inclined to go on your own spiritual journey and reconnect with nature.” * The Citizen (Vermont) *“The Simple Beauty of the Unexpected is an elegantly written, introspective, and thought-provoking meditation on growing up as someone curious about the universe. It’s a wonderful introduction to the human side of science and the scientific side of being human.” -- Sean Carroll, author of The Big PictureTable of ContentsPrologue 1 Cumbria, Lake District, UK 2 Sao Jose Dos Ausentes, Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil 3 Sansepolcro, Tuscany, Italy 4 Laxa River, Myvatnssveit, Iceland Acknowledgments Index

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less