Philosophy Books

Book SynopsisThe Wiley Blackwell Handbook of Humanism presents an edited collection of essays that explore the nature of Humanism as an approach to life, and a philosophical analysis of the key humanist propositions from naturalism and science to morality and meaning.Table of ContentsNotes on Contributors vii Foreword xi 1 What Is Humanism? 1Andrew Copson Part I Essentials of Humanism 35 2 Naturalism 37Brendan Larvor 3 Science, Reason, and Scepticism 55Stephen Law 4 Death as Annihilation 72Peter Cave 5 The Good and Worthwhile Life 87A. C. Grayling Part II Diverse Manifestations 95 6 The Materialists of Classical India 97Jeaneane Fowler 7 Humanism in the Classical World 119Charles Freeman 8 Ancient China 133Merv Fowler 9 Humanistic Thought in the Islamic World of the Middle Ages 153Abdelilah Ljamai Part III Implications 171 10 Counselling and the Humanist Worldview 173Carmen Schuhmann 11 Making a Home in This World: Humanism and Architecture 194Ken Worpole 12 Humanist Ceremonies: The Case of Non-Religious Funerals in England 216Matthew Engelke 13 Humanism and Education 234John White 14 Humanism and the Political Order 255Alan Haworth 15 Humanism in Recent English Fiction 280Peter Faulkner Part IV Debates 303 16 Feminism and Humanism 305Pauline Johnson 17 Life Without Meaning? 325Richard Norman 18 Spirituality 347Jeaneane Fowler 19 Is Humanism Too Optimistic? An Analysis of Religion as Religion 374Paul Cliteur 20 Humanism, Moral Relativism, and Ethical Objectivity 403John R. Shook 21 The Future of Humanism 426Peter Derkx Index 440

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Book SynopsisThe essential political writings of Montesquieu--a substantial abridgment of The Spirit of the Laws, plus judicious selections from The Persian Letters and Considerations of the Romans'' Greatness and Decline--are masterfully translated by Melvin Richter. Prefaced by a new fifty-page introduction by Richter for this revised edition, The Selected Political Writings displays the genius and virtuosity of Montesquieu the philosopher, social critic, political theorist, and literary stylist, whose work commands the attention of all students of the Enlightenment and of modern constitutional thought.Trade ReviewProfessor Richter has long been one of our most knowledgeable commentators on the French intellectual tradition. Having written on Montesquieu, Tocqueville, and Durkheim, he is well positioned to provide us not only with an historically informed translation of Montesquieu’s major writings, but also with an excellent introduction to what is important about Montesquieu as a thinker. --Lawrence Dickey, University of WisconsinI am delighted that you are getting out a new edition of Melvin Richter’s translation. Again and again when I have had occasion to give serious attention to Montesquieu, I have turned to this work. --Samuel H. Beer, Harvard UniversityRichter has done us a real service by providing a version that is both scholarly and handy for teaching. The translation is generally sound, often clearer and more readable than the older version. There is a useful introduction and a helpful and reliable set of notes. . . . Richter's version will now become the standard version for many of us. --Nannerl O. Keohane, Political Science Review VI (1976)

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Book SynopsisFor Descartes, knowledge exists as ideas in the mind that represent the world. In a radical critique, Hubert Dreyfus and Charles Taylor argue that knowledge consists of much more than the representations we formulate in our minds. They affirm our direct contact with reality—both the physical and the social world—and our shared understanding of it.Trade ReviewCompact and engaging, Retrieving Realism is more approachable than its weighty subject matter might predict…[An] adventurous combination of arguments and mixing of philosophical cultures. -- Peter Godfrey-Smith * Boston Review *This book is a spirited defense of a sensible yet profound idea all too often ignored in mainstream philosophy, namely, that our grip on the world is deeply rooted in contingent interpretations and practices, but that those modes of access to reality do not preclude our—sometimes—coming to see it as it really is ‘in itself.’ Retrieving Realism is a passionate plea that we cannot escape seeing ourselves as being in direct contact with a world that vastly transcends us. -- Taylor Carman, Barnard CollegeTwo major philosophers are joining forces in order to offer an alternative account to the prevailing picture of the human mind and its cognitive powers. The book will obviously be on the reading list of all who seriously concern themselves with issues in contemporary philosophy when it is, like here, at its best. -- Vincent Descombes, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris

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Book SynopsisFirst published in 1990, Existentialism is widely regarded as a classic introductory survey of the topic, and has helped to renew interest in existentialist philosophy. The author places existentialism within the great traditions of philosophy, and argues that it deserves as much attention from analytic philosophers as it has always received on the continent.Trade Review‘This revision and update of David Cooper’s clear and careful reconstructive introduction to existentialist philosophy can only strengthen the impression the original gave that questions raised by existential thinkers are those on which all the larger philosophical debates converge. With its supplements on religion, politics and art, and a closer look at the Heidegger-Sartre link, the book is now an even more formidable challenge to those who still doubt this philosophy’s credentials.’ – Alastair Hannay, University of Oslo ‘In this clear and superbly written book, David Cooper provides a thematic presentation of the central ideas of existentialism. He has produced an invaluable work for students and general readers who can appreciate a well-argued, straightforward account of existentialism that does not sacrifice the richness of the ideas that make the philosophy of existentialism so engaging.’ – James Risser, Seattle UniversityTable of ContentsPreface to Second Edition. Part I: Preliminaries:. 1. The Sources of a Name. 2. Existentialists and 'The Existentialist'. 3. Some Misconceptions. Part II: Philosophy and Alienation:. 4. Battling against Bewitchment. 5. Hegel and Marx. 6. Existentialist and Alienation. Part III: From Phenomenology to Existentialism:. 7.'Pure' Phenomenology. 8. The Existentialist Critique. Part IV: 'Being-in-the-World':. 9. World. 10. Human Existence. Part V: Dualisms Dissolved:. 11. Subject versus Object. 12. Mind versus Body. 13. Reason versus Passion. 14. Fact versus Value. Part VI: Self and Others:. 15. Some False Starts. 16.'Being-with' and 'Being-for'. Part VII: Modes of Self-estrangement:. 17. Public, Herd and the 'They'. 18. Bad Faith and 'the Predominance of the Other'. 19. A Problem. Part VIII: Angst, Death and Absurdity:. 20. Angst. 21. Death. 22. Absurdity. 23. Religious Intimations. Part IX: Existential Freedom:. 24. Freedom and Constraint. 25. Choice and Refusal. 26. Individuals and Tribes. Part X: Existentialism and Ethics:. 27. Existentialism versus Ethics?. 28. Commitment and Availability. 29. Reciprocal Freedom. Part XI: Appendix: . 30. Heidegger and Sartre: An 'Erroneous Conflation'?. Bibliography. Index.

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Book SynopsisPresupposing no familiarity with the technical concepts of either philosophy or computing, this clear introduction reviews the progress made in AI since the inception of the field in 1956.Trade Review"An excellent job ... the most balanced treatment of the hopes and claims of AI I have yet seen." Hubert Dreyfus, University of California "The best philosophical introduction to artificial intelligence available." Justin Leiber, University of HoustonTable of ContentsList of figures x Acknowledgements xi Introduction 1 In outline 2 1 The beginnings of Artificial Intelligence: a historical sketch 4 2 Some dazzling exhibits 11 3 Can a machine think? 33 4 The symbol system hypothesis 58 5 A hard look at the facts 83 6 The curious case of the Chinese room 121 7 Freedom 140 8 Consciousness 163 9 Are we computers? 180 10 AI’s fresh start: parallel distributed processing 207 Epilogue 249 Notes 250 Blibliography 283 Index 299

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Book SynopsisIn 1993, archaeologists unearthed a set of ancient bamboo scrolls that contained the earliest known version of the Dao de jing. Composed more than two thousand years ago, this life-changing document offers a regimen of self-cultivation to attain personal excellence and revitalize moral behavior. Now in this luminous new translation, renowned China scholars Roger T. Ames and David L. Hall bring the timeless wisdom of the Dao de jing into our contemporary world.In this elegant volume, Ames and Hall feature the original Chinese texts of the Dao de jing and translate them into crisp, chiseled English that reads like poetry. Each of the eighty-one brief chapters is followed by clear, thought-provoking commentary exploring the layers of meaning in the text. This new version of one of the world’s most influential documents will stand as both a compelling introduction to Daoist thought and as the classic modern English translation.

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Book SynopsisMartin Heidegger is among the most important philosophers of the Twentieth Century. Within the continental tradition, almost every great figure has been deeply influenced by his work. For this reason, a full understanding of the course of modern philosophy is impossible without at least a basic grasp of Heidegger.Trade Review"Spinoza makes a very interesting distinction between the easy and the simple. Contrarily to easiness, simplicity is not the opposite of difficulty, but appears as its very expression. The most beautiful expression of the difficult is the simple. Braver's book is precisely simple in that sense. It presents Heideggerian thought in all its complexity in the most accessible and engaging way, so that it can speak to all. A phenomenal achievement."Catherine Malabou, Kingston University"Leave it to Lee Braver to give us an overview of Heidegger's thought that is both entertaining and consistently insightful. The conversational tone of his commentary is engaging, while each page reveals a lifetime of careful thought about Heidegger. This is the best general introduction to Heidegger for students and non-specialists I have seen in decades."Charles Guignon, University of South FloridaTable of ContentsAcknowledgments ix Abbreviations x Introduction: An Initial Orientation 1 Part I Being and Time 7 1 Introduction to Being and Time 9 2 Being and Time 1.I–IV: Being-in and the World 22 3 Being and Time 1.V–VI: The There and Care 49 4 Being and Time 2.I–III. 64: Authenticity 76 5 Being and Time 2.III. 65–VI: Temporality as the Meaning of Existence 98 6 Being and Time: Conclusion 126 Part II Later Heidegger 133 7 Introduction to the Later Heidegger 135 8 History, Nazism, the History of Being and of its Forgetting 140 9 Descartes, Thinking, and Free Will 157 10 Gratitude, Language, and Art 177 11 Technology, Nietzsche, and Nihilism 194 Conclusion: Influences, Developments, and Criticisms 207 Notes 214 References 223 Index 231

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsPrefaceI. Symbols and the Interpretation of the African PastII. Which Idea of Africa?III. The Power of the Greek ParadigmIV. Domestication and the Conflict of MemoriesV. ReprendreCodaBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisAlbert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre first met in 1943, during the German occupation of France. Intellectual as well as political allies, they grew famous overnight after Paris was liberated.Trade Review"With meticulous even-handedness, this internationally renowned Sartre expert has produced a remarkably non-partisan account which also reminds us that it is possible to combine the highest level of scholarship with a lively and readable style of writing.... An important contribution to twentieth-century intellectual and cultural history." - David Drake, Times Literary Supplement; "Aronson's literary acuity combined with an entertaining use of anecdotes on social and personal jealousies Sartre and Camus harbored make the book a useful biographical background to the major works of these authors and a most enjoyable tale of the turmoil of intellectual life in postwar France." - Publishers Weekly; "A masterful synthesis of intellectual history, political context, and biographical narrative.... A book that will reward both those unfamiliar with either thinker and the expert It will doubtless be the standard account of the Sartre-Camus debate for a long time to come." - Scott McLemee, Bookforum"

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Book SynopsisDieter Henrich's lectures on German idealism were the first contact a major German philosopher had made with an American audience since the onset of World War II. They remain one of the most eloquent interpretations of the central philosophical tradition of Germany and the way in which it relates to the concerns of contemporary philosophy.Trade ReviewBelong[s] in the library of every serious student of German idealism. With this volume, Henrich has made a sophisticated, original, and altogether welcome contribution to the interpretation of philosophy between Kant and Hegel. -- Daniel Breazeale * Journal of the History of Philosophy *Dieter Henrich’s Between Kant and Hegel is one of those rare scholarly works by which others are, and will be, judged, just as Henrich’s scholarship more generally provides a standard by which others in the area of German Idealism have been judged for no less than thirty years. -- Garth W. Green * Review of Metaphysics *These are excellent lectures and make a valuable and exciting book. Henrich certainly gives a better introduction to the philosophizing that took place between Kant and Hegel than any other that I know of. He wants to show that the positions of Kant, Fichte, and Hegel each represent an option that is still open for live philosophical debate. Can there be a single-track systematic philosophy encompassing nature as well as mind? Dieter Henrich shows how this develops into a wide-ranging problem, allowing both for criticism of Kant and for constructive moves made after the criticisms are taken into account. He thus tries to show us argumentative steps by which one might proceed from a Kantian position to a Fichtean and then on to an Hegelian view. These lectures were given in 1973. Much has been done in English on Hegel since then, but relatively little on the ‘between’ period which Dieter Henrich addresses. This is not an ordinary textbook. It’s very much infused with Dieter Henrich’s own philosophical views. The topics and people Dieter Henrich discusses he really illuminates, both in terms of the historical context and in terms of the soundness or lack of it of the philosophy he is discussing. He is himself deeply inside that tradition, yet knows enough about the work of those outside it to make quite comprehensible to the outsiders what it’s like on the inside. -- J. B. Schneewind, Professor of Philosophy, Johns Hopkins UniversityTable of ContentsPreface Foreword: Remembrance through Disenchantment by David S. Pacini Acknowledgments A Note on the Texts 1. Introduction I. The Systematic Structure of Kant's Philosophy 2. Internal Experience and Philosophical Theory 3. Sensation, Cognition, and the "Riddle of Metaphysics" 4. Freedom as the "Keystone" to the Vault of Reason II. Kant's Early Critics 5. The Allure of "Mysticism" 6. Jacobi and the "Spinozism of Freedom" 7. Jacobi and the Philosophy of Immediacy 8. Reinhold and the Systematic Spirit 9. Reinhold and "Elementary Philosophy" 10. Schulze and Post-Kantian Skepticism III. Fichte 11. The Aenesidemus Review 12. "Own Meditations on Elementary Philosophy," I 13. "Own Meditations on Philosophy," II 14. The Science of Knowledge (1794) 15. Theories of Imagination and Longing and Their Impact on Schlegel, Novalis, and Holderlin 16. Foundation and System in The Science of Knowledge 17. The Paradoxical Character of the Self-Relatedness of Consciousness 18. The Turn to Speculative Theology IV. Holderlin 19. The Place of Holderlin's "Judgment and Being" V. Hegel 20. The Way to the Fifth Philosophy (The Science of Logic) 21. The Logic of Negation and Its Application Index

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Book SynopsisIn this thoroughly revised and updated second edition of the highly successful Ecological Ethics, Patrick Curry shows that a new and truly ecological ethic is both possible and urgently needed. With this distinctive proposition in mind, Curry introduces and discusses all the major concepts needed to understand the full range of ecological ethics. He discusses light green or anthropocentric ethics with the examples of stewardship, lifeboat ethics, and social ecology; the mid-green or intermediate ethics of animal liberation/rights; and dark or deep green ecocentric ethics. Particular attention is given to the Land Ethic, the Gaia Hypothesis and Deep Ecology and its offshoots: Deep Green Theory, Left Biocentrism and the Earth Manifesto. Ecofeminism is also considered and attention is paid to the close relationship between ecocentrism and virtue ethics. Other chapters discuss green ethics as post-secular, moral pluralism and pragmatism, green citizenship, and human populaTrade Review"This significantly expanded second edition is indispensable." Times Higher Education "A beautifully written account which is immensely satisfying and informative to read. I have seldom read better."LSE Politics Blog"A must read - not only for greenies, but especially for the lay person seeking more information on the subject, both from a theoretical and from a practical point of view."Ethical Perspectives"It is easy to see why Curry's book is highly relevant to the modern environmentalist. His writing is accessible and his voice doesn't get in the way of the big topics he covers. Such clarity of expression is of great importance for a book that possesses such intellectual vigour. Moreover, such an approach means this can be read and understood not by academics alone but by anyone wishing to better understand their own reactions to environmental dilemmas as well as other people's."The Ecologist "Contributes both an original perspective to the field of environmental philosophy and an accessible comprehensive introductory text for undergraduates."Newsletter of the International Society for Environmental Ethics"Curry's book is a significant contribution, and it is wholeheartedly recommended for those who are interested in building a better world."Mother Pelican "A profoundly useful and informative guide." Morning Star "Ecological Ethics is the best practical introduction to the role of philosophy in understanding the greatest environmental challenges of our time. Everyone who wants to make a difference should read it." David Rothenberg, New Jersey Institute of Technology and author of Survival of the Beautiful and Why Birds Sing "An excellent introduction to the different schools of ecological ethics, and as importantly, a strong defense of why a deep-green (or ecocentric) ethics represents the future of ethics if we humans wish to sustain a viable civilization on planet Earth."Erik Assadourian, Senior Fellow and Director of the Transforming Cultures Project, Worldwatch Institute "Curry is one of the most creative and important new voices in post-secular, or animistic, environmental ethics." David Keller, Utah Valley UniversityTable of ContentsAcknowledgements 1 Introduction This Book An Initial Example Looking Ahead Value and Nature Ethics and Grub What's New? Transparency and Responsibility 2 The Earth in Crisis The Signs Analysing Ecocrisis Science and Technology 3 Ethics What is Ethics? Realism vs. Relativism The Naturalistic Fallacy Religious Ethics Secular Ethics 4 Three Schools of Ethics Deontology ('Rights') Consequentialism ('Effects') Virtue Ethics A Green Virtue Ethic 5 Value Some Issues Anthropocentrism Ecocentrism 6 Light Green or Shallow (Anthropocentric) Ethics What is a Light Green Ethic? Environmentalism Lifeboat Ethics 7 Mid-Green or Intermediate Ethics Animal Liberation Animal Rights Biocentrism Animals and Us Wild Animals Domestic Animals On (Not) Eating Animals: the Options 8 Dark Green or Deep (Ecocentric) Ethics A Suggested DeÞnition The Land Ethic Gaia Theory Deep Ecology Deep Green Theory Left Biocentrism Ecocentrism and the Left The Earth Manifesto 9 Ecofeminism 10 Deep Green Ethics as Post-Secular Dogmatic Secularism An Ecocentric Spirituality Animism Green Buddhism? 11 Moral Pluralism and Pragmatism The Poverty of Monism The Consequences of Pluralism Multicentrism 12 Green Citizenship and Education Making it Real A Long Revolution? Ecological Education Traditional Ecological Knowledge Ecological Republicanism A Note on Wisdom 13 Grounding Ecological Ethics The Food System On Malthus Climate Change Wind Power and Energy Nuclear Energy Geo-engineering Carbon Trading and Ecosystem Services: the New Gods of the Market Sustainability The Limits to Growth A Left Ecocentric Guide to Capitalism Alternatives Movements in the Right Direction 14 Human Overpopulation The Problem Analysing Overpopulation Taking on the Arguments about Overpopulation Climate Change Again Overpopulation and Ecocentrism 15 Postscript Notes References Index

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Book SynopsisJurgen Habermas , wrote the American philosopher Ronald Dworkin on the occasion of the great European thinker s eightieth birthday, is not only the world s most famous living philosopher. Even his fame is famous.Trade Review"This [book] makes for fascinating reading" The Guardian "Habermas is a biography of an accomplished living intellectual whose audience is extended much beyond the academic world. Stefan Müller-Doohm is a perfect storyteller and he tells the story of Habermas in such a way that you will not be able to put it down before you finish it. Nobody knows the art of biography better than Müller-Doohm."The Washington Book Review "Few would contest the verdict that Habermas has achieved—in both his philosophical work and in his role as a public intellectual—a place of enduring significance that surpasses that of any other thinker in our time. The definitive new biography by Stefan Müller-Doohm… lays out the evidence for this conclusion with great care and enormous sympathy for its protagonist." The Nation "Heidegger’s lapidary biographical summation, “The man was born, he worked, and then died,” may have been appropriate for Aristotle, but is woefully inadequate for the philosopher who is arguably our era’s version of the great Greek polymath, Jürgen Habermas. For not only is he still very much alive and producing new work at a vigorous pace, but it is also the case that his voluminous contributions to philosophy, sociology, political theory, and cultural criticism demand to be read in the context of his remarkable career as a committed public intellectual. As his masterful biography of Adorno already demonstrated, Stefan Müller-Doohm shows himself to be fully up to the task of discerning figures in the intricately woven carpet of a major thinker’s life and work."Martin Jay, University of California Berkeley"Habermas was and is an exemplary intellectual… he was a Berliner, soberly mindful of the weight of the old world, hopeful for the prospects of the new. This book is a monument to this challenge, and to his commitment."The AustralianTable of Contents Table of Contents Acknowledgements Preface Prologue: The Other among his Peers Part I: Catastrophe and Emancipation Chapter 1: Disaster Years as Normality. Childhood and Youth in Gummersbach Born in 1929 Turning point: 1945 Chapter 2: At University in Göttingen, Zurich and Bonn Doctorate on the philosophy of Schelling Speaking out as a freelance journalist The beginnings of a career as a public intellectual Part II: Politics and Critique Chapter 3: Education intellectuelle in Café Marx Mutual trust between Habermas and the Adornos Horkheimer’s animosities towards the ‘dialectical Mr H.’ The ‘most promising intellectual’ Chapter 4: Under the Aegis of Conflicting Personalities: Abendroth and Gadamer A man of the democratic left Positions in the dispute over the right form of critique and good politics Chapter 5: Back in Frankfurt. Torn between Academic Work and Political Practice In search of an epistemological foundation for critique Thinking with the protest movement against the protest movement In the line of fire from his own side A new track in philosophical thought Chapter 6: In the Ivory Tower of Social Scientific Research Between Academic Management and Research A theory about the impossibility of not learning The minefield of political interpretations in the ‘German Autumn’ Resignation Part III: Science and Commitment Chapter 7: Genius Loci: In Frankfurt for the Third Time The major work The theory of action System and lifeworld Everyday life in Frankfurt Chapter 8: New Projects Under the spell of the philosophy of law Morality and law Chapter 9: Battles over the Politics of Ideas Opinion leader of the new left? The historians’ debate Habermas as a sceptic towards reunification Chapter 10: Against Germanomania and Nationalism Habermas’s ambiguous attitude towards military interventions The Asylum Debate A memorial to the murdered Jews Part IV: Cosmopolitan Society and Justice Chapter 11: Critique as a Vocation. The Transition into the Third Millennium A plea for freedom of the will and the inviolability of the person The philosopher as globetrotter Many honours and an affair Chapter 12: The Taming of Capitalism and the Democratization of Europe Democratic politics Ð a counterbalance to capitalism? European integration On the way to a democratically constituted world order Chapter 13: Philosophy in the Age of Postmetaphysical Modernity What can I know? - Linguistic pragmatics as a form of naturalism and realism What should I do? From the demand of virtue to the assumption of rationality What may I hope? Religion in a post-secular society What is Man? Language and Intersubjectivity Chapter 14: Books at an Exhibition Consciousness-Raising and Rescuing Critique Epilogue: The Inner Compass Notes Appendix Genealogy Chronology List of Habermas’s lectures and seminars Bibliography List of archives Illustration credits Index

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Trade Review'Joel Feinberg is a political and social philosopher of major importance ... Virtually everyone who has written about legal and moral responsibility during the past fifteen years owes him a considerable debt.' Harvard Law ReviewTable of ContentsGeneral Introduction: The Basic Question of the Book * The Concept of Moral Legitimacy * The Idea of a Liberty-Limiting Prinviple * Commonly Proposed Liberty-Limiting Principles * Liberalism * Methodology * Primary and Derrivative Crimes * Alternatives to the Criminal Law * Skepticism: VOLUME ONE: HARM TO OTHERS I Harms as Setbacks to Interest: Meaning of "Harm" * Welfare Interests and Ulterior Interests * Interests and Wants * Harms, Hurts, and Offenses * The Manner in which Acts and Other Events Affect Interests When They Do Harm * The Concept of an Interest Network * Legally Protectable Interests *: II Puzzling Cases: Moral Harm * Other-Regarding Interests and Vicarious Harms * Death and Posthumous Harms * Surviving Interests * The Proper Subject of Surviving Interests * Doomed Interest and the Dating of Harm * A Note on Posthumous Wrongs * Birth and Prenatal Harms *: III Harming as Wronging: The Verbal Forms: To Harm and to Wrong * Harming and Injuring * Moral Indefensibility * Harming as Right-Violating * Harm and Consent: the Volenti maxim * The Concept of a Victim * The "Casual Component" in Harming *: IV Failing to Prevent Harm: East Rescue and the Bad Samaritan * The Confusion of Active Aid with Gratuitous Benefit * Lord macauley's Line-Drawing Problem * Omissions an Other Inactions * Are Legal Duties to Rescue Undue Interference with Liberty? * The Moral Significance of Causation * The Consequences of Omissions * The Exclusion of Causally Irrelevant Necessary Conditions * Summary *: V Assessing and Comparing Harms: Mediating Maxims for the Application of the Harm Principle * The Magnitude of the Harm * The Probability of the Harm * Aggregative Harms * Statistical Discrimination and the Net Reductiom of Harm * The Relative Importance of the Harm * The Interest in Liberty on the Scales * Summary of Restrictions on the Harm Principle *: VI Fairly Imputing Harms: Comparative Interests * Harm to Public Interests * Accumulative Harms * Environmental Pollution as a Public Accumulative Harm * Imitative Harms * Summary of Additional Restrictions to the Harm Principle *: Notes * Index

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Book SynopsisA study of Aristotle, providing an understanding of the Greek philosopher, and expressing Aquinas's own views on philosophical issues. Robert Pasnau includes an introduction and notes to clarify difficult points and set the context, as well as a medieval translation of "De Anima".

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Book SynopsisThe remarkable best-seller -- a long-lost, 300-year-old book of wisdom on how to live successfully yet responsibly in a society governed by self-interest -- as acute as Machiavelli yet as humanistic and scrupulously moral as Marcus Aurelius.

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Book SynopsisThis is Philosophy of Mind presents students of philosophy with an accessible introduction to the core issues related to the philosophy of mind. Includes issues related to the mind-body problem, artificial intelligence, free will, the nature of consciousness, and more Written to be accessible to philosophy students early in their studies Features supplemental online resources on https://www.wiley.com/en-us/thisisphilosophy/thisisphilosophyofmindanintroduction and a frequently updated companion blog, at http://tipom.blogspot.com Table of ContentsHow to Use This Book xv Acknowledgments xvii 1 Meet Your Mind 1 Aspects of Mind 1 Thought and experience 1 Conscious and unconscious 2 Qualia 3 Sensory perception 3 Emotion 4 Imagery 4 Will and action 5 Self 5 Propositional attitudes 5 Philosophical Problems 6 Mind–body problem 7 Other problems 9 Conclusion 14 Annotated Bibliography 14 2 Substance Dualism 15 Arguments for Substance Dualism 15 Leibniz’s law arguments 16 Criticism of Leibniz’s law arguments: Intensional fallacy 19 Explanatory gap arguments 20 Criticisms of explanatory gap arguments 21 Modal arguments 22 Criticism of the modal arguments: Does conceivability eally entail possibility? 23 Mind–Body Interaction as a Problem for Substance Dualism 24 Princess Elisabeth’s objection 25 The dualistic alternatives to Cartesian interactionism 26 Conclusion 27 Annotated Bibliography 28 3 Property Dualism 29 Introducing Property Dualism: Qualia and the Brain 29 The Inverted Spectrum 30 Attack of the Zombies 32 The Knowledge Argument 34 The Explanatory Gap Argument 37 Does Property Dualism Lead to Epiphenomenalism? 39 How Do You Know You’re Not a Zombie? 41 Conclusion 42 Annotated Bibliography 42 4 Idealism, Solipsism, and Panpsychism 45 Solipsism: Is It Just Me? 46 Idealism: It’s All in the Mind 50 Berkeley’s argument from pain 51 Berkeley’s argument from perceptual relativity: Berkeley’s bucket 51 Berkeley’s “Nothing but an idea can resemble an idea” 52 Berkeley’s master argument 52 Why Berkeley is not a solipsist 53 Arguing against idealism 53 Panpsychism: Mind Is Everywhere 54 The analogy argument 55 The nothing from nothing argument 56 The evolutionary argument 57 Arguing against panpsychism: The combination problem 57 Conclusion 58 Annotated Bibliography 59 5 Behaviorism and Other Minds 61 Behaviorism: Introduction and Overview 61 The History of Behaviorism 63 Ludwig Wittgenstein and the private language argument 64 Gilbert Ryle versus the ghost in the machine 66 Objections to Behaviorism 67 The qualia objection 67 Sellars’s objection 68 The Geach–Chisholm objection 69 The Philosophical Problem of Other Minds 70 The rise and fall of the argument from analogy 71 Denying the asymmetry between self-knowledge and knowledge of other minds 72 Conclusion 73 Annotated Bibliography 74 6 Mind as Brain 77 Introducing Mind–Brain Identity Theory 77 Advantages of Mind–Brain Identity Theory 78 A Very Brief Overview of Neuroscience 79 Major parts and functions of the nervous system 80 Major parts and functions of the brain 80 Neurons, neural activations, and brain states 81 Lesions, imaging, and electrophysiology 81 Localism and holism 81 Learning and synaptic plasticity 82 Computational neuroscience and connectionism 82 Neural correlates of consciousness 83 On pain and c-fi bers 83 Some General Remarks about Identity 84 Arguments against Mind–Brain Identity Theory 86 The zombie argument 86 The multiple realizability argument 87 Max Black’s “distinct property” argument 89 Conclusion 90 Annotated Bibliography 91 7 Thinking Machines 93 Can a Machine Think? 93 Alan Turing, Turing Machines, and the Turing Test 94 Alan Turing 95 Turing machines 95 The Turing test 96 Searle’s Chinese Room Argument 97 Responses to the Chinese Room Argument 98 The Silicon Chip Replacement Thought Experiment 99 Symbolicism versus Connectionism 102 Conclusion 105 Annotated Bibliography 106 8 Functionalism 109 The Gist of Functionalism 109 A Brief History of Functionalism 111 Arguments for Functionalism 112 The causal argument 112 The multiple realization argument 114 The Varieties of Functionalism 117 Turing machine functionalism 117 Analytic functionalism versus empirical functionalism 118 Arguments against Functionalism 119 Adapting the zombie argument to be against functionalism 120 Adapting the Chinese room argument to be against functionalism 121 Conclusion 122 Annotated Bibliography 122 9 Mental Causation 123 The Problem of Mental Causation 123 The causal closure of the physical 124 The problem for substance dualists 126 The problem for property dualists 126 Basic Views of Interaction 127 Interactionism 127 Parallelism 128 Epiphenomenalism 129 Reductionism 130 Qualia and Epiphenomenalism 130 Whether qualia-based epiphenomenalism conflicts with phenomenal self-knowledge 131 Dennett’s zimboes 131 Anomalous Monism 132 The Explanatory Exclusion Argument 136 Conclusion 137 Annotated Bibliography 137 10 Eliminative Materialism 139 Introduction and Overview 139 Basic Ingredients of Contemporary Eliminative Materialism 140 Folk psychology as a theory 141 The contrast between reduction and elimination 142 Putting the ingredients together 143 Arguments for Propositional Attitude Eliminative Materialism 143 Folk psychology is a stagnant research program 144 Folk psychology is committed to propositional attitudes having a sentential structure that is unsupported by neuroscientific research 144 Folk psychology makes commitments to features of mental states that lead to an unacceptable epiphenomenalism 145 Arguments against Propositional Attitude Eliminative Materialism 145 Eliminative materialism is self-refuting 146 The “theory” theory is false 146 Folk psychology is indispensable 147 Introspection reveals the existence of propositional attitudes 148 Qualia Eliminative Materialism: “Quining” Qualia 149 Conclusion 152 Annotated Bibliography 153 11 Perception, Mental Imagery, and Emotion 155 Perception 155 Direct realism and the argument from illusion 155 Philosophical theories of perception 158 Mental Imagery 161 How similar are mental images to other mental states? 162 Is mental imagery the basis for mental states such as thoughts? 163 To what degree, if any, is mental imagery genuinely imagistic or picture-like? 163 Emotion 165 What distinguishes emotions from other mental states? 166 What distinguishes different emotions from each other? 167 The difficulties in giving a unifi ed account of the emotions 167 Conclusion 168 Annotated Bibliography 168 12 The Will: Willpower and Freedom 171 The Problem of Free Will and Determinism 171 Sources of Determinism 173 General remarks 173 Physical determinism 174 Theological determinism 175 Logical determinism 175 Ethical determinism 176 Psychological determinism 176 Compatibilism 177 Incompatibilism 178 The origination or causal chain argument 179 The consequence argument 180 What Might Free Will Be, If There Were Any Such Thing? 181 Freedom aside for the moment, what is the will? 181 What might the freedom of the will consist in? 183 Conclusion 185 Annotated Bibliography 185 13 Intentionality and Mental Representation 187 Introducing Intentionality 187 The Inconsistent Triad of Intentionality 188 Defending each individual proposition 189 Spelling out the inconsistency 190 Internalism versus Externalism 190 For externalism: The Twin Earth thought experiment 192 Against externalism: Swampman and the brain in the vat 193 Theories of Content Determination 194 Resemblance theory 194 Interpretational semantics 195 Conceptual role semantics 196 Causal or informational theory 198 Teleological evolutionary theory 199 Conclusion 200 Annotated Bibliography 200 14 Consciousness and Qualia 203 Optimism about Explaining Consciousness 203 Focusing on Several Different Uses of the Word “Conscious” 204 Creature consciousness 204 Transitive consciousness 204 State consciousness 205 Phenomenal consciousness 205 Rosenthal’s Higher Order Thought Theory of Consciousness 206 An objection to the HOT theory: Introspectively implausible 209 Another objection to the HOT theory: Too intellectual 209 First Order Representation Theories of Consciousness 211 The transparency argument for first order representationalism 213 The “Spot” argument for fi rst order representationalism 214 Conclusion 214 Annotated Bibliography 215 15 Is This the End? Personal Identity, the Self, and Life after Death 217 Problems of Personal Identity 217 The Problem of Persistence 219 Approaches to the Problem of Persistence 220 The psychological approach 220 The fission problem for the psychological approach 221 The somatic or bodily approach 222 Temporal parts theory aka perdurantism aka four-dimensionalism 224 The no-self view 225 Life after Death 227 Substance dualism and the afterlife 228 Mind–brain identity theory and the afterlife 228 Functionalism and the afterlife 229 Temporal parts and the afterlife 229 No-self and the afterlife 230 Conclusion 230 Annotated Bibliography 230 Index 233

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Book SynopsisA philosophical exploration of J.R.R. Tolkien''s beloved classicjust in time for the December 2012 release of Peter Jackson''s new film adaptation, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey J.R.R. Tolkien''s The Hobbit is one of the best-loved fantasy books of all time and the enchanting prequel to The Lord of the Rings. With the help of some of history''s great philosophers, this book ponders a host of deep questions raised in this timeless tale, such as: Are adventures simply nasty, disturbing, uncomfortable things that make you late for dinner, or are they exciting and potentially life-changing events? What duties do friends have to one another? Should mercy be extended even to those who deserve to die? Gives you new insights into The Hobbit''s central characters, including Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf, Gollum, and Thorin and their exploits, from the Shire through Mirkwood to the Lonely Mountain Explores key questions about TheTrade Review"The value in this approach, of course, is that these essays are simple; they are incredibly short (each runs about five pages), and they are clear and accessible." (Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, 1 February 2015) "Gregory Bassham and Eric Bronson's anthology of essays, 'The Hobbit and Philosophy', may have an overblown title, but the authors do a good job of focusing on themes like possessiveness, providence and free will, courage and decision-making." (The Times Literary Supplement, 21 December 2012) Table of ContentsACKNOWLEDGMENTS: Thag You Very Buch x Introduction: Never Laugh at Live Philosophers 1 Gregory Bassham and Eric Bronson PART ONE DISCOVER YOUR INNER TOOK 1 The Adventurous Hobbit 7 Gregory Bassham 2 “The Road Goes Ever On and On”: A Hobbit’s Tao 20 Michael C. Brannigan 3 Big Hairy Feet: A Hobbit’s Guide to Enlightenment 32 Eric Bronson 4 Bilbo Baggins: The Cosmopolitan Hobbit 45 Dennis Knepp PART TWO THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE SLIMY 5 The Glory of Bilbo Baggins 61 Charles Taliaferro and Craig Lindahl-Urben 6 Pride and Humility in The Hobbit 74 Laura Garcia 7 “My Precious”: Tolkien on the Perils of Possessiveness 90 Anna Minore and Gregory Bassham 8 Tolkien’s Just War 103 David Kyle Johnson 9 “Pretty Fair Nonsense”: Art and Beauty in The Hobbit 118 Philip Tallon 10 Hobbitus Ludens: Why Hobbits Like to Play and Why We Should, Too 129 David L. O’Hara PART THREE RIDDLES AND RINGS 11 “The Lord of Magic and Machines”: Tolkien on Magic and Technology 147 W. Christopher Stewart 12 Inside The Hobbit: Bilbo Baggins and the Paradox of Fiction 161 Amy Kind 13 Philosophy in the Dark: The Hobbit and Hermeneutics 176 Tom Grimwood PART FOUR BEING THERE AND BACK AGAIN 14 Some Hobbits Have All the Luck 193 Randall M. Jensen 15 The Consolation of Bilbo: Providence and Free Will in Middle-Earth 206 Grant Sterling 16 Out of the Frying Pan: Courage and Decision Making in Wilderland 218 Jamie Carlin Watson 17 There and Back Again: A Song of Innocence and Experience 235 Joe Kraus CONTRIBUTORS: Our Most Excellent and Audacious Contributors 251 INDEX: The Moon Letters 257

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Book SynopsisInterlacing the life and work of the seminal 20th century philosopher, Hannah Arendt, this biography explores her critique of Saint Augustine and her biographical essay on Rahel Varnhagen. It also accentuates Arendt's commitment to recounting lives and narration and reflects on her perspective on Judaism, anti-Semitism and the "banality of evil."Trade ReviewThe portrait that emerges is quirky, intentionally subjective, and finely detailed. Kirkus Reviews An elegant, sophisticated biography replete with powerful psychoanalytic insight. Political Theory.OrgTable of ContentsBibliography Notes Female Genius: General Introduction A Biography "So Exposed" Chapter 1: Life as a Narrative Love According to Saint Augustine Chapter 2: Superfluous Humanity The Meaning of an Example: Rahel Varnhagen Chapter 3: Thinking, Willing, and Judging Arendt and Aristotle: A Defense of Narration The Tale of the Twentieth Century To Be Jewish Among the Elements in the Structure The Example of France What Is Modern Anti-Semitism? Imperialism... and Totalitarianism The Banality of Evil Faith and Revolution... in Society, That Sanctified Hearth The "Who" and the Body The Dialogue of the Thinking Ego: The "Split," Melancholy, Tyranny From the Interior Man to the Violence of the Life Process The Taste of the Spectator: Toward a Political Philosophy Judgment: Between Forgiveness and Promise

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Book SynopsisAn unauthorised look at the philosophical issues raised in the Emmy Award-winning TV drama, House House is one of the top three television dramas on the air, pulling in more than 19 million viewers for each episode. House and Philosophy takes a deeper look at the issues it raises offering answers to the ethical questions viewers have about Dr.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments: What? You Want Me to Thank You? ix Introduction: Read Less, More TV: A Cranky, Slightly Rude Introduction 1 Henry Jacoby Part One “Humanity Is Overrated”: House on Life 1 Selfish, Base Animals Crawling Across the Earth: House and the Meaning of Life 5 Henry Jacoby 2 House and Sartre: “Hell Is Other People” 17 Jennifer L. McMahon 3 Is There a Superman in the House?: A Nietzschean Point of View 30 David Goldblatt 4 House and Moral Luck 39 Jane Dryden Part Two “Welcome to the End of the Thought Process:” House’s Logic and Method 5 The Logic of Guesswork in Sherlock Holmes and House 55 Jerold J. Abrams 6 It Explains Everything! 71 Barbara Anne Stock 7 The Sound of One House Clapping: The Unmannerly Doctor as Zen Rhetorician 84 Jeffrey C. Ruff and Jeremy Barris 8 “Being Nice Is Overrated”: House and Socrates on the Necessity of Conflict 98 Melanie Frappier 9 Is There a Daoist in the House? 112 Peter Vernezze Part Three “It Is the Nature of Medicine That You Are Going to Screw Up”: House And Ethical Principles 10 “You Care for Everybody”: Cameron’s Ethics of Care 125 Renee Kyle 11 To Intubate or Not to Intubate: House’s Principles and Priorities 137 Barbara Anne Stock and Teresa Blankmeyer Burke 12 House and Medical Paternalism: “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” 150 Mark R. Wicclair 13 If the End Doesn’t Justify the Means, Then What Does? 164 Catherine Sartin 14 House vs. Tritter: On the Clash of Theoretical and Practical Authority 174 Kenneth Ehrenberg Part Four “The Drugs Don’t Make Me High, They Make Me Neutral”: Virtues And Character on House 15 House and the Virtue of Eccentricity 187 John R. Fitzpatrick 16 Love: The Only Risk House Can’t Take 198 Sara Protasi 17 A Prescription for Friendship 209 Sara Waller 18 Diagnosing Character: A House Divided? 222 Heather Battaly and Amy Coplan Contributors: Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital Staff 239 Index: Index of Differential Diagnoses 247

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Here is the first Kant-biography in English since Paulsen’s and Cassirer’s only full-scale study of Kant’s philosophy. On a very deep level, all of Cassirer’s philosophy was based on Kant’s, and accordingly this book is Cassirer’s explicit coming to terms with his own historical origins. It sensitively integrates interesting facts about Kant’s life with an appreciation and critique of his works. Its value is enhanced by Stephen Körner’s Introduction, which places Cassirer’s Kant-interpretation in its historical and contemporary context.”—Lewis White Beck“Kant’s Life and Thought is that rare achievement: a lucid and highly readable account of the life and work of one of the world’s profoundest thinkers. Now for the first time available in an admirable English translation, the book introduces the reader to two of the finest minds in the history of philosophy.”—Ashley Montagu

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Book SynopsisRethinking Pragmatism explores the work of the American Pragmatists, particularly James and Dewey, challenging entrenched views of their positions on truth, meaning, instrumentalism, realism, pluralism and religious beliefs. It clarifies pragmatic ideas and arguments spelling out the significant implications they have for present-day philosophical controversies. Explores the work of the American Pragmatists, especially James and Dewey, on the issues of truth, reference, meaning, instrumentalism, essences, realism, pluralism and religious beliefs. The only available publication to provide a detailed commentary on James''s book, Pragmatism, while exploring the implications of the American Pragmatists'' ideas and arguments for contemporary philosophical issues Challenges standard readings of the American Pragmatists'' positions in a way that illuminates and questions the assumptions underlying current discussions of these topics. Table of ContentsAcknowledgments viii Bibliographic Key ix Introduction 1 Background Themes 9 1 The Place of Values in Inquiry (Lecture I) 15 2 The Pragmatic Maxim and Pragmatic Instrumentalism (Lecture II) 31 3 Substance and Other Metaphysical Claims (Lecture III) 52 4 Materialism, Physicalism, and Reduction (Lecture IV) 67 5 Ontological Commitment and the Nature of the Real (Lecture V) 78 6 Pragmatic Semantics and Pragmatic Truth (Lecture VI) 92 7 Worldmaking (Lecture VII) 124 8 Belief, Hope, and Conjecture (Lecture VIII) 140 Bibliography 157 Index 163

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Book SynopsisA proof of a theorem can be said to be pure if it draws only on what is ''close'' or ''intrinsic'' to that theorem. In this Element we will investigate the apparent preference for pure proofs that has persisted in mathematics since antiquity, alongside a competing preference for impurity. In Section 1, we present two examples of purity, from geometry and number theory. In Section 2, we give a brief history of purity in mathematics. In Section 3, we discuss several different types of purity, based on different measures of distance between theorem and proof. In Section 4 we discuss reasons for preferring pure proofs, for the varieties of purity constraints presented in Section 3. In Section 5 we conclude by reflecting briefly on purity as a preference for the local and how issues of translation intersect with the considerations we have raised throughout this work.

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Book SynopsisWitchcraft is a subject that fascinates us all, and everyone knows what a witch is - or do they? From childhood most of us develop a sense of the mysterious, malign person, usually an old woman. Historically, too, we recognize witch-hunting as a feature of pre-modern societies. But why do witches still feature so heavily in our cultures and consciousness? From Halloween to superstitions, and literary references such as Faust and even Harry Potter, witches still feature heavily in our society. In this Very Short Introduction Malcolm Gaskill challenges all of this, and argues that what we think we know is, in fact, wrong. Taking a historical perspective from the ancient world to contemporary paganism, Gaskill reveals how witchcraft has meant different things to different people and that in every age it has raised questions about the distinction between fantasy and reality, faith and proof. Telling stories, delving into court records, and challenging myths, Gaskill examines the witch-hunts of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and explores the reinvention of witchcraft - as history, religion, fiction, and metaphor.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Trade ReviewThis pocket-book eloquently and clearly introduces and summarizes the theories and theorists of the historical study of witchcraft. His account is concise enough to stand alone, but also a great introduction to the work of other scholars in the field, with excellent recommended reading. * Journal of Folklore Research *Each chapter in this small but perfectly-formed book could be the jumping-off point for a year's stimulating reading. Buy it now. * Fortean Times *Table of Contents1. Fear ; 2. Heresy ; 3. Malice ; 4. Truth ; 5. Justice ; 6. Rage ; 7. Fantasy ; 8. Culture ; References ; Further Reading

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Book SynopsisCritics of intelligence tests have argued that these tests neglect important qualities such as emotion, empathy, and interpersonal skills. However, such critiques imply that though intelligence tests may miss certain key noncognitive areas, they encompass most of what is important in the cognitive domain. This book challenges this assumption.Trade Review“A compelling argument….What Intelligence Tests Miss illuminates the actions of everyone who affects our lives.”—Scientific American * Scientific American *“An original, well-supported, and brilliantly tied together book that reveals the misunderstood relationship between IQ, intelligence, and rationality.”—David Over, Durham University, Psychology Department -- David Over“In this compellingly readable book Keith Stanovich explains the bold claim that the notions of rationality and intelligence must be distinguished sharply and studied separately. His proposal would deeply change both the field of intelligence testing and the study of individual decision making—and he may well succeed.”—Daniel Kahneman, Princeton University, Nobel Laureate in Economics -- Daniel Kahneman“In this brilliant and entertaining book, Keith Stanovich shows that intelligence tests, though they have their uses, fail to assess the key components of rational thought and action.”—P. N. Johnson-Laird, author of How We Reason -- P. N. Johnson-Laird"Professor Stanovich has an unparalleled ability to synthesize results from diverse domains of cognitive science in a lively way that is tremendously useful to us non-specialists. This book is not about emotional or multiple intelligence; it's about intelligence in its most important practical dimensions."—E. D. Hirsch, Jr., author of The Knowledge Deficit and The Schools We Need -- E. D. Hirsch, Jr.“In this smart and rational book, Keith Stanovich explains the difference between intelligence and rationality. Stanovich, one of psychology’s wisest writers about intelligence, also shows that IQ tests do not measure the full scope of mental ability because they fail to assess rational thought, which is central to happiness and fulfillment. This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to know what makes us truly smart—and why smart people often behave irrationally.”—Carol Tavris, Ph.D., coauthor of Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me) : Why we justify foolish beliefs, bad decisions, and hurtful acts -- Carol Tavris, Ph.D."In this dazzling synthesis about how well and poorly people think and why, Keith Stanovich drives a wedge between intelligence and rationality. This book demonstrates compellingly how rationality is more than intelligence and how those who are intelligent can be dismayingly irrational."—David Perkins, author of The Eureka Effect -- David Perkins"Written for the intelligent lay reader as well as the scholar, the book is clear and lively. Scholars will find material on the intelligence-rationality relationship particularly valuable, and research psychologists should take seriously Stanovich's case for developing a standardized rationality quotient (RQ) test. . . . Essential."—B. J. Lovett, Choice -- B. J. Lovett * Choice *Winner of the 2010 Grawemeyer Award in Education, given by the University of Louisville -- Grawemeyer Award in Education * University of Louisville *Chosen as an Outstanding Academic Title for 2009 by Choice Magazine * Choice *Chosen as an Outstanding Academic Title for 2009 by Choice Magazine * Choice *

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Book SynopsisThe orderliness of the universe and the existence of human beings already provides some reason for believing that there is a God - as argued in Richard Swinburne''s earlier book Is There a God ? Swinburne now claims that it is probable that the main Christian doctrines about the nature of God and his actions in the world are true. In virtue of his omnipotence and perfect goodness, God must be a Trinity, live a human life in order to share our suffering, and found a church which would enable him to tell all humans about this. It is also quite probable that he would provide his human life as an atonement for our wrongdoing, teach us how we should live and tell us his plans for our future after death. Among founders of religions, Jesus satisfies uniquely well the requirement of living the sort of human life which God would need to have lived. But to give us adequate reason to believe that Jesus was God, God would need to put his ''signature'' on the life of Jesus by an act which he alone Trade ReviewReview from previous edition Richard Swinburne, the former Nolloth Professor at Oxford, adroitly marshals the evidences of natural theology to affirm the cogency of the Christian faith... Was Jesus God? is an entertaining, bracing, compelling book and welcome proof that not all of our academics have turned their backs on what Hopkins once called 'the fine delight that fathers thought. * Edward Short, Inside Catholic *Table of ContentsPART 1 GOD LOVES US; PART 2 GOD SHOWS US THAT HE LOVES US

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Book SynopsisHow the purposive behavior of living systems outstrips the constraints of the free energy principle.Since 2005, Karl Friston’s proposal that the principle of free energy minimization underpins the purposive behavior of living agents has evolved through thousands of publications. This principle’s central move is to formalize the drive for self-preservation in terms of a single probabilistic imperative: to survive, a living system must consistently exhibit the same “most likely” pattern of activity over time. Despite the simplicity of this central claim, the free energy principle’s complexity and rate of development have previously made it difficult to identify and evaluate. In A Drive to Survive, Kathryn Nave offers an extended critical analysis of the strengths and limitations of Friston’s proposal.Nave shows that the free energy principle’s capacity to account for the biological origins of purposiveness is undermi

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Book SynopsisA thorough examination of the manner in which three of the most unsettling modern writers-Aragon, Sartre, and Barthes-affirm their personal rebellion followed by Kristeva's own ideas on the future of rebellion.Trade ReviewKristeva... follows up The Sense and Non-Sense of Revolt with this important, interdisciplinary tour de force. Library Journal The reader will encounter in these pages the literary music of allusive, profound passages that uniquely characterize the expression of Kristeva's thoughts. Choice Kristeva's work is an intricate mix of cultural criticism and psychoanalysis... Kristeva's call to return to the intimate is salutory in a world given over to the dictates of production and consumption alone. The comments on patriotism, nationalism, hospitality and cosmopolitanism are politically astute and ethically humanist. -- Pramod K. Nayar Philosophy in ReviewTable of ContentsChapter 1. What Revolt Today? The Dignity of Revolt (The Novel) Man in Revolt (Retrospective Return) Revolt as Jouissance and Dispersion (Psychoanalysis) Negativity in Revolt (Philosophy and...Freud) Paradoxical Logics (Resistances to Psychoanalysis) Intimacy in Revolt (The Imaginary) Chapter 2. Can Forgiveness Heal? The Trilogy of Evil Donation or Sadness The Consciousness of Fault (Heidegger and Freud) Against Guilt: Rebirth The Poiesis of Interpretation Depression at the Edge of Words (the Story of Anne) Chapter 3. The Scandal of the Timeless Psychoanalysis is not Intersubjectivity The Subversion of Temporality The Freudian Scandal Three Figures of the Analytical Timeless: 1. The Memory-Trace (Erinnerungsspur or Errinnerungrest), Working-through (Durcharbeitung), The Dissolution of Transference-Homo natura and Homo analyticus Chapter 4. The Intimate: from Sense to the Sensible (Logics, Jouissance, Style) Once more, On the Soul (organic, animal, general) Images, loquela, Jouissance (Augustine, Loyola, Sade) Psychical Life as Jouissance Science and Experience: Counter-transference The Taste for the Singular Life (Style) Plato's Cave Hides a Sensory Cave The "Second Dwelling" (Proust's Dream) Writing, Therapy, Beauty Between word-signs and word fetishes: Interpretation Chapter 5. Fantasy and Cinema Organisms of Mixed Race (Didier, the Collages Man) Fear and Spectacular Seduction Fantasy and the Imaginary: The Specular The Representable Conflict Cinema and Evil Chapter 6. Barthes: The Savor of Disenchantment Iconoclasm A Position: Writing Against Modern Man in all his States: Vices and Affections Myth: A Type of Speech Chosen by History Chapter 7. Barthes: Constructor of Language, Constructor of the Sensory The Spiritual Exercises of Loyola Who is the Subject of this Polyphony? Images The loquela Indifference and Suspension Chapter 8. Barthes: The Intractable Lover Figures The Jardin du Luxembourg Abysses Outside Language Sensory vs. Sexual: The New Lovers N. W. P.: The Non-will-to-possess Chapter 9. Sartre: The Imaginary and Nothingness The Fatal Freedom of Consciousness Negativity, "I," "Bad Faith" What Transcendence? Who is of Bad Faith? or, Atheism The Realized Imaginary: The Totalizing Spectacle Chapter 10. Sartre: Freedom as Questioning Negation at its Origin Symbolic Castration: A Question (The Story of Martine) Before Judgment: Repulsion or Freedom? The Freudian Attempt to Articulate the Drive and the Symbol Childhood: Self-Destruction or the Power of Words: The Words Chapter 11. Sartre: Again, the Imaginary, Fantasy, Spectacle The Mental Image: Virtual Nonbelief The Consubstantiality of Image and Thought Lack or Lie? Body and Image: From Hallucination to Fantasy Back to the Unconscious Chapter 12. Giving the Game Away out of Anticipation From the Political to the Intimate, from the Feminine to the Impossible What's it about? Why "Blanche"? The Woman and the Linguist "Gaiffier! Gaiffier! Go back to your place. Where is he?" "And then I realized the trickery..." More on Communism and the Destiny of the Question

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThe Call of Character engages questions of perennial interest to philosophers, theorists, and all individuals, and Mari Ruti is perhaps uniquely qualified to write it. She has an uncanny ability to translate complex theoretical issues into clear and readable-yet not the least bit dumbed-down-prose. Her treatment of the timeless question (what makes for a good life?) is both original and insightful. I wholeheartedly recommend this book. -- Amy Allen, Dartmouth College This book will contribute powerfully to discussions of the self from a position both inside and outside the critical psychoanalytic discourse. -- Gail Newman, Williams College The Call of Character is expansively erudite yet plain-spoken, honest with a dazzling self-consciousness that situates itself historically in our present moment. Ruti's singular voice gives words to those necessary though often disavowed tensions of human life. I have already used insights from this book in my work with patients, to whom I have directly recommended Ruti's works before. She helps us to understand our private impediments that inherently obscure our relation to our own desires. The Call of Character should be read by academics, clinicians, and students, but most importantly by those who want to live with authentic vitality in a world that makes it seem difficult to do so. -- Joseph S. Reynoso, Ph.D., book review editor, Psychoanalytic Psychology Ruti's fabulous new book revels in the unanswerable mystery of the call of character-that aspect of ourselves that makes each of us unique, passionate, yet also perpetually dissatisfied and longing for more. In Ruti's hands, dissatisfaction at our incompleteness becomes not a reason for despair but a source of fascination and political possibility: a summons to pursue an erotics of being in the most mundane aspects of our everyday lives. -- Lynne Huffer, Emory UniversityTable of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments Part I. The Art of Self-Fashioning 1. The Call of Character 2. The Process of Becoming 3. The Specificity of Desire Part II. The Art of Self-Responsibility 4. The Blueprints of Behavior 5. The Alchemy of Relationality 6. The Ethics of Responsibility Part III. The Art of Self-Surrender 7. The Swerve of Passion 8. The Upside of Anxiety 9. The Erotics of Being Notes Index

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Book SynopsisIn the introduction to "The Second Sex", Simone de Beauvoir notes that "a man never begins by establishing himself as an individual of a certain sex: his being a man poses no problem." This book shows that Beauvoir's magnum opus constitutes a meditation on the relationship between women and philosophy that remains profoundly undervalued.Trade ReviewIn her concise but closely argued book, Bauer demonstrates the philosophical importance of Beauvoir's work, not only as foundational for contemporary feminism but as a major contribution to philosophy... A real must-have for libraries serving serious women's studies programs. Choice A powerfully argued, lucid and fascinating book which, as well as offering a timely reassessment of Beauvoir's thought, raises important questions for feminism about the most effective way to undermine masculine privilege. -- Lois McNay Times Literary Supplement A brilliant study of Simone de Beauvoir's masterpiece. -- Hilary Putnam Bauer's subtle and original elucidation of Beauvoir's philosophical relationship to Descartes, Hegel, and Sartre is a truly important contribution to the field of feminism and philosophy-and to feminist theory in general. -- Toril MoiTable of Contents1. Is Feminist Philosophy a Contradiction in Terms? First Philosophy, The Second Sex, and The Third Wave 2. I am a Woman, Therefrom I Think: The Second Sex and the Meditations Introduction: Recounting Women 5. Reading Beauvoir Reading Hegel: Pyrrhus et CinCas and the Ethics of Ambiguity 3. The Truth of Self-Certainty: A Rendering of Hegel's Master-Slave Dialectic 4. The Conditions of Hell: Sartre on Hegel 6. The Second Sex and the Master-Slave Dialectic 7. The Struggle for Self in The Second Sex

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Book SynopsisIn this engaging and wide-ranging new book, Nikk Effingham provides an introduction to contemporary ontology - the study of what exists - and its importance for philosophy today.Trade Review"An exciting, well-written, fun introduction to contemporary ontology."Choice Magazine"This is a delightful introduction, both to various ontological topics and to the general aims and methods of ontology itself. Effingham writes with an informal style and a lightness of touch that makes even the more esoteric and technical issues come alive, and the book is an instructive joy to read."Helen Beebee, University of Manchester"Nikk Effingham has done a terrific job - he provides fine, clear introductions to a range of important debates, woven through with methodological reflections, whilst his chatty, engaging style conveys the sheer pleasure of becoming an ontologist."Katherine Hawley, University of St AndrewsTable of Contents Acknowledgements Preface Chapter One: The Basics Chapter Two: Methodology Chapter Three: Properties Chapter Four: Numbers Chapter Five: Possible Worlds Chapter Six: Space Chapter Seven: Time Chapter Eight: Mereology Chapter Nine: Material Constitution Chapter Ten: Works of Music Bibliography

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Book SynopsisG W F Hegel (1770-1831), the influential German philosopher, believed that human history was advancing spiritually and morally according to God's purpose. This title notes the complex and controversial history of Hegel's text.Trade Review"Hegel's Geschichte der Philosophie was one of the grand products of the renaissance in historical learning that took place in early nineteenth-century Germany. . . . Hegel remains relevant today for his recognition that any self-critical philosophy must include a knowledge of its own history. A self-aware philosopher, Hegel firmly believed, knew where his ideas came from and their social and cultural context. . . . This is still the only available translation of all three volumes of Hegel's history."—Frederick C. Beiser, The Fate of Reason: German Philosophy from Kant to Fichte“The main reason why Hegel will remain worthy of study lies in his incomparable gathering together of the whole range of human experience into vital connection with what is best in that experience. . . . He is, without doubt, the Aristotle of our post-Renaissance world.”—J. N. Findlay, Hegel: A Re-examination

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Book SynopsisConnects the issue of passive constitution of meaning with the dimension of history, furthering discussions and completing arguments started in The Visible and the Invisible and Signs. This translation makes available to an English-speaking readership a critical transitional text in the history of phenomenology.

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Book SynopsisThe West has long defined the pursuit of happiness in economic terms but now, in the wake of the 2007-8 financial crisis, it is time to think again about what constitutes our happiness.In this wide-ranging new book, the leading economist Daniel Cohen traces our current malaise back to the rise of homo economicus: for the last 200 years, the modern world has defined happiness in terms of material gain. Homo economicus has cast aside its rivals, homo ethicus and homo empathicus, and spread its neo-Darwinian logic far and wide. Yet, instead of bringing happiness, homo economicus traps human beings in a world devoid of any ideals. We are left feeling empty and dissatisfied.Today more and more people are beginning to recognize that competition and material gain are not the only things that matter in life. The central paradox of our era is that we look to the economy to give direction to our world at the very time when social needs are migrating toward sectors that arTrade Review"What are we losing, as we are increasingly pressured to define the pursuit of happiness in narrowly economic terms? That is the question Daniel Cohen asks – and indeed answers – with frequently piercing new insights in this thought-provoking combination of ancient history, sociology, psychology and alternative economics." Colin Crouch, University of Warwick "The economy is the driving force of our world but to what end? In a fascinating book, the economist Daniel Cohen offers a long-term perspective on the relation between the search for individual happiness and the market. He shows how the market, in imposing its own model and valuing competition above everything else, has disrupted the relations between human beings. The emergence and eventual triumph of Homo Economicus has led to the collapse or stagnation of the indicators of wellbeing in the most advanced countries." Libération "Find happiness, or try to achieve it: a topic addressed often in the past by literature or philosophy is now a topic for economics. In Homo Economicus, the economist Daniel Cohen shows how our ultra-competitive societies have disrupted social relations and undermined all the indicators of wellbeing. He starts from a sombre fact: never before has so much wealth been created, never have people had access to so many goods, and yet they are not happier – if anything they are less happy. Why?" Le Monde "A highly readable, thought-provoking critique." Political Studies ReviewTable of ContentsAcknowledgements vi Introduction 1 1 Gross Domestic Happiness 5 2 Work: A Diminishing Value 20 3 The Decline of Empire 34 4 De-Centring the World 54 5 The Great Western Crisis 76 6 Darwin's Nightmare 91 7 The Postmodern Condition 106 Conclusion 124 Notes 127 Index 145

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Book SynopsisThe concept of democratic freedom refers to more than the kind of freedom embodied by political institutions and procedures. Democratic freedom can only be properly understood if it is grasped as the expression of a culture of freedom that encompasses an entire form of life.Trade Review"Highly Recomennded" ChoiceTable of ContentsIntroduction: Aestheticization Ð An Apologia Part I: An Antique Diagnosis of a Crisis 1. The Provocative Beauty of Democracy: Plato I. Freedom and Indeterminacy 2. The Slavery of the Tyrant 3. The Unstable Democrat 4. Clear-sighted, Processual and Totalized Weakness of Will 5. Weakness of Will or the Freedom from Oneself 6. The Unfree Opportunist 7. Many Jobs and Much Trespassing 8. The Occurrence of an Inner Nature or the Freedom Toward Self 9. Democrats and Theatre Types 10. Theatrocracy: The Fearlessly Judging Multitude 11. Masses and Mimesis 12. Self-Difference and Perfection Part II: The Ethical-Political Right of Irony 2. The Morality of Irony: Hegel 1. The Beginning of Morality in Socratic Irony 2. Socrates’ Divisive Work 3. Irony and the Practice of Truth 4. Hegel’s Critique of Kant 5. A Socratic Reformulation of the Moral Principle 6. Critique of the Romantics 7. Abstract and Subjective Freedom 8. Evil and the “Natural Will” 9. The Dialectic of Freedom 10. A Less Rigorous Concept of Self-Determination 11. Conflicts with and in Morality 12. Hegel’s Expulsion of Subjective Freedom from Ethical Life 13. The Riddle of Socratic Virtue and the Historicity of the Good 3. The Ethics of Aesthetic Existence: Kierkegaard 1. The Negative Freedom of Socratic Irony and its Romantic Superseding 2. Self-Enhancement and Forgetfulness-of-Self 3. The Impotent Seducer 4. The “Helmeted” Will and its Desperation in the Face of the Aesthetic 5. Repentance and Duty: The Freedom to Choose What One Already Is 6. One Sexism for Another 7. The Love of Divorced Society Ladies 8. Aesthetic and Aristocratic Exception 9. Common sinners 10. The Leap of Faith 11. Repetitions 4. Sovereignty in Romanticism: Schmitt 1. Aestheticization and Neutralization 2. A Look at an Orange 3. Alien Power 4. The Other in the Own and Decision 5. Political Anthropology 6. Schmitt and Kierkegaard 7. Political Theology 8. “Concrete Life” and Decision 9. Schmitt’s Rousseauism 10. Politics as a Critique of Politics Part III: Democracy and Aestheticization 5. The Spectacle of Democracy: Rousseau 1. The Irony of the Actor 2. The Public Expression of Indeterminacy 3. The Actress and Her Parodies 4. The Golden Mean 5. “Thy Magic Powers Reunite What Custom’s Sword Has Divided”: The Feast of the Brothers 6. All Brothers are also Men: The Problem of Male Self-Difference 7. The Two Paradoxes of the Social Contract 8. The Sovereignty of the Legislator and the Judgment of the “Common Man” 9. Another Kind of Equality 10. A Politicizable Boundary 11. The Two Bodies of the People 12. Representation and the Coding of Contingency 6. The Anaestheticization of the Political in Fascism: Benjamin 1. Charisma versus Ratio 2. Politicizing Art 3. Astonishment, Not Sympathy 4. The Look of the Stranger 5. Alienation 6. Adaptability and Revolution 7. Charisma and Democracy 8. Political Theatre 9. Post-Democracy and the Anaesthetizing of the Political: A Look Forward Notes Acknowledgements Origins of the Text Index

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