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Books > Philosophy > Western philosophy
A wide range of specialists provide a comprehensive overview of the
reception of Pythagorean ideas in the Middle Ages and the
Renaissance, shedding new light especially on the understudied
'Medieval Pythagoras' of the Latin West. They also explore the
survival of Pythagoreanism in the Arabic, Jewish, and Persian
cultures, thus adopting a multicultural perspective. Their common
concern is to detect the sources of this reception, and to follow
their circulation in diverse linguistic areas. The reader can thus
have a panoramic view of the major themes belonging to the
Pythagorean heritage - number philosophy and the sciences of the
quadrivium; ethics and way of life; theology, metaphysics and the
soul - until the Early Modern times.
Nietzsche's famous attack upon established Christianity and
religion is brought to the reader in this superb hardcover edition
of The Antichrist, introduced and translated by H.L. Mencken. The
incendiary tone throughout The Antichrist separates it from most
other well-regarded philosophical texts; even in comparison to
Nietzsche's earlier works, the tone of indignation and conviction
behind each argument made is evident. There is little lofty
ponderousness; the book presents its arguments and points at a
blistering pace, placing itself among the most accessible and
comprehensive works of philosophy. The Antichrist comprises a total
of sixty-two short chapters, each with distinct philosophical
arguments or angle upon the targets of Christianity, organised
religion, and those who masquerade as faithful but are in actuality
anything but. Pointedly opposed to notions of Christian morality
and virtue, Nietzsche vehemently sets out a case for the faith's
redundancy and lack of necessity in human life.
Since antiquity, philosophers have investigated how change works.
If a thing moves from one state to another, when exactly does it
start to be in its new state, and when does it cease to be in its
former one? In the late Middle Ages, the "problem of the instant of
change" was subject to considerable debate and gave rise to
sophisticated theories; it became popular and controversial again
in the second half of the twentieth century. The studies collected
here constitute the first attempt at tackling the different aspects
of an issue that, until now, have been the object of seminal but
isolated forays. They do so in through a historical perspective,
offering both the medieval and the contemporary viewpoints.
Contributors are Damiano Costa, Graziana Ciola, William O. Duba,
Simo Knuuttila, Greg Littmann, Can Laurens Loewe, Graham Priest,
Magali Roques, Niko Strobach, Edith Dudley Sylla, Cecilia Trifogli
and Gustavo Fernandez Walker.
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.
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