Batman has been one of the world's most beloved superheroes since his first appearance in Detective Comics #27 in 1939. Clad in his dark cowl and cape, he has captured the imagination of millions with his single-minded mission to create a better world for the people of Gotham City by fighting crime, making use of expert detective skills, high-tech crime-fighting gadgets, and an extensive network of sidekicks and partners. But why has this self-made hero enjoyed such enduring popularity? And why are his choices so often the subject of intense debate among his fans and philosophers alike? Batman and Ethics goes behind the mask to shed new light on the complexities and contradictions of the Dark Knight's moral code. From the logic behind his aversion to killing to the moral status of vigilantism and his use of torture in pursuit of justice (or perhaps revenge), Batman's ethical precepts are compelling but often inconsistent and controversial. Philosopher and pop culture expert Mark D. White uses the tools of moral philosophy to track Batman's most striking ethical dilemmas and decisions across his most prominent storylines from the early 1970s through the launch of the New 52, and suggests how understanding the mercurial moral character of the caped crusader might help us reconcile our own. A thought-provoking and entertaining journey through four decades of Batman's struggles and triumphs in time for the franchise's 80th anniversary, Batman and Ethics is a perfect gateway into the complex questions of moral philosophy through a focused character study of this most famous of fictional superheroes.

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."

Self-development of individuals and societies is an epochal challenge now but surprisingly very little has been written about this in the vast field of development studies and social sciences. The present book is one of the first efforts in this field and explores in detail the dynamics of pursuit of self-development and the accompanying contradictions in the self-study mobilization called Swadhyaya. Giri is one of the pioneers in bringing self-development to the core of theory and ethnographic multiverse of humanities and development studies. This outstanding book will be of interest to scholars in anthropology, sociology, development studies, humanities, and students of life all around the world.

This study in German offers profound insights into the life and thoughts of Wang Guowei (1877-1927). Like many intellectuals who strongly perceived the necessity of reforms in the waning years of the Late Qing dynasty, i.e. after the Opium wars, Wang sought to strengthen China's position against foreign, in particular Western, powers. Contrary to earlier approaches, which either advocated a close adherence to Confucian traditions or tried to adapt only elements of Western material culture, mainly industrial and military technology, Wang Guowei aimed at reviving traditional Chinese culture by analysing its source texts using a modern scientific approach (and thereby started the discipline of guoxue [national studies]) and simultaneously adapting compatible elements of Western immaterial culture. Thus, Wang became known as an authority on Chinese paleography as well as on German philosophy, especially Kantian epistomology.

This book collects 15 papers on the greatest philosopher of late antiquity and founder of Neoplatonism, Plotinus (d.270), and the founding figure of philosophy in the Islamic world: al-KindAE" (d. ca. 873). A number of the contributions focus on the text that joins the two: the so-called Theology of Aristotle, in fact an Arabic version of Plotinus' Enneads produced in al- KindAE"'s translation circle. Across several papers, Adamson argues that this translation is best understood as a reinterpretation of Plotinus designed to appeal to contemporary readers in the culture of the 'AbbAEsid era. Two contributions also analyze the notes on the Theology written by the great Avicenna. Other papers look at aspects of al-KindAE"'s own thought, exploring his ideas concerning metaphysics, free will astrology, and optics. The traditions of Plotinus and al-KindAE" are also treated, with papers on Plotinus' student Porphyry and his Arabic reception, and on followers of al-KindAE". Adamson argues that we can identify what he calls a 'Kindian tradition' in the 9th-10th centuries. He discusses the philosophical presuppositions of this movement, and the use of al-KindAE"'s ideas made by one particular representative of the Kindian tradition, the Persian thinker Miskawayh.

The volume brings together seventeen studies on Avicenna by Dimitri Gutas, written over the past twenty-five years. They aim to establish Avicenna's historical and philosophical context as a means to determining his philosophical project and the orientations of his thought. They deal with his life and works, his method, his epistemology, and his later reception in the Islamic world, ending with a programmatic essay on the state of the field of Avicennan studies and future agenda. Occasioned by issues raised in Gutas's monograph on Avicenna and the Aristotelian Tradition (whose second edition has just appeared), they form a substantive complement to it. For this reprint, a number of the essays have been reset and accordingly revised and updated. Provided with exhaustive indexes of names, places, subjects, and technical terms, the volume constitutes a new and major research tool for the study of Avicenna and his heritage. (CS1050).

Learn how to target the weaknesses of an attacker and effectively exploit them in order to defend yourself. The 36 Deadly Bubishi Points gives detailed explanations on how the pressure points of traditional Chinese medicine found in the Bubishi, the venerable "Bible of Karate," are used in attacking an opponent and how to defend yourself against such attacks. This book closely examines these vital points and the science behind them. While much has been written about the vital points and their medicinal importance, thanks to the popularity of practices such as acupuncture, martial research on the subject has been lacking. Cardwell discusses the vital points from the perspective of an experienced martial artist--including how the body's vital points are related to the 8 extraordinary vessels and 12 meridians which circulate energy throughout the body. Through detailed step-by-step instructions and over 96 photographs and illustrations, The 36 Deadly Bubishi Points shows how this knowledge can be employed in self-defense. Respond to an attacker by employing these ancient methods in modern, violent situations.

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.

Today yoga is a thoroughly globalised phenomenon. Yoga has taken the world by storm and is even seeing renewed popularity in India. Both in India and abroad, adults, children and teenagers are practicing yoga in diverse settings; gyms, schools, home, work, yoga studios and temples. The yoga diaspora began well over a hundred years ago and we continue to see new manifestations and uses of Yoga in the modern world. As the first of its kind this collection draws together cutting edge scholarship in the field, focusing on the theory and practice of yoga in contemporary times. Offering a range of perspectives on yoga's contemporary manifestations, it maps the movement, development and consolidation of yoga in global settings. The collection features some of the most well-known authors within the field and newer voices. The contributions span a number of disciplines in the humanities, including, anthropology, Philosophy, Studies in Religion and Asian studies, offering a range of entry points to the issues involved in the study of the subject. As such, is of use to those involved in academic scholarship, as well as to the growing number of yoga practitioners who seek a deeper account of the origin and significance of the techniques and traditions they are engaging with. It will also-and perhaps most of all-speak to the growing numbers of 'scholar-practitioners' who straddle these two realms. Further resources and supporting material are available to view at www.yogainthemodernworld.com

Buddhism and Postmodernity is a response to some of the questions that have emerged in the process of Buddhism's encounters with modernity and the West. Jin Y. Park broadly outlines these questions as follows: first, why are the interpretations and evaluations of Buddhism so different in Europe (in the nineteenth century), in the United States (in the twentieth century), and in traditional Asia; second, why does Zen Buddhism, which offers a radically egalitarian vision, maintain a strongly authoritarian leadership; and third, what ethical paradigm can be drawn from the Buddhist-postmodern form of philosophy? Park argues that, as unrelated as these questions may seem, the issues that have generated them are related to perennial philosophical themes of identity, institutional power, and ethics, respectively. Each of these themes constitutes one section of Buddhism and Postmodernity. Park discusses the three issues in the book through the exploration of the Buddhist concepts of self and others, language and thinking, and universality and particularities. Most of this discussion is drawn from the East Asian Buddhist traditions of Zen and Huayan Buddhism in connection with the Continental philosophies of postmodernism, hermeneutics, and deconstruction. Self-critical from both the Buddhist and Western philosophical perspectives, Buddhism and Postmodernity points the reader toward a new understanding of Buddhist philosophy and offers a Buddhist-postmodern ethical paradigm that challenges normative ethics of metaphysical traditions.

A Cup of Buddha: reflections on truth discusses how to take the journey toward inner peace, toward truth in entertaining, simple language beyond the abstract and mystical concepts typically found in eastern philosophy books. The book applies eastern philosophy to western living utilizing pop culture and music metaphors to explore dense topics in an easy to digest format. Individuals are restless, and unhappy. We search for the water to put out our fire of discontent filling this space with self help books, food, new cars, relationships, and more, all with short term satisfaction but our fire still burns. We look outward, we look to others, yet the fire rages. A Cup of Buddha: reflections on truth addresses this fire within each of us, exploring the actual journey toward truth, understanding that each moment in life is everything, and we alone ultimately make this choice toward happiness.

Combining a historical perspective that traces lines of continuity and change in Arab liberalism, an integrative discussion of cross-sectional themes, and a comparative analysis of the West, Turkey and Iran, this book seeks to enrich our knowledge of liberal thought in the Arab Middle East. In intertwining these dimensions-the historic, integrative and comparative, Arab liberal thought in the modern age responds to a tendency to overlook the significance of Middle Eastern liberalism in favour of more powerful and assertive forces embodied by authoritarian regimes and Islamic movements. The study focuses on the second half of the twentieth century and the early twenty-first century. Post-1967 liberals, as their predecessors, confronted old dilemmas, socio-economic upheavals, political instability and cultural disorientation, but also demonstrated ideological rejuvenation and provided liberal thought with new emphases and visions. Arab liberals' ongoing debates over freedom of religion, secularism, individualism, democracy and human rights were aimed at formulating of a comprehensive liberal project seeking to enact an Arab Enlightenment. -- .

This book compiles some of the finest writings of Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950) - the nationalist, visionary, poet-philosopher. It reflects the range, depth and outreach of the moral, intellectual and spiritual vision of this versatile and multifaceted genius. It aims at providing, at one place, access to the key concepts, tenets, and the spirit of the extraordinary range of texts authored by him. Although concretely grounded in contemporary times - with its location in a specific socio-cultural matrix - this work projects a body of writings that is certain to have lasting value. In particular, the compilation brings forth Sri Aurobindo's social vision and his role as a cultural critic: his views on ethnicity, his exposition of the key role language plays in the formation of communitarian identities, his crucial understanding of self-determination which has incidentally become an important aspect of human rights discourse today. Situating the writings in a specific intellectual, spiritual and historical context, this collection will enable readers to appreciate the overall vision of Sri Aurobindo, in what can be conceived as a caravan of history of ideas in terms of a common heritage of humankind, and recent developments in theory and disciplinary practice, especially those pertaining to consciousness and future studies.

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.

Millions of people practice some form of yoga, but they often do so without a clear understanding of its history, traditions, and purposes. This comprehensive bibliography, designed to assist researchers, practitioners, and general readers in navigating the extensive yoga literature, lists and comments upon English?language yoga texts published since 1981. It includes entries for more than 2,400 scholarly as well as popular works, manuals, original Sanskrit source text translations, conference proceedings, doctoral dissertations, and master's theses. Entries are arranged alphabetically by author for easy access, while thorough author, title, and subject indexes will help readers find books of interest.

This is a new translation of the Analects (Lun Yu) of Confucius, the 5th-century BC Chinese sage whose influence on Chinese and other East Asian cultures is still felt today. Huang's translation is more literal than any available version, and is accompanied by notes that explain unfamiliar terms and concepts and provide historical and cultural context.

Sukhmani (The Pearl of Happiness) is a popular Sikh text by Guru Arjan, which inculcates the Sikh religious ethos and philosophical perspective on wellbeing and happiness. The book features a new translation of this celebrated Sikh text and provides the first in-depth analysis of it. The Sikh View on Happiness begins with an overview of the nature of suffering and the attainment of happiness in Indian religions. This provides the foundation for the examination of the historical, social, and religious context of the Sukhmani and its contribution to the development of the Sikh tradition. In addition to exploring the spiritual teachings of the Sukhmani, Nayar and Sandhu draw upon the Sikh understanding of the mind, illness, and wellbeing to both introduce key Sikh psychological concepts and illustrate the practical application of traditional healing practices in the contemporary context. In doing so, they highlight the overlap of the teachings in the Sukhmani with concepts and themes found in Western psychotherapy, such as mindfulness, meaningful living, and resilience.

This book is concerned with the rationality and plausibility of the Muslim faith and the Qur'an, and in particular how they can be interrogated and understood through Western analytical philosophy. It also explores how Islam can successfully engage with the challenges posed by secular thinking.

The Quran and the Secular Mind will be of interest to students and scholars of Islamic philosophy, philosophy of religion, Middle East studies, and political Islam.

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.

This work engages in a constructive, yet subtle, dialogue with the nuanced accounts of sensory intentionality and empirical knowledge offered by the Islamic philosopher Avicenna. This discourse has two main objectives: (1) providing an interpretation of Avicenna's epistemology that avoids reading him as a precursor to British empiricists or as a full-fledged emanatist and (2) bringing light to the importance of Avicenna's account of experience to relevant contemporary Anglo-American discussions in epistemology and metaphysics. These two objectives are interconnected. Anglo-American philosophy provides the framework for a novel reading of Avicenna on knowledge and reality, and the latter, in turn, contributes to adjusting some aspects of the former. Advancing the Avicennian perspective on contemporary analytic discourse, this volume is a key resource for researchers and students interested in comparative and analytic epistemology and metaphysics as well as Islamic philosophy.