- Table View
- List View
Reason, Revelation and Law in Islamic and Western Theory and History (Islam and Global Studies)
by R. Charles Weller Anver M. EmonThis book engages the diverse meanings and interpretations of Islamic and Western law which have affected people and societies across the globe, past and present, in correlation to the epistemological groundings of those meanings and interpretations. The volume takes a distinctively comparative approach, advancing dialogue on crucial transnational and global debates over the history of Western and Islamic approaches to law, politics and society and their relevance for today. It discusses how fundamental concepts are understood and even translated from one historical or political context or one semantic domain to another. The book provides focused studies of key figures and theories in a manageable, accessible format useful for specialized academic courses and research as well as general audiences.
Reason, Revelation, and the Civic Order: Political Philosophy and the Claims of Faith
by Carson HollowayWhile the dominant approaches to the current study of political philosophy are various, with some friendlier to religious belief than others, almost all place constraints on the philosophic and political role of revelation. Mainstream secular political theorists do not entirely disregard religion. But to the extent that they pay attention, their treatment of religious belief is seen more as a political or philosophic problem to be addressed rather than as a positive body of thought from which we might derive important insights about the nature of politics and the truth of the human condition. In a one-of-a-kind collection, DeHart and Holloway bring together leading scholars from various fields, including political science, philosophy, and theology, to challenge the prevailing orthodoxy and to demonstrate the role that religion can and does play in political life. Contributing authors include such important thinkers as Peter Augustine Lawler, Robert C. Koons, J. Budziszewski, Francis J. Beckwith, and James Stoner.
Reason, Spirit and the Sacral in the New Enlightenment
by Anna-Teresa TymienieckaRationality in its various expressions and innumerable applications sustains understanding and our sense of reality. It is traditionally differentiated according to its sources in the soul: in consciousness, in reason, in experience, and in elevation. Such a functional approach, however, leaves us searching for the common foundation harmonizing these rationalities. The perennial quest to resolve the aporias of rationality is finding in contemporary science's focus on origins, on the generative roots of reality, tantalizing hints as to how this may be accomplished. This project is enhanced by the wave of recent phenomenology/ontopoiesis of life, which reveals the workings of the logos at the root of beingness and all rationality, whereby we gaze upon the prospect of a New Enlightenment. In the rays of this vision the revival of the intuitions of classical Islamic metaphysics, particularly intuition of the continuity of beingness in the gradations of life, receive fresh confirmation.
Reason, Truth And History
by Hilary PutnamHilary Putnam deals in this book with some of the most fundamental persistent problems in philosophy: the nature of truth, knowledge and rationality. His aim is to break down the fixed categories of thought which have always appeared to define and constrain the permissible solutions to these problems.
Reason, Truth and Reality
by Daniel GoldstickDan Goldstick's Reason, Truth, and Reality addresses two questions: what sort of world do we inhabit? and what moral obligations do we have? To answer the questions Goldstick mounts a bold contemporary defense of pre-Kantian rationalism. Basing consideration upon a characterization of reason in its deductive, inductive, and ethical functioning, he asks what must hold good for reason so characterized to be a dependable guide to truth. The conclusions Goldstick draws are threefold. First of all, the argument points to continuous deterministic causality throughout space and time. In the second place, a case is made for universal impermanence. And thirdly, Goldstick claims to establish a basis for the right within a version of utilitarianism supporting the maximum long-term promotion of people's interests. The discussion takes in such traditional rationalist themes as aprioricity, conceivability, and antiscepticism, and such analytic topics as belief-and-desire, truthvaluelessness, and epistemic reliability.
Reason, Truth and Self: The Postmodern Reconditioned
by Michael LuntleyMichael Luntley provides a lively introduction to the debate over postmodernism. Sympathisers of the postmodernist critique of absolute knowledge have jetisoned concepts of reason,t ruth and self; this abandonment has fuelled their opponents' case against postmodernism. This has led them to ignore the very real problems raised by the postmodernists. Luntley offers a clear and careful exposition of how rational debate survives despite the Enlightenment's failings. Reason, Truth and Self covers many of the key questions of our age: * How rational is science? * Can we really know the truth about ourselves and the world? * What is the nature of the mind? * Can we know the difference between right and wrong? Reason, Truth and Self is ideal for courses in philosophy and the social sciences.
Reason, Will and Emotion
by Paul CrittendenThis powerful exploration of an important topic in philosophy of mind from ancient to contemporary philosophy presents an original argument against the current direction of debate and examines a wide range of philosophers from both continental and analytic traditions.
Reasonable Disagreement: A Theory of Political Morality
by Christopher McmahonThis book examines the ways in which reasonable people can disagree about the requirements of political morality. Christopher McMahon argues that there will be a 'zone of reasonable disagreement' surrounding most questions of political morality. Moral notions of right and wrong evolve over time as new zones of reasonable disagreement emerge out of old ones; thus political morality is both different in different societies with varying histories, and different now from what it was in the past. McMahon explores this feature of his theory in detail and traces its implications for the possibility of making moral judgments about other polities, past or present. His study sheds light on an important and often overlooked aspect of political life, and will be of interest to a wide range of readers in moral and political philosophy and in political theory.
Reasonableness and Effectiveness in Argumentative Discourse
by Frans H. van EemerenThis volume presents 50 contributions on the themes of reasonableness and effectiveness and their connections, which are central issues in argumentation theory. It discusses van Eemeren's views on the study of argumentation; the approach to argumentation adopted in pragma-dialectics; pragma-dialectical perspectives on the dialectical and pragmatic dimensions of argumentative discourse; the notion of strategic maneuvering; the pragma-dialectical method of analyzing argumentative discourse; the treatment of fallacies as violations of rules for critical discussion; pragma-dialectical views on context, the role of logic, verbal indicators of argumentative moves and argument schemes; and the process of writing and rewriting argumentative texts. The pragma-dialectical quantitative approach to empirical research on argumentative discourse is illustrated by reporting on selected, illustrative experimental studies, as well as qualitative studies of historical cases.
Reasonableness and Fairness
by Christopher McmahonWe all know, or think we know, what it means to say that something is 'reasonable' or 'fair', but what exactly are these concepts and how have they evolved and changed over the course of history? In this book, Christopher McMahon explores reasonableness, fairness, and justice as central concepts of the morality of reciprocal concern. He argues that the basis of this morality evolves as history unfolds, so that forms of interaction that might have been morally acceptable in the past are judged unacceptable today. The first part of his study examines the notions of reasonableness and fairness as they are employed in ordinary practical thought, and the second part develops a constructivist theory to explain why and how this part of morality can undergo historical development without arriving at any final form. His book will interest scholars of ethics, political theory, and the history of ideas.
Reasonableness and Responsibility: A Theory of Contract Law
by Martín HeviaIf, as John Rawls famously suggests, justice is the first virtue of social institutions, how are we to understand the institution of contract law? This book proposes a Rawlsian theory of contract law. It argues that justice requires that we understand contract rules in terms of the idea of reasonable, terms of interaction - that is, terms that would be accepted by reasonable persons moved by a desire for a social world in which they, as free and equal, can cooperate with others on terms they accept. On that basis, the book explains the main doctrines of contract law, including those governing third parties, in both the Common Law and the Civil Law.
Reasonableness in Liberal Political Philosophy
by Shaun P. YoungPreviously published as a special issue of the Critical Review of Social and Political Philosophy, this collection offers a thought-provoking critique of the role of the concept of reasonableness in liberal political theory, focusing on the proposed relationship between reasonableness and the establishment and preservation of a just and stable liberal polity.The essays explore the explicit and implicit use of the idea of reasonableness, presenting an analysis that incorporates normative and empirical observations and employs a number of different analytical approaches, including liberalism, feminism, environmentalism, Marxism, and communitarianism. This unique book provides in a single volume a critique that engages not only a vast array of issues but also a diversity of critical perspectives. It not only rectifies a deficiency in the existing scholarship, but also addresses the issues of socio-political justice and stability, offering new, insightful critiques that respond to the increasingly complex circumstances and conflicts that confront life in contemporary pluralistic societies. Reasonableness in Liberal Political Philosophy will be a valuable resource for those interested in liberal political theory and its potential usefulness in helping to secure a just and stable polity.
Reasoning After Revelation: Dialogues In Postmodern Jewish Philosophy (Radical Traditions Ser.)
by Steven KepnesIn Reasoning After Revelation: Dialogues in Postmodern Jewish Philosophy, three preeminent Jewish scholars debate the form and meaning of Postmodern Jewish Philosophy after the failures of the great secular ideologies of modern western civilization. Emulating the methods as well as the premises of Talmudic argumentation, the authors present their responses as dialogues joined by a common love of the rabbinic tradition of commentary and interpretation of the Bible. The composers, Peter Ochs, Robert Gibbs, and Steven Kepnes, contemplate where Judaism has beenand where it is headed: on what basis will modern Jews now reason about the meaning of Jewish existence and the relevance of age-old Biblical traditions to the moral and social crises of the twenty-first century? The dialogues are further enriched by a set of responses from leading Jewish philosophers: Elliot R. Wolfson, Edith Wyschogrod, Almut Sh. Bruckstein, Yudit Kornberg Greenberg, and Susan E. Shapiro. }Postmodern Jewish thinkers understand their Jewishness differently, but they all share a fidelity to what they call the Torah and to communal practices of reading and social action that have their bases in rabbinic interpretations of biblical narrative, law, and belief. Thus, postmodern Jewish thinking is thinking about God, Jews, and the worldwith the texts of the Torahin the company of fellow seekers and believers. It utilizes the tools of philosophy, but without their modern premises. Moreover, this form of Jewish thinking provides resources for philosophically disciplined readings of scripture by Jews, Christians, and Moslems seeking alternatives to the reductive discourses of secular academia, on the one hand, and to antimodern religious fundamentalisms, on the other. Postmodern Jewish Philosophy aims to utilize rabbinic modes of thinking to provide a model for ethical and religious thought in the twenty-first century, one which moves beyond the dichotomy of relativism and imperialism and is simultaneously definite and pluralistic. In Reasoning After Revelation: Dialogues in Postmodern Jewish Philosophy, three preeminent Jewish scholars debate the form and meaning of Postmodern Jewish Philosophy after the failures of the great secular ideologies of modern western civilization. Emulating the methods as well as the premises of Talmudic argumentation, the authors present their responses as dialogues joined by a common love of the rabbinic tradition of commentary and interpretation of the Bible. The composers, Peter Ochs, Robert Gibbs, and Steven Kepnes, contemplate where Judaism has beenand where it is headed: on what basis will modern Jews now reason about the meaning of Jewish existence and the relevance of age-old Biblical traditions to the moral and social crises of the twenty-first century? The dialogues are further enriched by a set of responses from leading Jewish philosophers: Elliot R. Wolfson, Edith Wyschogrod, Almut Sh. Bruckstein, Yudit Kornberg Greenberg, and Susan E. Shapiro.
Reasoning Indian Politics: Philosopher Politicians to Politicians Seeking Philosophy
by Narendar Pani Anshuman BeheraThis volume examines the multiple forms of reasoning in Indian politics and explores a framework to understand them. In the process, it looks at a series of issues involving the relationship between politics and philosophy, including the status of political theory, political practices, identity politics, and political ontology. The book argues that in the years leading up to and soon after independence, the task of conceptualizing politics was largely in the domain of practising politicians who built theories and philosophical methods, and further took those visions into the practice of their politics. It maintains that Indian politicians since then have not been as inclined to articulate their theories or methods of politics. This book traces the transition from philosopher politicians to politicians seeking philosophy in Indian polity in the post-independence era and its implications for current practices. It views Indian political philosophy from the standpoints of political theorists, philosophers, and practitioners. With expert and scholarly contributions, this volume will be of interest to students and researchers of Indian political thought and political philosophy, social sciences, and humanities.
Reasoning Unbound: Thinking about Morality, Delusion and Democracy
by Jean-François BonnefonThis book argues that the science of reasoning will prove most useful if focused on studying what human reasoning does best - understanding people. Bonnefon argues that humanity's unique reasoning abilities developed in order to handle the complexities of cooperative social life. Accordingly, human beings became exquisite students of the minds of other people to predict the kind of decisions they make, and assess their character. In particular, this volume explores the inferences humans make about the moral character of others, how they delude themselves about their own moral character, and the ways in which they can see through the delusions of others. In conclusion, the book considers how to leverage the power of human reasoning in order to sustain democratic life. This work will interest scholars and students working in fields including theory of mind, decision-making, moral cognition, critical thinking, experimental philosophy, and behavioural economics, as well as policy makers interested in how reasoning impacts our political understanding.
Reasoning Web. Declarative Artificial Intelligence: 17th International Summer School 2021, Leuven, Belgium, September 8–15, 2021, Tutorial Lectures (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #13100)
by Mantas Šimkus Ivan VarzinczakThe purpose of the Reasoning Web Summer School is to disseminate recent advances on reasoning techniques and related issues that are of particular interest to Semantic Web and Linked Data applications. It is primarily intended for postgraduate students, postdocs, young researchers, and senior researchers wishing to deepen their knowledge. As in the previous years, lectures in the summer school were given by a distinguished group of expert lecturers.The broad theme of this year's summer school was again “Declarative Artificial Intelligence” and it covered various aspects of ontological reasoning and related issues that are of particular interest to Semantic Web and Linked Data applications. The following eight lectures were presented during the school: Foundations of Graph Path Query Languages; On Combining Ontologies and Rules; Modelling Symbolic Knowledge Using Neural Representations; Mining the Semantic Web with Machine Learning: Main Issues That Need to Be Known; Temporal ASP: From Logical Foundations to Practical Use with telingo; A Review of SHACL: From Data Validation to Schema Reasoning for RDF Graphs; and Score-Based Explanations in Data Management and Machine Learning.
Reasoning Web. Explainable Artificial Intelligence: 15th International Summer School 2019, Bolzano, Italy, September 20–24, 2019, Tutorial Lectures (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #11810)
by Markus Krötzsch Daria StepanovaThis volume contains lecture notes of the 15th Reasoning Web Summer School (RW 2019), held in Bolzano, Italy, in September 2019. The research areas of Semantic Web, Linked Data, and Knowledge Graphs have recently received a lot of attention in academia and industry. Since its inception in 2001, the Semantic Web has aimed at enriching the existing Web with meta-data and processing methods, so as to provide Web-based systems with intelligent capabilities such as context awareness and decision support. The Semantic Web vision has been driving many community efforts which have invested a lot of resources in developing vocabularies and ontologies for annotating their resources semantically. Besides ontologies, rules have long been a central part of the Semantic Web framework and are available as one of its fundamental representation tools, with logic serving as a unifying foundation. Linked Data is a related research area which studies how one can make RDF data available on the Web and interconnect it with other data with the aim of increasing its value for everybody. Knowledge Graphs have been shown useful not only for Web search (as demonstrated by Google, Bing, etc.) but also in many application domains.
Reasoning Web. Learning, Uncertainty, Streaming, and Scalability: 14th International Summer School 2018, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg, September 22–26, 2018, Tutorial Lectures (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #11078)
by Claudia D’Amato Martin TheobaldThis volume contains lecture notes of the 14th Reasoning Web Summer School (RW 2018), held in Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg, in September 2018. The research areas of Semantic Web, Linked Data, and Knowledge Graphs have recently received a lot of attention in academia and industry. Since its inception in 2001, the Semantic Web has aimed at enriching the existing Web with meta-data and processing methods, so as to provide Web-based systems with intelligent capabilities such as context awareness and decision support. The Semantic Web vision has been driving many community efforts which have invested a lot of resources in developing vocabularies and ontologies for annotating their resources semantically. Besides ontologies, rules have long been a central part of the Semantic Web framework and are available as one of its fundamental representation tools, with logic serving as a unifying foundation. Linked Data is a related research area which studies how one can make RDF data available on the Web and interconnect it with other data with the aim of increasing its value for everybody. Knowledge Graphs have been shown useful not only for Web search (as demonstrated by Google, Bing, etc.) but also in many application domains.
Reasoning Web: 12th International Summer School 2016, Aberdeen, UK, September 5-9, 2016, Tutorial Lectures (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #9885)
by Jeff Z. Pan, Diego Calvanese, Thomas Eiter, Ian Horrocks, Michael Kifer, Fangzhen Lin and Yuting ZhaoThis volume contains some lecture notes of the 12th Reasoning Web Summer School (RW 2016), held in Aberdeen, UK, in September 2016.In 2016, the theme of the school was “Logical Foundation of Knowledge Graph Construction and Query Answering”. The notion of knowledge graph has become popular since Google started to use it to improve its search engine in 2012. Inspired by the success of Google, knowledge graphs are gaining momentum in the World Wide Web arena. Recent years have witnessed increasing industrial take-ups by other Internet giants, including Facebook's Open Graph and Microsoft's Satori. The aim of the lecture note is to provide a logical foundation for constructing and querying knowledge graphs. Our journey starts from the introduction of Knowledge Graph as well as its history, and the construction of knowledge graphs by considering both explicit and implicit author intentions. The book will then cover various topics, including how to revise and reuse ontologies (schema of knowledge graphs) in a safe way, how to combine navigational queries with basic pattern matching queries for knowledge graph, how to setup a environment to do experiments on knowledge graphs, how to deal with inconsistencies and fuzziness in ontologies and knowledge graphs, and how to combine machine learning and machine reasoning for knowledge graphs.
Reasoning Web: Logical Foundation of Knowledge Graph Construction and Query Answering
by Diego Calvanese Jeff Z. Pan Yuting Zhao Fangzhen Lin Thomas Eiter Ian Horrocks Michael KiferThis volume contains some lecture notes of the 12th Reasoning Web Summer School (RW 2016), held in Aberdeen, UK, in September 2016. In 2016, the theme of the school was "Logical Foundation of Knowledge Graph Construction and Query Answering". The notion of knowledge graph has become popular since Google started to use it to improve its search engine in 2012. Inspired by the success of Google, knowledge graphs are gaining momentum in the World Wide Web arena. Recent years have witnessed increasing industrial take-ups by other Internet giants, including Facebook's Open Graph and Microsoft's Satori. The aim of the lecture note is to provide a logical foundation for constructing and querying knowledge graphs. Our journey starts from the introduction of Knowledge Graph as well as its history, and the construction of knowledge graphs by considering both explicit and implicit author intentions. The book will then cover various topics, including how to revise and reuse ontologies (schema of knowledge graphs) in a safe way, how to combine navigational queries with basic pattern matching queries for knowledge graph, how to setup a environment to do experiments on knowledge graphs, how to deal with inconsistencies and fuzziness in ontologies and knowledge graphs, and how to combine machine learning and machine reasoning for knowledge graphs.
Reasoning With Democratic Values 2. 0: Ethical Issues In American History, Volume 1: 1607-1865
by David E. Harris Anne-Lise Halvorsen Paul F. DainNow thoroughly updated and extensively revised for use in today’s history classrooms, this time-honored classic has never been more important than right now. <p><p>The new edition, Reasoning with Democratic Values2.0, presents an engaging approach to teaching U.S. history that promotes critical thinking and social responsibility. <p><p>In Volume 1 students investigate 20 significant historical episodes, arranged chronologically, beginning with the colonial era and ending with Reconstruction. Each carefully researched story examines an ethical decision made by an individual or group from the American past, and is guaranteed to excite students’ imaginations and spark lively classroom discussions involving core values of American democracy—liberty, equality, life, property, truth, and diversity. <p><p>The discussions aim to develop more mature moral reasoning by students while deepening their knowledge of American history. Each chapter contains five types of learning activities: Facts of the Case, Historical Understanding, Expressing Your Reasoning, Key Concepts from History, and Historical Inquiry. <p><p> In Volume 1, students can grapple with such ethical dilemmas as: <p> Should the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have granted reparation to the enslaved woman, Belinda Royall? <p>Should Thomas Jefferson have freed his slaves? <p>Should Juan Seguín have fought against the United States in the Mexican–American War? <p>Should Robert E. Lee have accepted command of the Union Army? <p><p>You can also purchase a comprehensive Instructor’s Manual that includes the rationale for the teaching approach, guidance for selecting chapters, direction for leading classroom discussions of ethical issues, suggestions for assessment and grading, answers for the learning activities, and more! <p><p> PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: The authors are available, at no fee, to conduct professional development programs for teachers and/or administrators regarding teaching with RDV 2.0. Visit www.rdv2.org for more details, including author contact information. The authors have committed their royalties to teacher education.
Reasoning about God: An Introduction to Thinking Logically about Religion
by Harry J GenslerReasoning about God is an introduction to philosophy of religion, meeting college students where they are with their own doubts and questions. Each chapter begins with a passage from a fictional student, who raises intellectual problems against God, which is followed by the author’s informed and easy-to-understand analysis. This debate structure allows student readers to clearly see the clash of ideas, gets them involved in the issues, and encourages their critical thinking (since students are pushed to find flaws in the ideas). It emulates the structure the author followed successfully in his Ethics: A Contemporary Introduction, which is now in its third edition and has been translated five times into other languages. This structure works well in philosophy of religion, even better than in does in ethics. Key Features of Reasoning about God: Written clearly and concisely, making difficult issues easy to understand. Makes a strong case for belief in God, based on various factors – including arguments about fine-tuning, Kalam, and near-death experiences – as well as approaches that are more instinctual or emotional. A major theme of the book is "There are many paths to God." Includes material on both traditional topics of philosophy of religion (like the problem of evil) and other related topics of interest (like whether religion is harmful, life after death, the variety of world religions, and the meaning of life). Explores how science connects to God’s existence, arguing that recent science is friendlier toward religion than older science. Written by a Christian author, whose defense of belief in God works with other theistic traditions as well (like Islam and Judaism).
Reasoning about Preference Dynamics
by Fenrong LiuOur preferences determine how we act and think, but exactly what the mechanics are and how they work is a central cause of concern in many disciplines. This book uses techniques from modern logics of information flow and action to develop a unified new theory of what preference is and how it changes. The theory emphasizes reasons for preference, as well as its entanglement with our beliefs. Moreover, the book provides dynamic logical systems which describe the explicit triggers driving preference change, including new information, suggestions, and commands. In sum, the book creates new bridges between many fields, from philosophy and computer science to economics, linguistics, and psychology. For the experienced scholar access to a large body of recent literature is provided and the novice gets a thorough introduction to the action and techniques of dynamic logic.
Reasoning and Public Health: New Ways of Coping with Uncertainty
by Louise CummingsThis book argues that in order to be truly effective, public health must embrace a group of reasoning strategies that have traditionally been characterized as informal fallacies. It will be demonstrated that these strategies can facilitate judgements about complex public health issues in contexts of uncertainty. The book explains how scientists and lay people routinely resort to the use of these strategies during consideration of public health problems. Although these strategies are not deductively valid, they are nevertheless rationally warranted procedures. Public health professionals must have a sound understanding of these cognitive strategies in order to engage the public and achieve their public health goals. The book draws upon public health issues as wide ranging as infectious diseases, food safety and the potential impact on human health of new technologies. It examines reasoning in the context of these issues within a large-scale, questionnaire-based survey of nearly 900 members of the public in the UK. In addition, several philosophical themes run throughout the book, including the nature of uncertainty, scientific knowledge and inquiry. The complexity of many public health problems demands an approach to reasoning that cannot be accommodated satisfactorily within a general thinking skills framework. This book shows that by developing an awareness of these reasoning strategies, scientists and members of the public can have a more productive engagement with public health problems.
Reasoning from Faith: Fundamental Theology in Merold Westphal’s Philosophy of Religion
by Justin SandsMerold Westphal is considered to be one of the preeminent Continental philosophers of religion. His articulation of faith as the task of a lifetime has become a touchstone in contemporary debates concerning faith's relationship to reason. As Justin Sands explores his philosophy, he illuminates how Westphal’s concept of faith reveals the pastoral, theological intent behind his thinking. Sands sees Westphal's philosophy as a powerful articulation of Protestant theology, but one that is in ecumenical dialogue with questions concerning apologetics and faith's relationship to ethics and responsibility, a more Catholic point of view. By bringing out these features in Westphal's philosophy, Sands intends to find core philosophical methodologies as well as a passable bridge for philosophers to cross over into theological discourses.