This study examines the issues of indigenous philosophies, which are embedded in different aspects of the socialization process among the Akan of Ghana. The research explores the possibility of forging a new future that builds on the positive aspects of their past and present and on carefully chosen ideas, methods and technology from abroad.

Originally published in 1978. These essays are written by distinguished philosophers from many countries and were published as a homage to Spinoza in the year which marked the three-hundredth anniversary of his death. A special feature of the book is that it includes a recently discovered letter by Spinoza, reproduced for the first time in English and in facsimile, with a commentary. The controversial influence of Spinoza on Freud is discussed, and illustrated by facsimile reproductions of original letters, hitherto unknown to Freudians and Spinozists alike. These letters direct revealing light on some of Freud's attitudes. Important parallels between East and West will also attract the student of Spinoza.

This probing and engaging book is a critical guide to some of the most important issues in modern African philosophy. Bell introduces readers to the complexity of Africa, the legacy of colonialism, and the challenges of post-independence Africa, and the history and achievement of the various options in African philosophy. The book discusses African oral and written philosophical traditions, concepts of 'negritude', 'African Socialism', and 'race' and topics in international development ethics.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203800745

"Understanding African Philosophy" serves as a critical guide to some of the most important issues in modern African philosophy. Richard Bell introduces readers to the complexity of Africa, the legacy of colonialism, the challenges of post independence Africa, and other recent developments in African Philosophy. Chapters discuss the value of African oral and written texts for philosophy, concepts of "negritude," "African socialism," and "race," as well as current discussions in international development ethics connected to poverty and human suffering. Two chapters are focused on moral issues related to community, justice, and civic responsibility. Bell's sensitivity to and engagement with the complications of cross-cultural understandings help non-African readers connect with African culture and thought.

Written by an international assembly of leading philosophers, this volume offers students, teachers and general readers a rich and sophisticated introduction to the major non-Western philosophical traditions - particularly Chinese, Indian, Buddhist and Islamic philosophies. African and Polynesian thinking are also covered by way of historical and contemporary survey articles.

The text is organized around a series of central topics concerning conceptions of reality and divinity, of causality, of truth, of the nature of rationality, of selfhood, of humankind and nature, of the good, of aesthetic values, and of social and political ideals. Outstanding scholars present essays that articulate the distinctive ways in which these specific problems have been formulated and addressed in the non-Western traditions against the background of their varied historical and cultural presuppositions.

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Routledge Key Guides

Through key readings from primary and secondary sources this book communicates at first hand the principal features of a remarkable range of eastern thought - from Buddhism, Confucianism, and Hinduism to Islam, Shinto and Zoroastrianism. Passages from key texts guide the reader through over 90 major terms, from abhidharma to Zen.
Material is drawn not only from such cornerstone texts as the Bhagavad-gita and the Lao-tzu, but also from modern writings on Eastern philosophy and religion.

This study spans, in a single monograph, the entire life and work of the Russian philosopher Lev Shestov (1866-1938). It offers keys to understanding his thought, while also tracing the historical itinerary of his work. Shestov's thought is not only interesting in itself, as a "philosophy fighting against philosophy," but also because it reveals an entire world of cultural connections in its extraordinarily keen exploration of other "souls." The reader will find in Shestov some of the sharpest analyses of authors such as Shakespeare, Nietzsche, Tolstoi, Dostoevskii, Luther, Plotinus, Pascal, Kierkegaard and many others. This study will better determine the controversial and fascinating philosopher's place in the history of Russian and Western thought.

The Ugliness of Moses Mendelssohn examines the idea of ugliness through four angles: philosophical aesthetics, early anthropology, physiognomy and portraiture in the eighteenth-century. Highlighting a theory that describes the benefit of encountering ugly objects in art and nature, eighteenth-century German Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn recasts ugliness as a positive force for moral education and social progress. According to his theory, ugly objects cause us to think more and thus exercise-and expand-our mental abilities. Known as ugly himself, he was nevertheless portrayed in portraits and in physiognomy as an image of wisdom, gentility, and tolerance. That seeming contradiction-an ugly object (Mendelssohn) made beautiful-illustrates his theory's possibility: ugliness itself is a positive, even redeeming characteristic of great opportunity. Presenting a novel approach to eighteenth century aesthetics, this book will be of interest to students and scholars in the fields of Jewish Studies, Philosophy and History.

In this intriguing book, Moira Gatens and Genevieve Lloyd show us that in spite of-or rather because of-Spinoza's apparent strangeness, his philosophy can be a rich source for cultural self-understanding in the present. "Collective Imaginings" draws on recent reassessments of the philosophy of Spinoza and develops new ways of conceptualizing issues of freedom and difference. These newly contextualized theories are easily applied to contemporary issues, such as environmental debates, issues of feminism, the conception of democracy, and the idea of the individual and community, providing relevance to our everyday lives.
A fine counter to the 'read and raid' and the 'read and destroy' schools of history of philosophy . . . a careful interpretation of Spinoza that helps resolve contemporary problems about the relation between (what we think of as) the individual and the conflicts and harmony that form social life. -- Amelie Rorty, Brandeis University
A fresh look at Spinoza andhow his thought is applicable today

Why would the work of the 17th century philosopher Benedict de Spinoza concern us today? How can Spinoza shed any light on contemporary thought?
In this intriguing book, Moira Gatens and Genevieve Lloyd show us that in spite ofor rather because ofSpinozas apparent strangeness, his philosophy can be a rich resource for cultural self-understanding in the present.
Collective Imaginings draws on recent re-assessments of the philosophy of Spinoza to develop new ways of conceptualising issues of freedom and difference. We can apply these newly contextualised theories to contemporary issues such as environmental debates, issues of feminism, our conception of democracy, and the idea of the individual and the community.
This ground-breaking study will be invaluable reading to students and professors wishing to gain a fresh perspective on Spinozas thought.

This is the second volume in a new series of classic readings in philosophy and collects together the central texts in the history of moral philosophy thus representing many of the most important topics in the field. It will serve as an invaluable resource for students of all levels taking courses in ethics or moral theory.

The texts selected range from Plato to Stevenson, and include the classics of western moral philosophy such as Aristotle's remarks on man's proper "function," Kant's discussion of "the good will" and Nietzsche's notorious "genealogy" of our moral concepts. The volume also includes some classics from other traditions such as the debate between the two Confucians, Mencius and Hsun Tzu, and the early chapters from "The Bhagavad Gita."

The editor provides guidance to both the field and to each reading by including a substantial general introduction on the nature and history of philosophical ethics. There are also informative short introductions to the individual texts.

This user-friendly guide will help students of the 'Star' to be able to discuss at a basic level what, at least conceptually, Rosenzweig intended to say and how all that he says is interrelated.

The 13th century was a vibrant age for Sufism when myriad strands of Islamic mysticism flourished as exemplified by the speculative thought of Ibn Arabi and the poetic subtlety of Jabal al Din Rumi. Aziz Nasafi was also of this period of growth and diversity, and composed several major works that are distinctive in their clarity and simplicity, but also attracted little attention from scholars hitherto. Lloyd Ridgeon has redressed this imbalance with his new study which covers Nasafi and his legacy. Nasafi's works are of particular interest because they contain valuable descriptions of the different Islamic world views of the age. Dr Ridgeon has included substantial extracts from Aziz Nasafi's books to help illuminate this study of a figure in the pantheon of Sufi thinkers.

First published in 1998. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

An understanding of what we mean by the present is one of the key issues in literature, philosophy, and culture today, but also one of the most neglected and misunderstood. Present Hope develops a fascinating philosophical understanding of the present, approaching this question via discussions of the nature of historical time, the philosophy of history, memory, and the role of tragedy.
Andrew Benjamin shows how we misleadingly view the present as simply a product of chronological time, ignoring the role of history and memory. Accordingly, discussion of what is meant by the present disappears from philosophical concern. To draw attention to this absence, Andrew Benjamin introduces the notion of hope and asks what this concept can tell us about the present.
At the heart of the outstanding work is an emphasis on the relation between hope and the Jewish tradition. Through discussions of philosophical responses to the Holocaust, the work of Walter Benjamin, Daniel Libeskind's Jewish Museum, and the poetry of Paul Celan, Present Hope shows how we must look beyond the purely philosophical horizon to understand the present we live in.

A political figure, religious believer, educator and founder of three universities, Ma Xiangbo left a profound legacy in all of these areas of life and thought. This study of his life includes three lengthy essays as well as translations of nine important articles by Ma Xiangbo himself.

Jung's seminar on Kundalini Yoga, presented to the Psychology Club was an important event in the psychological understanding of Eastern thought and the symbolic transformations of inner experience. With sensitivity toward a new generation's interest in alternative religion and psychological exploration, Sonu Shamdasani has brought together the lectures and discussions from this seminar. In this volume, he re-creates for today's reader the fascination with which many intellectuals of pre-war Europe regarded Eastern spirituality as they discovered more and more of its resources, from yoga to tantric texts. In particular, Shamdasani guides his audience toward an appreciation of the questions that stirred the minds of Jung and his group: What is the relation between Eastern schools of liberation and Western psychotherapy? What connection is there between esoteric religious traditions and spontaneous individual experience? What light do the symbols of Kundalinia Yoga shed on conditions diagnosed as psychotic? In his introduction, Shamdasani reconstrcts the seminar through new documentation.

Graham Priest presents an original exploration of philosophical questions concerning the one and the many. He covers a wide range of issues in metaphysics-including unity, identity, grounding, mereology, universals, being, intentionality, and nothingness-and deploys the techniques of paraconsistent logic in order to offer a radically new treatment of unity. Priest brings together traditions of Western and Asian thought that are usually kept separate in academic philosophy: he draws on ideas from Plato, Heidegger, and Nagarjuna, among other philosophers.

Examines the role of God in medieval Islamic philosophy and theology in a new and exciting way. Renouncing the traditional chronological method of considering Islamic philosophy, Netton uses modern literary modes of criticism derived from structuralism, post-structuralism and semiotics.

Kendo is the modern version of Japanese swordsmanship, and transmits the ancient swordsman tradition and life-view. This practical work offers an insight into this ancient art and philosophy.

Violence and Messianism looks at how some of the figures of the so-called Renaissance of "Jewish" philosophy between the two world wars - Franz Rosenzweig, Walter Benjamin and Martin Buber - grappled with problems of violence, revolution and war. At once inheriting and breaking with the great historical figures of political philosophy such as Kant and Hegel, they also exerted considerable influence on the next generation of European philosophers, like Levinas, Derrida and others. This book aims to think through the great conflicts in the past century in the context of the theory of catastrophe and the beginning of new messianic time. Firstly, it is a book about means and ends - that is, about whether good ends can be achieved through bad means. Second, it is a book about time: peace time, war time, time it takes to transfer from war to peace, etc. Is a period of peace simply a time that excludes all violence? How long does it take to establish peace (to remove all violence)? Building on this, it then discusses whether there is anything that can be called messianic acting. Can we - are we capable of, or allowed to - act violently in order to hasten the arrival of the Messiah and peace? And would we then be in messianic time? Finally, how does this notion of messianism - a name for a sudden and unpredictable event - fit in, for example, with our contemporary understanding of terrorist violence? The book attempts to understand such pressing questions by reconstructing the notions of violence and messianism as they were elaborated by 20th century Jewish political thought. Providing an important contribution to the discussion on terrorism and the relationship between religion and violence, this book will appeal to theorists of terrorism and ethics of war, as well as students and scholars of Philosophy, Jewish studies and religion studies.