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Ungoverning: The Attack on the Administrative State and the Politics of Chaos
by Nancy L. Rosenblum Russell MuirheadHow a concentrated attack on political institutions threatens to disable the essential workings of governmentIn this unsettling book, Russell Muirhead and Nancy Rosenblum trace how ungoverning—the deliberate effort to dismantle the capacity of government to do its work—has become a malignant part of politics. Democracy depends on a government that can govern, and that requires what&’s called administration. The administrative state is made up of the vast array of departments and agencies that conduct the essential business of government, from national defense and disaster response to implementing and enforcing public policies of every kind. Ungoverning chronicles the reactionary movement that demands dismantling the administrative state. The demand is not for goals that can be met with policies or programs. When this demand is frustrated, as it must be, the result is an invitation to violence.Muirhead and Rosenblum unpack the idea of ungoverning through many examples of the politics of destruction. They show how ungoverning disables capacities that took generations to build—including the administration of free and fair elections. They detail the challenges faced by officials who are entrusted with running the government and who now face threats and intimidation from those who would rather bring it crashing down—and replace the regular processes of governing with chaotic personal rule.The unfamiliar phenomenon of ungoverning threatens us all regardless of partisanship or ideological leaning. Ungoverning will not be limited to Donald Trump&’s moment on the political stage. To resist this threat requires that we first recognize what ungoverning is and what it portends.
Unhappy Beginnings: Narratives of Precarity, Failure, and Resistance in North American Texts (Routledge Research in American Literature and Culture)
by Isabel González-Díaz Fabián Orán-LlarenaThis book offers the analysis of a selection of North American texts that dismantle and resist normative frames through the resignification of concepts such as unhappiness, precarity, failure, and vulnerability. The chapters bring to the fore how those potentially negative elements can be refigured as ambivalent sites of resistance and social bonding. Following Sara Ahmed’s rereading of happiness, other authors such as Judith Butler, Wendy Brown, Jack Halberstam, Lauren Berlant, or Henry Giroux are mobilized to interrogate films, memoirs, and novels that deal with precarity, alienation, and inequality. The monograph contributes to enlarging the archives of unhappiness by changing the focus from prescribed norms and happy endings to unruly practices and unhappy beginnings. As the different contributors show, unhappiness, precarity, vulnerability, or failure can be harnessed to illuminate ways of navigating the world and framing society that do not necessarily conform to the script of happiness—whatever that means.
Unification of Artificial Intelligence and Psychology: Volume One - Foundations
by Petros A. GelepithisThis book —the first of a two-volume monograph— seeks to unify the hitherto perceived-as-disparate foundations of psychology and artificial intelligence. It does this by replacing their constitutive notions with a novel common one: noémon system. The ensued Theory of Noémon Systems is developed in terms of an interdisciplinary, language- based, axiomatic approach. The first volume details the development of the foundations of the theory and expounds ramifications for cognitive science and AI including novel solutions to the AGI debate and Darwin’s mental gap issue, while offering the first complete definition of AI. The book concurrently explores the similarities and differences between humans and AI/robot systems with respect to the evolution-dependent phenomena of representation, thinking, understanding and communication. The book is an extensive one; because of it’s extensiveness and broad ramifications, this book will appeal to scientists working on the interfaces of psychology, AI, philosophy of mind, neuroscience, and the humanities. The complicated and extensive unification of the fields of Artificial Intelligence and psychology is continued in the second volume that breaks further new ground for both disciplines, with thought-provoking and compelling implications for both.
Unification of Artificial Intelligence and Psychology: Volume Two - Consequences
by Petros A. GelepithisThis book, the second of two-volumes, builds on the unification of Artificial Intelligence and Psychology to explore its consequences. In doing so, this volume unifies three pivotal phenomena of Cognitive Science and AI: knowledge, consciousness and emotions. The extended Theory of Noémon Systems expounds ramifications for cognitive science, philosophy of mind, mathematics, and the issue of the unity of science and art. It also discusses the similarities and differences between humans and AI/robot systems with respect to consciousness, emotions and scientific knowledge. As with the first volume, this book will appeal to scientists working on the interfaces of psychology, AI, philosophy of mind, neuroscience, and the humanities. The complicated and extensive unification of the fields of Artificial Intelligence and psychology breaks entirely new ground for both disciplines, with thought-provoking and compelling implications for both.
Unification: The Next Generation (Star Trek)
by Jeri TaylorBased on the epic two-part television episode, here now is the story STAR TREK fans have awaited for five long years, the story that bring together Spock -- the enigmatic Vulcan who personified the original, classic STAR TREK -- with the crew of the Next Generation. Screenwriter Teri Taylor brings all the excitement and wonder that have captivated fans of the smash television series STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION to this story of Spock's forbidden journey into the heart of the Romulan Empire -- and the U. S. S. "Enterprise's" desperate attempts to discover the reasons for his mission there. Join now with Captain Picard, Lieutenant Commander Data, and the rest of the Next Generation crew on a voyage of unsurpassed adventure, a voyage that brings them to the edge of history -- and forces them to confront a shattering betrayal!
Unifying Causality and Psychology
by Gerald YoungThis magistral treatise approaches the integration of psychology through the study of the multiple causes of normal and dysfunctional behavior. Causality is the focal point reviewed across disciplines. Using diverse models, the book approaches unifying psychology as an ongoing project that integrates genetics, experience, evolution, brain, development, change mechanisms, and so on. The book includes in its integration free will, epitomized as freedom in being. It pinpoints the role of the self in causality and the freedom we have in determining our own behavior. The book deals with disturbed behavior, as well, and tackles the DSM-5 approach to mental disorder and the etiology of psychopathology. Young examines all these topics with a critical eye, and gives many innovative ideas and models that will stimulate thinking on the topic of psychology and causality for decades to come. It is truly integrative and original. Among the topics covered: Models and systems of causality of behavior. Nature and nurture: evolution and complexities. Early adversity, fetal programming, and getting under the skin. Free will in psychotherapy: helping people believe. Causality in psychological injury and law: basics and critics. A Neo-Piagetian/Neo-Eriksonian 25-step (sub)stage model. Unifying Causality and Psychology appeals to the disciplines of psychology, psychiatry, epidemiology, philosophy, neuroscience, genetics, law, the social sciences and humanistic fields, in general, and other mental health fields. Its level of writing makes it appropriate for graduate courses, as well as researchers and practitioners.
Unifying Hinduism: Philosophy and Identity in Indian Intellectual History (South Asia Across the Disciplines)
by Andrew NicholsonSome postcolonial theorists argue that the idea of a single system of belief known as "Hinduism" is a creation of nineteenth-century British imperialists. Andrew J. Nicholson introduces another perspective: although a unified Hindu identity is not as ancient as some Hindus claim, it has its roots in innovations within South Asian philosophy from the fourteenth to seventeenth centuries. During this time, thinkers treated the philosophies of Vedanta, Samkhya, and Yoga, along with the worshippers of Visnu, Siva, and Sakti, as belonging to a single system of belief and practice. Instead of seeing such groups as separate and contradictory, they re-envisioned them as separate rivers leading to the ocean of Brahman, the ultimate reality.Drawing on the writings of philosophers from late medieval and early modern traditions, including Vijnanabhiksu, Madhava, and Madhusudana Sarasvati, Nicholson shows how influential thinkers portrayed Vedanta philosophy as the ultimate unifier of diverse belief systems. This project paved the way for the work of later Hindu reformers, such as Vivekananda, Radhakrishnan, and Gandhi, whose teachings promoted the notion that all world religions belong to a single spiritual unity. In his study, Nicholson also critiques the way in which Eurocentric concepts-like monism and dualism, idealism and realism, theism and atheism, and orthodoxy and heterodoxy-have come to dominate modern discourses on Indian philosophy.
Unifying the Philosophy of Truth
by Theodora Achourioti Henri Galinon José Martínez Fernández Kentaro FujimotoThis anthology of the very latest research on truth features the work of recognized luminaries in the field, put together following a rigorous refereeing process. Along with an introduction outlining the central issues in the field, it provides a unique and unrivaled view of contemporary work on the nature of truth, with papers selected from key conferences in 2011 such as Truth Be Told (Amsterdam), Truth at Work (Paris), Paradoxes of Truth and Denotation (Barcelona) and Axiomatic Theories of Truth (Oxford). Studying the nature of the concept of 'truth' has always been a core role of philosophy, but recent years have been a boom time in the topic. With a wealth of recent conferences examining the subject from various angles, this collection of essays recognizes the pressing need for a volume that brings scholars up to date on the arguments. Offering academics and graduate students alike a much-needed repository of today's cutting-edge work in this vital topic of philosophy, the volume is required reading for anyone needing to keep abreast of developments, and is certain to act as a catalyst for further innovation and research.
Unintended Consequences: Or Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good Decisions?
by Clive WillsHow is it that, in doing our very best to achieve one thing, we can end up achieving just the opposite? There exists an unseen force with an unassuming name that conceals all manner of terrors. It is &‘Unintended Consequences&’, and it takes our efforts to do the good and right thing, turns them to ashes and blows them back in our faces. Whether it be governments fighting a &“War on Terror&” only to bring their economies crashing about their ears, ecologists attempting to stamp out pests but making things ten times worse in the process, or giving people lots of choice only for them to make worse decisions, it is all too easy to start out with the best of intentions, only to end up doing more harm than good. In Unintended Consequences, Clive Wills discusses national disasters, Prohibition and the War on Drugs, frustrated efforts to improve health and safety, and touches on issues of everyday life such as how to improve relationships and bring up children. As HL Mencken reflected, &“For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong&”. This book examines the many ways in which those apparently simple solutions can turn around and bite us, and more importantly, just what we can do about it.
Uninvited: Talking Back to Plato
by Carrie Jenkins Carla NappiPlato's Symposium depicts a group of men giving a series of speeches about the nature of love, with themes ranging from religion and metaphysics to medicine and pregnancy. The lone woman in the room, a "flute girl," is sent away as the discussion turns to serious matters; at the same time, the wisest of the men attributes his theories to a woman, the possibly fictional Diotima. Despite their absence from this important intellectual exchange, women are part of Symposium. What can contemporary feminist readers do with this troubling yet immeasurably influential work? <P><P> In Uninvited historian Carla Nappi and philosopher Carrie Jenkins talk back to Plato in poetry, inspired by the voices of women characters who were not previously permitted to speak. Images and ideas from Symposium are refracted through multiple lenses to reveal a tumult of mystical, intellectual, pedagogical, and sexual ideologies. Sometimes beautiful, sometimes horrific, these poems dance within and between the lines of Symposium, carving space for new kinds of conversations about love, with themes ranging from gender and voice to power and violence. Designed to be read with or without prior knowledge of Plato, this book invites the uninvited to join a strange, amorphous, and unending conversation on the nature of love and desire - and on the possibilities intellectual and creative activity can offer.
Uninvited: Talking Back to Plato
by Carrie Jenkins Carla NappiPlato's Symposium depicts a group of men giving a series of speeches about the nature of love, with themes ranging from religion and metaphysics to medicine and pregnancy. The lone woman in the room, a "flute girl," is sent away as the discussion turns to serious matters; at the same time, the wisest of the men attributes his theories to a woman, the possibly fictional Diotima. Despite their absence from this important intellectual exchange, women are part of Symposium. What can contemporary feminist readers do with this troubling yet immeasurably influential work? In Uninvited historian Carla Nappi and philosopher Carrie Jenkins talk back to Plato in poetry, inspired by the voices of women characters who were not previously permitted to speak. Images and ideas from Symposium are refracted through multiple lenses to reveal a tumult of mystical, intellectual, pedagogical, and sexual ideologies. Sometimes beautiful, sometimes horrific, these poems dance within and between the lines of Symposium, carving space for new kinds of conversations about love, with themes ranging from gender and voice to power and violence. Designed to be read with or without prior knowledge of Plato, this book invites the uninvited to join a strange, amorphous, and unending conversation on the nature of love and desire - and on the possibilities intellectual and creative activity can offer.
Unions, Strikes, Shaw: "The Capitalism of the Proletariat" (Bernard Shaw and His Contemporaries)
by Bernard F. DukoreUnions, Strikes, Shaw: ‘The Capitalism of the Proletariat’ is the first book to treat Bernard Shaw—socialist, dramatist, public speaker and union member—in relation to unions and strikes. For over half a century he urged workers to join unions, which he called, paradoxically, “the Capitalism of the Proletariat,” because as capitalists try to get as much labor as possible from workers while paying them as little as possible, unions try to gain as high wages as possible from employers while working as little as possible. He opposed general strikes as destined to fail, since owners can hold out longer than workers, whose unions have less money to support them during strikes. This book offers background on major strikes in and before Shaw’s time —including the Colorado Coalfield War and the Dublin Lockout, both in 1913—before analyzing the causes, day-by-day events and consequences of Britain’s 1926 General Strike. It begins and ends with examinations of their and Shaw’s relevance to actions on unions and strikes in our own time.
United Nations Politics: International Organization in a Divided World
by Donald Puchala Katie Verlin Laatikainen Roger CoateUnited Nations Politics takes a unique approach that focuses on the politics that is, the persistent and mostly singular emphasis that all member states place on the pursuit of national political, economic, cultural and ideological interests of UN affairs. The project began as an effort to research and write a ten-year-later sequel to The Challenge of Relevance written by Puchala and Coate in 1989. This earlier volume was an assessment of the United Nations and its operations in the late eighties. United Nations Politics builds from a series of some 200 interviews conducted at the UN and in various member-state missions between 2000 and 2005. Among other things , these interviews revealed that the existing English-language literature on the UN fails to take into appropriate account the dynamics and the impacts of the internal and external political contexts within which the UN operates. This book directly addresses this shortcoming in the academic literature.
Uniting Mississippi: Democracy and Leadership in the South
by Eric Thomas WeberUniting Mississippi applies a new, philosophically informed theory of democratic leadership to Mississippi's challenges. Governor William F. Winter has written a foreword for the book, supporting its proposals.The book begins with an examination of Mississippi's apparent Catch-22, namely the difficulty of addressing problems of poverty without fixing issues in education first, and vice versa. These difficulties can be overcome if we look at their common roots, argues Eric Thomas Weber, and if we practice virtuous democratic leadership. Since the approach to addressing poverty has for so long been unsuccessful, Weber reframes the problem. The challenges of educational failure reveal the extent to which there is a caste system of schooling. Certain groups of people are trapped in schools that are underfunded and failing. The ideals of democracy reject hierarchies of citizenship, and thus, the author contends, these ideals are truly tested in Mississippi. Weber offers theories of effective leadership in general and of democratic leadership in particular to show how Mississippi's challenges could be addressed with the guidance of common values.The book draws on insights from classical and contemporary philosophical outlooks on leadership, which highlight four key social virtues: wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice. Within this framework, the author approaches Mississippi's problems of poverty and educational frustration in a novel way that is applicable in and beyond the rural South. Weber brings to bear each of the virtues of democratic leadership on particular problems, with some overarching lessons and values to advance. The author's editorial essays are included in the appendix as examples of engaging in public inquiry for the sake of democratic leadership.
Uniting Nations: Britons and Internationalism, 1945–1970
by Daniel GormanUniting Nations is a comparative study of Britons who worked in the United Nations and international non-governmental and civil society organizations from 1945 to 1970 and their role in forging the postwar international system. Daniel Gorman interweaves the personal histories of scores of individuals who worked in UN organizations, the world government movement, Quaker international volunteer societies, and colonial freedom societies to demonstrate how international public policy often emerged 'from the ground up.' He reveals the importance of interwar, Second World War, colonial, and voluntary experiences in inspiring international careers, how international and national identities intermingled in the minds of international civil servants and civil society activists, and the ways in which international policy is personal. It is in the personal relationships forged by international civil servants and activists, positive and negative, biased and altruistic, short-sighted or visionary, that the “international” is to be found in the postwar international order.
Unity and Development in Plato's Metaphysics (Routledge Library Editions: Plato)
by William PriorStudies of Plato’s metaphysics have tended to emphasise either the radical change between the early Theory of Forms and the late doctrines of the Timaeus and the Sophist, or to insist on a unity of approach that is unchanged throughout Plato’s career. The author lays out an alternative approach. Focussing on two metaphysical doctrines of central importance to Plato’s thought – the Theory of Forms and the doctrine of Being and Becoming – he suggests a continuous progress can be traced through Plato’s works. He presents his argument through an examination of the metaphysical sections of six of the dialogues: the Euthyphro, Phaedo, Republic, Parmenides, Timaeus, and Sophist.
Unity and Disunity in Evolutionary Biology: Deconstructing Darwinism
by Richard G. Delisle Maurizio Esposito David CeccarelliIt is not uncommon to see in major areas of research concerned with science that historical studies are accompanied by the rise of complementary or contradictory historiographies. With time, it seems, scholars discover new approaches to study topics, thus questioning old concepts, traditions, periodizations and historical labels. Apparently, this has not been the case in evolutionary thought. In that area, the main historiographic labels such as Darwinian Revolution, Eclipse of Darwinism, and Modern Synthesis have been in place and largely uncontested for about 50 years. Such labels seem to work as irrefutable, and often hidden, premises of many historical reconstructions, philosophical analyses, and scientific conceptualizations. This volume aims to move beyond this state of affair, opening new thinking avenues by revisiting the traditional historiography and laying the groundwork for establishing a “new historiography” that considers the intertwined threads that compose evolutionary biology. Notably, evolutionary studies seem to have been marked by the tension between unification attempts and the proliferation of approaches, methodologies, and styles of thinking. As the contributors to this volume illustrate, research traditions branched off throughout the history of evolutionary thought, before and after Charles Darwin. The resulting complexity challenges traditional thinking categories, throwing a somewhat different light on a more recent label like the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis. More than 40 years after the now classic, The Evolutionary Synthesis: Perspectives on the Unification of Biology (1980), edited by Ernst Mayr and William Provine, the contributors to this volume aim to reevaluate where evolutionary biology stands today.
Unity of Science (Elements in the Philosophy of Science)
by Tuomas E. TahkoUnity of science was once a very popular idea among both philosophers and scientists. But it has fallen out of fashion, largely because of its association with reductionism and the challenge from multiple realisation. Pluralism and the disunity of science are the new norm, and higher-level natural kinds and special science laws are considered to have an important role in scientific practice. What kind of reductionism does multiple realisability challenge? What does it take to reduce one phenomenon to another? How do we determine which kinds are natural? What is the ontological basis of unity? In this Element, Tuomas Tahko examines these questions from a contemporary perspective, after a historical overview. The upshot is that there is still value in the idea of a unity of science. We can combine a modest sense of unity with pluralism and give an ontological analysis of unity in terms of natural kind monism.
Unity, Plurality and Politics: Essays in Honour of F. M. Barnard (Routledge Library Editions: Political Thought and Political Philosophy #46)
by Richard Vernon J. M. PorterFirst published in 1986. Nations have a unity often described as 'cultural'; and within them there are divergences some of which are termed 'political'. But culture and politics do not, therefore, comprise two wholly distinct zones or orders of experience, the one marked by unity, the other by plurality. Unity and plurality interpenetrate. These insights, which derive from the thinking of Herder, have been fundamental to the work of F. M. Barnard. In this volume a number of scholars contribute, in Barnardian vein, reflections on the tensions between unity and plurality in the history of ideas. The central underlying question is, in essence, ’what is the context of political life?’ The question remains of more importance than any single answer.
Universal Aspects of Scientific Practice: Commitment, Methodology, and Technique (SpringerBriefs in Philosophy)
by Giora Hon Bernard R. GoldsteinThis book provides a unique contribution to philosophy of science from the perspective of the practice of science. It focuses on processes that generate scientific knowledge and seeks general and universal features that characterize scientific practice; features that are inherent to the practice of science. Science is an activity, and the scientist is an agent who pursues some practice, which in one way or another engages evidence. In science, claims to knowledge are typically supported by argument that engages evidence at some point in explanation, in prediction, or indeed in any mode of presenting data and its interpretation. Thus, the practice of science includes at least three elements so that an argument can be formulated: presuppositions, modes of inference, and consequences that relate to evidence. The authors discuss in detail eight cases in chronological order with which they illustrate how commitment, methodology, and technique come into play in the practice of an individual physicist or a group of researchers in the physical sciences. Each case highlights aspects of the roles these categories play in scientific practice, where the goal is to generate and extend scientific knowledge.
Universal Emancipation: Race beyond Badiou
by Elisabeth PaquetteA vital and timely contribution to the growing scholarship on the political thought of Alain Badiou Is inattention to questions of race more than just incidental to Alain Badiou&’s philosophical system? Universal Emancipation reveals a crucial weakness in the approach to (in)difference in political life of this increasingly influential French thinker. With white nationalist movements on the rise, the tensions between commitments to universal principles and attention to difference and identity are even more pressing. Elisabeth Paquette&’s powerful critical analysis demonstrates that Badiou&’s theory of emancipation fails to account for racial and racialized subjects, thus attenuating its utility in thinking about freedom and justice. The crux of the argument relies on a distinction he makes between culture and politics, whereby freedom only pertains to the political and not the cultural. The implications of this distinction become evident when she turns to two examples within Badiou&’s theory: the Négritude movement and the Haitian Revolution. According to Badiou&’s 2017 book Black, while Négritude is an important cultural movement, it cannot be considered a political movement because Négritude writers and artists were too focused on particularities such as racial identity. Paquette argues that Badiou&’s discussion of Négritude mirrors that of Jean-Paul Sartre in his 1948 essay &“Black Orpheus&” that has been critiqued by leading critical race theorists. Second, prominent Badiou scholar Nick Nesbitt claims that the Haitian Revolution could only be considered political if its adherents had shifted their focus away from race. However, Paquette argues that not only was race a central feature of this revolution but also that the revolution ought to be understood as a political emancipation movement. Paquette also moves beyond Badiou, drawing on the groundbreaking work of Sylvia Wynter to offer an alternative framework for emancipation. She juxtaposes Badiou&’s use of universality as indifference to difference with Wynter&’s pluri-conceptual theory of emancipation, emphasizing solidarity over indifference. Paquette then develops her view of a pluri-conceptual theory of emancipation, wherein particular identities, such as race, need not be subtracted from a theory of emancipation.
Universal Logic, Ethics, and Truth: Essays in Honor of John Corcoran (1937-2021) (Studies in Universal Logic)
by Jean-Yves Béziau Timothy J. MadiganJohn Corcoran was a very well-known logician who worked on several areas of logic. He produced decisive works giving a better understanding of two major figures in the history of logic, Aristotle and Boole. Corcoran had a close association with Alfred Tarski, a prominent 20th-century logician. This collaboration manifested in Corcoran's substantial introduction to Tarski's seminal book, Logic, Semantics, Metamathematics (1956). Additionally, Corcoran's posthumous editorial involvement in 'What are logical notions?' (1986) breathed new life into this seminal paper authored by Tarski. His scholarly pursuits extended to the intricate explication of fundamental concepts in modern logic, including variables, propositions, truth, consequences, and categoricity. Corcoran's academic curiosity extended further to the intersection of ethics and logic, reflecting his contemplation of their interrelation. Beyond these theoretical contributions, Corcoran was deeply engaged in the pedagogical dimensions of logic instruction. This volume serves as a compilation of articles contributed by Corcoran's students, colleagues, and international peers. By encompassing a diverse range of subjects, this collection aptly mirrors Corcoran's wide-ranging interests, offering insights that not only deepen our understanding of his work but also advance the theoretical frameworks he explored.
Universal Standards for Defining Obscenity
by Long ChengIn the existing literature, there is no universal standard for defining obscenity. The book aims to demonstrate that there indeed exist underlying universal standards for defining obscenity (USDOs). However, their application to different contexts of time, place, and culture, may legitimately result in varied manifestations.The author examines a definition of obscenity proposed by the political and legal theorist Harry M. Clor, within John Finnis’ natural law theoretical framework. He also explores how positive law, including legislation, case law, and customary law, should respond to the proposed USDOs. The book addresses the theoretical foundation of the determination and regulation of obscenity, and it is supplemented with examples of legal practices from several jurisdictions, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Germany.The book will appeal to scholars of legal philosophy, natural law theories, obscenity law, and free speech.
Universal language schemes in England and France 1600-1800
by James KnowlsonFor centuries Latin served as an international language for scholars in Europe. Yet as early as the first half of the seventeenth century, scholars, philosophers, and scientists were beginning to turn their attention to the possibility of formulating a totally new universal language. This wide-ranging book focuses upon the role that it was thought an ideal, universal, constructed language would play in the advancement of learning. The first section examines seventeenth-century attempts to establish a universal 'common writing' or, as Bishop Wilkins called it, a 'real character and philosophical language.' This movement involved or interested scientists and philosophers as distinguished as Descartes, Mersenne, Comenius, Newton, Hooke, and Leibniz. The second part of the book follows the same theme through to the final years of the eighteenth century, where the implications of language-building for the progress of knowledge are presented as part of the wider question which so interested French philosophers, that of the influence of signs on thought. The author also includes a chapter tracing the frequent appearance of ideal languages in French and English imaginary voyages, and an appendix on the idea that gestural signs might supply a universal language. This work is intended as a contribution to the history of ideas rather than of linguistics proper, and because it straddles several disciplines, will interest a wide variety of reader. It treats comprehensively a subject that has not previously been adequately dealt with, and should become the standard work in its field.
Universality and Identity Politics
by Todd McGowanThe great political ideas and movements of the modern world were founded on a promise of universal emancipation. But in recent decades, much of the Left has grown suspicious of such aspirations. Critics see the invocation of universality as a form of domination or a way of speaking for others, and have come to favor a politics of particularism—often derided as “identity politics.” Others, both centrists and conservatives, associate universalism with twentieth-century totalitarianism and hold that it is bound to lead to catastrophe.This book develops a new conception of universality that helps us rethink political thought and action. Todd McGowan argues that universals such as equality and freedom are not imposed on us. They emerge from our shared experience of their absence and our struggle to attain them. McGowan reconsiders the history of Nazism and Stalinism and reclaims the universalism of movements fighting racism, sexism, and homophobia. He demonstrates that the divide between Right and Left comes down to particularity versus universality. Despite the accusation of identity politics directed against leftists, every emancipatory political project is fundamentally a universal one—and the real proponents of identity politics are the right wing. Through a wide range of examples in contemporary politics, film, and history, Universality and Identity Politics offers an antidote to the impasses of identity and an inspiring vision of twenty-first-century collective struggle.