Hermann Cohen's philosophy has now, finally, received the recognition it deserves. His thought undoubtedly has all the characteristics of a classic. It faced the great problems of philosophical tradition, with full critical awareness and at the same time, with the capacity to open up new, original routes. It represents one of the last expressions of great systematic thought.

The papers collected in this volume deal with different aspects of Cohen's thought, ethical, political, aesthetic and religious aspectsin particular. However they all represent attempts to follow the ubiquitous presence of certain important themes in Cohen and their capacity for containing meanings that cannot be limited to a single philosophical sphere: themes that are keys to reading unity of inspiration in his thought, which is more deeply imbedded than the exterior architectural unity of his work. The search for the fundamental themes behind Cohen is an important task, if we wish to see this philosopher as a present-day vital point of reference.

Well written and richly illustrated with vivid examples from Wittgenstein's woodcutters to witchcraft in Mexico and elsewhere, this book argues that the underlying methodological principle governing interpretive change is explanatory coherence.

The six studies comprising this volume deal with some fundamental issues in early Greek thought: cosmic evaluation in Anaximander, the theory of opposites from the Pre-Socratics to Plato and Aristotle, thought experimentation in Pre-Socratic thought, the origins of Greek Scepticism among the Sophisists, the prehistory of "Buridan's Ass" speculation, and the role of esthesis in Aristotle's theory of science. In each case the early discussion seeks to show how certain ideas bore unexpected fruit during the subsequent development of philosophical thought.

A major contribution to Descartes studies, this book provides a panorama of cutting-edge scholarship ranging widely over Descartes's own primary concerns: metaphysics, physics, and its applications. It is at once a tool for scholars and--steering clear of technical Cartesian science--an accessible resource that will delight nonspecialists. The contributors include Edwin Curley, Willis Doney, Alan Gabbey, Daniel Garber, Marjorie Grene, Gary Hatfield, Marleen Rozemond, John Schuster, Dennis Sepper, Stephen Voss, Stephen Wagner, Margaret Welson, Jean Marie Beyssade, Michelle Beyssade, Michel Henry, Evert van Leeuwen, Jean-Luc Marion, Genevieve Rodis-Lewis, and Jean-Pierre Seris. Combining new textual sensitivity with attentiveness to history, they represent the best established scholars and most exciting new voices, including both English speaking and newly-translated writers. Part I examines the foundations of Descartes's philosophy: Cartesian certainty; the phenomenology of the cogito and its modulations in the passions; and the defensibility and comprehensibility of the Cartesian God. The second part examines Descartes's groundbreaking metaphysics: mind's distinctness from and interaction with body; imagination; perception; and language. Part III examines Cartesian science: the revolutionary rhetoric of the Rules and the Discourse; the metaphysical foundations of physics; the interplay of rationalism and empiricism; the mechanics and human biology that flow from Descartes's physics.

During his distinguished academic career, Eric Voegelin was described as the most important philosopher of history and consciousness since Toynbee; a political theorist of exceptional scope and erudition; a theologian with profound insights into the nature of religious experience. Similarly, Voegelin has been interpreted by his critics using virtually every ideological label available: fascist, communist, liberal, conservative, existentialist, fideist, socialist, reactionary, Jew, Catholic, and Protestant. Regardless of such efforts to characterize his writings using such neat categories, Voegelin has been celebrated by intellectuals of all stripes for the fresh new light he has cast on the modern predicament. Widely recognized political theorist Thomas Heilke contends that while some of these appellations may have elements of truth, none of these labels are ultimately capable of properly representing the essence of Voegelin's work. With startling new insights into the theoretical foundations of Voegelin's writings, Heilke's gripping analysis and compelling conclusions demonstrate how his subject was primarily a philosopher in quest of reality, and why no ideological category can grasp the core of such an intellectual journey. This book will be of interest to political theorists, theologians, philosophers, and intellectual historians.

This book offers a comprehensive and unitary study of the philosophy of Francis Bacon, with special emphasis on the medical, ethical and political aspects of his thought. It presents an original interpretation focused on the material conditions of nature and human life. In particular, coverage in the book is organized around the unifying theme of Bacon's notion of appetite, which is considered in its natural, ethical, medical and political meanings. The book redefines the notions of experience and experiment in Bacon's philosophy of nature, shows the important presence of Stoic themes in his work as well as provides an original discussion of the relationships between natural magic, prudence and political realism in his philosophy. Bringing together scholarly expertise from the history of philosophy, the history of science and the history of literature, this book presents readers with a rich and diverse contextualization of Bacon's philosophy.

The act of thought-thought as an act-would precede the thought thinking or becoming conscious of an act. The notion of act involves a violence essentially: the violence of transitivity, lacking in the transcendence of thought. . . Totality and Infinity The work of Emmanuel Levinas revolves around two preoccupations. First, his philosophical project can be described as the construction of a formal ethics, grounded upon the transcendence of the other human being and a subject's spontaneous responsibility toward that other. Second, Levinas has written extensively on, and as a member of, the cultural and textual life of Judaism. These two concerns are intertwined. Their relation, however, is one of considerable complexity. Levinas' philosophical project stems directly from his situation as a Jewish thinker in the twentieth century and takes its particular form from his study of the Torah and the Talmud. It is, indeed, a hermeneutics of biblical experience. If inspired by Judaism, Levinas' ethics are not eo ipso confessional. What his ethics takes from Judaism, rather, is a particular way of conceiving transcendence and the other human being. It owes to the philosophy of Franz Rosenzweig and Martin Buber a logos of the world and of the holy, which acknowledges their incom mensurability without positing one as fallen and the other as supernal."

This is the first book that provides access to twelve Continental philosophers and the consequences of their thinking for the philosophy of religion. Basically, in the second half of the twentieth century, it has been treated from within the Anglo- American school of philosophy, which deals mainly with proofs and truths, and questions of faith. This approach is more concerned with human experience, and pays more attention to historical context and cultural influences. As such, it provides challenging questions about the way forward for philosophy of religion in the twenty-first century.

In this book, Valerie Cordonier and Tommaso De Robertis provide the first study, along with edition and translation, of Chrysostomus Javelli's epitome of the Liber de bona fortuna (1531), the famous thirteenth-century Latin compilation of the chapters on fortune taken from Aristotle's Magna Moralia and Eudemian Ethics. An Italian university professor and a prominent figure in the intellectual landscape of sixteenth-century Europe, Javelli (ca. 1470-ca. 1542) commented on nearly the entirety of Aristotle's corpus. His epitome of the Liber de bona fortuna, the only known Renaissance reading produced on this work, offers an unparalleled insight into the early modern understanding of fortune, standing out as one of the most comprehensive witnesses to discussions on fate, fortune, and free will in the Western world.

This book is an abridged version of Feng Qi’s two major works on the history of philosophy, The Logical Development of Ancient Chinese Philosophy and The Revolutionary Course of Modern Chinese Philosophy. It is a comprehensive history of Chinese philosophy taking the reader from ancient times to the year 1949.  It illuminates the characteristics of traditional Chinese philosophy from the broader vantage point of epistemology. The book revolves around important debates including those on “Heaven and humankind� (tian ren天人), “names and actualities� (mingshi�實), “principle and vital force� (liqi�氣), “the Way and visible things� (daoqi�器), “mind and matter/things� (xinwu心物), and “knowledge and action� (zhixing知行). Through discussion of these debates, the course of Chinese philosophy unfolds.  Modern Chinese philosophy has made landmark achievements in the development of historical and epistemological theory, namely the “dynamic and revolutionary theory of reflection�. However, modern Chinese philosophy is yet to construct a systematic overview of logic and methodology, as well as questions of human freedom and ideals. Amid this discussion, the question of how contemporary China is to “take the baton� from the thinkers of the modern philosophical revolution is addressed.

"Bruce L. Kinzer offers a rich examination of personal and political themes in the life of John Stuart Mill, one of the most influential liberal thinkers of the nineteenth century. By investigating young Mill's formative period and his relations with his father, Harriet Taylor, and Thomas Carlyle, Kinzer casts light on the challenges Mill faced in understanding himself and what he wished to become. Kinzer's political explorations probe issues central to the appreciation of Mill as an engaged political thinker and actor and offers an insightful portrait of a complex and towering figure."--BOOK JACKET.

Shaking up the content and method by which generations of students had studied Western philosophy, Martin Heidegger sought to ennoble man’s existence in relation to death. Yet in a time of crisis, he sought personal advancement, becoming the most prominent German intellectual to join the Nazis. Hannah Arendt, his brilliant, beautiful student and young lover, sought to enable a decent society of human beings in relation to one other. She was courageous in the time of crisis. Years later, she was even able to meet Heidegger once again on common ground and to find in his past behavior an insight into Nazism that would influence her reflections on “the banality of evil�—a concept that remains bitterly controversial and profoundly influential to this day. But how could Arendt have renewed her friendship with Heidegger? And how has this relationship affected her reputation as a cultural critic? In Stranger from Abroad, Daniel Maier-Katkin offers a compassionate portrait that provides much-needed insight into this relationship. Maier-Katkin creates a detailed and riveting portrait of Arendt’s rich intellectual and emotional life, shedding light on the unique bond she shared with her second husband, Heinrich Blücher, and on her friendships with Mary McCarthy, W. H. Auden, Karl Jaspers, and Randall Jarrell—all fascinating figures in their own right. An elegant, accessible introduction to Arendt’s life and work, Stranger from Abroad makes a powerful and hopeful case for the lasting relevance of Arendt’s thought.

This book challenges the popular recent view of Nietzsche as an anti-systematic, anti-traditional thinker, and argues that his work is in fact highly systematic, and therefore congruent with the main traditions of western philosophy.

This essay proposes that Hume s non-substantialist bundle account of minds is basically correct. The concept of a person is not a metaphysical notion but a forensic one, that of a being who enters into the moral and normative relations of civil society. A person is a bundle but it is also a structured bundle. Hume s metaphysics of relations is argued must be replaced by a more adequate one such as that of Russell, but beyond that Hume s account is essentially correct. In particular it is argued that it is one s character that constitutes one s identity; and that sympathy and the passions of pride and humility are central in forming and maintaining one s character and one s identity as a person. But also central is one s body: a person is an embodied consciousness: the notion that one s body is essential to one s identity is defended at length. Various concepts of mind and consciousness are examined - for example, neutral monism and intentionality - and also the concept of privacy and our inferences to other minds."

German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche has been the subject of many intellectual biographies, yet none thus far is as liberating as "Nietzsche & the Jews", an in-depth examination of his relationships with Jews and Judaism. For the first time in any study of Nietzsche, Siegfried Mandel persuasively argues that this controversial 19th-century philosopher was truly ambivalent toward Jews, many of whom were quite influential in his intellectual and social pursuits. Incorporating writings and conversations by philosophers and others with whom Nietzsche interacted (e.g., Wagner, Schopenhauer, Gibbon, Freud, and others), the author liberates his subject from 'venerators and detractors alike' by demonstrating that Nietzsche was both 'philosemitic' and anti-Semitic.This dual attitude of praise and criticism adds to the complexity of Mandel's subject, an intellectual enigma who remains one of the most controversial and misunderstood thinkers in history. Forceful, lively, and original, this book incorporates a wealth of evidence that opens Nietzsche's life and works to more careful study and reflection. The late Siegfried Mandel was professor emeritus of the University of Colorado at Boulder. He authored many books and articles dealing with European literature, culture, and art.

What would any rational person believe to be worth wanting or working for? Viewed from the standpoint of ethics and empirical psychology, how would such a person define and explain the morally right and the just? And what system of morals would rational people select as the best for the society? Essential to what is important in traditional philosophical inquiries, these questions and others are pursued in A Theory of the Good and the Right, Richard B. Brandt's now classic work, based on his Oxford lectures. Using a contemporary psychological theory of action and of motivation, Brandt argues that rational people would choose a utilitarian moral code that the purpose of living should be to strive for the greatest good for the largest number of people. He discusses the concept of welfare, the prospects for the interpersonal comparison and measurement of utility, the implications of the relevant form of rule utilitarianism for the theory of distributive justice, and the possibilities of conflict between utilitarian moral codes and the dictates of self-interest. Readers interested in moral philosophy, psychology, economics, and political theory will find much to ponder here.

Can God's nonexistence be established by good, clear, objective evidence? It all depends on what is meant by "God." This book expands the frontiers of philosophy by exploring this nest of issues in more detail than ever before, while presenting a strong case for atheism.
The two major arguments in support of nonexistence, the more established Argument from Evil and the recent Argument from Nonbelief, are explored individually and in parallel development while defending both against the strongest objections.
Included are examinations of the free-will problem, the possibility of an afterlife, arguments by theists, and positive atheism. Drange also discusses specific concepts of the duty e.g. of evangelical and liberal Christianity, and orthodox Judaism to demonstrate how theological and atheological arguments depend upon the conception of God one accepts.

Relativism about knowledge or truth has always provoked the ire of philosophers. Ever since Protagoras declared in antiquity that 'man is the measure of all things', relativism has been repeatedly attacked. Recently, however, Alasdair MacIntyre has observed that 'relativism...is one of those doctrines that have by now been refuted a number of times too often'. Along with MacIntyre, Hilary Putnam and Richard Rorty have also argued that while relativism may be problematic, there are valuable insights in it that philosophers need to take notice of. This book sorts out exactly what those relativistic insights are, and where they are to be found within the works of these three leading late-twentieth-century philosophers. Timothy Mosteller begins with a review of the major traditional definitions of relativism and the classical arguments against it. He then examines twentieth-century accounts and defences of relativism and points out that each account faces problems similar to those of the traditional versions. The continues with substantial treatments of the views of macIntyre, Putnam and Rorty on relativism, with each thinker robustly engaging the opinions of the others.Mosteller concludes the book by developing an alternative approach to relativismabout knowledge, which recognizes that while there may be no single 'global' criterion for all knowledge claims, there can be 'local' standards for settling particular disputes in such a way as to avoid the traditional hazards of relativism. Timothy M. Mosteller (Ph.D University of Miami) teaches philosophy at the University of San Diego, California.

Thorstein Veblen (1857-1929), the controversial American economist and social critic, argues that economics is essentially a study of the economic aspects of human culture, which are in a constant state of flux. In his best-known work, "The Theory of the Leisure Class" (1899), Veblen appropriated Darwin's theory of evolution to analyse the modern industrial system. While industry itself demanded diligence, efficiency, and co-operation, businessmen in opposition to engineers and industrialists were only interested in making money and displaying their wealth in what Veblen coined 'conspicuous consumption'. Veblen's keen analysis of the psychological bases of American social and economic institutions laid the foundation for the school of institutional economics.

This new and complete translation of Spinoza's famous 17th-century work fills an important gap, not only for all scholars of Spinoza, but also for everyone interested in the relationship between Western philosophy and religion, and the history of biblical exegesis. The existing Elwes translation of 1883 has long been regarded as insufficient by Spinoza scholars for its misleading rendering of the Latin and its many omissions. Samuel Shirley, well-known for his excellent best-selling translation of Spinoza's "Ethics," now presents this new, complete translation of Spinoza's "Tractatus Theologico-Politicus" in lucid English, which meets the highest standards of modern critical scholarship. The book includes an Index of Subjects and a detailed Index of Biblical References as well as an Introduction by Brad Gregory, which sets Spinoza squarely in the context of his time and intellectual tradition.

Quine is one of the twentieth century's most important and influential philosophers. The essays in this collection are by some of the leading figures in their fields and they touch on the most recent turnings in Quine's work. The book also features an essay by Quine himself, and his replies to each of the papers. Questions are raised concerning Quine's views on knowledge: observation, holism, truth, naturalized epistemology; about language: meaning, the indeterminacy of translation, conjecture; and about the philosophy of logic: ontology, singular terms, vagueness, identity, and intensional contexts. Given Quine's preeminent position, this book must be of interest to students of philosophy in general, Quine aficionados, and most particularly to those working in the areas of epistemology, ontology, philosophies of language, of logic, and of science.

Justice Blindfolded gives an overview of the history of "justice" and its iconography through the centuries. Justice has been portrayed as a woman with scales, or holding a sword, or, since the fifteenth century, with her eyes bandaged. This last symbol contains the idea that justice is both impartial and blind, reminding indirectly of the bandaged Christ on the cross, a central figure in the Christian idea of fairness and forgiveness. In this rich and imaginative journey through history and philosophy, Prosperi manages to convey a full account of the ways justice has been described, portrayed and imagined. Translation of Giustizia bendata. Percorsi storici di un'immagine (Einaudi, 2008).