Western philosophy from c 1800 Books

Book SynopsisAn important work by 20-century philosopher Hans Blumenberg, here translated into English for the first time, The Laughter of the Thracian Woman describes the reception history of an anecdote best known from Plato’s Theaetetus dialogue: while focused on observing the stars, the early astronomer and proto-philosopher Thales of Miletus fails to see a well directly in his path and tumbles down. A Thracian servant girl laughs, amused that he sought to understand what was above him when he was not mindful of what was right in front of him. Blumenberg sees the story as a highly sought substitute for our missing knowledge of the earliest historical events that would fit the label “theory.” By retelling the anecdote, philosophers reveal their distinctive values regarding absorption in curiosity, philosophy’s past, and the demand that theorists abide by sanctioned methods and procedures. In this work and others, Blumenberg demonstrates that philosophers’ most beloved images and anecdotes have become indispensable to philosophy as metaphors; that is, as representations whose meanings remain indefinite and invite frequent reinterpretation.Trade ReviewThis English translation of Das Lachen der Thrakerin, the original German of which first appeared with Suhrkamp in 1987, will no doubt intensify the impression among anglophone readers that Blumenberg is a decidedly historical and literary philosopher whose own thinking emerges from an almost obsessive level of engagement with the minutiae of Western intellectual history, including the genre of the philosophical anecdote ... Like many of Blumenberg's works, Das Lachen der Thrakerin demands a lot of the reader: a detailed knowledge of the Western tradition, not only of philosophy, but of letters in general, from the Presocratics to the present; and patience with an argumentative method which revels in the detours and the details, and which is thin on orienting summaries (here the highly informative Afterword and scholarly apparatus provided by Hawkins offer much historical context and orientation). * Modern Language Review *Greek astronomer Thales of Miletus was the original absent-minded professor. He was walking and studying the night sky, it is said, when he tripped and fell into a well, leading him to theorize that water—and not a god or gods—was the prime mover of reality. German-Jewish ‘philosophical anthropologist’ Blumenberg follows the myth of Thales through the ages to show that the scientific endeavor is necessary but also fundamentally ridiculous. It culminates with an attack on ‘incomprehensible arrogance’ as the most destructive human tendency, reaffirming modesty and skepticism. Today everything is made of data instead of water; Blumenberg, translated with great care by Spencer Hawkins, reminds me that we are still as ridiculous as Thales. -- David Auerbach * Slate Magazine *In its sweeping scope and singular focus, Hans Blumenberg’s The Laughter of the Thracian Woman provides a monadic history of how to read the beginning of thinking as located precisely at the nexus of storytelling and reflection, literature and philosophy. In Blumenberg’s series of relentless reconstructions and analyses, the telling and re-telling of the anecdote of Thales falling into a well – over and over again, from Plato to Heidegger, accompanied by the Thracian woman’s laughter – comes to form the central image for the tension within philosophy between theoretical reflection and intuitive insight. * Paul Fleming, Professor of German and Comparative Literature, Director, Institute for German Cultural Studies (IGCS), Cornell University, USA *Hans Blumenberg stands as one of the most important and innovative thinkers of the twentieth century. As a philosopher, historian of science, and literary scholar, his work has made indispensable contributions to a broad range of fields across the Humanities and the Social Sciences. This impeccably nuanced translation of The Laughter of the Thracian Woman promises to enhance our understanding of Blumenberg’s methodology and the theoretical premises that drive his thought, while offering key insights into the perennial tensions between theory and realism, contemplation and action, philosophical reflection and the Lebenswelt. * John T. Hamilton, William R. Kenan Professor of German and Comparative Literature, Chair, Germanic Languages and Literatures, Harvard University, USA *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Reading into the Distance About this book I. Theory as exotic behavior II. Socrates is shifted into protohistory III. Knowledge about heaven and capability on earth IV. The theorist between comedy and tragedy V. Reoccupations VI. Astrological predominance VII. Applause and scorn from the moralists VIII. As adopted by historical critique IX. From cursing sinners to scorn for the Creation X. Tycho Brahe's coachman and the earthquake in Lisbon XI. Absentmindednesses XII. In what matter Thales had failed according to Nietzsche XIII. How to recognize what matters IVX. Interdisciplinarity as repetition of protohistory Works Cited

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Book SynopsisThe Film Theory in Practice Series fills a gaping hole in the world of film theory. By marrying the explanation of film theory with interpretation of a film, the volumes provide discrete examples of how film theory can serve as the basis for textual analysis. The first book in the series, Psychoanalytic Film Theory and The Rules of the Game, offers a concise introduction to psychoanalytic film theory in jargon-free language and shows how this theory can be deployed to interpret Jean Renoir’s classic film. It traces the development of psychoanalytic film theory through its foundation in the thought of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan through its contemporary manifestation in the work of theorists like Slavoj Žižek and Joan Copjec. This history will help students and scholars who are eager to learn more about this important area of film theory and bring the concepts of psychoanalytic film theory into practice through a detailed interpretation of the film.Trade ReviewA non-technical introduction to Lacanian thought and its role in current psychoanalytic film theory ... McGowan is very clear and considerate of his reader. * Alphaville *This is a brilliantly lucid account of psychoanalytic theory and its relevance to the interpretation of the film text. Todd McGowan presents a clear and rigorous explication of psychoanalytic theory in his illuminating textual analysis of Jean Renoir’s The Rules of the Game, one of the cinema’s greatest films. This is an indispensable book for anyone interested in the interpretation of films and fascinating reading for those with a particular interest in film as a form of public dreaming. * Barbara Creed, Professor of Screen Studies, University of Melbourne, Australia *Todd McGowan’s Psychoanalytic Film Theory and The Rules of the Game is a long overdue up-to-date survey of the field and its key thinkers.The book is an invaluable resource for both new students as well as advanced readers because it not only explores the concepts of desire, fantasy, and enjoyment of film and in film but also considers the debates between critical methodologies involving screen theory, the gaze, and ideological fantasy.Its comprehensive review of The Rules of the Game provides an insightful psychoanalysis of the director, characters, and audience.Beyond writing an exemplary model of cogent theory and lucid criticism, McGowan demonstrates how the psychoanalytic study of film offers radical and revolutionary possibilities for art and life. * Alex E. Blazer, Associate Professor of English at Georgia College & State University, USA *Table of ContentsIntroduction Section 1 : Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Film Theory Section 2 : Psychoanalysis and The Rules of the Game Conclusion Appendices - Further Reading - Filmography

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Book SynopsisAlthough it has been almost seventy years since Time declared C.S. Lewis one of the world's most influential spokespersons for Christianity and fifty years since Lewis's death, his influence remains just as great if not greater today. While much has been written on Lewis and his work, virtually nothing has been written from a philosophical perspective on his views of happiness, pleasure, pain, and the soul and body. As a result, no one so far has recognized that his views on these matters are deeply interesting and controversial, and—perhaps more jarring—no one has yet adequately explained why Lewis never became a Roman Catholic. Stewart Goetz's careful investigation of Lewis's philosophical thought reveals oft-overlooked implications and demonstrates that it was, at its root, at odds with that of Thomas Aquinas and, thereby, the Roman Catholic Church.Trade ReviewA book all interested in C. S. Lewis will want to read. * Church of England Newspaper *This [is a] philosophical page-turner ... One of the most unique and eclectic books on Lewis in recent years, it easily shoots to the top rank of studies on Lewis’s philosophical and theological thought ... Highly recommendable for serious philosophers and students in ‘Lewisiology’. * Theology *Goetz makes a strong case that Lewis is a hedonist concerning happiness and that he is a substance dualist with regard to mind and body … this book fills a major gap in the literature on Lewis’s philosophical ideas. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through researchers/faculty. -- D. C. Kolb, St. Meinrad Archabbey Library * CHOICE *Why didn’t C. S. Lewis’s religious journey end in Rome? Stewart Goetz suggests that the answer involves a theoretical quarrel with Thomas Aquinas about pleasure and the soul. It is a provocative thesis, carefully argued. * Christian Century (reviewed by Dennis O'Brien) *This book is doubly intriguing, both as a fresh and illuminating piece of Lewis scholarship, and as an exploration of philosophical issues that are deeply interesting in their own right, such as the relationship between pleasure and true happiness. Goetz makes a convincing case that Lewis retained his Protestant identity not only for reasons typically cited, but also because of fundamental differences with Rome that were philosophical in nature. Anyone interested in these issues will find this volume fascinating as well as informative. * Jerry L. Walls, Scholar in Residence and Professor of Philosophy, Houston Baptist University, USA *An informative argument to the effect that Lewis’s views of happiness (Hedonism) and the self (Substance Dualism) were the primary intellectual barriers to him becoming a Roman Catholic--anyone with an interest in Lewis as a philosopher/theologian will find much here that is both pleasurable and good for the soul. * T.J. Mawson, Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy, St. Peter’s College, University of Oxford, UK *This is the most intellectually satisfying book on C. S. Lewis I have read. Because of Goetz's meticulous and respectful attention to Lewis's thought, as required for accurate treatment of his philosophical opinions, all that he says consequently about his subject bears the mark of this fair and careful reasoning. He is convincing on Lewis's differences with the received Catholic philosophy of his time; nothing in it is careless, facile, or partisan, and he blesses in particular Catholic readers who love Lewis with his conviction that inability to join the Catholic Church was based primarily on honorable difficulties with Thomism … [A] must-read book. * Touchstone (reviewed by S. M. Hutchens, senior editor of Touchstone) *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1: C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, and Roman Catholicism 2: C. S. Lewis on Happiness, Pleasure, and Pain 3: C. S. Lewis on Soul and Body 4: Thomas Aquinas on Happiness, Pleasure, and Pain 5: Thomas Aquinas on Soul and Body 6: C. S. Lewis in Defense of Common Sense Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisWe trust our sciences to operate on a plane of objectivity and fact in a world of subjectivity and cultural ideologies, but should we? In The Age of Scientific Sexism, philosopher Mari Ruti offers a sharp critique of the gender profiling tendencies of evolutionary psychology, untangling the insidious threads of various gender mythologies that have infiltrated—or perhaps even define—this faux-science. Selling stereotypes as scientific facts, evolutionary psychology continually brings retrograde models of sexuality into mainstream culture: it insists that men and women live in two completely different psychological, emotional, and sexual universes, and that they will consequently always be locked in a vicious battle of the sexes. Among these regressive arguments is the assumption that men’s sexuality is urgent and indiscriminate, whereas women are “naturally” reluctant, reticent, and choosy—a concept constructed to justify masculine behavior, such as cheating, that women have historically found painful. On its most basic level, The Age of Scientific Sexism explores our impulse to “explain” romantic behavior through science: in the increasingly egalitarian gender landscape of our society, why are we so eager to embrace the rampant gender profiling that evolutionary psychology promotes? Perhaps these simplistic gender caricatures owe their popularity, at least in part, to our overly pragmatic society pragmatic society, which encourages us to search for easy answers to complex questions.Trade ReviewWith wit and directness, Ruti (philosophy, Univ. of Toronto) deconstructs popular accounts of evolutionary psychology regarding sex and gender. Being an outsider to the field of evolutionary psychology (her field is critical theory), Ruti positions herself as a nonspecialist reader and analyzes understandings of sex and gender as developed in literature targeting that group of nonspecialists. In the first two chapters, she outlines the standard narrative of sexuality and gender, as delivered in popular work on evolutionary psychology, by examining the work of Robert Wright and David Buss. In chapters 3 and 4, she uses the work of Geoffrey Miller and of Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jethá to outline some of the contemporary modifications of the standard narrative. In the last chapter Ruti proposes that current evolutionary arguments promote the mainstream understanding of mating behavior as a pillar for heteronormativity in terms of both reproduction and marriage. The author is insightful and clever in delineating the ideological implications of the logical and empirical limitations of evolutionary psychology, especially as presented to the general public. Interesting and intellectually stimulating, this book is a must read for everyone interested in psychology, gender, and sexuality studies. Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, researchers, faculty, and professionals. -- I. I. Katzarska-Miller, Transylvania University, USA * CHOICE *[Evolutionary Psychology] advocates and researchers claim that the ways in which (straight) men and women relate, pair off, mate, and pass on their genes have their roots in ahistorical, static traits supposedly shared with cavemen and cavewomen … As Ruti explains, when the “strength” of certain traits also happens to line up with gender stereotypes that would have been right at home in the 1950s, things seem a little too pat, often to the point of this “science” fitting neatly into status-quo, retrograde ideas about how men and women act when it comes to love and sex … reading Ruti’s takedown of evo psych is akin to listening to the world’s most delightful gender-studies tour guide … The Age of Scientific Sexism manages to be informative, entertaining, and persuasive in its exploration of a “science” that is anything but. -- Anna Hamilton * Bitch Media *The Age of Scientific Sexism tracks the insidious migration of social Darwinism from a largely discredited academic sub-discipline to a mass-marketed area of pop psychology. Passionate and personal in tone, the book exposes the antiquated gender scripts and lazy science that flourish in the field of evolutionary psychology—and why it’s important to resist its patriarchal seductions. * Janice Haaken, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, Portland State University, USA *The Age of Scientific Sexism sneaks up on you: it starts with an important critique of evolutionary psychology—one that every Introductory Psychology student should read—and subtly opens to a robust queering of straight sex and an unabashed treatise on the truth of humanity’s wide-spectrum sexuality. Mari Ruti’s reflections unmask the empirical and logical shortcomings of evolutionary psychology, particularly in their popularized guise, showing how we have instantiated shame yet again in current discourses of sex. This is a feminist issue, a psychological issue, but also one concerned with an ethics of love, desire, and passion, with which every person lives with immediately and concretely. This book makes you think. I thank Mari Ruti for it. * Kareen R. Malone, Professor of Psychology, University of West Georgia, USA, and member of the Après Coup Psychoanalytic Association, New York, USA *A bold, fresh take on gender with a dagger straight to the heart of the societal scripts that promise happiness but too often undermine it. This book is a brilliant read that will leave you feeling smarter and more emboldened to lead your best and most passionate life. * Bella DePaulo, author of Singled Out: How Singles Are Stereotyped, Stigmatized, and Ignored, and Still Live Happily Ever After and Project Scientist in Psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA *Evolutionary psychology has offered a way of thinking about gender differences in sex, desire, and romance that has been tremendously influential. The standard narrative has infiltrated some of the most popular self-help books (such as John Gray’s Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus) and has been perpetrated so relentlessly that it has become part of the conventional wisdom of our time. Mari Ruti, a professor of critical theory at the University of Toronto, isn’t buying it. ... She blows giant holes in some of the most influential studies academics cite in support of the standard narrative. ... She shows readers what is exaggerated in the standard narrative and what is marginalized or ignored. ... In a bravura analysis, Ruti shows how the stereotyping and stigmatizing of single people (including single parents) is part of the package of evolutionary psychology and its standard narrative. So is the glorifying of traditional marriage. ... The Age of Scientific Sexism is a smart, compelling, thoughtful read. -- Bella DePaulo * PsychCentral *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. The Myopia of Men versus Women 2. The Ideology of Gender Difference 3. The Arrogance of the Backlash 4. The Downfall of the Coy Female 5. The Cruelty of Optimism Conclusion

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Book SynopsisThe French philosopher Simone Weil (1909-1943), a contemporary of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre, remains in every way a thinker for our times. She was an outsider, in multiple senses, defying the usual religious categories: at once atheistic and religious; mystic and realist; sceptic and believer. She speaks therefore to the complex sensibilities of a rationalist age. Yet despite her continuing relevance, and the attention she attracts from philosophy, cultural studies, feminist studies, spirituality and beyond, Weil's reflections can still be difficult to grasp, since they were expressed in often inscrutable and fragmentary form. Lissa McCullough here offers a reliable guide to the key concepts of Weil's religious philosophy: good and evil, the void, gravity, grace, beauty, suffering and waiting for God. In addressing such distinctively contemporary concerns as depression, loneliness and isolation, and in writing hauntingly of God's voluntary 'nothingness', Weil's existential paradoxes continue to challenge and provoke. This is the first introductory book to show the essential coherence of her enigmatic but remarkable ideas about religion.Trade Review'This is an extraordinary work that accomplishes what numerous other works on Weil did not: provide a clear and coherent account of the entirety of Weil's religious reflections. It is an exceptional accomplishment that should be marketed and advertised as a landmark work. I cannot overstate its importance for contemporary discussions of theology and religious studies, nor its value to the current dialogue concerning the future of Christianity.' Patrick Horn, Azusa Pacific University 'This book is a page-turner. It is totally compelling in the service of making available a religious thinking that is liminal in form and content: in form, largely fragmentary and elliptical; in content, on the border between Judaism and Christianity, and also on the border between Platonism and Christianity; a thinking of God that continually troubles Christian orthodoxy while embracing it passionately; a thinking of God beyond the idolatries of divine presence that consoles and legitimates our lust for power; a thinking that ask for insight with respect to our motivations and attention and compassion towards a world of embodied selves that are weak and vulnerable. This is an extraordinarily readable text. I have rarely seen a book that manages so successfully to render an author in his or her own voice.' Cyril O'Regan, Huisking Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame 'Lissa McCullough convincingly shows that Simone Weil identifies God with the Good. Instead of concluding that God is "beyond" being, Weil characterizes God's manner of being as antithetical to that of the created world. Her dialectical theology affirms both God's abdication from creation and his minimal abiding wherever there is evil in the world. God's saving grace manifests itself whenever we cultivate a "pure love of the world." If redemption is possible, it is only on the cross, not from the cross - and true Christianity must take the form of what McCullough eloquently calls "love for the anonymous neighbor". This is a thoughtful and challenging book.' Andrew Cutrofello, Professor of Philosophy, Loyola University ChicagoTable of ContentsAbbreviations and Textual Notes Introduction Biographical Groundings Reading Simone Weil 1 / Reality and Contradiction Reality: The Irreducible Truth and Affliction The Role of Attention The Negative Role of Will The Value of Contradiction Right Use of Dogma 2 / The Paradox of Desire We Desire the Good The Good Is Absent The Good Is a Nothingness Detachment of Desire Waiting for God The Earthly Criterion (Not) To Speak of Holy Things 3 / God and the World Creation as Withdrawal The Absent God “Original Sin” The Self-Emptying God Crucifixion as Redemption Supernatural Harmony 4 / Necessity and Obedience Abdication to Necessity Providence Beauty Suffering Necessity: Root of Beauty and Suffering Obedience of Matter: Gravity Obedience of Spirit: Grace Amor Fati 5 / Grace and Decreation Sin Says “I” Grace Decreates the “I” Nothingness: The Humility of God Heaven and Hell Transparence Compassion Action as Incarnation 6 / Conclusion: Weil’s Theological Coherence Background Theological Influences Dialectic of Nature and Grace God Beyond Good and Evil Weil’s Anonymous Christianity Endnotes Selected Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn the wake of the 9/11 attacks, after the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and at the height of the "War on Terror", the controversial postmodernist thinker Jean Baudrillard wrote The Intelligence of Evil. In tackling the rhetoric of the so-called "clash of civilizations" between a capitalist West and a fundamentalist religious Islam, the book also provides a summation of many of the most important themes of Baurdrillard's philosophical project. Baudrillard here explores how neoliberal political rhetoric has divided human cultures are divided into two antagonistic forces, one based on symbolic exchange, which is dual and reciprocal, and one based on money and sign exchange, which is totalising. Non-western societies can create genuinely symbolic, durable cultures. But the western world-system, based on a logic of empire, is designed to create an integrated and sealed reality, to snap tight around the world and its image. If the first is indestructible and the second is irresistible, who can win and what will victory look like?Trade ReviewThe Intelligence of Evil presents us with a fascinating mental journey outside of what we have come to call “reality”, and makes us question the fundamental dichotomy between what is good and what is evil. It is highly recommendable for people with an interest in philosophy, or a lot of time on their hands. -- Johanna Fürst * Journal for Intelligence, Propaganda and Security Studies *… one of Baudrillard’s last, and arguably best, books … The Intelligence of Evil is perhaps Baudrillard’s most rigorous and certainly one of his more complex works. -- Jonathan Fardy * Foucault Studies *Table of ContentsIntegral Reality At the Margins of the Real The World in its Deep Illusoriness The Easiest Solutions--Do you want to be free?--Do you want to be anyone else? The Murder of the Sign The Mental Diaspora of the Networks We are All Agnostics The Violence Done to the Image Contemporary Art Contemporary with Itself Virtuality and Events Evil and Misfortune The Intelligence of Evil For Whom does the Bell of Politics Toll? The Destruction of the Golden Pavilion Duality's Revenge Fracture Lines Parallel Universes--Existential Divide--Time Divide Anamnesis

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Book SynopsisThe title of this timely and thought-provoking book, a French bestseller, refers to schoolgirls sending text messages to their friends on their smart phones. Michel Serres, one of France's most important living intellectuals, uses this image to get at something far broader: that humans are formed and shaped by technologies, and that with the advent of computers, smart phones, and the Internet, a new human is being born. These new humans beings are our children—thumbelina (petite poucette) and tom thumb (petit poucet)—but technologies have been changing so fast that parents scarcely know their children. Serres documents this cultural revolution, arguing that there have been several similar revolutions in the past: from oral cultures to cultures focused on reading and writing; the advent of the printing press; and now the complex changes brought about by the new information technologies—changes that are taking place at an accelerated pace and that affect us all.Trade ReviewHere is the characteristic voice of late Serres – by turns searching, mischievous, joyous and enraged. Short, but drawing together arguments that Serres has been developing over five decades, Thumbelina is a visionary fable that calls for a new space of open, inventive thought to match the transformations in our bodies, our technologies and our forms of knowledge and social organisation. -- Steven Connor, Professor of English, University of CambridgeTable of ContentsTranslator's Introduction / Part I: Thumbelina / 1. Novelties / 2. From the Body to Knowledge / 3. The Individual / 4. What to Transmit? To Whom to Transmit It? How to Transmit It? / 5. Envoi / Part II: School / 1. Thumbelina's Head / 2. The Hard and the Soft / 3. The Space of the Page / 4. New Technologies / 5. A Short History / 6. Thumbelina Meditates / 7. The Voice / 8. Supply and Demand / 9. Children Transfixed / 10. The Liberation of Bodies / 11. Mobility: Conductor and Passenger / 12. The Troubadour of Knowledge / 13. The Disparate Against Classification / 14. The Abstract Concept / Part III: Society / 1. in Praise of Reciprocal Grading / 2. In Praise of Humphrey Potter / 3. The Death of Work / 4. In Praise of the Hospital / 5. In Praise of Human Voices / 6. In Praise of Networks / 7. The Reversal of the Presumption of Incompetence / 8. In Praise of Marquetry / 9. In Praise of the Third Support / 10. In Praise of the Pseudonym / 11. The Algorithmic and the Procedural / 12. Emergence / 13. In Praise of the Code / 14. In Praise of the Passport / 15. The Image of Society Today / Index

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Book SynopsisWalking Inside Out is the first text that attempts to merge the work of literary and artist practitioners with academics to critically explore the state of psychogeography today. The collection explores contemporary psychogeographical practices, shows how a critical form of walking can highlight easily overlooked urban phenomenon, and examines the impact that everyday life in the city has on the individual. Through a variety of case studies, it offers a British perspective of international spaces, from the British metropolis to the post-communist European city. By situating the current strand of psychogeography within its historical, political and creative context along with careful consideration of the challenges it faces Walking Inside Out offers a vision for the future of the discipline.Trade ReviewAcademic and/or non-academic, [psychogeography] sprawls across traditional boundaries of subject matter in a way that I find delightful; I loved this book for its diversity, quirkiness, and thoughtfulness … [This book] is rich, witty, thought provoking. For any therapist who embraces a social constructionist view of the self, it is a wonderful read! * Therapy Today *This book is full of unanticipated gems […] it’s an enlightened celebration of the breadth of the contemporary psychogeographical practice. * Slow Boat Blog *Walking Inside Out . . . [is] a diverse and lively assortment of literary and more scholarly essays that constitutes a collective intervention in debates about the continued valence of walking as a species both of politics and aesthetics. . . .[This book] open[s] up an important space for debating the political and aesthetic value of walking in cities and their fringes. * CritCom: a Forum for Research & Commentary on Europe *“[A] diverse and lively assortment of literary and more scholarly essays that constitutes a collective intervention in debates about the continued valence of walking as a species both of politics and aesthetics, [Walking Inside Out] open[s] up an important space for debating the political and aesthetic value of walking in cities and their fringes in an epoch of rampant, even epidemic gentrification.” * Europe Now *"Tina Richardson is one of the key figures in contemporary British psychogeography and urban aesthetics. [F]or those of us interested in psychogeography she has provided a map of where we have come from and some pointers towards where we are going." * Psychogeographic Review *Editor Tina Richardson skillfully guides the reader through the diverse field of British psychogeography through a useful introduction – perfectly appropriate for both readers who are new to the subject as well as those with prior exposure to it. . . .Walking inside out is a focused, enthused, engaging and diverse resource full of memorable narratives and transferable insights. It is a book that testifies to the rich diversity of ways of walking, the multiplicity of walking styles and motivations, and the depth of a tradition that is very much alive both in and outside the British Isles. Equally theoretical and substantive, playful and serious, and balanced in its attention to methodological and counter-cultural possibilities, Walking inside out will lead readers to wonder, and wander, through the vast field of psychogeography. * Social & Cultural Geography *Richardson’s book testifies to the richness and profusion of British urban walking today, by turns serious and light-hearted, intensely focussed, and freely rambling. More than armchair philosophy, these essays—by a motley rabble of loiterers, strollers, academics, writers, agitators and wastrels—make me want to depart my desk and head out into the city, leaving all maps behind. -- Will Buckingham, School of Humanities, De Montfort University.I read this book in a single sitting, flying from Singapore to London. By the time we were over Afghanistan, I was hooked. Stumbling into the London streets from Heathrow Airport, I needed to walk into British pyschogeography, which as this collection shows, blends British grittiness and continental influences, creating something vital. -- James D. Sidaway, Professor of Political Geography, National University of SingaporeA bumper compendium, bubbling with insights and oddments, and a multiplicity of perspectives, Walking Inside Out accentuates the vibrancy of British psychogeography, its varied theories, walking styles, pathways, motivations. It will inspire you to stride out, to wallow in this weird Island, looking askance at its incongruities, vestiges, banalities, security apparatus, rural idylls, shabby seafronts, and the less trodden ways. -- Tim Edensor, Cultural Geographer, Manchester Metropolitan UniversityWalking Inside Out is more than a history of British psychogeography: it is a compelling drift through the conceptual space of the discipline as practised in the contemporary cultural and social situation. It points to psychogeography’s possible futures in all their theoretical complexity, playful subversiveness, political and therapeutical potential. An essential addition to the growing corpus of psychogeographical literature. -- James Lawrence, Writer, poet and translator[T]he strength of this collection is to offer an overview of contemporary British psychogeography while also practicing it. This means that the essays presented in the collection are not only about psychogeography, but psychogeographic in the first place, in that they embody (different conceptions of) psychogeography even before reflecting upon it. * Parallax *As one of the first academic surveys of the heterogeneous field of psychogeography as it is practiced across the United Kingdom in the present day, Walking Inside Out is an ambitious undertaking … Bringing together both recognizable and established names in the field alongside contributions from emerging researchers and practitioners, Walking Inside Out demonstrates just how thoroughly the appeal of the ‘toolbox’–like quality of psychogeography (Richardson 2015: 3) cuts across disciplines. * Journal of Urban Cultural Studies *Table of ContentsDedication / Introduction: A Wander Through the Scene of British Urban Walking / Part I: The Walker and the Urban Landscape / 1. Longshore Drift: Approaching Liverpool from Another Place by Roy Bayfield / 2. Walking the Dog by Ian Marchant / 3. Incongruous Steps Towards a Legal Psychogeography by Luke Bennett / Part II: Memory, Historicity, Time / 4. Walking Through Memory: Critical Nostalgia and the City by Alastair Bonnett / 5. Selective Amnesia and Spectral Recollection in the Bloodlands by Phil Wood / 6. The Art of Wandering: Arthur Machen’s London Science by Merlin Coverley / 7. Wooden Stones by Gareth E. Rees / Part III: Power and Place / 8. Psychogeography Adrift: Negotiating Critical Inheritance in a Changed Context by Christopher Collier / 9. Confessions of an Anarcho-Flâneuse or Psychogeography the Mancunian Way by Morag Rose / Part IV Practising Psychogeography/Psychogeographical Practices/ 10. Psychogeography and Mythogeography: Currents in Radical Walking by Phil Smith / 11. Developing Schizocartography: Formulating a Theoretical Methodology for a Walking Practice by Tina Richardson / 12. Route Planning a Sensory Walk: Sniffing Out the Issues by Victoria Henshaw / Part V Outsider Psychogeography/ 13. Re-walking the City: People with Dementia Remember by Andrea Capstick / 14. Psychogeography, Anti-Psychologies and the Question of Social Change by Alexander John Bridger / Conclusion: The New Psychogeography / Notes on Contributors / Index

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Book SynopsisGilbert Simondon: Information, Technology and Media is a comprehensive introduction to the work of the French philosopher Gilbert Simondon. In particular it examines Simondon's original informational ontology, as developed from a synthesis of Cybernetics, thermodynamics and French epistemology, The book goes on to delineate the role this ontology plays in developing an original account of individuation in the physical, biological and psycho-social regimes. This is done, in part, through reading Simondon with and against other figures in these fields such as Merleau-Ponty and Stuart Kauffman. Additionally, Mills explores Simondon's contribution to epistemology and invention, including an analysis of his important theories of the image-cycle and transindividuality. He also examines Simondon's influence on several contemporary thinkers, including Bernard Stiegler and Bruno Latour, before exploring the relevance of Simondon's work for theorising contemporary media technology.Trade ReviewThe object of this remarkable book is as clear as it is relevant —to provide the English-speaking readership with a complete and objective presentation of Gilbert Simondon’s philosophy of individuation and technology. Gilbert Simondon: Information, Technology and Media is a truly innovative study, which shows how to rethink the concept of information in an increasingly complex socio-technological system. -- Vincent K. Bontems, Director of the Atelier SimondonSimon Mills’s book is a timely and valuable introduction to Gilbert Simondon’s theory of information and individuation. Despite the fact that Simondon’s philosophy is steadily gaining more attention and recognition worldwide, English translations have been slow in coming; this book thus fills a gap in the Anglophone scholarship and will surely be a helpful English resource for those interested in understanding Simondonian concepts and the significance of Simondon’s thought for Continental Philosophy and Media Studies. -- Nandita Biswas Mellamphy, Associate Professor of Poitical Science, Western UniversityTable of ContentsAcknowledgements / Introduction / 1. Precursor to a Theory of Individuation / 2. Physical Individuation: Transduction and Information / 3. Vital Individuation / 4. Psychic and Collective Individuation / 5. Philosophy of Technology / 6. Culture & Technology / 7. Simondon, Latour & Stiegler / 8. Towards a Philosophy of Media / 9. Situating Simondon / Bibliography / Index

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Book SynopsisIn 1967, C.L.R. James, the much-celebrated Afro-Trinidadian Marxist, stated that he knew of no figure in history who had “such tremendous influence on such widely separated spheres of humanity” within a few years of his death as the eighteenth-century philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. While this impact was most pronounced in revolutionary politics inspired by political theories that rejected basing political authority in monarchy, aristocracy, and the Church, it extended to European literature, to philosophies of education, and the articulation of the social sciences. But what particularly struck James about Rousseau was the strong resonance of his work in Caribbean thought and politics. This volume illuminates these resonances by advancing a creolizing method of reading Rousseau that couples figures not typically engaged together, to create conversations among people of seemingly divided worlds in fact entangled by colonizing projects and histories. Doing this enables us to grapple with the meaning of creolization and the full range of Rousseau’s legacies not only in contemporary Western Europe and the United States, but in the Francophone colonies, territories, and larger Global South.Trade ReviewThis edited volume by Gordon and Roberts contains an introduction, ten essays, and a bibliography. The work attempts to challenge existing barriers in comparative political theory by 'creolizing' Rousseau, or identifying his 'strong resonance' in 'Caribbean thought and politics.' . . . The approach and thematic core of the book holds . . . promise. . . .[and] the attempt to 'enlarge the range of relevant interlocutors' also offers the possibility for the advancement of knowledge. . . .The essays in this collection vary considerably in terms of scope and modes of analysis . . . Chapter 3 (Mickaella Perina) and chapter 8 (Neil Roberts) are significant contributions in their own right. . . .Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate, research, and professional collections. * CHOICE *This excellent volume highlights the strong resonance of Rousseau in Caribbean thought and politics. Through a web of theoretical métissage that challenges traditional modes of Western thought, its contributors recast the work of major Caribbean thinkers like Césaire, James and Fanon through a Rousseauean prism, revisiting historical, political, and social trends in Caribbean thought to highlight the complexities and contradictions of modernity. -- H. Adlai Murdoch, Professor of Francophone Studies and Director of Africana Studies, Tufts UniversityTable of ContentsIntroduction: The Project of Creolizing Rousseau Jane Anna Gordon and Neil Roberts / 1. Comparative Political Theory, Creolization, and Reading Rousseau through Fanon Jane Anna Gordon / 2. Between Mestiçagem and Cosmopolitanism: Toward a New Social Arithmetic Alexis Nouss / 3. Beyond Négritude and Créolité: On Creolizing the Citizenship Contract Mickaella Perina / 4. Anténor Firmin, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Racial Inequality Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban / 5. Rousseau and Fanon on Inequality and the Human Sciences Nelson Maldonado-Torres / 6. C.L.R. James, Political Philosophy, and the Creolizing of Rousseau and Marx Paget Henry / 7. Rousseau, the Master’s Tools, and Anti-Contractarian Contractarianism Charles W. Mills / 8. Rousseau, Flight, and the Fall into Slavery Neil Roberts / 9. Pacha Mama, Rousseau, and the Femini: How Nature Can Revive Politics Nalini Persram / 10. Virtuous Bacchanalia: Creolizing Rousseau’s Festival Chiji Akoma and Sally Scholz / Bibliography /Authors / Index

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Book SynopsisInfancy is a time of rapid growth, when brain plasticity is at a maximum. Event-related potentials (ERPs) are one of the few methods that can easily and safely be used to study this process, and have led to exciting discoveries about human brain functioning and the neural basis of cognition. Over recent years, there has been a massive rise in the level of interest in ERPs and this book considers the advantages which they offer to researchers and clinicians. In particular, it looks at the benefits of this form of neuroimaging as a non-invasive tool for detecting impairments in brain and cognitive development very early in life. The potential use of ERPs for clinical settings is also explored in detail. The contributions are all from eminent researchers in the field and represent the latest thought on the topic.Infant EEG and Event-Related Potentials explains the basics of event-related potentials for those less familiar with the procedures and terminology, as well as offering a valuable handbook of the latest theories and empirical findings for those working in the field. This will be a valuable source for those interested in developmental psychology and neuropsychology, and for clinicians interested in application of ERPs.Trade Review"Infant EEG and Event-Related Potentials does an excellent job of covering the varied perspectives and areas of study that make up the field of infant-focused developmental cognitive neuroscience. I anticipate that it will assume the reputation as the principal reference for this growing discipline." - Susan W. Parker, Department of Psychology, Randolph-Macon College"Infant EEG and Event-Related Potentials does an excellent job of covering the varied perspectives and areas of study that make up the field of infant-focused developmental cognitive neuroscience. I anticipate that it will assume the reputation as the principal reference for this growing discipline." - Susan W. Parker, Department of Psychology, Randolph-Macon College"Both experienced and novice researchers in the field will find Infant EEG and Event-Related Potentials an informative reference for infant EEG and ERP research... Michelle de Haan has compiled an outstanding body of knowledge on infant EEG and ERP research to serve as a reference in this field... this book provides a thorough and invaluable reference of the current knowledge and future direction of infant EEG and ERP research.' - Joan Y. Chiao & Genna M. Bebko, PsycCRITIQUESTable of ContentsM. de Haan, Introduction to ‘Infant EEG and Event-related Potentials’. T. deBoer, L.S. Scott, C.A. Nelson, Methods for Acquiring and Analysing Infant Event-Related Potentials. D.L. McCulloch, Visual Evoked Potential in Infants. M. de Haan, M. Johnson, H. Halit, Development of Face-Sensitive Event-Related Potentials During Infancy. M. de Haan, Visual Attention and Recognition Memory in Infancy. M. Cheour, Development of Mismatch Negativity (MMN) in Infancy. D.L. Molfese, V.J. Molfese, N.L. Pratt, The Use of Event-Related Evoked Potentials to Predict Developmental Outcomes. R. de Regnier, Auditory Recognition Memory in Infancy. P.J. Marshall, N.A. Fox, Infant EEG and ERP in Relation to Social and Emotional Development. T.A. Stroganova, E.V. Orekhova, EEG and Infant States. G. Csibra, M.H. Johnson, Investigating Event-Related Oscillations in Infancy. M. de Haan, Future Directions in Infant Electrophysiology. J. Cownie, Glossary of Terms.

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Book SynopsisAre your students baffled by Baudrillard? Dazed by Deleuze? Confused by Kristeva? Other beginners' guides can feel as impenetrable as the original texts to students who 'think in images'. "Contemporary Thinkers Reframed" instead uses the language of the arts to explore the usefulness in practice of complex ideas.Short, contemporary and accessible, these lively books utilise actual examples of artworks, films, television shows, works of architecture, fashion and even computer games to explain and explore the work of the most commonly taught thinkers. Conceived specifically for the visually minded, the series will prove invaluable to students right across the visual arts. Deleuze disdains easy answers. Yet easy answers to Deleuze are what students need. Without reducing Deleuze's complex body of thought to simplistic solutions, this very contemporary guide leads the reader into the world of Deleuze's spiralling thought through concrete examples from art, film, TV and even computer games. From 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' and 'The Cell' to 'Pac Man' and 'Doom' and from the work of Matthew Barney and Helen Chadwick to 'Lost' and 'Doctor Who', this easily digestible introduction looks at the key ideas promoted by Deleuze, both in his own work and in his notoriously difficult collaborations with Felix Guattari, to make them both fresh and relevant to the visual arts today.Table of ContentsContents Acknowledgements vii List of illustrations ix Foreword: Deleuze reframed? xi Part One 1 Introduction. What is a rhizome? 3 Chapter 1. Gaming in the labyrinth 11 David Martin-Jones Chapter 2. Virtual structures of the Internet 27 Damian Sutton Part Two 43 Introduction. What is becoming? 45 Chapter 3. Minor cinemas 51 David Martin-Jones Chapter 4. Becoming art 65 Damian Sutton Part Three 83 Introduction. What is duration? 85 Chapter 5. Movement-images, time-images and 91 hybrid-images in cinema David Martin-Jones Chapter 6. Time (and) travel in television 107 Damian Sutton Conclusion: Reframing Deleuze 123 Notes 129 Select bibliography 137 Glossary 143 Index 145

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Book SynopsisDeleuze and Guattari's landmark philosophical project, "Capitalism and Schizophrenia", has been hailed as a 'highly original and sensational' major philosophical work. The collaboration of two of the most remarkable and influential minds of the twentieth century, it is a project that still sets the terms of contemporary philosophical debate. It provides a radical and compelling analysis of social and cultural phenomena, offering fresh alternatives for thinking about history, society, capitalism and culture.In "Who's Afraid of Deleuze and Guattari?", Gregg Lambert revisits this seminal work and re-evaluates Deleuze and Guattari's legacy in philosophy, literary criticism and cultural studies since the early 1980s. Lambert offers the first detailed analysis of the reception of the Capitalism and Schizophrenia project by such key figures as Jameson, Zizek, Badiou, Hardt, Negri and Agamben. He argues that the project has suffered from being underappreciated and too hastily dismissed on the one hand and, on the other, too quickly assimilated to the objectives of other desires such as multiculturalism or American identity politics. In the light of the limitations of this reception-history, Lambert offers a fresh evaluation of the project and its influences that promise to challenge the ways in which Deleuze and Guattari's controversial and remarkable project has been received.Divided into four key sections - Aesthetics, Psychoanalysis, Politics and Power - "Who's Afraid of Deleuze and Guattari?" offers a fresh, witty and intelligent analysis of this major philosophical project.Trade Review"'Gregg Lambert has written a quite excellent book on Deleuze and Guattari. It provides a series of fascinating and highly instructive insights into their critical engagement with Marxism and psychoanalysis and shows the continuing relevance of their critique.' Kelth Ansell-Pearson, Professor of Philosophy, University of Warwick 'Polemical, erudite and incisive, Gregg Lambert's latest book provides a major reevaluation of the significance of Deleuze and Guttari's work for literature, psychoanalysis and politics. This is a fine piece of work.' Philip Goodchild, Associate Professor, Religious Studies, University of Nottingham"Table of ContentsPreface and Acknowledgements; Foreword: Why the Revolution (of Desire) Did Not Take Place; I. Expression; 1. Once More for a 'Minor Literature' - This Time With Feeling!; 2. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Language; II. Psychoanalysis; 3. 'Deterritorializing' Psychoanalysis; 4. Slavoj Zizek - It's 'Body Without Organs' (BWO), Dummy!; III. Politics; 5. On the Grandeur of Marx'; 6. On 'the Right to Desire'; IV Power (seminar on Foucault); 7. How 'Power Makes Us See and Speak'; 8. Why 'Power Produces Truth as a Problem'; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

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Book SynopsisThe Derrida Dictionary is a comprehensive and accessible guide to the world of Jacques Derrida, the founder of deconstruction and one of the most important and influential European thinkers of the twentieth century. Meticulously researched and extensively cross-referenced, this unique book covers all his major works, ideas and influences and provides a firm grounding in the central themes of Derrida's thought. Students will discover a wealth of useful information, analysis and criticism. A-Z entries include clear definitions of all the key terms used in Derrida's writings and detailed synopses of his key works. The Dictionary also includes entries on Derrida's major philosophical influences and those he engaged with, such as Kant, Hegel, Husserl, Freud, Heidegger, Foucault, Lacan and Levinas. It covers everything that is essential to a sound understanding of Derrida's philosophy, offering clear and accessible explanations of often complex terminology. The Derrida Dictionary is the ideal resource for anyone reading or studying Derrida, deconstruction or modern European philosophy more generally.Trade Review"Simon Morgan Wortham's Derrida Dictionary is a spectacular intellectual accomplishment. He has amazing mastery of all Derrida's multitudinous writings (about seventy books, an immense number of articles and interviews). Perhaps the highest praise I can make of this extraordinary and extraordinarily valuable book is that each entry, rather than closing the door on a given Derridean topic, makes you want to go back and read or reread for yourself Archive Fever or Paper Machine or Without Alibi, and all the rest of those seventy books." - J. Hillis Miller, Distinguished Research Professor of Comparative Literature, University of California, Irvine, USA, author of For Derrida (Fordham, 2009)"This is no ordinary dictionary. Simon Morgan Wortham provides not only comprehensive, rigorously defined, and well-contextualised terms that cross-reference other terms and books across the corpus of Derrida's work, but in the process offers a lucid exposition of Derrida's work itself." - Nicole Anderson, Co-Editor/Founder Derrida Today journal, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia"Simon Morgan Wortham's dictionary is much more than a dictionary; it is, above all, a remarkable collection of short essays on Derrida's major works and concepts that will serve as valuable introductions to newcomers and useful reminders to those already familiar with Derrida's writings. Doing full justice to all periods and areas of Derrida's work, it succeeds in showing both his extraordinary range and the connections and continuities that link his various ventures in thought." - Derek Attridge, University of York, UK'Simon Morgan Wortham's Dictionary is an indispensable tool for anyone entering or continuing to work in theory. For those of us who have been doing so for some time, the Dictionary serves as a reminder of how timely Derrida's work was and is: a Derrida Dictionary for today and very much for tomorrow.' -- Derrida Today -- Stephen BarkerTable of ContentsIntroduction; Chronology of Derrida's Life and Works; A-Z Dictionary; Guide to Further Reading; List of entries.

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Book SynopsisWhat is Philosophy? is the last instalment of a remarkable twenty-year collaboration between the philosopher Gilles Deleuze and the psychoanalyst Félix Guattari. This hugely important text attempts to explain the terms of their collaboration and to define the activity of philosophy in which they have been engaged. A major contribution to contemporary Continental philosophy, it nevertheless remains distinctly challenging for readers faced for the first time with Deleuze and Guattari's unusual and somewhat allusive style. This Reader's Guide offers a concise and accessible introduction to this hugely important and yet challenging work. Written specifically to meet the needs of students coming to Deleuze and Guattari for the first time, the book offers guidance on the philosophical and historical context of the text, its reception and influence, its key themes, notes on reading the text and further reading suggestions.Table of Contents1. Context 2. Overview of Themes 3. Art 4. Philosophy 5. Science and Logic 6. The Brain and Geophilosophy 7. Reception Notes Index of Names Index of Concepts

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Book SynopsisShortly before her death, philosopher Gillian Rose began work on a new book-her Paradiso-thus fulfilling her promise at the end of Love's Work to 'stay in the fray, in the revel of ideas and risk'. Confident even only a week before her death that she could complete the work, all that remains are these fragments. In them, Rose combines the detached insight of one who is taking leave, or who has almost left, with a desire to participate in the joys of life until the last. Exceeding the injunction to 'keep your mind in hell and despair not', Paradiso sketches a movement through the hell and despair of terminal illness to an affirmation of the joys of companionship and memory. Paradiso contains some of Rose's most serene and affirmatory writing, and in that light completes one of the most remarkable philosophical oeuvres of the late twentieth century.

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Book SynopsisThis is a thorough and balanced guide to modern French philosophical thought, providing lucid, authoritative accounts of famous philosophers whilst also highlighting lesser-known figures. Author Robert Wicks introduces the major works of each philosopher, explaining their impact on their peers and on the wider world. Covering such major movements as Existentialism, Surrealism, Structuralism and Postmodernism, this handbook is a useful resource for Francophiles, students of philosophy and all those interested in the intellectual landscape of 20th- and 21st-century France. The book includes detailed coverage of such philosophers as Henri Bergson, Beauvoir, Sarte, Camus, Barthes, Derrida, Foucault, Deleuze and Levi-Strauss, among others.Trade Review"Successfully provides both serious exposition and cohesive narrative. It is well worth reading for its historical and philosophical insights." * Philosophy in Review *Table of ContentsTime, progress and Disillusionment 1 Part 1Surrealism,Existentialism, Vitalism Part 2 Structuralism Part 3 Poststructuralism and Postmodernism

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Book SynopsisIt is commonly held that our thoughts, beliefs, desires and feelings - the mental phenomena that we instantiate - are constituted by states and processes that occur inside our head. The view known as externalism, however, denies that mental phenomena are internal in this sense. The mind is not purely in the head. Mental phenomena are hybrid entities that straddle both internal state and processes and things occurring in the outside world. The development of externalist conceptions of the mind is one of the most controversial, and arguably one of the most important, developments in the philosophy of mind in the second half of the twentieth century. Yet, despite its significance most recent work on externalism has been highly technical, clouding its basic ideas and principles. Moreover, very little work has been done to locate externalism within philosophical developments in both analytic and continental traditions. In this book, Mark Rowlands aims to remedy both these problems and present for the reader a clear and accessible introduction to the subject grounded in wider developments in the history of philosophy. Rowlands shows that externalism has significant and respectable historical roots that make it much more important than a specific eruption that occurred in late twentieth-century analytic philosophy.Trade Review"Rowland's survey is well designed for its intended audience; the prose is consistently clear and straightforward, avoiding undue complications. Relevant philosophical background is unobtrusively provided when needed. He judiciously balances his own argumentation with his review of the existing literature - what is most remarkable is its breadth: the book could almost double as a general introduction to the philosophy of mind." - Mind "Discussions of externalism have become highly specialized and detailed and we risk losing sight of the broader questions and issues. Rowlands' focus in this fascinating book is on such broader issues and provides a welcome preventive against such myopia." - Philosophical QuarterlyTable of ContentsPreface and acknowledgements 1. Introduction: internalism and externalism 2. Cartesianism 3. Idealism 4. The "radical reversal" of idealism 5. The attack on the inner 6. Content externalism 7. The scope and limits of content externalism 8. Externalism and first-person authority 9. Vehicle externalism 10. Externalism and consciousness 11. Externalist axiology 12. Conclusion: externalism, internalism, and idealism Notes Bibliography Index

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