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Books > Philosophy > Topics in philosophy
We in the West are living in the midst of a deadly culture war. Our
rival worldviews clash with increasing violence in the public
arena, culminating in deadly riots and mass shootings. A fragmented
left now confronts a resurgent and reactionary right, which
threatens to reverse decades of social progress. Commentators have
declared that we live in a "post-truth world," one dominated by
online trolls and conspiracy theorists. How did we arrive at this
cultural crisis? How do we respond? This book speaks to this
critical moment through a new reading of the thought of Alasdair
MacIntyre. Over thirty years ago, MacIntyre predicted the coming of
a new Dark Ages. The premise of this book is that MacIntyre was
right all along. It presents his diagnosis of our cultural crisis.
It further presents his answer to the challenge of public reasoning
without foundations. Pitting him against John Rawls, Jurgen
Habermas, and Chantal Mouffe, Ethics Under Capital argues that
MacIntyre offers hope for a critical democratic politics in the
face of the culture wars.
Context and the Attitudes collects thirteen seminal essays by Mark
Richard on semantics and propositional attitudes. These essays
develop a nuanced account of the semantics and pragmatics of our
talk about such attitudes, an account on which in saying what
someone thinks, we offer our words as a 'translation' or
representation of the way the target of our talk represents the
world. A broad range of topics in philosophical semantics and the
philosophy of mind are discussed in detail, including: contextual
sensitivity; pretense and semantics; negative existentials;
fictional discourse; the nature of quantification; the role of
Fregean sense in semantics; 'direct reference' semantics; de re
belief and the contingent a priori; belief de se; intensional
transitives; the cognitive role of tense; and the prospects for
giving a semantics for the attitudes without recourse to properties
or possible worlds. Richard's extensive, newly written introduction
gives an overview of the essays. The introduction also discusses
attitudes realized by dispositions and other non-linguistic
cognitive structures, as well as the debate between those who think
that mental and linguistic content is structured like the sentences
that express it, and those who see content as essentially
unstructured.
This book is an original exploration of Deleuze's dynamic
philosophies of space, time and language, bringing Deleuze and
futurism together for the first time. Helen Palmer investigates
both the potential for creative novelty and the pitfalls of
formalism within both futurist and Deleuzian linguistic practices.
Through creative and rigorous analyses of Russian and Italian
futurist manifestos, the 'futurist' aspects of Deleuze's language
and thought are drawn out. The genre of the futurist manifesto is a
literary and linguistic model which can be applied to Deleuze's
work, not only at times when he writes explicitly in the style of a
manifesto but also in his earlier writings such as "Difference and
Repetition" (1968) and "The Logic of Sense" (1969). The way in
which avant-garde manifestos often attempt to perform and demand
their aims simultaneously, and the problems which arise due to
this, is an operation which can be perceived in Deleuze's writing.
With a particular focus on Russian zaum, the book negotiates the
philosophy behind futurist 'nonsense' language and how Deleuze
propounds analogous goals in The Logic of Sense. This book
critically engages with Deleuze's poetics, ultimately suggesting
that multiple linguistic models operate synecdochically within his
philosophy.
This volume brings together fourteen mostly previously published
articles by the prominent Nietzsche scholar Maudemarie Clark.
Clark's previous two books on Nietzsche focused on his views on
truth, metaphysics, and knowledge, but she has published a great
deal on Nietzsche's views on ethics and politics in article form.
Putting those articles - many of which appeared in obscure venues -
together in book form will allow readers to see more easily how her
views fit together as a whole, exhibit important developments of
her ideas, and highlight Clark's distinctive voice in Nietzsche
studies. Clark provides an introduction tying her themes together
and placing them in their broader context.
Oxford Studies in Normative Ethics is an annual forum for new work
in normative ethical theory. Leading philosophers present original
contributions to our understanding of a wide range of moral issues
and positions, from analysis of competing approaches to normative
ethics (including moral realism, constructivism, and expressivism)
to questions of how we should act and live well. OSNE will be an
essential resource for scholars and students working in moral
philosophy.
This book examines the U.S economy from 1967 to 2011 and utilizes a
new method to predict the future of the economy as far ahead as
2030. This new method uses population subgroup data. Variables used
in the cross-sectional matrix include ethnicity, sex, age, and
average personal income of those having personal income. The
mathematical basis, the data used, and the results are all
presented in graphic form. The estimates are compared to National
Bureau of Economic Research Dating Committee data. Projections
using estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Census are used to further
project personal income, personal income annual change, and
disposable personal income to 2030. The book concludes that the New
Energy Movement and their development of non-polluting energy and
electricity production methods that do not consume uranium,
radioactive material, or fossil fuels. Therefore, large amounts of
money should be invested in these devices, their development, and
implementation.
Sleep is quite a popular activity, indeed most humans spend around
a third of their lives asleep. However, cultural, political, or
aesthetic thought tends to remain concerned with the interpretation
and actions of those who are awake. How to Sleep argues instead
that sleep is a complex vital phenomena with a dynamic aesthetic
and biological consistency. Arguing through examples drawn from
contemporary, modern and renaissance art; from literature; film and
computational media, and bringing these into relation with the
history and findings of sleep science, this book argues for a new
interplay between biology and culture. Meditations on sex,
exhaustion, drugs, hormones and scientific instruments all play
their part in this wide-ranging exposition of sleep as an ecology
of interacting processes. How to Sleep builds on the interlocking
of theory, experience and experiment so that the text itself is a
lively articulation of bodies, organs and the aesthetic systems
that interact with them. This book won't enhance your sleeping
skills, but will give you something surprising to think about
whilst being ostensibly awake.
In an ever more globalized world, sustainable global development
requires effective intercultural co-operations. This dialogue
between non-western and western cultures is essential to
identifying global solutions for global socio-political challenges.
Modern Japanese Political Thought and International Relations
critiques the formation of non-western International Relations by
assessing Japanese political concepts to contemporary IR discourses
since the Meji Restoration, to better understand knowledge
exchanges in intercultural contexts. Each chapter focuses on a
particular aspect of this dialogue, from international law and
nationalism to concepts of peace and Daoism, this collection
grapples with postcolonial questions of Japan's indigenous IR
theory.
By offering a new way of thinking about the role of politically
engaged art, Susan Best opens up a new aesthetic field: reparative
aesthetics. The book identifies an innovative aesthetic on the part
of women photographers from the southern hemisphere, who against
the dominant modes of criticality in political art, look at how
cultural production can be reparative. The winner of the Art
Association of Australia and New Zealand best book award in 2017,
Reparative Aesthetics contributes an entirely new theory to the
interdisciplinary fields of aesthetics, affect studies, feminist
theory, politics and photography. Conceptually innovative and
fiercely original this book will move us beyond old political and
cultural stalemates and into new terrain for analysis and
reflection.
Fusing speculative realism, analytical and linguistic philosophy
this book theorises the fundamental impact the experience of
reading has on us. In reading, language provides us with a world
and meaning becomes perceptible. We can connect with another
subjectivity, another place, another time. At its most extreme,
reading changes our understanding of the world around us. Metanoia-
meaning literally a change of mind or a conversion-refers to this
kind of new way of seeing. To see the world in a new light is to
accept that our thinking has been irrevocably transformed. How is
that possible? And is it merely an intellectual process without any
impact on the world outside our brains? Innovatively tackling these
questions, this book mobilizes discussions from linguistics,
literary theory, philosophy of language, and cognitive science. It
re-articulates linguistic consciousness by underlining the poetic,
creative moment of language and sheds light on the ability of
language to transform not only our thinking but the world around us
as well.
The problem of free will arises from ordinary, commonsense
reflection. Shaun Nichols examines these ordinary attitudes from a
naturalistic perspective. He offers a psychological account of the
origins of the problem of free will. According to his account the
problem arises because of two naturally emerging ways of thinking
about ourselves and the world, one of which makes determinism
plausible while the other makes determinism implausible. Although
contemporary cognitive science does not settle whether choices are
determined, Nichols argues that our belief in indeterminist choice
is grounded in faulty inference and should be regarded as
unjustified. However, even if our belief in indeterminist choice is
false, it's a further substantive question whether that means that
free will doesn't exist. Nichols argues that, because of the
flexibility of reference, there is no single answer to whether free
will exists. In some contexts, it will be true to say 'free will
exists'; in other contexts, it will be false to say that. With this
substantive background in place, Bound promotes a pragmatic
approach to prescriptive issues. In some contexts, the prevailing
practical considerations suggest that we should deny the existence
of free will and moral responsibility; in other contexts the
practical considerations suggest that we should affirm free will
and moral responsibility. This allows for the possibility that in
some contexts, it is morally apt to exact retributive punishment;
in other contexts, it can be apt to take up the exonerating
attitude of hard incompatibilism.
What are the basic building blocks of the world? This book presents
a naturalistic theory saying that the universe and everything in it
can be reduced to three fundamental entities: a field, a set of
values that can be actualized at different places in the field, and
an actualizer of the values. The theory is defended by using it to
answer the main questions in metaphysics, such as: What is
causality, existence, laws of nature, consciousness, thinking, free
will, time, mathematical entities, ethical values, etc.? The theory
is compared with the main alternatives and argued to solve problems
better than the existing theories. Several new theories are
suggested, such as how to understand mental causation, free will
and the truth of ethics and mathematics.
Shedding new light on a controversial and intriguing issue, this
book will reshape the debate on how the Judeo-Christian tradition
views the morality of personal and national self-defense. Are
self-defense, national warfare, and revolts against tyranny holy
duties-or violations of God's will? Pacifists insist these actions
are the latter, forbidden by Judeo-Christian morality. This book
maintains that the pacifists are wrong. To make his case, the
author analyzes the full sweep of Judeo-Christian history from
earliest times to the present, combining history, scriptural
analysis, and philosophy to describe the changes and continuity of
Jewish and Christian doctrine about the use of lethal force. He
reveals the shifting patterns of thought in both religions and
presents the strongest arguments on both sides of the issue. The
book begins with the ancient Hebrews and Genesis and covers Jewish
history through the Holocaust and beyond. The analysis then shifts
to the story of Christianity from its origins, through the Middle
Ages and the Reformation, up the present day. Based on this
scrutiny, the author concludes that-contrary to popular belief-the
legitimacy of self-defense is strongly supported by Judeo-Christian
scripture and commentary, by philosophical analysis, and by the
respect for human dignity and human rights on which both Judaism
and Christianity are based. Takes a multidisciplinary approach,
directly engaging with leading writers on both sides of the issue
Examines Jewish and Christian sacred writings and commentary and
explores how interpretations have changed over time Offers careful
analysis of topics such as the political systems of the ancient
Hebrews, the Papacy's struggle for independence, the ways in which
New England ministers incited the American Revolution, and the
effects of the Vietnam War on the American Catholic church's views
on national self-defense Covers the many sects that have played
crucial roles in the debate over the legitimacy of armed force,
including Gnostics, Manicheans, Lutherans, Calvinists, and Quakers
Engages with the ideas of leading Jewish philosophers such as Rashi
and Maimonides; Christian philosophers such as Origen, Augustine,
Aquinas, and Sidney; and the most influential modern exponents of
pacifism, such as Dorothy Day, the Berrigan Brothers, and John
Howard Yoder
Featuring leading scholars from philosophy and religious studies,
The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Indian Ethics dispels the myth
that Indian thinkers and philosophers were uninterested in ethics.
This comprehensive research handbook traces Indian moral philosophy
through classical, scholastic Indian philosophy, pan-Indian
literature including the Epics, Ayurvedic medical ethics, as well
as recent, traditionalist and Neo-Hindu contributions. Contrary to
the usual myths about India (that Indians were too busy being
religious to care about ethics), moral theory constitutes the
paradigmatic differentia of formal Indian philosophy, and is
reflected richly in popular literature. Many of the papers make
this clear by an analytic explication that draws critical
comparisons and contrasts between classical Indian moral philosophy
and contemporary contributions to ethics. By critically addressing
ethics as a sub-discipline of philosophy and acknowledging the
mistaken marginalization of Indian moral philosophy, this handbook
reveals how Indian contributions can illuminate contemporary
philosophical research on ethics. Unlike previous approaches to
Indian ethics, this volume is organized in accordance with major
topics in moral philosophy. The volume contains an extended
introduction, exploring topics in moral semantics, the philosophy
of thought, (metaethical and normative) ethical theory, and the
politics of scholarship, which serve to show how the diversity of
Indian moral philosophy is a contribution to the discipline of
ethics. With an overview of Indian moral theory, and a glossary,
this is a valuable guide to understanding the past, present and
future research directions of a central component of Indian
philosophy.
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