Social and political philosophy Books
The University of Chicago Press Machiavellis Politics
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£37.05
The University of Chicago Press The I in Team
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£26.00
The University of Chicago Press Philosophy Between the Lines
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£31.00
The University of Chicago Press Leo Strauss and the Problem of Political
Book SynopsisLeo Strauss and his alleged political influence regarding the Iraq War have in recent years been the subject of significant media attention, including stories in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. Time magazine even called him one of the most influential men in American politics. With The Truth about Leo Strauss, Michael and Catherine Zuckert challenged the many claims and speculations about this notoriously complex thinker. Now, with Leo Strauss and the Problem of Political Philosophy, they turn their attention to a searching and more comprehensive interpretation of Strauss's thought as a whole, using the many manifestations of the problem of political philosophy as their touchstone.
£30.40
The University of Chicago Press Alfarabi and the Foundation of Islamic Political
Book SynopsisOffers an analysis of the work of Alfarabi, the founder of Islamic political philosophy. This philosophical engagement with the writings of and about Alfarabi is suitable for those interested in medieval political philosophy.Trade Review"This is the magisterial work of an extraordinary scholar. Muhsin Mahdi has spent a lifetime editing, translating, and interpreting Alfarabi. In Mahdi's presentation, Alfarabi becomes one of the greatest minds of the Middle Ages, whose original ideas on philosophy and religion, on theology and jurisprudence, are relevant to contemporary discussions." - Joel L. Kraemer, University of Chicago.
£30.40
The University of Chicago Press Toward Natural Right and History
Book SynopsisStrauss's lectures that led up to his most important work, Natural Right and History.Trade Review"Toward "Natural Right and History" brings together six previously unpublished gems previously hidden in the cobwebs of the Strauss archives. Written during the fertile period of 1937-46, the essays show Strauss as a craftsman working out the details of the arguments that would be expressed in works such as Natural Right and History, Thoughts on Machiavelli, and The City and Man."--Devin Stauffer, University of Texas at Austin "The ably edited essays selected here provide insight into an important moment in Strauss's work. They show Strauss thinking through problems that would become fundamental to his most important book, Natural Right and History."--Steven B. Smith, Yale University
£999.99
The University of Chicago Press Confronting Torture Essays on the Ethics
Book SynopsisA collection that explores all the current legal, ethical, and cultural thinking about torture and its effects today.
£91.00
The University of Chicago Press Ekklesia Three Inquiries in Church and State
Book SynopsisA Trios volume that addresses the question of church and state in three different contexts: nineteenth-century Brazil, early Canada, and contemporary American courtrooms.
£76.00
The University of Chicago Press The Government of Desire A Genealogy of the
Book SynopsisRelying on Foucault as well as on Deleuze and Guattari, de Beistegui highlights the need to elaborate a politics of difference and creation, raising the crucial question of how can we manage to be less governed today and positing strategic questions of possible contemporary forms of counter-conduct.
£37.05
The University of Chicago Press Hobbess Kingdom of Light
Book SynopsisA detailed analysis of Hobbes’s political thought, one that shows how it rejected the older, religious tradition and paved the way to modern liberal thought.Trade Review"A brilliant and sustained reflection on Hobbes's philosophic, theological, and political-philosophic attempt to dispel the 'Kingdom of Darkness.' Stauffer clarifies and assesses the arguments that led Hobbes to his extraordinary and highly influential attempt to establish human society on a radically new, 'enlightened, ' secular basis. This is a vitally important book, not only for those who wish to understand the true relation between Hobbes's natural science and his political science but for anyone who wishes to understand the modern world."--Timothy Burns, Baylor University
£41.80
The University of Chicago Press Aristotle
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£50.40
The University of Chicago Press Marxs Dream From Capitalism to Communism
Book SynopsisRockmore rescues Marx from Marxism, treating the man's ideas separately from what was later made of them and bringing a refreshingly balanced approach to both.
£37.05
The University of Chicago Press Becoming Political Spinozas Vital Republicanism
Book SynopsisIn this pathbreaking work, Christopher Skeaff argues that a profoundly democratic conception of judgment is at the heart of Spinoza's thought. Bridging Continental and Anglo-American scholarship, critical theory, and Spinoza studies, Becoming Political offers a historically sensitive, meticulous, and creative interpretation of Spinoza's texts that reveals judgment as the communal element by which people generate power to resist domination and reconfigure the terms of their political association. If, for Spinoza, judging is the activity which makes a people powerful, it is because it enables them to contest the project of ruling and demonstrate the political possibility of being equally free to articulate the terms of their association. This proposition differs from a predominant contemporary line of argument that treats the people's judgment as a vehicle of sovereigntya means of defining and refining the common will. By recuperating in Spinoza's thought a vital republicanism, Skeaff il
£33.25
The University of Chicago Press Political Philosophy and the Challenge of
Book SynopsisHeinrich Meier's guiding insight in Political Philosophy and the Challenge of Revealed Religion is that philosophy must prove its right and its necessity in the face of the claim to truth and demand obedience of its most powerful opponent, revealed religion.
£28.00
University of Chicago Press Education and Equality
Book SynopsisAmerican education as we know it todayguaranteed by the state to serve every child in the countryis still less than a hundred years old. It's no wonder we haven't agreed yet as to exactly what role education should play in our society. In these Tanner Lectures, Danielle Allen brings us much closer, examining the ideological impasse between vocational and humanistic approaches that has plagued educational discourse, offering a compelling proposal to finally resolve the dispute. Allen argues that education plays a crucial role in the cultivation of political and social equality and economic fairness, but that we have lost sight of exactly what that role is and should be. Drawing on thinkers such as John Rawls and Hannah Arendt, she sketches out a humanistic baseline that re-links education to equality, showing how doing so can help us reframe policy questions. From there, she turns to civic education, showing that we must reorient education's trajectory toward readying students for live
£21.00
The University of Chicago Press Leo Strauss on Political Philosophy
Book SynopsisA series of lectures from 1965 in which Strauss laid out his views on political philosophy in the form of an introductory course.
£37.05
The University of Chicago Press Theory and Practice
Book SynopsisThe newest in our lectures series, this one is from 1976 and ’77 and covers Marx and Heidegger and prefigures Derrida’s work in Specters of Marx.
£29.45
The University of Chicago Press The Affect Effect
Book SynopsisProvides an overview of the research on emotion in politics and where it is likely to lead. This book also outlines the philosophical and neuroscientific foundations of emotion in politics. It focuses on how emotions function among individuals. It explores how politics work at the societal level and suggests various steps in political activity.
£30.00
The University of Chicago Press Receptive Bodies
Book SynopsisLeo Bersani, known for his provocative interrogations of psychoanalysis, sexuality, and the human body, centers his latest book on a surprisingly simple image: a newborn baby simultaneously crying out and drawing its first breath. These twin ideasabsorption and expulsion, the intake of physical and emotional nourishment and the exhalation of breathform the backbone of Receptive Bodies, a thoughtful new essay collection. These titular bodies range from fetuses in utero to fully eroticized adults, all the way to celestial giants floating in space. Bersani illustrates his exploration of the body's capacities to receive and resist what is ostensibly alien using a typically eclectic set of sources, from literary icons like Marquis de Sade to cinematic provocateurs such as Bruno Dumont and Lars von Trier. This sharp and wide-ranging book will excite scholars of Freud, Foucault, and film studies, or anyone who has ever stopped to ponder the give and take of human corporeality.
£76.00
The University of Chicago Press What is Nietzsches Zarathustra A Philosophical
Book SynopsisThus Spoke Zarathustra is Nietzsche's most famous and most puzzling work, one in which he makes the greatest use of poetry to explore the questions posed by philosophy. But in order to understand the movement of this drama, we must first understand the character of its protagonist: we must ask, What Is Nietzsche's Zarathustra? Heinrich Meier attempts to penetrate the core of the drama, following as a guiding thread the question of whether Zarathustra is a philosopher or a prophet, or, if he is meant to be both, whether Zarathustra is able to unite philosopher and prophet in himself. Via a close reading that uncovers the book's hidden structure, Meier develops a highly stimulating and original interpretation of this much discussed but still ill-understood masterwork of German poetic prose. In the process, he carefully overturns long-established canons in the academic discourse of Nietzsche-interpretation. The result is a fresh and surprising grasp of Nietzsche's well-known teachings of Trade Review“What Is Nietzsche’s Zarathustra? is a book that scholars with even a tangential interest in Nietzsche will find invaluable. For anyone with a deep intellectual interest in the subject matter, the book is essential.“ * Interpretation *"Meier’s Interpretation of Thus Spoke Zarathustra is unconventional and sure to provoke debate.“ * The Review of Politics *"[A] very close, careful, and often perceptive commentary." * Law and Liberty *“Heinrich Meier opens up a completely new approach to a work that has been much read but so far hardly understood.” -- Volker Gerhardt, Humboldt University, BerlinTable of ContentsPreface What Is Nietzsche’s Zarathustra? First Part Second Part Third Part Fourth and Final Part Translator’s Notes Index of Names
£41.80
University of Chicago Press Sovereignty and the Sacred Secularism and the
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£87.00
The University of Chicago Press Sovereignty and the Sacred Secularism and the
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£28.00
The University of Chicago Press Authoritarianism
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£19.00
The University of Chicago Press Creativity on Demand The Dilemmas of Innovation
Book SynopsisExamines the pervasive expectation of continual innovation in the business sector.
£24.00
The University of Chicago Press A Decent Life
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£22.00
The University of Chicago Press The Arc of Love
Book SynopsisTrade Review"The Arc of Love is a deeply thoughtful analysis that weaves together psychological insights with philosophy, neuroscience, sociology, economics, pop culture, literature, and real stories from real people to show how profound and enduring long-term romantic love is achievable. It untangles a dense web of unhelpful myths, mysteries, and assumptions about love and gives us an arsenal of handy intellectual tools with which to open up new romantic possibilities. It also strikes a playful balance between serious scholarly inquiry and almost poetic prose that makes it delightfully readable and, at times, laugh-out-loud funny. Ben-Ze'ev's optimism about keeping and enhancing romantic and personal flourishing is contagious and inspiring."--Skye Cleary, author of Existentialism and Romantic Love "It is important, when contemplating the nature of love, to remember that every romantic love relationship, like the people involved in it, has a history. Love is not static; it is a thing with a story, a thing that takes place in time. Aaron Ben-Ze'ev's wide-ranging new book, The Arc of Love, which focuses on this aspect of love, will be of interest to philosophers, psychologists, and others who are doing their best to think adequately about this significant, meaningful, very human phenomenon."--Troy Jollimore, author of Syllabus of Errors "Aaron Ben-Ze'ev's new book The Arc of Love is an enthralling account of why so many people today end up in a series of meaningless short-term relationships, hoping that one day they will meet their perfect match. But Ben-Ze'ev doesn't settle for identifying the root cause of why we are having trouble finding profound long-lasting love. Throughout the book he offers practical advice that can help you get rid of your unrealistic ideals and show you how you can come to experience the magic of being able to grow old with the person you love."--Berit "Brit" Brogaard, author of On Romantic Love "Ben-Ze'ev offers in his book The Arc of Love a unique approach on how to gain and maintain an enduring loving relationship."--XinhuaNet
£33.25
The University of Chicago Press Teachers of the People
Book SynopsisTrade Review"How to educate citizens in a society of individuals? To this demanding question Villa dedicates this refined and extremely timely book. Unlike republics, which were not shy in acknowledging the need for and pursuing the project of educating good and honest citizens, liberal democracies are reticent instead, as they want things that seem irreconcilable: making us reason as individuals and behave in public as citizens. This book illustrates masterfully this tension through the analysis of projects of civic and political education in the works of classical authors before and after the French Revolution; it suggests a solution that brings us directly to the pragmatic mind: conceptions of a political education that stress the 'learning by doing' of ordinary citizens."--Nadia Urbinati, Columbia University "Hannah Arendt once wrote (in 'The Crisis in Education') that 'the word education has an evil sound in politics' for the simple reason that citizens are adults, not children. Villa, with his usual clarity and intelligence, here develops that provocative Arendtian thesis into a wonderfully ambitious dialogue with four great figures in the theory canon. Especially illuminating are Villa's insights into how paragons of the liberal tradition betray their own antipaternalistic ideals. He mounts a powerful case that the idea of political theory as pedagogy, while aspiring to build democratic competence, can easily fall into a failure to respect the autonomy of those it aims to teach."--Ronald Beiner, University of Toronto
£24.00
The University of Chicago Press Sophistry and Political Philosophy
Book SynopsisTrade Review"For generations to come, this study--on account of the graceful lucidity of its prose and the penetrating depth of its interpretative analysis--will be the essential guide to Plato's rich and dramatic confrontation with the challenge of Protagoras."--Thomas L. Pangle, University of Texas at Austin "Near the beginning of Sophistry and Political Philosophy, the author cites Friedrich Nietzsche's observation that our 'contemporary way of thinking' is 'Protagorean.' If so, then understanding sophistry in general and its inventor, Protagoras, in particular is a key to understanding ourselves. . . . Robert Bartlett is an ideal guide for such an exploration."--Claremont Review of Books "This book is a careful, insightful, analysis of Plato's Protagoras, and of the examination of Protagoras' teaching in Plato's Theaetetus. Through his discussions, Bartlett provides us with a very thoughtful exploration of the important and enduring problem of the relation between philosophy and sophistry."--Mark Blitz, Claremont McKenna College
£26.00
The University of Chicago Press Leo Strauss on Hegel Leo Strauss Transcript
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£39.90
The University of Chicago Press Socrates Founding Political Philosophy in
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£29.45
The University of Chicago Press Slices and Lumps Division and Aggregation in Law
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£31.00
The University of Chicago Press Conventional Realism and Political Inquiry
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£33.25
The University of Chicago Press Politics for Everybody Reading Hannah Arendt in
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Animated not just by a theoretical and academic interest in Arendt’s work, but also by a practical intent to change the current manner of seeing politics and improve the quality of citizenship and freedom, as well as the daily art of living together. . . Written not only from the scholar’s but also from the citizen’s perspective and with the critical responsibility of the public intellectual for the values and culture of his society. . . . In a sense, the main message of O’Gorman’s book is that, if we are to properly rise to the challenges of the twenty-first century, in a world that is increasingly characterized by change and uncertainty and where strangers are, literally, at our doors, we need to relearn the art of living together, as strangers and across our differences, and of imagining and creating together “new, relatively stable political orders."" * The Review of Politics *"An unusually learned and layered treatise on the current state of US democratic society. It deserves to be engaged widely—within rhetorical studies, alongside exemplary works on Arendt from scholars like Ronald Arnett, and in multiple scholarly and civic communities beyond. Indeed, O'Gorman's intellectual work in Politics for Everybody is dexterous yet broadly accessible, suited to a contemporary revival of interest in Arendt among academic as well as bestseller lists amid fears of democratic erosion and creeping authoritarianism." * Quarterly Journal of Speech *“In Politics for Everybody, O’Gorman presents a concise and engaging argument for why political participation, leadership, and judgment are honorable and essential practices for a free society. His prose is clear and accessible, and at times truly eloquent. More than just a superb introduction to Arendt, this book could directly improve civic life in the United States.” * Robert Hariman, Northwestern University *“Politics for Everybody is a brave and successful attempt to introduce readers to Arendt’s ideas of politics in the face of the distorted examples in contemporary political thinking and acting. O’Gorman’s assumes—rightly, I think—that people are ready to hear a new case made for politics and the political, terms which here refer to an activity and an attitude, an ethic and an ethos. All those interested in contemporary politics will profit from meditating on O’Gorman’s rethinking of what politics should be about.” * Richard H. King, University of Nottingham *Table of ContentsPreface Introduction. Prodigal Politics Chapter 1. Untwisting Politics Chapter 2. Phenomenal Politics Chapter 3. Judging Politics Chapter 4. Lies, Damned Lies, and Politics Chapter 5. Why We Need Rhetoric Chapter 6. The Political Imagination (or, Freedom!) Conclusion. Politics Reborn Acknowledgments Artist Statement Notes Bibliography Index
£89.02
The University of Chicago Press It Was Like a Fever Storytelling in Protest and
Book SynopsisSets out to account for the power of storytelling in mobilizing political and social movements. Analysing storytelling in courtrooms, newsrooms, public forums, and the United States Congress, this title offers fresh insights into the dynamics of culture and contention.Trade Review"Assiduously researched, impressively informed by a great number of thoughtful interviews with key members of American social movements, and deeply engaged with its subject matter, the book is likely to become a key text in the study of grass-roots democracy in America." - Kate Fullbrook, Times Literary Supplement"
£27.00
The University of Chicago Press Difference without Domination Pursuing Justice
Book SynopsisTrade Review“Difference without Domination is an ambitious volume that aims to reconfigure the discourses on democracy, egalitarianism, and justice in an increasingly diverse world. This brilliant volume has the potential to transform profoundly how we comprehend democracy and difference, and it promises visions of egalitarian futures devoid of domination.” -- Neil Roberts, Williams College“Difference without Domination is a unique contribution to an emerging literature on how ideas about democracy affect, and are affected by, concepts and practices pertaining to equality, egalitarianism, and domination. The contributors range from the disciplines of history, philosophy, economics, to political science, psychology, and brain sciences, forging encounters and dialogue across boundaries to assess the aforementioned concepts and their capacity to interrogate domination as lived experience. Allen and Somanathan have performed a service in encouraging and framing what are often—in academic and in daily life—difficult conversations.” -- Michael G. Hanchard, University of Pennsylvania"Eleven papers explore how social diversity, especially race, should inform thinking about both justice and democracy, providing the bases for new and complementary paradigms for both normative and positive engagements with issues of injustice and inequality. Papers discuss how difference without domination should replace, or at least supplement, the Rawlsian difference principle in the social and economic realms." * Journal of Economic Literature *Table of ContentsIntroductionDanielle Allen and Rohini Somanathan Part I Difference without Domination 1 * A New Theory of Justice: Difference without DominationDanielle Allen 2 * Race, Domination, and RepublicanismMelvin Rogers Part II Relations before Transactions: New Approaches to Inequality, Justice, and Dignity 3 * Crime and Punishment in a Divided SocietyRajiv Sethi 4 * The Psychology of Implicit Intergroup Bias and the Prospect of ChangeCalvin Lai and Mahzarin Banaji 5 * Human Dignity and Modern DemocraciesAjume Wingo 6 * Relations before Transactions: A Personal PleaGlenn Loury Part III The Limits of Mirroring: New Approaches to Representation, Measurement, and Membership 7 * Overrepresentation: Asian Americans and the Conundrums of Statistical MirroringEllen D. Wu 8 * Second-Order Diversity: An Exploration of Decentralization’s Egalitarian PossibilitiesHeather Gerken 9 * Contributing to a Society of Equals: Affirmative Action beyond the “Distributive Paradigm”Urs Lindner 10 * The Measurement and Mismeasurement of Social DifferenceRohini Somanathan 11 * Immigration, Membership, and Justice: On the Right to Bring Others into the PolityClaudio López-Guerra Conclusion: Redefining IntegrationDanielle Allen and Rohini SomanathanIndex Author Bios
£87.40
The University of Chicago Press Difference without Domination Pursuing Justice in
Book SynopsisTrade Review“Difference without Domination is an ambitious volume that aims to reconfigure the discourses on democracy, egalitarianism, and justice in an increasingly diverse world. This brilliant volume has the potential to transform profoundly how we comprehend democracy and difference, and it promises visions of egalitarian futures devoid of domination.” -- Neil Roberts, Williams College“Difference without Domination is a unique contribution to an emerging literature on how ideas about democracy affect, and are affected by, concepts and practices pertaining to equality, egalitarianism, and domination. The contributors range from the disciplines of history, philosophy, economics, to political science, psychology, and brain sciences, forging encounters and dialogue across boundaries to assess the aforementioned concepts and their capacity to interrogate domination as lived experience. Allen and Somanathan have performed a service in encouraging and framing what are often—in academic and in daily life—difficult conversations.” -- Michael G. Hanchard, University of Pennsylvania"Eleven papers explore how social diversity, especially race, should inform thinking about both justice and democracy, providing the bases for new and complementary paradigms for both normative and positive engagements with issues of injustice and inequality. Papers discuss how difference without domination should replace, or at least supplement, the Rawlsian difference principle in the social and economic realms." * Journal of Economic Literature *Table of ContentsIntroductionDanielle Allen and Rohini Somanathan Part I Difference without Domination 1 * A New Theory of Justice: Difference without DominationDanielle Allen 2 * Race, Domination, and RepublicanismMelvin Rogers Part II Relations before Transactions: New Approaches to Inequality, Justice, and Dignity 3 * Crime and Punishment in a Divided SocietyRajiv Sethi 4 * The Psychology of Implicit Intergroup Bias and the Prospect of ChangeCalvin Lai and Mahzarin Banaji 5 * Human Dignity and Modern DemocraciesAjume Wingo 6 * Relations before Transactions: A Personal PleaGlenn Loury Part III The Limits of Mirroring: New Approaches to Representation, Measurement, and Membership 7 * Overrepresentation: Asian Americans and the Conundrums of Statistical MirroringEllen D. Wu 8 * Second-Order Diversity: An Exploration of Decentralization’s Egalitarian PossibilitiesHeather Gerken 9 * Contributing to a Society of Equals: Affirmative Action beyond the “Distributive Paradigm”Urs Lindner 10 * The Measurement and Mismeasurement of Social DifferenceRohini Somanathan 11 * Immigration, Membership, and Justice: On the Right to Bring Others into the PolityClaudio López-Guerra Conclusion: Redefining IntegrationDanielle Allen and Rohini SomanathanIndex Author Bios
£31.00
The University of Chicago Press Politics for Everybody
Book SynopsisIn this age of nearly unprecedented partisan rancor, you'd be forgiven for thinking we could all do with a smaller daily dose of politics. In his provocative and sharp book, however, Ned O'Gorman argues just the opposite: Politics for Everybody contends that what we really need is to do is engage more deeply with politics, rather than chuck the whole thing out the window. In calling for a purer, more humanistic relationship with politics--one that does justice to the virtues of open, honest exchange--O'Gorman draws on the work of Hannah Arendt (1906-75). As a German-born Jewish thinker who fled the Nazis for the United States, Arendt set out to defend politics from its many detractors along several key lines: the challenge of separating genuine politics from distorted forms; the difficulty of appreciating politics for what it is; the problems of truth and judgment in politics; and the role of persuasion in politics. O'Gorman's book offers an insightful introduction to Arendt's thought
£21.00
The University of Chicago Press Nietzsches Final Teaching
Book SynopsisTrade Review"This is a beautifully written account of Nietzsche's 'final teaching, ' engaging the rich intersection of Nietzsche's thinking with the major twentieth-century interpretations of his thought from Heidegger and Klossowski to Lampert and Strauss. Gillespie brings the resources of political philosophy to situate this final teaching together with nihilism, in its real world-historical context, and the transhumanity of the bermensch, toward the ambitious project of articulating a 'musical politics, ' very literally in sonata form, and including a masterful discussion of Plato. In this way, Gillespie finalizes Nietzsche's teaching of eternal return as a political project."--Babette Babich, Fordham University "Nietzsche's Final Teaching is the work of a seasoned scholar whose thorough mastery of Nietzsche's notoriously difficult writings, especially the notebooks and letters, informs a remarkably consistent view of his philosophy. In admirably clear and accessible prose, Gillespie argues that the idea of the eternal recurrence forms the basis of what he calls Nietzsche's (anti-)metaphysics and sketches the terrifying practical consequences Nietzsche hoped would follow from this idea." --Paul Franco, Bowdoin College "Nietzsche's Final Teaching is the product of the author's decades-long consideration of Nietzsche's work. Gillespie takes seriously the primacy for Nietzsche of his teaching of eternal recurrence, and explores with novelty and precision Nietzsche's attempt to unify philosophy with music. The result is an impressive discussion of Ecce Homo, Twilight of the Idols, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, and other works, and a thought-provoking view of Nietzsche as a whole." --Mark Blitz, Claremont McKenna College
£24.00
The University of Chicago Press Reason and Character The Moral Foundations of
Book SynopsisTrade Review“Pangle’s book offers a singularly illuminating, meticulous, and learned examination of one of the two central works of classical political philosophy: Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. (The other central work is Plato’s Republic.) Her argument that Aristotle ultimately offers a subtle, humane, socially responsible critique of the more conventional accounts of moral responsibility is all the more powerful because of her attention to Aristotle’s overall discussion and because of her careful exegesis of the text.” -- Peter Ahrensdorf, Davidson College“In Reason and Character, Pangle brings her considerable interpretive skills to bear on foundational questions in the classical tradition. She opens new pathways in the study of Aristotle, adeptly engages the scholarly literature, and offers compelling solutions to long-standing debates regarding the Nicomachean Ethics.” -- Susan D. Collins, University of Notre Dame"Anyone working on the texts described would find them an invaluable aid. Philosophy students who are not reading Greek would also find them helpful gateways into Plato’s and Aristotle’s thoughts on these moral problems. [Pangle] quotes from other scholars generously, including when she disagrees, and her notes and references are extensive. This enterprise is exactly what she has said it is: the fruit of lengthy pondering on two difficult authors, in a notoriously problematic area of moral philosophy, leading to a new and illuminating synthesis between them." * Classics for All (Praise for Virtue is Knowledge and Reason and Character) *"Reason and Character is a challenging, searching, and meticulous examination of a classic text. It should be read by everyone who wishes to understand the Nicomachean Ethics." * Claremont Review of Books *"Examining questions that have perplexed generations of scholars, Pangle offers a fresh approach not simply through careful attention to the inquiry’s dialectical nature, but through her own lively dialogue with Aristotle." * Review of Politics *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. The Task and the Puzzle of Reason in the Nicomachean Ethics (NE 1 and 2) 2. Knowledge, Choice, and Responsibility for Character (NE 3.1–5) 3. Reason and Purpose in the Moral Virtues (NE 3.6–4.9) 4. Justice and the Rule of Reason (NE 5) 5. Wisdom and Active Wisdom: The Intellectual Virtues (NE 6) 6. Problems of Self-Control (NE 7.1–10) Epilogue: The Philosophic Life (NE 10.6–8) Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography of Modern Works and Editions Index
£29.45
The University of Chicago Press Power in Modernity
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£84.00
The University of Chicago Press Power in Modernity
Book SynopsisIn Power in Modernity, Isaac Ariail Reed proposes a bold new theory of power that describes overlapping networks of delegation and domination. Chains of power and their representation, linking together groups and individuals across time and space, create a vast network of intersecting alliances, subordinations, redistributions, and violent exclusions. Reed traces the common action of sending someone else to do something for you as it expands outward into the hierarchies that control territories, persons, artifacts, minds, and money. He mobilizes this theory to investigate the onset of modernity in the Atlantic world, with a focus on rebellion, revolution, and state formation in colonial North America, the early American Republic, the English Civil War, and French Revolution. Modernity, Reed argues, dismantled the King's Two Bodiesthe monarch's physical body and his ethereal, sacred second body that encompassed the body politicas a schema of representation for forging power relations. Reed's account then offers a new understanding of the democratic possibilities and violent exclusions forged in the name of the people, as revolutionaries sought new ways to secure delegation, build hierarchy, and attack alterity. Reconsidering the role of myth in modern politics, Reed proposes to see the creative destruction and eternal recurrence of the King's Two Bodies as constitutive of the modern attitude, and thus as a new starting point for critical theory. Modernity poses in a new way an eternal human question: what does it mean to be the author of one's own actions?
£28.00
The University of Chicago Press Courting the Abyss Free Speech and the Liberal
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Peters has written an interesting and provocative book. . . . Courting the Abyss is about free speech generally, but it focuses on this suggestion that we all become better people through tolerating the most hateful and diabolical speech, by staring at and listening to the Nazis and the racists in our midst. Peters is interested particularly in the expression of a Stoic sense of virtue and self-mastery in the free-speech position. The civil libertarian says: I am sufficiently in control of myself to look on the Nazis without contamination. I will not be brought down to their level. By staring at their swastikas and paying attention to their slogans, I grow and become a better person. Indeed, we all become better people and our society becomes a better society with this ability to look unflinchingly into the abyss of racial hatred. Peters's book is a story of 'abyss-artists', who put their evil on public display, and 'abyss-redeemers', who believe in a moral alchemy that can make virtue out of our gaze into hell. (Abyss-avoiders, on the other hand, are those who recoil from the display and either shield their own and others' eyes or at least demand a better reason for 'defending to the death' the Nazis' right to march through Skokie.) Abyss-redemption, he says, is a major and neglected theme in the history of liberal thought. . . . Peters has, I think, done us a service in pursuing this idea of abyss-redemption. I don't mean he commends it to us: he does not. But he rightly observes that we had better come to terms with it if we want to understand what is really going on, what has been going on for centuries, in free-speech debates. More than that, Courting the Abyss explores a number of connections between abyss-redemption as used specifically in this context, and other areas of life and culture where it is said that we are the better for gazing unflinchingly at sin or death or evil."--Jeremy Waldron "London Review of Books " "Witty, irreverent, and intellectually daring: John Durham Peters has written the best scholarly book on freedom of speech in more than a generation. He shows us how and why we should doubt simple-minded orthodoxy of every kind. A master wordsmith with a wonderful brain, Peters writes against hubris, even the hubris of free speech." -- (12/22/2004) `"Free speech is not only under attack, it is misunderstood. The political tradition that once sustained it is fading, and its very defenders often undermine it by making a spectacle of their own tolerance. In this context, John Durham Peters's judicious tracing of both the free speech tradition and the moral and intellectual challenges it faces is very welcome. Courting the Abyss is an eloquent plea for more careful thought and a wise analysis of our predicament. It is not entirely reassuring, but it is eminently valuable."-- (12/22/2004) "In Courting the Abyss, John Durham Peters pokes some serious fun at free-speech purists--he calls them 'abyss-artists'--who seek occasions to 'show off the advanced state of their self-mastery' by defending doctrines they loathe. The civilized, he observes, 'take pride in their ability to entertain abominations' and rarely consider that the abominations they entertain may be doing real, and bad, work. Peters names it as our task to 'find ways to sustain openness and other-mindedness' independently of the 'cult of toughness' and without ignoring the genuine risks. A wide-ranging and exhilarating re-opening of an old but ever-renewed question."-- (12/22/2004)Table of ContentsIntroduction: Hard-Hearted LiberalismThe Intellectual Options Today Liberals, Civil Libertarians, and Liberalism The Free Speech Story Self-Abstraction and Stoicism The Method of Perversity Chapter 1. Saint Paul's ShudderThe Puzzle of Paul The Case of Meat at Corinth The Privilege of the Other In Praise of Impersonality Hosting Dangerous Discourse Stoic, Rhetorician, Jew Chapter 2. "Evil Be Thou My Good": Milton and Abyss-RedemptionAreopagitica, a Misplaced Classic Provoking Objects Scouting into the Regions of Sin Dramatis Personae The Morality of Transgression Chapter 3. Publicity and PainThe Public Realm as Sublimation Locke's Project of Self-Discipline Adam Smith and the Fortunate Impossibility of Sympathy Mill and the Historical Recession of Pain Stoic Ear, Romantic Voice Publicity and Pain Chapter 4. Homeopathic Machismo in Free Speech Theory The Traumatophilic First Amendment Holmes and Hardness Brandeis and Noxious Doctrine Skokie Subjectivity Hardball Public Space and the Suspended Soul Impersonality, or Openness to Strangeness Chapter 5. Social Science as Public CommunicationPositivism as Civic Discipline The Arts of Chaste Discourse Democracy and Numbers Objectivity and Self-Mortification Medical Composure Ways to Rehearse Death Chapter 6. "Watch, Therefore": Suffering and the Informed CitizenCatharsis Compassion Courage Pity and Its Critics News and the Everlasting Now Chapter 7. "Meekness as a Dangerous Activity": Witnessing as Participation Witnessing with the Body Witnessing from Captivity Persons as Objects Martin Luther King's Principled Passivity Transcendental Buffoonery Democracy and Imperfection Conclusion: Responsibility to Things That Are Not The Sustainability of Free Expression The Wages of Stoicism Afterword Acknowledgments Index
£24.00
The University of Chicago Press Value Conflict and Order Berlin Hampshire
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Edward Hall’s Value, Conflict and Order: Berlin, Hampshire, Williams, and the Realist Revival in Political Theory is a major contribution to this ongoing conversation about the meaning and value of realism in political theory. It stands out for its nuanced treatment of the ideas of these three post-war British philosophers, whose writings have helped to inspire the recent realist turn. Hall skilfully weaves together detailed interpretive work with his own critical interventions in the realist-moralist exchange." * Journal of Social and Political Philosophy *"Value, Conflict, and Order is an admirable book, one that those interested in the revival of realist political theory ought to read. I suspect it will become required reading for those interested in Williams’s political theory, as well as those interested in twentieth-century British political theory." * Ethics *"In his highly accessible and rewarding new book, Edward Hall... addresses some of the essential themes of political realism (such as the untidy nature of political affairs) and some of the challenges it faces (for example, how realists can affirm pluralism without falling into relativism). This makes it required reading for those engaged with realism in political theory and a good starting point for everyone interested in the realist way of thinking about politics." * LSE Review of Books *"Berlin, Hampshire, and Williams's 'political realism' offers neither the certainty of systematic morality or political science, nor a guarantee of political success. There is little consolation in this philosophy - save perhaps the reassurance, for humanists who cannot brig themselves to be utopians or cynics, that their doubts and anxieties are valid. There is, however, considerable intellectual illumination to be derived from accompanying Hall on his journey through the ideas of these idiosyncratic, imperfect, but wise thinkers." * The Review of Politics *"...Hall has written a terrific book on the realist revival in political theory, one that will establish him as one of the leading ‘new political realists’. It is, quite simply Hall’s analytical brilliance, paired with admirable lucidity and creativity, that allows him to develop critical – but remarkably fair – accounts of Berlin, Hampshire, and Williams, and, ultimately, to make a major contribution to the realist revival in political theory." * Contemporary Political Theory *"By showing how much potential still lies within [the] liberal strand of realism and how much more it can actually tell us about politics than a statusquoist fear of disorder and tyranny, as well as how we can remain modest in our expectations about what we should get from a realist political theory, Hall does a great service both to realism in general and to its liberal strand in particular. His book does not conclude but fosters discussion about these issues, and that is why I am confident that it will come up in every serious conversation about realism, and for good reason." * European Journal of Political Theory *"Values, Conflict, and Order not only recovers a tradition in political thought that has been neglected but revives it in a way that directly engages in how political theory is done and how we should think about politics…It should be read by those who aspire for politics to be something other than what it perhaps is." * VoegelinView *"Edward Hall’s Value, Conflict, and Order is a contribution to the 'realist revival' in political theory that has taken place in recent years." -- George Crowder * Society *“Hall offers a lucid and wide-ranging account of three leading philosophers who provided the impetus for the realist movement in contemporary political philosophy. He argues that the realism they sparked represents not only a negative critique of the dominant Rawlsian paradigm, as others have claimed, but also the foundation for an affirmative alternative to it.” -- William A. Galston, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution“Over the last fifteen years, the revival of political realism has produced a sharp methodological critique of ‘ethics-first’ theorizing. But that is all this revival has produced so far. Can political realism be grounded on firm philosophical foundations? Can it offer a substantive alternative to the moralisms it criticizes? Hall’s deep and challenging book gives us grounds for optimism on both fronts. Through a sympathetic but clear-eyed reading of Isaiah Berlin, Stuart Hampshire, and Bernard Williams, Hall shows us the promise and limits of a realist ethics and politics. What emerges is a compelling vision of skepticism without despair, disenchantment without nihilism, and humility without paralysis. This book is a terrific achievement.” -- Alison McQueen, Stanford UniversityTable of ContentsAbbreviations Introduction Part One: Isaiah Berlin 1. Pluralism, Relativism, and the Human Horizon 2. The Sense of Reality Part Two: Stuart Hampshire 3. The Vitality of Conflict 4. From Conflict to Compromise Part Three: Bernard Williams 5. Standing Up to Reflection 6. Legitimacy and Liberalism Conclusion Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography
£33.25
The University of Chicago Press Justice Is an Option A Democratic Theory of
Book SynopsisMore than ten years after the worst crisis since the Great Depression, the financial sector is thriving. But something is deeply wrong. Taxpayers bore the burden of bailing out too-big-to-fail banks but got nothing in return. Inequality has soared, and a populist backlash against elites has shaken the foundations of our political order. Meanwhile, financial capitalism seems more entrenched than ever. What is the Left to do? Justice Is an Option uses those problems, and the framework of finance that created them, to reimagine historical justice. Robert Meister returns to the spirit of Marx to diagnose our current age of finance. Instead of closing our eyes to the political economic realities of our era, we need to grapple with them head on. Meister does just that, asking whether the very tools of finance that have created our vastly unequal world could instead be made to serve justice and equality. Meister formulates here nothing less than a democratic financial theory for the twenty-fiTrade Review"Thought-provoking. . . . Recommended." * Choice *“In Justice Is an Option, Meister engages in a brilliant analysis of contemporary financial markets and devices, and provides a further development of his theory of ‘historical justice.’ The result is an impressive and compelling book that makes a powerful contribution both to political theory and to the critical analysis of contemporary capitalism. It will unquestionably be of interest to scholars of finance and political theory, and it is sure to spur lively debates within activist circles and beyond the academic world.” * Sandro Mezzadra, University of Bologna *“This book is an amazing piece of theory and critique—highly original, comprehensively knowledgeable, and politically powerful. Meister’s latest work is exciting, to say the least, and it promises to lead to important breakthroughs in the current discussion about alternatives to capitalism.” * Étienne Balibar, Columbia University *
£26.00
The University of Chicago Press The Liberalism of Care Community Philosophy and
Book SynopsisAttention to care in modern society has fallen out of view as an ethos of personal responsibility, free markets, and individualism has taken hold. The Liberalism of Care argues that contemporary liberalism is suffering from a crisis of care, manifest in a decaying sense of collective political responsibility for citizens' well-being and for the most vulnerable members of our communities. Political scientist Shawn C. Fraistat argues that we have lost the political language of care, which, prior the nineteenth century, was commonly used to express these dimensions of political life. To recover that language, Fraistat turns to three prominent philosophersPlato, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and William Godwinwho illuminate the varied ways caring language and caring values have structured core debates in the history of Western political thought about the proper role of government, as well as the rights and responsibilities of citizens. The Liberalism of Care presents a distinctive vision for oTrade Review"The Liberalism of Care richly re-envisions both the politics of care and the nature of contemporary liberalism through an original and highly illuminating analysis of care in some key contributors to the history of political thought in the West. Fraistat’s searching studies of Plato, Rousseau, and Godwin explore with great nuance and insight the relationship between care and authority, domination, civic engagement, self-development, and solidarity, among other things. Yet even as it shifts how we understand the history of political thought, the book offers a valuable resource for liberal democracies navigating current challenges of authoritarianism, populism, deep dividedness, entrenched injustice, and rising inequality. The Liberalism of Care is an important contribution to political theory and to public life." -- Sharon R. Krause, Brown University"Fraistat’s The Liberalism of Care is an insightful exploration of the deep currents of care that have long existed in Western political thought but have often been overlooked or misunderstood. Through close readings of Plato, Rousseau, and Godwin, Fraistat draws out constructive insights about the importance of care to political life as well as the dangers of illiberal care. The Liberalism of Care is an important book that offers profound lessons about the importance of care to liberalism and the importance of liberal values to good care." -- Daniel Engster, The University of HoustonTable of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1. Plato on Caring for the Self and Caring for Others Chapter 2. Plato and the Politics of Authority as Care Chapter 3. Rousseau on Care, Education, and Domination Chapter 4. Rousseau, Authority, and the Caring Republic Chapter 5. Godwin on Care, Impartiality, and Independence Chapter 6. Godwin and Anarchy as Care Conclusion Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Index
£87.40
The University of Chicago Press The Liberalism of Care Community Philosophy and
Book SynopsisAttention to care in modern society has fallen out of view as an ethos of personal responsibility, free markets, and individualism has taken hold. The Liberalism of Care argues that contemporary liberalism is suffering from a crisis of care, manifest in a decaying sense of collective political responsibility for citizens' well-being and for the most vulnerable members of our communities. Political scientist Shawn C. Fraistat argues that we have lost the political language of care, which, prior the nineteenth century, was commonly used to express these dimensions of political life. To recover that language, Fraistat turns to three prominent philosophersPlato, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and William Godwinwho illuminate the varied ways caring language and caring values have structured core debates in the history of Western political thought about the proper role of government, as well as the rights and responsibilities of citizens. The Liberalism of Care presents a distinctive vision for oTrade Review"The Liberalism of Care richly re-envisions both the politics of care and the nature of contemporary liberalism through an original and highly illuminating analysis of care in some key contributors to the history of political thought in the West. Fraistat’s searching studies of Plato, Rousseau, and Godwin explore with great nuance and insight the relationship between care and authority, domination, civic engagement, self-development, and solidarity, among other things. Yet even as it shifts how we understand the history of political thought, the book offers a valuable resource for liberal democracies navigating current challenges of authoritarianism, populism, deep dividedness, entrenched injustice, and rising inequality. The Liberalism of Care is an important contribution to political theory and to public life." -- Sharon R. Krause, Brown University"Fraistat’s The Liberalism of Care is an insightful exploration of the deep currents of care that have long existed in Western political thought but have often been overlooked or misunderstood. Through close readings of Plato, Rousseau, and Godwin, Fraistat draws out constructive insights about the importance of care to political life as well as the dangers of illiberal care. The Liberalism of Care is an important book that offers profound lessons about the importance of care to liberalism and the importance of liberal values to good care." -- Daniel Engster, The University of HoustonTable of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1. Plato on Caring for the Self and Caring for Others Chapter 2. Plato and the Politics of Authority as Care Chapter 3. Rousseau on Care, Education, and Domination Chapter 4. Rousseau, Authority, and the Caring Republic Chapter 5. Godwin on Care, Impartiality, and Independence Chapter 6. Godwin and Anarchy as Care Conclusion Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Index
£31.00
The University of Chicago Press The Ethics of Oneness Emerson Whitman and the
Book SynopsisWe live in an era defined by a sense of separation, even in the midst of networked connectivity. As cultural climates sour and divisive political structures spread, we are left wondering about our ties to each other. Consequently, there is no better time than now to reconsider ideas of unity. In The Ethics of Oneness, Jeremy David Engels reads the Bhagavad Gita alongside the works of American thinkers Ralph Waldo Emerson and Walt Whitman. Drawing on this rich combination of traditions, Engels presents the notion that individuals are fundamentally interconnected in their shared divinity. In other words, everything is one. If the lessons of oneness are taken to heart, particularly as they were expressed and celebrated by Whitman, and the ethical challenges of oneness considered seriously, Engels thinks it is possible to counter the pervasive and problematic American ideals of hierarchy, exclusion, violence, and domination. Trade Review“I learned something new and exciting on virtually every page of The Ethics of Oneness. Engels doesn’t just reveal and analyze the India-Emerson-Whitman connections, he situates them where they matter the most: in everyday life at a time when the revelation of Oneness is desperately needed. At a time when diversity is celebrated by some and weaponized by others, apprehending the Unity within and beyond that diversity is an essential task for humanity. By demonstrating that Oneness is as American as it is Eastern—and profoundly democratic at that—this book makes a contribution more valuable than the currency on which E pluribus unum is engraved.” -- Philip Goldberg, author of American Veda and Spiritual Practice for Crazy Times"The appeal to ‘oneness’ is regularly and dangerously mistaken for an appeal to absolute order, to strict unity, to lockstep cohesion. The Ethics of Oneness disabuses us of this confusion. Engels shows his readers how nineteenth-century-American thinkers responded to the fracturing of their political world and the tearing of the country’s social fabric by developing a philosophy of oneness—fluid, transcendent, and spiritual—that stood against the forces of exclusion and domination which jeopardized modern life. This is a philosophy that is all but forgotten today, which is to say that Engels has written an essential book for our time. We stand in need of his reminder." -- John Kaag, author of Hiking with Nietzsche and Sick Souls, Healthy Minds: How William James Can Save Your Life"There is much to love about this book, particularly the fact that it has a lot to offer a number of audiences, both academic and non-academic.Its greatest contribution to academic and public discourse is its account of communication as yoga, a uniquely U.S. American form of yoga. It enriches our understanding of yoga and its history in the U.S., it enriches our understanding of Emerson’s and Whitman’s philosophies by offering a new mode of approach to them, and it develops two ethical worldviews that have remained somewhat underdeveloped.This, of course, merely scratches the surface. Overall, I think Engels's book is a masterclass in public-facing academic philosophy." * Philosophy East and West *"Engels does a masterful job of showing us how these two great nineteenth-century philosophers—one a mystical poet, the other a prolific essayist—created new ways of looking at early American life from the point of view of Eastern spiritual traditions." * Quest *"The Ethics of Oneness is a fascinating book about the early reception of yoga in the United states and its significance for contemporary democratic practice. Written by a scholar of rhetoric, the book is an extended analysis of the place of the Bhagavad Gita in the ethical thought of nineteenth-century US authors Ralph Waldo Emerson and Walt Whitman. . . . I welcome Engels’s invitation to pay deeper attention to the cross-national influences coursing through the social practice of democracy in all its contexts." * American Religion *
£89.02
The University of Chicago Press The Ethics of Oneness
Book SynopsisWe live in an era defined by a sense of separation, even in the midst of networked connectivity. As cultural climates sour and divisive political structures spread, we are left wondering about our ties to each other. Consequently, there is no better time than now to reconsider ideas of unity. In The Ethics of Oneness, Jeremy David Engels reads the Bhagavad Gita alongside the works of American thinkers Ralph Waldo Emerson and Walt Whitman. Drawing on this rich combination of traditions, Engels presents the notion that individuals are fundamentally interconnected in their shared divinity. In other words, everything is one. If the lessons of oneness are taken to heart, particularly as they were expressed and celebrated by Whitman, and the ethical challenges of oneness considered seriously, Engels thinks it is possible to counter the pervasive and problematic American ideals of hierarchy, exclusion, violence, and domination. Trade Review“I learned something new and exciting on virtually every page of The Ethics of Oneness. Engels doesn’t just reveal and analyze the India-Emerson-Whitman connections, he situates them where they matter the most: in everyday life at a time when the revelation of Oneness is desperately needed. At a time when diversity is celebrated by some and weaponized by others, apprehending the Unity within and beyond that diversity is an essential task for humanity. By demonstrating that Oneness is as American as it is Eastern—and profoundly democratic at that—this book makes a contribution more valuable than the currency on which E pluribus unum is engraved.” -- Philip Goldberg, author of American Veda and Spiritual Practice for Crazy Times"The appeal to ‘oneness’ is regularly and dangerously mistaken for an appeal to absolute order, to strict unity, to lockstep cohesion. The Ethics of Oneness disabuses us of this confusion. Engels shows his readers how nineteenth-century-American thinkers responded to the fracturing of their political world and the tearing of the country’s social fabric by developing a philosophy of oneness—fluid, transcendent, and spiritual—that stood against the forces of exclusion and domination which jeopardized modern life. This is a philosophy that is all but forgotten today, which is to say that Engels has written an essential book for our time. We stand in need of his reminder." -- John Kaag, author of Hiking with Nietzsche and Sick Souls, Healthy Minds: How William James Can Save Your Life"There is much to love about this book, particularly the fact that it has a lot to offer a number of audiences, both academic and non-academic.Its greatest contribution to academic and public discourse is its account of communication as yoga, a uniquely U.S. American form of yoga. It enriches our understanding of yoga and its history in the U.S., it enriches our understanding of Emerson’s and Whitman’s philosophies by offering a new mode of approach to them, and it develops two ethical worldviews that have remained somewhat underdeveloped.This, of course, merely scratches the surface. Overall, I think Engels's book is a masterclass in public-facing academic philosophy." * Philosophy East and West *"Engels does a masterful job of showing us how these two great nineteenth-century philosophers—one a mystical poet, the other a prolific essayist—created new ways of looking at early American life from the point of view of Eastern spiritual traditions." * Quest *"The Ethics of Oneness is a fascinating book about the early reception of yoga in the United states and its significance for contemporary democratic practice. Written by a scholar of rhetoric, the book is an extended analysis of the place of the Bhagavad Gita in the ethical thought of nineteenth-century US authors Ralph Waldo Emerson and Walt Whitman. . . . I welcome Engels’s invitation to pay deeper attention to the cross-national influences coursing through the social practice of democracy in all its contexts." * American Religion *
£24.00
