Western philosophy from c 1800 Books

Book SynopsisThese outspoken intellectuals seek to reclaim "people" as an effective political concept by revisiting its uses and abuses over time. By engaging this topic linguistically, ethnically, culturally, and ontologically, these scholars help separate "people" from its fraught associations to pursue more vital formulations.Trade ReviewThis exciting and provocative collection of essays reflects on the exclusionary perils and emancipatory potentialities of the concept of 'people' and its myriad cognates: popular, peoples, populism, and so forth. With contributions from leading philosophers and social theorists from France, Tunisia, and the United States, What is a People? is a must-read for anyone interested in cutting-edge work in the tradition of French and Francophone critical theory. -- Amy Allen, Pennsylvania State University, author of The Politics of Our Selves: Power, Autonomy, and Gender in Contemporary Critical Theory The central ambition of this powerful book is to leverage the term 'people' away from its conservative recuperations to maintain it in the lexical war chest of the politics of emancipation. All of the authors address, in this regard, the same central issue of the problematic status of this category, though their perspectives and approaches diverge significantly, ranging from linguistic and conceptual analysis to a concern with implicit racial and nationalist politics. The book as a whole therefore makes a significant contribution to the critical debate on the category of the people in all of its conceptual extensions: popular sovereignty, populism, popularity, and ambiguous expressions like 'we the people.' -- Gabriel Rockhill, Villanova University, author of Radical History and the Politics of Art A critical arsenal with which to think the tensions embedded in popular politics Marx & PhilosophyTable of ContentsPreface Introduction: This People Which Is Not One, by Bruno Bosteels 1. Twenty-Four Notes on the Uses of the Word "People", by Alain Badiou 2. You Said "Popular"?, by Pierre Bourdieu 3. "We, the People": Thoughts on Freedom of Assembly, by Judith Butler 4. To Render Sensible, by Georges Didi-Huberman 5. The People and the Third People, by Sadri Khiari 6. The Populism That Is Not to Be Found, by Jacques Ranciere Conclusion: Fragile Collectivities, Imagined Sovereignties, by Kevin Olson Notes Index

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Book SynopsisA distinctive feature of Ludwig Wittgenstein’s work after 1930 was his turn to a conception of philosophy as a form of social inquiry, John G. Gunnell argues, and Thomas Kuhn’s approach to the philosophy of science exemplified this conceptionTrade Review[The author's] vast knowledge and philosophical erudition come through loud and clear. Social Inquiry After Wittgenstein and Kuhn addresses several large issues in mainstream philosophy and the philosophy of science through a discussion of the philosophical thought of Ludwig Wittgenstein and Thomas Kuhn (with a substantive side glance to Paul Feyerabend). -- Dale Turner, Dartmouth University Social Inquiry After Wittgenstein and Kuhn is a highly learned and clearly written contribution to a variety of literatures, including political theory, philosophy of social science, and philosophy of science. Gunnell has a masterful command of his subject matter, and several of the chapters are a delight to read. He brilliantly shows how the challenge posed by both Wittgenstein and Kuhn has been deeply misunderstood by critics and admirers alike. -- Linda M. G. Zerilli, University of Chicago John G. Gunnell has had a long and distinguished career interrogating various claims to authority and certitude made by theorists, philosophers, and social scientists. The aim of this book is to reconsider the practice of social inquiry and its true and purported relations to reality through perspicuous re-presentations of the writings of Wittgenstein and Kuhn. What emerges is a distinctive and provocative philosophy of education that should become an essential part of the training of future political theorists and social scientists. It is a brilliant work of scholarship and philosophical creativity. -- Christopher C. Robinson, Clarkson University This book is a major milestone in the recuperation of the reputations of Wittgenstein, Kuhn and Winch. Far from being 'relativists' or abstract controversialists, Gunnell shows these three to be major figures in the 'philosophy of the sciences', figures who together can be seen as renewing our very conception of philosophy: by turning philosophy itself into what it always has been, but has always resisted being seen as: itself a form of social inquiry. Gunnell takes seriously, as few ever have before, Winch's crucial move of pointing up that social relations are "a species of internal relations". He thus brings alive a radically different conception of society from that which a widespread scientism purveys. Furthermore, Gunnell makes the Wittgensteinian point brilliantly that the social world is 'autonomous' in a way that the natural world is not: whereas natural science goes 'all the way down', for the natural world does not already have any preferred way of describing itself, social studies come up against the autonomy of the already pre-categorised social world at every turn. Gunnell's depiction of Kuhn is deft, and brings out helpfully aspects of the huge influence that Cavell had on Kuhn. This book deserves to be read by philosophers and 'social scientists' alike. -- Rupert Read, author of Wittgenstein Among the Sciences: Wittgensteinian Investigations into the "Scientific Method" Despite the special meanings of its subtitle, this book will not, in common parlance, 'leave everything as it is.' Thanks to his exacting attention to what they actually wrote and avoiding the polemical debates into which their work was subsequently drawn, John G. Gunnell vividly demonstrates the relevance of the insights of Wittgenstein and Kuhn to the conceptual, interpretive, and historical dimensions of social inquiry. Indeed, with characteristic clarity and historical acumen, Gunnell presents Wittgenstein's philosophy as the very basis for social inquiry and Kuhn's history of science as an exemplar of that social inquiry in action. If, with Wittgenstein, 'words are deeds,' then the words in this book are deeds exceedingly well done. -- James Farr, Northwestern University The author's scholarship is exceptional. His grasp of detail and the interrelations between the protagonists, Wittgenstein, Kuhn, Winch, Feyerabend, and others is extraordinary. His knowledge of the texts and of Wittgenstein especially is remarkable and detailed. Review of MetaphysicsTable of ContentsPreface List of Abbreviations Introduction 1. Thomas Kuhn and the Shadow of Wittgenstein 2. Wittgenstein and Social Theory 3. Mind, Meaning, and Interpretation 4. Investigating the Investigations 5. Conventional Objects, Concepts, and the Practice of Interpretation 6. Interpreting Science: Kuhn as a Social Theorist 7. Wittgenstein on the Moon: Certainty, Truth, and Value References Index

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewWhat is a distinctly political ethic, one responsive to the unique properties of action and power in setting the terms of collective life? What is a radical democratic ethic, one contoured to substantive equality and power sharing? In this original study, Antonio Y. Vazquez-Arroyo probes every dimension of these timely questions. By turns exquisitely subtle and ardently polemical, Political Responsibility restores political theory's promise of worldly illumination. -- Wendy Brown, University of California, Berkeley Remarkably erudite and conceptually lucid, Political Responsibility scrutinizes the complex relationship that, from Machiavelli to Adorno, binds ethics with politics. Antonio Y. Vazquez-Arroyo unveils the upshots of the 'ethical turn' that has shaped the humanities in the last decades: a depoliticized fetishism of human rights combined with the actual accommodation to the individualistic ethos of neoliberalism. His plea for a political responsibility rooted on commonality and oriented towards collective action is as convincing as it is refreshing. -- Enzo Traverso, Cornell University A sweeping work of integrative intellectual history, Political Responsibility is a major book in every sense-in the topic it takes on, in its range of reference, and above all in its ambition. It is certain to be a reference point for those debating the future of the field. -- James Ingram, McMaster UniversityTable of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Historicizing the Ethical Turn 2. Responsibility in History 3. Autonomy, Ethics, Intrasubjectivity 4. Ethical Reductions 5. Adorno and the Dialectic of Responsibility 6. Political Ethic, Violence, and Defeat Notes Index

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Book SynopsisPhilosophers on Film from Bergson to Badiou is an anthology of writings on cinema and film by many of the major thinkers in continental philosophy. The book presents a selection of fundamental texts, each introduced by the editor, Christopher Kul-Want, who places the philosophers within a historical and intellectual framework.Trade ReviewAny film lover in or freshly out of school may just have their life changed with this little diddy. * CriterionCast *Philosophers on Film is an important collection, especially for students first breaking into film studies or scholars who desire quick reference to diverse groundbreaking texts. -- ANDREW KETTLER, University of South Carolina * Historical Journal of Film, Radio, and Television *The contemporary philosophers included in this anthology have been prominent in Anglophone discourse in the humanities over the last twenty years, yet their contributions to film theory have not been addressed in a systematic fashion. Philosophers on Film from Bergson to Badiou offers a coherent framework for approaching this diverse group of philosophers, and the summaries of the arguments of the individual selections are informed, accurate, and accessible. This anthology promises to serve an important function in cinema studies. -- Ronald Bogue, University of GeorgiaAn essential collection that gathers the most important works, both classical and contemporary, on film and philosophy. It covers all of the field’s complex configurations from the continental tradition: philosophy of film, philosophy in film, as well as film as philosophy. No serious film philosopher will be able to leave home without it. -- John Ó Maoilearca, Kingston University, LondonThis important and comprehensive collection offers a complex and carefully chosen series of texts that set out the difficult and urgent relations between film and philosophy, as well as between popular cultures and critical thinking over the last century. Christopher Kul-Want's introduction is a subtle and definitive guide through these crucial issues of modern culture that will enable the reader to find their own place among them. -- Adrian Rifkin, Goldsmiths College, University of LondonTable of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Creative Evolution, by Henri Bergson2. The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility, by Walter Benjamin3. The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception, by Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer4. The Film and the New Psychology, by Maurice Merleau-Ponty5. On Contemporary Alienation or the End of the Pact with the Devil, by Jean Baudrillard6. The Looking Glass, from the Other Side, by Luce Irigaray7. Acinema, by Jean-François Lyotard8. Cinema I: The Movement-Image, by Gilles Deleuze9. Cinema II: The Time-Image, by Gilles Deleuze10. The Malady of Grief: Duras, by Julia Kristeva11. Notes on Gesture, by Giorgio Agamben12. “In His Bold Gaze My Ruin Is Writ Large”, by Slavoj Žižek13. And Life Goes On: Life and Nothing More, by Jean-Luc Nancy14. Contesting Tears, the Hollywood Melodrama of the Unknown Woman, by Stanley Cavell15. From One Manhunt to Another: Fritz Lang Between Two Ages, by Jacques Rancière16. Cinema as Philosophical Experimentation, by Alain Badiou17. Cinematic Time, by Bernard Stiegler18. The Miracle of Analogy: or, The History of Photography, Part 1, by Kaja SilvermanSelected BibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisAxel Honneth is known for his critique of modern society centered on a concept of recognition. Jacques Rancière has advanced a theory of modern politics based on disagreement. In a rare dialogue, these philosophers explore the affinities and tensions between their perspectives to provoke new ideas for social and political change.Trade ReviewWhen two hard stones are rubbed against each other, it produces sparks and light: this is what happens with this encounter 'in the real' between two major 'critical' philosophers of our time, both committed to democratizing democracy but addressing its current limits from opposite angles. A synthesis is not possible, though a commuting is immensely fruitful in order to elaborate one's own choices. The conversation is perfectly staged and commented upon by the editors. This book will be a point of reference. -- Etienne Balibar, author of Violence and Civility: On the Limits of Political Philosophy What form should critical theory take today? This is the question at stake in this encounter between two influential social and political philosophers. The editors expertly situate this dialogue within the terrain of contemporary critical theory, producing a text that will spark new conversations in the field. -- David Owen, author of Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morality After repeated failed efforts over the preceding decades to manufacture a debate or force an encounter between the putative representatives of German critical theory and French post-structuralism, this book may be the first to succeed at staging a genuine engagement between two preeminent figures in contemporary critical thought. This mise en scene ultimately produces its own mesentente-since each author says 'equality' and 'recognition' yet there is never the same understanding-but perhaps that is the book's greatest strength: to bring this dis-agreement into animacy, to attempt the distorting translation of these untranslatable terms, and in the process to allow the reader to experience the power of Honneth and Ranciere's thought. -- Samuel A. Chambers, author of Bearing Society in Mind: Theories and Politics of the Social Formation This timely and important book brings together for the first time two of the leading practitioners of what can be termed 'critical theory,' the borderland where critical approaches to social and political theory, philosophy, and other fields as dispersed as history, aesthetics, and psychology meet. In so doing, Recognition or Disagreement will help to revive critical theory as a politically engaged and philosophically rigorous intellectual endeavor that extends across disciplines, approaches, and traditions, and to renew the long but disjointed dialogue between German and French approaches to the field. It is a major contribution. -- James Ingram, author of Radical Cosmopolitics: The Ethics and Politics of Democratic Universalism In this fascinating and groundbreaking exchange, the eminent thinkers Axel Honneth and Jacques Ranciere discuss the differences between their respective paradigms of recognition and disagreement. Is social struggle driven by the desire for inclusion within established democratic forms or by a more radical impulse to challenge the legitimacy of the dominant order itself? Is the task of the theorist to reveal hidden forms of social suffering or to bear witness to the agency of the oppressed in the fight for equality? As well as clarifying their differences, the thinkers converge on the shared conviction that the experience of injustice must be of paramount concern for political theorizing rather than, as is more often the case nowadays, being regarded as a surprising deviation from the norm of justice. For anyone interested in the continuing encounter between French and German critical theory, this is an indispensable and thought-provoking read. -- Lois McNay, author of Bearing Society in Mind: Theories and Politics of the Social FormationTable of ContentsPart I. Setting the Stage 1. Jacques Ranciere and Axel Honneth: (Two?) Critical Approaches to the Political, by Katia Genel 2. Between Honneth and Ranciere: Problems and Potentials of a Contemporary Critical Theory of Society, by Jean-Philippe Deranty Part II. A Critical Encounter 3. Critical Questions: On the Theory of Recognition, by Jacques Ranciere 4. Remarks on the Philosophical Approach of Jacques Ranciere, by Axel Honneth 5. A Critical Discussion Part III. The Method of Critical Theory: Propositions 6. The Method of Equality: Politics and Poetics, by Jacques Ranciere 7. Of the Poverty of Our Liberty: The Greatness and Limits of Hegel's Doctrine of Ethical Life, by Axel Honneth Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisA historical-conceptual perspective on the concept of "the political"Trade ReviewElias Palti's book is one of the most original interpretations of the political (as opposed to politics) in many years. His conceptual history is a longue duree account of practices of representation of the divine, the sovereign, the people, war, and the search for a basic unity of the world. As we consider whether we have come to the end of this long quest, this book can be read as the story of our journey. -- Jeremy I. Adelman, Henry Charles Lea Professor of History and Director of the Global History Lab at Princeton University A tour de force. Palti's concise conceptual history of 'the political' dethrones our most cherished ideas about what political modernity is and where it came from. -- Mark Thurner, Institute of Latin American Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London This is a key book that fills significant gaps in the scholarship of the long conceptual history of the political. -- Federico Finchelstein, The New School for Social Research Palti's book is the best expression of the need to reconsider theology in light of its historical link to the Baroque. -- Maria Pia Lara, Universidad Autonoma de Mexico At a time when confidence in virtually all traditional modes of governance is rapidly eroding, the historical roots of our current dilemma have to be exposed before any prospect can exist of viable solutions. In this bold and ambitious survey of Western political theory and practice since the 17th century, which draws its lessons from European and Latin American history, as well as baroque and modern art, Elias Palti provides a ruthlessly incisive analysis of the sources of our unfolding crisis. An Archaeology of the Political exemplifies the power of conceptual history at its best not only to illuminate the past, but also perhaps light the way a better future. -- Martin E. Jay, University of California, BerkeleyTable of ContentsSeries Editor's Foreword, by Dick Howard Acknowledgments Introduction: A Conceptual History of the Political-the Archaeological Project 1. The Theological Genesis of the Political 2. The Tragic Scene: The Symbolic Nature of Power and the Problem of Expression 3. The Discourse of Emancipation and the Emergence of Democracy as a Problem: The Latin American Case 4. The Rebirth of the Tragic Scene and the Emergence of the Political as a Conceptual Problem Conclusion: The End of a Long Cycle-the Second Disenchantment of the World Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisStefani Engelstein argues that the sibling paradigm shaped the modern subject, life sciences, human sciences, and collective identities such as race, religion, and gender. Integrating close readings with panoramic intellectual history, Sibling Action presents a compelling new understanding of systems of knowledge.Trade ReviewAs inviting, invigorating and stimulating an academic book as I have encountered. An astonishing read from the first page to the last. -- Adrian Daub, Stanford UniversityTable of ContentsList of IllustrationsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: The Sibling and ModernityPart I. Recuperating the Sibling1. Sibling LogicPart II. Fraternity and Revolution2. The Shadows of Fraternity3. Economizing Desire: The Sibling (in) LawPart III. Genealogical Sciences4. Living Languages: Comparative Philology and Evolution5. The East Comes Home: Race and ReligionEpilogue: Spawning DisciplinesNotesWorks CitedIndex

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Book SynopsisThe role of subjectivity, defiance, agency, and affect theory in contemporary queer theoryTrade ReviewThe Ethics of Opting Out grapples with the debates about utopia and negativity that have engaged queer critics for over a decade. Rather than simply taking sides, Mari Ruti works through the theoretical underpinnings of these positions, providing clear explanations and useful correctives along the way. By joining Lacanian fidelity to desire with the impulse to repair, Ruti points the way toward a queer ethics that is antinormative without being antisocial. -- Heather Love, Associate Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania The Ethics of Opting Out makes an unprecedented and unparalleled intervention into the field of queer theory. Ruti brings her profound expertise in both Lacanian theory and Foucauldian thought to the project, and it enables her to write a book that transcends the division that has hitherto defined the field. This is required reading not only for queer theorists but for anyone concerned with the question of ethics today. -- Todd McGowan, associate professor of English, the University of Vermont This is an amazing book for its comprehensively critical and masterly treatment of the field of queer studies. Butler's relational anti-Lacanian ethics as well as Edelman's Lacanian anti-relationalism come in for equally vigorous criticism. Instead Ruti makes a pitch for a new Lacanian relational ethics of, if not love for, then at least living with the inhuman awkwardness of your neighbor. -- Henry Krips, Andrew W. Mellon All-Claremont Chair of Humanities and Professor of Cultural Studies at Claremont Graduate UniversityTable of ContentsAuthor's Note Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Queer Theory and the Ethics of Opting Out 2. From Butlerian Reiteration to Lacanian Defiance 3. Why There Is Always a Future in the Future 4. Beyond the Antisocial-Social Divide 5. The Uses and Misuses of Bad Feelings Conclusion: A Dialogue on Silence with Jordan Mulder References Index

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Book SynopsisThe role of subjectivity, defiance, agency, and affect theory in contemporary queer theoryTrade ReviewThe Ethics of Opting Out grapples with the debates about utopia and negativity that have engaged queer critics for over a decade. Rather than simply taking sides, Mari Ruti works through the theoretical underpinnings of these positions, providing clear explanations and useful correctives along the way. By joining Lacanian fidelity to desire with the impulse to repair, Ruti points the way toward a queer ethics that is antinormative without being antisocial. -- Heather Love, Associate Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania The Ethics of Opting Out makes an unprecedented and unparalleled intervention into the field of queer theory. Ruti brings her profound expertise in both Lacanian theory and Foucauldian thought to the project, and it enables her to write a book that transcends the division that has hitherto defined the field. This is required reading not only for queer theorists but for anyone concerned with the question of ethics today. -- Todd McGowan, associate professor of English, the University of Vermont This is an amazing book for its comprehensively critical and masterly treatment of the field of queer studies. Butler's relational anti-Lacanian ethics as well as Edelman's Lacanian anti-relationalism come in for equally vigorous criticism. Instead Ruti makes a pitch for a new Lacanian relational ethics of, if not love for, then at least living with the inhuman awkwardness of your neighbor. -- Henry Krips, Andrew W. Mellon All-Claremont Chair of Humanities and Professor of Cultural Studies at Claremont Graduate UniversityTable of ContentsAuthor's Note Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Queer Theory and the Ethics of Opting Out 2. From Butlerian Reiteration to Lacanian Defiance 3. Why There Is Always a Future in the Future 4. Beyond the Antisocial-Social Divide 5. The Uses and Misuses of Bad Feelings Conclusion: A Dialogue on Silence with Jordan Mulder References Index

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Book SynopsisIn this strikingly original book, Barbara Carnevali offers a philosophical examination of the roles that appearances play in social life. While Western metaphysics and morals have predominantly disdained appearances and expelled them from their domain, Carnevali invites us to look at society, ancient to contemporary, as an aesthetic phenomenon.Trade ReviewThis is a powerful and paradigm-shifting aesthetics of society, by a great philosophical talent. -- Simon Critchley, author of Tragedy, the Greeks, and UsBarbara Carnevali's concept of 'social aesthetics' is tremendously powerful, and explains a lot of otherwise baffling phenomena. Carnevali makes me think that the rise of Orban and Trump and the Brexit movement is better understood as a matter of social 'taste' than in terms of ideology, or economics, or identity. -- Blake Gopnik, author of WarholOscar Wilde famously quipped that only shallow people do not judge by appearances. This elegant, profound, and erudite book explores the startling proposition that we may indeed be what we seem. The reader of this book will not fail to be convinced that 'appearances' are constitutive of society. -- Eva Illouz, author of The End of Love: A Sociology of Negative RelationsEvery sentence in this brilliant book is a unit of thought; it’s as epigrammatic as Nietzsche and as seamlessly developed as, say, Hume. And it helps that it’s new. Carnevali has restored aesthetics to its central role in philosophy. -- Edmund White, author of The Unpunished Vice: A Life of ReadingTable of ContentsAcknowledgmentsProloguePart I. Appearing: On the Aesthetic Foundations of Social Life1. Life as a Spectacle: Self-Display, Reflexivity, and Artifice2. Masks and Clothes: Medial Surfaces and the Dialectic of Appearing3. Aesthetic Mediation: A Theory of Representations4. Figures: Social Images5. Out of Control: The Alienated ImagePart II. Vanity and Lies: On the Hostility Toward Appearances6. “Vanity Fair”: The Frivolity of Worldliness7. Against the Mask: The Rise of Social Romanticism8. Against the Spectacle: The Crusade of Romantic Anticapitalism9. Against Aesthetic Values: Aestheticism, Aestheticization, and Staging10. Two Baptisms and a Divorce: Homo Economicus Versus Homo AestheticusPart III. Toward a Social Aesthetics: On the Sensible Logic of Society11. The Opening: Aesthetic Foundations of the Common World12. Aisthesis: Senses and Social Sensibility13. Social Taste and the Will to Please14. Aesthetic Labor and Social Design: The Value of Appearances15. Prestige and Other Magic SpellsConclusion: Social Immaterialism or the Philosophy of Andy WarholAfterwordAppendix: Illustrations Mentioned in the TextNotesIndex

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Book SynopsisRey Chow rearticulates the plight of the humanities in the age of global finance and neoliberal mores through a focus on Foucault's concept outside. She foregrounds a nonutilitarian approach, stressing anew the intellectual and pedagogical objectives fundamental to humanistic inquiry.Trade ReviewIn this lucid, concise, and passionate book, Rey Chow theorizes the dire effects of entrepreneurial capitalism in our digital age while showing how a humanistic intellectual should confront the essential problems created and obscured by that capitalism. This recovery of Foucault is brilliant, timely, and liberating. -- Paul A. Bové, author of Love's ShadowIn A Face Drawn in Sand, Rey Chow not only offers a provocative and original reading of Foucault but also mobilizes this reading to analyze some of the most important oppositions in literary studies today: close reading versus distant reading, surface reading with its re-aestheticization of the text versus STEM-inspired social science approaches, identity versus racialization, among others. Rather than attempt simply to adjudicate these conflicts in the interests of compromise, Chow reconstructs their theoretical and historical conditions of possibility to determine how these oppositions came to be posed in their current form. In doing so, she allows us to rethink them and perhaps better articulate the problems they seek to address. This is a much-needed book. -- Warren Montag, coauthor of The Other Adam SmithIf, as Foucault said, we have yet to cut off the head of the king, Chow offers the sharpest blade yet: critique forged in immanence. With the equanimity of a saint and the tenacity of a battle-scarred scholar, she puts a point on Foucault’s productive hypothesis: to denounce power is not to say no to it. The result is a compelling series of interventions into the fields of study that matter most for humanistic inquiry today: critical race studies, sound studies, media studies, transnational and global studies. Chow’s gift is a vision of what these fields might be, beheaded. -- Thomas Lamarre, author of The Anime Ecology: A Genealogy of Television, Animation, and Game MediaA Face Drawn in Sand cuts into the present with breathtaking clarity. Redeploying Foucault’s work in startling new ways, Chow engages everything from humanistic study in the neoliberal university to racism, sound theory, the digitized smart self, and sand painting. As brilliant as it is courageous, this book not only changes how we read Foucault. It teaches us how to think: how to press against the limits of our contemporary order. A tour de force! -- Lynne Huffer, author of Foucault's Strange ErosChow’s text accomplishes something rare these days: an original reading of Foucault that crackles with insight. * Critical Inquiry *Table of ContentsPart I. Humanistic Inquiry in the Era of the Moralist-EntrepreneurIntroduction: Rearticulating “Outside”Part II. Exercises in the Unthought1. Literary Study’s Biopolitics2. “There Is a ‘There Is’ of Light”; or, Foucault’s (In)visibilities3. Thinking “Race” with Foucault4. “Fragments at Once Random and Necessary”: The Énoncé Revisited, Alongside Acousmatic Listening5. From the Confessing Animal to the SmartselfCoda: Intimations from a Series of Faces Drawn in SandAcknowledgmentsNotesIndex

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Book SynopsisDespite growing interest in her philosophy, Simone de Beauvoir remains widely misunderstood. She is typically portrayed as a mere intellectual follower of her companion, Jean-Paul Sartre. In Philosophical Writings, Beauvoir herself shows that nothing could be further from the truth. Beauvoir''s philosophical work suffers from a lack of English-language translation or, worse, mistranslation into heavily condensed popular versions. Philosophical Writings provides an unprecedented collection of complete, scholarly editions of philosophical texts that cover the first twenty-three years of Beauvoir''s career, including a number of recently discovered works. Ranging from metaphysical literature to existentialist ethics, Philosophical Writings brings together diverse elements of Beauvoir''s work while highlighting continuities in the development of her thought. Each of the translations features detailed notes and a scholarly introduction explaining its larger significaTrade Review"A valuable addition to collections of philosophy, feminism, and modern French literature. Recommended."--Choice"What emerges from the essays Philosophical Writings collects will neither shock nor surprise Beauvoir scholars but is sure to delight. . . . The editors and contributors to Philosophical Writings have crafted an engaging text that is sure to encourage a deeper interest in the study of Beauvoir and her place in the philosophical canon."--Hypatia"This work is a treasure. Now, English-speaking readers who are not fluent in French will have the opportunity to read these selections for themselves. Each piece is preceded by a very helpful introduction and commentary by a well-known Beauvoir scholar, who places the piece in context and notes how it relates to one or more of Beauvoir's better-known works that have long been translated into English. Each selection also has its own translator (distinct from the commentator). The translations read beautifully, and they also have appropriately detailed scholarly notes, which make the selections even more accessible to students. . . . There is no other book to compete with this one."--Claudia Card, editor of Cambridge Companion to Simone de Beauvoir"I am amazed by this volume, which alone makes it clear that Beauvoir's philosophy informs rather than is derived from Sartre's. Philosophical Writings is an outstanding gem. This series will change the history of philosophy."--Kelly Oliver, author of Witnessing: Beyond RecognitionTable of ContentsAnalysis of Claude Bernard's Introduction to the study of experimental medicine1924; Two unpublished chapters from She came to stay 1935-37; Pyrrhus and Cineas 1944; A review of Phenomenology of Perception by Merleau-Ponty 1945; Moral idealisme and political realism 1945; Existentialism and popular wisdom 1945; Jean-Paul Sartre 1945; An eye for an eye 1946; Literature and metaphysics 1946; Introduction to an ethics of ambiguity 1946; An existentialist looks at Americans 1947; What is existentialism? 1947

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewJanicaud shows himself to be a charming writer, and the English translation admirably conveys the clarity and deftness of his French prose into English. Indeed, one largely unsung quality of Janicaud's writings, be it this text or his more properly philosophical works, is his prose; combining clarity with wit, he is much more enjoyable to read than many of his contemporaries, and his translators are to be complemented for bringing those elements with them into the English translation. * The Heythrop Journal *In sum, this book is informed, interesting,well written, useful, and as accurate as it could have been for someone writing at a time when relevant documentation was being withheld by Heidegger's followers. * American Historical Review *Heidegger in France is a major contribution to the history of Continental philosophy and to French phenomenology. . . Essential. * Choice *Janicaud sheds light on the contemporary French philosophical scene and he has done this from an angle seldom seen by others. It is a lively story and reminds us that the life of ideas, the destiny of a thought, is an exciting matter. * Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsTranslators' IntroductionPart I.Introduction1. First Crossings of the Rhine2. The Sartre Bomb3. Postwar Fascinations4. Humanism in Turmoil5. The Bright Spell of the '50s6. Renewed Polemics, New Shifts7. Dissemination or Reconstruction?8. Death and Transfiguration?9. The Letter and the Spirit10. The Return of the Repressed?11. Between Erudite Scholarship and Techno-Science12. At the CrossroadsConclusionPart II. InterviewsFrançoise Dastur: Interview of March 3, 2000Jacques Derrida: Interviews from July 1 and November 22, 1999Éliane Escoubas: Interview of October 19, 2000Jean Greisch: Interview of December 2, 1999Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe: Interview of June 22, 2000Jean-Luc Marion: Interview of December 3, 1999Jean-Luc Nancy: Interview of June 23, 2000NotesSelected BibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"In the tradition of Continental Philosophy, Heidegger, Arendt, and Derrida loom large, and Krell is perhaps unique in having had personal relationships with all three. The reader comes away from this book with vivid pictures of these philosophers. We learn not only about aspects of their professional lives, but also about them as people at the times Krell knew them. A delight to read."—Samir Haddad, Fordham University"The text brims with philosophical ideas from the three thinkers—as well as from Nietzsche, whose presence shadows much of the narrative—and these ideas are presented clearly and discussed in ways that are invariably illuminating. The prose flows beautifully, with frequent sparkles of wit and erudite humour. The interweaving of ideas and themes with engaging anecdotes is judicious and nuanced. I found the entire account enthralling."—Graham Parkes, University of ViennaTable of ContentsPreface1. Before the Beginning2. Translating Heidegger3. Meeting Martin Heidegger4. The Debt and the Distance5. Meeting Hannah Arendt6. Arendt with and without Heidegger7. Meeting Jacques Derrida: The Geschlecht Project8. Lifedeath—Following the Animals9. Each Time Unique 10. Concluding ReflectionsIllustrationsIndex

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"In the tradition of Continental Philosophy, Heidegger, Arendt, and Derrida loom large, and Krell is perhaps unique in having had personal relationships with all three. The reader comes away from this book with vivid pictures of these philosophers. We learn not only about aspects of their professional lives, but also about them as people at the times Krell knew them. A delight to read."—Samir Haddad, Fordham University"The text brims with philosophical ideas from the three thinkers—as well as from Nietzsche, whose presence shadows much of the narrative—and these ideas are presented clearly and discussed in ways that are invariably illuminating. The prose flows beautifully, with frequent sparkles of wit and erudite humour. The interweaving of ideas and themes with engaging anecdotes is judicious and nuanced. I found the entire account enthralling."—Graham Parkes, University of ViennaTable of ContentsPreface1. Before the Beginning2. Translating Heidegger3. Meeting Martin Heidegger4. The Debt and the Distance5. Meeting Hannah Arendt6. Arendt with and without Heidegger7. Meeting Jacques Derrida: The Geschlecht Project8. Lifedeath—Following the Animals9. Each Time Unique 10. Concluding ReflectionsIllustrationsIndex

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Book SynopsisProvides a compilation of the thought and work of W. Norris Clarke, S.J., a philosopher inspired by the Thomistic tradition, who in 45 years of teaching and writing has delved into many of the central problems of perennial philosophy and made a significant contribution to the ongoing history of American Thomism.Trade Review"Explorations in Metaphysics is both a reflection of W. Norris Clarke's long career of probing and questioning and the product of an intellect focused on some of the most profound and difficult problems facing the contemporary metaphysician. Although Clarke's textual knowledge of Aquinas is unsurpassed, he is no exegete; rather he is a dynamic interpreter drawing upon a master as he engages some of the best minds of his own generation. Whatever the topic . . . one can count on uncommon learning and analysis." —Jude P. Dougherty, The Catholic University of America“This collection of ten essays from the philosophical journeys of Fr. Norris Clarke, S.J., . . . covers the familiar metaphysical territory of being, God, and person, but each time the traveler insists on looking at the same subjects with fresh eyes. He is anxious to identify within those timeless truths emphasized by Thomistic metaphysics what it is that needs special emphasis to be correctly understood in light of present day philosophical terminology and the current matrix of philosophical concerns.” —American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly“This . . . is a welcome resource to 'Thomistically inspired' metaphysicians. Revised in part to include [Clarke's] latest insights and published with an illuminating autobiographical introduction to his philosophical thought, these essays have lost nothing of their original vigor, clarity, and relevance. . . . [Clarke] offers an insightful, challenging, and eminently readable book, one that should awaken its readers to 'the seminal riches in St. Thomas' metaphysical thought' and help them continue [his] own work of 'creative completion.’ ” —Theological Studies“. . . this volume offers contemporary Catholic philosophy at its best. . . . These essays succeed admirable in . . . showing us how rediscovering the riches of its own tradition can enable Catholic philosophy to engage the contemporary intellectual world and address the critical issues of our day.” —First Things

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Book SynopsisThis work is Maritain's masterpiece. Published as ""Distinguer pour unir, ou Les degres du savoir"" in 1932, the book proposes a hierarchy of forms of knowledge that culminates in mystical experience and that wisdom which is a gift of the Holy Ghost. His inspiration is St Thomas Aquinas.Trade Review"One can open The Degrees of Knowledge to almost any page and discover there something worth thinking about." —Pastoral Life * Perspectives on Political Science *"The Degrees of Knowledge represents one of the most complete articulations of Maritain's incorporation of the thinking of Saint Thomas Aquinas into his work." —The Library Quarterly * Choice *“The Degrees of Knowledge remains interesting and valuable because it deals with a theme that is characteristic of, but antedates, much of postmodern thought—i.e., the critique of ‘modern epistemology.’ —Études maritainiennes * Commentary *

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Book SynopsisThe three books presented in this volume, Integral Humanism, Freedom in the Modern World, and A Letter on Independence, were all written in the early 1930s, a time of dire trouble for France. France was then surrounded by enemies preparing for war and was itself so violently split between parties of Left and Right that it seemed on the verge of civil war. In this collection, Jacques Maritain accepts the responsibility of a Christian philosopher to actively address the agonizing practical problems of the time.Maritain discusses major political issues such as the relation of freedom and religion, the opposition of democracy to any form of totalitarianism, the relation of the spiritual and the temporal, the need for an integral and Christian humanism, and the prospects for a new Christian civilization, all in opposition to the materialism of both communism and capitalism.Against the fierce antagonism of the parties of the political Left and Right, Mar

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Book SynopsisFocusing on the contemporary experience of cultural and religious pluralism, the authors in this volume work toward a reconception of the basic concepts in philosophy of religionthe idea of God and the religious ways of knowing that ideaas historically dynamic.Eliot Deutsch argues that aesthetic and religious considerations are not peripheral to philosophy but are at the heart of the philosophic enterprise. Cornel West shows how recent developments in American philosophy, particularly in the work of Quine, Goodman, and Sellars, have opened up the possibility of a historicist philosophy of religion. After reviewing some of the fundamental defenses for belief in God in his neoclassical theism, Charles Hartshorne elaborates the argument from order and the argument from the rational aim. J.N. Findlay insists that the philosophy of religion is itself part of religious knowing, and so, that there can be no radical distinction between philosophic method and personal religious belief

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Book SynopsisThis text explores the notion that home is both a place and a condition of spirit. While a person may have a place that is home, he or she may also be nostalgic for an inner spiritual home, beyond human grasp. It combines autobiographical essays, with philosophical and religious explorations.Trade Review“Rouner introduces the volume with a masterful attempt to bring together and summarize the themes and issues that emerge from the contributions of these distinguished essayists.” —Journal of Religion“This volume continues the practice of earlier volumes in this series: illuminating issues routinely overlooked by professional philosophers and religious thinkers. In this collection, the editor gathers together the reflections of a distinguished group of thinkers on the multilayered meanings of home. The selections are eclectic and as wide-ranging as the nuance inherent in the subject, but something provocative should be available to any reader.” —Religious Studies Review

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"[Dunne] calls on us to ponder the depths of our lives where our souls cry out to us for recognition and where we wrestle with God for the precious grace of meaning. Dunne is a masterful guide to the inner life, which is the heart of all life-and death." —The Christian Century

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Book SynopsisPresents a persuasive argument of there not being rationality that is not the rationality of some tradition. MacIntyre examines the problems presented by the existence of rival traditions of inquiry in the cases of four major philosophers: Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, and Hume.Trade Review"Alasdair MacIntyre has done it again. . . . [He] delivers on his promise in After Virtue to develop an account of rationality and justice that is tradition specific. It is a long and complex book, but will repay any reader's labors. In this book MacIntyre tells the story of four traditions: the Aristotelian, the Augustinian, the Scottish, and the rise of the liberal tradition. His narrative shows the interaction of these in a manner that illumines our current intellectual and moral context. . . ." —Commonweal"It is a step in the right direction, not of returning to some Catholic version of fundamentalist bibliotary, but of reading a Christian theologian and philosopher whose immense wisdom repays careful study by Christians and non-Christians alike." —New Oxford Review“Whose Justice? Which Rationality? is a work of signal importance ... [it] is usually convincing, always provocative, and has wide-reaching implications for the way we think about our historical moment." —Commentary“MacIntyre’s rich historical exposition displays all the erudition and philosophical subtlety that his readers have come to expect from his work. . . . [T]here is much to admire in MacIntyre’s unflinching indictment of liberal modernity.” —The New Criterion“[MacIntyre’s] diagnosis of what ails recent moral philosophy is brilliant.” —Wilson Quarterly“MacIntyre is widely informed and his story of developments in the traditions that he identifies is learned, interesting, and notably well-written.” —London Review of Books

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Book SynopsisDespite the separation between classical and modern theories of government, contributors to Aristotle and Modern Politics find Aristotle a useful interlocutor for assessing both possibilities and limitations in contemporary politics. In this collection, noted political scientists, theologians, and philosophers discuss the magnitude of Aristotle's presence in contemporary debate and demonstrate some of the ways in which Aristotle sheds new light on contemporary problems. This engaging book also exhibits the persistence of political philosophy at a time when the pervasive influence of ideology and historicism lead many to deny its possibility. Although the authors of these essays differ on the nature of Aristotle's contribution, all are united by the conviction that he has something important to teach citizens of modern political societies.If the fundamental principles of modern politics were drawn from critical reflections of reason over and against the imposition of Trade Review"...this eclectic collection of essays serves to illustrate the ways in which the perceived shortcomings of modern liberal politics can be understood, if not corrected, with reference to several of Aristotle's writings. The success of this book is due, in large part, to its dialectical character. ...this is a very fine volume indeed. Its diverse elements come together to forma remarkable whole, one that makes its reading both pleasurable and informative. It also succeeds in sparking new and exciting debates...."—International Journal of the Classical Tradition“. . . highly researched, well grounded in contemporary literature as well as in Aristotle, and highly readable. The authors show a rare ability to bring out the best in those whom they study . . . highly recommended.” —Choice“The serious revival of Aristotelianism is exemplified by Aristotle and Modern Politics, edited by Aristide Tessitore. The twelve essays presented here—all but two for the first time—aim to show what Aristotle has to teach us about community, virtue, law, economics, and the foundations of modern politics. In each case, the subject is not merely some Aristotelian hobbyhorse, but a matter of lively, even heated debate in contemporary scholarship on the meaning and value of liberalism.” —Perspectives on Political Science“[T]his volume ... performs a signal service. In addition to exploring how Aristotelian insights can be drawn upon to advance contemporary intellectual and policy debates, it also begins what is probably an overdue effort to correct misrepresentations of the authentic Aristotle by some of his recent champions.” —Claremont Review of Books“The strength of this collection lies in the high quality of each contribution and of each contributor:.... These essays embody much of the best Aristotelian political theory in America today. These are important essays on important topics and there is somthing here for everyone.” —Perspectives on Politics“This is a distinguished volume.... [T]he scope and high quality of most of the essays demonstrate the strengths of the contemporary revival of Aristotelian political philosophy. [S]everal of the contributors are at the cutting edge of this revival. The general quality of the essays, the ways they explore an interesting variety of modern political themes from a classical perspective, and the implicit conversation among the essays make this volume uniquely useful for those interested in looking at contemporary life through the still powerful lens of classical political philosophy.” —Journal of Politics

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Book SynopsisDespite the separation between classical and modern theories of government, contributors to Aristotle and Modern Politics find Aristotle a useful interlocutor for assessing both possibilities and limitations in contemporary politics. In this collection, noted political scientists, theologians, and philosophers discuss the magnitude of Aristotle's presence in contemporary debate and demonstrate some of the ways in which Aristotle sheds new light on contemporary problems. This engaging book also exhibits the persistence of political philosophy at a time when the pervasive influence of ideology and historicism lead many to deny its possibility. Although the authors of these essays differ on the nature of Aristotle's contribution, all are united by the conviction that he has something important to teach citizens of modern political societies.If the fundamental principles of modern politics were drawn from critical reflections of reason over and against the imposition of Trade Review"...this eclectic collection of essays serves to illustrate the ways in which the perceived shortcomings of modern liberal politics can be understood, if not corrected, with reference to several of Aristotle's writings. The success of this book is due, in large part, to its dialectical character. ...this is a very fine volume indeed. Its diverse elements come together to forma remarkable whole, one that makes its reading both pleasurable and informative. It also succeeds in sparking new and exciting debates...."—International Journal of the Classical Tradition“. . . highly researched, well grounded in contemporary literature as well as in Aristotle, and highly readable. The authors show a rare ability to bring out the best in those whom they study . . . highly recommended.” —Choice“The serious revival of Aristotelianism is exemplified by Aristotle and Modern Politics, edited by Aristide Tessitore. The twelve essays presented here—all but two for the first time—aim to show what Aristotle has to teach us about community, virtue, law, economics, and the foundations of modern politics. In each case, the subject is not merely some Aristotelian hobbyhorse, but a matter of lively, even heated debate in contemporary scholarship on the meaning and value of liberalism.” —Perspectives on Political Science“[T]his volume ... performs a signal service. In addition to exploring how Aristotelian insights can be drawn upon to advance contemporary intellectual and policy debates, it also begins what is probably an overdue effort to correct misrepresentations of the authentic Aristotle by some of his recent champions.” —Claremont Review of Books“The strength of this collection lies in the high quality of each contribution and of each contributor:.... These essays embody much of the best Aristotelian political theory in America today. These are important essays on important topics and there is somthing here for everyone.” —Perspectives on Politics“This is a distinguished volume.... [T]he scope and high quality of most of the essays demonstrate the strengths of the contemporary revival of Aristotelian political philosophy. [S]everal of the contributors are at the cutting edge of this revival. The general quality of the essays, the ways they explore an interesting variety of modern political themes from a classical perspective, and the implicit conversation among the essays make this volume uniquely useful for those interested in looking at contemporary life through the still powerful lens of classical political philosophy.” —Journal of Politics

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Book SynopsisThe twentieth-century Dutch philosopher Herman Dooyeweerd (18941977) left behind an impressive canon of philosophical works and has continued to influence a scholarly community in Europe and North America, which has extended, critiqued, and applied his thought in many academic fields. Jonathan Chaplin introduces Dooyeweerd for the first time to many English readers by critically expounding Dooyeweerd's social and political thought and by exhibiting its pertinence to contemporary civil society debates. Chaplin begins by contextualizing Dooyeweerd's thought, first in relation to present-day debates and then in relation to the work of the Dutch philosopher Abraham Kuyper (18371920). Chaplin outlines the distinctive theory of historical and cultural development that serves as an essential backdrop to Dooyeweerd's substantive social philosophy; examines Dooyeweerd's notion of societal structural principles; and sets forth his complex classification of particular types of social stTrade Review"Finally, an authoritative book that brings to brilliant light and life Herman Dooyeweerd’s Christian philosophy of law, politics, and society. For the past half century, the profound and original teachings of this prolific Dutch sage have been lost on most readers. Jonathan Chaplin has rescued Dooyeweerd from his own obscure prose, poor translations, and cultic mystique to reveal his astonishing and engaging insights into our lives as persons and peoples, rulers and citizens, preachers and parishioners, parents and children. This will be the go-to book on Dooyeweerd for many years to come." —John Witte, Jr., Emory University“Herman Dooyeweerd was both deep and original. Much of his writing is an articulation of rather undeveloped lines of thought in his Dutch predecessor, Abraham Kuyper. In the course of his exposition, Chaplin effectively highlights Dooyeweerd's significance for a theory of civil society and for present-day social theory in general." —Nicholas Wolterstorff, Yale University and the Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Virginia“Given the challenge of such an undertaking, one can appreciate Chaplin’s cumulative exposition of Dooyeweerd’s thought; his skillful development provides an effortless transition from Chaplain’s unique philosophy to his distinct political and social thought to the application of both in contemporary issues . . . . More sophisticated readers will appreciate the realistic portrait Chaplin paints of Dooyeweerd’s thought, one that rescues Dooyeweerd’s important contribution to political and social theory from its obtuse philosophical husk and places it back into the center of the contemporary debate.” —Journal of State and Religion“Jonathan Chaplin offers us a thorough, lucid, widely accessible, and reliable guide (critical but deeply sympathetic), to the philosophy of Herman Dooyeweerd, especially his philosophy of law, society, and politics in a way that should surely bring illumination to the uninitiated and perplexed reader of this undoubtedly important but neglected Christian (Reformed Protestant) thinker of the twentieth century.” —Journal of Markets and Morality“As intellectual heir to Abraham Kuyper . . . Dooyeweerd might seem to belong to an earlier generation of Christian political thought, amongst the Christian Democrat thinkers who opposed Nazism and contributed to the post-war reconstruction of Europe . . . Chapin situates him in more contemporary debates by drawing attention to his critique of liberalism, or the ‘humanistic ground motive’ as he calls it, and his account of ‘Christian pluralism’ and how this might contribute to recent debates about Civil Society.” —Modern Theology"To unpack Dooyeweerd is no small task, especially given his penchant for neologisms and a highly nuanced use of common vernacular. Given the challenge of such an undertaking, one can appreciate Chaplin's cumulative exposition of Dooyeweerd's thought; his skillful development provides an effortless transition from Chaplin's unique philosophy to his distinct political and social thought to the application of both in contemporary issues." —Journal of Church and State". . . if you are working in social theory or political philosophy—actually, if you have any personal or professional interest in reading philosophy—or if you are intrigued by ways in which the ideas of Abraham Kuyper can be nuanced and brought to bear on the social and political questions of the 21st century, I recommend this book to you with unbridled enthusiasm." —Books and Culture“Chaplin has written a masterful book. He has partaken deeply of a profoundly Christian theorist, and the fruit of his reflection is an incisive text written in a palatable idiom that is (largely) free of the original Dutch Reformed dialect and convoluted linguistic inventions. More importantly, it is a rare author who can, in one book, introduce and summarise the work of a great thinker, critically assess the value of that thinking, and then utilize it in fashioning his own constructive proposal—and do all that in a clear and engaging manner.” —Studies in Christian Ethics“[Chaplin’s book] will provide those new to Dooyeweerd studies with an introduction that is both accessible and competent. . . . A clear strength of this book is that it does not assume any detailed prior understanding of Dooyeweerd’s systematic philosophy.” —Pro Rege“[Herman Dooyeweerd] is loaded with provocative ideas, arguments, questions, and proposed revisions to Dooyeweerd’s philosophy. Those who know the work of Dooyeweerd will find the book illuminating and thought provoking. Those who are new to Dooyeweerd will find the book a helpful introduction, though it cannot make Dooyeweerd’s difficult and complex philosophy less difficult and complex than it is. The book is an important step forward in Dooyeweerd studies.” —Philosophia Reformata

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Book SynopsisIn this book a group of renowned international scholars seek to discern the ways in which Simone Weil was indebted to Plato, and how her provocative readings of his work offer challenges to contemporary philosophy, theology, and spirituality. This is the first book in twenty years to systematically investigate Weil's Christian Platonism.The opening essays explore what actually constitutes Weil's Platonism. Louis Dupré addresses the Platonic and Gnostic elements of her thought with respect to her negative theology, and the Christian Platonism of her positive theology as found in her reflections on beauty and the Good. Michel Narcy provides a close historical reading of Weil and discusses the degree to which her teacher Alain influenced her Platonism. Michael Ross contends that Weil's interest in Plato is in ethical Platonism. Essays by Robert Chenavier and by Patrick Patterson and Lawrence E. Schmidt consider the importance of matter and materialism in Weil's Platonism and argTrade Review“These essays—some written by leading specialists in Simone Weil's thought, others by prominent philosophers of religion and theologians—are especially valuable not only for elucidating Weil's reading of Plato but also for showing what one or another form of Christian Platonism (and there are several!) can mean for us today.” —James A. Wiseman, O.S.B., The Catholic University of America"This remarkable and penetrating collection of essays on Simone Weil's religious philosophy illumines the living intersection between serious metaphysics and ethics. The authors carefully examine this relation that much post-modern reflection has until now searched after only to skim, but that Weil herself managed to embrace with breathtaking intellectual discipline and self giving. The book as a whole is a bracing testimony to the deep moral consequences of classical ontology and its challenging Christian reorientation." —The Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner, Ascension Episcopal Church, Pueblo, Colorado“A distinguished and timely collection. Throughout these essays, the richness of Weil’s thought emerges over against the complexity of the Platonic tradition. As such, the volume makes a notable contribution to Weil scholarship and to the contemporary revival of Christian Platonic theology.” —John Kenney, Saint Michael’s College"Anyone interested in Simone Weil will want, and need, to read this superb collection." —Diogenes Allen, Princeton Theological Seminary"This is a book of essays by different authors-some principally scholars of the work of Simone Weil, others philosophers of religion and theologians-whose general area is indicated by the title. It is a book to be welcomed, if only because Weil's work is important and interesting, but, with one or two notable exceptions, is little discussed in mainstream English-speaking philosophy of religion. . . this is a book worth reading." —Ars Disputandi". . . a veritable intellectual feast to be discovered when one opens this volume. This is indeed a strong collection of essays. It brings together some of the brightest Weil scholars in the world, all focusing on the crucial topic of Weil's Christian Platonism. Doering and Springsted are to be thanked for making these fine essays available to the reading public." —Cahiers Simone Weil"These 12 essays by a group of international scholars discuss the ways in which Simone Weil (1909-1943) was indebted to Plato and how her readings of Plato challenge contemporary philosophy, theology, and spirituality." —Theology Digest“. . . provides a helpful analysis from different perspectives of Weil's original approach to Plato. It sheds light on Plato and interpretations of Plato, as well as on Weil's thought.” —Faith and Reason“Devoted to the importance of Platonism to Weil, this anthology also undertakes a broad attempt to measure, through the lens of her work, the potential for a renewed appropriation of Plato for Christian self-reflection. Part of a recent trend toward the recovery of Plato as a philosopher of wisdom and ethical pertinence as well as of technical accomplishment, the essays here contribute significantly both to that recovery and to the study of Weil herself.” —Religious Studies Review“This volume is a welcome addition to the small but developing body of literature on Weil’s thought. It brings together the most important strand of recent North American and French scholarship on Weil. This collection would be a valuable place to start reflection in this direction for Christian thinkers with such concerns.” —Scottish Journal of Theology

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Book SynopsisPresent the first English editions of collected works of the Catholic Thomist philosopher Charles De Koninck (1906–1965). Trade Review“Charles De Koninck, perhaps because of his untimely death, is not as well known to English-speaking readers as Etienne Gilson and Jacques Maritain, but his work belongs to that same world-class scholarship as his notable contemporaries. It is almost an understatement to say that his contribution to the philosophy of science remains timely. Readers are fortunate that his former student, Ralph McInerny, has seen fit to collect and to translate, where necessary, some of De Koninck's most important work for this volume.” —Jude P. Dougherty, The Catholic University of America“Ralph McInerny is doing us the incalculable good of making available to a general public the writings of Charles De Koninck. This volume, the first of many to come, begins a chronological presentation of the books, articles, essays, and addresses of one of the strongest and most penetrating thinkers of the last century, who was at once an extraordinary philosopher and theologian, with the profound and simple faith of the proverbial peasant. May we continue now to learn from the great De Koninck, and include in our prayers the intentions of his gracious disciple, who is so felicitously discharging the office of piety to a revered and unforgettable master.” —Ronald P. Mc Arthur, President Emeritus, Thomas Aquinas College“This is a book for the philosophy aficionado. Scholastic thinkers who have appreciated the thoughts of Catholic Thomist philosopher Charles de Koninck (deceased 1965, Univ. of Laval, Quebec City) on the relationship of scientific thinking and religious thinking to the familiar world around us will immediately realize that this first volume of a planned three-volume set is a superb selection of his writings. Writings include his dissertation on the philosophy of Sir Arthur Eddington and his unpublished work 'the Cosmos.' His well-known considerations of indeterminism, statistical laws, and causality will trigger questions about consciousness, imagination, and the ability to comprehend the cosmos for decades to come.” —Choice“By translating these writings into English, Professor McInerny has done a great service to those who are interested in this period of philosophy, and he has made more accessible the writings of a philosopher who deserves a great deal more attention than he has received to date.” —Catholic Library World“DeKoninck's argument here goes well beyond what can be established in experimental science, but it is a great merit of his work that he is careful to distinguish what we know from experimental science, what philosophical reflection on science might contribute, and what further speculation from metaphysics and theology might add to our understanding of the cosmos.” —First Things

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Book SynopsisThe object of this book, writes William C. Dowling in his preface, is to make the key concepts of Paul Ricoeur's Time and Narrative available to readers who might have felt bewildered by the twists and turns of its argument. The sources of puzzlement are, he notes, many. For some, it is Ricoeur's famously indirect style of presentation, in which the polarities of argument and exegesis seem so often and so suddenly to have reversed themselves. For others, it is the extraordinary intellectual range of Ricoeur's argument, drawing on traditions as distant from each other as Heideggerian existentialism, French structuralism, and Anglo-American analytic philosophy. Yet beneath the labyrinthian surface of Ricoeur's Temps et récit, Dowling reveals a single extended argument that, though developed unsystematically, is meant to be understood in systematic terms. Ricoeur on Time and Narrative presents that argument in clear and concise terms, in a way that will be enlighteTrade Review"The scholarship in William C. Dowling's Ricoeur on Time and Narrative is impeccable; Dowling knows Ricoeur inside out. He highlights Ricoeur's most important arguments, presents them in a limpid, concise language, and links them to the relevant nineteenth- and twentieth-century philosophical developments. Dowling's book provides us with a lucid, intelligible version of Ricoeur's major work, one that will be of considerable significance to philosophers, historians, and literary theorists." —Thomas Pavel, Gordon J. Laing Distinguished Service Professor of French Literature, and the Committee on Social Thought, University of Chicago"William C. Dowling's Ricoeur on Time and Narrative is a subtle and remarkably well-sustained piece of work. It provides a detailed introduction to a major work of philosophy and narrative theory—already a considerable achievement, given the difficulty of Ricoeur's text. However, Dowling also shows us, sometimes explicitly, sometimes simply through the way he conducts his argument, why we should bother with Ricoeur—what we have to gain from knowing him better than we do, however well we may think we know him." —Michael Wood, Princeton University“This subtle and remarkably well-sustained piece of work provides a detailed introduction to a major work of philosophy and narrative theory.” —Michael Wood, Princeton University“Ricoeur on Time and Narrative strikes just the right balance by providing a succinct and substantive presentation of Ricoeur’s argument in Time and Narrative. . . . Teachers of Ricoeur’s work will appreciate Dowling’s ability to contextualize Ricoeur’s engagement with a wide range of his contemporaries, while scholars are likely to turn to it as a valuable reference point for their own engagements with specific issues in Ricoeur studies.” —Philosophy in Review

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Book SynopsisThis eagerly awaited study brings to completion Louis Dupré''s planned trilogy on European culture during the modern epoch. Demonstrating remarkable erudition and sweeping breadth, The Quest of the Absolute analyzes Romanticism as a unique cultural phenomenon and a spiritual revolution. Dupré philosophically reflects on its attempts to recapture the past and transform the present in a movement that is partly a return to premodern culture and partly a violent protest against it. Following an introduction on the historical origins of the Romantic Movement, Dupré examines the principal Romantic poets of England (Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, Keats), Germany (Goethe, Schiller, Novalis, Hölderlin), and France (Lamartine, de Vigny, Hugo), all of whom, from different perspectives, pursued an absolute ideal. In the chapters of the second part, he concentrates on the critical principles of Romantic aesthetics, the Romantic image of the person as reflected in the novel, and RoTrade Review"The Quest of the Absolute is the third volume in Louis Dupré's trilogy dealing with the origins and development of modernity and the major cultural currents defining its history. It follows Passage to Modernity (1993) and The Enlightenment and the Intellectual Foundations of Modern Culture (2004). This third volume deals with the Romantic movement. Dupré's impressive account is concerned to restore something of the full dimensionalities to Romanticism as a whole, to acknowledge something of the immense intellectual, political, and spiritual ambitions at work in it, without reneging on a reflective critical relation to it." —William Desmond, author of The Intimate Strangeness of Being: Metaphysics after Dialectic“Louis Dupré’s fascinating portrayal of the Romantic soul urges us to look afresh at this crucial ‘third wave’ of modernity. His thorough insight, astonishing erudition, mild judgment, and unparalleled perspicacity bring to life the works and ideas of many whimsical personalities. He convincingly demonstrates that their restless search for existential depth and authenticity reveals layers of truth and meaning that can function as a mirror for our times.” —Joris Geldhof, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium"In this extraordinarily comprehensive and penetrating study, the capstone to a great scholarly career, Louis Dupré undertakes nothing less than a grand synthesis of Romantic thought; yet the book is beautifully written and a joy to read. Discussions of English, French, and German poetry and fiction are seamlessly linked to systematic analyses of Romantic aesthetics, psychology, and ethics, as well as such other aspects of Romantic thought as the new religious and historical conceptions that emerge in the period. The Quest of the Absolute is a brilliant, indeed indispensable, book, one that demonstrates, more clearly than any previous study, why Romanticism is still relevant to the struggles that confront us in the twenty-first century." —Henry Weinfield, University of Notre Dame"With this volume, Dupré completes a trilogy that began with Passage to Modernity (1993) and proceeded with The Enlightenment and Intellectual Foundations of Modern Culture. . . . In spite of its subtitle, this volume is more than an intellectual history; it is a new synthesis of a diverse complement of beliefs and works. Dupré's vision affirms the coherence of romanticism by emphasizing its persistent quest for an unrealizable ideal. . . . The book is breathtaking in its erudition and thoughtful in its assertions." —Choice"Dupré delivers a lifetime of mature erudition attentive at once to a dizzying array of specific thinkers and a general theme that coalesces them. Reminiscent of Hegel, Heidegger, and Cassirer, Dupré refreshingly affirms against contemporary reductive models of reason that historically developing culture bears permanent intelligence. . . . More specialized studies of many sources exist, notably the literary ones, but the commentary on aesthetics, ethics, and philosophy emerges as nonpareil." —Theological Studies"The first and greatest merit of this particular study is its organization. It differs from the numerous other studies of Romanticism by its stratification. The first section is devoted to poetry. There follows a somewhat more hybrid section which includes psychology, ethics, fictional typologies, aesthetic and political theories, and finally, at the top of the pyramid an examination of Romantic theories of history, philosophical systems, and incursions in the romantic understanding or religion. . . . Perhaps the most important contribution of Dupré is the way in which he suggests delicately the continuing impact of Romanticism." —The Review of Metaphysics"The Quest of the Absolute describes the Romantic spirit as an attempt to break through the limits of finitude toward an all-inclusive absolute, a search expressed in poetry, art, and philosophy, and also in political theory, and in new modes of religious symbolization. . . . Dupré brings to life the personalities of the players, both the well-known and the obscure, and situates them in the larger events of the historical period between the revolutions of 1789 and 1848." —Catholic Library World". . . this valuable book is an introduction of great scholarly rigour, and it is therefore much more than a textbook or introduction. It should be used in any upper level course on modernity and Romantic literature and is able to shed light on the various cultural streams within the movement (German, English, and French). As the concluding volume of a trilogy, The Quest of the Absolute should be read in tandem with the first two installments, and all three together constitute an illuminating picture of the evolution of modernity before the twentieth century." —Reviews in Religion and Theology“Dupré’s sympathetic sketches of figures and themes reflect a deep knowledge of classical and early modern literature and a practitioner’s grasp of Christian theology. . . . Dupré knows the game well, and his analyses of many of his subjects give a subtle advantage to explanations that keep something like monotheistic longings consciously of unconsciously in play within their reflections.” —Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

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Book SynopsisUsing Augustine as a conversation partner, this important new book explores the value of Michel Foucault's controversial writings for theologians, ethicists, philosophers, and cultural theorists. J. Joyce Schuld demonstrates the promising possibilities as well as the difficulties and limits of applying Foucault's social criticisms within Christian contexts. She maintains that the best way to make Foucault's postmodern concerns and his unsettling descriptions, metaphors, and methods accessible to Christian readers is to examine his thought through a premodern lens.By bringing Foucault and Augustine into constructive dialogue, Schuld reveals the surprising analytical usefulness of Augustine's writings for postmodern and poststructuralist studies. She pursues from a new and critically illuminating perspective the personal, cultural, and historical ramifications of Augustine's formative understanding of love and the complicated effects of original sin on all inter- and intrapersoTrade Review“I hope Schuld’s book is widely read by those interested in Augustine and Foucault, and by many others.” —Theology Today“Foucault and Augustine: Reconsidering Power and Love is a fine book. If offers insights—from Augustine and Foucault, but also from Schuld—of the first importance, not only for scholarship but also for life. It is clearly and beautifully written, and its convincing demonstration that sympathetic and critical readings can be accomplished simultaneously represents the very best of religious studies scholarship.” —Journal of the American Academy of Religion“… Schuld brings together these two creative minds and allows them to illuminate from a number of different angles our contemporary situation. Anyone struggling with the challenges of post-modernism will find this a fertile resource.” —Contact 145"This is a daring and illuminating book … clear and deeply intelligent from beginning to end. S. not only offers reasons for theologians to take Foucault seriously, she also liberates Augustine from readings driven by modern presuppositions rather than by the logic of his own writing. ... to put Foucault and Augustine into dialogue is a great intellectual achievement that testifies to the suppleness of their writings." —Theological Studies“With this thought-provoking and impressive study, J. Joyce Schuld makes an innovative contribution to the growing body of literature exploring the significance of the thought of Michel Foucault for Christian theology and the broader study of religion. …this study is highly recommended for its creative and insightful elaboration of a new and unexpected space of dialogue and for its challenge to the preconceptions and categorizations that can all too readily circumscribe ethical and religious thinking.” —Foucault Studies"When Schuld brings Augustine into Foucault's postmodernism, her aim is less to theologize Foucault than to deliver Augustine from his modern animus. If Augustine can survive (with Foucault's help) his modern reading, then that is good news for much of Christian theology. ...a good resource for theologically invested students of postmodernism...." —The Journal of Religion“Foucault and Augustine is an important book, an original contribution at once to the literature on Augustine and on Foucault, and to current debates about postmodern Christian thought.” —American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly“The underlying assumption of J. Joyce Schuld's contrapuntal blending of Augustine and Foucault is that modernity has been a bad thing for theology. Too much of theology has been 'lost, subjugated, or colonized to serve nontheological aims in modern culture.' . . . a good resource for theologically invested students of postmodernism.” —The Journal of Religion

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Book SynopsisPlato''s dialogues are universally acknowledged as standing among the masterworks of the Western philosophic tradition. What most readers do not know, however, is that Plato also authored a public letter in which he unequivocally denies ever having written a work of philosophy. If Plato did not view his written dialogues as works of philosophy, how did he conceive them, and how should readers view them? In Plato''s Literary Garden, Kenneth M. Sayre brings over thirty years of Platonic scholarship to bear on these questions, arguing that Plato did not intend the dialogues to serve as repositories of philosophic doctrine, but instead composed them as teaching instruments.Trade Review“Kenneth Sayre's book addresses students who are undertaking the serious study of Plato for the first time . . . . Sayre promises students a method for engaging with the dialogues as actively as the actual participants are engaged, and he promises scholars a much needed account of the significance of the dramatic and literary form of the dialogues.” —Ancient Philosophy“Sayre examines with admirable scholarly precision and thoroughness fundamental Platonic themes—the story of recollection, the method of collection and division, the use of paradigms, eros, and dialectic. —International Studies in Philosophy

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Book SynopsisIn this collection of essays, first delivered as lectures in 1998, Peter Geach confronts some of the most difficult issues in philosophy. He addresses not only problems of logic and analytical philosophy, but also of epistemology and ethics, covering human nature, goodness, truth and love.Trade Review“Writings by the contemporary Roman Catholic philosopher on such topics as consistency, prophecy, and truth, truthfulness, and trust.” —The Chronicle of Higher Education“Wise, learned, and a delight to read. That cannot be said of many collections of philosophical essays. What Is Man? Truth, Love, and Immortality. The Goodness of God. Geach cannot be accused of refusing to take on the big questions, but he does so with a light touch that is possible only for those who take themselves lightly, knowing a Good infinitely greater.” —First Things“Rarely has this veteran reviewer opened a book that offers such pure pleasure as Peter Geach’s latest.” —New Oxford Review“In his customary beautiful prose these chapters, replete with detailed argument – as one would expect – gradually build up, or slowly reveal, what I hope it is not pretentious to call a whole world view: distinctively and unapologetically Christian, typically with more polemics against his co-religionists than against anyone else. They comprise a splendid distillation of the thought of a fine philosopher.” —Ars Disputandi“[E]njoyable, refreshing and... provoking....” —Studies in Christian Ethics“Truth and Hope is sweeping in its coverage of philosophical and theological issues, and sharply focused in respect to its main claims. Those who know Geach’s work will appreciate this book a great deal and will instantly recognize his style and wit. Those who do not already know his work will find this an accessible entry into his thinking and a refreshingly direct and provocative handling of key issues of philosophical theology.” —Modern Theology“Every one is impressive, both as an argument and as writing. Al of them make one ask for more; but what is remarkable is how much Geach suceeds in saying within so brief a compass.” —Alasdair MacIntyre, Philosophical Quarterly“In this delightful book, Peter Geach, in after-dinner talk mode, writes as a Roman Catholic but still manages to snip at old enemies and attribute more authority to truth than the dogma of a church.” —Ethics

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Book SynopsisWith this volume of the Collected Works of Jacques Maritain, the University of Notre Dame Press published the first English edition of a remarkable group of essays that Maritain had prepared for publication in the year before his death. He brought together various writings that had not appeared in print or had circulated privately. The heart of the book is to be found in two groups of articles.The first consists of philosophical essays. Several deal with truth, with philosophy at the time of Vatican II, and with the divine aseity; two are on philosophy of nature, dealing with evolution and with animal instinct; and three are on moral philosophy.A second group consists of primarily theological essays. Four are contributions to what Maritain calls an existential epistemology. They are followed by a moving meditation on the Mass and essays on the Church triumphant, resurrection, and the priesthood.When he lay dying at Fossanova, Thomas Aquinas, in deferenc

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Book SynopsisThis volume is the third in the Perspectives from The Review of Politics series, following The Crisis of Modern Times, edited by A. James McAdams (2007), and War, Peace, and International Political Realism, edited by Keir Lieber (2009). In A Liberalism Safe for Catholicism?, editors Daniel Philpott and Ryan Anderson chronicle the relationship between the Catholic Church and American liberalism as told through twenty-seven essays selected from the history of the Review of Politics, dating back to the journal's founding in 1939. The primary subject addressed in these essays is the development of a Catholic political liberalism in response to the democratic environment of nineteenth- and twentieth-century America. Works by Jacques Maritain, Heinrich Rommen, and Yves R. Simon forge the case for the compatibility of Catholicism and American liberal institutions, including the civic right of religious freedom. The conversation continues through recent deTrade Review"Over the decades, the Review of Politics has published some of the finest scholarly work on Catholicism’s engagement with liberalism, democracy, and human rights. Daniel Philpott and Ryan T. Anderson have selected “the best of the best” of these writings to include in their volume A Liberalism Safe for Catholicism. The book is a virtual graduate seminar on a subject that has increased in interest and importance as time has gone on—and promises to continue increasing as the Catholic Church, which was once deeply suspicious of liberalism, democracy, and human rights, has become their greatest defender against those who claim their mantle but who consistently undermine them in both theory and practice." —Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University"An important contribution to twenty-first-century debates and a reminder that, for more than seven decades, The Review of Politics has been one of the English-speaking world's premier journals of political theory." —George Weigel, Distinguished Senior Fellow and William E. Simon Chair in Catholic Studies, Ethics and Public Policy Center“The pages of the Review of Politics since its founding in 1939 can be read as a chronicle of this partnership between the Catholic Church and liberal institutions—its development, its heyday, its encounter of travails, its ongoing virtues, and its persistent flaws. Indeed, the partnership has been fraught with controversy over its true extent, its robustness, and its desirability.” —from the introduction, A Liberalism Safe for Catholicism?"One needn't be a fan of liberal theory to value this superb collection of writings from The Review of Politics. Editors Daniel Philpott and Ryan T. Anderson have created a resource of enduring importance; a compendium of the best defenders and critics of the liberal state's compatibility with Catholic faith and life. It is vital reading for anyone interested in the future of the Church in American culture." —Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., Archbishop of Philadelphia

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Book SynopsisFirst published in 1807, G.W.F. Hegel's remarkable philosophical text examines the dynamics of human experience from its simplest beginnings in consciousness through its development into more complex forms. In this edition, Peter Fuss and John Dobbins provide a succinct, highly informative, introduction to several key concepts in Hegel's thinking.Trade Review"The translators succeed masterfully in this effort and the result makes a considerable contribution to understanding this formidable text. . . . As I read their introduction, I had the impression that Hegel was suddenly—wonder of wonders—speaking English! Perhaps for the first time, he was saying clearly what he wanted to say to native speakers of American English like myself." —Daniel O. Dahlstrom, John R. Silber Professor of Philosophy, Boston University"An entrenched failing of Anglo-American philosophy is its neglect of Hegel. We have yet to reckon with how Hegel overcomes the dichotomies that confine modernity. Through decades of collaborative research, Peter Fuss and John Dobbins deliver with precision and grace a readable and teachable The Phenomenology of Spirit. Readers will awaken to a worldly Hegel who penetrates the drama and conceptual dynamism of human experience." —Patrick Murray and Jeanne Schuler, Creighton UniversityTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Translators’ Introduction Preface Introduction 1 Sense-Certainty: the This & Meaning 2 Perception: Things & Illusoriness 3 Force and Understanding, Appearances & the Supersensuous World 4 Self-Certainty’s Truth 4.A. Self-Consciousness Dependent & Independent: Mastery and Servitude 4.B. The Freedom of Self-Consciousness; Stoicism, Skepticism, & the Unhappy Consciousness 5 Reason: its Certainty and its Truth 5.A. Observational Reason a. Observation of Nature b. Observation of Self-Consciousness in its Purity & in Relation to External Actuality: Logical & Psychological Laws c. Observation of the Relation of Self-Consciousness to Immediate Actuality: Physiognomy & Phrenology 5.B. The Self-Actualization of Rational Self-Consciousness a. Pleasure and Necessity b. The Law of the Heart & Arrogance Run Amok c. Virtue & the Way of the World 5.C. Individuality that Deems Itself Genuinely Real In & For Itself a. A Realm of Intelligent Animals and Deceit: the Abiding Concern b. Legislative Reason c. Reason Putting Law to the Test 6 Spirit 6.A. Pristine Spirit: the Ethical Way of Life a. he Ethical World: Law Human & Divine, Man & Woman b. Ethical Action: Knowledge Human & Divine, Guilt & Destiny c. Legal Status 6.B. Spirit Estranged From Itself: Culture 1 The World of Self-Estranged Spirit a. Culture & Its Sphere of Actuality b. Faith & Pure Insight 2 Enlightenment a. Enlightenment’s Struggle with Superstition b. The Truth of Enlightenment 3 Total Freedom & Terror 6.C. Spirit Certain of Itself: Morality a. The Moral World-View b. Misrepresentation c. Conscience; the Beautiful Soul: Evil and its Forgiveness 7 Religion 7.A. Natural Religion a. The Divine Light b. Plant & Animal c. The Artificer 7.B. Art-Religion a. The Abstract Artwork b. The Living Artwork c. The Spiritual Artwork 7.C. Manifest Religion 8 Absolute Knowledge

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Book SynopsisFirst published in 1807, G.W.F. Hegel's remarkable philosophical text examines the dynamics of human experience from its simplest beginnings in consciousness through its development into more complex forms. In this edition, Peter Fuss and John Dobbins provide a succinct, highly informative, introduction to several key concepts in Hegel's thinking.Trade Review"The translators succeed masterfully in this effort and the result makes a considerable contribution to understanding this formidable text. . . . As I read their introduction, I had the impression that Hegel was suddenly—wonder of wonders—speaking English! Perhaps for the first time, he was saying clearly what he wanted to say to native speakers of American English like myself." —Daniel O. Dahlstrom, John R. Silber Professor of Philosophy, Boston University"An entrenched failing of Anglo-American philosophy is its neglect of Hegel. We have yet to reckon with how Hegel overcomes the dichotomies that confine modernity. Through decades of collaborative research, Peter Fuss and John Dobbins deliver with precision and grace a readable and teachable The Phenomenology of Spirit. Readers will awaken to a worldly Hegel who penetrates the drama and conceptual dynamism of human experience." —Patrick Murray and Jeanne Schuler, Creighton UniversityTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Translators’ Introduction Preface Introduction 1 Sense-Certainty: the This & Meaning 2 Perception: Things & Illusoriness 3 Force and Understanding, Appearances & the Supersensuous World 4 Self-Certainty’s Truth 4.A. Self-Consciousness Dependent & Independent: Mastery and Servitude 4.B. The Freedom of Self-Consciousness; Stoicism, Skepticism, & the Unhappy Consciousness 5 Reason: its Certainty and its Truth 5.A. Observational Reason a. Observation of Nature b. Observation of Self-Consciousness in its Purity & in Relation to External Actuality: Logical & Psychological Laws c. Observation of the Relation of Self-Consciousness to Immediate Actuality: Physiognomy & Phrenology 5.B. The Self-Actualization of Rational Self-Consciousness a. Pleasure and Necessity b. The Law of the Heart & Arrogance Run Amok c. Virtue & the Way of the World 5.C. Individuality that Deems Itself Genuinely Real In & For Itself a. A Realm of Intelligent Animals and Deceit: the Abiding Concern b. Legislative Reason c. Reason Putting Law to the Test 6 Spirit 6.A. Pristine Spirit: the Ethical Way of Life a. he Ethical World: Law Human & Divine, Man & Woman b. Ethical Action: Knowledge Human & Divine, Guilt & Destiny c. Legal Status 6.B. Spirit Estranged From Itself: Culture 1 The World of Self-Estranged Spirit a. Culture & Its Sphere of Actuality b. Faith & Pure Insight 2 Enlightenment a. Enlightenment’s Struggle with Superstition b. The Truth of Enlightenment 3 Total Freedom & Terror 6.C. Spirit Certain of Itself: Morality a. The Moral World-View b. Misrepresentation c. Conscience; the Beautiful Soul: Evil and its Forgiveness 7 Religion 7.A. Natural Religion a. The Divine Light b. Plant & Animal c. The Artificer 7.B. Art-Religion a. The Abstract Artwork b. The Living Artwork c. The Spiritual Artwork 7.C. Manifest Religion 8 Absolute Knowledge

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Book SynopsisAs a cure for modernity's individualism, Remi Brague urges a return to medieval thinking to illustrate why humanity and civilizations are goods worth promoting and preserving.Trade Review“Rémi Brague is a most singular polyglot and polymath, not to mention one of Europe’s wisest and wittiest Christian intellectuals. Curing Mad Truths is an impressive collection of his addresses to English-speaking audiences. As with all of Brague’s work, the volume uniquely combines cleverness and profound insight.” —Douglas Kries, Gonzaga University "With his distinctive combination of philological, philosophical, and historical erudition that ranges from the ancient world to our present moment, Rémi Brague poses more to ponder in each of these essays—about God and the good, creation and culture, virtues and values, modernity and meaning—than most writers manage to convey in a book. At issue, ultimately, is whether human beings have the will and wherewithal to go on living in a humane manner. Curing Mad Truths is a gem, and the stakes couldn’t be higher." —Brad Gregory, University of Notre Dame “Brague's Curing Mad Truths is a radical assault on many of the things taken for granted in modern liberal societies… It calls us to reconnect the branches of truth upon which modernity sits to the metaphysical trunk from which they have been severed. It's a provocative, convincing, and accessible little book by an important scholar, and it deserves wide attention.” —Faith and Theology"Brague argues that the modern world is dying because it cannot answer the question of why it should live. To answer that question will require humility, according to Brague, because it is medieval truths about God, man, reason, and nature that are necessary for renewal." —The Catholic World Report"Rémi Brague argues that the modern project has failed, and that the source of the failure is a kind of heresy. To be sure, he does not himself use that word. But it is an apt label for what he describes. Modernity, on Brague’s account, is defined by several ideas it borrowed from Christianity, while at the same time it rejects the larger conceptual context that made those ideas intelligible." —Catholic Herald"Remi Brague this month releases a new book arguing for a reevaluation of medieval thought. . . . It’s Brague’s first book in English. . . . Curing Mad Truths will be of interest to a learned audience of philosophers, historians, and medievalists." —Law and Religion Forum“The brevity of this anthology... does not prevent the careful reader from gazing beyond its idealism. Like many thinkers, Brague may be less useful in directing us away from our predicament to our fulfillment. But he does restore a wise insight into a conservative approach... which treasures aesthetic and nourishing measures to bring back to life deadened sensibilities of billions who seek, deep down, lasting meaning.” —Spectrum Culture Magazine"While he argues convincingly for the superiority of abandoned ways of thinking, Brague is not a ‘restorationist’ seeking to return us to an idealized past, his concern is to point out the weaknesses in the conversations we are having and so to improve them and our chances of a better future. He is a delightful, witty, interlocutor. He makes his vast learning accessible and relevant, providing a master-class in critical thinking all can attend." —Irish Catholic"Culture and politics are different, but they are not separate. They influence one another in unpredictable ways. Rémi Brague has given us a most insightful analysis of one half, perhaps more than a half, of the pairing that encompasses our human experience." —Society“Should humanity survive and adapt itself to the modern project? More specifically, now that humanity has commodified its existence (being) . . . is its existence better than its nonexistence? . . . These are the questions at the center of . . . Rémi Brague‘s . . . short collection of essays consisting primarily of unpublished lectures given in Europe and North America.” —The Review of Politics“Brague proposes that the medieval Christian view demonstrates the good of man’s existence by reorienting him to God and Creation.” —Catholic Social Science Review“This intriguing cultural critique will prove useful to anyone exploring how the modern world came to be and how a disciple of a more classical tradition might respond to the decadence of society in the modern period.” —Homiletic and Pastoral Review"Curing Mad Truths, a short collection of essays and lectures, is Rémi Brague’s plea for ‘some sort of return to the Middle Ages’...in the teeth of the ideology of Modernity which, he posits, threatens human flourishing and even survival.... Although many will reject his assessment, few philosophers are better placed to handle these matters than Brague, professor emeritus at the Sorbonne, a noted multi-disciplinary intellectual." —The New Bioethics"Curing Mad Truths might, from the title, look like just one more expression of Catholic nostalgia for a bygone age that the secular world has dismissed as the Dark Ages. But Brague has in mind quite specific and sophisticated points of medieval wisdom that need to be recovered, even as he would want to reform or reject other parts of that heritage." —The Catholic Thing

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Book SynopsisThis classic and controversial book examines the roots of the idea of virtue, diagnoses the reasons for its absence in modern life, and proposes a path for its recovery.Trade Review“After Virtue is a striking work. It is clearly written and readable. The nonprofessional will find MacIntyre perspicuous and lively. He stands within the best modern traditions of writing on such matters.” —New York Review of Books“MacIntyre’s arguments deserve to be taken seriously by anybody who thinks that the mere acceptance of pluralism is not the same thing as democracy, who worries about politicians wishing to give opinions about everything under the sun, and who stops to think of how important Aristotelian ethics have been for centuries.” —The Economist“After Virtue is a rigorous, ambitious, and original book. It is a reinterpretation of the entire history of Western moral philosophy, as decline, fall, and—possibly—rebirth.” —The Village Voice“MacIntyre has reconsidered and extended his ideas since the 1981 and 1984 editions, but retains his central thesis that it is only possible to understand the dominant moral culture of advanced modernity adequately from a standpoint external to that culture. He is still an Aristotelian, he says, but has come to believe that Thomas Aquinas expressed Aristotle's views better than the old man himself did.” —Reference and Research Book News“If MacIntyre’s admittedly bleak diagnosis of our times is not accepted, the rivalry it sparked surely has some benefit for the interface between competing traditions. And where it is accepted, it will also be because those who accept it have not give up on our capacity, despite everything else, to be virtuous.” —Catholic Books Review"Alasdair MacIntyre in After Virtue has written one of the most important books of the decade… a stunning critique of current moral philosophy and moral practice." — Commonweal MagazineMaIntyre’s After Virtue is one of the most widely read books of moral philosophy to appear in recent years. It is written with little of the technical arguments that limits the readership of many philosophy works and has drawn considerable response from readers outside academe.” —The Chronicle of Higher Education

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Book SynopsisMajor literary critics in Britain, France, and the United States engage with Maurice Blanchot’s immense, fascinating, and difficult body of creative work.Trade Review“Blanchot’s narratives are here read with the care, patience, and thoroughness they deserve. The collection sustains a remarkable intensity of engagement throughout, in so doing opening these narratives out to their necessary contexts—philosophical, of course; but also literary, political, theological, and biographical—with welcome dedication and integrity. The volume makes a timely and decisive contribution to its field, where it will form a major point of reference.” —Martin Crowley, Queens’ College, University of Cambridge“This outstanding collection—lucid, engaging, generous—illuminates Blanchot and the very notion of ‘the philosophical.’” —Gerald Prince, University of Pennsylvania“This collection contains some very important pieces on a major figure of twentieth-century modernism. Blanchot now has a much wider audience in North American than he did even a few years ago when it was mostly experimental fiction writers like Paul Auster, Lydia Davis, R. M. Berry, and Steve Tomasula—not literary critics—who took an interest in Blanchot’s literary writings. The focus on the ‘narratives’ (or, better, ‘fictions’) sets this volume apart from, and makes it a good deal more stimulating than, other recent collections of essays on Blanchot.” —Gerald Bruns, University of Notre Dame“Throughout this text, Hart delivers a compilation of many of the most elucidating essays ever written on Blanchot (Hart’s own notwithstanding), while simultaneously providing an accessible introduction to those concepts that are essential to understanding this monolith of contemporary French thought.” —Dialogue“While these narratives have not garnered the same level of critical attention as Blanchot’s other works, Clandestine Encounters opens a future of new approaches. The collection makes an outstanding companion for those wishing to probe Blanchot’s enigmatic narratives more deeply.” —Modern Philology

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Book SynopsisIn his latest book, Marshall Gregory begins with the premise that our lives are saturated with stories, ranging from magazines, books, films, television, and blogs to the words spoken by politicians, pastors, and teachers. He then explores the ethical implication of this nearly universal human obsession with narratives. Through careful readings of Katherine Anne Porter's The Grave, Thurber's The Catbird Seat, as well as David Copperfield and Wuthering Heights, Gregory asks (and answers) the question: How do the stories we absorb in our daily lives influence the kinds of persons we turn out to be? Shaped by Stories is accessible to anyone interested in ethics, popular culture, and education. It will encourage students and teachers to become more thoughtful and perceptive readers of stories.Trade Review"Shaped by Stories is a well-written, interesting, and humane book on the value of narratives in ethics and in our lives. The volume enters into conversation with a growing, and popular, body of literature, which considers the role of stories, narrative, and literature for ethics and for moral education more generally. Marshall Gregory combines well-grounded observations about literature and about human life, including his own life, in this illuminating interdisciplinary contribution to the ethics of literature." —Pamela Hall, Emory University"From a lifetime of reflecting on the ethics of fiction, Marshall Gregory has given us an elegant analysis of the power of stories to instruct and delight. No one interested in storytelling will want to be without this incisive guide to both the myriad ways that stories shape our lives and the strategies writers use to affect our responses to their fictions. Both the theoretical and practical halves of Shaped by Stories have a clarity and eloquence that yield their own instruction and delight." —Robert D. Denham, Fishwick Professor of English, Roanoke College"Shaped by Stories weaves its own compelling story about the pervasive ethical effects of reading narrative, with Marshall Gregory serving as a highly engaging and ethically admirable narrator—a very model of good company." —James Phelan, Distinguished University Professor of English, Ohio State University"Marshall Gregory's Shaped by Stories brings ethical criticism to the level of felt experience. Witty and passionate, full of personal reflections and sharp examples, this book will help anyone who has been drawn to the mysterious power of stories to think more carefully about the connections between narrative art and human ethos. Gregory reminds us that the urgency of our need for stories is tied permanently to the requirements of being human, the need to exercise judgment, belief, and empathy in the process of becoming who we are." —Annette Federico, James Madison University“Gregory's overarching thesis is ‘that stories are an important component of the ethical development that all human beings undergo because stories are an important component of every human being's education about the world.’ . . . [an] elegantly written, amiable, argot-free study. Gregory fills the book with relevant personal examples and draws on a lifetime of engagement with narratives and thoughtful, down-to-earth considerations of their impact. A generous works cited makes it an exceptionally useful resource. . . . This is a book every serious reader should investigate and all libraries should own. Essential.” —Choice“Marshall Gregory’s Shaped by Stories: The Ethical power of Narratives, informal and anecdotal rather than scholarly, makes the familiar claim that narrative is a tool for psychologically modeling conflict management.” —Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900“Marshall Gregory’s new book has its roots in influential studies of ethics and literature published in the late 1980s and early 1990s. . . . In addressing the book to a broad, general audience rather than critics or academic professionals, he is appealing to a culture obsessed with narrative to think reflectively about how the stories we encounter daily in such a variety of forms shape our ethos. Gregory’s passionate conviction about the topic’s relevance is apparent on every page. In its directness, lucidity, personal humor, and warmth, Shaped by Stories will indeed engage a wide variety of readers. The ultimate value of this book is the way it welcomes and extends discussion of ethics.” —Victorian Studies“Marshall Gregory utilizes the power of story, often his own, to reach into the minds and consciousness of academics and laypersons alike. His goal is to open a dialogue between people, about people, and the possible reasons story affects human behaviors and characters . . . . He challenges his readers to enter the real controversial dialogue. Gregory does not propose one specific ethic, but he dares to present the fact that there are ethics that cannot be escaped behind the blind of relativism.” —Sixteenth Century Journal

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Book SynopsisIn A Common Faith, eminent American philosopher John Dewey calls for the emancipation of the true religious quality from the heritage of dogmatism and supernaturalism that he believes characterizes historical religions. This book contextualizes the text for students by providing an overview of Dewey and his philosophy, and reactions to the text.Trade Review"Thomas M. Alexander’s deft introduction elegantly unfolds John Dewey’s A Common Faith for a new generation of readers seeking novel answers for the ancient questions of ultimate concern."—Jim Garrison, Virginia Tech "Professor Thomas Alexander's introduction to A Common Faith is an important reorientation of this book. Alexander makes a clear and convincing case for its centrality in Dewey's thought."—William T. Myers, Birmingham-Southern College"Alexander’s careful and imaginative introduction shows how Dewey both understood and respected human religious experience. Dewey’s insistence that core notions (e.g. religion, God) be recast reflects the still-urgent need of diverse and democratic citizenries to preserve religious freedom, aesthetic experience, and social justice."—David L. Hildebrand, University of Colorado, Denver

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Book SynopsisAn introduction to the life and work of Walter Benjamin, the German-Jewish philosopher and literary and cultural critic. The text offers insight into Benjamin's complex relationships with Adorno, Brecht, Jewish Messianism and Western Marxism.Trade Review"The newcomer to Benjamin's work is here in excellent hands." * Times Literary Supplement *"A highly successful intellectual biography of Walter Benjamin . . . making an original argument concerning the works and addressing directly the issues raised by Benjamin that are still very much alive in our own time." * Theory and Society *Table of ContentsPREFACE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A NOTE ON THE TRANSLATIONS A NOTE ON TERMINOLOGY INTRODUCTION TO THE REVISED EDITION Chapter One ORIGINS Childhood and Autobiography Youth Movement Romantic Anticapitalism Chapter Two THE PATH TO TRAUERSPIEL Experience, Kabbalah, and Language Messianic Time Versus Historical Time Allegory Chapter Three IDEAS AND THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE Anti-Historicism The Essay as Mediation Between Art and Philosophical Truth Constellation, Origin, Monad Chapter Four FROM MESSIANISM TO MATERIALISM Radical Communism One-Way Street and Dialectical Images Surrealism Chapter Five BENJAMIN AND BRECHT "Crude Thinking" Epic Theater The Author as Producer Chapter Six THE ADORNO-BENJAMIN DISPUTE The Philosophical Rapprochement Between Benjamin and Adorno in the Early 1930s The Arcades Expose Art and Mechanical Reproduction Methodological Asceticism, Magic and Positivism Beyond the Dispute Chapter Seven BENJAMIN'S MATERIALIST THEORY OF EXPERIENCE The Disintegration of Community: Novel versus Story Baudelaire, Modernity, and Shock Experience Nonsensuous Correspondences Chapter Eight "A L'ECART DE TOUS LES COURANTS" NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX

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