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Physics and Philosophy
by James JeansCan we have any knowledge of the world outside us other than we gain by the methods of science? Are we humans endowed with free will, or are we mere cogs in a vast machine that must follow its predestined course until it finally runs down? Is the world we perceive the world of ultimate reality, or is it only a curtain veiling a deeper reality beyond?In this strikingly lucid and often poetic book, one of the twentieth century's greatest scientists grapples with these age-old questions, achieving in the process a brilliant and non-technical exposition of the interrelationship between physics and philosophy. He begins by defining physics and philosophy, pointing out the difference in their respective attempts to explain physical reality and man's place in it. This discussion paves the way for an outline of epistemological methods in which the rationalism of thinkers like Descartes, Leibniz, and Kant is compared to the empiricism of Locke and Hume.Over the course of the book, in a manner that is careful and methodic but never dull, Jeans marshals the evidence for his startling conclusion: recent discoveries in astronomy, mathematics, sub-atomic physics, and other disciplines have washed away the scientific basis of many older philosophic discussions. Such long-standing problems as causality, free will and determinism, the nature of space and time, materialism and mentalism must be considered anew in the light of new knowledge and information attained by twentieth-century physical science. Even then, however, Jeans cautions against drawing any positive conclusions, pointing out that both physics and philosophy are both relatively young and that we are still in Newton's words, like children playing with pebbles on the sea-shore, while the great ocean of truth rolls, unexplored, beyond our reach.Although first published in 1943, nothing in physics has happened to affect Jeans's account in this book; it remains remarkably fresh and undated, a classic exposition of the philosophical implications of scientific knowledge.
Physics and Philosophy
by Werner HeisenbergThe seminal work by one of the most important thinkers of the twentieth century, Physics and Philosophy is Werner Heisenberg's concise and accessible narrative of the revolution in modern physics, in which he played a towering role. The outgrowth of a celebrated lecture series, this book remains as relevant, provocative, and fascinating as when it was first published in 1958. A brilliant scientist whose ideas altered our perception of the universe, Heisenberg is considered the father of quantum physics; he is most famous for the Uncertainty Principle, which states that quantum particles do not occupy a fixed, measurable position. His contributions remain a cornerstone of contemporary physics theory and application.
Physics and Philosophy: Philosophical Papers Volume 4
by Joseph Agassi Stefano Gattei Paul K. FeyerabendThis collection of the writings of Paul Feyerabend is focused on his philosophy of quantum physics, the hotbed of the key issues of his most debated ideas. Written between 1948 and 1970, these writings come from his first and most productive period. These early works are important for two main reasons. First, they document Feyerabend's deep concern with the philosophical implications of quantum physics and its interpretations. These ideas were paid less attention in the following two decades. Second, the writings provide the crucial background for Feyerabend's critiques of Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn. Although rarely considered by scholars, Feyerabend's early work culminated in the first version of Against Method. These writings guided him on all the key issues of his most well-known and debated theses, such as the incommensurability thesis, the principles of proliferation and tenacity, and his particular version of relativism, and more specifically on quantum mechanics. Feyerabend is one of the most important contemporary philosophers of science: his work continues to be discussed and his provocative style still challenges philosophers nowadays. Provides the first comprehensive picture of Feyerabend's works on the philosophy of physics. Makes available in English, for the first time, a few key works which were originally published in German, as well as an unpublished article. The papers originally published in English are not always readily available to scholars
Physics and the Nature of Reality: Essays in Memory of Detlef Dürr (Fundamental Theories of Physics #215)
by Angelo Bassi Roderich Tumulka Sheldon Goldstein Nino ZanghìThis volume commemorates the scientific contributions of Detlef Dürr (1951–2021) to foundational questions of physics. It presents new contributions from his former students, collaborators, and colleagues about their current research on topics inspired or influenced by Dürr. These topics are drawn from physics, mathematics, and philosophy of nature, and concern interpretations of quantum theory, new developments of Bohmian mechanics, the role of typicality, quantum physics in relativistic space-time, classical and quantum electrodynamics, and statistical mechanics. The volume thus also gives a snapshot of present research in the foundations of physics.
Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100
by Michio KakuNATIONAL BESTSELLER • The renowned theoretical physicist and national bestselling author of The God Equation details the developments in computer technology, artificial intelligence, medicine, space travel, and more, that are poised to happen over the next century. &“Mind-bending…. [An] alternately fascinating and frightening book.&” —San Francisco ChronicleSpace elevators. Internet-enabled contact lenses. Cars that fly by floating on magnetic fields. This is the stuff of science fiction—it&’s also daily life in the year 2100.Renowned theoretical physicist Michio Kaku considers how these inventions will affect the world economy, addressing the key questions: Who will have jobs? Which nations will prosper? Kaku interviews three hundred of the world&’s top scientists—working in their labs on astonishing prototypes. He also takes into account the rigorous scientific principles that regulate how quickly, how safely, and how far technologies can advance. In Physics of the Future, Kaku forecasts a century of earthshaking advances in technology that could make even the last centuries&’ leaps and bounds seem insignificant.
Physik ohne Realität: Tiefsinn oder Wahnsinn?
by H. Dieter ZehBeschreiben die Begriffe der modernen Physik tatsächlich die Realität oder sind sie nur Hilfsmittel und Rechenwerkzeuge? Wie können reale Objekte aus Atomen aufgebaut sein, wenn diese angeblich gar keine realen Eigenschaften vor deren Messung besitzen? In philosophischen und meist allgemein verständlichen Aufsätzen setzt sich der Autor - Begründer des Dekohärenzkonzepts in der Quantentheorie - mit den "faulen Ausreden" auseinander, die Physiker finden, um unerwarteten Konsequenzen, die sich aus ihren eigenen Theorien ergeben, aus dem Weg zu gehen.
Physikalische Wirklichkeit – Konstruktion oder Entdeckung?: Eine Einführung in Methodologie und Ziele der Physik
by Michael GrodzickiDieses Buch bietet eine fundierte, zeitgemäße Darstellung der Methodologie der Physik, wie sie in der vorhandenen Literatur bisher nicht zu finden ist. Dies betrifft u. a. die Struktur physikalischer Theorien und Erkenntnis, die Definition und methodologische Funktion physikalischer Gesetze sowie insbesondere die Beziehungen zwischen Theorie und Erfahrung. Ein einzigartiges Merkmal des Buches ist, dass alle wesentlichen Argumente und Schlussfolgerungen anhand repräsentativer Beispiele aus der theoretischen Physik, der Molekül- und Festkörperphysik veranschaulicht werden. Sowohl Lehrende als auch Studierende der Physik werden hier wertvolle Einsichten in die Methodologie und zeitgemäße Sichtweise ihres Fachs finden.
Physis, Biopower, and Biothermodynamics: The Fire of Life (ISSN)
by Enrique LeffBuilding upon the idea that our current "environmental question" arises from the history of metaphysics—which privileged thought about Being (or ontology) over the conditions of life—this book reinterprets Heraclitus’s notion of physis as the fundamental, emergent potency of life, as the category to-be-thought by thinkers. In so doing, it deconstructs the interpretation offered by Heidegger and so stresses the struggle between the creative force of life and its subjection to the human Logos or "meaning". Physis, understood as the pre-ontological potentiality of life itself, thus becomes the cornerstone of a materialist philosophy of life.Following engagements with the work of Nietzsche, Foucault, and Janicaud to explore the significance of human intervention into the realm of life via the "will to power", "biopower" and the "power of rationality" respectively, the author explores twentieth-century rearticulations of the concept of physis through a range of developments in biothermodynamics, thus grounding a new philosophy of life and a new bioeconomics in a revisited biothermodynamics centered on the concept of negentropy.An extensive engagement with the history and development of thought about the generative force of life on Earth, Physis, Biopower, Biothermodynamics, and Bioeconomics: The Fire of Life will appeal to scholars of philosophy, social theory, and political theory with interests in environmental thought, political ecology, and questions of sustainability.
Phänomene der Erziehung und Bildung. Phänomenologisch-pädagogische Studien: Herausgegeben von Malte Brinkmann (Phänomenologische Erziehungswissenschaft #7)
by Wilfried LippitzDer Band versammelt historische und systematische Studien von Wilfried Lippitz der letzten Jahre zur Theorie, Geschichte und internationalen Verbreitung der Phänomenologischen Erziehungswissenschaft. Phänomene wie Sozialität, Leiblichkeit, Responsivität und Alterität werden systematisch reflektiert und pädagogische Grundbegriffe wie Lernen und Erziehen, Generation und Kindheit neu gerahmt. Neben historisch-systematischen und bildungsphilosophischen Studien bilden Texte unter der Fragestellung von Identität und Autobiographie das dritte zentrale Thema dieses Bandes. Er bietet einen übersichtlichen Einstieg in historische, internationale und aktuelle Diskurse der phänomenologischen Erziehungswissenschaft sowie in das Denken und Forschen von Wilfried Lippitz.
Phänomenologie des Leibes und der Leiblichkeit bei Marc Richir
by Dominic Nnaemeka EkweaririIn diesem Open-Access-Buch wird Marc Richirs Projekt einer Neugründung der Phänomenologie untersucht, das unter dem Leitfaden der Spannung des konkreten Leibes und der subjektiven Leiblichkeit als Weltbezüglichkeit das Phänomen als Phänomen in den Blick zu bekommen versucht. Das Selbst fällt für Richir weder mit dem Leib (dem Phänomenologischen) noch mit dem Körper (dem Symbolischen) zusammen. Zwischen beiden Registern besteht ein unvermeidlicher Abstand, der auf den Überschuss der Erfahrung, das Abenteuer der Sinnbildung in ihrer unendlichen Mannigfaltigkeit hindeutet.Die These der Studie ist, dass der Überschuss des Leibes und der Leiblichkeit im Überschuss des Sprachphänomens bezeugt ist und dass die Spannung zwischen der phänomenologischen Darstellung des Leibes bzw. der Leiblichkeit und ihrer symbolischen Bestimmung im Sprachlichen aufgezeigt werden kann. Zudem wird die interdisziplinäre Anschlussfähigkeit des Ansatzes Richirs profiliert.
Phänomenologie: Eine Einführung (Philosophische Methoden)
by Maren WehrleIn diesem Lehrbuch wird die phänomenologische Methode nicht nur theoretisch, sondern auch in ihren aktuellen intra- und interdisziplinären Anwendungen vorgestellt und diskutiert. Zurück zu den Sachen selbst, wie sie in der Erfahrung gegeben sind – dies ist das Motto der Phänomenologie im Ausgang von Edmund Husserl. Hierzu müssen wir Selbstverständliches hinterfragen und sämtliche Vorannahmen einklammern. Wie lässt sich ein solcher Einstellungswechsel erreichen, wie gelangt man zu einer vorurteilslosen Beschreibung, wie kann das Allgemeine im Konkreten bestimmt werden und wie lässt sich nach den Bedingungen der Erfahrung zurückfragen? Dies wird mit phänomenologischen Texten erläutert sowie anhand aktueller Beispiele illustriert und praktisch eingeübt.
Phänomenologien des Politischen: Konturen, Konstellationen, Kontexte
by Michael StaudiglDer vorliegende Band bietet einen Überblick über das gegenwärtig an Kontur gewinnende Forschungsfeld einer Phänomenologie des Politischen. Der Diskussion zentraler Methodenfragen wird dabei ebenso Raum gewidmet, wie der Präsentation aktueller Debatten und interdisziplinärer Themenstellungen, die sich im Zeichen einer v.a. gendertheoretisch und postkolonial motivierten Politisierung der Phänomenologie herauskristallisiert haben, in Kontexten globaler "Polykrise", "Rückkehr der Religion" und "Postfaktizität" aktuell noch an Relevanz gewinnen. Methodisch leitend ist angesichts solcher Grenzprobleme eine Annäherung an das Politische in Form eines Zwischenphänomens, das sich binären Deutungen radikal entzieht und so dazu anhält, die genannten Problemlagen konstruktiv ins Auge zu fassen. In Form von Schwerpunkten fokussiert der Band entsprechend Konstellationen des Politischen, wie sie sich exemplarisch zwischen Verfahrensordnungen und ereignishafter Performanz, affektivem Anstoß und emotiver Resonanz, Innen und Außen, Immanenz des Diskurses und transzendierender Sinngebung entfalten.
Phénoménologie transcendantale: Figures du transcendantal de Kant à Heidegger (Phaenomenologica #232)
by Paul SlamaThis book presents the history of metaphysics through transcendental phenomenology and interpretations of Kant, Fichte, Cohen, Windelband, Rickert, Husserl, Scheler, and Heidegger. Slama introduces the "praxiologico-transcendental" figure where transcendental knowledge opens up a "praxiological" life of subjectivity for whom reality becomes a continual practical problem. In so doing, this book also establishes the principles of a "praxiological" thinking of perception, starting from the conceptuality of the “tool”, which is grounded in the praxiologico-transcendantal. Thus, the author presents and argues for this unitary figure of transcendental philosophy as a crucial figure of metaphysics. This book appeals to students and researchers working in phenomenology and metaphysics. Ce livre propose une histoire de la métaphysique à partir de la figure de Kant, et avec la phénoménologie transcendantale comme centre. À partir d'une lecture précise d'auteurs centraux de la tradition transcendantale (Kant, Fichte, Cohen, Windelband, Rickert, Husserl, Scheler, Heidegger), il fait l'hypothèse d'une figure "praxiologico-transcendantale" où la connaissance transcendantale ouvre une vie "praxiologique" de la subjectivité, qui se trouve ainsi frottée au réel qui devient un incessant problème pratique pour lui. Ce faisant, ce livre établit les principes d'une pensée de la perception "praxiologique", à partir de la conceptualité de l' « outil ». Il s'agit in fine de donner une figure unitaire de la philosophie transcendantale dans son ensemble, comme moment crucial dans l'histoire de la métaphysique.
Piaget and Vygotsky in XXI century: Discourse in early childhood education (Early Childhood Research and Education: An Inter-theoretical Focus #4)
by Ingrid Pramling Samuelsson Nikolay VeraksaThe book provides a comprehensive analyses of Vygotsky’s and Piaget’s theories implementation in modern preschool education. It analyzes the problem of the relationship between the natural and the cultural in the context of Vygotsky and Jean Piaget theories. Their discourses complemented each other: whereas Vygotsky developed his theory in the direction from society (culture) to the individual child, Piaget’s movement was the opposite: from individual child to society. These two approaches confront modern world with the need to analyze the problem of childhood: is childhood a period of cultural exploration or is it a special form of relationship in which both the egocentrism and consciousness of the child, and the egocentrism and consciousness of culture are represented?Readers will gain insight into the methodology that makes possible to unite up-to-date views based on Vygotsky and Piaget theories on child development and education.
Piagetian Reasoning and the Blind
by Yvette HatwellThe book reports the results of a series of studies undertaken in the early 1960s on the cognitive development of children with congenital blindness.
Piaget’s Genetic Epistemology for Mathematics Education Research (Research in Mathematics Education)
by Anderson Norton Paul Christian Dawkins Amy J. HackenbergThe book provides an entry point for graduate students and other scholars interested in using the constructs of Piaget’s genetic epistemology in mathematics education research. Constructs comprising genetic epistemology form the basis for some of the most well-developed theoretical frameworks available for characterizing learning, particularly in mathematics. The depth and complexity of Piaget’s work can make it challenging to find adequate entry points for learners, not least because it requires a reorientation regarding the nature of mathematical knowledge itself. This volume gathers leading scholars to help address that challenge. The main section of the book presents key Piagetian constructs for mathematics education research such as schemes and operations, figurative and operative thought, images and meanings, and decentering. The chapters that discuss these constructs include examples from research and address how these constructs can be used in research. There are two chapters on various types of reflective abstraction, because this construct is Piaget’s primary tool for characterizing the advancement of knowledge. The later sections of the book contain commentaries reflecting on the contributions of the body of theory developed in the first section. They connect genetic epistemology to current research domains such as equity and the latest in educational psychology. Finally, the book closes with short chapters portraying how scholars are using these tools in specific arenas of mathematics education research, including in special education, early childhood education, and statistics education.
Picnic Comma Lightning: The Experience Of Reality In The Twenty-first Century
by Laurence ScottIn Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita, Humbert Humbert offers a memorably brief account of his parents’ death: “picnic, lightning.” <P><P>Picnic Comma Lightning, too, opens with death—that of Laurence Scott’s mother—because, for a philosopher, death raises a profound existential question: How do we know what is real, especially when we have come to question the reality of so many of our day-to-day experiences? <P><P>Writing from the intersection of philosophy, politics, and memoir, Scott transforms his personal meditation on loss into a beguiling exploration of what it means to exist in the world today. <P><P>It used to be that our lives were rooted in reasonably solid things: to people, places and memories. Now, in an age of online personas, alternative truths, constant surveillance and an increasingly hysterical news cycle, our realities are becoming flimsier and more vulnerable than ever before. <P><P>Scott’s far-ranging examination charts the ways our traditional mental models of the world have started to fray. He ponders how ubiquitous cameras reframe our private lives (an event only exists once someone posts the video), how mysterious algorithms undermine our attempts at self-definition through their own data-driven portraits, and what happens in those moments when our illusions about reality are ruptured by incontrovertible facts (like the death of a parent or a bolt of lightning). <P><P>“A report from the front line of the online generation” (Sunday Times), Picnic Comma Lightning is an essential account of how we’ve started to make sense of our strange new world.
Pico della Mirandola
by Massimo Riva Francesco Borghesi Michael Papio Francesco Borghesi Michael PapioThis is a new translation of and commentary on Pico della Mirandola's most famous work, the Oration on the Dignity of Man. It is the first English edition to provide readers with substantial notes on the text, essays that address the work's historical, philosophical and theological context, and a survey of its reception. Often called the 'Manifesto of the Renaissance', this brief but complex text was originally composed in 1486 as the inaugural speech for an assembly of intellectuals, which could have produced one of the most exhaustive metaphysical, theological and psychological debates in history, had Pope Innocent VIII not forbidden it. This edition of the Oration reflects the spirit of the original text in bringing together experts in different fields. Not unlike the debate Pico optimistically anticipated, the resulting work is superior to the sum of its parts.
Picture Imperfect: Utopian Thought for an Anti-Utopian Age
by Russell JacobyPicture Imperfect Utopianism suffers from an image problem: A recent exhibition on utopias in Paris and New York included photographs of Hitler's Mein Kampf and a Nazi concentration camp. Many observers judge utopians and their sympathizers as foolhardy dreamers at best and murderous totalitarians at worst. However, as noted social critic and historian Russell Jacoby argues in this salient, polemical, and innovative work, not only has utopianism been unfairly characterized, a return to an iconoclastic utopian spirit is vital for today's society. Shaped by the works of Theodor Adorno, Walter Benjamin, Ernst Bloch, Gustav Landauer, and other predominantly Jewish thinkers, iconoclastic utopianism revives society's dormant political imagination and offers hope for a better future. Writing against the grain of history, Jacoby reexamines the anti-utopian mindset and identifies how utopian thought came to be regarded with such suspicion. He challenges standard readings of such anti-utopian classics as 1984 and Brave New World and offers stinging critiques of the influential liberal and anti-utopian theorists Hannah Arendt, Isaiah Berlin, and Karl Popper. He argues that these thinkers mistakenly equate utopianism with totalitarianism.The reputation of utopian thought has also suffered from the failures of, what Jacoby terms, the blueprint utopian tradition and its oppressive emphasis on detailing all aspects of society and providing fantastic images of the future. In contrast, the iconoclastic utopians, like those who follow God's prohibition against graven images, resist both the blueprinters' obsession with detail and the modern seduction of images. Jacoby suggests that by learning from the hopeful spirit of iconoclastic utopians and their willingness to accept new possibilities for society, we open ourselves to new and more imaginative ideas of the future.
Picturing Knowledge: Historical and Philosophical Problems Concerning the Use of Art in Science
by Brian BaigrieThe traditional concept of scientific knowledge places a premium on thinking, not visualizing. Scientific illustrations are still generally regarded as devices that serve as heuristic aids when reasoning breaks down. When scientific illustration is not used in this disparaging sense as a linguistic aid, it is most often employed as a metaphor with no special visual content. What distinguishes pictorial devices as resources for doing science, and the special problems that are raised by the mere presence of visual elements in scientific treatises, tends to be overlooked.The contributors to this volume examine the historical and philosophical issues concerning the role that scientific illustration plays in the creation of scientific knowledge. They regard both text and picture as resources that scientists employ in their practical activities, their value as scientific resources deriving from their ability to convey information.
Picturing Political Power: Images in the Women’s Suffrage Movement
by Allison K. LangeFor as long as women have battled for equitable political representation in America, those battles have been defined by images—whether illustrations, engravings, photographs, or colorful chromolithograph posters. Some of these pictures have been flattering, many have been condescending, and others downright incendiary. They have drawn upon prevailing cultural ideas of women’s perceived roles and abilities and often have been circulated with pointedly political objectives. Picturing Political Power offers perhaps the most comprehensive analysis yet of the connection between images, gender, and power. In this examination of the fights that led to the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920, Allison K. Lange explores how suffragists pioneered one of the first extensive visual campaigns in modern American history. She shows how pictures, from early engravings and photographs to colorful posters, proved central to suffragists’ efforts to change expectations for women, fighting back against the accepted norms of their times. In seeking to transform notions of womanhood and win the right to vote, white suffragists emphasized the compatibility of voting and motherhood, while Sojourner Truth and other leading suffragists of color employed pictures to secure respect and authority. Picturing Political Power demonstrates the centrality of visual politics to American women’s campaigns throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, revealing the power of images to change history.
Picturing the Uncertain World: How to Understand, Communicate, and Control Uncertainty through Graphical Display
by Howard WainerIn his entertaining and informative book Graphic Discovery, Howard Wainer unlocked the power of graphical display to make complex problems clear. Now he's back with Picturing the Uncertain World, a book that explores how graphs can serve as maps to guide us when the information we have is ambiguous or incomplete. Using a visually diverse sampling of graphical display, from heartrending autobiographical displays of genocide in the Kovno ghetto to the "Pie Chart of Mystery" in a New Yorker cartoon, Wainer illustrates the many ways graphs can be used--and misused--as we try to make sense of an uncertain world.Picturing the Uncertain World takes readers on an extraordinary graphical adventure, revealing how the visual communication of data offers answers to vexing questions yet also highlights the measure of uncertainty in almost everything we do. Are cancer rates higher or lower in rural communities? How can you know how much money to sock away for retirement when you don't know when you'll die? And where exactly did nineteenth-century novelists get their ideas? These are some of the fascinating questions Wainer invites readers to consider. Along the way he traces the origins and development of graphical display, from William Playfair, who pioneered the use of graphs in the eighteenth century, to instances today where the public has been misled through poorly designed graphs. We live in a world full of uncertainty, yet it is within our grasp to take its measure. Read Picturing the Uncertain World and learn how.
Pieces and Parts in Scientific Texts (Why the Sciences of the Ancient World Matter #1)
by Florence Bretelle-Establet Stéphane SchmittThis book starts from a first general observation: there are very diverse ways to frame and convey scientific knowledge in texts. It then analyzes texts on mathematics, astronomy, medicine and life sciences, produced in various parts of the globe and in different time periods, and examines the reasons behind the segmentation of texts and the consequences of such textual divisions. How can historians and philosophers of science approach this diversity, and what is at stake in dealing with it? The book addresses these questions, adopting a specific approach to do so. In order to shed light on the diversity of organizational patterns and rhetorical strategies in scientific texts, and to question the rationale behind the choices made to present such texts in one particular way, it focuses on the issue of text segmentation, offering answers to questions such as: What was the meaning of segmenting texts into paragraphs, chapters, sections and clusters? Was segmentation used to delimit self-contained units, or to mark breaks in the physical appearance of a text in order to aid reading and memorizing, or to cope with the constraints of the material supports? How, in these different settings and in different texts, were pieces and parts made visible?
Pierre Bayle's Cartesian Metaphysics: Rediscovering Early Modern Philosophy (Routledge Studies in Seventeenth-Century Philosophy)
by Todd RyanIn his magnum opus, the Historical and Critical Dictionary, Pierre Bayle offered a series of brilliant criticisms of the major philosophical and theological systems of the 17th Century. Although officially skeptical concerning the attempt to provide a definitive account of the truths of metaphysics, there is reason to see Bayle as a reluctant skeptic. In particular, Todd Ryan contends that Bayle harbored deep sympathy for the attempt by Descartes and his most innovative successor, Nicolas Malebranche, to establish a metaphysical system that would provide a foundation for the new mechanistic natural philosophy while helping to secure the fundamental tenets of rational theology. Through a careful analysis of Bayle’s critical engagement with such philosophers as Spinoza, Leibniz, Locke and Newton, it is argued that, despite his reputation as a skeptic, Bayle was not without philosophical commitments of his own. Drawing on the full range of Bayle’s writings, from his early philosophical lectures to his final controversial writings, Ryan offers detailed studies of Bayle’s treatment of such pivotal issues as mind-body dualism, causation and God’s relation to the world.
Pierre Bourdieu (Key Sociologists)
by Richard JenkinsThis short critical introduction to Pierre Bourdieu's thought is a model of clarity and insight. Where Bourdieu's own writings are often complex, even ambiguous, Richard Jenkins is direct, concise and to the point. He emphasizes Bourdieu's contributions to theory and methodology while also dealing in detail with his substantive studies of education, social stratification and culture. His book provides the best short English-language introduction to Bourdieu's work.'As Jenkins points out in the final pages of his book, criticism can be the sincerest form of flattery. I particularly relished his critical approach to the work of Bourdieu and believe that he has written a timely introduction which both undergraduates and experienced teachers will find stimulating and enjoyable.'- Mike Hepworth, University of Aberdeen