The use of measures of economic output to guide policymaking has been criticized for decades because of their weak ties to human well-being. Recently, many scholars and politicians have called for measures of happiness or subjective well-being to be used to guide policy in people's true interests. In The Illusion of Well-Being, Mark D. White explains why using happiness as a tool for policymaking is misguided and unethical. Happiness is too vague a term to define, and too general a concept, to measure in a way that captures people's true feelings. He extends this critique to well-being in general and concludes that no measure of well-being can do justice to people's true interests, which are complex, multifaceted, and subjective. White suggests instead that policymaking be conducted according to respect and responsiveness, promoting the true interests of citizens while addressing their real needs, and devoting government resources to where they can do the most good.

Through original speculations on the surprisingly complementary concepts of simultaneity and delay, and new interpretations of the great philosophers of time, this book proposes an innovative theory of staggered time. In the early 20th Century, Bergson and Husserl (following Einstein) made Simultaneity-what it means for events to occur at the same time-a central motif in philosophy.In the late 20th Century, Derrida and Deleuze instead emphasized Delay-events staggered over distant times.This struggle between convergent and staggered time also plays out in 20th Century aesthetics (especially music), politics, and the sciences. Despite their importance in the history of philosophy, this is the first book to comprehensively examine the concepts of simultaneity and delay.By putting simultaneity and delay into a dialectical relation, this book argues that time in general is organized by elastic rhythms. Lampert's concepts describe the time-structures of such diverse phenomena as atonal music, political decision-making, neuronal delays, leaps of memory and the boredom of waiting; and simultaneities and delays in everyday experience and behaviour.

This book develops a new way of reading and benefiting from Schmitt's legal and political theories. It explores Schmitt's theories from the perspective of what I refer to as the politics of transition. It also contributes to identifying the real theoretical relationship between Schmitt and Mao.

The focus of this volume is on the further development of the Quality of Life Theory and the means to measure the concept. The volume summarizes Michalos' fundamental assumptions about the nature of quality of life or human well-being and explains in detail the two variable theory of the quality of life. It gives an update of the journal Social Indicators Research after forty years, an explanation of the role of community indicators in connecting communities, and a critical review of the much publicized Stiglitz, Sen and Fitoussi report. It deals with the multiple discrepancies theory (MDT), the empirical theory designed to provide the foundation of the pragmatic theory of value. Other concepts discussed in this volume are the stability, sensitivity, and other different features of measures of domain and life satisfaction and happiness, measures of arts-related activities and beliefs, measures of knowledge, attitudes and behaviour concerning sustainable development, and the role of quality of life in sustainable development research. The volume concludes with discussions on connections between social indicators and communities, aspects of community quality of life in Prince George, British Columbia and Jasper, Alberta, and British Columbians' expectations and attitudes going into the third millennium.

America has a fever. It s not feeling well because a virus has infected this once vibrant and exceptional country. In an effort to find a cure, the author traces the history, development and symptoms of the behavioral virus infecting America. He identifies the genetic engineers who created the pathogen and exposes how and why they spread it to the general population. The author deconstructs the financial crisis of 2008, the TSA, Hollywood, global warming, the Millennial Generation and Political Correctness. He outlines the social, economic and political consequences of being infected and identifies America s illness as one of the most virulent threats the country has ever faced. Unless a cure is found, America will be transformed into a country that will look nothing like what its founders intended. American revolutionaries are making their once in a lifetime push to change the very fiber of America. Whether you call it progressivism, socialism, communism or any of the synonyms political scientists toss around to describe the collective mindset and other Marxist ideas, America s greatness is rooted in the philosophical opposite of the socialist collective. For the transformation to be successful, America s revolutionaries must operate in stealth mode. The Progressive Virus removes their cloaking to reveal the truth about their ultimate plans for America. If Americans only knew what these modern day Bolsheviks intend to do with them and their country, they would be shocked out of their complacency and take back their country.

What are the grounds for and limits to obedience to the state?

Dorota Mokrosinska presents a fresh analysis of the most influential theories of political obligation and develops a novel approach to this foundational problem of political philosophy, an intriguing combination of the elements of natural duty and associative theories. The theory of political obligation developed in the book extends the scope of the contemporary debate on political obligation by arguing that political obligation can be binding even under the jurisdiction of unjust states. The arguments pursued in the book are illustrated with the results of sociological research concerning the reasons that governed people's attitudes to the authoritarian communist regimes in East Europe viz. communist Poland. This book provides the first detailed argument of how a theory of political obligation can apply to subjects of an unjust state.

Can you remember 9/11 and the impact of the images of the planes flying into the Twin Towers? Tracing cultural memories, Victor Seidler explores an embodied social theory that is alive to fear, loss, vulnerability and mourning, and questions how these narratives reflected a dominant masculinity unprepared to show any sign of weakness. Thinking across the boundaries of individual and cultural trauma, he discusses a psychosocial theory that listens to a diversity of voices shaped by the tragedy. Seidler also engages with questions of Islam, modernity and fundamentalism to analyse the relationship between the East and West, as well as highlighting the neoconservative influences in the wars following 9/11.

This book explores the ways in which different generations think about how the welfare state is organised at present, and how it will be organised in future. Using the results of a study from Canada, Australia and Sweden, the book's findings complement more traditional studies of the welfare sector, capturing the anxieties of citizens about the present and future of their countries' welfare models, and presenting their thoughts on how the system can be re-organised in future. Positioning their three-country study within the history of the welfare state around the world, the authors seek to re-assess the role of the welfare state in governments around the world. Their findings will be of interest to those studying welfare policy as well as innovations such as basic income, e-health and policy responses to automisation.

If the first part of the title hints at a sensual book written by a young female scholar attempting to make 'male'-stream philosophy sexy again, the second evokes the repetitious feminist claim that women are the victims of an oppressive patriarchal structure. However, this book is neither a feminist manifesto nor a cleverly marketed erotic novel lacking in substance. Its aim is both more ambitious and provocative. Drawing on the ambiguous meaning of the notion of vulnerability, the book offers an innovative approach to the topic of the female body in relation to women's rights; going beyond the age-old dichotomy of casting women as either passive victims or conscious agents. Thanks to a profound confrontation with the works of Judith Butler and Adriana Cavarero on the concept of vulnerability, the book offers also a unique insight into the different feminist 'schools' to which these philosophers belong.

While much has been written on environmental politics on the one hand, and animal ethics and welfare on the other, animal politics is underexamined. There are key political implications in the increase of animal protection laws, the rights of nature, and political parties dedicated to animals.

Once Upon a Time of Transition is a journey through four decades in the career of a Czech dissident and diplomat reflecting on transitions from the 20th to the 21st century. A meaningful contribution to on-going public debates, and to a better understanding of our current political situation, Ambassador Martin Palous explores the uncertain territory between philosophy and politics. Directly or indirectly, his texts were inspired by three great Central European thinkers of the 20th century, Hannah Arendt, Jan Pato?ka and Eric Voegelin. At stake is the classical Socratic question concerning the "common good" that they all raised in their investigations of the human condition -- the question that Aristotle held to direct all our actions whether we adhere to some form of metaphysics or theology, or subscribe to the post-modern nihilism so fashionable these days.

An African-American single mother is harassed and threatened with violence until she moves out of an all 'white' neighborhood. A hate crime has occurred and we wonder, who is responsible? Is it just the few people who actively threatened the woman and her children, or does responsibility extend further? This book explores these questions in detail and ultimately finds that responsibility may extend far beyond active perpetrators.
Within philosophy, these kinds of questions are typically discussed in the debate over 'collective' or 'group' responsibility. This book reviews the debate and examines the standard objections to group responsibility. It also evaluates some currently available accounts but finds them unsatisfying in various ways. Ultimately, drawing on work in social psychology, narrative ethics, and feminist philosophy, the author presents a new account which answers the standard objections while also giving practical guidance to individuals who take their group-related responsibilities seriously.

Civilisations have come and gone over the past eight thousand years, some lasting longer, others more briefly. Modern Civilisation, launched through the European Enlightenment some three hundred years ago, has been driven increasingly by an obsession with Progress and Development. The harnessing of fossil hydrocarbons drove forward processes of industrialisation, urbanisation and latterly globalisation that are inherently unsustainable. Now that the easily accessible fossil energy resources are approaching a terminal decline, we find ourselves at a fatal juncture, poised to return to a simpler life of modest energy requirements, but threatened also by - possibly catastrophic - environmental damage resulting from modern development.
Why do we find ourselves in such an untenable situation? Reflections on the Fall of Modern Civilization analyses why and how this condition came about and suggests how we can reinterpret at a basic level what human life is really all about. This discusses technical means and changes in attitudes and consciousness that might help the emerging generation to transition to a truly sustainable and a deeply satisfying life for all, transcending the problems and conflicts embedded in the very notion of Civilisation.
About the Author
Born during the Second World War and raised in England, Switzerland and Germany, Francis Vairley has spent much of his life travelling and working in all the world's continents. From the late 1970s, whilst teaching graduate students in urban, regional and environmental planning, he engaged with the Green Movement. Working with many actors from international agencies to local governments and people's organisations he helped to devise environmental and social management programmes and projects, latterly focusing on local economic development in informal economies in Asia and Latin America. Although retired as an academic, Francis continues his work with International Agencies and Transition Initiatives dividing his time with family, friends and communities between homes in Europe, Asia and North America.

This book focuses on normative questions that arise about globalization. Much social science research is devoted to exploring the political, legal, social and economic changes that occur all around us. This books offers an introductory treatment of the philosophical questions that arise about these changes. Why would people have human rights? We will be looking at different answers to this question. Could there be a universal morality in the first place? This question captures a particular kind of skepticism that has also been applied to the human rights movement and needs to be addresses for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to be intellectually credible. Ought there to be states? Perhaps there are more appropriate ways of organizing humanity politically. What does distributive justice require at the global level? The world in which we live is one of a striking inequality that challenges us to explore what a just world would look like. What does justice require of us with regard to climate change? We now live in a geological era sometimes called the Athropocene: it is human action that has the biggest impact on the future of all life. How should we think about fairness in trade? Trade, after all, ties people together around the world. And what does justice imply for immigration policy? Each of these questions is answered in its own chapter. Introductions to political philosophy normally focus mostly or entirely on domestic questions. This introduction is concerned with questions of global scope throughout.

Compulsory voting has operated in Australia for a century, and remains the best known and arguably the most successful example of the practice globally. By probing that experience from several disciplinary perspectives, this book offers a fresh, up-to-date insight into the development and distinctive functioning of compulsory voting in Australia. By juxtaposing the Australian experience with that of other representative democracies in Europe and North America, the volume also offers a much needed comparative dimension to compulsory voting in Australia. A unifying theme running through this study is the relationship between compulsory voting and democratic well-being. Can we learn anything from Australia's experience of the practice that is instructive for the development of institutional bulwarks in an era when democratic politics is under pressure globally? Or is Australia's case sui generis - best understood in the final analysis as an intriguing outlier?

This volume, the second in the Springer series Philosophy of Science in a European Perspective, contains selected papers from the workshops organised by the ESF Research Networking Programme PSE (The Philosophy of Science in a European Perspective) in 2009. Five general topics are addressed: 1. Formal Methods in the Philosophy of Science; 2. Philosophy of the Natural and Life Sciences; 3. Philosophy of the Cultural and Social Sciences; 4. Philosophy of the Physical Sciences; 5. History of the Philosophy of Science. This volume is accordingly divided in five sections, each section containing papers coming from the meetings focussing on one of these five themes. However, these sections are not completely independent and detached from each other. For example, an important connecting thread running through a substantial number of papers in this volume is the concept of probability: probability plays a central role in present-day discussions in formal epistemology, in the philosophy of the physical sciences, and in general methodological debates---it is central in discussions concerning explanation, prediction and confirmation. The volume thus also attempts to represent the intellectual exchange between the various fields in the philosophy of science that was central in the ESF workshops.

Feminist Time Against Nation Time offers a series of essays that explore the complex and oftentimes contradictory relationship between feminism and nationalism through a problematization of temporality. Although there has been much recent discussion in the U.S. of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the "War on Terror" as signaling a new period of "permanent war," feminist voices have not been at all prominent in this discussion. This collection considers not only the ways in which public spaces for dissent are limited, but also the ways in which the time for such dissent is cut short. Feminist Time Against Nation Time combines philosophical examinations of "Women's Time" by Julia Kristeva and "The Time of Thought" by Elizabeth Grosz, with essays offering case studies of particular events, including Kelly Oliver's essay on the media coverage of the U.S. wars on terror and in Afghanistan and Iraq, and Betty Joseph's on the anti-colonial uses of "women's time" in the creation of nineteenth-century Indian nationalism. Feminist Time Against Nation Time juxtaposes feminist time against nation time in order to consider temporalities that are at once contrary to, but also drawing toward each other. Yet Hesford and Diedrich also argue that because, as an untimely project, feminism necessarily operates in a different temporality from that of the nation, against-ness is also used to provoke a rupture, a momentary opening up of a disjuncture between the two that will allow us to explore the possibilities of creating a space and time for feminists to think against the current of the present moment.

Violent and injustice are the two major political problems the world is facing today. By, offering a fresh, innovative analysis of the concept of violence, this book presents an original insight into the nature of injustice, which forces us to rethink the scope and aims of a theory of social justice. More specifically, it explores three close related questions: What is violence? What is the relationship between violence and social justice? Can social justice be promoted through violence?

Youth justice has always focused on criminal justice but this work argues that taking a social justice approach is the best way to reduce youth crime. Drawing on philosophy, new research, and practitioners' views, a new organizational structure and approach is developed. Urwin outlines the philosophical and historical background of youth justice and clarifies how this has led to problems within current practice. Prominent debates within the field are also explored in depth, such as care vs. control, and the issue of professional identity. Ultimately, all of these factors are considered in relation to the organizational structure of youth justice, and this bold and engaging study highlights the need for a more principled approach to practice. Timely and authoritative, this book is will be of great interest to youth justice practitioners, academics, students, and those who would like to apply social justice to social institutions.

The definitive source book on philosophy and the city.

It contributes to the field of posthumanism through its application of posthuman feminism to international law Interdisciplinary approach. Will appeal to students and scholars with interests in legal, feminist, and posthuman theory, as well as those concerned with the contemporary challenges faced by international law.

Evoking the contemporary Zeitgeist of looming ecological, political and economic disaster, The Catastrophic Imperative brings together a distinguished group of thinkers who invite a compelling reconsideration of the ways we, as representing subjects, might be more deeply implicated in catastrophic events than we ordinarily imagine. From their individual historical, philosophical, psychoanalytic and literary perspectives, the contributors collectively put a non-eschatological thought of catastrophe to task. What emerges from this forcing ground is a logic that undermines our habitual understanding of causality, charging us with the disconcerting responsibility not to prevent but, in Jean Dupuy's immortal words, to render the catastrophe unavoidable.
Contributing major new essays on Kant, Hegel, Derrida, Lacan, Badiou, i ek, Deleuze, James, Coetzee, Barres and Hitchcock, this collection also marks the long-overdue introduction of renowned German philosopher, Peter Sloterdijk, to the English-speaking world.
Contributors: Alain Badiou, Gert Buelens, Gil Chaitin, Justic Clemens, Tom Cohen, Joanna Hodge, J. Hillis Miller, Patience Moll, Dany Nobus, Aaron Schuster, Sjoerd van Tuinen and Eric Vogt.

This book bridges medieval and contemporary philosophical thinkers, examining the relationship between fiction and philosophy for bringing about social change. Drawing on the philosophical reading and writing practices of medieval author Christine de Pizan and twentieth-century philosopher Luce Irigaray, and through an engagement with Hans-Georg Gadamer's work on tradition and hermeneutics, it develops means to re-write the stories and ideas that shape society. It argues that reading for change is possible; by increasing our capacity to perceive and engage tradition, we become more capable of positively shaping the forces that shape us. Following the example of the two women whose work it explores, Story and Philosophy works through philosophy and narrative to deeply transform the allegorical, political, and continental tradition it engages. It is essential reading for students and scholars interested in medieval studies, feminist studies, and critical theory.