|
|
Books > Humanities > Philosophy > Topics in philosophy > Metaphysics & ontology
Nietzsche's famous attack upon established Christianity and
religion is brought to the reader in this superb hardcover edition
of The Antichrist, introduced and translated by H.L. Mencken. The
incendiary tone throughout The Antichrist separates it from most
other well-regarded philosophical texts; even in comparison to
Nietzsche's earlier works, the tone of indignation and conviction
behind each argument made is evident. There is little lofty
ponderousness; the book presents its arguments and points at a
blistering pace, placing itself among the most accessible and
comprehensive works of philosophy. The Antichrist comprises a total
of sixty-two short chapters, each with distinct philosophical
arguments or angle upon the targets of Christianity, organised
religion, and those who masquerade as faithful but are in actuality
anything but. Pointedly opposed to notions of Christian morality
and virtue, Nietzsche vehemently sets out a case for the faith's
redundancy and lack of necessity in human life.
Plants are silent, still, or move slowly; we do not have the sense
that they accompany us, or even perceive us. But is there something
that plants are telling us? Is there something about how they live
and connect, how they relate to the world and other plants that can
teach us about ecological thinking, about ethics and politics?
Grounded in Thoreau's ecology and in contemporary plant studies,
Dispersion: Thoreau and Vegetal Thought offers answers to those
questions by pondering such concepts as co-dependence, the
continuity of life forms, relationality, cohabitation, porousness,
fragility, the openness of beings to incessant modification by
other beings and phenomena, patience, waiting, slowness and
receptivity.
A new wave of thinkers from across different disciplines within the
analytical tradition in philosophy has recently focused on
critical, societal challenges, such as the silencing and
questioning of the credibility of oppressed groups, the political
polarization that threatens the good functioning of democratic
societies across the globe, or the moral and political significance
of gender, race, or sexual orientation. Appealing to both
well-established and younger international scholars, this volume
delves into some of the most relevant problems and discussions
within the area, bringing together for the first time different
essays within what we deem to be a "political turn in analytic
philosophy." This political turn consists of putting different
conceptual and theoretical tools from epistemology, philosophy of
language, philosophy of mind, and metaphysics at the service of
social and political change. The aim is to ensure a better
understanding of some of the key features of our social
environments in an attempt to achieve a more just and equal
society.
The prolific Margaret Cavendish (1623-1673) published books on
natural philosophy as well as stories, plays, poems, orations,
allegories, and letters. Her mature philosophical system offered a
unique panpsychist theory of Nature as composed of a continuous,
non-atomistic, perceiving, knowing matter. In contrast to the
dominant philosophical thinking of her day, Cavendish argued that
all matter has free will and can choose whether or not to follow
Nature's rules. The Well-Ordered Universe explores the development
of Cavendish's natural philosophy from the atomism of her 1653
poems to the panpsychist materialism of her 1668 Grounds of Natural
Philosophy. Deborah Boyle argues that her natural philosophy, her
medical theories, and her social and political philosophy are all
informed by an underlying concern with order, regularity, and
rule-following. This focus on order reveals interesting connections
among apparently disparate elements of Cavendish's philosophical
program, including her views on gender, on animals and the
environment, and on sickness and health. Focusing on the role of
order in Cavendish's philosophy also helps reveal key differences
between her natural philosophy and her more conservative social and
political philosophy. Cavendish believed that humans' special
desire for public recognition often leads to an unruly ambition,
causing humans to disrupt society in ways not seen in the rest of
Nature. Thus, The Well-Ordered Universe defends Cavendish as a
royalist who endorsed absolute monarchy and a rigid social
hierarchy for maintaining order in human society.
Point of Departure offers a practical metacognitive and
transformational learning strategy for human surviving and
thriving. Using five foundational and interactive Indigenous
worldview beliefs that contrast sharply with our dominant worldview
ones, everyone can reclaim the original instructions for living on
Earth. Without the resulting change in consciousness that can
emerge from this learning approach, no modern technologies can save
us. The five foundational Indigenous precepts relate to a radically
different understanding about: (1) Trance?based learning (2)
Courage and Fearlessness (3) Community Oriented Self?Authorship (4)
Sacred Communications (5) Nature as Ultimate Teacher.
Hollow and Home explores the ways the primary places in our lives
shape the individuals we become. It proposes that place is a
complex and dynamic phenomenon. Place refers to geographical and
constructed places- location, topography, landscape, and buildings.
It also refers to the psychological, social, and cultural
influences at work at a given location. These elements act in
concert to constitute a place. Carlisle incorporates perspectives
from writers like Edward S. Casey, Christian Norberg-Schulz, Yi-Fu
Tuan, and Witold Rybczynski, but he applies theory with a light
touch. Placing this literature in dialog with personal experience,
he concentrates on two places that profoundly influenced him and
enabled him to overcome a lifelong sense of always leaving his
pasts behind. The first is Clover Hollow in Appalachian Virginia,
where the author lived for ten years among fifth-, sixth-, and
seventh-generation residents. The people and places there enabled
him to value his own past and primary places in a new way. The
story then turns to Carlisle's life growing up in Delaware, Ohio.
He describes in rich detail the ways the town shaped him in both
enabling and disabling ways. In the end, after years of moving from
place to place, Carlisle's experience in Appalachia helped him
rediscover his hometown-both the Old Delaware, where he grew up,
and the New Delaware, a larger, thriving small city-as his true
home. The themes of the book transcend specific localities and
speak to the relationship of self and place everywhere.
Bernard Bolzano (1781-1850) is increasingly recognized as one of
the greatest nineteenth-century philosophers. A philosopher and
mathematician of rare talent, he made ground-breaking contributions
to logic, the foundations and philosophy of mathematics,
metaphysics, and the philosophy of religion. Many of the larger
features of later analytic philosophy (but also many of the
details) first appear in his work: for example, the separation of
logic from psychology, his sophisticated understanding of
mathematical proof, his definition of logical consequence, his work
on the semantics of natural kind terms, or his anticipations of
Cantor's set theory, to name but a few. To his contemporaries,
however, he was best known as an intelligent and determined
advocate for reform of Church and State. Based in large part on a
carefully argued utilitarian practical philosophy, he developed a
program for the non-violent reform of the authoritarian
institutions of the Hapsburg Empire, a program which he himself
helped to set in motion through his teaching and other activities.
Rarely has a philosopher had such a great impact on the political
culture of his homeland. Persecuted in his lifetime by secular and
ecclesiastical authorities, long ignored or misunderstood by
philosophers, Bolzano's reputation has nevertheless steadily
increased over the past century and a half. Much discussed and
respected in Central Europe for over a century, he is finally
beginning to receive the recognition he deserves in the
English-speaking world. This book provides a comprehensive and
detailed critical introduction to Bolzano, covering both his life
and works.
|
|