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A Thousand Small Sanities: The Moral Adventure of Liberalism
by Adam Gopnik'WITTY, HUMANE, LEARNED' NEW YORK TIMESThe New York Times-bestselling author offers a stirring defence of liberalism against the dogmatisms of our timeNot since the early twentieth century has liberalism, and liberals, been under such relentless attack, from both right and left. The crisis of democracy in our era has produced a crisis of faith in liberal institutions and, even worse, in liberal thought.A Thousand Small Sanities is a manifesto rooted in the lives of people who invented and extended the liberal tradition. Taking us from Montaigne to Mill, and from Middlemarch to the civil rights movement, Adam Gopnik argues that liberalism is not a form of centrism, nor simply another word for free markets, nor merely a term denoting a set of rights. It is something far more ambitious: the search for radical change by humane measures. Gopnik shows us why liberalism is one of the great moral adventures in human history--and why, in an age of autocracy, our lives may depend on its continuation.(P)2019 Hachette Audio
A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History
by Manuel De LandaFollowing in the wake of his groundbreaking War in the Age of Intelligent Machines, Manuel De Landa presents a radical synthesis of historical development over the last one thousand years. More than a simple expository history, A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History sketches the outlines of a renewed materialist philosophy of history in the tradition of Fernand Braudel, Gilles Deleuze, and Félix Guattari, while also engaging the critical new understanding of material processes derived from the sciences of dynamics. Working against prevailing attitudes that see history as an arena of texts, discourses, ideologies, and metaphors, De Landa traces the concrete movements and interplays of matter and energy through human populations in the last millennium. De Landa attacks three domains that have given shape to human societies: economics, biology, and linguistics. In every case, what one sees is the self-directed processes of matter and energy interacting with the whim and will of human history itself to form a panoramic vision of the West free of rigid teleology and naive notions of progress, and even more important, free of any deterministic source of its urban, institutional, and technological forms. Rather, the source of all concrete forms in the West's history are shown to derive from internal morphogenetic capabilities that lie within the flow of matter-energy itself.
A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History
by Manuel De LandaFollowing in the wake of his groundbreaking work War in the Age of Intelligent Machines, Manuel De Landa presents a brilliant, radical synthesis of historical development of the last thousand years. A Thousand Years of Nonlinear History sketches the outlines of a renewed materialist philosophy of history in the tradition of Fernand Braudel, Gilles Deleuze, and Félix Guattari, while engaging — in an entirely unprecedented manner — the critical new understanding of material processes derived from the sciences of dynamics. Working against prevailing attitudes that see history merely as the arena of texts, discourses, ideologies, and metaphors, De Landa traces the concrete movements and interplays of matter and energy through human populations in the last millennium. The result is an entirely novel approach to the study of human societies and their always mobile, semi-stable forms, cities, economies, technologies, and languages.De Landa attacks three domains that have given shape to human societies: economics, biology, and linguistics. In each case, De Landa discloses the self-directed processes of matter and energy interacting with the whim and will of human history itself to form a panoramic vision of the West free of rigid teleology and naive notions of progress and, even more important, free of any deterministic source for its urban, institutional, and technological forms. The source of all concrete forms in the West’s history, rather, is shown to derive from internal morphogenetic capabilities that lie within the flow of matter—energy itself.A Swerve Edition.
A Time for Critique (New Directions in Critical Theory #58)
by Didier Fassin Bernard E. HarcourtIn a world of political upheaval, rising inequality, catastrophic climate change, and widespread doubt of even the most authoritative sources of information, is there a place for critique? This book calls for a systematic reappraisal of critical thinking—its assumptions, its practices, its genealogy, its predicament—following the principle that critique can only start with self-critique.In A Time for Critique, Didier Fassin, Bernard E. Harcourt, and a group of eminent political theorists, anthropologists, sociologists, philosophers, and literary and legal scholars reflect on the multiplying contexts and forms of critical discourse and on the social actors and social movements engaged in them. How can one maintain sufficient distance from the eventful present without doing it an injustice? How can one address contemporary issues without repudiating the intellectual legacies of the past? How can one avoid the disconnection between theory and action? How can critique be both public and collective? These provocative questions are addressed by revisiting the works of Foucault and Arendt, Said and Césaire, Benjamin and Du Bois, but they are also given substance through on-the-ground case studies that treat subaltern criticism in Palestine, emancipatory mobilizations in Syria, the antitorture campaigns of Sri Lankan activists, and the abolitionism of the African American critical resistance and undercommons movements in the United States. Examining lucidly the present challenges of critique, A Time for Critique shows how its theoretical reassessment and its emerging forms can illuminate the imaginative modalities to rejuvenate critical praxis.
A Time for the Humanities: Futurity and the Limits of Autonomy
by Tim Dean Ewa Plonowska ZiarekThis book brings together an international roster of renowned scholars from disciplines including philosophy, political theory, intellectual history, and literary studies to address the conceptual foundations of the humanities and the question of their future. What notions of the future, of the human, and of finitude underlie recurring anxieties about the humanities in our current geopolitical situation? How can we think about the unpredictable and unthought dimensions of praxis implicit in the very notion of futurity?The essays here argue that the uncertainty of the future represents both an opportunity for critical engagement and a matrix for invention. Broadly conceived, the notion of invention, or cultural poiesis, questions the key assumptions and tasks of a whole range of practices in the humanities, beginning with critique, artistic practices, and intellectual inquiry, and ending with technology, emancipatory politics, and ethics. The essays discuss a wide range of key figures (e.g., Deleuze, Freud, Lacan, Foucault, Kristeva, Irigaray), problems (e.g., becoming, kinship and the foreign, "disposable populations" within a global political economy, queerness and the death drive, the parapoetic, electronic textuality, invention and accountability, political and social reform in Latin America), disciplines and methodologies (philosophy, art and art history, visuality, political theory, criticism and critique, psychoanalysis, gender analysis, architecture, literature, art). The volume should be required reading for all who feel a deep commitment to the humanities, its practices, and its future.
A Topology of Mind: Spiral Thought Patterns, the Hyperlinking of Text, Ideas and More (Mathematics in Mind)
by Robert K. Logan Izabella Pruska-OldenhofThis volume covers many diverse topics related in varying degrees to mathematics in mind including the mathematical and topological structures of thought and communication. It examines mathematics in mind from the perspective of the spiral, cyclic and hyperlinked structures of the human mind in terms of its language, its thoughts and its various modes of communication in science, philosophy, literature and the arts including a chapter devoted to the spiral structure of the thought of Marshall McLuhan. In it, the authors examine the topological structures of hypertext, hyperlinking, and hypermedia made possible by the Internet and the hyperlinked structures that existed before its emergence. It also explores the cognitive origins of mathematical thinking of the human mind and its relation to the emergence of spoken language, and studies the emergence of mathematical notation and its impact on education. Topics addressed include:• The historical context of any topic that involves how mathematical thinking emerged, focusing on archaeological and philological evidence. • Connection between math cognition and symbolism, annotation and other semiotic processes. • Interrelationships between mathematical discovery and cultural processes, including technological systems that guide the thrust of cognitive and social evolution. • Whether mathematics is an innate faculty or forged in cultural-historical context• What, if any, structures are shared between mathematics and language
A Transformation Theory of Aesthetics
by Michael StephanThis book develops a theory of picture perception and aesthetic response, arguing that images can generate in us a complex pattern of mental changes, or transformations. It is essential reading to those seriously involved in linking the arts and cognitive sciences.
A Translation of Lao-tzu’s Tao Te Ching and Wang Pi’s Commentary (Michigan Monographs In Chinese Studies #30)
by Paul J. LinDuring the Spring-Autumn period (722–420 BCE) and the time of the Warring States (480–222 CE), China was in great turmoil. Intellectuals and social reformers sifted through their wisdom and knowledge of China’s experiences up to then, attempting to find a solution to their situation. The Tao Te Ching, one of the foremost products of the era, is a metaphysical book, a source of the highest political thought. Many readers have found in it representations of the highest ideals of human endeavors. Yet given its likely oral origin and the technological limitations of its early textual transmission, the Tao Te Ching raises numerous questions related to authorship, date of origin, internal organization, textual coherence, and editorial history. Of the scores of translations of the Tao Te Ching, the great majority are based on the edition prepared by the third-century scholar Wang Pi. Wang’s profound commentary is itself a deeply influential text in the development of Taoist thought. Paul Lin presents the commentary, otherwise unavailable in English, in the form of footnotes accompanying his meticulous rendition of the Taoist classic.
A Transpacific Imagination of Theology, Ethics, and Spiritual Activism: Doing Feminist Ethics Transnationally (New Approaches to Religion and Power)
by Keun-joo Christine PaeDespite prolific feminist voices in Christian ethics, transnational perspectives are still underdeveloped. Similarly, ‘secular’ transnational feminist scholarship often overlooks religious faith, rituals, and spirituality, crucial to many women’s liberation movements across the globe. This book aims to fill these gaps in Christian and secular feminist scholarships by constructing a transnational feminist theo-ethics. Furthermore, by bringing the theological and the transnational together, the book offers an alternative tool in analyzing social identities beyond intersectionality (i.e., interstitial approach and interstitial integrity) and thus, renews feminist theological understandings, especially of time, memories, and healing beyond linear approaches. A renewed analytical tool would help the readers critically reinterrogate the global power structure buttressed by empire, militarized capitalism, and heteropatriarchal religious ideologies at the cost of raced, sexed, and classed bodies. At the same time, the book would create space where readers create and recreate theo-ethical visions for global peace and justice constructed upon transnational feminist praxis of solidarity and spiritual activism. Case studies offer concrete sites to inform readers about how to use transnational feminist theories at a micro- and macropolitical levels, and produce transnational feminist knowledge of God, spiritual activism, and solidarity. This book is written for graduate and advanced undergraduate students in religion, gender studies, and Asian/American studies to critically engage in the political, the theological, and the spiritual from transnational perspectives not as observers but as active participants in global politics.
A Treasury of Albert Schweitzer
by Albert SchweitzerCollected here in a single volume are the most important philosophical writings of Albert Schweitzer, one of the greatest thinkers and humanitarians of our time. Carefully chosen from among his many written works, the selections in this anthology illuminate and amplify Dr. Schweitzer&’s cardinal principle of belief—a reverence for life. Among the important and revealing works included are &“Pilgrimage to Humanity,&” which outlines his philosophy of culture, the early influences in his life, and his ideal of world peace; &“The Light Within Us,&” one of the twentieth century&’s most significant and beautiful statements of one man&’s faith in his fellow man; and &“Reverence for Life,&” which states, with great clarity and conviction, the essence of Schweitzer&’s wisdom. Because of his legendary fame as a medical missionary, other equally important and outstanding aspects of Schweitzer&’s life are not as well known. Readers of this book will realize that Albert Schweitzer was a truly creative thinker, whose concern with the problems of the human spirit and whose methods of expressing this concern have raised him to the stature of one of the world&’s foremost philosophers.
A Treasury of Albert Schweitzer (Biography Index Reprint Ser.)
by Albert SchweitzerCollected here in a single volume are the most important philosophical writings of Albert Schweitzer, one of the greatest thinkers and humanitarians of our time. Carefully chosen from among his many written works, the selections in this anthology illuminate and amplify Dr. Schweitzer&’s cardinal principle of belief—a reverence for life. Among the important and revealing works included are &“Pilgrimage to Humanity,&” which outlines his philosophy of culture, the early influences in his life, and his ideal of world peace; &“The Light Within Us,&” one of the twentieth century&’s most significant and beautiful statements of one man&’s faith in his fellow man; and &“Reverence for Life,&” which states, with great clarity and conviction, the essence of Schweitzer&’s wisdom. Because of his legendary fame as a medical missionary, other equally important and outstanding aspects of Schweitzer&’s life are not as well known. Readers of this book will realize that Albert Schweitzer was a truly creative thinker, whose concern with the problems of the human spirit and whose methods of expressing this concern have raised him to the stature of one of the world&’s foremost philosophers.
A Treasury of Biblical Quotations
by Lester V. BerreyDesigned as a quick and easy reference tool, this thesaurus of scripture classifies sacred texts from the King James Version of both the Old and New Testaments by topic. Arranged alphabetically by subject, the quotes appear under headings ranging from ability, courage, and fidelity to sorrow, temptation, and zeal.
A Treasury of Kahlil Gibran
by Kahlil GibranPassionate and spiritual writings uncovering the philosophical foundations of one of the twentieth century&’s greatest thinkersKahlil Gibran&’s works are known throughout the world for their lyrical grandeur, wisdom, and insights drawn from the everyday sufferings of man. This nine-book collection captures one of modern history&’s titanic literary figures at his best. Texts such as &“The Secret of the Heart,&” &“Laughter and Tears,&” and &“Song of the Flower&” reveal the vivid splendor of life through Gibran&’s gifted similes and symbolism. Passionate and unforgettable, these verses of lyric prose impart to the reader a grand symphony of sparking joys epitomizing the qualities that have made Gibran one of the world&’s most eminent philosophical virtuosos.
A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge (Dover Philosophical Classics)
by George BerkeleyIf a tree falls in the forest and no one is present to hear it, does it make a sound? It does not, according to George Berkeley. Originally published in 1710, this landmark of Western philosophy introduced a revolutionary concept: immaterialism, which asserts that to be is to perceive or be perceived. An Irish clergyman who spent his entire philosophical career as a churchman, Berkeley linked his investigations to his religious interests. A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge opens with an assault on Locke’s theory of abstract ideas and proceeds with arguments that sensible qualities exist only when perceived as ideas. Physical objects, he claims, are no more than collections of qualities, and these sensible objects, too, are merely ideas. Berkeley relates his position to the achievements of eighteenth-century science, and proclaims the compatibility of immaterialism with traditional religion.The fullest expression of Berkeley’s doctrine of immaterialism, this classic work influenced British philosophers from David Hume to Bertrand Russell and the other logical positivists. It is essential reading for all students of philosophy.
A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge Part 1
by George Berkeley Kenneth WinklerKenneth Winkler's esteemed edition of Berkeley's Principles is based on the second edition (London, 1734), the last one published in Berkeley's lifetime. Like other members of Hackett's philosophical classics series, it features editorial elements found to be of particular value to students and their teachers: analytical table of contents; chronology of the author's life; selected bibliography; note on the text; glossary; and index.
A Treatise of Human Nature
by David HumeDavid Hume was a Scottish philosopher, economist, and historian. He is an important figure in Western philosophy, and in the history of the Scottish Enlightenment. Hume first gained recognition and respect as a historian, but academic interest in Hume's work has in recent years centered on his philosophical writing. His "History of England" was the standard work on English history for many years, until Macaulay's "The History of England from the Accession of James the Second". Hume was the first philosopher of the modern era to produce a naturalistic philosophy. This philosophy partly consisted in rejection of the historically prevalent conception of human minds as being miniature versions of the divine mind. This doctrine was associated with a trust in the powers of human reason and insight into reality, which possessed God's certification. Hume's scepticism came in his rejection of this 'insight ideal', and the (usually rationalistic) confidence derived from it that the world is as we represent it. Instead, the best we can do is to apply the strongest explanatory and empirical principles available to the investigation of human mental phenomena, issuing in a quasi-Newtonian project, Hume's 'Science of Man'. Hume was heavily influenced by empiricists John Locke and George Berkeley, along with various French-speaking writers such as Pierre Bayle, and various figures on the English-speaking intellectual landscape such as Isaac Newton, Samuel Clarke, Francis Hutcheson, and Joseph Butler.
A Treatise of Human Nature
by David HumeOne of the most significant works of Western philosophy, Hume's Treatise was published in 1739-40, before he was thirty years old. A pinnacle of English empiricism, it is a comprehensive attempt to apply scientific methods of observation to a study of human nature, and a vigorous attack upon the principles of traditional metaphysical thought. With masterly eloquence, Hume denies the immortality of the soul and the reality of space; considers the manner in which we form concepts of identity, cause and effect; and speculates upon the nature of freedom, virtue and emotion. Opposed both to metaphysics and to rationalism, Hume's philosophy of informed scepticism sees man not as a religious creation, nor as a machine, but as a creature dominated by sentiment, passion and appetite.
A Treatise of Human Nature (Dover Philosophical Classics Ser.)
by David HumePublished in the mid-18th century and received with indifference (it "fell dead-born from the press," noted the author), David Hume's comprehensive three-volume A Treatise of Human Nature has withstood the test of time and has had enormous impact on subsequent philosophical thought. Hume — whom Kant famously credited with having "interrupted my dogmatic slumber and gave my investigations in the field of speculative philosophy a quite new direction" — intended this work as an observationally grounded study of human nature. He employed John Locke's empiric principles, constructing a theory of knowledge to serve as a foundation for the evaluation of metaphysical ideas.Reprinted here in one volume, the Treatise begins with an examination of the nature of ideas: their origins and connections, modes and substance, and abstract qualities. The work's considerations of existence, knowledge, and identity explore the ways in which people use these concepts as a basis for firm but unproven beliefs. The second part surveys the passions, from pride and humility to contempt and respect, analyzing their roles in human choices and actions. The book concludes with a meditation on morals and an in-depth explanation of the perceived distinctions between virtue and vice.One of philosophy's most important works and a key to modern studies of 18th-century Western thought, A Treatise of Human Nature is essential reading for all students of philosophy and history.
A Treatise on Good Robots
by Krzysztof TchonThis volume investigates the ways emerging technologies in the fields of robotics and bio-robotics are influencing society. It necessarily considers both philosophical and technological study of robots, including what it means for robots to exist as good and moral entities, and how they benefit humans and enhance their quality of life. Contributors address artificial intelligence and social functions as well as technical matters. Chapters are wide-ranging, and consider robots in science fiction; the need for designers to create moral robots; specific technology; and the development of biological robots. Also addressed are robotic technologies already enhancing human bodies, such as exoskeletons that allow paraplegics to walk. The contributors foresee robots becoming involved not only in mundane domestic tasks such as washing dishes, but also in providing health care to the disabled and companionship to the elderly. This volume offers exciting philosophical reflections that unveil new connections between robotics and praxiology and their practical applications.
A Treatise on Induction and Probability (International Library of Philosophy)
by Georg Henrik Von WrightFirst published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
A Treatise on Time and Space (Routledge Library Editions: Philosophy of Time #2)
by J. R. LucasOriginally published in 1976. This comprehensive study discusses in detail the philosophical, mathematical, physical, logical and theological aspects of our understanding of time and space. The text examines first the many different definitions of time that have been offered, beginning with some of the puzzles arising from our awareness of the passage of time and shows how time can be understood as the concomitant of consciousness. In considering time as the dimension of change, the author obtains a transcendental derivation of the concept of space, and shows why there has to be only one dimension of time and three of space, and why Kant was not altogether misguided in believing the space of our ordinary experience to be Euclidean.The concept of space-time is then discussed, including Lorentz transformations, and in an examination of the applications of tense logic the author discusses the traditional difficulties encountered in arguments for fatalism. In the final sections he discusses eternity and the beginning and end of the universe. The book includes sections on the continuity of space and time, on the directedness of time, on the differences between classical mechanics and the Special and General theories of relativity, on the measurement of time, on the apparent slowing down of moving clocks, and on time and probability.
A Tremendous Thing: Friendship from the "Iliad" to the Internet
by Gregory Jusdanis"Why did you do all this for me?" Wilbur asked. "I don't deserve it. I've never done anything for you." “You have been my friend,” replied Charlotte. “That in itself is a tremendous thing.” —from Charlotte's Web by E. B. White Friendship encompasses a wide range of social bonds, from playground companionship and wartime camaraderie to modern marriages and Facebook links. For many, friendship is more meaningful than familial ties. And yet it is our least codified relationship, with no legal standing or bureaucratic definition. In A Tremendous Thing, Gregory Jusdanis explores the complex, sometimes contradictory nature of friendship, reclaiming its importance in both society and the humanities today. Ranging widely in his discussion, he looks at the art of friendship and friendship in art, finding a compelling link between our need for friends and our engagement with fiction. Both, he contends, necessitate the possibility of entering invented worlds, of reading the minds of others, and of learning to live with people. Investigating the ethics, aesthetics, and politics of friendship, Jusdanis draws from the earliest writings to the present, from the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Iliad to Charlotte's Web and “Brokeback Mountain,” as well as from philosophy, sociology, evolutionary biology, psychology, and political theory. He asks: What makes friends stay together? Why do we associate friendship with mourning? Does friendship contribute to the formation of political communities? Can friends desire each other? The history of friendship demonstrates that human beings are a mutually supportive species with an innate aptitude to envision and create ties with others. At a time when we are confronted by war, economic inequality, and climate change, Jusdanis suggests that we reclaim friendship to harness our capacity for cooperation and empathy.
A Truer Liberty: Simone Weil and Marxism (Routledge Revivals)
by Victor Seidler Laurence A. BlumSimone Weil — philosopher, trade union militant, factory worker — developed a penetrating critique of Marxism and a powerful political philosophy which serves an alternative both to liberalism and to Marxism. In A Truer Liberty, originally published in 1989, Blum and Seidler show how Simone Weil’s philosophy sought to place political action on a firmly moral basis. The dignity of the manual worker became the standard for political institutions and movements. Weil criticized Marxism for its confidence in progress and revolution and its attendant illusory belief that history is on the side of the proletariat.Blum and Seidler relate Weil’s work to influential trends in political philosophy today, from analytic Marxism to central traditions within liberal thought. The authors stress the importance of Weil’s work for understanding liberation theology, Catholic radicalism, and, more generally, social movements against oppression which are closely tied to religion and spirituality.
A Turn to Empire: The Rise of Imperial Liberalism in Britain and France
by Jennifer PittsA dramatic shift in British and French ideas about empire unfolded in the sixty years straddling the turn of the nineteenth century. As Jennifer Pitts shows in A Turn to Empire, Adam Smith, Edmund Burke, and Jeremy Bentham were among many at the start of this period to criticize European empires as unjust as well as politically and economically disastrous for the conquering nations. By the mid-nineteenth century, however, the most prominent British and French liberal thinkers, including John Stuart Mill and Alexis de Tocqueville, vigorously supported the conquest of non-European peoples. Pitts explains that this reflected a rise in civilizational self-confidence, as theories of human progress became more triumphalist, less nuanced, and less tolerant of cultural difference. At the same time, imperial expansion abroad came to be seen as a political project that might assist the emergence of stable liberal democracies within Europe. Pitts shows that liberal thinkers usually celebrated for respecting not only human equality and liberty but also pluralism supported an inegalitarian and decidedly nonhumanitarian international politics. Yet such moments represent not a necessary feature of liberal thought but a striking departure from views shared by precisely those late-eighteenth-century thinkers whom Mill and Tocqueville saw as their forebears. Fluently written, A Turn to Empire offers a novel assessment of modern political thought and international justice, and an illuminating perspective on continuing debates over empire, intervention, and liberal political commitments.
A Universal Declaration of Human Well-being (Wellbeing in Politics and Policy)
by Annie Austin"This book makes a vital contribution to the current literature on human well-being. Through a condensed but incisive analysis of a wide range of sources, from ancient philosophy to the political constitutions of modern nation states, Annie Austin builds a strong case for a universal core of human well-being. Her identification of the vital importance of an "infrastructure of sociality" should be noted by academicians, politicians and policy-makers who are seeking to use well-being as a means of rethinking how we are to meet the challenges of the 21st century."—Allister McGregor, University of Sheffield, UKThis book examines the differing policy implications of the different conceptions of wellbeing across the world. There is an ongoing debate, in both philosophical and policy circles, about the legitimacy of universal frameworks of wellbeing. Who should decide what it means to live a good life? Is it possible to arrive at a shared definition, or is there simply too much individual and cultural diversity in conceptions of the good life? By devising an ‘overlapping consensus’ on wellbeing, the book represents a starting point for political negotiation and public deliberation about the kinds of societies we (as collectivities) wish to create, and the kinds of lives we (as individuals embedded in those societies) want to live. The book provides philosophically-informed public policy insight, making it a valuable contribution to interdisciplinary wellbeing scholarship.