Philosophy and Rabbinic Culture is a study of the great, and curiously underappreciated, engagement of a Medieval European Jewish community with the philosophic tradition. This lucid description of the Languedocian Jewish community's multigenerational cultivation of - and acculturation to - scientific and philosophic teachings into Judaism fulfils a major desideratum in Jewish cultural history.

In the first detailed account of this long-forgotten Jewish community and its cultural ideal, the author gives an expansive reappraisal of the role of the philosophic interpretation in rabbinic culture and medieval Judaism. Looking at how the cultural ideal of Languedocian Jewry continued to develop and flourish throughout the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, with particular reference to the literary style and religious teaching of the great Talmudist, Menahem ha-Meiri, Stern explores issues such as MeiriOCOs theory of civilized religions, including Christianity and Islam, controversy over philosophy and philosophic allegory in Languedoc and Catalonia, and the cultural significance of the medical use of astrological images.

This book will be of great interest to scholars and students of Religion, of Judaism in particular, and of Philosophy, History and Medieval Europe, as well as those interested in Jewish-Christian relations."

This book explores the concepts of evil in the world-views of Plotinus and the Nso' people of Cameroon. The author analyzes the theories of the natural structure and social organization of these views of the world. He stresses the importance of comparing Plotinus and African philosophy. The book offers a proper appreciation of fundamental differences, parallels and similarities and seeks to build on shared values and common existential concerns in the world-views of Plotinus and the Nso'. This book highlights the assumption that the world understood in terms of its wider dimensions is not a purposeless conglomerate of phenomena and events that bear no relation to each other, but is rather a structured whole, defined by hierarchy and order.

Often considered the most admired human being of the twentieth century, Mahatma Gandhi was and remains controversial. Among the leading Gandhi scholars in the world, the authors of the timely studies in this volume present numerous ways in which Gandhi's thought and action-oriented approach are significant, relevant, and urgently needed for addressing the major problems and concerns of the twenty-first century. Such problems and concerns include issues of violence and nonviolence, war and peace, religion and religious conflict and dialogue, terrorism, ethics, civil disobedience, injustice, modernism and postmodernism, forms of oppression and exploitation, and environmental destruction. These creative, diverse studies offer a radical critique of the dominant characteristics and priorities of modern Western civilization and the contemporary world. They offer positive alternatives by using Gandhi, in creative and innovative ways, to focus on nonviolence, peace with justice, tolerance and mutual respect, compassion and loving kindness, cooperative relations and the realization of our interconnectedness and unity, meaningful action-oriented engagement of dialogue, resistance, and working for new sustainable ways of being human and creating new societies. This volume is appropriate for the general reader and the Gandhi specialist. It will be of interest for readers in philosophy, religion, political science, history, cultural studies, peace studies, and many other fields. Throughout this book, readers will experience a strong sense of the philosophical and practical urgency and significance of Gandhi's thought and action for the contemporary world.

Often considered the most admired human being of the twentieth century, Mahatma Gandhi was and remains controversial. Among the leading Gandhi scholars in the world, the authors of the timely studies in this volume present numerous ways in which Gandhi's thought and action-oriented approach are significant, relevant, and urgently needed for addressing the major problems and concerns of the twenty-first century. Such problems and concerns include issues of violence and nonviolence, war and peace, religion and religious conflict and dialogue, terrorism, ethics, civil disobedience, injustice, modernism and postmodernism, forms of oppression and exploitation, and environmental destruction. These creative, diverse studies offer a radical critique of the dominant characteristics and priorities of modern Western civilization and the contemporary world. They offer positive alternatives by using Gandhi, in creative and innovative ways, to focus on nonviolence, peace with justice, tolerance and mutual respect, compassion and loving kindness, cooperative relations and the realization of our interconnectedness and unity, meaningful action-oriented engagement of dialogue, resistance, and working for new sustainable ways of being human and creating new societies. This volume is appropriate for the general reader and the Gandhi specialist. It will be of interest for readers in philosophy, religion, political science, history, cultural studies, peace studies, and many other fields. Throughout this book, readers will experience a strong sense of the philosophical and practical urgency and significance of Gandhi's thought and action for the contemporary world.

Justice, Humanity and Social Toleration develops the concept of normative justice as setting human affairs right in accordance with the principles of human rights, human goods, and human bonds. Defending the ideas of global justice and modernity, Professor Xunwu Chen explores social toleration and democracy as embodiments of normative justice in our time. The approach of this text is groundbreaking. By giving equal emphasis to normative justice as distributive justice and corrective justice, Chen shifts the paradigm for a new view on global justice. The discourse on global justice is furthered by the context of Eastern-Western dialogues. This thoughtful and groundbreaking work is a stimulating work for professionals and both graduate and undergraduate students.

Justice, Humanity and Social Toleration develops the concept of normative justice as setting human affairs right in accordance with the principles of human rights, human goods, and human bonds. Defending the ideas of global justice and modernity, Professor Xunwu Chen explores social toleration and democracy as embodiments of normative justice in our time. The approach of this text is groundbreaking. By giving equal emphasis to normative justice as distributive justice and corrective justice, Chen shifts the paradigm for a new view on global justice. The discourse on global justice is furthered by the context of Eastern-Western dialogues. This thoughtful and groundbreaking work is a stimulating work for professionals and both graduate and undergraduate students.

Commonly translated as the "Jewish Enlightenment," the Haskalah propelled Jews into modern life. Olga Litvak argues that the idea of a Jewish modernity, championed by adherents of this movement, did not originate in Western Europe's age of reason. Litvak contends that the Haskalah spearheaded a Jewish cultural revival, better understood against the background of Eastern European Romanticism. Based on imaginative and historically grounded readings of primary sources, Litvak presents a compelling case for rethinking the most important concepts that currently inform the positioning of the Haskalah within the context of Jewish emancipation, nationalism, and secularization. Most importantly, she challenges the prevailing view that the Haskalah was the political and philosophical mainspring of Jewish liberalism. In Litvak's ambitious rereading, nineteenth-century Eastern European intellectuals emerge as the authors of a Jewish Romantic revolution. Fueled by unfulfilled longings for community, spiritual perfection, and historical authenticity, the poets and scholars associated with the Haskalah were ambivalent about the contemporary struggle for Jewish equality and the quest for material improvement. Their skepticism about the universal promise of Enlightenment continues to shape Jewish political and religious values.

The Classic of Way and her power: a Miscellany? is a study of the profound and influential philosophical writing from early China, traditionally attributed to Lao-zi, the first Daoist thinker. This study provides a translation of the work, but concentrates on analysis. It offers an interpretation of why the traditional work appears to lack order, suggesting that it began as a set of twenty-five philosophical poems by Lao-zi, tightly arranged according to an unusual and unmarked principle of order, and then was added to by later figures in the Daoist tradition who obscured the original order by inserting their passages here and there in the extant text according to a quite different principle of order. Some of these later contributions are in keeping with Lao-zi's thought and style, while others are at odds in form (prose) and content (shallow) with his poems and their profound insights. This study also offers a commentary by the author, a philosopher, who seeks especially to bring out Lao-zi's unique insights and to distinguish them from the thoughts being expressed by others in the remainder of the traditional work.

Environmental Ethics in Buddhism presents a logical and thorough examination of the metaphysical and ethical dimensions of early Buddhist literature. The author determines the meaning of nature in the early Buddhist context from general Buddhist teachings on dhamma, paticcasamuppada, samsara and the cosmogony of the Agganna Sutta. Consequently, the author shows that early Buddhism can be understood as an environmental virtue ethics. To illustrate this dimension, the Jatakas are used as a source. These are a collection of over five hundred folk tales, which also belong to early Buddhist literature. This work gives an innovative approach to the subject, which puts forward a distinctly Buddhist environmental ethics that is in harmony with traditional teachings as well as adaptable and flexible in addressing environmental problems.

In Luminous Emptiness, Yaroslav Komarovski offers an annotated translation of three seminal works on the nature and relationship of the Yogacara and Madhyamaka schools of Buddhist thought, by Serdok Penchen Shakya Chokden (1428-1507). There has never been consensus on the meaning of Madhyamaka and Yogacara, and for more than fifteen centuries the question of correct identification and interpretation of these systems has remained unsolved. Chokden proposes to accept Yogacara and Madhyamaka on their own terms as compatible systems, despite their considerable divergences and reciprocal critiques. His major objective is to bring Yogacara back from obscurity, present it in a positive light, and correct its misrepresentation by earlier thinkers. He thus serves as a major resource for scholarly research on the historical and philosophical development of Yogacara and Madhyamaka. Until recently, Shakya Chokden's works have been largely unavailable. Only in 1975 were his collected writings published in twenty-four volumes in Bhutan. Since then, his ingenious works on Buddhist history, philosophy, and logic have attracted increasing scholarly attention. Komarovski's research on Shakya Chokden's innovative writings-most of which are still available only in the original Tibetan-revises early misinterpretations by addressing some of the most complicated aspects of his thought. While focusing on his unique interpretation of Yogacara and Madhyamaka, the book also shows that his thought provides an invaluable base to challenge and expand our understanding of such topics as epistemology, contemplative practice, the relationship between intellectual study and meditative experience, and other key questions that occupy contemporary scholarship on Buddhism and religion in general.

This is a fresh, contemporary translation of Sun Tzu's The Art of War for the 21st century. As well as its historical importance, it is one of the most influential political and business books of our era. This edition rediscovers the essential clarity of the ancient masterpiece, cited by generals from a dozen Chinese dynasties, international business leaders, and modern military field manuals. It also contains a full commentary on Sun Tzu, the man and his ideas, contemporary of Confucius and Buddha; and a critical guide to further reading. This is the perfect introduction to one of the world's best-known classics. This beautiful Macmillan Collector's Library edition of The Art of War is translated and edited by author and scriptwriter Jonathan Clements. Designed to appeal to the book lover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure.

Buddhisms and Deconstructions considers the connection between Buddhism and Derridean deconstruction, focusing on the work of Robert Magliola. Fourteen distinguished contributors discuss deconstruction and various Buddhisms - Indian, Tibetan, and Chinese (Chan) - followed by an afterword in which Magliola responds directly to his critics.

Buddhisms and Deconstructions considers the connection between Buddhism and Derridean deconstruction, focusing on the work of Robert Magliola. Fourteen distinguished contributors discuss deconstruction and various Buddhisms - Indian, Tibetan, and Chinese (Chan) - followed by an afterword in which Magliola responds directly to his critics.

This book provides exciting and significant inquiries into the cultivation of self in East Asian philosophy of education. The contributors to this volume are from different countries or areas in the world, but all share the same interest in exploring what it means to be human and how to cultivate the self. In this book, self-cultivation in classical Chinese philosophies-including Confucianism, neo-Confucianism, and Daoism-is scrutinised and elaborated upon, in order to reveal the significance of ancient wisdom for today's educational issues, and to show the meaningful connections between Eastern and Western educational thoughts. By addressing many issues of contemporary importance including environmental education, equity and justice, critical rationalism, groundlessness of language, and power and governance, this book offers fresh views of self-cultivation illuminated not merely by East Asian philosophy of education but also by Western insights. For those who are interested in comparative philosophies, intercultural education, and cultural study, this book is both thought-provoking and inspirational. The chapters in this book were originally published in the Educational Philosophy and Theory journal.

Xiang explains the nature and depth of the legitimacy crisis facing the government of China, and why it is so frequently misunderstood in the West. Arguing that it is more helpful to understand the quest for legitimacy in China as an eternally dynamic process, rather than to seek resolutions in constitutionalism, Xiang examines the understanding of legitimacy in Chinese political philosophy. He posits that the current crisis is a consequence of the incompatibility of Confucian Republicanism and Soviet-inspired Bolshevism. The discourse on Chinese political reform tends to polarize, between total westernization on the one hand, or the rejection of western influence in all forms on the other. Xiang points to a third solution - meeting western democratic theories halfway, avoiding another round of violent revolution. This book provides valuable insights for scholars and students of China's politics and political history.

What makes Jewish thought Jewish? This book proceeds from a view of the Hebrew language as the holy tongue; such a view of Hebrew is, indeed, a distinctively Jewish view as determined by the Jewish religious tradition. Because language shapes thought and Hebrew is the foundational language of Jewish texts, this book explores the idea that Jewish thought is distinguished by concepts and categories rooted in Hebrew. Drawing on more than 300 Hebrew roots, the author shows that Jewish thought employs Hebrew concepts and categories that are altogether distinct from those that characterize the Western speculative tradition. Among the key categories that shape Jewish thought are holiness, divinity, humanity, prayer, responsibility, exile, dwelling, gratitude, and language itself. While the Hebrew language is central to the investigation, the reader need not have a knowledge of Hebrew in order to follow it. Essential reading for students and scholars of Judaism, this book will also be of value to anyone interested in the categories of thinking that form humanity's ultimate concerns.

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.

Reissuing works originally published between 1927 and 1992, this collection offers excellent scholarship on Spinoza, Hobbes, Locke, Leibniz and other philosophers, covering a wide array of subjects. Political theory, ethics and education are all represented in these volumes, with one book particularly focusing on the Soviet interpretation of Spinoza's thought. The last two texts are translations of Spinoza's correspondence and his oldest biography. This is a comprehensive collection for a philosophy library.

In Mysticism and Morality author Richard Jones explores an often neglected question of religious ethics: Is mysticism moral? Through a discussion of several religious traditions including Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Tantrism, Daoism, and Christianity Jones fills a major void in the scholarly literature by considering all relevant points pertaining to mysticism. Rather than looking at mysticism abstractly, the book focuses on such topics as ritual, practice, and the processes of mystical becoming. This work provides new perspectives for those interested in ethics and will prove essential to anyone interested in comparative philosophy and cross-cultural studies of religion."

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.

Ethical Questions: East and West is an anthology of source material from various Eastern and Western traditions, addressing fundamental and enduring questions in moral philosophy. It is intended for use in undergraduate level comparative ethics courses. Each section begins with an introductory essay in which the leading ethical questions and their responses from different traditions are presented in overview. Sections are centered around ethical questions such as, Who Am I? What Ought I to Do? What Kind of Person Ought I to Be? Questions of religion and morality, freedom, and the just society are also included. Ancient and modern sources are examined, ranging from the Buddha, Aristotle, and Upanishads to Kant, Simone de Beauvoir, and Alasdair MacIntyre. Ethical Questions provides a comprehensive, comparative introduction to key ethical concepts, stressing the importance of diverse traditions in the global community, and encouraging understanding between and among traditions.

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.

Oral Traditions as Philosophy is a study of the Ugandan poet and cultural critic Okot p'Bitek. In his poems and critical essays, Okot engages with the oral traditions of his people the songs, dances, funeral dirges, and so forth seeing them as manifestations of the people's philosophy of life. Imbo's book makes explicit the philosophical questions raised in Okot's work and places them within the wider picture of contemporary African philosophy."