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Books > Philosophy > Western philosophy > Modern Western philosophy, c 1600 to the present > Western philosophy, from c 1900 -
This is above all a practical book. It discusses with a wealth of
illustration and insight such subjects as the organization of the
intellectual worker's time, materials, and his life; the
integration of knowledge and the relation of one's specialty to
general knowledge; the choice and use of reading; the discipline of
memory; the taking of notes, their classification and use; and the
preparation and organization of the final production.
Squarely challenging a culture obsessed with success, an acclaimed
philosopher argues that failure is vital to a life well lived,
curing us of arrogance and self-deception and engendering humility
instead. Our obsession with success is hard to overlook. Everywhere
we compete, rank, and measure. Yet this relentless drive to be the
best blinds us to something vitally important: the need to be
humble in the face of life's challenges. Costica Bradatan mounts
his case for failure through the stories of four historical figures
who led lives of impact and meaning-and assiduously courted
failure. Their struggles show that engaging with our limitations
can be not just therapeutic but transformative. In Praise of
Failure explores several arenas of failure, from the social and
political to the spiritual and biological. It begins by examining
the defiant choices of the French mystic Simone Weil, who, in
sympathy with exploited workers, took up factory jobs that her
frail body could not sustain. From there we turn to Mahatma Gandhi,
whose punishing quest for purity drove him to ever more extreme
acts of self-abnegation. Next we meet the self-styled loser E. M.
Cioran, who deliberately turned his back on social acceptability,
and Yukio Mishima, who reveled in a distinctly Japanese
preoccupation with the noble failure, before looking to Seneca to
tease out the ingredients of a good life. Gleefully breaching the
boundaries between argument and storytelling, scholarship and
spiritual quest, Bradatan concludes that while success can make us
shallow, our failures can lead us to humbler, more attentive, and
better lived lives. We can do without success, but we are much
poorer without the gifts of failure.
This is an inspiring work which explains the way outsiders need to
apply themselves to gain something substantive from life. The
reader is given a stark appreciation of their world and how fickle,
meaningless and absurd it appears to them. The book destroys many
of the illusions which underpin people's assertions today. It
argues that in many instances there is no real rationale behind
what people do or aspire to in modern life as the way their lives
transpire is usually dependent on the things they are conditioned
to value or accept as authentic. Many readers will be able to
identify with the essentially human traits outsiders possess. Their
conception of freedom and truth must be something that is capable
of being applied to have any value to them. They do not believe
they are limited in any way for doing what they set their mind to,
but unfortunately modern society is designed in such a way which
scuppers their ability to express or be themselves. This book is a
testament to the human spirit in overcoming the impediments within
society which stifle the outsiders' freedom. It argues that
outsiders must preserve their uniqueness as individuals to derive
any value from life. They need to grasp the opportunity to project
themselves, often through a more creative medium, to discover a
quantifiable purpose and meaning within their lives.
This comprehensive new book introduces the core history of
phenomenology and assesses its relevance to contemporary
psychology, philosophy of mind, and cognitive science. From
critiques of artificial intelligence research programs to ongoing
work on embodiment and enactivism, the authors trace how
phenomenology has produced a valuable framework for analyzing
cognition and perception, whose impact on contemporary
psychological and scientific research, and philosophical debates
continues to grow. The first part of An Introduction to
Phenomenology is an extended overview of the history and
development of phenomenology, looking at its key thinkers, focusing
particularly on Husserl, Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty, as well as
its cultural and intellectual precursors. In the second half
Chemero and Kaufer turn their attention to the contemporary
interpretations and uses of phenomenology in cognitive science,
showing that phenomenology is a living source of inspiration in
contemporary interdisciplinary studies of the mind. Kaufer and
Chemero have written a clear, jargon-free account of phenomenology,
providing abundant examples and anecdotes to illustrate and to
entertain. This book is an ideal introduction to phenomenology and
cognitive science for the uninitiated, as well as for philosophy
and psychology students keen to deepen their knowledge.
Edward Said is a major 20th-century thinker. His impact on the way
we think about identity and postcolonialism has been profound and
transformative. In this book of essays, scholars of postcolonial
studies, philosophy and literary criticism, informed by Said's
wide-ranging scholarship, engage with and extend his work. Robert
Young, author of "White Mythologies", focuses his essay on the
notion of hybridity and ethnicity in England. Benita Parry explores
how a very English story of imperialism is narrated in Conrad's
"Nostromo". Other contributors include Bryan Cheyette, Moira
Ferguson and Bruce Robbins. The collection also looks at the work
of Frantz Fanon and cultural difference in Africa. And following
Said's work and activism around the Palestinian question there are
also essays exploring the relationship betwen Jewish and Arabic
identity. Keith Ansell-Pearson is the author of "Nietzsche, Deleuze
and the Philosophy Machine". Benita Parry is the author of
"Delusions and Discoveries: Studies on India in the British
Imagination" and "Conrad and Imperialism". Judith Squires is the
joint editor of "Cultural Remix: Theories of Politics and the
Popular" and "Space and Place: Theories of Identity and Location".
As read on BBC Radio 4's 'Book of the Week', a timely, moving and
profound exploration of how writers, composers and artists have
searched for solace while facing loss, tragedy and crisis, from the
historian and Booker Prize-shortlisted novelist Michael Ignatieff.
'This erudite and heartfelt survey reminds us that the need for
consolation is timeless, as are the inspiring words and examples of
those who walked this path before us.' Toronto Star When we lose
someone we love, when we suffer loss or defeat, when catastrophe
strikes - war, famine, pandemic - we go in search of consolation.
Once the province of priests and philosophers, the language of
consolation has largely vanished from our modern vocabulary, and
the places where it was offered, houses of religion, are often
empty. Rejecting the solace of ancient religious texts, humanity
since the sixteenth century has increasingly placed its faith in
science, ideology, and the therapeutic. How do we console each
other and ourselves in an age of unbelief? In a series of portraits
of writers, artists, and musicians searching for consolation - from
the books of Job and Psalms to Albert Camus, Anna Akhmatova, and
Primo Levi - writer and historian Michael Ignatieff shows how men
and women in extremity have looked to each other across time to
recover hope and resilience. Recreating the moments when great
figures found the courage to confront their fate and the
determination to continue unafraid, On Consolation takes those
stories into the present, movingly contending that we can revive
these traditions of consolation to meet the anguish and
uncertainties of the twenty-first century.
In this Modern Master on Jacques Lacan (1901-81), Malcolm Bowie
presents a clear, coherent introduction to the work of one of the
most influential and forbidding thinkers of our century. A
practising psychoanalyst for almost 50 years, Lacan first achieved
notoriety with his pioneering article on Freud in the 1930s. After
the Second World War, he emerged as the most original and
controversial figure in French psychoanalysis, and because a
guiding light in the Parisian intellectual resurgence of the 1950s,
Lacan initiated and subsequently steered the crusade to reinterpret
Freud's work in the light of the new structuralist theories of
linguistics, evolving an elaborate, dense, systematic analysis of
the relations between language and desire, focusing on the human
subject as he or she is defined by linguistic and social pressures.
His lectures and articles were collected and published as Ecrits in
1966, a text whose influence has been immense and persists to this
day. Knowledge of Lacan's revolutionary ideas, which underpin those
of his successors across the disciplines, is useful to an
understanding of the work of many modern thinkers - literary
theoriest, linguists, psychoanalysts, anthropologists. Malcolm
Bowie's accessible critical introduction provides the perfect
starting point for any exploration of the work of this formidable
thinker.
Martin Heidegger's Impact on Psychotherapy is the first
comprehensive presentation in English of the background, theory and
practice of Daseinsanalysis, the analysis of human existence. It is
the work of the co-founding member of a radical re-envisioning of
psychoanalysis initiated by the work of the Swiss psychiatrist,
Medard Boss (1903-1990). Originally published in 1998, this new
edition of Gion Condrau's (1919-2006) book acquaints new
generations of psychotherapists, psychiatrists and psychoanalysts
with an alternative to psychodynamic, humanistic and existential
forms of the therapy of the word that is currently experience a
renaissance of interest, especially in the United States and the
UK. The volume presents the basic ideas of Martin Heidegger
(1889-1976) that made possible this unique approach to
psychotherapy. It is arranged in sections on (1) the foundations of
Daseinsanalysis in Heidegger's thought, (2) understanding
psychopathology, (3) daseinsanalytic psychotherapy in practice, (4)
working with the dying person, and (5) the preparation of the
professional Daseinsanalyst. Several extended cases are presented
to illustrate daseinsanalytic practice at work (narcissistic
personality disorder and obsessive compulsive personality
disorder). Since dreaming and dream life are central to
Daseinsanalysis, a number of dreams are analyzed from its
perspective. Daseinsanalysis originated as a form of psychoanalysis
and retains a number of its features: free association, optional
use of the couch, and attention to dreams. It differs from
psychoanalysis by abandoning the natural science perspective which
understands human experience and behavior in terms of causality.
Instead, human existence is seen to be utterly different from every
other kind of sentient animal life. Taking a phenomenological
perspective, Daseinsanalysis is based on letting the existence of
the human being in all his or her uniqueness show itself. In
practice, Daseinsanalysis avoids intervening in the life of the
person in favor of maximizing the conditions in which existence can
come into its own with maximum freedom.
Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) is a qualitative
research approach committed to the examination of how people make
sense of their major life experiences. This text provides a
detailed guide to conducting IPA research, presenting the
theoretical underpinnings of the approach, a comprehensive overview
of the stages of an IPA research project, and examples of
high-quality IPA studies. Extended worked examples from the
authors' own studies in health, psychological distress, and
identity illustrate the breadth and depth of IPA research, making
this book the definitive guide to IPA for students and researchers
alike. New to this edition: - A thoroughly updated chapter
dedicated to analysis - An exemplary mini-study - Improved and
updated terminology - A chapter discussing innovations in design,
data collection, and collaboration 'It is not often I can use
"accessible" and "phenomenology" in the same sentence, but reading
the new book, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis...certainly
provides me the occasion to do so. I can say this because these
authors provide an engaging and clear introduction to a relatively
new analytical approach' - The Weekly Qualitative Report
As read on BBC Radio 4's 'Book of the Week', a timely, moving and
profound exploration of how writers, composers and artists have
searched for solace while facing loss, tragedy and crisis, from the
historian and Booker Prize-shortlisted novelist Michael Ignatieff.
'This erudite and heartfelt survey reminds us that the need for
consolation is timeless, as are the inspiring words and examples of
those who walked this path before us.' Toronto Star When we lose
someone we love, when we suffer loss or defeat, when catastrophe
strikes - war, famine, pandemic - we go in search of consolation.
Once the province of priests and philosophers, the language of
consolation has largely vanished from our modern vocabulary, and
the places where it was offered, houses of religion, are often
empty. Rejecting the solace of ancient religious texts, humanity
since the sixteenth century has increasingly placed its faith in
science, ideology, and the therapeutic. How do we console each
other and ourselves in an age of unbelief? In a series of portraits
of writers, artists, and musicians searching for consolation - from
the books of Job and Psalms to Albert Camus, Anna Akhmatova, and
Primo Levi - writer and historian Michael Ignatieff shows how men
and women in extremity have looked to each other across time to
recover hope and resilience. Recreating the moments when great
figures found the courage to confront their fate and the
determination to continue unafraid, On Consolation takes those
stories into the present, movingly contending that we can revive
these traditions of consolation to meet the anguish and
uncertainties of the twenty-first century.
Although Camus was called the "conscience of his age," no writer
has continued to be both more vilified and exalted in the West. His
writings are not only a devastating critique of Western philosophy,
but Camus' cultural horizons are infused with heartfel
This book explores the importance of the philosophical dimension of
emotions, turning the traditional relationship between emotions and
philosophy upside down: instead of being one of many objects of
philosophical thought, an emotion contains an inherent
philosophical truth. For this thesis, the author refers to
Kierkegaard's groundbreaking discovery of 'anxiety' as an emotional
experience that is totally different from fear. This allows a
deeper understanding of the emotions, and reveals the philosophical
primacy of emotions over thoughts, which always convey a meaning.
Part I explores the three aspects of anxiety (anxiety about
'nothing', guilt-anxiety, shame-anxiety) that are distinguished by
their capacity to disclose the human condition in its naked
thatness, which is generally for most of us too hard to bear. Parts
II and III then discuss the basic human need for protection from
being overwhelmed by the ontological-emotional experience of
anxiety. Part II examines the protection given by negation of this
intolerable truth in its direct emotional repudiation in nausea,
envy and despair. Part III addresses the protection by the two
positive feelings of love and trust, which claim to be stronger
than anxiety and therefore to be able to overcome it. Only sympathy
cannot be categorised here. It belongs in a psychoanalytic therapy
guided by existential perspectives, where the analyst listens with
a philosophical ear and recognises his patients as 'reluctant
philosophers' who are especially sensitive to the ontological truth
disclosed in anxiety and therefore suffer not only 'from
reminiscences' (Freud), but also from their own being.
The Oxford University Studies in the Enlightenment series,
previously known as SVEC (Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth
Century), has published over 500 peer-reviewed scholarly volumes
since 1955 as part of the Voltaire Foundation at the University of
Oxford. International in focus, Oxford University Studies in the
Enlightenment volumes cover wide-ranging aspects of the eighteenth
century and the Enlightenment, from gender studies to political
theory, and from economics to visual arts and music, and are
published in English or French.
Understanding the motivations behind those who partake in extreme
sports can be difficult for some. If the popular conception holds
that the incentive behind extreme sports participation is entirely
to do with risking one's life, then this confusion will continue to
exist. However, an in-depth examination of the phenomenology of the
extreme sport experience yields a much more complex picture. This
book revisits the definition of extreme sports as those activities
where a mismanaged mistake or accident would most likely result in
death. Extreme sports are not necessarily synonymous with risk and
participation may not be about risk-taking. Participants report
deep inner transformations that influence world views and
meaningfulness, feelings of coming home and authentic integration
as well as a freedom beyond the everyday. Phenomenologically, these
experiences have been interpreted as transcendent of time, other,
space and body. Extreme sport participation therefore points to a
more potent, life-enhancing endeavour worthy of further
investigation. This book adopts a broad hermeneutic
phenomenological approach to critique the assumed relationship to
risk-taking, the death wish and the concept of "No Fear" in extreme
sports, and repositions the experience in a previously unexplored
manner. This is valuable reading for students and academics
interested in Sports Psychology, Social Psychology, Health
Psychology, Tourism, Leisure Studies and the practical applications
of phenomenology.
In an enlightening dialogue with Descartes, Kant, Husserl and
Gadamer, Professor Seifert argues that the original inspiration of
phenomenology was nothing other than the primordial insight of
philosophy itself, the foundation of philosophia perennis. His
radical rethinking of the phenomenological method results in a
universal, objectivist philosophy in direct continuity with Plato,
Aristotle and Augustine. In order to validate the classical claim
to know autonomous being, the author defends Husserl's
methodological principle "Back to things themselves" from
empiricist and idealist critics, including the later Husserl, and
replies to the arguments of Kant which attempt to discredit the
knowability of things in themselves. Originally published in 1982,
this book culminates in a phenomenological and critical unfolding
of the Augustinian cogito, as giving access to immutable truth
about necessary essences and the real existence of personal being.
Professor Grossman's introduction to the revolutionary work of
Husserl, Heidegger and Sartre studies the ideas of their
predecessors too, explaining in detail Descartes's conception of
the mind, Brentano's theory of intentionality, and Kierkegaard's
emphasis on dread, while tracing the debate over existence and
essence as far back as Aquinas and Aristotle. For a full
understanding of the existentialists and phenomenologists, we must
also understand the problems that they were trying to solve. This
book, originally published in 1984, presents clearly how the main
concerns of phenomenology and existentialism grew out of tradition.
This volume contains a translation of four early manuscripts by
Alfred Schutz, unpublished at the time, written between 1924 and
1928. The publication of these four essays adds much to our
knowledge and appreciation of the wide range of Schutz's
phenomenological and sociological interests. Originally published
in 1987. The essays consist of: a challenging presentation of a
phenomenology of cognition and a treatment of Bergson's conceptions
of images, duration, space time and memory; a discussion of the
meanings connected with the grammatical forms of language in
general; a consideration of the relation between meaning-contents
and literary forms in poetry, literary prose narration and dramatic
presentation; and an examination of resemblances and differences in
the inner forms and characteristics of the major theatrical art
forms.
Originally published in English in 1984, this collection of essays
documents a dialogue between phenomenology and Marxism, with the
contributors representing a cross-section from the two traditions.
The theoretical and historical presuppositions of the phenomenology
inaugurated by Husserl are very different from those of the much
older Marxist tradition, yet, as these essays show, there are
definite points of contact, communication and exchange between the
two traditions.
This book looks at two 'revolutions' in philosophy - phenomenology
and conceptual analysis which have been influential in sociology
and psychology. It discusses humanistic psychiatry and sociological
approaches to the specific area of mental illness, which counter
the ultimately reductionist implications of Freudian
psycho-analytic theory. The book, originally published in 1973,
concludes by stating the broad underlying themes of the two forms
of humanistic philosophy and indicating how they relate to the
problems of theory and method in sociology.
This volume of collected papers, with the accompanying essays by
the editors, is the definitive source book for the work of this
important experimental psychologist. Originally published in 1991,
it offered previously inaccessible essays by Albert Michotte on
phenomenal causality, phenomenal permanence, phenomenal reality,
and perception and cognition. Within these four sections are the
most significant and representative of the Belgian psychologist's
research in the area of experimental phenomenology. Extremely
insightful introductions by the editors are included that place the
essays in context. Michotte's ideas have played an important role
in much research on the development of perception, and his work on
social perception continues to be influential in social psychology.
The book also includes some lesser-known aspects of his work that
are equally important; for example, a remarkable set of articles on
pictorial analysis.
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