Social and political philosophy Books

Book SynopsisInequality is widely regarded as morally objectionable: T. M. Scanlon investigates why it matters to us. Demands for greater equality can seem puzzling, because it can be unclear what reason people have for objecting to the difference between what they have and what others have, as opposed simply to wanting to be better off. This book examines six such reasons. Inequality can be objectionable because it arises from a failure of some agent to give equal concern to the interests of different parties to whom it is obligated to provide some good. It can be objectionable because it involves or gives rise to objectionable inequalities in status. It can be objectionable because it gives the rich unacceptable forms of control over the lives of those who have less. It can be objectionable because it interferes with the procedural fairness of economic institutions, or because it deprives some people of substantive opportunity to take part in those institutions. Inequality can be objectionable because it interferes with the fairness of political institutions. Finally, inequality in wealth and income can be objectionable because it is unfair: the institutional mechanisms that produce it cannot be justified in the relevant way. Scanlon''s aims is to provide a moral anatomy of these six reasons, and the ideas of equality that they involve. He also examines objections to the pursuit of equality on the ground that it involves objectionable interference with individual liberty, and argues that ideas of desert do not provide a basis either for justifying significant economic inequality or for objecting to it.Trade ReviewThis book's lengthy discussion of when and why inequality is morally objectionable expertly combines accessibility, subtlety, and sophistication ... the book is clearly written, discusses many arguments in both public debate and academic literature, and develops and assesses various ways in which such arguments can be developed. The main strength of this book is not its novelty, since many arguments can be found in Scanlon's earlier work as well, but the way it summarizes and collects arguments against inequality and presents them in an accessible style. This book is a must read for anyone interested in inequality and social justice. * Dick Timmer, Journal of Moral Philosophy *Scanlon's Why DoesInequality Matter? is a significant contribution to assessing what is wrong with economic inequality from a relational egalitarian perspective. * Carina Fourie, Mind *[A] densely packed and succinctly written book which is analytical political philosophy at its best: clear, rigorous, and admirably sharp. It's also pitched at just the right level of abstraction; no one who reads it could fail to appreciate how Scanlon is troubled by the sheer extent of inequality in the United States, and there are suggestions of policy positions, for example dispersal of media ownership. ... anyone remotely interested in egalitarianism will find much to reward them in this outstanding book. * Jonathan Seglow, Ethical Theory and Moral Practice *Table of Contents1: Introduction 2: Equal Concern 3: Status Inequality 4: Procedural Fairness 5: Substantive Opportunity 6: Political Equality 7: Equality, Liberty, and Coercion 8: Desert 9: Unequal Income 10: Conclusions

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Book SynopsisThe Tangle of Science argues that the scientific method, rigour, and objectivity are insufficient to guarantee reliability. It shows how reliable science is underpinned by a vast network of other scientific products, brings into focus neglected areas of science, and emphasizes how every product works together to support results we can trust.Trade ReviewNancy Cartwright and her colleagues steer us from the norms of scientific method to the variety of products—and of evidence—that make the tangle of science reliable. I was struck by the scope of the enterprise and the broad applicability of its findings: from a discussion of continuum and particulate models of flow, to explanations for why democracies don't fight one another or public health interventions fail. Lively and engaging, this book will be of interest not only to philosophers, but to both consumers and producers of science, and among both the natural and social science tribes. * Stephan Haggard, University of California San Diego *In the late 20th century, academics debunked the myth that science was reliable by virtue of its use of a singular method—"the scientific method" —or because scientists were preternaturally objective and rigorous. But if there is no scientific method, and scientists are fallible humans like the rest of us, then what makes science reliable? In this important book, Nancy Cartwright and her colleagues argue the answer is the ways in which the various practices and products of science—theories, methods, experiments, instruments, classification schemes, habits of data collection, forms of analysis, measuring techniques and more—work together and become mutually constitutive and supportive. Scientific knowledge, they argue, is a product of the interplay of all the ingredients that go into it. A must-read for anyone who cares about how science really works. * Naomi Oreskes, Harvard University *Drawing upon a wealth of examples from past and present science, from the physics of temperature to the archaeology of the Dead Sea scrolls, The Tangle of Science makes a strong case that we should replace truth by reliability as the ultimate goal of scientific inquiry. Clearly written and boldly argued, this is a book for everyone who wants to know why we should trust science—and which science to trust. * Lorraine Daston, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin *The Tangle of Science stands front and center of the wave of exciting new work on the nature of science that puts aside a fixation with narrowly epistemological notions such as confirmation and objectivity to examine without philosophical preconceptions, and in a way that embraces the non-cognitive, technological, and social dimensions of science, how scientists succeed at getting to grips with the world. Its picture of science is refreshing, provocative, and I think largely correct. * Michael Strevens, New York University *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Preface - What This Book is About Part 1: The Usual Suspects 1: Scientific Method 2: Rigour 3: Objectivity Part 2: The Tangle of Science 4: The Tangle 5: Illustrating the Tangle: Episodes from the History of Science 6: The Tangled Principle of the Democratic Peace 7: Afterword: The Study of Gravitational Waves: A Cautionary Lesson References

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Book SynopsisHow to Pool Risks across Generations makes the case for the collective provision of pensions, on fair terms of social cooperation. Through the insurance of a mutual association which extends across society and over multiple generations, we share one another''s fates by pooling risks across both space and time. Resources are transferred, not simply between different people, but also within the possible future lives of each person: from one''s more fortunate to one''s less fortunate future selves. The book opens with an investigation of the longevity and investment risk that even a single individual on a desert island would face in providing for her old age. From this atomistic starting point, it builds up, within and across the chapters, to increasingly collective forms of pension provision. By joining together, it is possible to tame the risks we would face as individuals each with our own private pension pot. A collective pension can be justified as a ''social union of social unions'': an enduring corporate body, which is formed by agreements to pool risks, in a manner that involves reciprocity between the various individuals that constitute the collective. Even though all individuals age and die, a collective pension scheme remains evergreen, as the average age of members remains relatively unchanged, through the influx of new members to replace those who retire. It is therefore possible to smooth risks indefinitely across as well as within generations, to the mutual advantage of each.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1: The Case for Collective Defined Contribution 2: The Case for a Funded Pension with a Defined Benefit 3: The Case for an Unfunded Pay as You Go Pension 4: Fair Terms of Social Cooperation among the Free and Equal Conclusion Appendix: How Should Pensions and Contributions be Linked to Salary? References

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Book SynopsisThis is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence. It is free to read on Oxford Academic and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.If we don''t know what the words ''democracy'' and ''democratic'' mean, then we don''t know what democracy is. This book defends a radical view: these words mean nothing and should be abandoned. The argument for Abolitionism is simple: those terms are defective and we can easily do better, so let''s get rid of them. According to the abolitionist, the switch to alternative devices would be a significant communicative, cognitive, and political advance.The first part of the book presents a general theory of abandonment: the conditions under which language should be abandoned. The rest of the book applies this general theory to the case of ''democracy'' and ''democratic''. Cappelen shows that ''democracy'' and ''democratic'' are semantically, pragmatically, and communicatively Table of ContentsPreface & Acknowledgements Part I: A Theory of Abandonment 1: Introduction 2: Arguments for Abandonment 3: Abandonment compared to Elimination, Reduction, Replacement, and Amelioration 4: Abandonment and Communication Part II: Some Data about 'Democracy' 5: The Ordinary Notion of 'Democracy': Methodological Preamble 6: Some Data about 'Democracy' and 'Democratic' Part III: Abandonment of 'Democracy'? 7: Problems with 'Democracy' 8: Better than 'Democracy': A Chapter of Good Cheers 9: Consequences of Abandoning 'Democracy' Part IV: Democracy Ameliorated 10: Ameliorations of 'Democracy' 11: Verbal Disputes about 'Democracy' Part V: Efforts to Defend Democracy 12: Objections and Replies Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThis book examines a range of criminal activities conducted in different European contexts. Offences committed by individuals and groups endowed with different resources and status are examined. Each chapter contains an implicit rejection of generalizations and attention is paid to variations and differences. Rather than searching for a unified theory of crime, the author highlights the interpretive oscillations, which always occur when we are faced with criminal behaviour. In other words, each time we subscribe to one cause of crime we may realize that also the opposite cause possesses some reasonable validity. The originality of this book consists of the `causality of contraries'' running through the chapters, whereby a tentative aetiology identified in one context finds its complete overturning in anther. The author regards the `causality of contraries'' as a crucial aspect of the anti-criminological tradition to which he claims affiliation. These `essays in anti-criminology'' deal Table of Contents1. Introduction ; 2. A Fordist Model of Criminal Activity ; 3. Illegal Enterprise and Occupational Barriers ; 4. Illegal Activities Without Criminal Economies ; 5. From Fordist-type Criminals to Criminality ; 6. First Intermezzo: Drugs as a Password ; 7. Service providers and Criminals ; 8. Corrupt Exchange: A Victimless Crime? ; 9. Corruption as Resentment ; 10. Crime as Sense of the State ; 11. Second Intermezzo: Daniel Defoe and Business Crime ; 12. Conclusion

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Book SynopsisAre wealthy countries' duties towards developing countries grounded in justice or in weaker concerns of charity? Justice in a Globalized World offers both an in-depth critique of the most prominent philosophical answers to this question, and a distinctive approach for addressing it.Table of Contents1. Introduction: The Problem of Global Justice ; PART I: COSMOPOLITANISM ; 2. Assessing the Cosmopolitan Ideal ; 3. Justifying Cosmopolitanism ; PART II: STATISM ; 4. Assessing the Statist Ideal ; 5. Justifying Statism ; PART III: A NORMATIVE FRAMEWORK ; 6. The Function of Justice ; 7. The Content of Justice ; 8. The Scope of Justice ; 9. Conclusion ; Bibliography

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Book SynopsisContemporary theorists use the term social construction with the aim of exposing how what''s purportedly natural is often at least partly social and, more specifically, how this masking of the social is politically significant. In these previously published essays, Sally Haslanger draws on insights from feminist and critical race theory to explore and develop the idea that gender and race are positions within a structure of social relations. On this interpretation, the point of saying that gender and race are socially constructed is not to make a causal claim about the origins of our concepts of gender and race, or to take a stand in the nature/nurture debate, but to locate these categories within a realist social ontology. This is politically important, for by theorizing how gender and race fit within different structures of social relations we are better able to identify and combat forms of systematic injustice.Although the central essays of the book focus on a critical social realisTrade ReviewHaslanger's book contains thoughtful and innovative essays in the field of social construction. * Akos Sivado, Philosophy in Review *There is real insight to be gained from the clarity and carefulness that Haslanger brings to her analyses of these issues. * Alessandra Tanesini, Radical Philosophy *this is an excellent collection that advances philosophical work on social construction, gender and race, and language and knowledge. ... Haslangers collection is well worth a careful exploration, particularly for those philosophers with a broad range of research interests and a commitment to combining philosophical thought with action directed toward social justice. * Sally Haslanger, Social Theory and Practice *extremely insightful analysis of social reality ... is engaged philosophy at its best. * Asta Kristjana Sveinsdottir, TPM *Haslangers transparent philosophical prose provokes the reader to critically engage with the unfolding arguments. * Federica Gregoratto, Journal of Social Ontology *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; I. Social Construction ; 1. "Social Construction: Myths and Reality" ; 2. "On Being Objective and Being Objectified." ; 3. "Ontology and Social Construction." ; 4. "Social Construction: The "Debunking" Project." ; 5. "Feminism and Metaphysics: Negotiating the Natural." ; 6. "Family, Ancestry and Self: What is the Moral Significance of Biological Ties?" ; 7. "Gender and Race: (What) Are They? (What) Do We Want Them To Be?" ; 8. "Future Genders? Future Races?" ; 9. "You Mixed? Racial Identity without Racial Biology." ; 10. "A Social Constructionist Analysis of Race" ; 11. "Oppressions: Racial and Other" ; III. Language and Knowledge ; 12. "What Knowledge Is and What It Ought To Be: Feminist Values and Normative Epistemology" ; 13. "What Are We Talking About? The Semantics and Politics of Social Kinds" ; 14. "What Good Are Our Intuitions? Philosophical Analysis and Social Kinds" ; 15. "But Mom, Crop-Tops Are Cute!" ; 16. "Language, Politics and 'The Folk': Looking for the 'Meaning' of Race " ; 17. "Ideology, Generics, and Common Ground"

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Book SynopsisWhen the noted political philosopher Iris Marion Young died in 2006, her death was mourned as the passing of one of the most important political philosophers of the past quarter-century (Cass Sunstein) and as an important and innovative thinker working at the conjunction of a number of important topics: global justice; democracy and difference; continental political theory; ethics and international affairs; and gender, race and public policy. In her long-awaited Responsibility for Justice, Young discusses our responsibilities to address structural injustices in which we among many are implicated (but for which we not to blame), often by virtue of participating in a market, such as buying goods produced in sweatshops, or participating in booming housing markets that leave many homeless. Young argues that addressing these structural injustices requires a new model of responsibility, which she calls the social connection model. She develops this idea by clarifying the nature of structuralTrade ReviewYoung is wonderful at painting the picture for why we should concern oursleves with structural injustice. * Yolanda Y. Wilson, Mind *Table of ContentsForeword ; Martha C. Nussbaum ; 1. From Personal to Political Responsibility ; 2. Structure as the Subject of Justice ; 3. Guilt versus Responsibility: ; A Reading and Partial Critique of Hannah Arendt ; 4. A Social Connection Model ; 5. Responsibility Across Borders ; 6. Avoiding Responsibility ; 7. Responsibility and Historic Injustice ; Index

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"A stunning set of lectures given by Foucault that focus on the history of 'avowing' one's acts and the truth of who one is. Foucault seeks to understand at what point it became important not only to confess to a crime, but to avow one's act in public. For Foucault, avowal of one's criminality before an established authority becomes a way of reestablishing that authority, and resisting avowal becomes tantamount to civil disobedience. The political implications of his analysis become especially clear in the interviews included here. This is wonderful and arresting read."--Judith Butler, University of California, Berkeley "Reconstructed through the patient labours of Fabienne Brion and Bernard Harcourt, . . . [the lectures] are now available in a scrupulous English translation."--Times Literary Supplement "Fabienne Brion and Bernard Harcourt are to be congratulated for their invaluable work."--Berfrois "The Louvain lectures show us an aspect of Foucault's work that is often neglected in an attempt to focus on his commitment to historicizing: that for histories, even genealogical histories, to be constructed, one must not only trace the changes themselves but also that which is changed and therefore remains, in its changes, continuous."--Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews "These lectures are unique and valuable in that, consistent with the direction of Foucault's work at the time, they expand his explorations of the various modalities of truth and subjectivity into the criminal justice context. Additionally, Foucault's genealogical work in these lectures situates these specific criminal justice practices within a more far-reaching history than that with which we are familiar. . . . A valuable contribution to both Foucaultian and criminological scholarship."-- (05/22/2015) "Wrong-Doing, Truth-Telling is one of Foucault's most stirring inquiries into what he has named 'the hermeneutics of oneself.' These lectures stage the concept of avowal in performances as varied as Greek tragedy, criminal justice, and confessional practices; and they provide us with some of Foucault's most illuminating observations on the intimate and agonistic relations between sites of enunciation, orders of truth, and investments of power. The subject of avowal is never free of the ethical exigency and the discursive contingency of 'chang[ing] itself, transform[ing] itself, displac[ing] itself, and becom[ing] to some extent other than itself, ' and Foucault's genius lies in providing us with critical and genealogical reflections on the worldly practices of avowal. Bernard Harcourt and Fabienne Brion's essential afterword provides both a frame and a ballast to the book. This is a considerable addition to the English archive of the work of Michel Foucault."--Homi K. Bhabha, Harvard University "The publication of Foucault's Louvain lectures, Wrong-Doing, Truth-Telling, beautifully and rigorously established and commented upon by Fabienne Brion and Bernard Harcourt, is an important event in the contemporary blossoming of Foucault studies. In no way is it redundant with the lectures at the College de France, whose series is now practically complete. With this amazingly rich inquiry, focusing on the mythical, religious, and judiciary dimensions of 'avowal, ' we are offered a unique possibility to understand how Foucault's genealogy articulated the order of discourse and the power of institutions."--Etienne Balibar, Universite Paris Ouest Nanterre La Defense, author of Politics and the Other SceneTable of ContentsEditor’s Preface Fabienne Brion and Bernard E. Harcourt INAUGURAL LECTURE April 2, 1981 Dr. Leuret, avowal, and the therapeutic operation. — The supposed effects of truth-telling on oneself and of knowledge of the self. — Characteristics of avowal. — The spread of avowal within Western Christian societies: individuals bound to their truth and obligated in their relationships to others through the truth told. — A historical-political problem: how the individual binds himself to his truth and to the power that exerts itself upon him. — A historical-philosophical problem: how individuals are bound by forms of veridiction. — A counterpoint to positivism: a critical philosophy of veridictions. — The problem of “who is being judged” in penal institutions. — Penal practices and technologies of government. — Governing through truth. FIRST LECTURE April 22, 1981 A political and institutional ethnology of truthful speech. — Truth-telling and speaking justice. — Scope of the study. — Veridiction and jurisdiction in Homer’s Iliad. — The competition between Menelaus and Antilochus. — The object of Antilochus’s avowal. —Justice and agon; agon and truth. —The chariot race and the challenge of the oath, two liturgies of truth, two games designed to represent justly the truth of their respective strengths. — A ritual of commemoration. — Veridiction and jurisdiction in Hesiod’s Works and Days. — Dikazein and krinein. — The oath of the accusers and the co-jurors in dikazein: a game of two parties, the criteria being the social status of the adversaries. — The oath of the judge in krinein: a game of three parties, the criteria being dikaion. — The social weight of adversaries and “the reality of things”: dikaion and alethes. SECOND LECTURE April 28, 1981 The representation of law in Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex. — A judicial paradigm. — Essential elements of the tragedy. — Two recognitions, three alethurgies. — Veridiction and prophecy. — Veridiction and tyranny. — Veridiction and witnessing avowal. — Grandeur of the parties, freedom to speak, and the effect of truth in the inquiry. — Recognition by the chorus, conditions for recognition by Oedipus. — From truth-telling to saying “I.” — A procedure that conforms to nomos, a veridiction that repeats the word of the prophet and completes that of the man of techne technes. THIRD LECTURE April 29, 1981 Hermeneutics of the text and hermeneutics of the self in early Christianity. — Veridiction of the self in pagan antiquity. — The Pythagorean examination of conscience: purification of self and mnemotechnics. — The Stoic examination of conscience: the government of the self and the remembering of codes. — The Stoic expositio animae: medicine of passions and degrees of liberty. — Penance in early Christianity. — The problem of reintegration. — Penance as a status that manifests a particular state. — The meanings of exomologesis. — A life in the form of avowal, an avowal in the form of life. — A ritual of supplication. — Beyond the medical or judicial, the model of the martyr. — Veridiction of the self and mortification of the self. — From the public manifestation of the self as sinner to the verbalization of the self: temptation and illusion. FOURTH LECTURE May 6, 1981 Practice of veridiction in monastic institutions of the fourth and fifth centuries: the Apophthegmata patrum and the writings of Cassian. — Monasticism: between the life of penance and philosophical existence. — Characteristics of the direction of conscience in ancient culture. — Characteristics of the direction of conscience in monasticism: an obedience that is continuous, formal, and self-referential; humility, patience, and submission; the inversion of the relationship to verbalization. — Characteristics of the examination of conscience in monasticism: from action to thought. — Mobility of thought and illusion. — Discrimen and discretio: avowal and the origin of thought. — Veridiction of the self, hermeneutics of thought, and the rights-bearing subject. FIFTH LECTURE May 13, 1981 Characteristics of exagoreusis in the fourth and fifth centuries. — Renunciation of the self. — Truth of the text and truth of the self. — The separation and adjustment of the hermeneutics of the text and the hermeneutics of the self in Protestantism. — Illusion, evidence, and meaning (Descartes and Locke). — Illusion of the self about the self and the unconscious (Schopenhauer and Freud). — Juridification of avowal in the ecclesiastical tradition from the fourth to the seventh centuries. — Co-penetration of exagoreusis and exomologesis in the first monastic and lay communities. — Characteristics and origins of fixed penance: the monastic model and the model of Germanic law. — Sacramentalization and institutionalization of obligatory confession in the thirteenth century. — Juridification of the relationship between man and God. — Forms and meanings of avowal in the confessio oris. SIXTH LECTURE May 20, 1981 Juridification in ecclesiastical and political institutions. — From God as judge to a state of justice: sovereignty and truth. — Avowal, torture, and inquisitorial tests of truth. — Avowal, torture, and legal proofs. — Avowal, sovereign law, sovereign conscience, and punitive engagement. — Auto-veridiction, evidence, and penal dramaturgy. — Hetero-veridiction, examination, and legal psychiatry. — Relating the act to its author: the question of criminal subjectivity in the nineteenth century. — Monomania and the constitution of crime as psychiatric object. — Degeneration and the creation of the criminal as object for social defense. — From responsibility to dangerousness, from the rights-bearing subject to the criminal individual. — The question of criminal subjectivity in the twentieth century. — Hermeneutics of the subject and the meaning of crime for the criminal. — Accident, probability, and indices of criminal risk. — Veridiction of the subject and the breach in the contemporary penal system. Appendixes Michel Foucault Interview with André Berten May 7, 1981 Michel Foucault Interview with Christian Panier and Pierre Watté May 14, 1981 Michel Foucault Interview with Jean François and John De Wit May 22, 1981 The Louvain Lectures in Context Fabienne Brion and Bernard E. Harcourt Acknowledgments to the French Edition Acknowledgments to the English Edition Index of Notions and Concepts Index of Proper Names

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Book SynopsisOne of the most significant political philosophers of the twentieth century, Carl Schmitt is a deeply controversial figure who has been labeled both a Nazi sympathizer and a modern-day Thomas Hobbes. This work uses the Enlightenment philosopher's enduring symbol of the protective Leviathan to address the nature of modern statehood.Trade Review"The English translation of this work is truthful to the German original and permits the critical reader to understand Schmitt... the way he understood himself." - Mark Lilla, New York Review of Books "Carl Schmitt is surely the most controversial German political and legal philosopher of this century.... We deal with Schmitt, against all odds, because history stubbornly persists in proving many of his tenets right." - Perspectives on Political Science "A significant contribution.... The relation between Hobbes and Schmitt is one of the most important questions surrounding Schmitt: it includes a distinct, though occasionally vacillating, personal identification as well as an association of ideas." - Telos"

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"While no one would confuse it for light reading, May’s style is conversational, frequently funny and overall, he comes across as a very, shall we say, decent guy. May’s book is not prescriptive but is actually something better: a meditation on how striving for decency is a route towards personal satisfaction and happiness, even in a world that may seem to disadvantage the decent. . . . The book acknowledges the complexity of human beings and the world at large and offers a way of thinking about those complexities without falling into the dreaded trap of 'moral relativism.' Put simply, I am a better person for having read this book." -- John Warner * Chicago Tribune *"Most of us are not 'moral monsters,' argues May; nor do we 'strive to be moral saints.' The different schools of traditional moral philosophy put the stress on intentions, consequences of 'virtue ethics,' yet none is very useful for the vast majority of people who want to be decent without aspiring to total altruism. A Decent Life explores what this might mean in practice with regard to our relationships with family and friends; the strangers we run into; nonhuman animals; and the political sphere. It concludes with Nine Rules for Moral Decency, including 'Enjoy reading philosophy, even when it advises you to be better than you can reasonably be.'" * Times Higher Education *"May has a knack for presenting philosophical concepts in ways that are easily graspable, and his advice for living 'a life with a goal more modest than altruism, but better than moral mediocrity' makes such a goal seem attainable for a wide audience. Anyone interested in living a more morally conscious life will want to give this wise guide a look." * Publishers Weekly *"In the face of great injustice or radical indecency, it is tempting to give up our moral lives altogether. The challenges of being good seem impossibly daunting. Todd May has given us just a little bit of hope--a few practical suggestions for becoming just a little bit more decent. A Decent Life is the kind of book I will give to my students--or to my daughter: a humble, down-to-earth primer for living ethically in a world that seems intent on destroying itself. May has written a more-than-decent book. It is genuinely good." -- John Kaag, author of Hiking with Nietzsche: On Becoming Who You Are"Some philosophers have argued that morality requires us repeatedly to sacrifice our wealth and pleasure for the sake of others, including distant strangers and even animals. Recognizing that most people believe otherwise and are unwilling to live this way, Todd May offers an alternative, more realistic vision of the moral life that is neither saintly nor heroic but nonetheless decent. In writing that is lucid and enlivened by stories drawn from his own and other people's experiences, he reveals how, by showing appropriate respect for the fact that others (including animals) have lives of their own to live, we can satisfy the demands of morality while retaining our ability to have fulfilling and meaningful lives. Particularly in its discussion of our relations with political opponents, this book is a timely, illuminating, and inspiring work of moral philosophy." -- Jeff McMahan, University of Oxford"Moral philosophy often appears either as a very technical discipline or as a set of demands to be altruistic that few if any of us can realize. In this book, Todd May articulates the extremely appealing idea of a decent life as an alternative. He writes with the clarity of an analytical philosopher, but about existential themes that are usually addressed by continental thinkers. The book is almost completely without technical language, full of thought-provoking examples from everyday life, and it will be an edifying read for everyone who aspires to be a decent human being." -- Svend Brinkman, author of Standpoints: Ten Old Ideas in a New WorldTable of ContentsPreface Chapter 1 Altruism or Decency? Chapter 2 Decency toward Those around Us Chapter 3 Widening the Circle: More Distant Others Chapter 4 Widening the Circle: Nonhuman Animals Chapter 5 Politics and Decency Conclusion Our Stories and Our Values Nine Rules for Moral Decency That Should Be Followed Strictly and without Exception Acknowledgments Notes Index

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“This is a cri de coeur emphasising the importance of critical thinking, especially in the current climate of distrust of science and experts. Rather than offering a simple jeremiad against thoughtlessness and its implications, the author seeks to show how this trait can be overcome, and how democracy can ultimately be strengthened as a result.” * The Bookseller *"A powerful critique of the current cultural abdication of the responsibilities that attend freedom of thought. He compellingly argues that the very fate of democracy requires everyone to get better at the virtues of thinking and cultivate generosity as a habit of mind. This book is exceptionally well written, accessible, and rigorous . . . Essential." * Choice *“Without a doubt, this is de Beistegui’s best work to date. Comprised of elegant writing and clear arguments, Thought under Threat is entertaining and enjoyable to read—until one remembers how disturbing its warnings are. This is a book for intellectuals by an intellectual, and I expect its readership will exceed the bounds of philosophy, comparative literature, and the humanities to find an audience even outside of academia.” * Robert Bernasconi, Pennsylvania State University *“Thought under Threat exemplifies what philosophy must become—historically literate, hermeneutically careful, and committed to addressing problems that have their roots in more than the most recent academic curiosity. De Beistegui’s argument is clear and convincing, and I highly recommend it to fellow scholars of philosophy.” * John T. Lysaker, Emory University *Table of ContentsIntroduction One On Stupidity Two On Superstition Three On Spite Conclusion Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsForeword to the English Edition General Introduction to the French Edition Editors’ Note Translator’s Note First Session Second Session Third Session Fourth Session Fifth Session Appendix 1—Discussion Session Sixth Session Appendix 2 Seventh Session Appendix 3—Discussion Session Eighth Session Index of Proper Names

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Trialectic​ is an ambitious, far-ranging book about morality and human agency whose goal is to reconcile radically different ways of understanding people and thereby re-envision the law. Alces has no illusions that this will be easy but he knows the territory well, focusing instead on practical interpretations of morality and their implications for law. In the process we are treated to many fascinating excursions into law, neuroscience, psychology, and evolution.” -- Martha J. Farah | University of Pennsylvania"Peter Alces bravely explores the legal implications of the fact that, as we are mechanistic, biological organisms, moral responsibility and free will are fictions. Believing otherwise, in his succinct words, 'may cost more, in harm, than law can afford.' Alces makes his case with nuanced, provocative ideas and elegant writing. This should be required reading for anyone believing that all the criminal justice system needs is some reforming." -- Robert Sapolsky | author of “Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst" | Stanford UniversityTable of ContentsRead This First (Spoiler Alert) 1 The Plan 2 Tensions 3 “Neurosciences” 4 The Mechanics of “Morality” 5 The Cost of “Morality” 6 An Extreme Position, Indeed Coda: But . . . “What Is the Best Argument against Your Thesis?” Innocent Accessories (Before and After the Fact): Revealed Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThe definitive evaluation of the ethical arguments of Marx and Marxism.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Morality: bourgeois and 'truly' human 2. The origin and development of moral ideas 3. Ambiguity in the Marxist interpretation of good, evil right and wrong 4. Man: his nature and values 5. Moral standards: bourgeois and communist 6. The pursuit of self-interest and altruism 7. Rights and Duties 8. Virtues, moral evils and justice 9. Ends and means in the struggle for a classless society 10. Religion, science and ethics Conclusion Select bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisGinie Servant-Miklos is Assistant Professor of Education in the Department of Clinical Psychology at Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands. She is the founder of FairFight, an international women's empowerment foundation.

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Book SynopsisIn what many consider to be his masterwork, Evola contrasts the characteristics of the modern world with those of traditional societies, from politics and institutions to views on life and death.Trade Review"Revolt Against the Modern World is destined to remain an essential work and frame-of-reference for anyone seriously involved in native European spirituality." * Michael Moynihan, Vortru *"Evola does not write in abstract philosophical language but in lively prose, filled with fascinating and concrete details. Given a basic grounding in history and culture, one can dip into the book anywhere and find new twists and reinterpretations. Such an encounter with a totally original mind is a rarity in these days of bland consensus, and a thrilling one whether one agrees with Evola or not." * Joscelyn Godwin, Gnosis Magazine *Table of ContentsRevolt Against the Modern World Politics, Religion, and Social Order in the Kali Yuga A Short Introduction to Julius Evola Translator's Preface Foreword Part One - The World of Tradition 1. The Beginning 2. Regality 3. Polar Symbolism; the Lord of Peace and Justice 4. The Law, the State, the Empire 5. The Mystery of the Rite 6. On the Primordial Nature of the Patriciate 7. Spiritual Virility 8. The Two Paths in the Afterlife 9. Life and Death of Civilizations 10. Initiation and Consecration 11. On the Hierarchical Relationship Between Royalty and Priesthood 12. Universality and Centralism 13. The Soul of Chivalry 14. The Doctrine of the Castes 15. Professional Associations and the Arts; Slavery 16. Bipartition of the Traditional Spirit; Asceticism 17. The Greater and the Lesser Holy War 18. Games and Victory 19. Space, Time, the Earth 20. Man and Woman 21. The Decline of Superior Races Part Two - Genesis and Face of the Modern World Introduction 22. The Doctrine of the Four Ages 23. The Golden Age 24. The Pole and the Hyperborean Region 25. The Northern-Atlantic Cycle 26. North and South 27. The Civilization of the Mother 28. The Cycles of Decadence and the Heroic Cycle 29. Tradition and Antitradition 30. The Heroic-Uranian Western Cycle 31. Syncope of the Western Tradition 32. The Revival of the Empire and the Ghibelline Middle Ages 33. Decline of the Medieval World and the birth of Nations 34. Unrealism and Individualism 35. The Regression of the Castes 36. Nationalism and Collectivism 37. The End of the Cycle Conclusion Appendix: On The Dark Age Index

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Popular books on the illusion of self tend to be crass and sensationalist, the academic ones dull and turgid. Jay L. Garfield has successfully followed the less trodden middle way. As a result, the promise of losing yourself in a book has never been more literal."---Julian Baggini, Times Literary Supplement"Passionate, logical, and thought-provoking."---David Greder, Reading Religion"Incisive. . . .This book makes a valuable contribution."---David Lorimer, Paradigm Explorer

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Book SynopsisWhy is it so difficult to develop and sustain liberal democracy? The best recent work on this subject comes from a remarkable pair of scholars, Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson. In their latest book, The Narrow Corridor, they have answered this question with great insight. -Fareed Zakaria, The Washington Post From the authors of the international bestseller Why Nations Fail, a crucial new big-picture framework that answers the question of how liberty flourishes in some states but falls to authoritarianism or anarchy in others--and explains how it can continue to thrive despite new threats. In Why Nations Fail, Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson argued that countries rise and fall based not on culture, geography, or chance, but on the power of their institutions. In their new book, they build a new theory about liberty and how to achieve it, drawing a wealth of evidence from both current affairs and disparate threads of world history.   Liberty is hardly the natural order of things. In most places and at most times, the strong have dominated the weak and human freedom has been quashed by force or by customs and norms. Either states have been too weak to protect individuals from these threats, or states have been too strong for people to protect themselves from despotism. Liberty emerges only when a delicate and precarious balance is struck between state and society. There is a Western myth that political liberty is a durable construct, arrived at by a process of enlightenment. This static view is a fantasy, the authors argue. In reality, the corridor to liberty is narrow and stays open only via a fundamental and incessant struggle between state and society: The authors look to the American Civil Rights Movement, Europe’s early and recent history, the Zapotec civilization circa 500 BCE, and Lagos’s efforts to uproot corruption and institute government accountability to illustrate what it takes to get and stay in the corridor. But they also examine Chinese imperial history, colonialism in the Pacific, India’s caste system, Saudi Arabia’s suffocating cage of norms, and the “Paper Leviathan” of many Latin American and African nations to show how countries can drift away from it, and explain the feedback loops that make liberty harder to achieve. Today we are in the midst of a time of wrenching destabilization. We need liberty more than ever, and yet the corridor to liberty is becoming narrower and more treacherous. The danger on the horizon is not just the loss of our political freedom, however grim that is in itself; it is also the disintegration of the prosperity and safety that critically depend on liberty. The opposite of the corridor of liberty is the road to ruin.

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Book SynopsisLogical, lucid, and direct, Technological Slavery radically reinvigorates and reforms the intellectual foundations of an age-old and resurgent world-view: "Progress" is a myth. Wild nature and humanity are fundamentally incompatible with technological growth. In Technological Slavery, Kaczynski argues that: (i) the unfolding human and environmental crises are the direct, inevitable result of technology itself; (ii) many of the stresses endured in contemporary life are not normal to the human condition, but unique to technological conditions; (iii) wilderness and human life close to nature are realistic and supreme ideals; and, (iv) a revolution to eliminate modern technology and attain these ideals is necessary and far more achievable than would first appear. Drawing on a broad range of disciplines, Kaczynski weaves together a set of visionary social theories to form a revolutionary perspective on the dynamics of history and the evolution of societies. The result is a comprehensive challenge to the fundamental values and assumptions of the modern technology-driven world, pinning the cause of the rapidly unfolding catastrophe on technology itself, while offering a realistic hope for ultimate recovery. Note: Theodore John Kaczynski does not receive any remuneration for this book.Trade Review"He is clearly a Luddite, but simply saying this does not dismiss his argument... As difficult as it is for me to acknowledge, I saw some merit in the reasoning in [Kaczynski's writing]." Bill Joy, founder of Sun Microsystems, Wired Magazine"There is nothing in [ISAIF] that looks at all like the work of a madman. The language is clear, precise and calm. The argument is subtle and carefully developed, lacking anything even faintly resembling the wild claims or irrational speculation that a lunatic might produce." James Q. Wilson, Ph.D., former president of the American Political Science Association"Kaczynski understands what those of us more fully participating in the technological system are unable to fully appreciate: that technological society is beyond rational human control and will result in cataclysmic harm. What he presents is a sound moral argument with what should be eye-opening historical social illustrations that are, together, too numerous to refute." Jai Galliott, Ph.D., School of Engineering and Information Technology, UNSW Canberra"His work, despite his deeds, deserves a place alongside Brave New World , by Aldous Huxley, and 1984 , by George Orwell." Dr. Keith Ablow, Fox News"I recommend that you read this compelling perspective on how we can frame our struggles in a technological society." The Tech , MIT's oldest and largest newspaper" Anti-Tech Revolution is a true milestone in thinking about technology. It is a well-researched, well-written, and thoroughly-documented work dedicated to undermining the technological system before its worst consequences become reality. Nothing else like it exists. All those concerned with the future of humanity and the planet would do well to study it carefully." Prof. David Skrbina, University of Michigan, Dearborn"There are more than a few people who feel that society's rush toward a technological future will lead to disaster . . . This is very highly recommended." Midwest Book Review"In this thoughtful book, Dr. Kaczynski provides a blueprint for the radical anti-technology movement. If you want to stop AI before it's too late, this may be your best bet." Dylan Evans, Ph.D., author, The Utopia Experiment

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisJürgen Habermas’s book The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere, first published in 1962, has long been recognized as one of the most important works of twentieth-century social thought. Blending philosophy and social history, it offered an account of the public sphere as a domain that mediates between civil society and the state in which citizens could discuss matters of common concern and participate in democratic decision-making through the formation of public opinion. Now, in view of the digital revolution and the resulting crisis of democracy, he returns to this important topic. In this new book Habermas focuses on digital media, in particular social media, which are increasingly relegating traditional mass media to the background. While the new media initially promised to empower users, this promise is being undermined by their algorithm-steered platform structure that promotes self-enclosed informational ‘bubbles’ and discursive ‘echo chambers’ in which users split into a plurality of pseudo-publics that are largely closed off from one other. Habermas argues that, without appropriate regulation of digital media, this new structural transformation is in danger of hollowing out the institutions through which democracies can shape social and economic processes and address urgent collective problems, ranging from growing social inequality to the climate crisis. Table of ContentsPreface Reflections and Hypotheses on a Further Structural Transformation of the Political Public Sphere Deliberative Democracy. An Interview What is Meant by ‘Deliberative Democracy’? Objections and Misunderstandings

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Book SynopsisEthical loneliness is the experience of being abandoned by humanity, compounded by the cruelty of wrongs not being acknowledged. Jill Stauffer examines the root causes of ethical loneliness and difficult truths about the desire and potential for political forgiveness, transitional justice, and political reconciliation.Trade ReviewA timely book-rarely has the fecundity of the Continental approach to ethics been so clearly and persuasively on display. -- Robert Bernasconi, Penn State University To read Ethical Loneliness is to undergo the page-turning yet profoundly uncomfortable experience of struggling to hear the fractured stories told by survivors. Jill Stauffer's voice leads us carefully and thoughtfully through an unsettling hell of testimonies, showing us how difficult it is for us to linger in the discomfort of hearing about violent injustice without rushing through the ugly parts, forgetting the hard parts, dismissing the odd parts, straightening out the chronology, watering down the anger, denying the complicity, enforcing forgiveness or victimhood, whitewashing the ending, and missing what is not said and what cannot be put into words. This book, or rather, this experience of listening, is destined to become, like Elaine Scarry's The Body in Pain, a classic text in the field. It is really that good. -- Linda Meyer, Quinnipiac University Stauffer's book breaks through legalistic approaches to mass violence and oppression to uncover the conditions of the repair of lives and worlds in human interdependence. Her bold claims for widely diffused reparative responsibilities are built on close discussions of how together we author-or destroy-selves and worlds. Her impressive blending of contemporary events and philosophical reflection reveals the wide scope of responsibility that implicates us in the repair of others' suffering in ways we are usually glad to ignore or resist. -- Margaret Urban Walker, Marquette University Our relationship to our past is shifting, multiple, and emotive. In Ethical Loneliness, Stauffer builds on this dialogic conception of the self over time to develop a communicative theory of justice as a 'reparative' mode of giving the past its due. Lucid, attentive, and nuanced, this scintillating and surprising work installs a finely filigreed protocol of listening, a duty of hearing, in the heart of law. -- Peter Goodrich, Cardozo School of Law Stauffer involves us in ways of being and of being-together that are imperative yet elusive. And while a ready resolution is neither offered nor possible, the book itself is an absorbing vade mecum. -- Peter Fitzpatrick, Birkbeck, University of London A small book with immense breadth and insight into the difficulties of and harms incurred through the process of political reconciliation in the aftermath of atrocity. APA Newsletter on Feminism and PhilosophyTable of ContentsAcknowledgments List of Abbreviations Introduction 1. Ethical Loneliness 2. Repair 3. Hearing 4. Revision 5. Desert Epilogue Notes Index

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Book SynopsisInvestigates a political dilemma, and evaluates answers that have been proposed in the utilitarian, Marxist, social contract, anti-Enlightenment, and democratic traditions.Trade Review"'In The Moral Foundations of Politics, Shapiro reaffirms his place as one of the very clearest and most resolute, and most solidly grounded, practitioners in the political theory field in this generation.' (Adolph Reed, Jr., New School for Social Research) 'Blending sophisticated political science (including insightful rational choice calculations) with clarity that makes the book's subject accessible to neophytes, Professor Shapiro distills centuries of political theory into a slender volume.' (Harvard Law Review) 'A deeply valuable book at many levels. Shapiro shows an almost unique ability to combine the broad sweep with the telling detail or precise insight - just what a book of this sort needs.' (Jennifer Hochschild, Harvard University)"

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Book Synopsis''it is only the cultivation of individuality which produces, or can produce, well developed human beings''Mill''s four essays, ''On Liberty'', ''Utilitarianism'', ''Considerations on Representative Government'', and ''The Subjection of Women'' examine the most central issues that face liberal democratic regimes - whether in the nineteenth century or the twenty-first. They have formed the basis for many of the political institutions of the West since the late nineteenth century, tackling as they do the appropriate grounds for protecting individual liberty, the basic principles of ethics, the benefits and the costs of representative institutions, and the central importance of gender equality in society.These essays are central to the liberal tradition, but their interpretation and how we should understand their connection with each other are both contentious. In their introduction Mark Philp and Frederick Rosen set the essays in the context of Mill''s other works, and argue that his conTable of ContentsINTRODUCTION; NOTE ON THE TEXT; SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY; A CHRONOLOGY OF JOHN STUART MILL; ON LIBERTY; UTILITARIANISM; CONSIDERATIONS ON REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT; THE SUBJECTION OF WOMEN; EXPLANATORY NOTES; INDEX

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Book SynopsisExposing the religious roots of our ostensibly godless age, this study reveals that modernity is much less secular than conventional wisdom suggests. Beginning with the collapse of the medieval world, it argues that from the very beginning, moderns sought not to eliminate religion but to support a new view of religion and its place in human life.Trade Review"Bringing the history of political thought up to date and situating it against the backdrop of contemporary events, Gillespie's analyses provide us a way to begin to have conversations with the Islamic world about what is perhaps the central question within each of the three monotheistic religions: if God is omnipotent, then what is the place of human freedom?" - Joshua Mitchell, Georgetown University "This book is an excellent complement to Charles Taylor's A Secular Age and a powerful counterpoint to Mark Lilla's The Stillborn God. All three hold that the story of modern philosophy is both superficial and hollow if its theological/metaphysical components are denied. Highly recommended." - Choice"

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Book SynopsisCan one be nostalgic for the home one never had? Why is it that the age of globalization is accompanied by a no less global epidemic of nostalgia? Can we know what we are nostalgic for? In the seventeenth century, Swiss doctors believed that opium, leeches, and a trek through the Alps would cure nostalgia. In 1733 a Russian commander, disgusted with the debilitating homesickness rampant among his troops, buried a soldier alive as a deterrent to nostalgia. In her new book, Svetlana Boym develops a comprehensive approach to this elusive ailment. Combining personal memoir, philosophical essay, and historical analysis, Boym explores the spaces of collective nostalgia that connect national biography and personal self-fashioning in the twenty-first century. She guides us through the ruins and construction sites of post-communist cities -- St. Petersburg, Moscow, Berlin, and Prague-and the imagined homelands of exiles-Benjamin, Nabokov, Mandelstam, and Brodsky. From Jurassic Park to the Totalitarian Sculpture Garden, from love letters on Kafka''s grave to conversations with Hitler''s impersonator, Boym unravels the threads of this global epidemic of longing and its antidotes.

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Book SynopsisDavid Harvey brings an exciting perspective to two of the principal themes of contemporary social discourse; globalization and the body.Trade ReviewAn inspiring, well written and beautifully illustrated book, and one that I hope will help to change the trajectory of social existence as well as academic inquiry. -- Diane Perrons It is refreshing to read a book that not only represents a major scholarly achievement, but that also breathes enthusiasm, commitment, displays a clearly situated positionality, and is energised by the belief that a better world is there to be fought for and made. Students of the urban condition should be grateful to David Harvey for his rigorous and challenging scholarship and for the creativity of his imaginative vision. There is much to praise. One thing I love is the way it is written. Harvey's prose is so clear and precise ... I was reminded of how consistently Harvey has insisted on the centrality of the geographical to both the critique of this world and the possibility of the next. We could not wish for a more compelling ambassador. This is a very intriguing book. It bristles with ideas and the scope of Harvey's interests seem to be ever growing ! his analyses are rich with insight. An inspiring, well written and beautifully illustrated book, and one that I hope will help to change the trajectory of social existence as well as academic inquiry. It is refreshing to read a book that not only represents a major scholarly achievement, but that also breathes enthusiasm, commitment, displays a clearly situated positionality, and is energised by the belief that a better world is there to be fought for and made. Students of the urban condition should be grateful to David Harvey for his rigorous and challenging scholarship and for the creativity of his imaginative vision. There is much to praise. One thing I love is the way it is written. Harvey's prose is so clear and precise ... I was reminded of how consistently Harvey has insisted on the centrality of the geographical to both the critique of this world and the possibility of the next. We could not wish for a more compelling ambassador. This is a very intriguing book. It bristles with ideas and the scope of Harvey's interests seem to be ever growing ! his analyses are rich with insight.

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Book SynopsisWho ought to govern? Why should I obey the law? What is the proper education for a citizen and a statesman? These questions probe some of the deepest and most enduring problems that every society confronts, regardless of time and place. This book introduces the wide terrain of political philosophy through the classic texts of the discipline.

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Book SynopsisHere Scruton explains the connection between good wine and serious thought with a heady mix of humour and philosophy.We are familiar with the medical opinion that a daily glass of wine is good for the health and also the rival opinion that any more than a glass or two will set us on the road to ruin.Whether or not good for the body, Scruton argues, wine, drunk in the right frame of mind, is definitely good for the soul. And there is no better accompaniment to wine than philosophy. By thinking with wine, you can learn not only to drink in thoughts but to think in draughts.This good-humoured book offers an antidote to the pretentious clap-trap that is written about wine today and a profound apology for the drink on which civilisation has been founded.In vino veritas.Trade ReviewIf you are searching for an interesting gift for the wine buff in your life, this will last a lot longer than another bottle of wine ... The greatest joy of this book is the appendix where [Scruton] suggests what wines to drink with different philosophers' works. It is irreverent and funny, but at the same time, wise. * The Bookbag *By turns challenging, enjoyable, thought-provoking * Times Literary Supplement *[Scruton's] indisputable passion for wine will send you off to your next glass better informed and more thoughtful than before. * Metro *[Scruton] writes deliciously ... this book is a marvellous read - provocative, spicy, balanced and brimful of wise words ... it is hugely recommendable. * The Oldie *A good-natured and witty exploration of the wine-drinking phenomenon, from its place in Christian worship to a sojourn down at the local bar. * Good Book Guide *I have never met Roger Scruton, though I would like to ... Scruton's book is for people who are already wine lovers and want to link their pleasure to a greater world outside * The Spectator *They don't come much more knowledgeable than Roger Scruton ... light-hearted but thought-provoking * Bath Life *He is by turns interesting, fatuous, informative, cranky, outrageous, rhetorically self-indulgent, and insightful...For general readers, and especially Monty Python fans, this book is great fun. Summing Up: Recommended. -- R.T. Lee * CHOICE *[Scruton is] clearly a man of remarkable energy, art and scope ... [An] entertaining experience. * The Australian *Scruton liberally dispenses nuggets of wisdom throughout his book and very effectively uses personal narratives to make his case... the patient reader and drinker has much to glean by following the author's gustatory and thought-provoking journey in the world of wine. * The European Legacy, Volume 16, Number 5 *A novel approach...there are nuggets of wisdom and insight. * The Herald *[An] elegant defense of wine and its place in society ... offers a window into an unusually original, subtle, and independent mind: the mind of a gifted philosopher ... all wine lovers should feel compelled to read him. * The World of Fine Wine *The third chapter is one of the finest expressions of reverence to French wines I have ever read - perfect for curling up with in front of the fire, with a large glass of claret. * The Scotsman *[Scruton] is no slouch when it comes to wine ... the first part of the book combines a memoir of his development as a "wino" (his word) with some useful tips and factoids ... in the book's second part ... he is good on wine as the expression of a place and community, on the nuances of intoxication and on the social beneficence of buying rounds. * The Observer *Spendid ... partly a serious guide to the wines of France, Italy, and Spain and (if you must) the "New World", it is also very funny ... this is one of Scruton's most enjoyable books, uncorking much wisdom, and concluding with a wicked guide to the right drink to take while reading various philosophers. -- Steven Poole * The Guardian *Witty and philosophical. * The Daily Telegraph *[Written with] customary brio * Times Higher Education *Roger Scruton's 2009 memoir I Drink Therefore I Am: A Philosopher's Guide to Wine is a splendidly convivial fireside draught... A sweet hymn to Bacchus. * www.theguardian.com *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Drugs that are Tolerated and Forbidden 2. Alcohol and its Effects 3. The Ancients and Religious Rituals 4. Wine, Self Certainty and Philosophy 5. Paying Bacchus his Due 6. Wine and the Moral Vacuum 7. American Health Warnings 8. Wine as an Accompaniment to Thought 9. Wine as Something to Live By

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Book SynopsisAidan explores the ways in which Nietzsche's warning that 'the desert grows' has been taken up by Heidegger, Derrida and Deleuze in their critiques of modernity, and the desert in literature ranging from T.S Eliot to Don DeLillo; from imperial travel writing to postmodernism; and from the Old Testament to salvagepunk.

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Book SynopsisThis landmark handbook collects in a single volume the current state of cutting-edge researchon the capability approach. It includes a comprehensive introduction to the approach as well as new research from leading scholars in this increasingly influential multi-disciplinary field, including the pioneers of capability research, Martha C. Nussbaum and Amartya Sen. Incorporating both approachable introductory chapters and more in-depth analysis relating to the central philosophical, conceptual and theoretical issues of capability research, this handbook also includes analytical and measurement tools, as well as policy approaches which have emerged in the recent literature. The handbook will be an invaluable resource for students approaching the capability approach for the first time as well as for researchers engaged in advanced research in a wide range of disciplines, including development studies, economics, gender studies, political science and political philosophy.Trade Review'Starting with Amartya Sen's seminal 1979 Tanner Lectures, the capabilities approach has come to occupy a major space in economics and philosophy. The handbook's audacious range, covering the subject's historical roots, summarizing econometric techniques to operationalize it, evaluating its inter-connection with traditional welfare economics, and also to the mysteries of nature and the role of wonder - make it an intellectual feast. I have no doubt that the book will become the most important compendium on the subject.' Kaushik Basu, Cornell University'This volume situates the capability approach to justice historically and philosophically, provides a record of its achievements in modeling and measuring a vital aspect of human flourishing, and identifies a continuing program of promising research and reflection. Looking back and looking forward, it is an essential handbook for novices and experts alike.' Philip Pettit, Princeton University & Australian National University'Understanding the capability approach is a great challenge, given the wide range of disciplines and debates involved. This handbook will greatly help those taking up that challenge. It includes chapters on the historical roots of the capability approach, philosophical debates, questions of measurement and evaluation, and questions of public policy and social concerns. This major contribution will be required reading for all students and scholars of the capability approach.' Ingrid Robeyns, Utrecht UniversityTable of ContentsForeword Amartya Sen; General introduction Enrica Chiappero-Martinetti, Siddiqur Osmani and Mozaffar Qizilbash; Part I. Historical Antecedents and Philosophical Debates: Introduction to Part I Mozaffar Qizilbash; 1. The capabilities approach and the history of philosophy Martha C. Nussbaum; 2. Karl Marx and the capabilities approach David Leopold; 3. Utility and capability: J. S. Mill and Amartya Sen L. Wayne Sumner; 4. Intellectual history and defending the capabilities approach David Weinstein; 5. Sen, Smith and the Cambridge tradition Luigino Bruni; 6. The capability approach to well-being and freedom from the viewpoint of welfare economics and social choice theory Kotaro Suzumura; 7. Resources or capabilities? An introduction to the debate Ilse Oosterlaken; 8. Taking multidimensionality seriously: capabilities, Rawls's primary goods, and guiding action Henry S. Richardson; 9. The capabilities approach and political liberalism Richard Arneson; 10. Selecting a list: the capability approach's Achilles heel Rutger Claassen; 11. Individualism and the capability approach: the role of collectivities in expanding human capabilities Solava Ibrahim; 12. The politics of wonder: the capabilities approach in the context of mass extinction Jeremy Bendik-Keymer; Part II. Methods, Measurement and Empirical Evidence: Introduction to Part II Enrica Chiappero-Martinetti; 13. Social choice and the capability approach Maurice Salles; 14. On capability and its measurement Prasanta K. Pattanaik and Yongsheng Xu; 15. Analyzing capabilities: games, groups and effectivity Martin van Hees; 16. Implementing the capability approach with respect for individual valuations: an illustration with Colombian data Koen Decancq, Erik Schokkaert and Blanca Zuluaga; 17. Capability, opportunity, outcome – and equality Ravi Kanbur; 18. The distribution of capabilities: up, down, sideways and along Tania Burchardt; 19. Inter-group disparities in the distribution of human development: two apparent conundrums and how we might address them Peter J. Lambert and Sreenivasan Subramanian; 20. Multidimensional inequality and human development Suman Seth and Maria Emma Santos; 21. The research agenda on multidimensional poverty measurement: important and as-yet unanswered questions Sabina Alkire; 22. Measuring gender inequality using the capability approach: issues and challenges Stephan Klasen; 23. Econometric and statistical models for operationalising the capability approach Jaya Krishnakumar; 24. Expanding capabilities through participatory action research Alejandra Boni and Alexandre Apsan Frediani; Part III. Issues in Public Policy: Introduction to Part III Siddiqur Osmani; 25. On education and capabilities expansion Melanie Walker; 26. Capability approach to children's well-being and well-becoming Mario Biggeri; 27. Capability and disability Lorella Terzi; 28. Social exclusion and capability development Jonathan Wolff; 29. Human security Des Gasper; 30. Income inequality and human capabilities Rolph van der Hoeven; 31. The capability approach and human rights Polly Vizard; 32. Capabilities and the law Katharine Gelber; 33. Capabilities, public reason and democratic deliberation Jay Drydyk; 34. Entitlements and capabilities Sanjay G. Reddy and Adel Daoud; 35. Religion and the capability approach Séverine Deneulin and Augusto Zampini-Davies.

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