Since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, the image projected of Northern Ireland in the mainstream media is frequently that of a newly prosperous, modern, post-conflict society - a rare example of a successful peace process. Promoted as a great place to live and work, the garden seemed to be getting rosier by the day, that is until the Stormont Assembly collapsed in 2017. Written to coincide with the twentieth anniversary of the GFA, this book argues that the seeds of recent problems were sown in the 1998 agreement. The fiasco of a Renewable Heating Incentive that overpaid participants, the lingering whiff of corruption, communities in crisis and growing poverty are all symptoms of the inherent failings of the supposed settlement. Current difficulties are more than teething problems arising from the transition from war to peace and neo-liberalism; they're the first instalment of a deeper crisis in a northern Irish state and society, which has never properly addressed the corrosive nature of sectarianism. Rather than ridding Northern Ireland of sectarianism, neo-liberalism, operating in the absence of armed conflict, has been able to accommodate and, in some instances, create a new form of sectarianism. The GFA has led to a profound democratic deficit. This book focuses on the nature of the North's new sectarian political class who are the principal beneficiaries of the GFA, but attention is also drawn to the labour movement, the plight of precarious and migrant workers, and the undermining of third sector autonomy. Behind the latter is the continuing suffering within communities still impacted by the long period of armed conflict and the evolution of republicanism and Unionism-Loyalism.

This major new series in the philosophy of science aims to provide a new generation of textbooks for the subject. The series will not only offer fresh treatments of core topics in the theory and methodology of scientific knowledge, but also introductions to newer areas of the discipline. Furthermore, the series will cover topics in current science that raise significant foundational issues both for scientific theory and for philosophy more generally. Biology raises distinct questions of its own not only for philosophy of science, but for metaphysics, epistemology and ethics. This comprehensive new textbook for a rapidly growing field of study provides students new to the subject with an up-to-date presentation of the key philosophical issues. Care is taken throughout to keep the technicalities accessible to the non-biologist but without sacrificing the philosophical subtleties. The first part of the book covers the philosophical challenges posed by evolution and evolutionary biology, beginning with Darwin's central argument in the Origin of the Species. Individual chapters cover natural selection, the selfish gene, alternative units of selection, developmental systems theory, adaptionism and issues in macroevolution. The second part of the book examines philosophical questions arising in connection with biological traits, function, nature and nurture, and biological kinds. The third part of the book examines metaphysical questions, biology's relation with the traditional concerns of philosophy of science, and how evolution has been introduced into epistemological debates. The final part considers the relevance of biology to questions about ethics, religion and human nature.

This major new series in the philosophy of science aims to provide a new generation of textbooks for the subject. The series will not only offer fresh treatments of core topics in the theory and methodology of scientific knowledge, but also introductions to newer areas of the discipline. Furthermore, the series will cover topics in current science that raise significant foundational issues both for scientific theory and for philosophy more generally. Biology raises distinct questions of its own not only for philosophy of science, but for metaphysics, epistemology and ethics. This comprehensive new textbook for a rapidly growing field of study provides students new to the subject with an up-to-date presentation of the key philosophical issues. Care is taken throughout to keep the technicalities accessible to the non-biologist but without sacrificing the philosophical subtleties. The first part of the book covers the philosophical challenges posed by evolution and evolutionary biology, beginning with Darwin's central argument in the Origin of the Species. Individual chapters cover natural selection, the selfish gene, alternative units of selection, developmental systems theory, adaptionism and issues in macroevolution. The second part of the book examines philosophical questions arising in connection with biological traits, function, nature and nurture, and biological kinds. The third part of the book examines metaphysical questions, biology's relation with the traditional concerns of philosophy of science, and how evolution has been introduced into epistemological debates. The final part considers the relevance of biology to questions about ethics, religion and human nature.

A comprehensive and accessible presentation of key philosophical issues in biology.