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Books > Humanities > Philosophy > Topics in philosophy
This book examines the true core of philosophy and metaphysics,
taking account of quantum and relativity theory as it applies to
physical Reality, and develops a line of reasoning that ultimately
leads us to Reality as it is currently understood at the most
fundamental level - the Standard Model of Elementary Particles.
This book develops new formalisms for Logic that are of interest in
themselves and also provide a Platonic bridge to Reality. The
bridge to Reality will be explored in detail in a subsequent book,
Relativistic Quantum Metaphysics: A First Principles Basis for the
Standard Model of Elementary Particles. We anticipate that the
current "fundamental" level of physical Reality may be based on a
still lower level and/or may have additional aspects remaining to
be found. However the effects of certain core features such as
quantum theory and relativity theory will persist even if a lower
level of Reality is found, and these core features suggest the form
of a new Metaphysics of physical Reality. We have coined the phrase
"Operator Metaphysics" for this new metaphysics of physical
Reality. The book starts by describing aspects of Philosophy and
Metaphysics relevant to the study of current physical Reality. Part
of this development are new Logics, Operator Logic and Quantum
Operator Logic, developed in earlier books by this author (and
revised and expanded in this book). Using them we are led to
develop a connection to the beginnings of The Standard Model of
Elementary Particles. While mathematics is essential in the latter
stages of the book we have tried to present it with sufficient text
discussion to make what it is doing understandable to the
non-mathematical reader. Generally we will avoid using the jargon
of Philosophy, Logic and Physics as much as possible.
Addressing Merleau-Ponty's work Phenomenology of Perception, in
dialogue with The Visible and the Invisible, his lectures at the
College de France, and his reading of Proust, this book argues that
at play in his thought is a philosophy of "ontological lateness".
This describes the manner in which philosophical reflection is
fated to lag behind its objects; therefore an absolute grasp on
being remains beyond its reach. Merleau-Ponty articulates this
philosophy against the backdrop of what he calls "cruel thought", a
style of reflecting that seeks resolution by limiting,
circumscribing, and arresting its object. By contrast, the
philosophy of ontological lateness seeks no such finality-no
apocalypsis or unveiling-but is characterized by its ability to
accept the veiling of being and its own constitutive lack of
punctuality. To this extent, his thinking inaugurates a new
relation to the becoming of sense that overcomes cruel thought.
Merleau-Ponty's work gives voice to a wisdom of dispossession that
allows for the withdrawal of being. Never before has anyone engaged
with the theme of Merleau-Ponty's own understanding of philosophy
in such a sustained way as Whitmoyer does in this volume.
In 1906, Jan Lukasiewicz, a great logician, published his classic
dissertation on the concept of cause, containing not only a
thorough reconstruction of the title concept, but also a
systematization of the analytical method. It sparked an extremely
inspiring discussion among the other representatives of the
Lvov-Warsaw School. The main voices of this discussion are
supplemented here with texts of contemporary Polish philosophers.
They show how the concept of cause is presently functioning in
various disciplines and point to the topicality of Lukasiewicz's
method of analysis.
This collective work sheds light on our understanding of the
notions of expatriation and migration. The main objective is to
highlight and critically examine the dichotomy that lies beyond
these terms. Based on field research by authors from four
continents, this book offers a global perspective on the social
distinction between the same human faces.
Locke's two groundbreaking treatises regarding sound methods of
governance are united in this complete edition. At the time these
treatises were written, English politics had undergone decades of
upheaval in the wake of the English Civil War. When Dutch monarch
William of Orange ascended to the English throne in the Glorious
Revolution of 1688, burning questions over the best form of
governance for England were prominent in the intelligentsia of the
era. It was a time when England grappled with its incremental
transition from monarchy to early forms of democracy and right to
vote, where dynastic monarchy and religious theory still held
considerable power over the formation of the state. Lauded as a
classic of political philosophy, the treatises by Locke are a
common requirement in various educational courses concerning
political science and philosophy to this day.
Over a period of three years, Henry David Thoreau made three trips
to the largely unexplored woods of Maine. He scaled peaks, paddled
a canoe, and dined on hemlock tea and moose lips. Taking notes, he
acutely observed the rich flora and fauna, as well as the few
people he met dotting the landscape, like lumberers, boat-men, and
the Abnaki Indians. - The Maine Woods is an American classic, a
voyage into nature and the heart of early America.
In Marx and Social Justice, George E. McCarthy presents a detailed
and comprehensive overview of the ethical, political, and economic
foundations of Marx's theory of social justice in his early and
later writings. What is distinctive about Marx's theory is that he
rejects the views of justice in liberalism and reform socialism
based on legal rights and fair distribution by balancing ancient
Greek philosophy with nineteenth-century political economy. Relying
on Aristotle's definition of social justice grounded in ethics and
politics, virtue and democracy, Marx applies it to a broader range
of issues, including workers' control and creativity, producer
associations, human rights and human needs, fairness and
reciprocity in exchange, wealth distribution, political
emancipation, economic and ecological crises, and economic
democracy. Each chapter in the book represents a different aspect
of social justice. Unlike Locke and Hegel, Marx is able to
integrate natural law and natural rights, as he constructs a
classical vision of self-government 'of the people, by the people'.
Do animals have legal rights? This pioneering book tells readers
everything they need to know about animal rights law. Using
straightforward examples from over 30 legal systems from both the
civil and common law traditions, and based on popular courses run
by the authors at the Cambridge Centre for Animal Rights, the book
takes the reader from the earliest anti-cruelty laws to modern
animal welfare laws, to recent attempts to grant basic rights and
personhood to animals. To help readers understand this legal
evolution, it explains the ethics, legal theory, and social issues
behind animal rights and connected topics such as property,
subjecthood, dignity, and human rights. The book's companion
website (bloomsbury.pub/animal-rights-law) provides access to
briefs on the latest developments in this fast-changing area, and
gives readers the tools to investigate their own legal systems with
a list of key references to the latest cases, legislation, and
jurisdiction-specific bibliographic references. Rich in exercises
and study aids, this easy-to-use introduction is a prime resource
for students from all disciplines and for anyone else who wants to
understand how animals are protected by the law.
Where did the idea of sin arise from? In this meticulously argued
book, David Konstan takes a close look at classical Greek and Roman
texts, as well as the Bible and early Judaic and Christian
writings, and argues that the fundamental idea of "sin" arose in
the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, although this original
meaning was obscured in later Jewish and Christian interpretations.
Through close philological examination of the words for "sin," in
particular the Hebrew hata' and the Greek hamartia, he traces their
uses over the centuries in four chapters, and concludes that the
common modern definition of sin as a violation of divine law indeed
has antecedents in classical Greco-Roman conceptions, but acquired
a wholly different sense in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament.
As the economic crash of 2007-8 and its sequels developed,
neoliberal economists often said that economic theory can never
cope with such eruptions, and left-minded economists and political
economists struggled to find answers. This book documents
discussions as they developed; an introduction and an afterword
tell the story of the crisis, and offer syntheses and angles on
some of the debated issues. What were the chief imbalances in the
world economy? Is US hegemony breaking down? Were falling profit
rates at the root of the crash, and if so why were they falling?
How does "financialisation" reshape capitalism? Why did
neoliberalism prove so resilient? How might the repercussions lead
to it being subverted from the right or from the left? Contributors
are Robert Brenner, Dick Bryan, Trevor Evans, Barry Finger, Daniela
Gabor, Andrew Gamble, Michel Husson, Andrew Kliman, Costas
Lapavitsas, Simon Mohun, Fred Moseley, Leo Panitch, Hugo Radice,
and Alfredo Saad-Filho.
Why believe? What kinds of things do people believe in? How have
they come to believe them? And how does what they believe - or
disbelieve - shape their lives and the meaning the world has for
them? For Graham Ward, who is one of the mostinnovative writers on
contemporary religion, these questions are more than just academic.
They go to the heart not only of who but of what we are as human
beings. Over the last thirty years, our understandings of mind and
consciousness have changed in important ways through exciting new
developments in neuroscience. The author addresses this quantum
shift by exploring the biology of believing. He offers sustained
reflection on perception, cognition, time, emotional intelligence,
knowledge and sensation. Though the 'truth' of belief remains under
increasing attack, in a thoroughly secularised context, Ward boldly
argues that secularity is itself a form of believing. Pointing to
the places where prayer and dreams intersect, this book offers a
remarkable journey through philosophy, theology and culture,
thereby revealing the true nature of the human condition.
Assuming no previous study in logic, this informal yet rigorous
text covers the material of a standard undergraduate first course
in mathematical logic, using natural deduction and leading up to
the completeness theorem for first-order logic. At each stage of
the text, the reader is given an intuition based on standard
mathematical practice, which is subsequently developed with clean
formal mathematics. Alongside the practical examples, readers learn
what can and can't be calculated; for example the correctness of a
derivation proving a given sequent can be tested mechanically, but
there is no general mechanical test for the existence of a
derivation proving the given sequent. The undecidability results
are proved rigorously in an optional final chapter, assuming
Matiyasevich's theorem characterising the computably enumerable
relations. Rigorous proofs of the adequacy and completeness proofs
of the relevant logics are provided, with careful attention to the
languages involved. Optional sections discuss the classification of
mathematical structures by first-order theories; the required
theory of cardinality is developed from scratch. Throughout the
book there are notes on historical aspects of the material, and
connections with linguistics and computer science, and the
discussion of syntax and semantics is influenced by modern
linguistic approaches. Two basic themes in recent cognitive science
studies of actual human reasoning are also introduced. Including
extensive exercises and selected solutions, this text is ideal for
students in Logic, Mathematics, Philosophy, and Computer Science.
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