This original reassessment of Descartes' work reinserts it in its contemporary ethical and theological context. Davies explores the notion of intellectual virtue in the context of Descartes' overall inquiry and argues for a new approach to Descartes' ideas of scepticism and the sciences. The book also offers fresh interpretations of key passages of the Meditations.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203420632

This book highlights Kant's fundamental contrast between the mechanistic and dynamical conceptions of matter, which is central to his views about the foundations of physics, and is best understood in terms of the contrast between objects of sensibility and things in themselves.

Addresses the nature of the influence of the European Enlightenment on the beliefs and practice of the Protestant missionaries who went to Asia and Africa from the mid-eighteenth century onwards, particularly British missions and the formative role of the Scottish Enlightenment on their thinking.

The arguments advanced in the second chapter of On Liberty (1859) have become the touchstone for practically every discussion of freedom of speech, yet the broader development of John Stuart Mill's ideas concerning intellectual liberty has generally been neglected. This work attempts to fill that lacuna by looking beyond On Liberty, in order to understand the evolution of Mill's ideas concerning freedom of thought and discussion.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203164873

This book is a systematic and historical exploration of the philosophical significance of grammar. In the first half of the twentieth century, and in particular in the writings of Frege, Husserl, Russell, Carnap and Wittgenstein, there was sustained philosophical reflection on the nature of grammar, and on the relevance of grammar to metaphysics, logic and science.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203208501

The Oxford Handbook of Descartes and Cartesianism comprises fifty specially written chapters on Rene Descartes (1596-1650) and Cartesianism, the dominant paradigm for philosophy and science in the seventeenth century, written by an international group of leading scholars of early modern philosophy. The first part focuses on the various aspects of Descartes's biography (including his background, intellectual contexts, writings, and correspondence) and philosophy, with chapters on his epistemology, method, metaphysics, physics, mathematics, moral philosophy, political thought, medical thought, and aesthetics. The chapters of the second part are devoted to the defense, development and modification of Descartes's ideas by later generations of Cartesian philosophers in France, the Netherlands, Italy, and elsewhere. The third and final part considers the opposition to Cartesian philosophy by other philosophers, as well as by civil, ecclesiastic, and academic authorities. This handbook provides an extensive overview of Cartesianism - its doctrines, its legacies and its fortunes - in the period based on the latest research.

George Berkeley is one of the most prominent philosophers of the eighteenth century. His Principles of Human Knowledge has become a focal point in the understanding of empiricist thought and the development of eighteenth century philosophy.
This volume introduces and assesses:
* Berkeley's life and the background to the Principles
* The ideas and text in the Principles
* Berkeley's continuing importance to philosophy.


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George Berkeley is one of the most prominent philosophers of the eighteenth century. His Principles of Human Knowledge has become a focal point in the understanding of empiricist thought and the development of eighteenth century philosophy.
This volume introduces and assesses:
* Berkeley's life and the background to the Principles
* The ideas and text in the Principles
* Berkeley's continuing importance to philosophy.

David Hume was the most important British philosopher of the eighteenth century. His Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion is a classic text in the philosophy of religion.
Hume on Religion introduces and asseses:
*Hume's life and the background to the Dialogues *the ideas and text of Dialogues *Hume's continuing importance to philosophy.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203182057

George Berkeley (1685-1753) was a university teacher, a missionary, and later a Church of Ireland bishop. The over-riding objective of his long philosophical career was to counteract objections to religious belief that resulted from new philosophies associated with the Scientific Revolution. Accordingly, he argued against scepticism and atheism in the Principles and the Three Dialogues; he rejected theories of force in the Essay on Motion; he offered a new theory of meaning for religious language in Alciphron; and he modified his earlier immaterialism in Siris by speculating about the body's influence on the soul. His radical empiricism and scientific instrumentalism, which rejected the claims of the sciences to provide a realistic interpretation of phenomena, are still influential today. This edition provides texts from the full range of Berkeley's contributions to philosophy, together with an introduction by Desmond M. Clarke that sets them in their historical and philosophical contexts.

Series Information:
Studies in Ethics

Dismissing the notion that the two camps are ideologically opposed and thus incompatible, these essays demonstrate an exciting new scholarship that confidently mixes the empiricism of Enlightenment thought with a strong postmodernist scepticism, painting a subtler and richer historical canvas.

While Nietzsche's works and ideas are relevant across the many branches of philosophy, the themes of contest and conflict have been mostly overlooked. Conflict and Contest in Nietzsche's Philosophy redresses this situation, arguing for the importance of these issues throughout Nietzsche's work. The volume has three key lines of inquiry: Nietzsche's ontology of conflict; Nietzsche's conception of the agon; and Nietzsche's warrior-philosophy. Under these three umbrellas is a collection of insightful and provocative essays considering, among other topics, Nietzsche's understanding of resistance; his engagement with classical thinkers alongside his contemporaries, including Jacob Burckhardt; his views on language, metaphor and aphorism; and war, revolt and terror. In bringing together such topics, Conflict and Contest in Nietzsche's Philosophy seeks to correct the one-sided tendencies within the existing literature to read simply 'hard' and 'soft' analyses of conflict. Written by scholars across the Anglophone and the European traditions, within and beyond philosophy, this collection emphasises the entire problematic of conflict in Nietzsche's thought and its relation to his philosophical and literary practice.

Contents:
Introduction
Mechanics and Cosmology
1. Descartes and the natural philosophy of the Coimbra commentaries Dennis Des Chene
2. Descartes' debt to Beeckman: inspiration, cooperation, conflict Klaas Van Berkel
3. The foundational role of hydrostatics and statics in Descartes' natural philosophy Stephen Gaukroger
4. Force, determination and impact Peter MaLaughlin
5. A different Descartes: Descartes' programme for a mathematical physics in his correspondence Daniel Garber
6. Casual powers and occasionalism from Descartes to Malebranche Desmond Clarje
7. Modelling nature: Descartes versus Reigus Theo Verbeek
8. The influence of Cartesian cosmology in England Peter Harrison
Method, Optics, and the Role of Experiment
9. NeoAristotle and method: between Zabarella and Descartes Timothy Reiss
10. Figuring things out: figurate problem-solving in the early Descartes Dennis Sepper
11. The theory of the rainbow Jean-Robert Armogathe
12. Descartes' opticien: the construction of the law of refraction and the manufacture of its physical rationales, 1618-1629 John A. Schuster
13. A 'science for honnêteshommes': La Recherche de la Vérité and the deconstruction of experimental knowledge Alberto Guillermo Ranea
14. Descartes, experiments, and a first generation Cartesian, Jacques Rohault Trevor McLaughlin
15. Cartesian physiology Annie Bitbol-Hesperies
16. The resources of a mechanist physiology and the problem of goal-directed processes Stephen Gaukroger
17. Bêtes machines Katherine Morris
18. Descartes' cardiology and its reception in English physiology Peter Anstey
Imagination and Representation
19. Descartes' theory of imagination and perspectival art Betsy Newell Decyk
20. From sparks of truth to the glow of possibility Peter Schouls
21. Descartes' theory of visual spatial perception Celia Wolf-Devine
22. Symposium on Descartes on perceptual cognition. Introduction John Sutton
Descartes and Formal Signs David Behan
Descartes' startling doctrine of the reverse sign relation Peter Slezak
Bibliography

Contents:
Preface Acknowledgments 1. Technology and Aggregate Demand in J. S. Mill's Economic System 2. The Role of Fixed Technical Coefficients in the Evolution of the Wages-Fund Controversy 3. Ricardianism, J. S, Mill and the Neo-Classical Challenge 4. On John Stuart Mill's Defence of Ricardian Economics 5. William Whewell and John Stuart Mill on the Methodology of Political Economy 6. `Dynamic Equilibrium' with Constant Wages: J. S. Mill's Malthusian Analysis of the Secular Wage Path 7. J .S. Mill on `Derived Demand' and the Wage-Fund Theory Recantation 8. Exogenous Factors and Classical Economics 9. The Relevance of John Stuart Mill; Some Implications for Modern Economics 10. John Stuart Mill as Economic Theorist 11. Commentary on `John Stuart Mill Interpretation Since Schumpeter' 12. John Stuart Mill's Methods in Principle and Practice: A Review of the Evidence (with Sandra Peart) 13. On J. S. Mill's Defence of Ricardo's Proportionality Theorum: A Longfield Connection?

Offers a reading of some of the lesser known and less lucid aspects of Kantian thought. Diane Morgan focuses her investigation on a reappraisal of Kant's writings on architecture, monarchy and faith in progress. Throughout her study Morgan challenges the widely held view of Kant as the exponent of concrete and rigid rationality and argues that his airtight "architectonic" mode of reasoning, which Kant identified in "The Critique of Pure Reason", overlooks certain topics which destabilize it. Themes such as temporary forms of architecture, like landscape gardening; examples which undermine the autonomy of the Kantian subject, for example freemasonry; and the concept of radical evil suggest that Kant's thought was capable of accommodating troubling and subversive themes. Morgan's discussion arrives at a perspective on Kant whereby he is no longer to be regarded as a concrete rationalist but as a daring thinker, not afraid to entertain ideas highly threatening to his own system and to the humanistic legacy of the Enlightenment.

Offers a reading of some of the lesser known and less lucid aspects of Kantian thought. Diane Morgan focuses her investigation on a reappraisal of Kant's writings on architecture, monarchy and faith in progress. Throughout her study Morgan challenges the widely held view of Kant as the exponent of concrete and rigid rationality and argues that his airtight "architectonic" mode of reasoning, which Kant identified in "The Critique of Pure Reason", overlooks certain topics which destabilize it. Themes such as temporary forms of architecture, like landscape gardening; examples which undermine the autonomy of the Kantian subject, for example freemasonry; and the concept of radical evil suggest that Kant's thought was capable of accommodating troubling and subversive themes. Morgan's discussion arrives at a perspective on Kant whereby he is no longer to be regarded as a concrete rationalist but as a daring thinker, not afraid to entertain ideas highly threatening to his own system and to the humanistic legacy of the Enlightenment.

In this work, Sullivan analyzes the relationship between faith and reason in Kierkegaard's philosophy. Kierkegaard is widely considered to be an irrationalist. Sullivan argues that he views faith as reasonable in a distinct way that must be uncovered. In some of his pseudonymous works, Kierkegaard speaks of the movement of faith as paradoxical and absurd. There is evidence from his non-pseudonymous works that Kierkgaard does not consider faith irrational. He denigrates reason only in that he wishes to impress upon nominal Christians (who look upon faith only as a body of doctrine) that more and more understanding of the tenets of faith can never yield logical certainty. The doctrines of faith can be argued pro and contra. For Kierkgaard, faith in this context is illogical, but not irrational. In his religious works, Kierkgaard's notion of reason is inextricably tied in with that of his recalcitrance of the will. Reason (logic and speculative thought) attests to its own limits in regard to doctrinal faith, but it also can point to that which is a reasonable step, even when logic alone is of no avail. For Kierkgaard, subjectivity is a necessary - but not sufficient - condition of religious faith. In actuality, Kierkgaard is not presenting an epistemological theory at all, but through his pseudonymous authors' emphasis upon subjectivity he hopes that nominal Christians will begin to experience the need for Christ. Kierkgaard believes that only if inauthentic Christians realize that the religious option cannot be decided by logical inquiry into the doctrines of faith, and then experience their own inauthenticity and the futility of any unaided willful efforts to remedy it, will the act of faith in Christ as a viable alternative appear as reasonable.

The history of politics can be represented as a series of demands for change followed in each case by a call for order and vice versa. Although a simplification, this pattern is reflected in political philosophy which helps both to record and, on occasion, to accelerate these alternate demands for liberty and authority.

Paulin J. Hountondji is one of the most important and controversial figures in contemporary African philosophy. His critique of ethnophilosophy as a colonial, exoticising and racialized undertaking provoked contentious debates among African intellectuals on the proper methods and scope of philosophy and science in an African and global context since the 1970s. His radical pledge for scientific autonomy from the global system of knowledge production made him turn to endogenous forms of practising science in academia. The horizon of his philosophy is the quest for critical universality from a historical, and situated perspective. Finally, his call for a notion of culture that is antithetical to political movements focused on a single identitarian doctrine or exclusionary norms shows how timely his political thought remains to this day. This book gives a comprehensive overview of Hountondji's philosophical arguments and provides detailed information on the historical and political background of his intellectual oeuvre. It situates Hountondji in the dialogue with his African colleagues and explores links to current debates in philosophy, cultural studies, postcolonialism and the social sciences.

Timothy O'Hagan investigates Jean-Jacques Rousseau's writings concerning the formation of humanity, of the individual and of the citizen in his three master works: the Discourse on the Origin of Inequality among Men, Emile and the Social Contract. He explores Rousseau's reflections on the sexes, language and religion.

O'Hagan gives Rousseau's arguments a close and sympathetic reading. He writes as a philosopher, not a historian, yet he never loses sight of the cultural context of Rousseau's work.

This book is available either individually, or as part of the specially-priced Arguments of the Philosphers Collection.

This book argues that Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra employs circular and cyclical (diurnal and seasonal) symbols to communicate both the life-affirmative and the cosmological aspect of "recurrence" as a unifying idea. It shows that twelve day cycles, which run throughout the book's narrative, and the one full annual cycle, which encompasses the circular and the diurnal images in a continuous cycle of life affirmation, track Zarathustra's ever-changing identity throughout the text. In representing the eternal recurrence, the circular and the cyclical symbols respectively convey the book's central message: Zarathustra comes into being in order to affirm existence as the teacher of eternal recurrence in an endlessly repeating cosmos. The study complements recent findings that Nietzsche's book is on eternal recurrence by establishing the unity among its language, structure, and fundamental conception, which solves the century-old problem of the communication or location of the doctrine within the text. The book is designed for the specialised audience of Nietzsche studies. It would also appeal to both students and professors in various disciplines across humanities and social sciences, as well as to anyone interested in understanding the basic tenets of Thus Spoke Zarathustra.

The course of Western philosophy has been profoundly altered by the philosophy of Hegel. The first of those who set about the transforming and revisioning of the world according to Hegel's dialectical theory were called "The Young Hegelians". Today, the most recognised names among them are Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, but in their own age each of the Young Hegelians shared an equal notoriety. Each in turn, from Strauss with his reduction of the historical Jesus into a Messianic myth, to Stirner with his uncompromising egoism, shocked every cultural convention of their age. The aftershocks of their unrestrained criticism have forever altered the topography of our own. "The Young Hegelians" retrieves some of the central writings of that troubling generation.

Best known as the Saducismus triumphatus (1681), Joseph Glanvill's book on witchcraft is among the most frequently published from the seventeenth century, and its arguments for the reality of diabolic witchcraft elicited passionate responses from critics and supporters alike. Davies untangles the intricate development of this text and explores how Glanvill's roles as theologian, philosopher and advocate for the Royal Society of London converge in its pages. Glanvill's broader philosophical method and unique approach to the supernatural provide a case study that enables the exploration of the interaction between the rise of experimental science and changing attitudes to witchcraft.