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The State and its Critics is an authoritative selection of recent
essays in normative political philosophy on the state as a form of
political institution, focusing on its role with respect to such
values as freedom, justice, well-being, economic efficiency,
community, democracy and peace. These essays represent a variety of
views about the state, from anarchist to statist and a variety of
philosophical orientations, conservative, libertarian, Marxian and
liberal.
"The American Ideology" explicates and criticizes two notions of
reason in society: efficiency and the concept of "the reasonable."
Despite their considerable appeal, these notions nowadays
underwrite an orientation towards public policy that is both
inadequate and beneficial to elite interests; an orientation that
constitutes a distinct "American Ideology."
To make this case, Levine traces the history of the concept of
efficiency, from Hobbes, through the utilitarian tradition, to
contemporary economic and philosophical paradigms; and examines the
strengths and weaknesses of the democratic theory implicit in John
Rawls's pioneering work on justice and political legitimacy.
"The American Ideology" explicates and criticizes two notions of
reason in society: efficiency and the concept of "the reasonable."
Despite their considerable appeal, these notions nowadays
underwrite an orientation towards public policy that is both
inadequate and beneficial to elite interests; an orientation that
constitutes a distinct "American Ideology."
To make this case, Levine traces the history of the concept of
efficiency, from Hobbes, through the utilitarian tradition, to
contemporary economic and philosophical paradigms; and examines the
strengths and weaknesses of the democratic theory implicit in John
Rawls's pioneering work on justice and political legitimacy.
This bold and unabashedly utopian book advances the thesis that
Marx's notion of communism is a defensible, normative ideal.
However, unlike many others who have written in this area, Levine
applies the tools and techniques of analytic philosophy to
formulate and defend his radical, political programme. The argument
proceeds by filtering the ideals and institutions of Marxism
through Rousseau's notion of the 'general will'. Once Rousseau's
ideas are properly understood it is possible to construct a
community of equals who share some vision of a common good that can
be achieved and maintained through cooperation or coordination that
is at once both voluntary and authoritative. The book engages with
liberal theory in order to establish its differences from
Rousseauean-Marxian political theory. This provocative book will be
of particular interest to political philosophers and political
scientists concerned with Marxism, socialist theory and democratic
theory.
This bold and unabashedly utopian book advances the thesis that
Marx's notion of communism is a defensible, normative ideal.
However, unlike many others who have written in this area, Levine
applies the tools and techniques of analytic philosophy to
formulate and defend his radical, political programme. The argument
proceeds by filtering the ideals and institutions of Marxism
through Rousseau's notion of the 'general will'. Once Rousseau's
ideas are properly understood it is possible to construct a
community of equals who share some vision of a common good that can
be achieved and maintained through cooperation or coordination that
is at once both voluntary and authoritative. The book engages with
liberal theory in order to establish its differences from
Rousseauean-Marxian political theory. This provocative book will be
of particular interest to political philosophers and political
scientists concerned with Marxism, socialist theory and democratic
theory.
"Nice idea, but it doesn't work in practice." How often have
socialists had this claim thrown back at them? And now, after the
events of 1989, many of the Left are openly wondering what a
defensible idea of socialism would be. This work addresses this
question, taking as its point of departure John Roemer's model of
"coupon socialism". Roemer's model aims to combine the market with
a commitment to equality through a simple, yet starkly radical,
proposal: all citizens would receive an equal number of coupons
with which to buy ownership rights (voting, dividends) in
companies. These coupons would constitute a second, separate form
of currency, but could not be exchanged for ordinary money, nor
transferred to other people. Not all the contributors to this
collection endorse Roemer's working model of market socialism, but
they are all stimulated by his foray into a "real utopia".
"Reconstructing Marxism" explores fundamental questions about the
structure of Marxist theory and its prospects for the future. The
authors maintain that the disintegration of the old theoretical
unity of classical Marxism is in part responsible for what is
commonly called the "crisis of Marxism." Only a reconstructed
Marxism can come to terms with this disintegration.
Addressing a range of problems in historical materialism and class
analysis, the authors compare historical materialism with Darwinian
evolutionary theory, and identify what is distinctively
"historical" in Marx's theory of history. Through an evaluation of
G.A. Cohen's defense and Anthony Giddens's critique of historical
materialism they suggest what a plausible, yet still Marxist,
theory of history might be. They analyze the relationship of
micro-analysis to macro theory and the assignment of causal primacy
in explanations, and present a general assessment of the current
state of Marxist theory and the prospects for its analytical
reconstruction.
Distinguished by the clarity of its presentation, the analytical
rigor of its argument and its concern with fundamental
philosophical and sociological issues, "Reconstructing Marxism"
advances, at this critical juncture in the history of Marxism, a
challenging new research program.
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Tropospherence
Andrew Levine
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R448
Discovery Miles 4 480
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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This collection is the year's (2018-2019) documentation of
emotional and creative channeling. It is intended to reveal the
deepest parts of conscious/unconscious and subconscious elements of
daily life as it comes in contact with the rich unseen substrates
that feed us. This lyrical interconnection brings words out of the
darkest realms into daylight.
When I was a child my Aunt Gloria named me B?dobo. She did not
understand that it was a spiritual name. As B?dobo, I had the
ability to write messages from the spirit realm. Over the years
these dictations became part of my spiritual practice.
These poems are joined by common themes. They are a record of
shedding the past and evidence of releasing the moment, hence,
Moltings.
Bunny in the corn, message of hope at midnight of joy and beyond.
Fifty-two new poems by Andrew Levine. Cover illustration by Eva
Zack.
This exploration of the effects of sleep and the accompanying
dreams are the most recent pieces from 2012-2013 of the "award
winning" poet, Andrew Levine.
The recent literature on monetary policy in the presence of a zero
lower bound on interest rates has shown that forward guidance
regarding the path of interest rates can be very effective in
preserving macroeconomic stability in the face of a contractionary
demand shock; moreover, that literature apparently leaves little
scope for any further improvements in stabilization performance via
non-traditional monetary policies. In this paper, we characterize
optimal policy under commitment in a prototypical New Keynesian
model and examine whether those conclusions are sensitive to the
specifiation of the shock process and to the interest elasticity of
aggregate demand. Although forward guidance is effective in
offsetting natural rate shocks of moderate size and persistence, we
find that the macroeconomic outcomes are much less appealing for
larger and more persistent shocks, especially when the interest
elasticity parameter is set to values widely used in the
literature. Thus, while forward guidance could be suffcient for
mitigating the effects of a "Great Moderation"-style shock, a
combination of forward guidance and other monetary policy measures
- such as large-scale asset purchases - might well be called for in
responding to a "Great Recession"-style shock.
This book was written during 2011 primarily. It includes the many
issues and fantasies that poured out from me during this period.
When I write, I most often don't know what it is that I am writing
about. It is an act that consumes me, like an ague.
Afghanistan looms as the key foreign policy challenge for the Obama
administration. Under the previous Bush administration, foreign
policy was driven primarily by security considerations, and
Afghanistan was viewed a frontline state in the Global War on
Terror. The military had the key role in implementing the USG's
foreign policy, and foreign assistance was integrated within the
U.S. National Security Strategy. However, this approach may not be
appropriate given Afghanistan's history, economic and social
conditions. Afghanistan is an agrarian society and is one of the
poorest countries in the world due to decades of conflict. In
particular, the Soviet invasion and occupation from 1979-89 had a
devastating impact on its rural economy. As a result, the country
now cannot produce enough food to meet its needs, and farmers in
insecure regions increasingly rely on opium as a cash crop to
support their families. The exponential growth of opium has
undermined the economy, government and social fabric of the
country. While more than 80 percent of Afghanistan's population
relies on agriculture, the USG's support to the sector has been
provided primarily through the counter-narcotics program, which
promotes alternatives to opium production. However, these efforts
have had limited success. In order to promote conditions for
long-term stability, a more balanced approach is needed. A key
factor in Afghanistan's long-term stability is revitalization of
the agriculture sector, which is the basis for food security, rural
livelihoods, and growth of the national economy.
This selection of poems from 2010 and 2011 explores the following
notions: what constitutes meaning, what cajoles the human being
into realms of greater joy, and what absurdities constitute our
personal cobbled reality. The poems move in the direction of
describing how human beings illustrate, embellish, create, and hide
from the rich realities that make up our earthly and spiritual
existence.
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