Philosophy Books

Book SynopsisKnowledge of key philosophic terms or concepts is vital to the understanding of many issues in Christian theology. Diogenes Allen's book Philosophy for Understanding Theology explores such terms and concepts and their relationship to theology. This new anthology, edited by Allen and Eric Springsted, provides primary texts undergirding that...

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Book SynopsisNominated for the Tricycle Prize for Outstanding Contribution to Buddhism in America—a collection of short talks and essays from a renowned meditation teacher. The inspiration that guided monks and nuns in ancient times is our own deepest incentive as we establish our practice in a world that desperately needs new forms of kinship and love.—Robert Aitken In this inspiring collection, you will find a series of talks and essays that Aitken Rashi has offered his students at meditation retreats during the past two decades. They are arranged according to themes central to all spiritual seekers—attention, emptiness, coming and going, diligence, death and the afterlife, the sacred self, and the moral path. Aitken provides guidance on pursuing religious practice in a lay context, “re-casting the Dharma to include women, jobs, and family.” He also charts his own quest to develop a set of moral codes in keeping with Buddhism's basi

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Book SynopsisFrom the internationally heralded author of How Proust Can Change Your Life comes a remarkable book that presents the wisdom of some of the greatest thinkers of the ages as advice for our day to day struggles.A fine introduction the world of philosophy. —Newsweek Solace for the broken heart can be found in the words of Schopenhauer. The ancient Greek Epicurus has the wisest, and most affordable, solution to cash flow problems. A remedy for impotence lies in Montaigne. Seneca offers advice upon losing a job. And Nietzsche has shrewd counsel for everything from loneliness to illness. The Consolations of Philosophy is a book as accessibly erudite as it is useful and entertaining.

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Book SynopsisSynopsis coming soon.......

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Book SynopsisDissent and Philosophy in the Middle Ages offers scholars of Dante''s Divine Comedy an integral understanding of the political, philosophical, and religious context of the medieval masterwork. First penned in French by Ernest L. Fortin, one of America''s foremost thinkers in the fields of philosophy and theology, Dissidence et philosophie au moyen-%ge brings to light the complexity of Dante''s thought and art, and its relation to the central themes of Western civilization. Available in English for the first time through this superb translation by Marc A. LePain, Dissent and Philosophy will make a supremely important contribution to the discussion of Dante as poet, theologian, and philosopher.Trade ReviewThis is intellectual history at its best. It ranges over Islamic and Jewish thought, as well as the Greco-Latin tradition, and places Dante in an illuminating way. Essential for Dante studies. * National Review *Ernest L. Fortin's subtle study of Dante's dissent will help clear away the Anglo-American fashion of reading Dante as versified Augustine or Aquinas. Dante's reticences and implied stances emerge vividly in Fortin's precise pages. -- Harold Bloom, Yale UniversityThis English translation...comes as an urgent reminder of how important Dante is as a political thinker. -- Diskin Clay, Duke UniversityFortin presents a Dante who believes in philosophy's autonomy from and even superiority to theology (and who conceals this knowledge). This startling, fresh, and controversial thesis opens up the way for a view of poetry that straddles the boundaries between concealment and clarity, fiction and truth. -- Giuseppe Mazzotta, Yale UniversityThe first words of Fortin's book are these: "This modest work does not pretend to be exhaustive." When you read it you will see that there are other ways to be ambitious than by being exhaustive, namely: essential, magesterial, and path-breaking. * Claremont Review of Books *Ernest Fortin is the better sort of scholar: when he is unconventional and provocative (as he is when he treats Dante), he displays enviable learning, patent argumentation open for inspection, and an ingratiating pen. Marc LePain's translation of Fortin's elegant French is trustworthy and the additions he makes to Fortin's original French volume add significantly to Fortin's argument, and to our appreciation of his achievement in reopening for us the question of Dante. -- Paul Seaton, associate professor of philosophy, St. Mary’s Seminary & University, Baltimore, MD.Table of ContentsChapter 1 On the Political Mode in Philosophy Chapter 2 Islam and the Rediscovery of Political Philosophy Chapter 3 Political Philosophy in the Christian World Chapter 4 Dante and Philosophical Allegory Chapter 5 The Imperialism of the Comedy Chapter 6 Dante and Christianity Chapter 7 The Theory of the Double Truth Chapter 8 The Decline of Political Philosophy Chapter 9 Appendix: Dante's Comedy as Utopia

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Book SynopsisIn this provocative work, David N. Stamos tackles the problem of determining exactly what a biological species is: in short, whether species are real and the nature of their reality. Although many have written on this topic, The Species Problem is the only comprehensive single-authored book on this central concern of biology. Stamos critically considers the evolution of the three major contemporary views of species: species nominalism, species as classes, and species as individuals. Finally, he develops his own solution to the species problem, a solution aimed at providing a universal species concept worthy of the Modern Synthesis. This book will be of interest to philosophers of biology and of science in general, to historians of biology, and to biologists concerned with one of the most significant (and practical) conceptual issues in their field.Trade ReviewStamos provides a thorough introduction to the debate over the ontological status of species. He offers the innovative suggestion that species are neither classes nor individuals, but relations. Stamos's approach is a fresh alternative to the standard, well-worn positions. -- Marc Ereshefsky, University of CalgaryThis is an important book on an important topic. David Stamos deals with one of the hardest issues in the philosophy of biology, the 'species problem,' showing philosophical sensitivity and scientific understanding. It will be essential reading for all further work on the topic, and is a real joy to read in its own right. -- Michael Ruse, Lucyle T. Werkmeister Professor of Philosophy, Florida State University...I recommend this book as a handy reference for a wide range of views on the species question... -- Bryson Brown, University of LethbridgeStamos' study deserves high praise. It is the most comprehensive survey of the literature on the question of "species" - how to define the term, how to classify it among other biological terms, how it was historically used and misused, how it relates to other questions of ontology (what there is) and epistemology (what do we know and how we get to know it), and how it is bound with serious philosophical questions about Universals (do they exist?, are they nothing but a collection of Individuals?) and Essentialism (does something have certain characteristics that are essential or secondary to its very nature and existence?), to name just two categories. The book is well organized, clearly written, broadly researched, and meticulously referenced…as such, this book should become a standard reference to anyone interested in biology form theoretical and practical perspectives alike. * Bridges *Stamos has brought together in one substantial volume almost everything one would ever want to know about how biologists and philosophers of biology have understood the word 'species.' More than that, he has shown what makes understanding this word crucial for biological explanation and scientific ontology. His book honors the close connection between analytical metaphysics and biological theorizing. -- Alex Rosenberg, Duke UniversityTable of ContentsPart 1 Introduction Chapter 2 The Species Problem and the Problem of Universals Chapter 3 Ontology and Criteria of Reality Chapter 4 Preliminary Assumptions and Concepts Chapter 5 Abstract of the Book Part 6 Species Nominalism Chapter 7 Preliminary Considerations Chapter 8 Occam and Locke Chapter 9 Buffon, Lamarck, and Darwin Chapter 10 Modern Nominalists in Biology Part 11 Species as Classes Chapter 12 Plato, Aristotle, and Linnaeus Chapter 13 Species as Elementary Classes Chapter 14 Species as Cluster Classes Chapter 15 Species as Ecological Niches Chapter 16 Problems with Species as Classes Part 17 Species as Individuals Chapter 18 Precursors from Hegel to Mayr Chapter 19 Ghiselin, Hull, et al. Chapter 20 Punctuated Equilibria Chapter 21 Problems with Species as Individuals Chapter 22 Species as Sets, Clades, and Lineages Part 23 Species as Relations Chapter 24 The Origin of an Idea Chapter 25 Species as Biosimilarity Complexes Chapter 26 Problems with Species as Relations Chapter 27 Concluding Remarks

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Book SynopsisDescription of the seductions - and snares - of self-managed communist or, in other words, anarchist society. This title, an edited collection of original essays on "Le Guin's The Dispossessed", represents an exploration of the political ramifications of this work by a wide interdisciplinary swath of scholars from around the world.Trade ReviewUrsula K. Le Guin’s The Dispossessed is one of the most significant utopian novels in this long tradition of imaginative socio-political thought experiments. In this collection, Davis and Stillman have given us a “sustained and comprehensive” re-examination of this “ambiguous utopia” by way of sixteen astute and original essays. This is a welcome, timely, and important collection. -- Tom Moylan, Glucksman Professor of Contemporary Writing and Director, Ralahine Centre for Utopian Studies, University of Limerick and author of Scraps of the Untainted Sky: Science Fiction, Utopia, Dystopia and Demand the Impossible: Science Fiction and theLike Le Guin's open-ended ambiguous utopia, these sixteen essays will reveal their resonance only as we reread them. Together they comprise a rich, and a valuable, and a persistently stimulating fresh contribution to the ongoing and open-ended appreciation of The Dispossessed. -- James Bittner, Author of Approaches to the Fiction of Ursula K. Le GuinFor three decades Le Guin's The Dispossessed has inspired debates about competing ideologies, about notions of gender, about space-time continuums, about forms of utopian expression-indeed about topics as broad as human communication and as intensely personal as the emotional epiphanies of the novel's hero Shevek. So, to say that this lively first collection of essays about the book is welcome and long overdue is to make a grand understatement. Like Le Guin's novel the collection is wide-ranging, open-ended, and provocative. It offers analyses of expected topics and images—anarchism, ecology, and walls, for instance— from multiple viewpoints, as well as discussions of important less-expected issues, notably consumerism. Contributors examine rich networks of connections and parallels between Le Guin's thought and art and the works of Lao Tzu, Kropotkin, Paul Goodman, Marcuse, Hegel, Hannah Arendt, and French and Italian architects and designers. Le Guin's essay, which concludes the collection, is afrank and feisty response to critics who reduce her novel to treatise status, and a complex advocacy of art that teaches. This fine collection will invigorate discussion of The Dispossessed and of Le Guin's other works, especially Always Coming -- Kenneth M. Roemer, Author of The Obsolete Necessity, Build Your Own Utopia, America as Utopia, and Utopian AudiencesI was delighted to find that these essays deepened and expanded my appreciation of both work and author. If you've read The Dispossessed . . . by all means read this as well. * Sfrevu *Those interested in the history of both utopian and anarchist thought will gain a great deal from the sophisticated analyses on offer. This is particularly so given the diversity of the perspectives brought to bear on the novel....What the volume offers is an exceptional range of essays exploring the radical political theory of the The Dispossessed. * Political Studies Review *For three decades Le Guin's The Dispossessed has inspired debates about competing ideologies, about notions of gender, about space-time continuums, about forms of utopian expression-indeed about topics as broad as human communication and as intensely personal as the emotional epiphanies of the novel's hero Shevek. So, to say that this lively first collection of essays about the book is welcome and long overdue is to make a grand understatement. Like Le Guin's novel the collection is wide-ranging, open-ended, and provocative. It offers analyses of expected topics and images—anarchism, ecology, and walls, for instance— from multiple viewpoints, as well as discussions of important less-expected issues, notably consumerism. Contributors examine rich networks of connections and parallels between Le Guin's thought and art and the works of Lao Tzu, Kropotkin, Paul Goodman, Marcuse, Hegel, Hannah Arendt, and French and Italian architects and designers. Le Guin's essay, which concludes the collection, is a frank and feisty response to critics who reduce her novel to treatise status, and a complex advocacy of art that teaches. This fine collection will invigorate discussion of The Dispossessed and of Le Guin's other works, especially Always Coming Home, and engage any serious reader of utopian and science fiction and political and social theory. -- Kenneth M. Roemer, Author of The Obsolete Necessity, Build Your Own Utopia, America as Utopia, and Utopian AudiencesThis collection will be an essential part of the collection of every Le Guin scholar and every research library. It also has a great deal to teach anyone interested in utopias or in the broader issues of the political workings of fiction. Editors Davis and Stillman are to be applauded for initiating this much-needed reconsideration of a major work of utopian fiction and for bringing together such a varies and astute group of contributors. * Utopian Studies *One would think that 324 pages on this one aspect of this one novel by this one Le Guin might get a little thin; but I was happily surprised. -- Mike Cadden * Paradoxa, November 2008 *Perhaps I can express my gratitude best by saying that reading [these essays] left me knowing far better than I knew before how I wrote the book and why I wrote it as I did…. They have restored the book to me as I conceived it, not as an exposition of ideas but as an embodiment of idea - a revolutionary artifact, a work containing a potential permanent source of renewal of thought and perception, like a William Morris design, or the Bernard Maybeck house I grew up in…. This is criticism as I first knew it, serious, responsive, and jargon-free. I honor it as an invaluable aid to reading, my own text as well as others. -- Ursula K. Le GuinTable of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction Part 2 Open-ended Utopian Politics Chapter 3 The Dynamic and Revolutionary Utopia of Ursula K. Le Guin Chapter 4 Worlds Apart: Ursula K. Le Guin and the Possibility of Method Part 5 Post-Consumerist Politics Chapter 6 The Dispossessed as Ecological Political Theory Chapter 7 Ursula K. Le Guin, Herbert Marcuse, and the Fate of Utopia in the Postmodern Chapter 8 The Alien Comes Home: Getting Past the Twin Planets of Possession and Austerity in Le Guin's The Dispossessed Part 9 Anarchist Politics Chapter 10 Individual and Community in Le Guin's The Dispossessed Chapter 11 The Need for Walls: Privacy, Community, and Freedom in The Dispossessed Chapter 12 Breaching Invisible Walls: Individual Anarchy in The Dispossessed Part 13 Temporal Politics Chapter 14 Time and the Measure of the Political Animal Chapter 15 Fulfillment as a Function of Time, or the Ambiguous Process of Utopia Chapter 16 Science and Politics in The Dispossessed: Le Guin and the "Science Wars" Part 17 Revolutionary Politics Chapter 18 The Gap in the Wall: Partnership, Physics, and Politics in The Dispossessed Chapter 19 From Ambiguity to Self-Reflexivity: Revolutionizing Fantasy Space Chapter 20 Future Conditional or Future Perfect? The Dispossessed and Permanent Revolution Part 21 Open-ended Utopian Politics Chapter 22 Ambiguous Choices: Skepticism as a Grounding for Utopia Chapter 23 Empty Hands: Communication, Pluralism and Community in Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossessed Part 24 A Response, by Ansible, from Tau Ceti Part 25 Further Reading

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Book SynopsisOffers a critical analysis of capitalism's failings and the imminent need for socialism as an alternative form of government. This book contains essays, which explore the benefits and consequences of a socialist system as an avenue of increased human solidarity and ethical principle.Trade ReviewIntelligent and well-written essays filled with radical visions and sensible, humane policy proposals. This book will be extremely valuable for readers who think we can do better than the present system-and even more important for those who think we can't. -- Roger S. Gottlieb, author of A Greener Faith: Religious Environmentalism and our Planet's FutureRecommended. -- H.G. Reid, University of Kentucky * CHOICE *...the essays are first class- well written, well argued, and highly engaging....I would certainly recommend the book... * Political Studies Review *inspiring and hopeful.... It is an important contribution to socialist thought... * Against the Current, March 2009 *I know of no other work remotely comparable to this anthology. The collection should make a major contribution to public debates regarding the feasibility and desirability of a more democratic alternative to global capitalism. The comprehensiveness of the issues considered also sets it apart. And the authors collected here form a veritable 'who's who' of leading socialist philosophers working in the U.S. today. Without question this is the single best collection of writings by contemporary U.S. socialist philosophers available. -- Tony Smith, Iowa State UniversityTable of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction: Toward a New Socialism Part 2 Part One: Principles Chapter 3 Socialist Voices Chapter 4 Socialist Freedom Chapter 5 Equality Chapter 6 Socialist-Feminism: A Cooperative Vision and the Right to Care Chapter 7 Social Feelings and the Morality of Socialism Chapter 8 Can We Get There From Here?: Reflections about Fundamental Social and Human Change Chapter 9 Their Rationality and Ours Chapter 10 Social Hope and Prophetic Intellectuals in a "Hopeless World" Part 11 Part Two: Specific Institutions in a Socialist Society Chapter 12 Socializing Care: Reinventing Family Life Chapter 13 Schooling in a Socialist Society Chapter 14 Between Repression and Liberation: Sexuality and Socialist Theory Chapter 15 The Religion of Liberation: Theology of Liberation and Socialism Chapter 16 The Right of Association: The Shameful History of a Right Fundamental to Democracy Chapter 17 Democracy Chapter 18 The Role of Prisons in a Socialist Future or: The Incorrigible Ethos of Incarceration Chapter 19 Socialism and Technology: A Sectoral Overview Chapter 20 Social Justice as an Environmental Issue Chapter 21 Capitalism, Sustainability, and Climate Change Chapter 22 Marxism and War Part 23 Part Three: Promising Social Movements and Their Projects Chapter 24 Worker Controlled Workplaces Chapter 25 Challenging the "Market as God" Ideology: Living Wage Campaigns and the Fight for Socialism Chapter 26 A Politics and a Sensibility: The Anarchist Current on the U.S. Left Chapter 27 Multiculturalism as Solidarity: Globalizing Resistance Chapter 28 The New Solidarity: A Case Study of Cross-Border Labor Networks and Mural Art in the Age of Globalization Chapter 29 The Zapatistas: Lessons for the U.S. Left Chapter 30 Dear Sup. Much Obliged: An Afterword Chapter 31 An Afterword to the Afterword: The Zapatista Movement a Decade Later

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Book SynopsisAretism: An Ancient Sports Philosophy for the Modern Sports World applies a robust ancient ethic to the widely-acknowledged problems faced by modern sports. Aretismfrom the Greek word arete (excellence)draws a balance between the hard commercialism of modern sports culture and the soft playfulness of recreational models to recover the value of sport for individuals, education, and society at large. The authors' approach proposes practical strategies for athletes, coaches, and physical educators to use when facing ethical challenges in the modern world. Holowchak and Reid present Aretism as a tripartite model of athletic excellence focused on personal, civic, and global integration. They reject the personal and social separation characteristics of much of contemporary moral reasoning. Aretism creates a critical and normative framework within which athletic agents can aim for spirited, but morally sensitive, competition by seeking the betterment not only of themselves, through athletic Trade ReviewAretism is a subtle and engaging attempt to show historical connections between the prized character traits of classical antiquity and modern commercialized sports. Written in uncluttered prose and full of great examples, it is an accessible and thought-provoking re-statement of sporting virtues. -- Michael McNamee, Swansea UniversityAretism will be one of the most valuable books for those interested in the history of sport, and even more so for those who want to think about the cultural significance of sport—and its problems—in our own times. Reid and Holowchak have thought long and hard about these issues, and this book is a gift to us all. -- Drew A. Hyland, Trinity CollegeJust what we have come to expect from these two authors: a broad sweep at the historical level, a comprehensive account at the theoretical level, married with punchy and insightful analyses of particular issues and events. The sheer scope of the enterprise, together with the telling detail, is astonishing. I read this like an 'I couldn't put it down' novel. An impressive achievement. -- Jim Parry, University of LeedsWith the news dominated by college sports scandals, and professional athletics by strikes, lockouts, and superstar athletes' demands for ever larger contracts, this book's claim that contemporary sports is dominated by a martial/commercial model rings true. The commercial aspect is all too apparent. The martial aspect emphasizes winning at all costs, treats opponents as the enemy, and embraces aggression and individualism as means to external goals. This book also rejects an opposite approach—the aesthetic/recreational model, which sees sports as just for fun. Instead Holowchak (Rider Univ.) and Reid (Morningside College) propose returning sports to the ancient Greek ideal of arete, or excellence. Aretism demands 'respect for human limitations' as well as the view that 'victory in sport has no intrinsic value and that competitive sport is a good insofar as it is a means to human improvement.' The authors offer aretism as the Aristotelian mean between the martial/commercial and aesthetic/recreational approaches. Sports in higher education should promote virtue (in the sense of arete) or be abolished, which the authors acknowledge is not likely to happen. Copious endnotes to the 22 chapters and a good index make this book a useful resource. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers. * CHOICE *Aretism: An Ancient Sports Philosophy for the Modern Sports World is accessible, rigorous, and contains numerous historical and contemporary sporting examples that are both helpful and interesting. It will be very beneficial as a text in courses dealing with the history and philosophy of sport. The book could also be profitably used in a more general course in ethics. Aretism should be read by academics and students interested in the history, philosophy, and contemporary significance of sport. Moreover, I would urge athletes, coaches, administrators, fans, parents, and other sport practitioners to read and then seek to cultivate in their respective contexts this valuable and excellent approach to the human practice of sport. * Journal of the Philosophy of Sport *Their book provides a substantial and necessary critique of modern sport, yet pushes back against those who envision school-related sport as merely recreational Each chapter is less than 10 pages in length, allowing a snapshot of important issues and engagement with numerous (and predominantly) American sporting examples… Many examples will resonate with readers, while each is supported by concise argumentation. For instance, a particular strength of the book is its timely raising of significant examples that question gender stereotypes and inequalities in sport The book broadens educators’ perspectives and provides another avenue for the incorporation of virtue-based ethics * The Journal of Catholic Education *Table of ContentsChapter 1 Preface Part 2 PART I. How Did Sports Get Here From There? Chapter 3 Chapter 1. The Roots of Competitive Sport Chapter 4 Chapter 2. Medieval, Renaissance, and Enlightenment Sport Chapter 5 Chapter 3. Compensatory Athleticism Chapter 6 Chapter 4. Sport Propagandized Chapter 7 Chapter 5. Sport Commodified Part 8 PART II. What is Wrong With Sports Today? Chapter 9 Chapter 6. The Martial/Commercial Model Chapter 10 Chapter 7. Drugs and Competitive Sport Chapter 11 Chapter 8. Problems of Performance Enhancement Chapter 12 Chapter 9. Gender, Aggression, and Violence Chapter 13 Chapter 10. Sport by the Numbers Chapter 14 Chapter 11. Sensationalism and Ego-Puffing Part 15 PART III. Why Can't We Just Enjoy Sports? Chapter 16 Chapter 12. The Aesthetic/Recreational Model Chapter 17 Chapter 13. Aesthetic Spectacle Chapter 18 Chapter 14. Playful Integrity Chapter 19 Chapter 15. The Aesthetics of Journeying Chapter 20 Chapter 16. Beauty as Unity Chapter 21 Chapter 17. Economy of Performance Part 22 PART IV. How Should Sports Be Reformed? Chapter 23 Chapter 18. The Aretic Model Chapter 24 Chapter 19. Aretism and Values Chapter 25 Chapter 20. Aretism and Education Chapter 26 Chapter 21. Aretism and Society Chapter 27 Chapter 22. Is Sport a Good?

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Book SynopsisHere, two dozen distinguished philosophers share their insights and practical suggestions on a diverse range of pedagogic issues with essays on how to motivate students, constructing syllabi for particular courses, teaching particularly complex concepts, and constructing creative examinations.Trade ReviewIt is not only students who need an occasional injection of new approaches in the classroom to motivate and enhance their learning. Both beginning and seasoned philosophy teachers also welcome fresh ideas and will find these essays a great resource for energizing their teaching. -- Rosalind Ekman Ladd, Professor of Philosophy Emerita, Wheaton College, MassachusettsTable of ContentsPart 1 I Introducing Students to Philosophy Chapter 2 Teaching Introductory Philosophy Chapter 3 Introducing Philosophy Chapter 4 Teaching Introductory Philosophy: A Restricted Topical Approach Part 5 II Helping Our Students Improve Chapter 6 How to Improve Your Teaching Chapter 7 Reading and Interpretation: A Heuristic for Improving Students' Comprehension of Philosophy Texts Chapter 8 Improving Student Papers in 'Introduction to Philosophy' Courses Chapter 9 Using Essay Exams to Teach and Not Merely to Assess Part 10 III Teaching Applied Ethics Chapter 11 From the "Applied" to the Practical: Teaching Ethics for Use Chapter 12 A Social Dilemma Game for an Ethics Class Part 13 IV Teaching Philosophy with Computers Chapter 14 Teaching With a Screen Part 15 V Teaching Aesthetics Chapter 16 The Case Method Approach to the Teaching of Aesthetics Part 17 VI Teaching Philosophy of Religion Chapter 18 Teaching Philosophy of Religion (either as a full course or as part of an 'Introduction to Philosophy') Chapter 19 Three Courses in Philosophy of Religion Part 20 VII Teaching Critical Thinking Chapter 21 Using Pseudoscience in a Critical Thinking Class Chapter 22 A Critical Thinking Portfolio Part 23 VIII Teaching Philosophy Through History Chapter 24 The Teaching of Philosophy—Historically Part 25 IX Teaching Kant/Teaching Hegel Chapter 26 A User-Friendly Copernican Revolution Chapter 27 Charting Kant Chapter 28 On Teaching Hegel: Problems and Possibilities Chapter 29 Hegel and Family Values Part 30 X Teaching Existentialism/Teaching Continental Philosophy Chapter 31 Teaching Existentialism Chapter 32 Teaching Recent Continental Philosophy Part 33 XI Teaching Philosophical Explanation Chapter 34 Teaching 'Inference to the Best Philosophical Explanation' Part 35 XII Teaching Philosophy of Gender Chapter 36 Teaching Gender Issues—Philosophically Part 37 XIII Looking at What We Do in the Classroom Chapter 38 Uncovering the "Hidden Curriculum": A Laboratory Course in Philosophy of Education Chapter 39 A Graduate Seminar on Teaching Philosophy Part 40 About the Contributors Part 41 About the Editor

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Book SynopsisThe Reluctant Modernism of Hannah Arendt rereads Arendt's political philosophy in light of newly gained insights into the historico-cultural background of her work.Trade ReviewIt is difficult to do justice to the rich texture of Benhabib's argument and interpretation, which is a magisterial dialectic between modernity and existentialism, reformism and utopianism, and fundamentalism and perspectivalism. Benhabib's book remains one of the most stimulating of the recent spate of books on Arendt. * Women's Philosophy Review *Benhabib's discussions. . . reflect a meticulous scholarship and a deep sensitivity to the texts which is a pleasure to read. * Political Studies Review *On the now quite long shelf of Hannah Arendt studies, only a few matter. This is one. -- Elisabeth Young-Bruehl, Haverford College; author of Anna Freud: A BiographyA brillant, historically sensitive and deeply sympathetic but not at all uncritical account of the entire range of Arendt's thought. It weaves its way through Arendt's personal experiences, philosophical influences, and cultural contexts with remarkable subtlety and ease. Few books on Arendt offer a more vivid and reliable account of the unity of her life and thought. -- Bhikhu Parekh, University of WestminsterSeyla Benhabib's remarkable and nuanced book is the first to give Hannah Arendt's ambivalent relationship to modernity the complex and critical assessment it deserves. Written with force and clarity, this study is indispensable for any serious encounter with Arendt's thought. -- Anson Rabinbach, Princeton UniversityA strikingly original interpretation of Hannah Arendt that brings into the foreground the significance of Arendt's biography of Rahel Varnhagen, Arendt's concern with Jewish politics, and her attempt to understand the emergence of totalitarianism. This provides the context for a fresh reading of The Human Condition and The Life of the Mind, as well as the complex relation between Arendt and Heidegger. Anyone interested in the recent resurgence of international interest in Arendt and her relevance for contemporary political thought will find Seyla Benhabib's comprehensive and judicious analysis invaluable. -- Richard J. Bernstein, Professor of Philosophy, New School for Social ResearchBenhabib is an excellent guide to the uninitiated, offering context, central themes, and concise yet sophisticated philosophical analysis in accessible prose. * Ethics: An International Journal of Social, Political, and Legal Philosophy *Benhabib's great homage, which makes us familiar with Arendt's thought, has a paradoxical effect: one learns to appreciate the distance which is expressed in this sovereign interpretation. One will not be able to come closer to the philosophical hedgerose, Hannah Arendt * Die Zeit *Table of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction: Why Hannah Arendt? Chapter 2 The Pariah and Her Shadow: Hannah Arendt's Biography of Rahel Varnhagen Chapter 3 Jewish Politics and German "Existenz Philosophy": The Sources of Hannah Arendt's Thought Chapter 4 The Destruction of the Public Sphere and the Emergence of Totalitarianism Chapter 5 The Dialogue With Martin Heidegger: Arendt's Ontology of The Human Condition Chapter 6 The Art of Making and Subverting Distinctions: With Arendt, Contra Arendt Chapter 7 From the Problem of Judgment to the Public Sphere: Rethinking Hannah Arendt's Political Theory

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Book SynopsisThe Battle for the American Mind brings together religion, politics, economics, science, and literature to present a compelling history of the American people. In this brief and entertaining book, noted historian Carl J. Richard argues that there have been three worldviews that have dominated American thoughttheism, humanism, and skepticism. Theists put their faith in God, humanists in man, and skeptics have faith in neither god nor man. Each worldview has had an epoch of domination, leading to the present Age of Confusion where theists, humanists, and skeptics battle one another for control of American hearts and minds. By clearly explaining what Americans believed, exploring why they did so, and showing how that impacted the nation''s development, Carl J. Richard presents a unique portrait of the United Statespast and present.Trade ReviewThis book, with its recognition that historical currents are often circular, would be a welcome addition to public libraries and undergraduate collections. * Library Journal *Carl J. Richard's The Battle for the American Mind is a provocative, well-written interpretation of American intellectual history 'for general readers' that is designed to further discussion of ideas rather than answer all scholarly questions. . . . The book would be a solid assignment for undergraduates and an informative study for the general reader, Richard's intended audience. -- Adam L. Tate, Clayton State University * Journal of Southern History *An ambitious and original book. Instead of 'explaining' America from the perspective of gender, race, class, economics or some other social science, Richard talks about the influence of worldviews on the development of the United States and so casts an interesting light on the development of America from its European origins through the colonial period, the Founding and down to today. -- E. Christian Kopff, University of Colorado, BoulderThe author had a good thematic approach. -- George Cotkin, California Polytechnic State University * American Historical Review *Succinct, incisive and selective, Carl Richard provides an engaging historical orientation to American intellectual life and its European antecedents. -- Daniel Walker Howe, Oxford and UCLATable of ContentsIntroduction Unit I: The Age of Theism Chapter 1: The Protestant Reformation: The Crucible of American Theism Chapter 2: Early American Protestantism Unit II: The Age of Humanism Chapter 3: The Rise of Modern Humanism Chapter 4: The Origins and Varieties of Republicanism Chapter 5: Economic Theories Chapter 6: Revivalism, Reform, and Romanticism in the Antebellum Period Unit III: The Age of Skepticism Chapter 7: The Rise of Modern Skepticism Chapter 8: Pragmatism Unit IV: The Age of Confusion Chapter 9: American Thought since World War II Bibliographical Suggestions

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Book SynopsisHeidegger''s Being and Time: Critical Essays provides a variety of recent studies of Heidegger''s most important work. Twelve prominent scholars, representing diverse nationalities, generations, and interpretive approaches deal with general methodological and ontological questions, particular issues in Heidegger''s text, and the relation between Being and Time and Heidegger''s later thought. All of the essays presented in this volume were never before available in an English-language anthology. Two of the essays have never before been published in any language (Dreyfus and Guignon); three of the essays have never been published in English before (Grondin, Kisiel, and ThomS), and two of the essays provide previews of works in progress by major scholars (Dreyfus and Kisiel).Trade ReviewRichard Polt has assembled a collection of insightful and provocative articles from the world's leading Heidegger-scholars. This eclectic volume brings Heidegger's magnum opus, Being and Time, into a critical forum where his most pivotal discussions of temporality, being, and human existence can be appropriated in new ways. Undoubtably, the student of Heidegger will find this volume to be extremely helpful for probing the depth of his thinking and experiencing how Being and Time continues to be influential. -- Frank Schalow, Department of Philosophy, University of New OrleansThe inclusion of a wide variety of perspectives and especially the first appearance in translation of essays by Grondin, Figal and Thomä, makes this volume an attractive option for class adoption. -- Robert Bernasconi, Pennsylvania State UniversityRichard Polt has gathered here a distinguished international body of Heidegger commentators who together throw important light on what is arguably the single most important work of European philosophy in the Twentieth Century. Ranging over matters both historical and problematic, in voices that are both continental and Anglo-American, Polt has put together what will long stand as an invaluable and indispensable guide to Being and Time. -- John D. Caputo, Thomas J. Watson Professor of Religion and Humanities, Syracuse UniversityAn anthology of the first order—twelve highly qualified approaches to the interpretation of Heidegger's master work, all 'critical' in the best sense of the word, de-fining its limits and then either clarifying them or suggesting ways to extend them. Richard Polt's introduction, with its succinct résumé of the Heidegger text and carefully nuanced summary of each contribution to the reading of it, weaves the collection into a polychromatic whole. -- William J. Richardson, Boston CollegeTable of ContentsChapter 1 Acknowledgments Chapter 2 Introduction Chapter 3 Why Reawaken the Question of Being? Chapter 4 The Temporality of Thinking: Heidegger's Method, from Thinking in the Light of Time: Heidegger's Encounter with Hegel Chapter 5 The Constitution of Our Being Chapter 6 Heidegger's Anti-Dualism: Beyond Mind and Matter Chapter 7 The Genesis of Theory, from The Glance of the Eye: Heidegger, Aristotle, and the Ends of Theory Chapter 8 Being-with, Dasein-with, and the "They" as the Basic Concept of Unfreedom, from Martin Heidegger: Phänomenologie der Freiheit Chapter 9 Subjectivity: Locating the First-Person in Being and Time Chapter 10 Can There Be a Better Source of Meaning than Everyday Practices? Reinterpreting Division I of Being and Time in the Light of Division II Chapter 11 Genuine Timeliness, from Heidegger's Concept of Truth Chapter 12 Historical Meaning in the Fundamental Ontology of Being and Time, from Martin Heidegger and the Problem of Historical Meaning Chapter 13 The Demise of Being and Time: 1927–1930 Chapter 14 Being and Time in Retrospect: Heidegger's Self-Critique Chapter 15 Selected Bibliography Chapter 16 Index Chapter 17 About the Authors

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Book SynopsisThis book provides a clear and comprehensive introduction to the work of Willard van Orman Quine, the most important and influential American philosopher of the post--war period. An understanding of Quinea s work is essential for anyone who wishes to follow contemporary debates in the philosophy of language, the philosophy of mind and metaphysics.Trade Review'... displays deep knowledge of Quine's writings and an exemplary concern with what really matters.' The Philosophical reviewTable of ContentsPreface. Introduction. Part I: The Evolution of Empiricism. 1. Language and the World. 2. Rules and Rationality. 3. Naturalism, Realism and Pragmatism. Part II: Logic and Reality. 4. Physicalism and Objectivity. 5. Logic: Canonical Notation and Extensionality. 6. Intensionality. 7. Necessity: Logic and Metaphysics. Part III: Mind and Meaning. 8. Indeterminacy of Translation. 9. Translation and Explanation. 10. Holism, Interpretation and the Autonomy of Psychology. Part IV: Knowledge and Reality. 11. Nature and Experience. 12. Physicalism and Reality.

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Book SynopsisDiscusses the main themes in the philosophy of action and the key contributions of analytical philosophers. The author also develops an original contribution and links these issues to debates in the philosophy of mind and the philosophy of social science.Trade Review'This is primarily a textbook. It could be used by good students in any subject wanting to learn what in the analytical philosophy of action might be of use to them.' Political StudiesTable of ContentsAcknowledgements. Introduction. 1. Actions and Happenings. 2. The New Volitional Theory. 3. Some Remarks about the Ontology of Actions. 4. Meaningful Actions. 5. Agency and Intentional Action. 6. The Intentionality of Mind. 7. Intentionality and Science. 8. Laws and Explanation of Actions. 9. Laws and Prediction of Actions. 10. Davidson's Causal Theory of Intentional Action. 11. Wayward Causal Chains. 12. Intention and Intentional Action. 13. Davidson's Theory of Intention. 14. Agency and Physical Determinism. Conclusion. Notes. Bibliography.

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Book SynopsisThe Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor is a key figure in contemporary debates about the self and the problems of modernity. This book provides a comprehensive, critical account of Taylora s work. It succinctly reconstructs the ambitious philosophical project that unifies Taylora s diverse writings.Trade Review"It is a good introduction to the themes and debates that have invigorated much of both analytic and continental philosophy over the last fifty years." Radical Philosophy "Nicholas H.Smith's monograph Charles Taylor...puts forward a clear and well-argued assessment of Taylor's entire project, with details on his intellectual biography and political engagement. For the purposes of thinking through Taylor's work so far, this book is probably the best one around...The book is a great help for someone trying to understand Taylor's views on philosophical anthropology and transcendental argumentation...In total, Smith's book is a must for those interested in Taylor's work and a good guide for those who want a reliable, critical overview" Arto Laitinen, Sats-Nordic Journal of Philosophy "At a time of resurgent objectivism in social science and political theory, this book's topic presents an exemplary and engaging antidote." Professor Fred Dallmayr, University of Notre DameTable of ContentsAbbreviations. Acknowledgements. Introduction. 1. Linguistic Philosophy and Phenomenology. 2. Science, Action and the Mind. 3. The Romantic Legacy. 4. The Self and the Good. 5. Interpretation and the Social Sciences. 6. Individual and Community. 7. Politics and Social Criticism. 8. Modernity, Art and Religion. Conclusion. Notes. Index

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Book SynopsisThis new book offers a comprehensive and accessible introduction to Frege''s remarkable philosophical work, examining the main areas of his writings and demonstrating the connections between them. Frege''s main contribution to philosophy spans philosophical logic, the theory of meaning, mathematical logic and the philosophy of mathematics. The book clearly explains and assesses Frege''s work in these areas, systematically examining his major concepts, and revealing the links between them. The emphasis is on Frege''s highly influential work in philosophical logic and the theory of meaning, including the features of his logic, his conceptions of object, concept and function, and his seminal distinction between sense and reference. Frege will be invaluable for students of the philosophy of language, philosophical logic, and analytic philosophy.Trade Review'Noonan's book provides a careful and painstaking, yet readily accessible, exposition of Frege's principal doctrines. His evident sympathy with Frege's views never interferes with a searchingly critical assessment. Whilst many important claims in the book are far from being uncontroversial, its final two chapters - on Frege's philosophical logic and theory of meaning - must rank among the best discussions available.' Bob Hale, University of Glasgow "This is an excellent introduction to Frege...There's much to admire and agree with in this book" Steven Robinson, Philosophy in Review Table of ContentsPreface. Acknowlegements. Chapter 1 Introduction: Frege's Life and Work, Biography, The Origin and Development of Frege's Philosophy, Frege's Contributions to Philosophy. Chapter 2: Logic,The Purpose of Conceptional Notation, Logic Before Frege, Fregean Logic. Chapter 3: Number, Aims of the Foundations of Arithmetic, Rebuttal of Earlier Attempts, The Development of Frege's Own Position. Chapter 4: Philosophical Logic, On Function and Concept, On Concept and Object. Chapter 5: Theory of Meaning, The Distinction between Sense and Reference, Indirect Reference, The Objectivity of Sense, Challenges to Sense. Appendix. Bibliography. Index

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Book Synopsisaeo The first book--length biography of Hegel since the nineteenth--century. aeo Introduces the reader to the development of Hegela s philosophy, placing it in the context of political events of the time. aeo Written in a lively style, vividly bringing to life Hegela s relationship to contemporary philosophers and his revolutionary times.Trade Review"Brevity turns out to be one of Althaus's merits. He is particularly good at providing the necessary historical and sociological details so that the reader can appreciate the full significance of events in Hegel's life as well as his thought.this study provides a great deal of insight into what life was like for many thinkers and artists during this intellectually fruitful time in Germany's history. Althaus's biography is eminently readable and thus useful not only for researchers but also for graduate students, faculty and general readers." --S. Barnett, Central Connecticut State University, (Choice Magazine) "[Althaus] contextualizes Hegel's intellectual journey.... A major theme in Althaus is the disintegration of Hegel's following, into left and right, through the ambiguity of his dialectic, exemplified in his philosophy of religion." (History of Political Thought) "Althaus offers a wide-ranging 'intellectual biography' which skilfully interweaves scenes, events and personalities from Hegel's life with studies of the formation, development, and significance of each of Hegel's particular philosophical concerns ... If one seeks further to understand Hegel and his thought, then I recommend turning to Althaus." (Heythrop Journal) "This book is, in a word, the most comprehensive biography of Hegel published in the twentieth century." (Diálogo Filosófico)Table of Contents1. Origins. 2. The Tübingen Shift. 3. Between Monarchy and Republic. 4. The Tutoring Years. 5. Schelling's Apprentice. 6. Jena Contra Tübingen. 7. Between Bern and Frankfurt. 8. Theological Writings. 9. A Stuttgart Romance. 10. Farewell to Frankfurt. 11. The Frankfurt Writings. 12. The Unpaid Lecturer. 13. Domestic Affairs. 14. A Difference with Schelling. 15. The Phenomenology of Spirit. 16. Journalist in Bamberg. 17. A Turning Point. 18. Headmaster in Nuremberg. 19. The Unconditional Claim of Reason: The Science of Logic. 20. Professor in Heidelberg. 21. Feudalism or Monarchy?. 22. From Baden to Prussia. 23. The Prussian State Philosopher?. 24. The Philosopher of Right. 25. The Philosophy of History. 26. A Journey to the Low Countries. 27. The Philosophy of Art. 28. The Austrian Journey. 29. the History of Philosophy. 30. The Journey to France: the stay in Weimar. 31. The Philosophy of Religion. 32. Absolute Monarch in the Empire of Philosophy. 33. The End. Bibliography. Index.

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Book SynopsisThomas Kuhn''s shadow hangs over almost every field of intellectual inquiry. His book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions has become a modern classic. His influence on philosophy, social science, historiography, feminism, theology, and (of course) the natural sciences themselves is unparalleled. His epoch-making concepts of new paradigm' and scientific revolution' make him probably the most influential scholar of the twentieth century. Sharrock and Read take the reader through Kuhn''s work in a careful and accessible way, emphasizing Kuhn''s detailed studies of the history of science, which often assist the understanding of his more abstract philosophical work. These historical studies provide vital insight into what Kuhn was actually trying to achieve in his The Structure of Scientific Revolutions: an endeavour far less extreme than either his foes' or his fans' claim. In the book''s second half, Sharrock and Read provide excellent explications, defences anTrade Review"As Thomas Kuhn indicated in the first sentence of his great book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, his aim was to “produce a decisive transformation in the image of science by which we are now possessed”. Unfortunately, many of Kuhn's readers have been possessed by a distorted image of Kuhn's own position, and so failed to appreciate the signal contribution he made to our understanding of scientific practice. Sharrock and Read aim to do for our image of Kuhn what Kuhn did for our image of science. They succeed brilliantly, giving a wonderfully insightful and nuanced account of what Kuhn was up to and what he achieved." Peter Lipton, University of Cambridge Table of ContentsAcknowledgements. Abbreviations for Kuhn's Works. Introduction: The Legendary Thomas Kuhn. Part I Exposition. 1 The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. 2 The Historical Case Studies. Part II Critical Issues. 3 Kuhn and the Methodologists of Science. 4 Incommensurability 1: Relativism about Truth and Meaning. 5 Incommensurability 2: World Changes. Conclusion: The Unresolved Tension. Notes. Bibliography. Index

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Book SynopsisDaniel Dennett is one of the most influential thinkers at the interface between philosophy and science. This book is the first comprehensive examination of Dennett's ideas on the nature of thought, consciousness, free will, and the significance of Darwinism. A highly original introduction to contemporary thinking about the relationship between mind and science. This is the first comprehensive examination of Dennett's ideas on the nature of thought, consciousness, free will, and the significance of Darwinism. Examines Dennett's unique response to the question of when and how science should affect the conception that we have of ourselves. Casts new light on specific controversies: Could robots ever think, feel, and enjoy freedom? Does Dennett really explain consciousness? Are mental states real or merely useful fictions'? Do we have free will? Is the self a centre of narrative gravity'Trade Review"Elton's book will be an invaluable companion for anyone hoping to get to grips with Dennett's rich and expansive vision." David Bain, The Philosophical Quarterly April 2005 ‘For over thirty years Daniel Dennett has been among the most important, innovative and engaging philosophers in the world. With the appearance of his book, Consciousness Explained, in 1991, his fame and his influence spread throughout the academic world and beyond. While there has been a great deal written about Dennett’s ideas, until now we have had no systematic, integrated account of the "real patterns" that run through Dennett’s philosophy. Elton’s clear, readable and well-informed book provides just such an account. This is the ideal book for readers – and they are many – who’ve been captivated by reading Dennett’s work and want to understand how the themes that he explores with such intellectual exuberance fit together in an integrated account of human agents and the sciences that study them.’ – Professor Stephen Stich, Department of Philosophy and Center for Cognitive Science, Rutgers University ‘This is an excellent introduction to the twists and turns of Dennett’s thinking. In guiding the reader through a luminous yet sometimes puzzling maze of images, empirical excursions, thought experiments and hard arguments, Matthew Elton lays bare the deep unifying agenda that animates all of Dennett’s work. Combining the roles of careful critic and generous host, Elton’s patient excavations will help the novice and excite the expert.’ – Professor Andy Clark, Director of the Cognitive Science Program, Department of Philosophy, Indiana University Table of ContentsAcknowledgements. Abbreviations. Preface. 1. Dennett and the Philosophy of Mind. 2. Adopting A Stance. 3. Real Patterns. 4. Different Kinds Of Psychology. 5. Explaining Consciousness: The Basic Account. 6. Explaining Consciousness:Developments, Doubts And The Self. 7. Dennett's Darwin. 8. A Variety Of Free Will Worth Wanting. Notes. Glossary. Bibliography. Index

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Book SynopsisFor centuries people have debated the nature of the human self. Running beneath these various arguments lie three certainties -- we are born, reproduce sexually, and die.Trade Review"...[T]his book is passionate and temperate, thoughtful and bold. It is also beautifully written and a pleasure to read." Esther Reed, Reviews in Religion and Theology "All of us were born; all of us will die; all of us are sexual. Beverley Clack's new book takes an intelligent and thought-provoking look at these basic human realities, showing how spiritual meaning and physical reality conjoin. It is a wide-ranging and carefully argued book that makes unexpected and imaginative connections. It is also a book of compassionate humanity." Grace M. Jantzen, University of Manchester "Western accounts of the best human life have usually pictured masculine reason and will as battling to transcend and escape from nature, sex and death, and have been marked by a weirdly negative attitude especially for the female reproductive apparatus. Beverley Clack rejects that whole tradition and instead sees the good life as growing out of an acceptance of the body, transience, sex and death. She boldly tackles, not just Augustine and Freud, but also Sade, head-on. This is a vigorous and enjoyable study, and (of course) she's right." Don Cupitt, Emmanuel College, Cambridge "This is an engaging and thoughtful piece of work, convincing in its own terms"Elizabeth Stuart, Theology "...it [the book] leads readers to engage philosophically with arguments that have the potential to change their fundamental attitudes" Stan van Hooft, Philosophy in ReviewTable of ContentsAcknowledgments. Introduction. Chapter 1: Transcending Mortality: Plato's Philosophy and Augustine's Theology. Chapter 2: Transcending the Void: Sex and Death in Sartre and Beauvoir's Existentialism. Chapter 3: Eros, Thanatos and the Human Self: Sigmund Freud. Chapter 4 : Sex and Death in a Meaningless Universe: The Marquis de Sade. . Chapter 5: Living in Accordance with Nature: Seneca. Conclusion: Sex, Death, and the Meaningful Life. Notes. References and Bibliography. Index.

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Book SynopsisThis is an engaging and accessible introduction to divergent conceptions of freedom in contemporary liberal political philosophy. It is the ideal introduction to the thought of Isaiah Berlin, Gerald MacCallum, Robert Nozick, Hillel Steiner, Ronald Dworkin, and Joseph Raz and to the concept of freedom more generally.Trade Review‘A refreshing and illuminating critical introduction to the real diversity of liberal thought about freedom beyond the Rawlsian paradigm, and a striking demonstration of the ways in which political theorists inevitably find themselves engaging in metaphysical reflection.’ Stephen Mulhall, New College, Oxford ‘This book gives an excellent and very welcome survey of recent debates about freedom in the liberal tradition. It combines a lucid, judicious and even-handed presentation of the ideas of key thinkers with a series of critical insights of its own. It will be of interest and value to students across the full range of subject areas – in political, ethical, legal and social theory – where freedom is a matter of core concern. Readers will discover that approaching the topic of freedom, even within liberal political philosophy, points them in the direction of a rich, diverse and fine-grained heritage of conceptual debates – to which Flikschuh’s book provides an exemplary guide.’ Gideon Calder, University of Wales, NewportTable of ContentsIntroduction:. Approaching Liberal Freedom. Chapter 1:. Isaiah Berlin: Two Concepts of Liberty?. Chapter 2:. Gerald MacCallum: Freedom as a Triadic Concept. Chapter 3:. Robert Nozick: Negative Freedom and Property Rights. Chapter 4:. Hillel Steiner: The Natural Right to Pure Negative Liberty. Chapter 5:. Ronald Dworkin: Freedom as an Aspect of Equality. Chapter 6:. Joseph Raz: The Social Value of Personal Autonomy. Conclusion:. Liberal Freedom – Positive, Negative, Either or Neither?. Bibliography

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Book Synopsis* An engaging and accessible introduction to philosophy * Relates the big philosophical questions to the problems in our everyday lives * Written by Spaina s most famous philosopher. Has sold extremely well in Spain (over 70 000 copies) and throughout Europe. .Trade Review"His introductory guide to the more basic queries, as well as more abstract notions such as beauty, language and love, pulls in references from Socrates to Sartre and everywhere in-between...buy it." The Scotsman "A wholly accessible exploration and explanation of some key philosophical themes." Asia Intelligence Wire "This book casts philosophy first and foremost as part of a reflective life and not at all limited to academic study. As a result, it encourages readers to undertake philosophy as a living, open-ended practice." Charles Taliafero, St Olaf's College, NorthfieldTable of ContentsPreface. Introduction: Why Philosophy?. Chapter One: Let us begin with death. Chapter Two: The truths of reason. Chapter Three: I inside, I outside. Chapter Four: The symbolic animal. Chapter Five: The world and its outskirts. Chapter Six: Freedom in action. Chapter Seven: Artificial by nature. Chapter Eight: Living together. Chapter Nine: The shiver of beauty. Chapter Ten: Lost in time. Epilogue: Life without meaning?. Farewell. Suggested further reading. Appendix. Notes. Index

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Book SynopsisThis lively and highly accessible introduction to the thought of Thomas Aquinas focuses on his philosophy while making clear its openness to theology as reflection on Revelation. * Introduces students this great philosopher of the middle ages in one short book.Trade Review"Ralph McInerny knows as much about Thomas Aquinas, and about how to communicate his thought, as anyone else alive. He is not only a very learned commentator upon him, but also a fluent, lucid, and often entertaining writer, who can make profound ideas seem deceptively simple....McInerny offers an accessible guide to a difficult and important topic." The Heythrop Journal "McInery is perhaps the most important Catholic philosopher of his generation. While many limit philosophy to textual exegesis of formal logic, McInerny, in the spirit of his immediate predecessors Etienne Gilson and Jacques Maritain, still regards philosophy as the pursuit of wisdom, speculative and practical. Steeped in the history of philosophy, McInerny is a reliable guide to Aristotle and Aquinas and their commentators through the ages. He writes not for colleagues down the hall or for the appreciation of antiquity or who seek an intellectual compass in stormy times. Translated into many languages, his work rightly commands a global audience. For its freshness, Aquinas will only enhance McInerny’s status as a major interpreter of the Angelic Doctor." Jude P. Dougherty, The Catholic University of America "Aquinas lived in a time of remarkable intellectual and religious ferment. His thought, which McInerny following John Paul II describes as an implicit philosophy, articulates not just for his own time, but foe all times, the philosophical principles implicitly operative in human nature. In his new primer on Aquinas, Ralph McInerny manages the impossible. He gives us Aquinas, his times, the core of his philosophical teaching, and the significance of his continued contribution to philosophy and theology. With the deft stlye of the novelist and the clarity of a seasoned teacher of Aquinas, McInerny provides a marvelous path into the thought of the greatest of Catholic teachers." Thomas Hibbs, Boston CollegeTable of ContentsPart I: A Short Life. 1. Origins. 2. Montecassino (1230–1239). 3. University of Naples (1239–1244). 4. Under House Arrest (1244–1245). 5. Cologne and Albert the Great (1245–1248). 6. Student at Paris (1252–1256). 7. First Paris Professorship (1256–1259). 8. Italian Interlude (1259–1268). 9. Second Paris Period (1269–1272). 10. Naples (1272–1274). selected Further Reading. Part II: In Pursuit of Wisdom. 11. Theology presupposes Philosophy. 12. The Quest of Philosophy. 13. Theoretical and Practical. 14. The Order of Learning. 15. The Two Theologies. 16. The Four Orders. 17. The Logical Order. 18. Our Natural Way of Knowing. 19. Matter and Form. 20. Things that Come to Be as the Result of a Change. 21. The Parmenidean Problem. 22. The Sequel. 23. The Prime Mover. 24. The Soul. 25. Sense Perception. 26. The Immortality of the Human Soul. 27. The Opening to Metaphysics. 28. The Big Problem. 29. The Two Theologies Revisited. 30. Being as Being. 31. Analogy. 32. Being as Analogous. 33. Substance. 34. Presuppositions of Metaphysics. 35. God and Metaphysics. 36. Ipsum esse Subsistens. 37. The Moral Order. 38. Ultimate End in Aristotle. 39. Ultimate End in Thomas. 40. Virtuous Action. 41. Natural Law. 42. Natural Inclinations. 43. Virtue and Law. 44. Practical Syllogism. 45. End/Means. 46. The Common Good. 47. Natural and Supernatural Ends. 48. Preambles of Faith. 49. Christian Philosophy. 50. Beyond Philosophy. 51. The Range of Theology. Sources. Selected Further Reading. Part III: Thomism. 52. The First Phase. 53. Second Scholasticism. 54. The Leonine Revival. 55. Three Thomisms. 56. Whither Thomism?. Selected Further Reading. Index

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Book SynopsisDescartes, Spinoza and Leibniz stand out among their seventeenth-century contemporaries as the great rationalist philosophers. Each sought to construct a philosophical system in which theological and philosophical foundations serve to explain the physical, mental and moral universe. Through a careful analysis of their work, Pauline Phemister explores the rationalists seminal contribution to the development of modern philosophy. Broad terminological agreement and a shared appreciation of the role of reason in ethics do not mask the very significant disagreements that led to three distinctive philosophical systems: Cartesian dualism, Spinozan monism and Leibnizian pluralism. The book explores the nature of, and offers reasons for, these differences. Phemister contends that Spinoza and Leibniz developed their systems in part through engagements with and amendment of Cartesian philosophy, and critically analyses the arguments and contributions of all three philosophers. The clarity of tTrade Review"Pauline Phemister’s The Rationalists is a well-regulated account of three great seventeenth-century “system builders”, replete with illuminating contrasts and comparisons." Roger Woolhouse, University of York "Pauline Phemister’s comparative study of Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz is an important contribution to the historiography of philosophy as well as a delight to read. The central issues of seventeenth-century metaphysics, including the nature of substance, ideas, God, mind and body, causality and freedom, are treated in depth and with exemplary lucidity. This is simply the best and most comprehensive survey of rationalism available." Catherine Wilson, City University of New YorkTable of ContentsAbbreviations. Acknowledgements. Introduction. Chapter One – System Builders. Chapter Two – Knowledge and Ideas. Chapter Three – Substance. Chapter Four – Spinoza’s God. Chapter Five – One and Many. Chapter Six – Body: Descartes and Spinoza. Chapter Seven – Body: Leibniz. Chapter Eight – Mind and Body: Descartes. Chapter Nine – Mind and Body: Spinoza and Leibniz. Chapter Ten – Problems of Freedom. Chapter Eleven – Freedom, Activity and Self-determination. Notes. Bibliography. Index.

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Book SynopsisOver the last decade, Axel Honneth has established himself as one of the leading social and political philosophers in the world today. Rooted in the tradition of critical theory, his writings have been central to the revitalization of critical theory and have become increasingly influential. His theory of recognition has gained worldwide attention and is seen by some as the principal counterpart to Habermass theory of discourse ethics. In this important new volume, Honneth pursues his path-breaking work on recognition by exploring the moral experiences of disrespect that underpin the conduct of social and political critique. What we might conceive of as a striving for social recognition initially appears in a negative form as the experience of humiliation or disrespect. Honneth argues that disrespect constitutes the systematic key to a comprehensive theory of recognition that seeks to clarify the sense in which institutionalized patterns of social recognition generate justified demaTrade Review“For the past few decades Axel Honneth has been developing and defending the concept of recognition as the groundwork for a critical theory of society. In this collection of articles he extends his analysis of recognition in order to show how this informs social philosophy, moral theory, and political philosophy. Honneth has a knack for situating fundamental issues in historical perspective, outlining alternative strategies for dealing with them, and breaking new ground. This superb collection of essays is essential for anyone interested in recent developments in the scope and normative foundations of critical social theory.” Richard J. Bernstein, New School for Social Research “This belated translation makes patent what many of us have suspected for a long time: Axel Honneth’s recognition theory constitutes one of the most ambitious philosophical undertakings of our time. These sparkling essays work out its implications for major issues in social philosophy, moral philosophy, and political philosophy.” Nancy Fraser, New School for Social ResearchTable of ContentsI. The Tasks of Social Philosophy Pathologies of the Social: The Past and Present of Social Philosophy The Possibility of a Disclosing Critique of Society: The Dialectic of Enlightenment in Light of Current Debates in Social Criticism The Social Dynamics Of Disrespect: On The Location Of Critical Theory Today Moral Consciousness and Class Domination: Some Problems in the Analysis of Hidden Morality II. Morality and Recognition The Other of Justice: Habermas and the Ethical Challenge of Postmodernism. Between Aristotle and Kant: Recognition and Moral Obligation Between Justice and Affection: The Family as a Field of Moral Disputes Love and Morality: On the Moral Content of Emotional Ties Decentered Autonomy: The Subject After the Fall III. Problems of Political Philosophy Is Universalism a Moral Trap? The Presuppositions and Limits of a Politics of Human Rights Democracy as Reflexive Cooperation: John Dewey and the Theory of Democracy Today Negative Freedom and Cultural Belonging: An Unhealthy Tension in the Political Philosophy of Isaiah Berlin Post-traditional Communities: A Conceptual Proposal

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Book SynopsisAt present, there is an enormous gulf between the visibility of evil and the paucity of our intellectual resources for coming to grips with it. We have been flooded with images of death camps, terrorist attacks and horrendous human suffering.Trade Review"Continental philosophy at its best." Modern Theology "Richard Bernstein takes us through the most baffling question of all, the one that in the end defies philosophical understanding, that of evil. The last century put this irresistibly on our agenda, and we cannot avoid it. No-one has the answer, but Bernstein takes us through a number of the most important and insightful thinkers, who can help us in our search. With the admirable clarity and great philosophical sympathy which always characterizes his work, he defines their understanding of evil, and puts them into conversation with each other. One emerges from this work still baffled, but in a much more fruitful way, empowered to go on thinking. This is a striking achievement for a work on this subject. Bernstein has once again pushed the debate forward several steps." Charles Taylor, McGill University "Richard Bernstein's work represents the best of an American tradition in philosophy, inspired by pragmatism and the analytical requirements of jargon-free clarity and drawing extensively and powerfully on traditions within Continental philosophy. To my ears Bernstein's is a hugely important voice in contemporary philosophical debate – it is sane and humane." Simon Critchley, University of EssexTable of ContentsPreface. Introduction. Part I Evil, Will, and Freedom. Radical Evil: Kant at War with Himself. Hegel: The Healing of the Spirit?. Schelling: The Metaphysics of Evil. Intermezzo. Part II: The Moral Psychology of Evil. Nietzsche: Beyond Good and Evil?. Freud: Psychic Ambivalence and Ineradicable Evil. Part III: After Auschwitz: Radical Evil and Responsibility. Prologue. Levinas: Evil and the Temptation of Theodicy. Jonas: A New Ethic of Responsibility. Arendt: Radical Evil and The Banality of Evil. Conclusion. Notes. Bibliography. Index

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Book SynopsisDespite all of humanity's failures, futile efforts and wrong turnings in the past, Adorno did not let himself be persuaded that we are doomed to suffer a bleak future for ever. One of the factors that prevented him from identifying a definitive plan for the future course of history was his feelings of solidarity with the victims and losers.Trade Review"In an age once more in search of the big picture, Adorno's lecture course on 'History and Freedom' reminds us again of the astonishing contemporaneity of his thought. Combining dialectical agility with a refreshing candour and directness, these lectures represent a major thinker’s most open engagement with the meaning of human history, and the disastrous ambiguity of progress." Peter Dews, University of EssexTable of ContentsEditor’s Foreword xii Part I History Lecture 1: Progress or Regression? 3 Notes: The relationship of the lectures to Negative Dialectics; the concept of freedom in Kant and Hegel; the diminishing consciousness of freedom; the meaning of history refuted by Auschwitz; the philosophy of history implies that there is a meaning; cultural morphology (Spengler) and idealism Lecture 2: Universal and Particular 10 Trend and individual fact • Distance from and closeness to detail; progress as a particular • Rationality as a universal; rationality as the mastering of nature • The concept of universal history; rationality as a form of conflict; ‘Faustian technology’ and modes of production • Hegel’s concept of spirit [Geist]; spirit and technical rationality; spirit not primary, but a product • The immediate experience of the universal and the universal itself denounced as metaphysics; negativity as a universal Lecture 3: Constitution Problems 19 The truth of facts • Immediacy and mediation; individuality and the ‘untrue’ universal • Simmel’s philosophy of history; the problem of constitution (I) • The problem of constitution (II) • De Maistre; the grounds of knowledge and grounds of reality • Hegel’s ‘world spirit’ and the spirit of the age • The logic of things and heteronomy Lecture 4: The Concept of Mediation 29 Facts as a cloak • The experience of the speculative; experience of committees • Formal sociology; group opinion and social totality • French Revolution (I) • French Revolution (II); underlying cause and proximate cause: course of history and individual moment • French Revolution (III); primacy of the course of history: ‘economy based on expenditure’ instead of ‘economy based on acquisition’; the theory of historical categories Lecture 5: The Totality on the Road to Self-Realization 39 Philosophy of history and historiography • Parti pris for the universal • Hegel’s class standpoint • In defence of Hegel • Reason as unreason; individual interest and species; humanity: ‘public company for the exploitation of nature’ • Conflict in the concept of reason • The odious totality Lecture 6: Conflict and Survival 49 Ambivalence of totality; Marx’s optimistic view of history • Conflict and totality • Theodicy of conflict • Conflict and the reproduction of life • Conflict and prehistory; the economy or relations of domination • Contemplative and revolutionary conceptions of history; the problem of anarchism • Defence of nonconformism Lecture 7: Spirit and the Course of the World 59 The concept of conformism • Critique of the hypostasization of concepts; the concept of reason; the irrationality of reason • Law and ‘emotional warmth’ in Hegel; universality in the particular • The course of the world and individual conscience; methesis [participation] of the spirit • Theodicy of rupture and concrete possibility Lecture 8: Psychology 69 The concept of the character mask • Individuation and socialization • Identity and the semblance of reconciliation • ‘Sowing one’s wild oats’ • Intellectual forms of self-preservation and human breakdown; identification with the aggressor • Acquiescing in selfdestruction; concretism; psychology as cement Lecture 9: The Critique of Universal History 79 The course of the argument • The concept of universal history (I) • The concept of universal history (II) • False mastery and vindication of induction; Hegel’s theory of history • Freedom and the individual in Hegel • The individuality in antiquity and the early modern age • History from the standpoint of the victor Lecture 10: ‘Negative’ Universal History 89 Benjamin’s XVIIth thesis • Temporal core and non-identity • Continuity and discontinuity • History as a gigantic exchange relationship • The total state and the rule of competing cliques • Dialectic of the particular • The concept of chance; the utopia of knowledge • Hegel’s critique of the totality; course of the argument Lecture 11: The Nation and the Spirit of the People in Hegel 99 Notes: Spirit of the people and universal spirit; universal history as universal tribunal; pseudo-concreteness; repressive archaisms; anti-Cartesian elements in Vico, Montesquieu, Herder and Hegel; cult of the nation Lecture 12: The Principle of Nationality 105 The nation: a bourgeois form of organization; departure from natural forms of association • The path to delusions of race • Progressive aspects of the nation • The principle of nationality and natural history • The equality of the organization of life today • Hegel’s theory of national spirit viii contents obsolete; decentralization through technology • Germany ‘the belated nation’ • Predominance of the universal over the individual; objective reason split off from subjective reason • ‘Infernal machine’; natural history in Hegel Lecture 13: The History of Nature (I) 115 Notes: Nature and history; history as spirit; the history of nature as a critical concept; Marx, the ironical Social Darwinist; mythical nature of history; first and second nature Lecture 14: The History of Nature (II) 120 The concept of second nature • Nature and history mediated • Critique of ‘historicity’; meaning and chance • Philosophy as interpretation (I); transience and allegory; philosophy’s transition to the concrete; history as secularized metaphysics • Philosophy as interpretation (II); hermeneutics • Practice thwarted; critique of the metaphysics of time Part II Progress Lecture 15: On Interpretation: the Concept of Progress (I) 133 The history of nature, allegory, criticism • Secularized melancholy; theory of interpretation; Hölderlin’s The Shelter at Hardt • Immediacy as the product of history; Hegel and Marx; art • The pleasures of interpretation • The concept of progress as a link between philosophy of history and the theory of freedom • Critique of nominalism • ‘Whether progress exists’ Lecture 16: On Interpretation: the Concept of Progress (II) 142 Towards conceptual synthesis • Progress as a way of averting catastrophe; the global social subject • Kant’s idea of humanity • Benjamin’s critique of progress • Progress and redemption in St Augustine • Escaping the trammels of the past • Progress mediated by society • Reconciliation and conflict in Kant; progress as absolutely mythical and anti-mythical Lecture 17: On Interpretation: the Concept of Progress (III) 153 Jugendstil, Ibsen • Decadence and utopia; bourgeois coldness and privileged happiness; dialectics of individuation • Decadence and the defamation of sex; Jugendstil and expressionism • The domination of nature and the flowering of reason; Kant and Hegel’s concepts of reason; myth and demythologization in one • The idea of progress in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries • Two concepts of progress • The dialectics of inwardness; critique of the decisionism of existentialist spontaneity • Spirit as the repository of progress Lecture 18: On Interpretation: the Concept of Progress (IV) 164 Static elements of the spirit • Progress and mastery of material • Philosophical progress • Programme of reflection on the nature of philosophy • The concept of exchange; exchange and myth • Correcting progress • Speaking on my own behalf Part III Freedom The concepts of freedom and the spell; concentration on free will; freedom as the epitome of resistance to the spell Lecture 19: Transition to Moral Philosophy 177 Non-existence of freedom in history • Individual freedom, social unfreedom • Freedom as a historical concept • The possibility of freedom in unfreedom • The current state of the forces of production • Reason and freedom • Model and constellation; free will and interiority Lecture 20: What is Free Will? 187 Notes: Inside and outside reciprocally mediated; will and freedom not to be hypostasized; on pseudo-problems [Scheinproblem]; will and freedom synthesize individual impulses Lecture 21: Freedom and Bourgeois Society 190 Towards a definition of will: the substratum of freedom • Will as the ordered unity of spontaneous and rational impulses; will and a strong ego; non-ego as model of the ego • Freedom and emancipation of the bourgeoisie; freedom and psychology • The scientific impulse versus demystification; bourgeois ambivalence • Theory of freedom as Sunday sermon • Freedom in the service of oppression; the psychoanalysis of the super-ego Lecture 22: Freedom in Unfreedom 200 Freedom as problem and cliché • Auschwitz as absolute negation of freedom • Guilt • Freedom and excessive demands • ‘Evil’ as unfreedom • The ageing of moral categories; society and the individual Lecture 23: Antinomies of Freedom 209 The narcissistic interest in freedom • Conformity as the dark side of freedom • Impulse, mimesis, irrationality • Kant’s concept of spontaneity • Spontaneity as something transcendental • The dialectics of spontaneity; Marx, Rosa Luxemburg • Obsessional neurosis; the egoalien ego Lecture 24: Rationality and the Additional Factor 219 Freud’s theory of repression; blindness of the ego • Ideology of inwardness • The ‘sphere of absolute origins’ and the subject • Critique of the experimenta crucis • Kant’s ‘gallows in front of the house’ • Kant’s card-sharp • A priorism or the empirical as determining factor; the construction of the intelligible character Lecture 25: Consciousness and Impulse 229 Consciousness versus causality • Without consciousness, no will • Hamlet (I) • The medieval ordo: critique of Romanticism; Hamlet (II) • Hamlet (III); the additional or the irrational factor • The archaic element of the will • The archaic transformed • Reason and impulse Lecture 26: Kant’s Theory of Free Will 239 Evidence of impulse • The problem of theory and practice in Kant; lectures as a genre • Kant’s historicization of reflections on the moral law • Freedom as the determinate negation of unfreedom; Kant’s doctrine of freedom as fiction • Freedom a paradox in Kant; natura naturans and natura naturata • Kant’s ‘borrowed’ ideas of goodness; mediation repressive in Kant • Freedom as consciousness of the law Lecture 27: Will and Reason 249 The dual character of Kant’s concept of reason • The ontologizing of the will in Kant • Kant’s false definition of will • Defence of formalism, misuse of the concrete; Scheler • The concept of character • Character and the ‘dissolute’ [Aufgelöste] • Will and reason Lecture 28: Moral Uncertainties 258 Ontological validity and ontic genesis mediated • Voluntarist and intellectual elements • Morality as self-evident; good and evil • Will and violence; no moral certainty • Solidarity and heteronomy in matters of conscience • Universal and individual in moral philosophy • Free and unfree • Lectures on ‘Metaphysics’ Notes 267 References 334 Index of Names 337 Index of Subjects 343

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Book SynopsisThis new book by Beate Rossler is a work of real quality and originality on an extremely topical issue: the issue of privacy and the relations between the private and the public. Rossler investigates the reasons why we value privacy and why we ought to value it.Table of ContentsForeword. I. Introduction. 1. Discourses on privacy. 2. Privacy: conceptual clarifications. 3. The framework of liberal democracy. 4. Cultural differences: autonomy and authenticity. 5. A comment on the method. 6. Privacy and autonomy: the line of argument. II. Equal Freedom, Equal Privacy. On the Critique of the Liberal Tradition. 1. Head or heart: contradictions in the liberal concept of privacy. 2. The feminist critique. 3. Three classics of liberal thought: Locke, Mill and Rawls. 4. Equality and difference between the sexes. Parenthesis: On the debate over equality and difference. 5. Equal freedom, equal privacy. III. Freedom, Privacy and Autonomy. 1. Introduction. 2. A general concept of freedom. 3. Freedom and autonomy. Authenticity and identification. Parenthesis: On the concept of authenticity. The genesis of desires and autonomy as habitus. Goals and projects. 4. Why do we value privacy?. 5. Privacy and autonomy. IV. The Three Dimensions of Privacy. 1. Decisional privacy: scope for action and decisions. 1.1. Private matters and freedom for decisions. Parenthesis: abortion and the right to decisional privacy (Roe vs. Wade). 1.2. Decisional privacy and autonomy (1): the communitarian critique. 1.3. Decisional privacy and autonomy (2): the feminist critique. 1.4. What sort of freedom is protected by privacy?. 2. Informational privacy: limits to knowledge. 2.1. Expectations: what do other people know about me?. 2.2. Informational privacy and unspecified others: the Panopticon. 2.3. Informational privacy and specified others: collusions, friendships and intimate relations. 2.4. Expectations, knowledge, autonomy. 3. Local privacy: the private home. 3.1. The refuge of privacy. 3.2. A room of one's own: self-invention, self-presentation and autonomy. 3.3. Privacy and the family: love and justice. V. Interfaces: Public and Private. 1. Interfaces and ambivalences. 2. Exposure: the staging of privacy in the public realm. 3. Concealment: the protection of the public realm from private matters. 4. The private and the public person: dissonant identities

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Book SynopsisSince 9/11 politicians, preachers, conservatives and the media are all speaking about evil. In the past the dicourse about evil in our religious, philosophic and literary traditions has provoked thinking, questioning and inquiry. But today the appeal to evil is being used as a political tool to obscure compex issues, block serious thinking and stifle public discussion and debate. We are now confronting a clash of mentalities, not a clash of civilisations. One mentality is drawn to absolutes, moral certainties, and simplistic dichotomies of good and evil. The other seriously questions an appeal to absolutes in politics and criticizes the simplistic division of the world into the forces of evil and the forces of good. In The Abuse of Evil Bernstein challenges the claim that without an appeal to absolutes, we lack the grounds for acting decisively in fighting our enemies. The post 9/11 abuse of evil corrupts both democratic politics and religion. The stakes are highTrade Review"A dazzling demonstration of philosophy’s public relevance." Nancy Fraser, New School for Social Research “Building on the conceptual framework advanced in his last book, Radical Evil, Bernstein argues that what defines the post 9-11 world is an abuse of evil. In the face of the pernicious moral absolutism of neo-conservatism and the religious right, Bernstein advances a pragmatic fallibilism that is consistent with both the fragility and tenacity of democracy. It is the great merit of this book to show that such a fallibilism is not only continuous with a religious world-view, but is its enabling condition. If philosophy, as Hegel insists, is its time comprehended in thought, then Bernstein gives his readers a philosophical wake-up call to think about evil in the face of so much unthinking moralism.” Simon Critchley, New School for Social ResearchTable of ContentsPreface. Introduction. 1. The Clash of Mentalities: The Craving for Absolutes versus Pragmatic Fallibilism. 2. The Anticipations and Legaices of Pragmatic Fallibilism. 3. Moral Certainty and Passionate Commitment. 4. Evil and the Corruption of Democratic Politics. 5. Evil and the Corruption of Religion. Epilogue: What is to Done?. Notes. Works Cited. Index

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Book SynopsisThe political regime of global capitalism reduces the world to an endless network of numbers within numbers, but how many of us really understand what numbers are? In Number and Numbers Badiou offers an philosophically penetrating account of the attempts made over the last century to define the special status of number.Trade Review“Breathtaking ... Badiou announces a new epoch in philosophy.” Slavoj Žižek “A bracing alternative both to the sterile and dry discussions that constitute much of the literature on mathematics and to the daily incursion of pie-charts, mortgage payments and bills that make up most of our dealings with numbers. Badiou’s own ‘history of eternity’ is a manifesto for the future of mathematics, and of philosophy’s role in appreciating that future.” The Philosophers' Magazine “Badiou’s major foray into the philosophy of mathematics displays his trademark blend of intricacy and daring. His purpose is to renew our sense of the dignity, even majesty of numbers – and so bolster our resistance to a world of brute calculation.” Peter Dews, University of EssexTable of ContentsNumber Must Be Thought. I Genealogies: Frege, Dedekind, Peano, Cantor. 1 Greek Number and Modern Number. 2 Frege. 3 Additional Note on a Contemporary Usage of Frege. 4 Dedekind. 5 Peano. 6 Cantor: 'Well-Orderedness' and the Ordinals. II Concepts: Natural Multiplicities. 7 Transitive Multiplicities. 8 Von Neumann Ordinals. 9 Succession and Limit. The Infinite. 10 Recurrence, or Induction. 11 Natural Whole Numbers. III Ontology of Number: Definition, Order, Cuts, Types. 12 The Concept of Number: An Evental Nomination Additional Notes On Sets Of Ordinals. 13 Difference and Order of Numbers. 14 The Concept of Sub-Number. 15 Cuts: The Fundamental Theorem. 16 The Numberless Enchantment of the Place of Number. IV Operational Dimensions. 17 Natural Interlude. 18 Algebra of Numbers. 19 In Conclusion: From Number to Trans-Being. Index.

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Book SynopsisThis book provides a much-needed, straightforward introduction to moral philosophy. It will particularly benefit students following courses containing an ethics module, including philosophy from AS level onwards, religious studies, law and medicine, but it has also been written for any reader puzzled by moral disputes and dilemmas. Written in an easy and approachable style and packed with lively examples from everyday life, the first section of the book clearly explains and assesses the arguments for and against the rival moral theories of utilitarianism, Kantianism, Divine Command Theory and virtue ethics. The second section develops this by analysing the conflicting advice each moral theory gives regarding four controversial areas of life, namely euthanasia, abortion, animal rights and the environment. The final section concludes with an account of the vital debate concerning whether the difference between right and wrong is an objective fact discovered by us, like gravity, or isTrade Review"Noel Stewart presents us with a long-awaited undergraduate text that combines normative ethics, practical (or applied) ethics, and metaethics. This excellently written book can be used for a sophisticated one-semester ethics course or for two separate courses, one combining normative and practical or combining normative and metaethics. The metaethics section is a clear, elegant, and accessible introduction to the topic. All in all, the text provides a lucid introduction to the themes and issues across the spectrum of ethics." Sherrill Begres, Indiana University of Pennsylvania "Noel Stewart’s tripartite survey of normative, practical and meta-ethics is extremely engaging, good humoured and clearly laid out. The work is ideally suited to a second year A-level student or first year undergraduate." Jon Phelan, Hills Road Sixth Form CollegeTable of ContentsAcknowledgements. Preface. Introduction. SECTION ONE. NORMATIVE ETHICS. Chapter 1. Utilitarianism. Chapter 2. Deontological Theories. a) Kant’s Moral Theory. b) Divine Command Theory. Chapter 3. Virtue Ethics. SECTION TWO. PRACTICAL ETHICS. Chapter 4. Euthanasia. Chapter 5. Abortion. Chapter 6. Animal Rights. Chapter 7. Environmental Ethics. SECTION THREE. METAETHICS. Chapter 8. Cognitivism. a) Ethical Transcendentalism. b) Naturalism. c) Nonnaturalism. Chapter 9. Noncognitivism. a) Emotivism. b) Prescriptivism. Chapter 10. The Case for a Contemporary Naturalism. Postscript. Appendix. Selected Bibliography

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Book SynopsisHelene Cixous is one of France's leading contemporary writers. This new book is a work of fiction about the most implacable of human certainties - death. It explores death, mourning and loss by means of a poetic fiction: imagining a magic telephone through which one can open up a lifeline to departed loved ones.Trade Review"The act of writing, Cixous claimed, 'is linked to the experience of disappearance, to the feeling of having lost the key to the world'. Hyperdream offers a world full of such absence ... It hovers, dreamily between novel and memoir." Times Literary Supplement "Moving, complex and lyrical, it is a crucial work." The Herald "Hélène Cixous is today the greatest writer in what I shall call, if I may, my language, French. And I weigh my words in saying this. For a very great writer must be a poet-thinker, very much a poet and a very thinking poet." Jacques DerridaTable of ContentsTranslator’s Notes. Author’s Foreword. I Before the End. II Benjamin’s Bedspring. III A Leave

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Book SynopsisAlthough Islamic philosophy represents one of the leading philosophical traditions in the world, it has only recently begun to receive the attention it deserves in the non-Islamic world. This important text provides a concise and accessible introduction to the major movements, thinkers and concepts within that tradition, from the foundation of Islam to the present day. Ever since the growth of Islam as a religious and political movement, Muslim thinkers have sought to understand the theoretical aspects of their faith by using philosophical concepts. Leaman outlines this history and demonstrates that, although the development of Islamic philosophy is closely linked with Islam itself, its form is not essentially connected to any particular religion, and its leading ideas and arguments are of general philosophical significance. The author illustrates the importance of Islamic thought within philosophy through the use of many modern examples. He describes and contrasts the three main mTrade Review"This is a valuable work and would be well suited to survey courses on Islam at the undergraduate level. The author has clearly envisaged this, as he has included a copious bibliography and suggestions for further reading. It is to be hoped that this book will be used in this way in universities and colleges which have programmes in Islamic studies and/or religious studies." Journal of Contemporary Religion "Leaman does an excellent job of bringing the debates of Islamic philosophy alive. He takes Islamic philosophy out of the Islamic studies ghetto and extracts it from antiquarian historical interest, making it relevant to everyday philosophical concerns within the context of our multicultural and multi-faith society today." Sajjad Rizvi, University of Exeter "Everyone who teaches Islamic philosophy knows that Professor Leaman is the gold standard for clear, orderly exposition. This new edition of his Islamic Philosophy will only confirm that reputation. To those trained only in European and American philosophy, Islamic thought can seem an impenetrable maze of names and dates, but Professor Leaman clearly lays out the development of the ideas in a way that shows their relation to Medieval European thought and, as well as the unique problems Islam (and especially Sufism) brought to philosophy. From the understanding of the nature of the Qur'an, to the importance of God's oneness, to the relation of God to the universe, Professor Leaman guides the reader through complex argument in a way that will reward students of all levels of expertise. This text is a must for any Islamic Philosophy course." Mark Webb, Texas Tech UniversityTable of ContentsPreface to the Second Edition viii Author’s Note and Abbreviations xi Glossary xii 1 A SHORT HISTORY OF ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY 1 The growth of Islam 2 Neoplatonism 3 Major thinkers 5 2 MAIN CONTROVERSIES 13 What is Islamic philosophy? 13 Early reactions to Greek philosophy in Islamic culture: the Great Debate 22 Al-Ghazali and philosophy: the question of creation 24 The nature of time 26 Mulla Sadra on change 28 Iqbal on time 29 Ibn Rushd on time 31 What can God do? 33 Miracles and meaning 34 The afterlife 36 What can God know? 37 Philosophical accounts of religious concepts 39 How free is God? 40 Essence, existence and miracles 41 The meaning of words 45 Meaning and unity 46 bi-la kayfa 48 Ibn Taymiyya on talking about God 49 3 KNOWLEDGE 51 The notion of Islamic science 52 Science and rationality 55 The nature of knowledge 56 What is knowledge for? 58 Imagination 60 Ibn Sina on knowledge and the ‘oriental’ philosophy 63 Sufi sm, knowledge and imagination 65 Knowledge by presence 67 4 MYSTICISM 71 Mysticism as a system 71 Being 74 Mysticism as a science 76 The perfect man 80 The deepening of prayer 82 Criticisms of Sufism 84 5 ONTOLOGY 86 Being and existence in Islamic philosophy 87 Ibn Rushd vs Ibn Sina on existence 87 Mulla Sadra vs al-Suhrawardi on existence 88 The equivocality of being 90 Mulla Sadra and mysticism 94 The imaginal realm 95 Different routes to one truth and the role of imagination 98 Allegory and meaning: the imaginal realm again 99 Prophecy and its psychological basis 101 Is being really the fi rst question in metaphysics? 104 6 ETHICS 106 Theological background: Mu_tazilites vs Ash_arites 106 Ethics and divine power 107 Al-Ghazali’s attack on objectivism in ethics 108 Trusting authority 112 The need for guidance 116 7 POLITICS 118 Plato vs Aristotle 118 The diversity of human beings 122 Islamic accounts of history 123 The notion of the ‘medieval’ 125 Liberalism vs Islam 129 The case of jihad 133 Modern political consequences 137 8 THE QUESTION OF TRANSMISSION 142 Philosophy and religion 142 The notion of cultural contact 146 The Andalusi connection 148 Getting back to basics 151 Falsafa and hikma: philosophy and wisdom 155 The concept of religious reason 156 The concept of inclusive reason 158 Robinson Crusoe and Hayy ibn Yaqzan 160 9 LANGUAGE 162 The case of Ibn Rushd 164 Ibn Rushd on meaning 165 Ibn Rushd and elitism 169 The Enlightenment Project 173 Ibn Rushd as a critic of mysticism 175 The implications for language 176 10 ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY TODAY 179 The West as decadent 182 Confronting tradition 183 Islamic exceptionalism 186 Did al-Ghazali destroy Islamic philosophy? 188 11 DOES ISLAM NEED AN ENLIGHTENMENT? 191 Jewish and Muslim reactions to modernity 195 Moses Mendelssohn and Muhammad _Abduh 196 Islamic exceptionalism again 197 The Enlightenment and theology 200 Christianity as the symbol of modernity 202 The need for an Enlightenment 204 The lack of radicalism in Islamic Qur’an commentary 207 References and Bibliography 211 Guide to Further Reading 223 Index 225

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Book SynopsisOffers a series of recontextualizations of Jacques Derrida's work by exploring the connections between Derrida and 7 major thinkers, including Hegel, Freud and Thomas Mann.Trade Review"Peter Sloterdijk has a strong claim to being Germany's foremost public philosopher." The Philosopher's Magazine "Derrida's debt to German thought is well-known, and he wrote many elegies. Here a contemporary German thinker returns the compliment. A fitting tribute to an important philosopher and, through a sequence of surprising juxtapositions, a powerful work of theory in its own right." Stuart Elden, Durham UniversityTable of ContentsAcknowledgement Preliminary Note 1 Luhmann and Derrida 2 Sigmund Freud and Derrida 3 Thomas Mann and Derrida 4 Franz Borkenau and Derrida 5 Régis Debray and Derrida 6 Hegel and Derrida 7 Boris Groys and Derrida

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Book SynopsisA work that is not concerned with the use of Freudian concepts for the interpretation of literary and artistic works. Rather, it is concerned with why this interpretation plays such an important role in demonstrating the contemporary relevance of psychoanalytic concepts.Trade Review'One of today's foremost French philosophers offers here a fascinating and illuminating take on the relevance of Freudian concepts and psychoanalytic interpretations, as emerging from the yet to be discovered meaning of the 19th century aesthetic revolution. In a philosophical dialogue with Lyotard, Ranciere contends that the Freudian inheritance that valorizes pathos over logos, goes against the grain of Freud's own effort to maintain their equal coexistence and inseparability: to preserve at once the pathos of the sickness and the logos of the cure. This erudite and brilliant book is a must-read for students of art, philosophy and psychoanalysis alike.' Shoshana Felman, Author of Testimony (Crises of Witnessing), and The Juridical Unconscious "Ranciere offers a fascinating new optic through which to read psychoanalysis, and his original positioning of Freud in relation to art and literature is valuable in a field where partisan defences and blanket dismissals tend to hold sway." The Philosophers' Magazine Table of ContentsA Defective Subject The Aesthetic Revolution The Two Forms of Mute Speech From One Unconscious to Another Freud’s Corrections On Various Uses of Details A Conflict between Two Kinds of Medicine

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Book SynopsisIn his major investigation into the nature of humans, Peter Sloterdijk presents a critique of myth - the myth of the return of religion.Trade Review"Breathtaking.... A superb and wide-ranging analysis of those moderns who have refused to be pampered or to dwell in capitalist decadence."—The Guardian "Make(s) it possible to begin to come to grips with Sloterdijk as a stirring and eclectic thinker, who addresses himself boldly to the most important problems of our age."—New Republic "A tour de force that engages the history of philosophy, religion, and thought, both Western and Eastern, in ways that make you think deeply about the evolution of the human being these past few thousand years."—Los Angeles Review of Books "Sloterdijk is both seriously learned and brilliantly creative, and he has a talent for wit. He deserves shelf-space alongside Nietzsche, Heidegger and Foucault."—New Humanist "Sloterdijk has constructed in this beautiful text a supreme heterotopology - a place from which to think and see differently."—Eduardo Mendieta, Stony Brook University "A challenging, powerful, and at times frustrating read. Sloterdijk ranges widely across literatures and topics, inspiring and provoking in equal measure. He is fortunate to have Wieland Hoban as his excellent translator. A very good antidote to the chicken-soup banalities of other life-changing philosophy."—Stuart Elden, Durham University "Challenging the pious and self-righteous alarm of those who have declared war on the return to religion, Sloterdijk – in his typically original irreverence – argues that we cannot see today’s religiosity as any sort of return. What is really at stake is the formation of the self through practices. Charting a path beyond liberal critiques of religion and post-secular pseudo-returns to spirit, Sloterdijk provides a genuinely twenty-first century approach to the problem of life-formation. This book opens up new ways of thinking about life after humanism without lapsing into the simple affirmations of the post-human."—Claire Colebrook, Penn State University "Peter Sloterdijk has assembled in this book the most amazing series of practices invented in history to hold humans souls suspended to a virtual hook slightly above their head. The result is a totally original analysis of religion by the most important philosopher or rather educator of today."—Bruno Latour, Ecole des mines, ParisTable of ContentsIntroduction: On the Anthropotechnic Turn 1 The Planet of the Practising 1 The Command from the Stone 19 Rilke’s Experience 2 Remote View of the Ascetic Planet 29 Nietzsche’s Antiquity Project 3 Only Cripples Will Survive 40 Unthan’s Lesson 4 Last Hunger Art 61 Kafka’s Artistes 5 Parisian Buddhism 73 Cioran’s Exercises Transition: Religions Do Not Exist 83 From Pierre de Coubertin to L. Ron Hubbard I The Conquest of the Improbable: For an Acrobatic Ethics Programme 109 1 Height Psychology 111 The doctrine of Upward Propagation and the Meaning of ‘Over’ 2 ‘Culture Is a Monastic Rule’ 131 Twilight of the Life Forms, Disciplines 3 Sleepless in Ephesus 160 On the Demons of Habit and Their Taming Through First Theory 4 Habitus and Inertia 175 On the Base Camps of the Practising Life 5 Cur Homo Artista 190 On the Ease of the Impossible II Exaggeration Procedures Backdrop: Retreats into Unusualness 211 6 First Eccentricity 217 On the Separation of the Practising and Their Soliloguies 7 The Complete and the Incomplete 243 How the Spirit of Perfection Entangles the Practising in Stories 8 Master Games 271 Trainers as Guarantors of the Art of Exaggeration 9 Change of Trainer and Revolution 298 On Conversations and Opportunistic Turns III The Exercises of the Modern Prospect: The Re-Secularization of the Withdrawn Subject 315 10 Art with Humans 331 In the Arsenals of Anthropotechnics 11 In the Auto-Operatively Curved Space 369 New Human Beings Between Anaesthesia and Biopolitics 12 Exercises and Misexercises 404 The Critique of Repetition Retrospective From the Re-Embedding of the Subject to the Relapse into Total Care Outlook: The Absolute Imperative 442 Notes 453 Index 487

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