Social and political philosophy Books
Yale University Press The Republic
Book SynopsisProvides a translation of the dialogues of Plato. This book argues that the particular formulation by Plato had a direct and profound influence on the Founding Fathers and the development of American constitutional law.
£17.99
Yale University Press Out of Joint
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Ranging imaginatively across history and geography, this elegant book probes temporal sources of order and transformation. Its analytical wisdom discloses how calendars and representations of time shape political legitimacy, dispositions, and action."—Ira I. Katznelson, author of Fear Itself: The New Deal and the Origins of Our Time"Great political leaders, for good or ill, seek to shape our daily lives by playing with time itself. That is the central insight of this elegant, erudite volume, one that means I will henceforth listen to speeches and manifestos with new ears and new tools to rebut them."—Ann-Marie Slaughter, President & CEO, New America“Nomi Lazar gives us a fascinating exploration of the political construction of time itself, as structured by calendars, dating systems, and other mechanisms used for legitimation, revolution, and a myriad of other political purposes. A memorable and endlessly interesting book.”—Adrian Vermeule, Harvard Law School
£30.88
Yale University Press Hollywood Westerns and American Myth
Book SynopsisExplores the status and authority of law and the nature of political allegiance through close readings of three classic Hollywood Westerns: Howard Hawks' "Red River" and John Ford's "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" and "The Searchers". The author treats these films as sophisticated mythic accounts of a key moment in American history.Trade Review"A trenchant and illuminating study of three great Westerns and a convincing case for their importance both to political psychology and to our own self-understanding as American citizens."—C. D. C. Reeve, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill "Robert Pippin's study of three great Westerns is a fine meditation on the place of heroism in democracy and the ambiguous relationship between legend and history in the making of heroes. It can stand with the best recent books on the Western as a genre, but it is driven by a thought all its own: the difficulty of the search for order, and the elusive 'possibility of an American politics.'"—David Bromwich, Yale University “Pippin's marvelous book is a more than worthy successor to the classic essays on the Western by André Bazin and Robert Warshow. This volume is remarkable for its clarity and depth of argument.”—George Wilson, University of Southern California
£30.00
Yale University Press The Essential Works of Thomas More
Book SynopsisTrade Review“Similar to those humanists in the past who imitated and vivified their ancient models, Wegemer and Smith have given us a living More for our times.”—Travis Curtright, Moreana“Here, under the covers of one volume, we have an unparalleled opportunity to encounter the historical, intellectual, political, legal, cultural, religious, and spiritual More, whose brilliance of mind and conscience and consciousness permeate his writing.”—Elizabeth McCutcheon, University of Hawai“This volume enables More scholars to situate their work within a richer context."—John F. Boyle, University of St. Thomas
£81.00
Yale University Press The Hidden Face of Rights Embracing and
Book SynopsisWhy we cannot truly implement human rights unless we also recognize human responsibilities When we debate questions in international law, politics, and justice, we often use the language of rightsand far less often the language of responsibilities. Human rights scholars and activists talk about state responsibility for rights, but they do not articulate clear norms about other actors' obligations. In this book, Kathryn Sikkink argues that we cannot truly implement human rights unless we also recognize and practice the corresponding human responsibilities. Focusing on five areasclimate change, voting, digital privacy, freedom of speech, and sexual assaultand providing many examples of on-the-ground initiatives where people choose to embrace a close relationship between rights and responsibilities, Sikkink argues for the importance of responsibilities to any comprehensive understanding of political ethics and human rights.
£21.38
Yale University Press How We Cooperate
Book Synopsis
£45.00
Yale University Press Black Dignity
Book SynopsisWhy Black dignity is the paradigm of all dignity and Black philosophy is the starting point of all philosophyTrade Review“Black Dignity is a textured and moving account of how social movements give new life to our deepest commitments and our highest aspirations.”—Corey D. B. Walker, Wake Forest Professor of the Humanities, Wake Forest University“Black Dignity is a defining treatise for our contemporary moment. Vincent Lloyd explains how the Black Lives Matter movement builds on and corrects historic Black Radical traditions. A must study for students of Black freedom struggle.”—Akinyele Omowale Umoja, coeditor of Black Power Encyclopedia“Lloyd powerfully joins a growing and urgent literature on the relationship among civic ideals, political and social morality, racial identity, and the emotions. I suspect Black Dignity will quickly become a fixture in conversations concerning visions of America against the backdrop of racial violence and inequity.”—Christopher J. Lebron, author of The Making of Black Lives Matter: A Brief History of An Idea
£17.09
WW Norton & Co What Philosophy Can Do
Book SynopsisA leading philosopher brings the tools of his trade to contentious contemporary debates.Trade Review"This book is a brilliant demonstration of what philosophy can do and how it is essential to human integrity and identity. Gutting's is a distinctly American voice: straightforwardly intelligent, generously sympathetic, but always forcefully critical, without ever being mean or scornful. Reading this book, one feels whole clouds of dogma and nonsense suddenly evaporate and one sees the landscape of a whole series of debates. Highly recommended." -- Simon Critchley, co-editor of The Stone Reader: Modern Philosophy in 133 Arguments "With this splendid book, Gary Gutting joins the great tradition of leading philosophers who venture from the ivory tower to speak with the public. Covering a range of topics-politics, science, religion (including atheism), art, and more-What Philosophy Can Do never condescends, never tries to evade the difficult. With wit and flair, Gutting shows how philosophical thinking permeates life's decisions and can enrich our overall personal sense of worth and happiness." -- Michael Ruse, Lucyle T. Werkmeister Professor of Philosophy, Florida State University "Clearheaded, sensible, and teacherly in the best sense, Gutting in What Philosophy Can Do accomplishes what American philosophy today too rarely attempts-he illuminates how leading academic thinkers see ideas such as science, happiness, work, God, evil, capitalism and education in a voice any open-minded reader can appreciate." -- Carlin Romano, author of America The Philosophical
£20.89
WW Norton & Co Political Games
Book SynopsisForty-nine insights from the mathematical study of politics.
£30.57
WW Norton & Co What Philosophy Can Do
Book SynopsisA leading philosopher brings the tools of his trade to contentious contemporary debates.Trade Review"With this splendid book, Gary Gutting joins the great tradition of leading philosophers who venture from the ivory tower to speak with the public. Covering a range of topics-politics, science, religion (including atheism), art, and more-What Philosophy Can Do never condescends, never tries to evade the difficult. With wit and flair, Gutting shows how philosophical thinking permeates life's decisions and can enrich our overall personal sense of worth and happiness." -- Michael Ruse, Lucyle T. Werkmeister Professor of Philosophy, Florida State University "Clearheaded, sensible, and teacherly in the best sense, Gutting in What Philosophy Can Do accomplishes what American philosophy today too rarely attempts-he illuminates how leading academic thinkers see ideas such as science, happiness, work, God, evil, capitalism and education in a voice any open-minded reader can appreciate." -- Carlin Romano, author of America The Philosophical "Gutting challenges readers who view philosophy as a merely academic discipline by showing them again and again how philosophy can do hard work in the rough-and-tumble world... Compellingly updates for the modern world the timeless Socratic quest for wisdom." -- Bryce Christensen - Library Journal
£13.29
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Freedom of Religion and the Secular State
Book SynopsisExploring the relationship between religion and the state Focusing on the intersection of religion, law, and politics in contemporary liberal democracies, Blackford considers the concept of the secular state, revising and updating enlightenment views for the present day.Trade Review“Rare are the books that effectively discuss and connect philosophical background and practical foreground. Russell Blackford’s Freedom of Religion and the Secular State is one. Blackford’s always and admirably accessible overview covers not only a wide range of prominent controversies, but a number of equally crucial yet commonly overlooked issues such as religious proselytizing and the legitimacy of official church establishments.” (The Review of Politics, 1 November 2013) “Freedom of Religion & the Secular State could not be more timely. If it becomes a standard text in colleges and universities, and, more generally, became a handy reference to those intimately concerned with questions regarding the separation of religion and state, then possibly, despite continuing heat over the subject, a little cool reflection could mediate the divide.” (Atheists United, 2012) "I found the book to be concise and deceptively simply written, but with great depth of analysis. Of course, as a non-religious person, perhaps it is hardly surprising that I enjoyed Blackford's analysis so much: in a sense, he is already "preaching to the converted" for a reader like myself. However, I think it would probably provide much food for thought for the reasonable religious person too." (Skepticlawyer, 9 February 2012) "But anyway, even with this, this book is a must-have. It needs to be kept to hand in any discussion of Western secularism." (Steve's Posterous, 28 January 2012) "This worthy contribution to the debate on religious freedom analyses the history and thinking that has underpinned western society today ... Whilst written by an academic, the style and language open up a complex and important debate to a mass audience and clearly underline the principles at stake for both state and church." (Life & Work, 1 February 2012) "Freedom of Religion and the Secular State offers a comprehensive analysis, with a global focus, of the subject of religious freedom from a legal as well as historical and philosophical viewpoint." (The Richard Dawkins Foundation, 16 December 2011)Table of Contents1 Motivation and Overview 1 2 A Short History of Religious Intolerance 20 3 Hobbes, Locke, and their Legacy: Models of the Modern State 34 4 Religious Impositions and Endorsements 56 5 Religion-Based Morality and the Secular State 67 6 Persecution, Accommodation, and Conscientious Objection 94 7 Private Power, Religious Communities, and the State 118 8 Religious Freedom and the Interests of Children 141 9 Religious Freedom and Freedom of Speech 169 10 Back to Locke: Concluding Remarks 198 Index 202
£87.26
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Freedom of Religion and the Secular State
Book SynopsisExploring the relationship between religion and the state Focusing on the intersection of religion, law, and politics in contemporary liberal democracies, Blackford considers the concept of the secular state, revising and updating enlightenment views for the present day.Trade Review“Rare are the books that effectively discuss and connect philosophical background and practical foreground. Russell Blackford’s Freedom of Religion and the Secular State is one. Blackford’s always and admirably accessible overview covers not only a wide range of prominent controversies, but a number of equally crucial yet commonly overlooked issues such as religious proselytizing and the legitimacy of official church establishments.” (The Review of Politics, 1 November 2013) “Freedom of Religion & the Secular State could not be more timely. If it becomes a standard text in colleges and universities, and, more generally, became a handy reference to those intimately concerned with questions regarding the separation of religion and state, then possibly, despite continuing heat over the subject, a little cool reflection could mediate the divide.” (Atheists United, 2012) "I found the book to be concise and deceptively simply written, but with great depth of analysis. Of course, as a non-religious person, perhaps it is hardly surprising that I enjoyed Blackford's analysis so much: in a sense, he is already "preaching to the converted" for a reader like myself. However, I think it would probably provide much food for thought for the reasonable religious person too." (Skepticlawyer, 9 February 2012) "But anyway, even with this, this book is a must-have. It needs to be kept to hand in any discussion of Western secularism." (Steve's Posterous, 28 January 2012) "This worthy contribution to the debate on religious freedom analyses the history and thinking that has underpinned western society today ... Whilst written by an academic, the style and language open up a complex and important debate to a mass audience and clearly underline the principles at stake for both state and church." (Life & Work, 1 February 2012) "Freedom of Religion and the Secular State offers a comprehensive analysis, with a global focus, of the subject of religious freedom from a legal as well as historical and philosophical viewpoint." (The Richard Dawkins Foundation, 16 December 2011)Table of Contents1 Motivation and Overview 1 2 A Short History of Religious Intolerance 20 3 Hobbes, Locke, and their Legacy: Models of the Modern State 34 4 Religious Impositions and Endorsements 56 5 Religion-Based Morality and the Secular State 67 6 Persecution, Accommodation, and Conscientious Objection 94 7 Private Power, Religious Communities, and the State 118 8 Religious Freedom and the Interests of Children 141 9 Religious Freedom and Freedom of Speech 169 10 Back to Locke: Concluding Remarks 198 Index 202
£27.50
John Wiley & Sons Inc The Two Narratives of Political Economy
Book SynopsisCaptures the 17th-19th century origins and developments ofpolitical economy by editing original texts and illuminatingtheir relevance for today''s political debate Political economy from the 17th century to the present can be captured in two narratives originating with Locke and Rousseau. Those original narratives were expanded in significant ways in the 18th and 19th centuries, and the editors argue that they still hold sway today. Edited original writings included in the anthology are from: Locke, Rousseau, Adam Smith, Tocqueville, Mill, Marx, Proudhon, Owen, the Federalist Papers, the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, and the American Constitution. The editors have restricted their comments to the extensive introductions thereby allowing the original participants to speak for themselves. The readings included are intended to be instructive with respect to the origin and development of the two narratives rather than an exhaustive account of hoTrade Review“Nonetheless, the book is impressive for its topical breadth … In this light, I’ll be very interested in seeing what an updated edition of this volume might look like in another decade or two. (Conversations on Philanthropy, 2012) Table of ContentsEditors' Note. General Introduction. Part One: The Emergence of Political Economy: Economic Activity Leaves the Household Introduction. John Locke The Second Treatise. John Locke A Letter Concerning Toleration. John Locke Some Considerations of the Lowering of Interest and the Raising the Value of Money. Jean-Jacques Rousseau The Two Discourses. Jean-Jacques Rousseau A Discourse on Political Economy. Jean-Jacques Rousseau The Social Contract. Part Two: The Arrival of Political Economy: Liberty, Property, and Equality. Introduction. Adam Smith Wealth of Nations. Adam Smith The Theory of Moral Sentiments. The American Founding. Alexis de Tocqueville Democracy in America. The French Revolution. Robert Owen A New View of Society. Comte de Saint-Simon Nouveau Christianisme. Friedrich List National System. P. J. Proudhon The Philosophy of Poverty. P. J. Proudhon What is Property? Part Three: The Maturation of the Two Narratives: The Challenge of Social Economy. Introduction. John Stuart Mill The Principles of Political Economy. John Stuart Mill On Liberty. John Stuart Mill The Subjection of Women. Karl Marx and Fredrick Engels The Communist Manifesto. Karl Marx Das Kapital. Fredrick Engels Socialism: Utopian and Scientific. Index.
£43.65
The University of Michigan Press Intellectual Empathy
Book Synopsis
£23.70
The University of Michigan Press Stately Bodies
Book SynopsisExplores the curious prevalence of bodily metaphors in conceptions of noncorporeal institutions: the state, the law, and politics itself. The book builds on work from Adriana Cavarero's well-received study, In Spite of Plato: A Feminist Rewriting of Ancient Philosophy.
£23.70
University of California Press Ethical Idealism
Book Synopsis
£28.90
University of California Press A Theory of Language and Mind
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£63.90
University of California Press Ethical Idealism
Book Synopsis
£64.00
University of California Press Oedipus Lex
Book Synopsis
£63.90
University of California Press Montesquieu and the Old Regime
£63.90
University of California Press A Brief History of Fascist Lies
Book SynopsisThere is no better book on fascism's complex and vexed relationship with truth.Jason Stanley, author ofHow Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them In this short companion to his bookFrom Fascism to Populism in History, world-renowned historian Federico Finchelstein explains why fascists regarded simple and often hateful lies as truth, and why so many of their followers believed the falsehoods. Throughout the history of the twentieth century, many supporters of fascist ideologies regarded political lies as truth incarnated in their leader. From Hitler to Mussolini, fascist leaders capitalized on lies as the base of their power and popular sovereignty. This history continues in the present, when lies again seem to increasingly replace empirical truth. Now that actual news is presented as fake news and false news becomes government policy,A Brief History of Fascist Lies urges us to remember that the current talk of post-truth has a long political and intellectual lineage that we cannot ignore.Table of ContentsContents Preface to the Paperback Edition Introduction 1. On Fascist Lies 2. Truth and Mythology in the History of Fascism 3. Fascism Incarnate 4. Enemies of the Truth? 5. Truth and Power 6. Revelations 7. The Fascist Unconscious 8. Fascism against Psychoanalysis 9. Democracy and Dictatorship 10. The Forces of Destruction Epilogue: The Populist War against History Acknowledgments Notes Index
£14.24
Melbourne University Press Justice and Hope
£21.84
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Classical and Modern Social Theory
Book SynopsisClassical and Modern Social Theory is comprehensive introduction to the field, covering a wide historical range of thinkers, from the classical to the postmodernist, as well as key themes in social theory and a guide to the major debates.Trade Review"This lucidly-written book provides within a single volume a comprehensive introduction to the corpus of sociological theory. It encompasses both classical and contemporary approaches, which are presented as relevant to understanding the present state of sociological theory. This will become an essential text for students." Larry Ray, University of Kent "This volume is a comprehensive guide to theory debates today. It is composed of 30 original chapters offering succinct, accessible overviews of the key ideas of modern theory - from Marx, American pragmatism to current debates over national identity, postmodernism, and civil society, I can think of no better introduction to classical and contemporary theory." Steven Seidman, author of Contested Knowledge: Social Theory in a Postmodern Era "An interesting, thorough, and useful anthology of informed commentary that will enliven the study of social theory for novice as well as expert. Particularly innovative is the use of European scholars whose analyses of theory is too seldom taken into account within the anglophone world. Their interpretations will, I am sure, add a fruitful dimension to an otherwise foreshortened understanding of the canon." Alan Sica, Pennsylvania State University "This volume aspires to be a comprehensive and sophisticated introduction to classical and modern social theory...providing a range and depth of analysis." Raymond A. Morrow, University of AlbertaTable of ContentsContributors. Preface. Acknowledgements. 1. Introduction: Classical and Modern Social Theory: William Outhwaite. Part I: Classical Social Theories:. 2. Karl Marx: Per Månson. 3. Herbert Spencer: Heine Andersen. 4. Ferdinand Tönnies: Jorn Falk. 5. Emile Durkheim: Willy Guneriussen. 6. Max Weber: Per Månson. 7. Georg Simmel: Henrik Ornstrup. 8. American Pragmatism: Nils Mortensen. Part II: Modern Social Theories: . 9. Marxism: Per Månson. 10. The Frankfurt School: Anders Ramsay. 11. Neo-Marxist Theories: Jens Peter Frolund Thomsen and Heine Andersen. 12. Social Interaction Theories: Gorm Harste and Nils Mortensen. 13. Rational Choice: Roar Hagen. 14. Functionalism: Heine Andersen. 15. Neofunctionalism: Alvor Fauske. 16. Conflict Theory: An Alternative to Functionalism? Pål Strandbakken. 17. Jean-Paul Sartre: Dag Osterberg. 18. Structuralism: Tom Broch. 19. Michel Foucault: Sven-Åke Lindgren. 20. Pierre Bourdieu: Staf Callewaert. 21. Jürgen Habermas: Heine Andersen. 22. Niklas Luhmann: Roar Hagen. 23. Norbert Elias: Gunnor Olofsson. 24. Anthony Giddens: Lars Bo Kaspersen. Part III: Contemporary Challenges to Classical and Modern Social Theory: . 25. Post-Industrialization, Cultural Criticism and Risk Society: Gorm Harste. 26. Our Present: Postmodern? Poul Poder Pedersen. 27. Social Theory, Morality, and the Civil Society: Heine Andersen. 28. State, Nation, and National Identity: Uffe Ostergaard. 29. Gender and Society: Karin Widerberg. 30. From Aristotle to Modern Social Theory: Margareta Bertilsson. Bibliography. Name Index. Subject Index.
£33.20
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Max Weber
Book SynopsisThis unique volume gathers Weber''s writings on a broad array of themes, from the nature of work, to the political culture of democracy, to the uniqueness of the West, to the character of the family and race relations, to the role of science and the fate of ethical action in the modern world. Gathers Weber's writings in a comprehensive collection, organized by topic. Rejuvenates a central, pivotal theme of Weberian thought: How do we live? and How can we live in the industrial society? Connects Weber's writings to contemporary issues through modern essays and editorial introductions. Trade Review"Having established himself as a leading Weber scholar and translator, Stephen Kalberg shows that he is an editor of vision and sensibility. He presents the full range of Weber's writing in a way that indicates Weber's grasp of all aspects of social reality and the enduring value of his analysis." Jack Barbalet, University of LeicesterTable of ContentsGeneral Editor's Foreword. A Chronology of Max Weber's Life. Glossary. Acknowledgments. Introduction: Max Weber: the Confrontation with Modernity. Max Weber: the Person / Foundational Features of Weber's "Interpretive Understanding" / Sociology: its Aim and the Centrality of Subjective Meaning, the Four Types of Social Action, and Value-Freedom and Value-Relevance / Research Strategies and Procedures: Ideal Types, Model-Building, Societal Domains, and the "Locating" of Social Action / The Vision of "Society": Ideal Types, Societal Domains, Open Models, and the Interweaving of Past and Present / Weber's Multicausality: Social Carriers and Values / Modern Western Rationalism I: Weber's Model / Modern Western Rationalism II: Empirical Variation / Fears About the Future and Proposals for Social Change / Weber on Modernity and Weber's Sociology: An Assessment / A Note on Weber's Mode of Writing. Part I: The Uniqueness of the West. 1 The "Rationalism" of Western Civilization. Part II: The Uniqueness and Origins of the Modern Western Work Ethic. 2 The Religious Origins of the Vocational Calling: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. 3 Continuous Ethical Discipline: The Protestant Sects and the Spirit of Capitalism. Part III: The Economy and the Specialized Nature of Work in the Modern Epoch. 4 Market and Planned Economies: Modern Capitalism's Substantive Conditions. 5 The Separation of the Worker from the Means of Production, the Spread of Officialdom, and Organizational Discipline in the Factory. 6 The "Cultivated Man" and the "Specialist": Certificates and the Origin of Ideas in Science. 7 Old and New Civilizations: Contrasting Rural Social Structures in Germany and. the United States. Part IV: Stratification and Inequality. 8 "The Distribution of Power Within the Group: Class, Status, Party". 9 Germany as a Nation of Commoners: "National Character and the Junkers". 10 The Counterbalancing of Economic and Social Inequality by Universal Suffrage. Part V: Authority in the Modern Epoch: the Bureaucracy. 11 Power and Authority: When and Why Do People Obey?. 12 The Bureaucracy I: Formal Rationality, External Structure, Ethos, and Inequality. 13 The Bureaucracy II: the Impact Upon Society. 14 Past and Present: Charismatic Authority and its Routinization. Part VI: The Nation, the Modern State, and Modern Law. 15 The Nation: A Sentiment of Solidarity and the "National" Idea. 16 The State, its Basic Functions, and the Economic Foundations of Imperialism. 17 From Particularistic Law to Formal Legal Equality and the Rights of Individuals. Part VII: The Circumscription of Ethical Action Today and Weber's Response. 18 The Antagonism of the Economy and Political Domains to Ethical Action. 19 A "Casing of Bondage" and the Rule of Functionaries: the Call for Political Leadership, Strong Parliaments, and an Ethic of Responsibility. Part VIII: The Political Culture of American Democracy: The Influence of the "Sect Spirit". 20 The Autonomy of the Individual in the Sect and the Capacity to Form Democratic Communities: Tolerance and Freedom of Conscience. Part IX: On "Race," the Complexity of the Concept of Ethnicity, and Heredity. 21 On "Race" Membership, Common Ethnicity, and the "Ethnic Group". Part X: The Meaning, Value and Ethical Neutrality of Science: "Science as a Vocation" and Other Writings. 22 The Meaning and Value of Science: Disenchantment, "Progress," and Civilized Man's Meaninglessness. 23 Ethical Neutrality in the Classroom and the Usefulness and Limits of an Empirical Science. 24 The Opposition of Salvation Religions to Science and Modern Culture. Part XI: Modern Readings. 25 Private Authority and Work Habits: England and Russia. Reinhard Bendix. 26 The Data Protection Act: A Case of Rationalization. Martin Albrow. 27 The McDonaldization of Society. George Ritzer. 28 Hitler's Charisma. Luciano Cavalli. 29 The Routinization of Charisma: Rituals of Confession within Communities of Virtuosi. Hans-Georg Riegl. 30 The Political Culture of American Democracy: The Enduring Influence of Religion. Seymour Martin Lipset. Bibliography. Author Index. Subject Index
£35.10
John Wiley and Sons Ltd The Ethics of Community
Book SynopsisIn this study, Frank Kirkpatrick draws on theology, political philosophy and the social sciences more generally to develop a Christian ethic of community.Trade Review"In the Ethics of Community, Frank Kirkpatrick has written a scholarly dissertation on the roots of the idea of community and state in Biblical and secular thought. I am grateful to Dr. Kirkpatrick for this book, which raises all the right questions." Good News, The Newspaper of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut "This is a work of theological ethics, but one informed by philosophy and conversant with Western history...This is a scholarly book, written on a theoretical level and in an abstract style for fellow scholars. It is appropriate for research libraries in the fields of theology, philosophy, and history." Choice "I can see this book being used not only by students in the academy, but also by congregational communities such as the author defines. In this way the ethics of community will spread from the classroom into the church community, and through both hopefully into all of society." Reviews in Religion and Theology "Kirkpatrick's chief strength is an understanding of the teleology that is specific to the church and how it informs the way church and society interact." Journal of ReligionTable of ContentsIntroduction. 1. Moral and Scriptural Foundations. Scripture and the Ethics of Community. Scripture and Community. 2. Historical Experiments in Community: Europe. Community in the Monastic Tradition. Medieval Society. Economic Ethics. Calvin and Geneva. Anabaptists and Community. 3. Historical Experiments in Community: America. The Puritans. The American Revolution. The Creation of the American Republic. From Madison to Communalism. Communalism. The Social Gospel. Reinhold Niebuhr. The Struggle Between Individualism and Community in America Today. 4. Building A Philosophy of Community. John Macmurray and the Philosophy of Community. 5. Political Philosophies of Society. From Private to Public. Political Philosophies. 6. Community and Society: Difference and Engagement. A Theology of Difference. A Theology of Engagement. Community for Society. Society for Community. 7. Turning Inward to Community: The Family and The Danger of Too Much Community. The Family as Community. Dangers of Too Much Community. 8. Working Outward From Community: Economic Justice and International Order. A Good and Just Society. The Ethics of Economic Justice. The International Order. 9. Conclusion. Bibliography. Index.
£101.60
John Wiley and Sons Ltd The Ethics of Community
Book SynopsisIn this study, Frank Kirkpatrick draws on theology, political philosophy and the social sciences more generally to develop a Christian ethic of community.Trade Review"In the Ethics of Community, Frank Kirkpatrick has written a scholarly dissertation on the roots of the idea of community and state in Biblical and secular thought. I am grateful to Dr. Kirkpatrick for this book, which raises all the right questions." Good News, The Newspaper of the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut "This is a work of theological ethics, but one informed by philosophy and conversant with Western history...This is a scholarly book, written on a theoretical level and in an abstract style for fellow scholars. It is appropriate for research libraries in the fields of theology, philosophy, and history." Choice "I can see this book being used not only by students in the academy, but also by congregational communities such as the author defines. In this way the ethics of community will spread from the classroom into the church community, and through both hopefully into all of society." Reviews in Religion and Theology "Kirkpatrick's chief strength is an understanding of the teleology that is specific to the church and how it informs the way church and society interact." Journal of ReligionTable of ContentsIntroduction. 1. Moral and Scriptural Foundations. Scripture and the Ethics of Community. Scripture and Community. 2. Historical Experiments in Community: Europe. Community in the Monastic Tradition. Medieval Society. Economic Ethics. Calvin and Geneva. Anabaptists and Community. 3. Historical Experiments in Community: America. The Puritans. The American Revolution. The Creation of the American Republic. From Madison to Communalism. Communalism. The Social Gospel. Reinhold Niebuhr. The Struggle Between Individualism and Community in America Today. 4. Building A Philosophy of Community. John Macmurray and the Philosophy of Community. 5. Political Philosophies of Society. From Private to Public. Political Philosophies. 6. Community and Society: Difference and Engagement. A Theology of Difference. A Theology of Engagement. Community for Society. Society for Community. 7. Turning Inward to Community: The Family and The Danger of Too Much Community. The Family as Community. Dangers of Too Much Community. 8. Working Outward From Community: Economic Justice and International Order. A Good and Just Society. The Ethics of Economic Justice. The International Order. 9. Conclusion. Bibliography. Index.
£42.70
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Key Contemporary Social Theorists
Book Synopsis* Contains up-to-date coverage of key theorists in sociology, social theory, philosophy, cultural studies, feminism, psychoanalysis and philosophy. * Theorists covered include Benjamin, Elias, Goffman, Lacan, Said, Jameson, Heidegger, Giddens, Bauman, Williams, and many others.Trade Review"This is a very good book, which successfully achieves the editors' aims of encouraging engagement with the key processes of the contemporary period. I have no doubt that its brief introductions and suggestions for further reading will prove very useful to those new to contemporary social theory, but keen to learn more. I would be pleased to recommend it to my students." Steven Groarke, University of Surrey "This volume will be useful for anyone seeking to chart the terrain of contempoary social theory ... the work covers much ground and will undoubtedly be a handy reference for students of social and cultural theory." Ian Tregenza, Australian Journal of Political ScienceTable of Contentsntroduction. Anthony Elliott and Larry Ray. 1. Theodor Adorno: Maggie O'Neill. 2. Jeffrey Alexander: Paul Colomy. 3. Louis Althusser: Ted Benton. 4. Hannah Arendt: Phillip Hansen. 5. Jean Baudrillard: Rex Butler. 6. Zygmunt Bauman: Ian Varcoe. 7. Ulrich Beck: Joost van Loon. 8. Daniel Bell: Malcolm Waters. 9. Jessica Benjamin: Kay Torney Souter. 10. Walter Benjamin: Howard Caygill. 11. Homi Bhabha: Bart Moore-Gilbert. 12. Maurice Blanchot: Kevin Hart. 13. Pierre Bourdieu: Don Miller. 14. Manuel Castells: Nick Stevenson. 15. Nancy Chodorow: Diane Tietjens Meyers. 16. Gilles Deleuze: Claire Colebrook. 17. Jacques Derrida: Roy Boyne. 18. Norbert Elias: Robert van Kriekan. 19. Michel Foucault: Gerard Delanty. 20. Hans-Georg Gadamer: David West. 21. Anthony Giddens: Anthony Elliott. 22. Erving Goffman: Yves Winkin. 23. Jürgen Habermas: William Outhwaite. 24. Stuart Hall: Michael Kenny. 25. Max Horkheimer: Larry Ray. 26. Luce Irigaray: Kwok Wei Leng. 27. Fredric Jameson: Andrew Milner. 28. Julia Kristeva: John Lechte. 29. Jacques Lacan: Stephen Frosh. 30. Claude Levi-Strauss: Zygmunt. 31. Niklas Luhman: Dieter Rucht. 32. Jean Francois Lyotard: James Williams. 33. Herbert Marcuse: Jem Thomas. 34. Claus Offe: John Dryzek. 35. Richard Rorty: Matthew Festenstein. 36. Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick: Annamarie Jagose. 37. Alain Touraine: Kevin McDonald. 38. Bryan S Turner: Barry Smart. 39. Paul Virilio: Scott McQuire. 40. Raymond Williams: Andrew Milner. 41. Slavoj Zizek: Anthony Elliott.
£37.95
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Democracy
Book SynopsisThis text brings together a range of thinking on democratic theory. It covers a number of issues ranging from the moral significance of political equality to the importance of political deliberation. There is a common emphasis on normative questions about justification, legitimacy, and obligation.Trade Review"...a remarkable collection of recent philosophical reflections on democracy in the Anglo-American analytic tradition." Laurence Piper, Theoria "David Estlund has put together an outstanding collection of philosophical essays about democracy. Estlund's choices are wise, his organization is illuminating, and his introduction alone is worth the price of admission." Joshua Cohen, Massachusetts Institute of Technology "An absolutely first-rate collection, valuable for teachers and students alike. This is an unsurpassed introduction to, and overview of, the very best contemporary thought on the democratic idea." Cass Sunstein, University of ChicagoTable of ContentsAcknowledgements. Introduction: David Estlund. Part I: Procedural Fairness:. 1. Democracy as Equality: Thomas Christiano. 2. The Constitutional Conception of Democracy: Jeremy Waldron. Part II: Ideal Deliberation:. 3. Deliberation and Democratic Legitimacy: Joshua Cohen. 4. Deliberative Politics: Jurgen Habermas. Part III: Wise Decisions:. 5. Open Government and Just Legislation: William Nelson. 6. A Theory of Political Fairness: Charles Beitz. Part IV: Deliberation and Institutions:. 7. Political Quality: David Estlund. 8. Difference as a Resource for Democratic Communication: Iris Young. Part V: Why Vote?:. 9. Toward a Democratic Morality: Geoffrey Brennan and Loren Lomasky. 10. A Causal Responsibility Approach to Voting: Alvin Goldman. Part VI: Formal Models and Normative Theory:. 11. Deliberative Democracy and Social Choice: David Miller. 12. Rousseau's General Will: A Condorcetian Perspective: Bernard Grofman and Scott Feld.. Bibliography. Index.
£35.10
John Wiley and Sons Ltd The Blackwell Guide to Social and Political
Book SynopsisThe Blackwell Guide to Social and Political Philosophy brings together a collection of newly commissioned essays which examine fundamental issues in social and political theory. Written by leading social and political philosophers, each essay provides a map to the history of the issue at hand and a judicious assessment of the main arguments that have been brought to bear upon that issue.Trade Review"Robert Simon has assembled a strong, well-organized collection. The volume's contributors are distinguished and the essays have been chosen to convey a balanced picture of the field." George Sher, Rice University "This superbly edited volume addresses central questions surrounding the liberal democratic theory of the state. Both the advocates of contemporary expressions of liberal democratic theory and critics of those formulations receive a fair hearing. Excellent discussions of the values of liberty, justice, equality, individual rights, and democratic choice are included as well as timely discussions of pluralism and the treatment of groups in democratic theory." Norman E. Bowie, University of MinnesotaTable of ContentsNotes on Contributors ix Introduction: Social and Political Philosophy – Sorting Out the Issues 1 Robert L. Simon Part I Core Principles and the Liberal Democratic State 1 Political Obligation and Authority 17 A. John Simmons 2 Liberty, Coercion, and the Limits of the State 38 Alan Wertheimer 3 Justice 60 Christopher Heath Wellman 4 Equality 85 Richard J. Arneson 5 Preference, Rationality, and Democratic Theory 106 Ann E. Cudd Part II Liberalism, Its Critics, and Alternative Approaches 6 Marx’s Legacy 131 Richard W. Miller 7 Feminism and Political Theory 154 Virginia Held 8 Liberalism and the Challenge of Communitarianism 177 James P. Sterba 9 Liberal Theories and their Critics 197 William Nelson Part III Pluralism, Diversity, and Deliberation 10 Deliberative Democracy 221 James S. Fishkin 11 Citizenship and Pluralism 239 Daniel M. Weinstock 12 The New Enlightenment: Critical Reflections on the Political Significance of Race 271 A. Todd Franklin 13 Religion and Liberal Democracy 292 Christopher J. Eberle Select Bibliography 319 Index 321
£36.05
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Social Political and Legal Philosophy
Book SynopsisThis volume contains 20 papers on the philosophy of law and social philosophy composed by today's most prominent philosophers and scholars. Leading scholars have contributed original papers representative of their current work, as have some younger philosophers rising to prominence.Table of ContentsI ETHICS AND SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY. 1 “I Thought She Consented” (Marcia W. Baron). 2 Against Constitutive Incommensurability or Buying and Selling Friends (Ruth Chang). 3 Law and Social Order (Russell Hardin). 4 Rapes Without Rapists: Consent and Reasonable Mistake (Douglas N. Husak and George C. Thomas III). 5 What We Can Reasonably Reject (Thomas W. Pogge). 6 A Place for Cost-Benefit Analysis (David Schmidtz). II POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY. 7 Against Rights (Richard J. Arneson). 8 Managing Scarcity: Toward a More Political Theory of Justice (Robert E. Goodin). 9 A Critique of Philip Pettit's Republicanism (Charles Larmore). 10 Classical Realism (Brian Leiter). 11 Deliberative Democracy and the Discursive Dilemma (Philip Pettit). 12 On the Territorial Rights of States (A. John Simmons). 13 Inequality: A Complex, Individualistic, and Comparative Notion (Larry S. Temkin). III LEGAL PHILOSOPHY. 14 The Conventioanlity Thesis (Jules L. Coleman). 15 Egalitarianism and the Problem of Tort Liability (Michael L. Corrado). 16 Reconciling Autonomy and Efficiency in Contract Law: The Vertical Integration Strategy (Jody S. Kraus). 17 The Judicial Community (Christopher Kutz). 18 Law as Command: The Model of Command in Modern Jurisprudence (Gerald J. Posterna). 19 Criminal Justice and Legal Reparations as an Alternative to Punishment (Geoffrey Sayre-McCord). 20 Judicial Can’t (Scott J. Shapiro).
£38.90
Harvard University Press Guilt and Defense
Book SynopsisA psychoanalytically informed analysis of the rhetorical and conceptual mechanisms with which postwar Germans most often denied responsibility for the Nazi past. It provides important perspectives on postwar German political culture, on the dynamics of collective memory, and on Adorno's intellectual legacies.Trade ReviewI am thrilled that Theodor Adorno's Guilt and Defense: On the Legacies of National Socialism in Postwar Germany has eventually been translated and published in a fine American edition. This book documents Adorno's qualitative interpretations of group discussions that were conducted by the Institute of Social Research in Frankfurt and entailed different strata of German society short after WWII and the Holocaust. Here you can read and learn about what average Germans thought in the late 1940s, and how Adorno reconstructed their ideas. This is the best insight into immediate post-War Germany you will ever get. Anyone interested in post-War German politics and culture needs to take a close look at this. Maybe nothing for the beach, either. But for any intellectual interested in 20th century Germany: Indispensable. -- Lars Rensmann * Princeton University Press blog *
£40.76
Harvard University Press China from Empire to NationState
Book SynopsisThis translation of the Introduction to Wang Hui’s Rise of Modern Chinese Thought (2004) makes part of his four-volume masterwork available to English readers for the first time. A leading public intellectual in China, Wang charts the historical currents that have shaped Chinese modernity from the Song Dynasty to the present day.Trade ReviewIt is continually rewarding, offering up new avenues of inquiry and revisiting links between Chinese modernity and the country’s imperial history. Three centuries on from Kangxi, there are still plenty of blanks in the map of modern China. For anglophone readers, this very overdue translation helps us see the lie of the land. -- Alex Monro * Times Literary Supplement *The present book is an erudite, stimulating, thought provoking, nuanced, but highly condensed overture to Wang’s ambitious macro history of the formation of Chinese intellectual modernity. Sensitive to both continuities and disruptions, Wang engages traditional thought as well as Western and Japanese scholarly discourse… It illuminates 21st-century Chinese discourse and provides ample food for thought for scholars grappling with interpreting modern and premodern Chinese intellectual history. -- C. Schirokauer * Choice *China from Empire to Nation-State, a stellar contribution to intellectual history, does something very rare: it enriches and expands our vocabulary. There will be no greater incentive to study the political and philosophical traditions of China—and of the non-West in general—than this consistently illuminating and bracing book. -- Pankaj Mishra, author of From the Ruins of Empire: The Intellectuals Who Remade Asia
£32.36
Harvard University Press Common Sense John Harvard Library The John
Book SynopsisCommon Sense.
£24.26
Harvard University Press Democracy without Politics
Book SynopsisIn Western democracies today, politics and politicians are held in contempt by the majority of citizens. Bilakovics argues that this disdain of politics follows neither from the discontents of our liberal political system nor from the preoccupations of a consumer society. Rather, he traces the sources of political cynicism to democracy itself.Trade ReviewAddressing the peculiar seesaw of cynicism and idealism that characterizes American politics, Steven Bilakovics provocatively suggests that our current anti-political prejudices flow not from some extra-political source (such as neoliberal economics or fundamentalist religion) but from the spirit of democracy itself. Democracy without Politics is a masterful reworking of Tocqueville's theses concerning equality, freedom, and democratic openness. It illuminates, in a radically original way, our ongoing love affair with democratic ideals and our growing impatience with--even contempt for--democratic politics. A must-read. -- Dana Villa, University of Notre DameMany people today are cynical about democratic politics. Could democracy itself be partly to blame? That is the provocative suggestion of Steven Bilakovics's fascinating new book on democracy in America. Bilakovics begins where Tocqueville left off, tracing the internal logic of democratic thought and demonstrating its manifestations in everyday life. He argues that we often misunderstand the virtues of our own political culture, thinking of democracy simply as a form of 'openness' and thereby leading ourselves to disappointment and disillusionment. The book as a whole makes a powerful case against democratic complacency. -- Bryan Garsten, Yale UniversityIn this extended meditation, Steven Bilakovics takes Tocqueville as his guide to the pathologies of democracy in modern America. Following Tocqueville, he dares to suggest that what troubles us most about democratic political life reflects, not non-democratic distortions, but rather the inexorable logic of the core commitment to equality. This book will enlighten and provoke everyone interested in the political sociology of American democracy. -- William A. Galston, The Brookings InstitutionDemocracy without Politics is an ambitious, important book. It ropes together a detailed reinterpretation of Alexis de Tocqueville's political thought with a diagnosis of the cynicism and idealism found in American democracy and a critique of recent democratic theory's fascination with radical openness and indeterminacy… Political theorists and other scholars will find here a great many important insights and fascinating paths of research. Well written and filled with fascinating examples and analyses of recent political trends, the book should contribute a great deal to studies of Tocqueville, contemporary democratic theory, the analysis of political culture, and critical studies of U.S. politics. -- G. D. Mackin * Choice *
£32.36
Harvard University Press Commonwealth
Book SynopsisWith Commonwealth, Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri conclude the trilogy begun with Empire and continued in Multitude, proposing an ethics of freedom for living in our common world and articulating a possible constitution for our common wealth.Trade ReviewEveryone seems to agree that our economic system is broken, yet the debate about alternatives remains oppressively narrow. Hardt and Negri explode this claustrophobic debate, taking readers to the deepest roots of our current crises and proposing radical, and deeply human, solutions. There has never been a better time for this book. -- Naomi Klein, author of The Shock DoctrineCommonwealth, last and richest of the Empire trilogy, is a powerful and ambitious reappropriation of the whole tradition of political theory for the Left. Clarifying Foucault's ambiguous notion of biopower, deepening the authors' own proposal for the notion of multitude, it offers an exhilarating summa of the forms and possibilities of resistance today. It is a politically as well as an intellectually invigorating achievement. -- Fredric Jameson, Duke UniversityCommonwealth [is] the latest book by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, whose Empire and Multitude have, arguably, been the dominant works of political philosophy of the new century...[It's] the much-anticipated final volume of the Empire trilogy. * Artforum *Commonwealth is a timely contribution to our understanding of contemporary capitalist relations and the potential revolutionary conditions they create...Together Hardt and Negri's work is considered to be responsible for a resurgence of interest in non-orthodox Marxism and its political manifestations. Commonwealth is the final part of a trilogy that began with Empire in 2000, a book that was published during the emergence of the alter-globalization movement. Multitude followed in 2004, developing the ideas that had been introduced in Empire, in particular the concept of the multitude as a new revolutionary subject. Commonwealth is a worthy addition to the trilogy, expamnding and clarifying on the understandings in the previous books, but perhaps more significantly grounding their analysis within an extended discussion of "the common."...Commonwealth is a book that challenges presuppositions about the utility of Marx, and introduces the possibility of combining his insights with the ideas of other significant authors such as Nietzsche, Foucault, Deleuze and Guattari, who are not traditionally associated with the radical communist project. -- Bertie Russell and Andre Pusey * Red Pepper *Table of Contents* Preface: The Becoming-Prince of the Multitude Part 1. Republic (and the Multitude of the Poor) *1.1 Republic of Property *1.2 Productive Bodies *1.3 The Multitude of the Poor * De Corpore 1: Biopolitics as Event Part 2. Modernity (and the Landscapes of Altermodernity) *2.1 Antimodernity as Resistance *2.2 Ambivalences of Modernity *2.3 Altermodernity * De Homine 1: Biopolitical Reason Part 3. Capital (and the Struggles over Common Wealth) *3.1 Metamorphoses of the Composition of Capital *3.2 Class Struggle from Crisis to Exodus *3.3 Kairos of the Multitude * De Singularitate 1: Of Love Possessed * Intermezzo: A Force to Combat Evil Part 4. Empire Returns *4.1 Brief History of a Failed Coup d'Etat *4.2 After U.S. Hegemony *4.3 Genealogy of Rebellion * De Corpore 2: Metropolis Part 5. Beyond Capital? *5.1 Terms of the Economic Transition *5.2 What Remains of Capitalism *5.3 Pre-shocks along the Fault Lines * De Homine 2: Cross the Threshold! Part 6. Revolution *6.1 Revolutionary Parallelism *6.2 Insurrectional Intersections *6.3 Governing the Revolution * De Singularitate 2: Instituting Happiness * Notes * Acknowledgments * Index
£24.26
Harvard University Press What Is a Palestinian State Worth
Book SynopsisWhat is a Palestinian state worth? This book poses questions about the history, meaning, future, and resolution of the Israel/Palestine conflict.Trade ReviewNusseibeh recommends reframing the conflict and advocates that negotiators look beyond the conference room to focus on the reality in the homes and streets of Palestinians and Israelis, and envision a collective peace, progress, and safety…His philosophical and balanced book is unfailingly sensitive and empathetic to both sides. * Publishers Weekly *In a display of rationality uncommon to discussions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Nusseibeh takes an impartial vantage point, trying to sort out a mess largely generated by overblown and hyperactive political identities…Nusseibeh is an experienced and bold politician and a shrewd intellectual. His views, accordingly, demand serious consideration. * Boston Review *Sari Nusseibeh is not a Palestinian Gandhi—he is a secular intellectual, not a saint, and while he has occupied prominent roles in Palestinian life (formerly as a leader of the first intifada and a Palestinian Authority diplomat, currently as president of al-Quds University), he has never commanded a mass following. But in his short new book he comes closer to advocating a Gandhian strategy than any other Palestinian leader I know of. -- Adam Kirsch * Tablet Magazine *Sari Nusseibeh repeatedly expresses his belief that change is possible if people have the self-confidence and faith in themselves to act. He sees his task as an educator to be one of inculcating such faith. And he also describes, in several chapters of his often moving book, a moral basis for political action that can speak to all of us. Like Gandhi, and like Abdallah Abu Rahmah and Ali Abu Awwad…Nusseibeh seeks not to coerce his opponents—in this case the Israeli people along with their political and military institutions—into changing their self-destructive course but to change their will, or their feelings. He wants them to step back from prejudice and an obsession with brute force and to open their eyes. He wants them to find in themselves the generosity of spirit needed in order to take a chance on peace, whether in the form of two states or a single binational entity or, perhaps, some kind of confederation. -- David Shulman * New York Review of Books *The ideas might sound strange in their departure from conventional wisdom about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the positions of leaders and pundits on both sides, but it's good policy to pay attention. In the past, Sari Nusseibeh has taken positions that his fellow Palestinians condemned—and then, a couple of uprisings and aborted peace conferences later, embraced. -- Haim Watzman * Chronicle of Higher Education *Nusseibeh's informal style, urgent and passionate, and especially his call to sit down with the enemy, will engage all sides in intense debate. -- Hazel Rochman * Booklist *There is nothing like it in the literature of this conflict. Every year thousands of articles and blog posts are produced about how to end the conflict. They all feel stale. This book does not. -- Greg Waldmann * Open Letters Monthly *
£24.26
Harvard University Press The Gandhian Moment
Book SynopsisThe father of Indian independence, Gandhi was also a political theorist who challenged mainstream ideas. Sovereignty, he said, depends on the consent of citizens willing to challenge the state nonviolently when it acts immorally. The culmination of the inner struggle to recognize one's duty to act is the ultimate Gandhian moment.Trade Review[Jahanbegloo’s] elaborations on Gandhian thinking are nuanced and engaging, and serve as important responses to the political dilemmas posed by the struggles over democracy in the Middle East today… Directing Gandhi’s thinking toward contemporary concerns in this manner is a fruitful line of inquiry, and Jahanbegloo’s considerations are insightful. -- Karuna Mantena * Los Angeles Review of Books *More than ever, the world needs Gandhi today. Especially, in the face of Islam and Muslims being portrayed as synonymous with terrorism populist ideological responses of political Islam to Western hegemony have proved counterproductive. [Jahanbegloo] exhorts Muslim leaders to draw upon not only Gandhi but upon the non-violent contributions of people like [Abdul] Ghaffar Khan and [Maulana] Azad. For [Jahanbegloo], Gandhi’s formulations of self-examination, self-criticism and self-purification and their adaptations by leaders like Ghaffar Khan and Azad provide useful tools for taking Western models of conflict resolution towards more nuanced models of non-violence and peace. -- Swaran Singh * The Hindu *Jahanbegloo offers a stimulating account of the theory and practice of Gandhi’s nonviolent resistance to injustice. In this short work, the author not only follows Gandhi’s Indian campaigns but also takes readers on brief excursions of Gandhian resistance to injustice elsewhere, particularly in the U.S. and South Africa. Especially welcome is his discussion of Maulana Azad and Ghaffar Khan, two Muslim advocates of communal harmony and Indian independence who were associates of Gandhi. Jahanbegloo pits a Hobbesian theory of the sovereignty of an omnipotent state that claims legitimacy for itself against Gandhi’s theory of the individual’s duty to resist injustice. He sees Gandhi’s arguments negating Hobbesian claims to legitimacy and leading to larger claims to nonviolent civil resistance. The Gandhian Moment is a solid, clearly written addition to the Gandhian literature. -- R. J. Terchek * Choice *Jahanbegloo has written a tightly focused examination of Gandhi’s philosophy and politics, emphasizing his central reliance in advocating nonviolence to challenge injustice and tyranny. Motivated by the need to end colonial rule in India, Gandhi drew on Hindu thought to assert the primacy of moral duty over individual rights. Yet he rejected Hindu chauvinism and promoted pluralism and inclusion to reach out to other communities in India, especially Muslims. As well as carefully analyzing Gandhi’s shaping of separate principles into a coherent view, Jahanbegloo demonstrates the continuing impact of Gandhian thought outside India, particularly upon Martin Luther King Jr.’s civil rights leadership, Nelson Mandela’s successful challenge to apartheid, and the spread of nonviolent demonstrations against repressive regions throughout the Middle East during the Arab Spring. Perhaps surprising to American readers, Jahanbegloo highlights Muslim leaders in the Indian independence movement who integrated Gandhian nonviolence into Islamic thought, contrary to recent claims that Islam is inherently violent or terrorist… This complex and serious analysis will interest readers willing to think rigorously about political philosophy and options for change in today’s world. -- Elizabeth Hayford * Library Journal *A stimulating and imaginative exploration of Gandhi’s nonviolence both as a method of resistance and as the basis of a new kind of national and global political order. It demolishes many a myth about Muslim societies and insightfully shows Gandhi’s relevance to them. -- Professor Lord Bhikhu ParekhJahanbegloo’s rediscovery of Gandhi makes a compelling case for the power of love to transform collective action against injustice and oppression. An eloquent and highly original contribution to Gandhi’s political philosophy that is becoming increasingly relevant in struggles against autocratic regimes around the world. A required reading for thinkers and activists alike. -- Sudhir KakarStraddling political philosophy and activism, Jahanbegloo’s work situates Gandhi in today’s global political arena, where many of the Mahatma’s ideas and practices have assumed a fresh new meaning. There have been one or two books that have tried to place Gandhi in such a global context, but Jahanbegloo is, to my knowledge, unique in focusing on Gandhianism as a critique of modern, state-centered sovereignty. This represents an extraordinarily fruitful line of inquiry. -- Dr. Faisal Devji, University of Oxford
£999.99
Harvard University Press The Worship of Confucius in Japan
Book SynopsisHow has Confucius, quintessentially and symbolically Chinese, been received throughout Japanese history? The Worship of Confucius in Japan provides the first overview of the richly documented and colorful Japanese version of the East Asian ritual to venerate Confucius, known in Japan as the sekiten.Trade ReviewA major contribution to understandings of Japanese political and cultural history as mediated by ritual and forms of apparent religiosity related to Confucius and company…Future sekiten studies will certainly have strong shoulders on which to stand. -- John A. Tucker * Journal of the American Academy of Religion *Scholars of Japanese history have been looking forward to James McMullen’s book on the worship of Confucius in Japan for a long time…By far the most comprehensive study of sekiten in Japan in any language. It is a must-read for teachers and students of Japan-China studies, Japanese Confucianism, and Sinosphere studies…This is a great work. -- Benjamin Wai-ming Ng * Journal of Japanese Studies *Rigorously researched and enriched by a useful set of appendixes, this volume is an indispensable tool for a better understanding of Confucianism in Japanese cultural history and its enduring influence in the present despite the lack of institutional developments. It is warmly recommended to established specialists and students of East Asian religions. -- Ugo Dessì * Religious Studies Review *
£60.31
Harvard University Press Democracy in China
Book SynopsisFour decades of reform fostered a democratic mentality in China. Now citizens are waiting for the government to catch up. Jiwei Ci argues that the tensions between a largely democratic society and an undemocratic political system will trigger a crisis of legitimacy, compelling the Communist Party to become agents of democratic change—or collapse.Trade ReviewCi offers shrewd insights into the contradictions in the party’s ideology, the mentality of China’s middle class, and the various ways the party sustains its legitimacy. -- Andrew J. Nathan * Foreign Affairs *An elaborate but cogent argument about how the CCP will only overcome its illegitimacy, along with other tears in the national fabric, by choosing to usher in political democracy. -- Martin Witte * Asian Review of Books *A remarkably consistent, multifaceted, and evenhanded analysis of China’s socioeconomic, cultural, and political changes affecting its democratic future with a good combination of rigorous reasoning and brilliant speculation…It will surely stimulate our further deliberation and reflection on this important subject and enrich our understanding of China’s democratic development and its significance to the world. -- Gang Lin * China Review International *A strong argument to let China democratize for its own reasons and at its own chosen pace…Offers a new angle to observe China’s way to democratization and assures us all that China’s democratization will reflect its own characteristics. -- Xiaoxiao Li * Chinese Historical Studies *[A] tour de force on democracy and political order…A fantastically engaging read…[An] impressive book…Ci’s intellectual contributions are of great value to our understandings of China’s political development. -- Robert Dayley * Pacific Affairs *Ci furnishes a punctilious demolition of the notion that Chinese citizens neither need nor desire democracy…Just as he is even-handed in his political criticisms of both East and West, he appears equally fluent in each tradition of political philosophy, on which he draws freely and eclectically to guide his reflections. -- Johannes Hoerning * New Left Review *Jiwei Ci’s account of the prospects of Chinese democracy is stimulating, deeply researched, and humanely argued. A passionate argument in favor of a more democratic China, it engages seriously with the question of what a Chinese, rather than abstract, democracy might look like, making original and nuanced arguments about how a party-state might genuinely pluralize. His reflections on Hong Kong are particularly thoughtful in light of the current turmoil. A powerful contribution to one of the most acute debates in geopolitics today. -- Rana Mitter, author of Forgotten AllyA complex, fascinating book that will have a major impact not only for readers interested in China, but also for anyone working on authoritarian transitions and democratic theory. I find Ci’s prudential rather than normative argument on the need for democracy in China persuasive, if one thinks in terms of the Chinese Communist Party moving in a more democratic direction. -- Tony Saich, author of Governance and Politics of ChinaJiwei Ci’s ambitious book is intended as a practical political argument, addressed as a citizen of China to the incumbent leadership of its governing Communist Party. It is a work of intense seriousness, real intellectual scruple, and, under current circumstances, great political courage. -- John Dunn, author of Breaking Democracy’s Spell
£34.81
Harvard University Press Agents of Change
Book SynopsisBen Laurence argues for a political philosophy that unifies theory and practice in pursuit of change. He shows that the task of political philosophy is not complete until the political philosopher asks the question “What is to be done?” and deliberates about the answer with agents of change.Trade ReviewAgents of Change is an engaging and original contribution to contemporary debate in the methodology of political philosophy. -- Saranga Sudarshan * Philosophical Quarterly *Laurence defends the Rawlsian idea that political philosophers should proffer ‘realistically utopian’ theories of justice…A thorough discussion full of distinctive ideas that repay careful consideration. -- David Wiens * Review of Politics *In Agents of Change, Ben Laurence tackles the enduring tension between utopian and practical theories of justice…Drawing from Kantian thought, he highlights the importance of addressing injustice and the rights of resistance in defining just relations among equals. -- B. V. E. Hyde * Contemporary Political Theory *Ben Laurence has written an important, elegant book. Agents of Change cogently and rigorously argues for a type of ‘ideal theory.’ Though it supplies a deep, bold, and illuminating criticism as well as a partial defense of Rawls, it is a quite original, freestanding work of political philosophy that will endure and guide our thought about change for a long time. -- Martha C. Nussbaum, University of ChicagoMust political philosophy aim at practical political action, or may it also pursue the nature and content of social justice, however unrealistic justice might be? If anyone thinks the voluminous debates about ‘ideal theory’ are played out, or thinks some position has proven itself, Ben Laurence’s elegant and searching book shows otherwise. Laurence reminds us that the questions are profound, not merely scholastic, and shows us in new ways how powerful are some of the arguments on all sides. But most important, Agents of Change develops a new, broadly Aristotelian framework that yields at once an incisive, constructive interpretation of the existing debates—it would be essential reading if only for that—and a refreshingly large step forward. -- David Estlund, Brown UniversityThis is an outstanding and timely book. It clarifies and critically assesses the most important contributions to the ongoing debate between utopian and pragmatic approaches in political philosophy. Ben Laurence also advances a novel view—the teleological conception—which captures some of the best insights in the existing competing approaches while avoiding many of their pitfalls. His explanation of the practical standpoint adopted by agents of change pursuing social justice is especially illuminating. This lucid book will appeal widely to scholars and students in philosophy, political science, law, and economics. -- Pablo Gilabert, Concordia University
£27.86
Harvard University Press The Cosmopolitan Tradition
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewProfound, beautifully written, and inspiring. It proves that Nussbaum deserves her reputation as one of the greatest modern philosophers. -- Aidan Johnson * Globe and Mail *At a time of growing national chauvinism, Martha Nussbaum’s excellent restatement of the cosmopolitan tradition is a welcome and much-needed contribution. Masterfully tracing the development of the idea of universal human dignity from antiquity to the present, she highlights the major contributions of this tradition to our thinking about morality and law, while also providing a persuasive critique of its limitations. Her revision of the tradition, articulated here…is illuminating and thought-provoking. -- Lior Erez * Times Higher Education *In a penetrating and salient collection of essays, Nussbaum…examines the cosmopolitan tradition and its relationship to the challenges of pluralism and globalism in contemporary life…A timely and insightful analysis of ethical dilemmas. * Kirkus Reviews *A lucid and accessible study of a concept with clear contemporary relevance. In an age of resurgent nationalism, a study of the idea and ideals of cosmopolitanism is remarkably timely. -- Ryan Patrick Hanley * Journal of the History of Philosophy *
£16.16
Harvard University Press Human Dignity
Book SynopsisTrade Review[Kateb] suggests that the idea of dignity is essential to the idea of human rights. By this he means that human rights are in fact derived from human dignity, which is not some spurious moral precept but an integral part of the human condition. For Kateb, dignity is not, at root, a moral phenomenon but an existential one… It is refreshing to read a work of philosophy that tries to restore some pride to our rather jaded species… Human Dignity…attempts to give human beings their due, not in any spirit of self-congratulation but so that we may build a better life for all. -- Richard King * The Australian *[A] powerful and ambitious book. [Kateb] provides a sterling example of one of the most challenging of genres, the philosophic essay. He writes not just for other scholars but for anyone who loves to think. I won’t mislead you by pretending that Human Dignity is easy and pleasant. It is demanding and pleasant, the pleasures being those of an argument that illuminates an important subject… No brief review could do justice to its bold amplitude, its intriguing twists, its problems and provocations. -- Clifford Orwin * Globe and Mail *In this lucid and highly readable ‘defense of human dignity’ and rights, Kateb explicitly avoids the use of theological insights, preferring the autonomous individual and human reason as his guides… Kateb’s critique of many prominent thinkers, including Peter Singer and J.S. Mill, and his provocative application of a theory of human dignity and rights to contemporary politics, are significant accomplishments. -- H. L. Cheek, Jr. * Choice *Kateb, like J. S. Mill, asks what objects of secular faith may candidly be used to supplant religious belief. Humanity is the answer he suggests—but humanity regarded not as the collective hero of progress or enlightenment, but as the most interesting part of nature for better and for worse: the part that holds up a mirror to the rest, even though the rest cannot recognize itself in the mirror. This is a disturbing, adventurous, and original-minded work. -- David Bromwich, Yale University[Kateb] is the last—that is, the first and only—thoroughgoing Emersonian in American political thought. -- Cornel West, Princeton University
£24.26
Harvard University Press No Citizen Left Behind
Book SynopsisWhile teaching at an all-Black middle school in Atlanta, Levinson realized that her students’ individual self-improvement would not necessarily enable them to overcome their historical marginalization. In order to overcome their civic empowerment gap, students must learn how to reshape power relationships through public political and civic action.Trade ReviewThis is Dewey updated… This is a strong book. The ideas that activate it are effectively presented, the detail of real school life…vividly brought to life. -- Nathan Glazer * Education Next *Read No Citizen Left Behind by Meira Levinson—a forthright defense of schools as institutions for teaching about democracy and justice. -- Deborah Meier * Education Week blog *Levinson advocates restoring civic education, which gives young people insights into the workings of the American political system, to the educational curriculum on a national scale. She believes that ensuring all students receive the same civic education would strengthen our country and cause more citizens to take an active role in its government… Civic education is an area of education reform that experts have overlooked, but it could have a major impact on our country if achieved. The experiences and research Levinson shares have the potential to produce a national ‘aha’ moment. -- Terry Christner * Library Journal *Brilliant. No Citizen Left Behind is must-reading for anyone concerned with the reform of civic education in America. An inspiration for both scholars and practitioners. -- Robert D. Putnam, author of Bowling Alone and coauthor of American GraceA must-read for anyone who cares to see young people from all backgrounds grow into self-confident and efficacious citizens. -- Danielle S. Allen, Institute for Advanced Study, PrincetonA landmark book that should influence teachers of all subjects in American schools while providing an important model for scholars. -- Peter Levine, Tufts UniversityA very sophisticated and lively argument, backed by wonderful tales from school, for what it might mean if we really educated for democracy. An important contribution to a field dominated by clichés. -- Deborah Meier, coauthor of Playing for Keeps
£19.76
Harvard University Press Machiavelli
Book SynopsisThe man whose name is shorthand for all that is ugly in politics was more nuanced than his reputation suggests. Celenza’s portrait of Machiavelli removes the varnish to reveal not just the hard-nosed philosopher but the skilled diplomat, learned commentator on ancient history, comic playwright, tireless letter writer, and thwarted lover.Trade ReviewMachiavellian. The very word calls up images of plots, daggers and devious minds. Christopher Celenza separates the man from the melodrama. -- Steven Carroll * Sydney Morning Herald *Both readable and trustworthy. -- Steve Donoghue * Open Letters Monthly *Demonstrates how Machiavelli’s thoughts on conflict and leadership are relevant to today’s political world. -- L. B. Gimelli * Choice *A brief, erudite exposition of the Florentine secretary’s mores and intentions. In this accessible work, Celenza explores why Machiavelli’s The Prince continues to enthrall readers and how the author’s other, less-well-known works, such as his comedies, can help enrich the way we understand him…A compelling portrait of the life of a man ‘subject to and involved in history, who believed…that by interpreting the past sagely, one could act more fruitfully in the present.’ * Kirkus Reviews *By setting the author of The Prince in his historical context, Christopher Celenza captures the brilliance, risk-taking, danger, and sheer exuberant delight of the Italian Renaissance. With particular sensitivity to the precise nuances of Machiavelli’s language, Celenza enables us to seize upon what continues to be relevant in his work to our own time and place. -- Stephen Greenblatt, author of The Swerve: How the World Became ModernCelenza’s Machiavelli is a man passionately engaged in history, a scholar of the past whose interests run from the remote annals of ancient Rome to the tormented chronicles of early modern Italy, and an unflaggingly committed participant in the events of his own time. The result is a singularly humane portrait of a wise man making his way through what was often a cruel, chaotic world. -- Ingrid Rowland, University of Notre Dame
£32.36
Harvard University Press The Society of Equals
Book SynopsisSociety’s wealthiest members claim an ever-expanding share of income and property—a true counterrevolution, says Pierre Rosanvallon, the end of the age of growing equality launched by the American and French revolutions. Just as significant, driving this contemporary inequality has been a loss of faith in the ideal of equality itself.Trade ReviewThe Society of Equals…is a work of both history and political philosophy: a sweeping historical analysis of equality since the American and French Revolutions and an effort to reconstruct the understanding of equality for a new ‘age of singularity’ when ‘everyone wants to ‘be someone.’… Does [Rosanvallon] solve the contemporary puzzles about inequality? I don’t think so. But he analyzes them in so illuminating a way that anyone interested in understanding and reversing the surge in inequality should read his work… Greater economic equality is certainly not inevitable; it will require thought and political organization to make the most of the opportunities that history affords, and Rosanvallon’s Society of Equals is one of the resources to carry along on that journey. -- Paul Starr * New York Review of Books *The idea of equality often evokes heated passions… Pierre Rosanvallon, one of France’s leading public intellectuals, has stepped into this minefield to provide a thoughtful work. -- Daniel Bel-Ami * Financial Times *French political theorist Pierre Rosanvallon takes fresh stock of the ideal of equality in The Society of Equals, an ambitious bid to revive egalitarian thought in a global economy that no longer recognizes any moral or political legitimacy in schemes to redistribute wealth—let alone in more modest efforts to expand access to basic social goods such as health care, housing, or education… Rosanvallon deftly traces the slow collapse of the egalitarian tradition, mainly in the counterposed trajectories of French and American political thought. -- Chris Lehmann * Bookforum *During the American and French revolutions, striving for liberty and achieving equality were not seen as contradictory. Modern notions of individualism and individual choice have undermined that bond: we pay merely lip service to equality while our body politic has never been less inclined to correct unequal distribution of income and wealth. Rosanvallon warns us what is at stake here: modern democracy will not survive if it avoids the question of equality. -- Andreas Hess * Times Higher Education *The best available treatment of equality as a condition of the common life. -- Michael IgnatieffIn a rich and illuminating work of political theory and historical interpretation, Pierre Rosanvallon traces the rise and fall of the ideal of equality, from the American and French Revolutions to the present. And he argues for reviving equality as a moral and political project. The ‘society of equals’ he favors is less about redistribution than about recovering commonality as the basis of social relations. At a time when the welfare state has lost its capacity to inspire, Rosanvallon, one of Europe’s most distinguished political theorists, offers a way of recasting the case for a more equal society. -- Michael J. Sandel, author of What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets
£31.41
Harvard University Press Lines of Descent
Book SynopsisW. E. B. Du Bois never felt so at home as when he was a student in Berlin. Germany was the first place white people had treated him as an equal. But anti-Semitism was prevalent, and Du Bois’ challenge, says Kwame Anthony Appiah, was to take the best of German intellectual life without its parochialism—to steal the fire without getting burned.Trade ReviewExamines Du Bois’s evolving thought and probes the contradictions at the heart of his conception of black identity…[Du Bois] emerges as difficult to pin down yet impossible not to admire. Appiah gracefully renders Du Bois’s intellectual formation in a study that is a pleasure to traverse for both the scholar and the casual reader. -- Lena Hill * Books & Culture *In this slim but splendid book, Appiah explores Du Bois’ works and the personal and philosophical struggle behind them as Du Bois used all the analytical tools of sociology yet lived the tortures of racism, even more so because his education and personal elegance did not exempt him from its indignities. -- Vanessa Bush * Booklist (starred review) *In Lines of Descent, Appiah has penned one of the most exquisite accounts of W. E. B. Du Bois’s intellectual heritage. The most towering figure of modern black thought and protest literature is recast here as ‘a cosmopolitan through and through,’ drawing deeply from the wells of learning in the early twentieth century German academy. This is not just another book about the genius of Du Bois, his wide learning or global predilections. Lines of Descent reveals that some of America’s most enduring notions of race and racial identity—from the ‘problem of the color line’ to ‘two warring ideals in one dark body’—are based on Du Bois’s earliest synthesis of European romantic notions of race, culture, and nation. Appiah reminds us that over the course of his long life, Du Bois strove to reconcile blackness as one among many, a thread in a tapestry of global humanity. -- Khalil Gibran Muhammad, author of The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban AmericaThat Kwame Anthony Appiah should turn his attention to W. E. B. Du Bois seems foreordained: the voyages of these two thinkers meet midstream, the one departing from Ghana and the other ending there. Beyond that neat symmetry, there is an uncanny feeling of major minds in mutually enriching conversation, as the intersection of Du Bois's visionary passion with Appiah's pragmatic intelligence yields page after page of insight. Lines of Descent is an experience of pure intellectual elevation. -- Alex Ross, author of The Rest Is Noise and Listen to This
£32.36
Harvard University Press A Great and Wretched City
Book SynopsisDispelling the myth that Florentine politics offered only negative lessons, Mark Jurdjevic shows that significant aspects of Machiavelli's political thought were inspired by his native city. Machiavelli's contempt for Florence's shortcomings was a direct function of his considerable estimation of the city's unrealized political potential.Trade ReviewWonderfully researched and deeply persuasive, this book offers us an entirely new vision of the Florentine chancellor as a man dedicated in his later years to radically reshaping his broken world. Jurdjevic not only reinterprets the man himself, but challenges our very understanding of the relationship between Renaissance individuals and the society around them. -- Michael Martoccio * H-Net Reviews *Mark Jurdjevic’s A Great and Wretched City is a wonderful contribution to Machiavelli studies. It gives Machiavelli’s ‘Florentine writings’ their proper due, and appropriately tempers the ill-considered and much too prevalent overemphasis on Machiavelli’s admiration for Rome. The book is astoundingly erudite, penetrating analytically, and generally written with a confident elegance that makes it an unusually accessible piece of high-end scholarship. -- John P. McCormick, University of ChicagoJurdjevic convincingly argues that two of Machiavelli’s late works, The Florentine Histories and Discourse on Florentine Affairs, constitute the culmination of a change in Machiavelli’s political thinking beginning with the Discourses on Livy. Pessimistic about the potential for individual action, Machiavelli concludes that collective structures and institutions, purposely designed to limit the impact of individual political activity, can create and preserve republican government. -- Ronald G. Witt, Duke University
£44.16
Harvard University Press The Place of Prejudice
Book SynopsisWe associate prejudice with ignorance and bigotry and consider it a source of injustice. Can prejudice have a legitimate place in moral and political judgment? Adam Sandel shows that prejudice, properly understood, is not an obstacle to clear thinking but an essential aspect of it. The aspiration to reason without preconceptions is misguided.Trade ReviewA remarkable, deeply humanizing book… [Sandel] points out that those who claim to have rid themselves of prejudice are, without exception, kidding themselves, even setting themselves up to be more susceptible to prejudice by creating a fictitious realm in which they are immune to it… Today researchers are assembling an ever-longer list of what they consider cognitive biases, which are apparently the product of a jumble of cognitive mechanisms that evolution has snatched up and crammed uncomfortably together. A new philosophical effort is needed to account for the findings of this science, and to challenge its shortcomings. Efforts like the one undertaken in The Place of Prejudice will be vital to this task. -- Ari N. Schulman * New Atlantis *Even those familiar with the points it makes will enjoy the sweep of its review across the history of philosophy and take pleasure in…its eloquence. -- Georgia Warnke * Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *Adam Sandel’s book presents ‘the prejudice against prejudice’ and then the case against it in a clear and eloquent manner. The case still needs to be made to English-speaking audiences in a way that can be widely understood, and this text can do it. It would serve a great need in today’s Anglophone philosophical world. -- Charles Taylor, author of A Secular AgeA sweeping, ambitious, original, and provocative work. It takes on not a thinker or a theory, but a way of thinking that represents the achievement of modernity and the mark of intellectual and moral integrity: the capacity to liberate ourselves from prejudice and to see things objectively. Prejudice in fact is inescapable, on this account, and is a necessary starting point for practical reason. This is an ambitious book that makes good on its ambition. -- Russell Muirhead, author of Just WorkThe book is bold and invigorating. Sandel takes aim at one of the bedrock creeds of Western modernity: that genuine rationality requires the dismissal of all cultural, religious, and other contextual presuppositions—that is, the exodus from ‘prejudice’ (pejoratively construed). As is well known, Hans-Georg Gadamer in his Truth and Method had famously denounced the modern ‘prejudice against prejudice.’ Although circulating among some philosophers, Gadamer’s challenge was rarely taken to heart by social and political theorists—until Sandel’s book…There is a plethora of important insights and valuable situated judgments which readers will be able to savor in thecourse of a careful reading of the text… No doubt, the main achievement of the text is the retrieval of prejudgment or pre-understanding as a precondition of knowledge and action. -- Fred Dallmayr * Political Theory *Political theorists interested in deliberation, reasoning, and social differences will find much to learn from this argument; and the book as a whole is most certainly an important contribution to ongoing discussions about justice and fairness in pluralistic societies. -- Lars Tønder * Perspectives on Politics *
£42.46
