The passions have long been condemned as a creator of disturbance and purveyor of the temporary loss of reason, but as Remo Bodei argues in Geometry of the Passions, we must abandon the perception that order and disorder are in a constant state of collision. By means of a theoretical and historical analysis, Bodei interprets the relationship between passion and reason as a conflict between two complementary logics. Geometry of the Passions investigates the paradoxical conflict-collaboration between passions and reason, and between individual and political projects. Tracing the roles passion and reason have played throughout history, including in the political agendas of Descartes, Hobbes, and the French Jacobins, Geometry of the Passions reveals how passion and reason may be used as a vehicle for affirmation rather than self-enslavement.

F. H. Bradley was the greatest of the British Idealists, but for much of this century his views have been neglected, primarily as a result of the severe criticism to which they were subjected by Russell and Moore. In recent years, however, there has been a resurgence of interest in and a widespread reappraisal of his work. W. J. Mander offers a general introduction to Bradley's metaphysics and its logical foundations, and shows that much of his philosophy has been seriously misunderstood. Dr Mander argues that any adequate treatment of Bradley's thought must take full account of his unique dual inheritance from the traditions of British empiricism and Hegelian rationalism. The scholarship of recent years is assessed, and new interpretations are offered of Bradley's views about truth, predication, and relations, and of his arguments for idealism. This book is a clear and helpful guide for those new to this difficult but fascinating thinker, and at the same time an original and stimulating contribution to the re-evaluation of his work.

Fuery explores the relationship between post-structuralism and absence. In order to understand the psychoanalytic theory of Lacan (and Freud), the deconstructionalist methodology of Derrida, Foucault's studies of systems of thought, and Kristeva's socio-cultural and psychoanalytic interests, Fuery believes it is necessary to take into consideration the function and operation of absence. He shows how post-structuralist theory can be seen as a system of studies of subjectivity in terms of absence, and how desire is based almost entirely on the precondition of absence. The study is divided into sections on subjectivity. desire, and meaning, with the final section working toward a hermeneutics and semiotics of absence.

A cogent blueprint for the development of a "public philosophy" that integrates shared principles and values into our troubled social structure and articulates a consensus vision of society's future.

The continuing vitality of American thought stems, to a large extent, from the application of its historical roots embedded in contemporary problems and issues. Yet for some time the signal contributions of Josiah Royce (1855-1916) have been overlooked in the formulation and shaping of critical areas of public policy. In this brilliantly articulated new book, ethicist Jacquelyn Kegley carefully explicates and enlarges the scope of Roycean thought and shows that Royce's views on public philosophy have direct and valuable application to current social problems.

Working from the assumption that issues of family, education, and health care are not merely exigent political tempests but areas of genuine, long-lasting concern, Kegley opens fresh perspectives on Royce's philosophy by introducing and applying his ideas to discussions of how we care for ourselves and our society today. She analyzes Roycean criteria that can be successfully used to nourish developmental stages within families, promote intellectual and social growth in schooling and scholarship, and sustain physical and mental well-being throughout the life cycle.

"Genuine Individuals and Genuine Communities" should be a springboard for the reassessment of contemporary public policy and the reapplication of the American philosophical legacy to current issues and decisions. Kegley's work serves as a solid contribution both to public philosophy and to the continued vitality of American thought, and it extends the range of both.

In truth, just about anyone of us can scribble out a book about personal answers to the many questions of life. Worldview 101, or, "What is most basic and true to my own reality as a human upon the earth?" is my own response to a number of different concerns and issues in life. You might think of this writing as a personal "Plato's handbook," a general set of responses to the many questions of life. As it's writer, it is only a part of the representation of my most current worldview (I say "current" because how we see the world is always in a state of movement). Concerning the book, as you read it, do so with the approach that you are first taking into account my way of seeing things, thinking about it, and then re-shaping more of how you personally view things. See if you relate to "we think this," or "we came to know that." If you do, adopt the idea as your own. If not, move on. In picking and choosing your position on the issues presented here, you will probably come to know more of what you are all about - more of what you know you know. And what will that do? It will give you a perspective in higher thought - which is a good sort of perspective to possess. This, you can hopefully use to govern your own life more personally. .It can be very difficult to acclimate to this world of ours. Perhaps the thoughts in this book will help change or reshape your overall acclimation to life for the better. Knowing more never really stops. If life is meant for anything, for some reason that we don't really know about, it seems meant for us to learn more about being. In the end, it is this being part of us that relays a story. It also tells to others in our world who and what we are or were. Our lives are personal narratives, and play out as such for each of us. Life speaks to our innermost parts; what is it saying to you? We can hear the messages if we listen carefully.

This is a collection of writings by the late Lord Quinton, one of the wittiest and most versatile philosophers of his generation. The first part ranges over the last four hundred years of intellectual history, discussing such thinkers as Francis Bacon, Spinoza, Coleridge, Kant, Hegel, T. H. Green, Dewey, Quine, and Ayer. The subject of the second part of the volume is, broadly speaking, value in human society: Quinton discusses freedom, morality, politics, language, culture, and the relation between humans and animals. Together these writings demonstrate the enormous breadth of their author's learning, and the clarity, elegance, and urbanity of his style. Seven of the pieces are previously unpublished.

This selected and annotated bibliography reflects the growing interest among scholars in anarchist thinkers and thought. This guide to primarily English sources, over a lengthy period of time, is fully annotated. It covers works by and about major anarchist thinkers, philosophers, and others who are important or are on the margins of anarchist or liberal theory. The bibliography also describes important sources of information about the anarchist experience in 18 countries around the world. This reference, by Australian scholars who made extensive computer searches, inter-library loans, and research trips on three continents, provides useful listings of books, journals, theses, bibliographies, and other sources of information. The volume is carefully indexed to authors, thinkers, activists, and varied subjects.

This is the first full study in English of the German historicist tradition. Frederick C. Beiser surveys the major German thinkers on history from the middle of the eighteenth century until the early twentieth century, providing an introduction to each thinker and the main issues in interpreting and appraising his thought. The volume offers new interpretations of well-known philosophers such as Johann Gottfried Herder and Max Weber, and introduces others who are scarcely known at all, including J. A. Chladenius, Justus Moser, Heinrich Rickert, and Emil Lask. Beyond an exploration of the historical and intellectual context of each thinker, Beiser illuminates the sources and reasons for the movement of German historicism--one of the great revolutions in modern Western thought, and the source of our historical understanding of the human world.

This is a major study of the theological thought of John Calvin, which examines his central theological ideas through a philosophical lens, looking at issues in Metaphysics, Epistemology, and Ethics. The study, the first of its kind, is concerned with how Calvin actually uses philosophical ideas in his work as a theologian and biblical commentator. The book also includes a careful examination of those ideas of Calvin to which the Reformed Epistemologists appeal, to find grounds and precedent for their development of Reformed Epistemology', notably the sensus divinitatis and the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit.

These essays examine the contribution of Ortega y Gasset, reflecting his own diversity of interests with topics on philosophy, history, literature, esthetics, language and art. The collection draws together scholars from a variety of disciplines in an effort to deepen appreciation for one of the leading writers of modern Spain. Originally delivered at Espectador Universal to mark the 100th anniversay of Ortega y Gasset's birth, these essays are sure to open new perspectives on the thought and work of one who has long been regarded as the prototytpe to the twentieth century humanist.

At the end of the eighteenth century, Jeremy Bentham devised a scheme for a prison that he called the panopticon. It soon became an obsession. For twenty years he tried to build it; in the end he failed, but the story of his attempt offers fascinating insights into both Bentham's complex character and the ideas of the period. Basing her analysis on hitherto unexamined manuscripts, Janet Semple chronicles Bentham's dealings with the politicians as he tried to put his plans into practice. She assesses the panopticon in the context of penal philosophy and eighteenth-century punishment and discusses it as an instrument of the modern technology of subjection as revealed and analysed by Foucault. Her entertainingly written study is full of drama: at times it is hilariously funny, at others it approaches tragedy. It illuminates a subject of immense historical importance and which is particularly relevant to modern controversies about penal policy.

Berkeley's Three Dialogues is a key text in the history of philosophy - the dialogues are, with the exception of Hume's, arguably the most important philosophical dialogues written in English. As such, this is a hugely exciting, yet challenging, piece of philosophical writing. In Berkeley's 'Three Dialogues': A Reader's Guide, Aaron Garrett offers a clear and thorough account of this key philosophical work. The book offers a detailed review of the key themes and a lucid commentary that will enable readers to rapidly navigate the text. Geared towards the specific requirements of students who need to reach a sound understanding of the dialogues as a whole, the guide explores the complex and important ideas inherent in the text and provides a cogent survey of the reception and influence of Berkeley's work.

This book argues for the importance of the theory of the culture industry in today's world. It begins by considering the neglect of the culture industry in the second and third generation of the Frankfurt School, presenting historical background information and criticisms on the theories of Habermas and Honneth. In our age, the culture industry is something quite different from what Adorno and Horkheimer described or could even imagine in the twentieth century. Today, the masses can not only access the media but can also respond to the messages they receive. A key question that arises, then, is why the masses, even after gaining access to their own media, still adhere to the values of the capitalist system? Why haven't they achieved a class consciousness? This work seeks to answer those questions. Drawing on Jean Baudrillard's work, it reveals the semiotic aspects of the culture industry and describes the industry in the age of simulation and hyperreality. The book argues that the culture industry has now entered the micro level of our everyday life through shopping centers, the image of profusion and more. Further, it explores new aspects of the culture industry, such as a passion for participating in the media, the consumed vertigo of catastrophe, and masking the absence of a profound reality. As such, the book will particularly appeal to graduates and researchers in sociology and sociological theory, and all those with an interest in the Frankfurt School and the works of Jean Baudrillard.

The International Kierkegaard Commentary-For the first time in English the world community of scholars systematically assembled and presented the results of recent research in the vast literature of Soren Kierkegaard. Based on the definitive English edition of Kierkegaard's works by Princeton University Press, this series of commentaries addresses all the published texts of the influential Danish philosopher and theologian. This is volume 21 in a series of commentaries based upon the definitive translations of Kierkegaard's writings published by Princeton University Press, 1980ff.

Owen Ware here develops and defends a novel interpretation of Fichte's moral philosophy as an ethics of wholeness. While virtually forgotten for most of the twentieth century, Fichte's System of Ethics (1798) is now recognized by scholars as a masterpiece in the history of post-Kantian philosophy, as well as a key text for understanding the work of later German idealist thinkers. This book provides a careful examination of the intellectual context in which Fichte's moral philosophy evolved, and of the specific arguments he offers in response to Kant and his immediate successors. A distinctive feature of this study is a focus on the foundational concepts of Fichte's ethics—freedom, morality, feeling, conscience, community—and their connection to his innovative but largely misunderstood theory of drives. By way of conclusion, the book shows that what appears to be two conflicting commitments in Fichte's ethics—a commitment to the feelings of one's conscience and a commitment to engage in open dialogue with others—are two aspects of his theory of moral perfection. The result is a sharp understanding of Fichte's System of Ethics as offering a compelling resolution to the personal and interpersonal dimensions of moral life