Social and political philosophy Books
Springer International Publishing AG Antonio Gramsci: An Intellectual Biography
Book SynopsisThis intellectual biography provides an organic framework for understanding Antonio Gramsci’s process of intellectual development, paying close attention to the historical and intellectual contexts out of which his views emerged. The Gramsci in Notebooks cannot fully account for the young director of L’Ordine Nuovo, or for the communist leader. Gramsci’s development did not occur under conditions of intellectual inflexibility, of absence of evolution. However, there is a strong thread connecting the “political Gramsci” with Gramsci as a “cultivated man.” The Sardinian intellectual’s life is marked by the drama of World War I, the first mass conflict in which the great scientific discoveries of the previous decades were applied on a large scale and in which millions of peasants and workers were slaughtered. In all of his theoretical formulations, this dual relation, which epitomizes the instrumental use of “simpletons” by ruling classes, goes beyond the military context of the trenches and becomes full-fledged in the fundamental relations of modern capitalist society. In contrast with this notion of social hierarchy, which is deemed natural and unchangeable, Gramsci constantly affirmed the need to overcome the historically determined rupture between intellectual and manual functions, due to which the existence of a priesthood or of a separate caste of specialists in politics and in knowledge is made necessary. It is not the specific professional activity (whether material or immaterial) that determines the essence of human nature: to Gramsci, “all men are philosophers.” In this passage from Notebooks, we find the condensed form of his idea of “human emancipation,” which is the historical need for an “intellectual and moral reform”: the subversion of traditional relations between rulers and ruled and the end of exploitation of man by man.Table of ContentsPART ONE – THE YOUNG REVOLUTIONARY 1. The premises of an uninterrupted discourse 2. Dialectics versus positivism: the young Gramsci’s philosophical background 3. Self-education and autonomy of producers 4. Lenin and the topicality of revolution 5. L’Ordine Nuovo 6. The origin and defeat of the Italian revolution 7. The party problem 8. Revolutionary reflux and reactionary offensive PART TWO – THE POLITICAL LEADER 1. The new Party 2. The Comintern and the “Italian case” 3. Toward a new majority 4. Gramsci leading the Party 5. Theoretical maturity between 1925 and 1926 6. The Congress of Lyon PART THREE – THE THEORETICIAN 1. From Sardinia’s contradictions to the sourther question 2. The Notebooks: the difficult beginnings of a “disinterested” work 3. Hegemonic relations, productive relations and the subaltern 4. Permanent transformism 5. Historical premises and congenital contradictions in Italian biography 6. “The old dies and the new cannot be born” 7. The double revision of Marxism and similarity with Lukács 8. Translatability and hegemony 9. The philosopher man and the tamed gorilla 10. Michels, the intellectuals and the issue of organization 11. The dismantling of the old schemes of political art EPILOGUE References
£27.99
Double 9 Booksllp Walden, And On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience
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£13.49
Double 9 Books The Condition Of The Working-Class In England In
Book SynopsisThe Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844 by Frederick Engels is a powerful indictment of the Industrial Revolution's detrimental impact on workers. Engels meticulously demonstrates how industrial cities like Manchester and Liverpool experienced alarmingly high mortality rates due to diseases, with workers being four times more likely to succumb to illnesses like smallpox, measles, scarlet fever, and whooping cough compared to their rural counterparts. The overall death rate in these cities far surpassed the national average, painting a grim picture of the workers' plight. Engels goes beyond mortality statistics to shed light on the dire living conditions endured by industrial workers. He argues that their wages were lower than those of pre-industrial workers, and they were forced to inhabit unhealthy and unpleasant environments. Addressing a German audience, Engels' work is considered a classic account of the universal struggles faced by the industrial working class. It reveals his transformation into a radical thinker after witnessing the harsh realities in England. The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844 remains an essential resource for understanding the hardships endured by workers during the Industrial Revolution. Engels' meticulous research and impassioned arguments continue to shape discussions on labor rights, social inequality, and the historical agency of the working class.
£12.79
Double 9 Books The Data of Ethics
Book SynopsisThe Data of Ethics is a philosophical painting by Herbert Spencer, a distinguished nineteenth-century English logician, sociologist, and evolutionary theorist. Published in 1879, this influential textual content delves into the standards and foundations of ethics from a systematic and evolutionary angle. Herbert Spencer, recognised for his contributions to social theory, applies his evolutionary ideas to the realm of ethics, in search of to set up a systematic foundation for ethical ideas. In The Data of Ethics, Spencer explores the idea that moral conduct is a fabricated from evolution, arguing that moral principles have evolved over the years as adaptive trends for the survival of societies. The book critically examines numerous ethical theories prevalent in Spencer's time, supplying a complete evaluation of the evolution of ethical sentiments and their connection to social enterprise. Spencer contends that ethical behavior is rooted in the natural development of human societies and draws parallels among biological evolution and the evolution of moral norms. The Data of Ethics stays massive inside the history of ethical philosophy for its try to floor moral principles in clinical inquiry. Herbert Spencer's paintings is still studied and debated, contributing to ongoing discussions about the origins and nature of ethical ideals inside the context of societal improvement.
£11.99
Double 9 Books LLP The Salvaging of Civilization
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£11.69
Double9 Books Llp And Even Now
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£11.04
World Scientific Publishing Co Pte Ltd Studies On Chinese Modern History And Politics
Book SynopsisStudies on Chinese Modern History and Politics collects important research findings of China's social sciences studies conducted by the academics at East China Normal University (ECNU) in recent years. The book covers topics including the studies of Chen Xulu (a famous Chinese historian), the institutional advantage and governance efficiency in China, latest research on western political science, etc.This book is the seventh volume of the WSPC-ECNU Series on China. This Series showcases the significant contributions to scholarship in social sciences and humanities studies about China. It is jointly launched by World Scientific Publishing, the most reputable English academic publisher in Asia, and ECNU, a top University in China with a long history of exchanges with the international academic community.
£72.00
State University of New York Press Revolutionary Legacies
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£24.70
Austin Macauley Publishers LLC Unforced Errors 15 Bad Decisions That Changed
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£15.29
De Gruyter The House is in a State: Christian Wolff's
Book SynopsisTable of ContentsTable of Contents Chapter 1 1. Introduction 1.1. The reception of Wolffian philosophy 1.2. Wolff's Oeconomica in the literary context 1.3. Research question and methodology Chapter 2 2. The hallmarks of Wolffian philosophy 2.1. Introduction 2.2. Wolff's scientific method 2.2.1. Wolff's method in context 2.2.2. Demonstrative morality 2.3. Wolff's philosophical system 2.3.1. The concept of system in context 2.3.2. Wolff's system in practice 2.4. Wolff's natural law 2.4.1. Wolffian natural law in the historical context 2.4.2. Natural law as a theoretical foundation for moral philosophy Chapter 3 3. A contextual reading of the Oeconomica methodo scientifica petractata 3.1. Introduction 3.2. Oeconomica – methodo scientifica pertractata 3.2.1. Truth, non-contradiction and household wisdom 3.2.2. A house built on sufficient reasons 3.2.3. Sources of knowledge in the Oeconomica – empirical, rational, practical 3.3. Oeconomica in the philosophical system 3.3.1. Crosspollination in the systema doctrinarum 3.3.2. The household as a structural liability 3.4. Natural law in the Oeconomica 3.4.1. A contractual reading of family life 3.4.2. Reconciling reason and religion 3.4.3. Natural law beyond the home turf 3.5. Summary Chapter 4 4. Oeconomica, natural law and social welfare in the absolutist state 4.1. Introduction 4.2. The theoretical foundation of social welfare in Wolff's natural law 4.2.1. The contract as a legitimising fiction 4.2.2. Patrimonial welfare: moral duty with an ulterior motive 4.3. State education in philosophy and reality 4.3.1. Non scholae sed vitae – pedagogy in education 4.3.2. Universities: theory in practice 4.4. Preserving prosperity, providing for the poor 4.4.1. Economic sustainability in the household 4.4.2. The case for state-managed poor relief 4.5. Public Health 4.5.1. Keeping the healthy healthy 4.5.2. A priori medicine contra institutional innovation 4.6. Summary Chapter 5 5. Michael Hanov's completion of the Wolffian system 5.1. Introduction 5.2. Hanov: From independent scholar to wavering Wolffian 5.2.1. Hanov's intellectual background 5.2.2. Congruences and dissonances between Hanov and Wolff 5.3. Hanov's Oeconomica – method, system, natural law 5.3.1. Method 5.3.2. System 5.3.3. Natural Law 5.4. Hanov versus Wolff – political systems in comparison 5.4.1. Legitimacy, power and levels of administration 5.4.2. Social welfare programmes in contrast 5.5. Summary Chapter 6 6. Conclusion Bibliography
£67.50
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Political Jouissance
Book SynopsisWhen we oppose or disagree with something important, do we ever really do it dispassionately? Isn't setting the world to rights or condemning a political opponent always done with a hint of relish, or at least enthusiasm? This book's challenging essays explore the modes in which that transgressive pleasure of political jouissance' operates.Rather than delegitimizing or depoliticising, the tacit enjoyment of outrage can in fact facilitate different forms of engagement. The tendency for groups to be bonded by a common enemy, for example, brings with it a protection from censure or persecution, and a way of alleviating guilt. In this collection, the authors seek out jouissance in the battle against patriarchy, in social revolts, in the age of mechanical surveillance, in the necrosociety of neoliberalism, or the proliferation of conspiracy theories. Drawing on Lacan's insistence that jouissance is intrinsically political by its nature, we can understand how readily psycho
£20.89
Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) The Sociology of Political Crisis
Book SynopsisMichel Dobry is a French political scientist. He is Professor at the University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne, France.
£22.79
Columbia University Press The Creative Self
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£22.50
Princeton University Press Liberalism
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Honorable Mention for the 2015 PROSE Award in Government & Politics, Association of American Publishers""A richly informative historical tour of liberal leaders and concepts. . . . [Fawcett] takes a commendably liberal approach."---Alan Wolfe, New York Times Book Review"Excellent. . . . What Fawcett clearly and compellingly shows is that the relationship of capitalism to the state, of economics to politics, should be at the heart of any history of liberal ideas. Whether you take his version as a story about liberalism's realist adaptability or its counterrevolutionary intent, it's a fitting one for a moment in which capitalism and political economy are back on the agenda."---Katrina Forrester, The Nation"Fawcett's workmanlike history of the bundle of ideas and practices that liberals have espoused since the Spanish liberales coined the term after the Napoleonic wars is an excellent guide to liberalism's rise and fall."---David Marquand, New Republic"[A] comprehensive, quirky, scholarly and personal exploration of one of the dominant ideas in political discourse. . . . This is a phenomenal work of research and synthesis. . . . A pool of profound, rigorous research and thought that has no shallow end." * Kirkus Reviews *"[Liberalism] confirms the virtues of the disciplined generalist's approach to the exploration of politics. Deftly combining history, economic thought, and political theory, Fawcett has produced the sort of synoptic work that in our era is increasingly unlikely to come from universities. . . . [It] not only draws on the practicing journalist's close observation of political affairs but also the educated person of letters' facility across many disciplines. The result is an engrossing narrative of liberalism's dramatic career--often lustrous but also marked by its share of delusion, hypocrisy, hubris, and tragedy."---Peter Berkowitz, Real Clear Politics"Liberalism by Edmund Fawcett is not only a gripping piece of intellectual history, it also equips the reader to understand today's threats--and how they might be withstood. . . . Liberalism is indeed under siege. Those who would fortify the walls would do well to study the foundations. Mr Fawcett's book offers an admirable archaeology." * Economist *"A book so good I want to read it again. . . . An intellectual page-turner. . . . [A] seamless mix of philosophy, history, biography and history of ideas."---David Goodhart, Standpoint"Fawcett draws on the experiences and ideas of dozen of thinkers and politicians in an informative, lively, and provocative history of a political tradition he deems 'worth standing up for.' . . . Fawcett's book is an immensely interesting, informative, and important assessment of liberalism. . . . Liberalism is as relevant as ever, Fawcett concludes, passionately and persuasively."---Glenn C. Altschuler, Huffington Post"[An] impressive account of the 'life of an idea.' . . . One of the many virtues of Fawcett's unfailingly stimulating book is that he makes you look past the misleading labels with which we characterise political argument. For anyone interested in the history of the ideas that have shaped our society, his book is essential reading."---Simon Shaw, Mail on Sunday"Magnificent."---Bruce Edward Walker, Morning Sun"Fawcett has written a marvelous book. . . . His erudition would be daunting if he didn't write with such verve. . . . It's a pleasure."---Clive Crook, Bloomberg View"As Fawcett's compelling history reveals, the twentieth century turned out to be much more unstable and dangerous than the early liberals anticipated and has forced liberals ever since to temper their expectations for human betterment with a world-weary search for small steps that can keep the liberal international system on an upward trajectory." * Foreign Affairs *"Liberalism is an important and worthwhile book."---Walter Moss, History News Network"This is a good and well-written book. . . . It is wide-ranging, informative, and independent in its judgments."---James Kalb, Chronicles"Fawcett expertly reveals [liberalism's] evolution, dead-ends, and permutations. A sprawling yarn that somehow remains utterly coherent and on-point, this is history at its very best."---Jeff Bloodworth, Gannon University, Cercles"[A] felicitous combination of wit and erudition." * Choice *"In this remarkable book, Edmund Fawcett sets out a helpful characterization of liberalism as it has flourished in Europe and America since the 1830s."---Jeremy Waldron, The Guardian"A brilliant book; if you have one book on Liberalism in your library . . . this should be it."---Stewart Rayment, Liberator"A magisterial history of liberalism."---Sebastian Mallaby, , Washington Post"The central idea of liberalism is the primacy of the individual rather than the collective. But in his brilliant history, Liberalism: the Life of an Idea, Edmund Fawcett makes clear that liberalism involves four other ideas: (1) the inescapability of conflict, (2) distrust of power, (3) faith in progress, (4) civic respect." * The Economist *"[An] excellent history of the subject." * The Economist *
£19.80
Princeton University Press Unelected Power
Book SynopsisTucker presents guiding principles for ensuring that central bankers and other unelected policymakers remain stewards of the common good.Trade Review"One of Foreign Affairs' Picks for Best of Books 2018""One of Marketwatch's Nonfiction Best of 2018 Books"
£18.00
Princeton University Press Citizen Marx
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£29.75
Princeton University Press Dark Matters
Book SynopsisTrade Review"A Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year 2021""Honorable Mention for the Journal of the History of Philosophy Book Prize""Van der Lugt succeeds brilliantly in her aim of setting aside the arid technical disputes in which philosophy often seems (at least to the layman) to be enmeshed, and applying it with compelling urgency to perennial and fundamental moral questions."---Ritchie Robertson, Times Literary Supplement"This is a highly readable, elegantly written and sophisticated study that even non-philosophers will find accessible and illuminating, and perhaps also inspiring."---Steven Nadler, Literary Review"Engaged and engaging."---Julian Young, Society"Reading this book is a rare event and something of an adventure in that it is as solidly argued as it is eloquent and as learned as it is moving. Those who feel philosophers no longer care to address truly vital issues are especially in for a treat."---Wiep van Bunge, British Journal for the History of Philosophy"[Van der Lugt] handles these ‘dark matters’—evil, suffering, suicide—with admirable delicacy. As such her book is an invaluable source for anyone interested in the history of human thinking about evil and suffering, hope and consolation."---Maikki Aakko, Heythrop Journal"Prospective readers of Dark Matters should come to this work first of all for van der Lugt’s masterclass in exegesis of Enlightenment philosophy and cultural criticism. Readers should stay for her personal insights into the problem of suffering and her ingenious insistence on pessimism as a moral source. Don’t be fooled by its somber title; Dark Matters is a treasure-trove of moral argument and inspired philosophical insights that left this reader consoled and hopeful."---David Greder, Reading Religion"A monumental achievement." * The Philosopher *
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Stanford University Press Mourning Sickness
Book SynopsisThis book explores Hegel's response to the French Revolutionary Terror in relation to contemporary theories of trauma.Trade Review"Comay's grasp of a broad range of the literature of the time is impressive. . . Her index is thorough and well organized. Recommended."—J. A. Gauthier, CHOICE"Rebecca Comay has written a stunning and powerful book. By making Hegel's account of the 'Terror' of the French Revolution the pivot of her reading, Comay offers a Hegel who is more radically modern and intransigently difficult than anything either his supporters or critics have imagined. Comay's work makes philosophy a more capacious, riven, and historically reflective place than before—or maybe just catching up to what Hegel demanded it must be. Mourning Sickness will become as important to reading the second half of Phenomenology of Spirit as Robert Pippin's work is to reading the first half."—J. M. Bernstein, New School for Social Research"Masterful in its analysis of Hegel's arguments and unparalleled in its sensitivity to the subtleties of Hegel's texts,Mourning Sicknessoffers a new and compelling reading of Hegel, in which the French Revolution emerges as the "burning center" of his work. But this is also a penetrating study of the intractably historical dimensions of philosophical invention. From its treatment of the opposition between Reformation and Revolution to its reading of Kant's theory of regicide, from its account of Hegel's analysis of the Terror to its interpretation of Absolute Knowing, this book brilliantly demonstrates how ambiguous—and yet how crucial—the relations between thought and historical experience can be."—Daniel Heller-Roazen, Princeton University
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Duke University Press Selected Writings on Race and Difference
Book SynopsisIn Selected Writings on Race and Difference, editors Paul Gilroy and Ruth Wilson Gilmore gather more than twenty essays by Stuart Hall that highlight his extensive and groundbreaking engagement with race, representation, identity, difference, and diaspora. Spanning the whole of his career, this collection includes classic theoretical essays such as “The Whites of Their Eyes” (1981) and “Race, the Floating Signifier” (1997). It also features public lectures, political articles, and popular pieces that circulated in periodicals and newspapers, which demonstrate the breadth and depth of Hall''s contribution to public discourses of race. Foregrounding how and why the analysis of race and difference should be concrete and not merely descriptive, this collection gives organizers and students of social theory ways to approach the interconnections of race with culture and consciousness, state and society, policing and freedom.Trade Review“Stuart Hall was an unparalleled thinker whose work shaped an entire generation of scholarship analyzing race and social difference in capitalist modernity. Anyone working on the cultures of diaspora, migration, colonialism, globalization and empire is indebted to his elegant thinking, political energy, and astonishing erudition. This collection, assembling Hall’s myriad essays and writings on race, from the era of the Suez crisis to neoliberalism, lifts up the deserved relevance of Hall's corpus for a new generation.” -- Lisa Lowe, author of * The Intimacies of Four Continents *“This volume of the writings of Stuart Hall captures his steady focus on questions of racial difference. Specifically, the text orients readers to the ways in which race animates his intricate conceptualizations of liberation. Hall's capaciousness of thought, pedagogical lessons, and the anticolonial spirit behind his ideas are gifts.” -- Katherine McKittrick, author of * Dear Science and Other Stories *"A must-have of any Black reader’s library. . . . [H]ighly recommended if you are in search of answers on how to explore oppression and articulate the depths of the Black experience." -- Jordannah Elizabeth * Amsterdam News *"I have also narrated the effort it took for me to access his work to illustrate the importance of the Selected Writings now being released by Duke University Press. It is an event of profound historical significance that a new generation will be able to begin its political and theoretical education with systematic access to Hall’s writing. . . . Selected Writings on Race and Difference—edited by two of the most important scholars on these questions today, Paul Gilroy and Ruth Wilson Gilmore. . . . [It] is certain to provoke and perhaps even scandalize those who have equated any discourse on race with contemporary moral pieties, whether they are for or against them." -- Asad Haider * The Point *"The collection, deftly edited by scholars Paul Gilroy and Ruth Wilson Gilmore, gathers Hall’s writings on race across four decades. It’s an expansive volume that tracks the development of his thinking, showing how he wrestled with the meaning of race in a range of contexts—from political organizing to cultural criticism. It’s a labor of love, a trove of possibility, and a guide to understanding the limits of representation in building anti-racist politics." -- Lovia Gyarkye * Dissent *"All research libraries should acquire Stuart Hall’s Selected Writings on Race and Difference. Editors Gilroy and Gilmore have done a great service in bringing together Hall’s works on representation in the media, the intellectual life and verve of activism, and the racialized dynamics of cultural productions. . . . Hall’s work remains timely, and Selected Writings provides much-needed tools for intervening in the present moment. This collection should be of great interest to those working in cultural studies, media studies, philosophy, political theory, rhetoric, and social theory as well anyone with a commitment to learning more about the effects of racialization and racism. Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty." -- M. W. Westmoreland * Choice *"In collaborating on this remarkable collection of writings by British Marxist, sociologist, and educator Stuart Hall, editors Paul Gilroy and Ruth Wilson Gilmore have made an incredible curatorial achievement in their own right. . . . Instead of a strict content-based grouping, the editors’ choice to flexibly adhere to a temporal reading captures the breadth and depth of Hall’s projects and interests during various periods of his professional activity. Sacrificing (some) thematic rigidity is well worth the opportunity it offers readers to chart the evolution of Hall’s theorization of the formation of race, race relations, and racism in Britain and the globe." -- Lindsey Holmes * E3W Review of Books *"It is clear that the Selected Writings on Marxism and Selected Writings on Race and Difference are two collected editions that have wide appeal to those working across the humanities, arts, and social sciences. Taken together, they appeal to readers who are not familiar with Hall’s intellectual work, showing the development of his work over several decades. For those familiar with Hall, they help us to deepen our knowledge of the intellectual currents Hall engaged with, and the debates and political interventions he sought to make." -- Ali Meghji * Cultural Studies *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments vii Introduction: Race Is the Prism / Paul Gilroy 1 Part I. Riots, Race, and Representation 1. Absolute Beginnings: Reflections on the Secondary Modern Generation [1959] 23 2. The Young Englanders [1967] 42 3. Black Men, White Media [1974] 51 4. Race and "Moral Panics" in Postwar Britain [1978] 56 5. Summer in the City [1981] 71 6. Drifting into a Law and Order Society: The 1979 Cobden Trust Human Rights Day Lecture [1982] 78 7. The Whites of Their Eyes: Racist Ideologies and the Media [1981] 97 Part II. The Politics of Intellectual Work Against Racism 8. Teaching Race [1980] 123 9. Pluralism, Race and Class in Caribbean Society [1977] 136 10. "Africa" Is Alive and Well in the Diaspora: Cultures of Resistance: Slavery, Religious Revival and Political Cultism in Jamaica [1975] 161 11. Race, Articulation and Societies Structured in Dominance [1980] 195 12. New Ethnicities [1983] 246 13. Cultural Identity and Diaspora [1990] 257 14. C. L. R. James: A Portrait [1992] 272 15. Calypso Kings [2002] 286 Part III. Cultural and Multicultural Questions 16. Gramsci's Relevance for the Study of Race and Ethnicity [1968] 295 17. Subjects in History: Making Diasporic Identities [1998] 329 18. Why Fanon? [1996] 339 19. Race, the Floating Signifier: What More Is There to Say about "Race"? [1997] 359 20. "In but Not of Europe": Europe and Its Myths [2003] 374 21. Cosmopolitan Promises, Multicultural Realities [2006] 386 22. The Multicultural Question [2000] 409 Index 435 Place of First Publication 453
£84.15
Stanford University Press Karman: A Brief Treatise on Action, Guilt, and
Book SynopsisWhat does it mean to be responsible for our actions? In this brief and elegant study, Giorgio Agamben traces our most profound moral intuitions back to their roots in the sphere of law and punishment. Moral accountability, human free agency, and even the very concept of cause and effect all find their origin in the language of the trial, which Western philosophy and theology both transform into the paradigm for all of human life. In his search for a way out of this destructive paradigm, Agamben not only draws on minority opinions within the Western tradition but engages at length with Buddhist texts and concepts for the first time. In sum, Karman deepens and rearticulates some of Agamben's core insights while breaking significant new ground.
£17.09
Hackett Publishing Co, Inc Rousseau: The Basic Political Writings: Discourse
Book SynopsisThis substantially revised new edition of Rousseau: The Basic Political Writings features a brilliant new Introduction by David Wootton, a revision by Donald A. Cress of his own 1987 translation of Rousseau's most important political writings, and the addition of Cress' new translation of Rousseau's State of ?War. New footnotes, headnotes, and a chronology by David Wootton provide expert guidance to first-time readers of the texts.
£14.99
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Freedom
Book SynopsisWe are all afraid that new dangers pose a threat to our hard-won freedoms, so what deserves attention is precisely the notion of freedom.The concept of freedom is deceptively simple. We think we understand it, but the moment we try and define it we encounter contradictions. In this new philosophical exploration, Slavoj Žižek argues that the experience of true, radical freedom is transient and fragile. Countering the idea of libertarian individualism, Žižek draws on philosophers Hegel, Kierkegaard and Heidegger, as well as the work of Kandinsky and Agatha Christie to examine the many facets of freedom and what we can learn from each of them.Today, with the latest advances in digital control, our social activity can be controlled and regulated to such a degree that the liberal notion of a free individual becomes obsolete and even meaningless. How will we be obliged to reinvent (or limit) the contours of our freedom?Tracing its connection to everything frTable of ContentsPreface Acknowledgements Introduction: Move your Buridan's Ass! Part I: Freedom As Such Chapter 1: Freedom and its Discontents i) Freedom versus Liberty ii) Regulating Violations iii) Freedom, Knowledge, Necessity iv) Freedom to say NO Chapter 2: Is There Such a Thing as Freedom of the Will? i) Determinism and its Ragaries ii) Rewriting the Past iii) Beyond the Transcendental iv) Pascalean Wager Chapter 3: Indivisible Remainder and the Death of Death i) The Standpoint of the Absolute ii) The Death of God iii) Suicide as a Political Act iv)The Failed Negation of Negation Appendices I 1 Potestas versus Superdeterminism 2 Sublation as Dislocation 3 Inventing Anna, Inventing Madeleine 4 The Political Implications of Non-Representational Art Part II: Human Freedom Chapter 4: Marx Invented not Only Symptom but Also Drive i) Instead of... ii) Progress and Apathy iii) Dialectical Materialism iv) Yes, but... v) How Marx Invented Drive Chapter 5: The Path to Anarcho-Feudalism i) The Blue Pill Called Metaverse ii) From Cultural Capitalism to Crypto-Currencies iii) Savage Verticality Versus Uncontrollable Horizontality Chapter 6: The State and Counter-Revolution i) When the Social Link Disintegrates ii) The Limit of the Spontaneous Order iii) The State is Here to Stay iv) Do not give up on your Communist Desire! Appendices II 5 “Generalized Foreclosure”? No, Thanks! 6 Shamelessly Ashamed 7 A Muddle Instead of a Movie 8 How to Love a Homeland in our Global Era Finale: The Four Riders of the Apocalypse i) De-Nazifying… Ukraine, Kosovo, Europe ii) The End of Nature iii) DON’T Be True to Yourself! iv) Whose Servant Is a Master?
£19.00
Harvard University Press Justice for Hedgehogs
Book SynopsisThe fox knows many things, the Greeks said, but the hedgehog knows one big thing. In this title, the author argues that value in all its forms is one big thing: that what truth is, life means, morality requires, and justice demands are different aspects of the same large question.Trade ReviewIn a sustained, profound, and richly textured argument that will, from now on, be essential to all debate on the matter, Ronald Dworkin makes the case for…the unity of value… Dworkin writes as an applied philosopher; the topics he discusses are matters of practical importance. They affect whether and how people can give meaning to their lives. They make a difference in legislatures and courts of law whose decisions touch hundreds of millions of lives. That is what gives the overall argument its urgency, for Dworkin's principal aim in establishing the unity of value is the familiar and central one for him: to show how law and government can be based on political morality… He completes, in [the] final chapter, a chain of reasoning that can be seen as uniting convictions of personal morality with principles of political justice, and then showing how these are all gathered together in a larger system of moral ideals that he believes lawyers and judges must deploy in discovering what the abstract principles of the American Constitution really mean and require. We are in at the birth, here, of a modern philosophical classic, one of the essential works of contemporary thought. It is bound to be a major debate-changer, because even the many who will find much to disagree with—Dworkin, after all, disagrees with them in advance, and robustly—will not be able to ignore the challenges he poses. And out of the heat to come, much light will shine. -- A. C. Grayling * New York Review of Books *The most profound legal book of the season is Justice for Hedgehogs… This book is [Dworkin's] theory of everything and rests on the notion that 'value' is the one big philosophical thing… For the first time, all pieces of Dworkin's jurisprudential thinking fall formidably into place. -- Richard Susskind * The Times *[Dworkin's arguments] display great intellectual rigour… A daring and demanding treatise… Defining morality as the standards governing how we ought to treat other people, and ethics as the standards governing how we ought to live ourselves, Dworkin argues that living morally and living ethically are inseparable. What we achieve is less important than the manner in which we live our lives, and that is judged in part by how we treat other people. To live well, Dworkin writes, is to live one's life as if it were a work of art. In a work of art the value of what is created is inseparable from the act of creating it. A painting is not only a product; it embodies a particular performance. For Dworkin, it isn't the product value of a human life that is most important but its performance value. A life should be an achievement 'in itself, with its own value in the art in living it displays.' …Justice for Hedgehogs 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 *Justice for Hedgehogs represents a powerful account of what our moral world would have to be for our moral life to be harmonious. -- William A. Galston * Commonweal *The 79-year-old professor of philosophy's grand, perhaps culminating, statement of what truth is, what life means, what morality requires and justice demands… [Dworkin] builds up a comprehensive system of value—embracing democracy, justice, political obligation, morality, liberty, equality—from his notions of dignity and self-respect. -- Stuart Jeffries * The Guardian *The first thing to strike you about this remarkable book is its ambition… In Justice for Hedgehogs all of Dworkin's great talent is on display, the themes overwhelming in their sheer bigness. The basic point is that like the hedgehog in a famous essay by Isaiah Berlin, there is one big thing Dworkin knows above all else—it is what makes sense of how we act as persons, how we relate to others and how we construct our society… The nineteen substantive chapters stand as a great statement of a life well lived (and with, it is hoped, many years still to go). -- Conor Gearty * New Humanist *Justice for Hedgehogs is Dworkin's most ambitious book to date… It is full of sustained argument and arresting observations drawn from a lifetime of thought and a great armory of knowledge. -- Jonathan Sumption * The Spectator *
£21.56
Hackett Publishing Co, Inc Utilitarianism
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewAdding the selections from the Speech on Capital Punishment is an excellent idea. --Mark Migotti, University of Calgary
£10.13
Hackett Publishing Co, Inc On Law Morality and Politics
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewPerfect for presenting the core of St. Thomas' teachings on law, morality, and politics.--Charles E. Butterworth, University of MarylandThe best available selection of texts for the study of Aquinas' natural law doctrine.--Alfonso Gomez-Lobo, Georgetown University
£18.99
Harvard University Press Pragmatism as AntiAuthoritarianism
Book SynopsisIn his final work, Richard Rorty provides the definitive statement of his political thought. Rorty equates pragmatism with anti-authoritarianism, arguing that because there is no authority we can rely on to ascertain truth, we can only do so intersubjectively. It follows that we must learn to think and care about what others think and care about.Trade ReviewToday, there are few philosophers left whose thoughts are inspired by a unifying vision; there are even fewer who can articulate such a view in terms of a ravishing flow of provocative, but sharp and differentiated, arguments. But rarely anyone can compete with Richard Rorty in summarizing the whole of it in a series of brilliant literary lectures like these. -- Jürgen HabermasRichard Rorty was the most iconoclastic and dramatic philosopher of the last half-century. In this final book, his unique literary style, singular intellectual zest, and demythologizing defiance of official philosophy are on full display. -- Cornel WestA sharp and comprehensive statement of Richard Rorty’s distinctive version of pragmatism, presented with all the wit and vitality typical of his writings. Carefully edited by Eduardo Mendieta, with an illuminating foreword by Robert B. Brandom, this book is invaluable reading for anyone interested in Rorty’s philosophical vision. -- Richard J. Bernstein, Vera List Professor of Philosophy, The New School for Social ResearchWe have perhaps the clearest account of how he understood pragmatist thinking as a political undertaking…Provocative and engaging…The array of urgent questions and crises facing our democracy makes one miss Richard Rorty’s voice: insistent, relentlessly questioning, and dedicated to the proposition that we can’t afford to let our democracy fail. -- Chris Lehmann * New Republic *The verve with which [the arguments] are made and their relevance to our current context make for a bracing read…The message of Rorty’s body of work, so well summarized in these newly published lectures, is that aiming at ‘increased responsiveness to the needs of a larger and larger variety of people and things’ will reduce the sources of suffering, and by so doing multiply our opportunities to thrive. -- Michael S. Roth * Los Angeles Review of Books *Show[s] an impressive command of both analytic and continental philosophy. -- George Scialabba * Commonweal *It is coherent, often brilliant, and it presents a clear and timely case for political pragmatism. -- Jonathan Rée * Prospect *A useful compendium of the philosopher’s mature views. -- Robert Chodat * American Literary History *A very finely edited collection of essays in which Rorty’s undeniable polemical brilliance and philosophical knowledge are in full display. -- Richard Shusterman * Society *
£21.56
Harvard University Press Against Constitutionalism
Book SynopsisTracing constitutional thought from the Enlightenment to the present, Martin Loughlin shows how a tool for the protection of self-government has become a means for subverting popular will. Across the globe, constitutions now displace democratic decision-making, as courts interpret values in the law that ultimately trump legislative action.Trade ReviewLoughlin has written a short, dense book of considerable intellectual and political importance. Against Constitutionalism is an essential argument, forcefully made, and bristling with both learning and thinking. -- Jedediah Purdy, author of This Land Is Our Land: The Struggle for a New CommonwealthAgainst Constitutionalism does a wonderful job detailing the change in the nature of constitutional government that has taken place over the past hundred years and why those changes matter. This is a book that every serious student of constitutional government needs to read and think about. -- Mark A. Graber, author of Dred Scott and the Problem of Constitutional EvilIn this forceful critique of constitutionalism, Loughlin supplies us not only with an account of the emergence of a new ideology but also with a compelling analysis of its pathologies. It will surely engage the minds of jurists and legal scholars, but it should also be closely read by democratic theorists, who will find in these pages answers to questions they have been pondering for some time. -- Chandran Kukathas, author of Immigration and FreedomConstitutionalism and democracy, two notions that we are used to perceiving as a pair, are here opposed to each other. Loughlin’s thesis—that constitutionalism must cede if democracy shall thrive—is provocative enough to make this brilliantly written book one with which scholars will have to contend. -- Dieter Grimm, former Justice of the Federal Constitutional Court of GermanyA tightly-presented but far-ranging survey of both legal theory and practical example, Against Constitutionalism is a thoughtful and thought-provoking introduction to and analysis of the subject-matter. * Complete Review *The United States is in the grip of an ideology. Constitutionalism, a distinctive philosophy of governance, has quietly come to dominate and be taken for granted. So argues Against Constitutionalism, Loughlin’s ambitious account of how constitutionalism emerged, developed, and spread. The book’s central insight is that constitutionalism is not an empty vessel into which other commitments can be poured, but rather that it has its own values, logic, and normative commitments. -- Jonathan S. Gould * Harvard Law Review *Provocative…Loughlin is highly critical of the juridification of politics and identifies the EU as one of the main culprits in this process…Loughlin’s key aim is thus to defend constitutional democracy against constitutionalism—a task that can only be pursued at local and national level against the hubris of ‘the cosmopolitan project. -- Stefan Auer * Contemporary Political Theory *An important book that will occupy a prominent place in the contemporary discussion of constitutional theory. It is, perhaps, Loughlin’s most important book, one in which the author revisits and recreates theoretical concerns that he has been working on for decades…Both for its singular virtues and for the intensity of the controversies it is bound to arouse, Against Constitutionalism represents a remarkable work. -- Roberto Gargarella * University of Toronto Law Journal *[This book] brilliantly targets the principal legal dogma of the past 40 years: that well-ordered societies need elite protection from democracy, not least for the sake of rights. It isn’t, Loughlin contends, just that the juristocratic turn has elicited popular backlash while harmonising with economic liberalism. It has increasingly undone self-government. -- Samuel Moyn * New Statesman *Against Constitutionalism is a brilliant book—an erudite study not only of the historical evolution of the concept of constitutionalism but also of the contested meanings of associated concepts, including sovereignty, constituent power, and the state…A must-read book for anyone who is interested in the fate of constitutional democracy. -- Yasmin Dawood * Balkinization *
£31.46
Hackett Publishing Co, Inc An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals
Book SynopsisSituates 'The Enquiry' in its historical context, clarifying its relationship to Calvinism, to Newtonian science, and to earlier moral philosophers, and provides an account of Hume's ethical naturalism.Trade ReviewA splendid edition. Schneewind's illuminating introduction succinctly situates the Enquiry in its historical context, clarifying its relationship to Calvinism, to Newtonian science, and to earlier moral philosophers, and providing a persuasive account of Hume's ethical naturalism. --Martha C. Nussbaum, Brown University
£10.99
Harvard University Press The Ecological Thought
Book SynopsisArgues that various forms of life are connected in a vast, entangling mesh and this interconnectedness penetrates different dimensions of life. This title investigates the profound philosophical, political, and aesthetic implications of the fact that these life forms are interconnected.Trade ReviewMorton writes from inside the ecological thought, not as its cheerleader or architect but as a latter-day Romantic. The great strength of this book is its genre inventiveness, and its main contribution is its performance of a thinking keyed to our time and place, a thinking with clear and immediate ethical implications. The Ecological Thought is crucial right now. -- Marjorie Levinson, University of MichiganPicking up where his most obvious predecessors, Gregory Bateson and Felix Guattari, left off, Morton understands mental ecology as the ground zero of ecological thinking, as that which must be redressed before anything else and above all. Morton goes beyond both his forebears, however, in repairing the rift between science and the humanities, which the Enlightenment opened up and against which Romanticism reacted. Perhaps most pleasantly surprising, given its erudition, is that in its stylistic elegance The Ecological Thought is as satisfying to read as it is necessary to ponder. -- Vince Carducci, College for Creative StudiesTimothy Morton has a unique take on ecology that challenges much of the alternative consciousness that floats around on the periphery of environmental circles. He offers a profound take on human possibilities. To Morton, human society and Nature are not two distinct things but rather two different angles on the same thing. * Tikkun *By suggesting imaginative ways to resolve other crises, could humanities scholars stave off the crisis engulfing their own subjects? Morton proposes a future in which the venerable ideas of "nature" and "environment" are so much detritus, useless for addressing a looming ecological catastrophe. His book exemplifies the "serious" humanities scholarship he makes a plea for. My head's still spinning. -- Noel Castree * Times Higher Education *Morton's The Ecological Thought rejects the romantic concept of nature as a passive foil to human action. The natural world, as it turns out, is not something outside of us; or, put another way: there is no difference between humans and our environment...He asks us to engage in "radical openness" as a way of practicing "radical coexistence," a state of being that we live even when we do not think much about it...Morton's book allows us to see our stirrings of sympathy for nonhuman beings such as strawberries as the beginning of a recognition that we have all--people and plants alike--lost long ago our presumed roots in an imagined natural world. -- Natania Meeker and Antónia Szabari * Los Angeles Review of Books *
£19.76
Princeton University Press Revolutionary Ideas
Book SynopsisHistorians of the French Revolution used to take for granted what was also obvious to its contemporary observers--that the Revolution was shaped by the radical ideas of the Enlightenment. Yet in recent decades, scholars have argued that the Revolution was brought about by social forces, politics, economics, or culture--almost anything but abstractTrade ReviewWinner of the 2015 PROSE Award in European & World History, Association of American Publishers "[A]dvances an erudite and persuasive argument... Israel's categorization of the various revolutionary factions offers fascinating new insights, and his knack for uncovering interesting but neglected individuals and texts is second to none ... rich and thought provoking book. It is remarkable and significant."--Rachel Hammersley, Times Literary Supplement "[C]losely argued... Israel can be understood as a historian in the long liberal tradition stretching back to Madame de Stael, who herself witnessed the revolution and saw it as a story of the betrayal of liberty."--Ruth Scurr, Wall Street Journal "[W]ith typical boldness Israel invites us to reconceptualise our very idea of the Revolution."--Jeremy Jennings, Standpoint "Overwhelmingly impressive."--Peter Watson, Times "[P]acked with details ... [Revolutionary Ideas] is part of Israel's major project to give the Enlightenment, especially the Radical Enlightenment as he calls it, new luster."--NRC Handelsblad "[M]ajestic."--Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe, Trinidad and Tobago News "Israel, a professor of modern European history at Princeton, is a world authority on the 18th-century Enlightenment. Here he constructs a bold and brilliantly argued case that the 1789 French Revolution was propelled by the clash of innovative political doctrines that supported or contested Enlightenment values."--Tony Barber, Financial Times "Israel, author of the pathbreaking studies on the Dutch Republic, European Jews, and more recently the radical Enlightenment, now turns his attention to the French Revolution, arguing that the underlying cause was ideological--namely, the impact of the radical Enlightenment resulting from the work of philosophers Denis Diderot, Claude Adrien Helvetius, and Paul-Henry Thiry, Baron d'Holbach... Israel takes them at their word, painstakingly poring through voluminous revolutionary newspapers and the archives parlementaires, records of the revolutionary national assemblies... This significant and nuanced study is a major reinterpretation."--Choice "A racy account of the concepts that shaped the French Revolution and its people... The book leaves the reader with a strong impression of the power of ideas that unlock political energy and the strength of leadership needed to withstand fickle popular opinion."--Tom Watson, New Statesman "A remarkable book... An enormously rich and engaging work that invites us to think and to challenge received wisdom."--Mark Curran, European History Quarterly "Amazingly well-researched... To describe it as a very, very worthy read, would be an understatement of colossal, consequentialist design."--David Marx Book ReviewsTable of ContentsList of Figures vii Acknowledgments ix Prologue 1 Chapter 1 Introduction 6 Chapter 2 Revolution of the Press (1788-90) 30 Chapter 3 From Estates-General to National Assembly (April-June 1789) 53 Chapter 4 The Rights of Man: Summer and Autumn 1789 72 Chapter 5 Democratizing the Revolution 103 Chapter 6 Deadlock (November 1790-July 1791) 141 Chapter 7 War with the Church (1788-92) 180 Chapter 8 The Feuillant Revolution ( July 1791-April 1792) 204 Chapter 9 The "General Revolution" Begins (1791-92) 231 Chapter 10 The Revolutionary Summer of 1792 246 Chapter 11 Republicans Divided (September 1792-March 1793) 278 Chapter 12 The "General Revolution" from Valmy to the Fall of Mainz (1792-93) 316 Chapter 13 The World's First Democratic Constitution (1793) 345 Chapter 14 Education: Securing the Revolution 374 Chapter 15 Black Emancipation 396 Chapter 16 Robespierre's Putsch ( June 1793) 420 Chapter 17 The Summer of 1793: Overturning the Revolution's Core Values 450 Chapter 18 De-Christianization (1793-94) 479 Chapter 19 "The Terror" (September 1793-March 1794) 503 Chapter 20 The Terror's Last Months (March-July 1794) 545 Chapter 21 Thermidor 574 Chapter 22 Post-Thermidor (1795-97) 593 Chapter 23 The "General Revolution" (1795-1800): Holland, Italy, and the Levant 635 Chapter 24 The Failed Revolution (1797-99) 670 Chapter 25 Conclusion: The Revolution as the Outcome of the Radical Enlightenment 695 Cast of Main Participants 709 Notes 733 Bibliography 803 Index 833
£26.60
Oxford University Press Second Treatise of Government and A Letter
Book SynopsisLocke's Second Treatise is a classic of political philosophy. It helped entrench ideas of a social contract, human rights, and consent as guiding principles for modern Western democracy. His Letter calls for religious tolerance and separation of church and state. This edition offers an essential guide to these two foundational works.
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd Leviathan
Book Synopsis
£11.69
Yale University Press The Moral Economy Why Good Incentives Are No
Book SynopsisWhy do policies and business practices that ignore the moral and generous side of human nature often fail? Should the idea of economic manthe amoral and self-interested Homo economicusdetermine how we expect people to respond to monetary rewards, punishments, and other incentives? Samuel Bowles answers with a resounding no. Policies that follow from this paradigm, he shows, may crowd out ethical and generous motives and thus backfire. But incentives per se are not really the culprit. Bowles shows that crowding out occurs when the message conveyed by fines and rewards is that self-interest is expected, that the employer thinks the workforce is lazy, or that the citizen cannot otherwise be trusted to contribute to the public good. Using historical and recent case studies as well as behavioral experiments, Bowles shows how well-designed incentives can crowd in the civic motives on which good governance depends.Trade Review"In his tightly argued and illuminating book, Bowles makes the case that appeals made to our self-interest can undercut instinctive moral impulses; and that when these impulses are weakened crucial institutions work sub-optimally, if not at all."—Robert Armstrong, Financial Times"Bowles makes an appealing case that virtue has a place in the world of economics . . . adds to a tide of research (such as the work of economist Elinor Ostrom and evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wilson) showing that selfishness is not the only human virtue in the real world."—Bob Holmes, New Scientist“A welcome alternative. . . Bowles persuasively argues that when economists take as given (and thus plan for) a world of utility-maximising agents, they actually help create such a world.” —Rebecca L. Spang, Times Literary Supplement Won an Honorable Mention for the 2017 Robert Lane Award given by the Organized Political Sections of the APSA"The Moral Economy plows new ground in exploring how the actions we take are motivated by their meaning. Samuel Bowles is proposing a paradigm shift in how we think about our lives and about economics."—George Akerlof, Nobel Laureate in Economics"The Moral Economy convincingly shows that economic incentives and legal constraints alone will not produce a flourishing society because good – morally motivated – people are indispensable. A thought-provoking work!"—Ernst Fehr, Professor of Economics at the University of Zurich"The Moral Economy is a brilliant book. Rarely have such big ideas been communicated in such a compact package. This book should change the way political leaders, policy makers, and social scientists of all stripes do their work and understand the work that they do."—Barry Schwartz, author of Practical Wisdom and Why We Work"In this wonderful book, Sam Bowles explores—with intellectual breadth and analytical acuity—the importance of altruism and a sense of fairness in creating and sustaining decent societies. His prose is lucid, arguments compelling, and conclusions important. This is social science at its very best."—Joshua Cohen, Apple University"Sam Bowles is a visionary thinker who has done more than anyone else I know to unite the social sciences. In this superb book his combination of wisdom and rigor shines through, offering important lessons for anyone who hopes to motivate, govern, or even inspire actual humans."—Joshua Greene, author of Moral Tribes and director of the Moral Cognition Lab, Harvard University
£16.99
The University of Chicago Press Aristotles Politics
Book SynopsisPresents an account of the author's life in relation to political events of his time; the character and history of his writings and of the Politics in particular; his overall conception of political science; and his impact on subsequent political thought from antiquity to the present.Trade Review"This revised edition of Aristotle's 'Politics' easily establishes it as the best available in English. By offering a longer introductory essay that grapples with the substance of Aristotle's argument, a new index, revamped notes, and - most important - by revising and correcting the text, Carnes Lord has substantially improved what was already a fine rendering of Aristotle's classic account of political science. A great service to students and scholars alike." (Robert C. Bartlett, cotranslator of Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics") "Carnes Lord's translation is clearly the best available." (Claremont Review of Books)"
£14.00
Stanford University Press Creation and Anarchy: The Work of Art and the
Book SynopsisCreation and the giving of orders are closely entwined in Western culture, where God commands the world into existence and later issues the injunctions known as the Ten Commandments. The arche, or origin, is always also a command, and a beginning is always the first principle that governs and decrees. This is as true for theology, where God not only creates the world but governs and continues to govern through continuous creation, as it is for the philosophical and political tradition according to which beginning and creation, command and will, together form a strategic apparatus without which our society would fall apart. The five essays collected here aim to deactivate this apparatus through a patient archaeological inquiry into the concepts of work, creation, and command. Giorgio Agamben explores every nuance of the arche in search of an an-archic exit strategy. By the book's final chapter, anarchy appears as the secret center of power, brought to light so as to make possible a philosophical thought that might overthrow both the principle and its command.Trade Review"Adam Kotsko's lucid translation has continued his service to the field in making Agamben's texts accessible to a wider readership."—Devin Singh, Reading Religion
£15.29
The University of Chicago Press The Return of Resentment
Book SynopsisTrade Review“Everywhere we look, pundits tell us that resentment is taking the world by storm. But what is resentment? And how and when did it become so central to political life? Schneider, noted historian of early modern Europe, gives this ‘political emotion’ the long, deep contextual history it needs—and thus illuminates our own present.” * Sophia Rosenfeld, author of Democracy and Truth: A Short History *“I am deeply impressed by Schneider’s latest work—his writing is clear and cogent, and the argument he makes is compelling and convincing. He ranges over a great deal of material, yet he presents it both carefully and gracefully. The Return of Resentment bristles with ideas and is rich with insights.” * Robert Zaretsky, author of Victories Never Last: Reading and Caregiving in a Time of Plague *“The Return of Resentment shines a powerful light on the role of emotion in European and American politics across the past two centuries. Erudite and penetrating, Schneider's book brilliantly analyzes why resentment has returned again and again to unsettle American democracy. An indispensable guide to our time.” * Gary Gerstle, author of The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order *“A wonderfully creative book, The Rise of Resentment takes an emotion that seems entirely of our amnesiac moment in politics and culture and demonstrates that this emotion has a rich and controversial history. Schneider moves deftly between act and idea. He shows us why resentment is so prevalent today, while illustrating what resentment is and how it works. This book is a guide to the past and an intellectual roadmap for the future.” * Michael C. Kimmage, author of The Abandonment of the West: The History of an Idea in American Foreign Policy *"The Return of Resentment moves along a number of narrative tracks. . . its long final chapter refers to a sizable portion of the more thoughtful books in the 'what the hell is going on?' genre called forth by the past several years. Growing economic inequality, changing demographics and social norms, and algorithmic echo-chamber effects are all familiar and credible factors. Schneider goes beyond them to consider our tendency 'to think of resentment as an emotional trait of ‘others’—which is to say the embittered and angry ‘left-behind and threatened.’'" * Inside Higher Ed *"[An] impressively wide-ranging history of the concept (and, in one chapter, the practice) of resentment." * Times Literary Supplement *"This is a much-needed book, which provides us with a nuanced and historically informed understanding of resentment, from which we can learn a great deal about contemporary politics." -- Christian F. Rostbøll * Cambridge University Press *"Schneider makes a compelling case that 'the return of resentment' now poses the greatest threat to social cohesion in the US. This is intellectual and political history at its most illuminating and compelling. . . . Essential." * Choice *Table of ContentsPreface Introduction Chapter 1: Sensible Resentment in the Age of Sensibility: The Eighteenth Century Chapter 2: Contentious Resentment: Acting out Resentment in the Early Modern Past Chapter 3: A Specter Is Haunting Europe: The Specter of a Resentful “People” Chapter 4: The Nietzschean Moment Chapter 5: The Rise and Decline of the “Resentment Paradigm” Chapter 6: The Uses of Resentment Chapter 7: The Two Sixties and Resentment: One Without, the Other With Chapter 8: The Return of Resentment: Anatomizing a Contemporary Political Emotion Conclusion: Thinking about Resentment Today Notes Index
£22.80
Icon Books Introducing Slavoj Zizek: A Graphic Guide
Book SynopsisCharting his meteoric rise in popularity, Christopher Kul-Want and Piero explore Zizek's timely analyses of today's global crises concerning ecology, mounting poverty, war, civil unrest and revolution.Covering topics from philosophy and ethics, politics and ideology, religion and art, to literature, cinema, corporate marketing, quantum physics and virtual reality, Introducing Slavoj Zizek deftly explains Zizek's virtuoso ability to transform apparently outworn ideologies - Communism, Marxism and psychoanalysis - into a new theory of freedom and enjoyment.
£7.19
Yale University Press The Lessons of Tragedy
Book SynopsisAn eloquent call to draw on the lessons of the past to address current threats to international orderTrade Review“A brilliant new book.”—Philip Bobbitt, Wall Street Journal "In this spare, almost mathematical primer, Hal Brands and Charles Edel deliver a rebuke to complacency and a defense of constructive pessimism in the service of America’s engagement with the world."—Robert D. Kaplan, author of The Return of Marco Polo’s World: War, Strategy, and American Interests in the Twenty-first Century"Hal Brands and Charles Edel have written a crucial reminder that being so safe for so long has dulled our imagination of how dangerous and destructive the alternatives are to the ‘flawed masterpiece’ of post-World War II order the U.S. created. Read this to relish two fine minds expertly marshaling 5,000 years of western culture to motivate our communal resolve to preserve the liberal international order. What an education!"—Kori Schake, author of Safe Passage: The Transition from British to American Hegemony"Brands and Edel show that the tragedy of international relations is not, as some would argue, that nations are doomed to war—but rather that war comes when leaders and the public fail to learn from the past how to preserve the peace. This is a compelling account of the dangers of “historical amnesia” at time when many question the need for sustained U.S. global leadership. The Lessons of Tragedy does more than warn of the dangers; it draws on the demonstrable achievements of past U.S. statecraft to chart a more hopeful course for the future."—James B. Steinberg, Professor at Syracuse University and former Deputy Secretary of State“This powerful book by two of America's most brilliant historians and theorists of grand strategy writing at the top of their game provides a timely reminder that the history of international relations has been replete with catastrophes and costly disasters."—Eric Edelman, former Ambassador to Turkey, Finland and Under Secretary of Defense for Policy 2005-2009“This compact, engaging, and evocative volume packs a sharp, lasting punch. Brands and Edel argue persuasively for a return to the “tragic sensibility” that spurred the creation of all previous international orders. Reading The Lessons of Tragedy would benefit politicians, national security professionals, and civilians alike—in the same way that the great theatrical tragedies benefited ancient Greek society. I cannot recommend it highly enough.”—Robert Work, 32nd United States Deputy Secretary of Defense
£12.99
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Posthuman Feminism
Book SynopsisIn a context marked by the virulent return of patriarchal and white supremacist attitudes, a new generation of feminist activists are continuing the struggle: these are very feminist times. But how do these and other movements relate to the contemporary posthuman condition? In this important new book, Rosi Braidotti examines the implications of the posthuman turn for feminist theory and practice. She defines the posthuman turn as a convergence between posthumanism on the one hand and post-anthropocentrism on the other, and she examines their complex relationship and joint impact. Braidotti claims that mainstream posthuman scholarship has neglected feminist theory, while in fact feminism is one of the precursors of the posthuman turn, through diverse social movements and political traditions. Posthuman Feminism is an analytic and creative response to contemporary conditions and a call to action. It highlights the constraints but also the potentialities available to feminist political subjects as they confront the ever-growing injustices of sexism, racism, ecocide and neoliberal capitalism. This bold new text by a leading feminist philosopher will be of great interest to students and scholars throughout the humanities and social sciences.Trade Review“This profound and energising book is uncannily insightful: read it as a talisman against the present and as a map out of its baleful conditions.”Matthew Fuller, Goldsmiths, University of London“Posthumanism Feminism is astonishingly wide-ranging and characteristically impressive in its contemporary relevance. Attending closely to submerged knowledge traditions including Indigenous and Black perspectives, Braidotti enriches our understanding of both posthumanism and feminism by showing how they are mutually generative and intimately imbricated. Everyone who engages with ideas emerging in these areas will need to know what this book has to say.”Simone Bignall, University of Technology SydneyTable of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction: Feminism by Any Other Name Part I Posthuman Feminism as Critique Chapter 1: Feminism is Not (Only) a Humanism Chapter 2: The Critical Edge of Posthuman Feminism Chapter 3: Decentring Anthropos: Ecofeminism Revisited Part II Posthuman Feminism as Creation Chapter 4: New Materialism and Carnal Empiricism Chapter 5: Technobodies: Gene- and Gender-editing Chapter 6: Sexuality Beyond Gender: a Thousand Little Sexes Chapter 7: Wanting Out! Epilogue: “Get a life!” Bibliography
£15.19
Hackett Publishing Co, Inc Politics: A New Translation
Book SynopsisThis new translation of Aristotle's Politics is a model of accuracy and consistency and fits seamlessly with the translator's Nicomachean Ethics, allowing the two to be read together, as Aristotle intended. Sequentially numbered endnotes provide the information most needed at each juncture, while a detailed Index of Terms indicates places where focused discussion of key notions occurs. A general Introduction prepares the reader for the work that lies ahead, explaining what sort of work it is and what sort of evidence it relies on.Trade Review"David Reeve's new translation of the Politics is certain to become the primary and indispensable tool for anyone undertaking a careful study of Aristotle's great work. Newcomers to this treatise as well as advanced scholars will learn enormously from the Introduction, extensive notes, and detailed index." —Richard Kraut, Northwestern University"C. D. C. Reeve's study of Aristotle's Politics (translation with introduction, hundreds of notes, and a detailed index of terms) does justice to Aristotle's practical philosophy as a whole in an exceptional way. . . . [Far] from being a simple revision of his previous work (Hackett, 1998) [it] provides us with a totally fresh English text in harmony with his recent translation of the Nicomachean Ethics (Hackett, 2014). . . . Among the merits of the edition is Reeve's philosophically illuminating Introduction [which] attempts to situate politics within the framework of Aristotelian sciences. . . . It is a great merit of Reeve's Translation and Commentary that his own views are confined to his Introduction. In his sequentially numbered endnotes we most often hear Aristotle's own voice and not a commentary that might have promoted partial interpretations. Apart from the quotation of a wide range of passages from the Aristotelian corpus, the reader will also find clarifications providing her with the assistance necessary to find her own way in the text. . . . In general, comparing the new translation to the Greek text one can hardly fail to recognize that it attains an admirable balance between fidelity and smoothness: though following the syntax of the Greek text, it remains fluent and readable. . . . In a nutshell, Reeve's new translation and commentary is a masterful work. Both students who wish to study the Politics and advanced scholars will greatly profit from it." —Vasia Vergouli, University of Patras, in Bryn Mawr Classical Review
£22.79
Oxford University Press An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice
Book Synopsis''To a rational being there can be but one rule of conduct, justice, and one mode of ascertaining that rule, the exercise of his understanding.'' Godwin''s Political Justice is the founding text of philosophical anarchism. Written in the immediate aftermath of the French Revolution, it exemplifies the political optimism felt by many writers and intellectuals. Godwin drew on enlightenment ideas and his background in religious dissent for the principles of justice, utility, and the sanctity of individual judgement that drove his powerful critique of all forms of secular and religious authority. He predicts the triumph of justice and equality over injustice, and of mind over matter, and the eventual vanquishing of human frailty and mortality. He also foresees the gradual elimination of practices governing property, punishment, law, and marriage and the displacement of politics by an expanded personal morality resulting from reasoned argument and candid discussion. Political Justice raises deep philosophical questions about the nature of our duty to others that remain central to modern debates on ethics and politics.This edition reprints the first-edition text of 1793, and examines Godwin''s evolving philosophy in the context of his life and work. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
£12.34
Edinburgh University Press Interpassivity
Book SynopsisRobert Pfaller advances a general theory of interpassivity as the wish for delegated consumption and enjoyment in both art and in everyday life, tackling a vast range of phenomena: culture, art, sports and religion.Trade Review'New concepts are rare in social thinking and interpassivity is arguably the only true concept to have emerged in the last two decades... So let's not beat around the bush, Interpassivity is simply one of the great founding texts of social thought, on a par with classic works by Max Weber - Slavoj Zizek
£17.09
Hackett Publishing Co, Inc A Letter Concerning Toleration
Book Synopsis
£11.67
Stanford University Press Opus Dei
Book SynopsisIn this follow-up to The Kingdom and the Glory and The Highest Poverty, Agamben investigates the roots of our moral concept of duty in the theory and practice of Christian liturgy. Beginning with the New Testament and working through to late scholasticism and modern papal encyclicals, Agamben traces the Church''s attempts to repeat Christ''s unrepeatable sacrifice. Crucial here is the paradoxical figure of the priest, who becomes more and more a pure instrument of God''s power, so that his own motives and character are entirely indifferent as long as he carries out his priestly duties. In modernity, Agamben argues, the Christian priest has become the model ethical subject. We see this above all in Kantian ethics. Contrasting the Christian and modern ontology of duty with the classical ontology of being, Agamben contends that Western philosophy has unfolded in the tension between the two. This latest installment in the study of Western political structures begun in HTrade Review"Opus Dei: An Archaeology of Duty is a bold and engaging book, opening up much fertile ground for future work. I find it to be both insightful and admirable, and a masterly success."—Analysis & Metaphysics
£16.14
Taylor & Francis Bonfire
Book SynopsisIn this book, Charles Derber shows how the US is moving toward sociocideâthe erosion of durable, positive social relations in the economy, family, politics, and civil society essential to sustaining society itselfâwhile offering a combination of pragmatic solutions. Bonfire: American Sociocide, Broken Relations, and the Quest for Democracy examines how new technologies and production and financial strategies are part of broader economic, environment, cultural, and political shifts that create tipping points generating more competition, distrust, isolation, and violence. In doing so, Derber spells out the implications for democracy and social cohesion. Importantly, he explores options that could stop the spiral and reconstruct a sustainable and equitable community, civil society, and democracy via emerging movements against neoliberalism capitalism, climate change, warâand in favor of labor solidarity, human rights, and community. This book will be of interest to students, scholars and activists in an interest in political sociology in the US.
£22.99
Princeton University Press The Machiavellian Moment
Book SynopsisOriginally published in 1975, The Machiavellian Moment remains a landmark of historical and political thought. Celebrated historian J.G.A. Pocock looks at the consequences for modern historical and social consciousness arising from the ideal of the classical republic revived by Machiavelli and other thinkers of Renaissance Italy. Pocock shows thatTrade Review"The Machiavellian Moment reinterpreted the entire history of political ideology in early modern England and America."--T. H. Breen, New York TimesTable of ContentsIntroduction to the Princeton Classics edition vii Introduction xxiii Part One Particularity and Time: The Conceptual Background I The Problem and Its Modes A) Experience, Usage and Prudence 3 II The Problem and Its Modes B) Providence, Fortune and Virtue 31 III The Problem and Its Modes C) The Vita Activa and the Vivere Civile 49 Part Two The Republic and its Fortune: Florentine Political Thought from 1494 to 1530 IV From Bruni to Savonarola Fortune, Venice and Apocalypse 83 V The Medicean Restoration 114 A) Guicciardini and the Lesser Ottimati, 1512-1516 VI The Medicean Restoration 156 B) Machiavelli's Il Principe VII Rome and Venice A) Machiavelli's Discorsi and Arte della Guerra 183 VIII Rome and Venice B) Guicciardini's Dialogo and the Problem of Optimate Prudence 219 IX Giannotti and Contarini: Venice as Concept and as Myth 272 Part Three Value and History in the Prerevolutionary Atlantic X The Problem of English Machiavellism: Modes of Civic Consciousness before the Civil War 333 XI The Anglicization of the Republic A) Mixed Constitution, Saint and Citizen 361 XII The Anglicization of the Republic B) Court, Country, and Standing Army 401 XIII Neo-Machiavellian Political Economy The Augustan Debate over Land, Trade and Credit 423 XIV The Eighteenth-Century Debate: Virtue, Passion and Commerce 462 XV The Americanization of Virtue: Corruption, Constitution and Frontier 506 Afterword 553 Bibliography 585 Index 601
£28.80
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Capitalism and Nothingness
Book SynopsisPeter Fleming is a Professor in the Management Discipline Group at the University of Technology Sydney, Australia.
£20.10
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Politics of Affect
Book Synopsis'The capacity to affect and to be affected'. This simple definition opens a world of questions - by indicating an openness to the world. To affect and to be affected is to be in encounter, and to be in encounter is to have already ventured forth.Trade ReviewBrian Massumi wants to write a serious play of life by emphasizing the many different roles of affect. In these interviews, he sets out that project in compelling detail, adding yet more evidence that the enactive mapping of affect pays some remarkable conceptual dividends.Nigel Thrift, University of Warwick "A politics of affect what might that mean, given that we are completely immersed in affects? Spinoza and Deleuze have pressed us too forcefully into that particular sea. Massumi teaches us carefully how to swim in it. Not only a politics but also a practice of affect a form of life."Antonio NegriTable of ContentsPreface 1. Navigating Movements Mary Zournazi 2. Of Microperception and Micropolitics Joel McKim 3. Ideology and Escape Yubraj Aryal 4. Affective Attunement in the Field Of Catastrophe Erin Manning, Jonas Fritsch and Bodil Marie Stavning Thomsen 5. Immediation Erin Manning, Christoph Brunner 6. What a Body Can Do Arno Boehler In Lieu of a Conclusion
£15.19