|
Books > Humanities > Philosophy > Western philosophy > Modern Western philosophy, c 1600 to the present > General
A founding figure of German idealism, Johann Gottlieb Fichte
(1762-1814) developed a radically new version of transcendental
idealism. The Bloomsbury Handbook of Fichte follows his
intellectual life and presents a comprehensive overview of Fichte's
dynamic philosophy, from his engagement with Kant to his rigorously
systematic and nuanced Wissenschaftslehre and beyond. Covering a
variety of topics and issues in epistemology, ontology, moral and
political philosophy, as well as philosophy of right and philosophy
of religion, an international team of experts on Fichte explores
his important contributions to philosophy. Arranged
chronologically, their chapters map Fichte's intellectual and
philosophical development and the progression of his thought,
identifying what motivated his philosophical inquiry and revealing
why his ideas continue to shape discussions today. Alongside
wide-ranging chapters advancing new insights into Fichte, there are
topical discussions of conceptions and issues central to his
philosophy. Featuring a chronology of Fichte's life, as well as a
timeline of his publications and lectures, this is an invaluable
research resource for all Fichte scholars and a reliable guide for
anyone undertaking a study of Fichte and German idealism.
Marian Hobson's work has made a seminal contribution to our
understanding of the European Enlightenment, and of Diderot and
Rousseau in particular. This book presents her most important
articles in a single volume, translated into English for the first
time. Hobson's distinctive approach is to take a given text or
problematique and position it within its intellectual, historical
and polemical context. From close analysis of the underlying
conceptual structures of literary texts, she offers a unique
insight into the vibrant networks of people and ideas at work
throughout Europe, and across disciplinary boundaries as diverse as
literature and mathematics, medicine and music. In their
translations of Hobson's essays, Kate Tunstall and Caroline Warman
present the primary sources in both the original eighteenth-century
French and modern English, making the detail of these debates
accessible to everyone, from the specialist to the student,
whatever their academic discipline or interest.
The Grundrisse is widely regarded as one of Marx's most important
texts, with many commentators claiming it is the centrepiece of his
entire oeuvre. It is also, however, a notoriously difficult text to
understand and interpret. In this - the first guide and
introduction to reading the Grundrisse - Simon Choat helps us to
make sense of a text that is both a first draft of Capital and a
major work in its own right. As well as offering a detailed
commentary on the entire text, this guide explains the Grundrisse's
central themes and arguments and highlights its impact and
influence. The Grundrisse's discussions of money, labour, nature,
freedom, the role of machinery, and the development and dynamics of
capitalism have influenced generations of thinkers, from
Anglo-American historians such as Eric Hobsbawm and Robert Brenner
to Continental philosophers like Antonio Negri and Gilles Deleuze,
as well as offering vital insights into Marx's methodology and the
trajectory of his thought. Contemporary examples are used
throughout this guide both to illuminate Marx's terminology and
concepts and to illustrate the continuing relevance of the
Grundrisse. Readers will be offered guidance on: -Philosophical and
Historical Context -Key Themes -Reading the Text -Reception and
Influence
Why were Chinese and Indian ways of thinking excluded from European
philosophy in early modern times? This is a study of what happened
to the European understanding of China and India between the late
16th century and the first half of the 18th century. Investigating
the description of these two Asian civilizations during a century
and a half of histories of philosophy, this book accounts for the
change of historiographical paradigms, from Neoplatonic philosophia
perennis and Spinozistic atheism to German Eclecticism. Uncovering
the reasons for inserting or excluding Chinese and Indian ways of
thinking within the field of Philosophy in early modern times, it
reveals the origin of the Eurocentric understanding of Philosophy
as a Greek-European prerogative. By highlighting how this narrowing
and exclusion of non-Western ways of thought was a result of
conviction of superiority and religious prejudice, this book
provides a new way of thinking about the place of Asian traditions
among World philosophies.
Hegel's Philosophy of Right has long been recognized as the only
systematic alternative to the dominant social contract tradition in
modern political philosophy. Dean Moyar here takes on the difficult
task of reading and representing Hegel's view of justice with the
same kind of intuitive appeal that has made social contract theory,
with its voluntary consent and assignment of rights and privileges,
such an attractive model. Moyar argues that Hegelian justice
depends on a proper understanding of Hegel's theory of value and on
the model of life through which the overall conception of value,
the Good, is operationalized. Closely examining key episodes in
Phenomenology of Spirit and the entire Philosophy of Right, Moyar
shows how Hegel develops his account of justice through an
inferentialist method whereby the content of right unfolds into
increasingly thick normative structures. He asserts that the theory
of value that Hegel develops in tandem with the account of right
relies on a productive unity of self-consciousness and life, of
pure thinking and the natural drives. Moyar argues that Hegel's
expressive account of the free will enables him to theorize rights
not simply as abstract claims, but rather as realizations of value
in social contexts of mutual recognition. Moyar shows that Hegel's
account of justice is a living system of institutions centered on a
close relation of the economic and political spheres and on an
understanding of the law as developing through practices of public
reason. Moyar defends Hegel's metaphysics of the State as an
account of the sovereignty of the Good, and he shows why Hegel
thought that philosophy needs to offer an account of world history
and reformed religion to buttress the modern social order.
This reader makes the key essays of 19th century French philosopher
Felix Ravaisson available in English for the first time. In recent
years, Ravaisson has emerged as an extremely important and
influential figure in the history of modern European philosophy.
The volume contains the classic 1838 dissertation Of Habit, studies
of Pascal, Stoicism and the wider history of philosophy together
with the Philosophical Testament that he left unfinished when he
died in 1900. The volume also features Ravaisson's work in
archaeology, the history of religions and art-theory, and his essay
on the Venus de Milo, which occupied him over a period of twenty
years after he noticed, when hiding the statue behind a false wall
in a dingy Parisian basement during the Franco-Prussian war, that
it had previously been presented in a way that deformed its
original bearing and meaning. Felix Ravaisson: Selected Essays
contains an introductory intellectual biography of Ravaisson, which
contextualises each of the essays in the volume. It also features
an annotated bibliography of suggested further reading. This book
will grant scholars and students alike wider access to his
distinctive contribution to the history of philosophy.
The History and Philosophy of Science: A Reader brings together
seminal texts from antiquity to the end of the nineteenth century
and makes them accessible in one volume for the first time. With
readings from Aristotle, Aquinas, Copernicus, Galileo, Descartes,
Newton, Lavoisier, Linnaeus, Darwin, Faraday, and Maxwell, it
analyses and discusses major classical, medieval and modern texts
and figures from the natural sciences. Grouped by topic to clarify
the development of methods and disciplines and the unification of
theories, each section includes an introduction, suggestions for
further reading and end-of-section discussion questions, allowing
students to develop the skills needed to: read, interpret, and
critically engage with central problems and ideas from the history
and philosophy of science understand and evaluate scientific
material found in a wide variety of professional and popular
settings appreciate the social and cultural context in which
scientific ideas emerge identify the roles that mathematics plays
in scientific inquiry Featuring primary sources in all the core
scientific fields - astronomy, physics, chemistry, and the life
sciences - The History and Philosophy of Science: A Reader is ideal
for students looking to better understand the origins of natural
science and the questions asked throughout its history. By taking a
thematic approach to introduce influential assumptions, methods and
answers, this reader illustrates the implications of an impressive
range of values and ideas across the history and philosophy of
Western science.
In Nietzsche's Search for Philosophy: On the Middle Writings Keith
Ansell-Pearson makes a novel and thought-provoking contribution to
our appreciation of Nietzsche's neglected middle writings. These
are the texts Human, All Too Human (1878-80), Dawn (1881), and The
Gay Science (1882). There is a truth in the observation of Havelock
Ellis that the works Nietzsche produced between 1878 and 1882
represent the maturity of his genius. In this study he explores key
aspects of Nietzsche's philosophical activity in his middle
writings, including his conceptions of philosophy, his commitment
to various enlightenments, his critique of fanaticism, his search
for the heroic-idyllic, his philosophy of modesty and his
conception of ethics, and his search for joy and happiness. The
book will appeal to readers across philosophy and the humanities,
especially to those with an interest in Nietzsche and anyone who
has a concern with the fate of philosophy in the modern world.
The concept of resistance has always been central to the reception
of Hegel's philosophy. The prevalent image of Hegel's system, which
continues to influence the scholarship to this day, is that of an
absolutist, monist metaphysics which overcomes all resistance,
sublating or assimilating all differences into a single organic
'Whole'. For that reason, the reception of Hegel has always been
marked by the question of how to resist Hegel: how to think that
which remains outside of or other to the totalizing system of
dialectics. In recent years the work of scholars such as Catherine
Malabou, Slavoj Zizek, Rebecca Comay and Frank Ruda has brought
considerable nuance to this debate. A new reading of Hegel has
emerged which challenges the idea that there is no place for
difference, otherness or resistance in Hegel, both by refusing to
reduce Hegel's complex philosophy to a straightforward systematic
narrative and by highlighting particular moments within Hegel's
philosophy which seem to counteract the traditional understanding
of dialectics. This book brings together established and new voices
in this field in order to show that the notion of resistance is
central to this revaluation of Hegel.
 |
Walking
(Hardcover)
Henry David Thoreau
|
R699
Discovery Miles 6 990
|
Ships in 10 - 15 working days
|
|
Maine de Biran's work has had an enormous influence on the
development of French Philosophy - Henri Bergson called him the
greatest French metaphysician since Descartes and Malebranche,
Jules Lachelier referred to him as the French Kant, and
Royer-Collard called him simply 'the master of us all' - and yet
the philosopher and his work remain unknown to many English
speaking readers. From Ravaisson and Bergson, through to the
phenomenology of major figures such as Maurice Merleau-Ponty,
Michel Henry, and Paul Ricoeur, Biran's influence is evident and
acknowledged as a major contribution. The notion of corps propre,
so important to phenomenology in the twentieth century, originates
in his thought. His work also had a huge impact on the distinction
between the virtual and the actual as well as the concepts of
effort and puissance, enormously important to the development of
Deleuze's and Foucault's work. This volume, the first English
translation of Maine de Biran in nearly a century, introduces
Anglophone readers to the work of this seminal thinker. The
Relationship Between the Physical and the Moral in Man is an
expression of Biran's mature 'spiritualism' and philosophy of the
will as well as perhaps the clearest articulation of his
understanding of what would later come to be called the mind-body
problem. In this text Biran sets out forcefully his case for the
autonomy of mental or spiritual life against the reductive
explanatory power of the physicalist natural sciences. The
translation is accompanied by critical essays from experts in
France and the United Kingdom, situating Biran's work and its
reception in its proper historical and intellectual context.
George Berkeley's Principles of Human Knowledge is a crucial text
in the history of empiricism and in the history of philosophy more
generally. Its central and seemingly astonishing claim is that the
physical world cannot exist independently of the perceiving mind.
The meaning of this claim, the powerful arguments in its favour,
and the system in which it is embedded, are explained in a highly
lucid and readable fashion and placed in their historical context.
Berkeley's philosophy is, in part, a response to the deep tensions
and problems in the new philosophy of the early modern period and
the reader is offered an account of this intellectual milieu. The
book then follows the order and substance of the Principles whilst
drawing on materials from Berkeley's other writings. This volume is
the ideal introduction to Berkeley's Principles and will be of
great interest to historians of philosophy in general.
This is the classic book by Nietzsche in hardcover format.
This is a new introduction to Kant, guiding the student through the
key concepts of his work by examining the overall development of
his ideas. Immanuel Kant is arguably the most important and
influential thinker in the whole history of philosophy. Covering
all the key concepts of his work, "Starting with Kant" provides an
accessible introduction to the ideas of this hugely significant
thinker. Thematically structured, the book leads the reader through
a thorough overview of the development of Kant's mature thought,
resulting in a wide-ranging understanding of his philosophical
concerns. Offering coverage of the full range of Kant's ideas, the
book explores his so-called Copernican Revolution, the basic
framework of his metaphysical outlook, and sets out its
implications for his theory of knowledge, moral philosophy and
theory of beauty and design. Crucially the book situates Kant in
relation to other philosophers of his period, and it shows how a
number of his seminal ideas can be clearly understood through an
appreciation of their opposing views. This is the ideal
introduction for anyone coming to the work of this hugely important
thinker for the first time. "Continuum's Starting with..." series
offers clear, concise and accessible introductions to the key
thinkers in philosophy. The books explore and illuminate the roots
of each philosopher's work and ideas, leading readers to a thorough
understanding of the key influences and philosophical foundations
from which his or her thought developed. Ideal for first-year
students starting out in philosophy, the series will serve as the
ideal companion to study of this fascinating subject.
The Hegel Dictionary is a comprehensive and accessible guide to the
world of G.W.F. Hegel, one of the most important and influential
thinkers in the history of philosophy. Meticulously researched and
extensively cross-referenced, this unique book provides a firm
grounding in the central themes of Hegel's thought. Students will
discover a wealth of useful information and analysis. A-Z entries
include clear definitions of key terms used in Hegel's writings and
detailed synopses of his major works. The Dictionary also includes
entries on Hegel's philosophical influences, such as Kant, Fichte,
and Schelling, and those he influenced, including Marx. It covers
everything that is essential to a sound understanding of Hegel's
philosophy, offering clear and accessible explanations of often
complex terminology. The Hegel Dictionary is the ideal resource for
anyone reading or studying Hegel or Modern European Philosophy more
generally.
Excursions with Thoreau is a major new exploration of Thoreau's
writing and thought that is philosophical yet sensitive to the
literary and religious. Edward F. Mooney's excursions through
passages from Walden, Cape Cod, and his late essay "Walking" reveal
Thoreau as a miraculous writer, artist, and religious adept. Of
course Thoreau remains the familiar political activist and
environmental philosopher, but in these fifteen excursions we
discover new terrain. Among the notable themes that emerge are
Thoreau's grappling with underlying affliction; his pursuit of
wonder as ameliorating affliction; his use of the enigmatic image
of "a child of the mist"; his exalting "sympathy with intelligence"
over plain knowledge; and his preferring "befitting reverie"-not
argument-as the way to be carried to better, cleaner perceptions of
reality. Mooney's aim is bring alive Thoreau's moments of reverie
and insight, and to frame his philosophy as poetic and episodic
rather than discursive and systematic.
George Berkeley was an idealist and an extraordinarily eloquent man
of letters. Yet his views are traditionally regarded as wild and
extravagant. He is well known for his departure from common sense,
yet perversely represents himself as siding with 'the common folk',
presenting a complex challenge for students. Berkeley A Guide for
the Perplexed is a clear and thorough account of Berkeley's
philosophy. The book covers the whole range of Berkeley's
philosophical work, offering an accessible review of his views on
philosophy and common sense and the nature of philosophical
perplexity, together with an examination of his two major
philosophical works, The Principles of Human Knowledge and Three
Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous. Geared towards the specific
requirements of students who need to reach a sound understanding of
Berkeley's thought, the book provides a cogent and reliable survey
of the various concepts and paradoxes of his thought. This is the
ideal companion to the study of this most influential and
challenging of philosophers.
Continuum's "Guides for the Perplexed" are clear, concise and
accessible introductions to thinkers, writers and subjects that
students and readers can find especially challenging. Concentrating
specifically on what it is that makes the subject difficult to
fathom, these books explain and explore key themes and ideas,
guiding the reader towards a thorough understanding of demanding
material. Benedict de Spinoza is a major philosopher of enduring
influence and importance, whose work is encountered by all serious
students of Western philosophy; his "Ethics" is one of the seminal
works of moral, religious and political thought. Nevertheless,
Spinoza is a considerable challenge for the modern student; his
language, rooted in the vocabulary of late medieval scholasticism
is frequently opaque, while the esoteric themes explored in his
work often require elucidation. "Spinoza: A Guide for the
Perplexed" provides that elucidation, offering a thorough account
and analysis of Spinoza's key works and overall philosophical
project. The text equips the reader with the necessary means to
draw full and clear understanding from Spinoza's often inaccessible
language and complex philosophical system and method. His "Ethics"
and political treatises are covered in detail; Spinoza's
'geometrical' approach to his subject is opened up, and his obscure
terminology fully explained. The book concludes with a valuable
assessment of Spinoza's enduring influence and his relevance for
contemporary philosophical debates and concerns. It is an excellent
support resource for anyone trying to get to grips with this
challenging and important philosopher.
This book provides a concise and coherent overview of Jeremy
Bentham, the widely read and studied political philosopher - ideal
for undergraduates who require more than just a simple introduction
to his work and thought. Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), utilitarian
philosopher and reformer, is a key figure in our intellectual
heritage, and a far more subtle, sophisticated, and profound
thinker than his popular reputation suggests. "Bentham: A Guide for
the Perplexed" presents a clear account of his life and thought,
and highlights his relevance to contemporary debates in philosophy,
politics, and law. Key concepts and themes, including Bentham's
theory of logic and language, his utilitarianism, his legal theory,
his panopticon prison, and his democratic politics, together with
his views on religion, sex, and torture, are lucidly explored. The
book also contains an illuminating discussion of the nature of the
text from the perspective of an experienced textual editor.The book
will not only prove exceptionally valuable to students who need to
reach a sound understanding of Bentham's ideas, serving as a clear
and concise introduction to his philosophy, but also form an
original contribution to Bentham studies more generally. It is the
ideal companion for the study of this most influential and
challenging of thinkers. "Continuum's Guides for the Perplexed" are
clear, concise and accessible introductions to thinkers, writers
and subjects that students and readers can find especially
challenging - or indeed downright bewildering. Concentrating
specifically on what it is that makes the subject difficult to
grasp, these books explain and explore key themes and ideas,
guiding the reader towards a thorough understanding of demanding
material.
This is volume 16 in the "Major Conservative and Libertarian
Thinkers" series. The Scottish philosopher Adam Smith (1723-1790)
was as a pioneer of political economy. In fact, his economic
thought became the foundation of classical economics and his key
work, "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of
Nations", is considered to be the first modern work in economics.
For Smith, a free competition environment was the best way to
foster economic development that would work in accordance with
natural laws. The framework he set up to explain the free market
remains true to this day. "Major Conservative and Libertarian
Thinkers" provides comprehensive accounts of the works of seminal
conservative thinkers from a variety of periods, disciplines, and
traditions - the first series of its kind. Even the selection of
thinkers adds another aspect to conservative thinking, including
not only theorists but also writers and practitioners. The series
comprises twenty volumes, each including an intellectual biography,
historical context, critical exposition of the thinker's work,
reception and influence, contemporary relevance, bibliography
including references to electronic resources, and an index.
|
|