Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Over recent decades, Spinoza scholarship has significantly developed in both France and the United States, shedding new light on the work of this major philosopher. Spinoza in Twenty-First-Century American and French Philosophy systematically unites for the first time American and French Spinoza specialists in conversation with each other, illustrating the fecundity of bringing together diverse approaches to the study of Early Modern philosophy. Spinoza in Twenty-First-Century American and French Philosophy gives readers a unique opportunity to discover the most consequential and sophisticated aspects of American and French Spinoza research today. Featuring chapters by American scholars with French experts responding to these, the book is structured according to the themes of Spinoza's philosophy, including metaphysics, philosophy of mind, moral philosophy and political philosophy. The contributions consider the full range of Spinoza's philosophy, with chapters addressing not only the Ethics but his lesser-known early works and political works as well. Issues covered include Spinoza's views on substance and mode, his conception of number, his account of generosity as freedom, and many other topics.

The Middle East and Globalization discusses past and contemporary political, societal, economic, and cultural trends in the Middle East against the background of comprehensive theories of globalization. The chapters draw on a shared methodological approach, looking at the fractures and horizons of globalization that are shaping the Middle East.

This title offers a novel cross-disciplinary theoretical perspective on conflict and conflict transformation in world society. The Middle East will continue to be a focus for theories of Conflict Studies and IR for some time to come. This book offers a new perspective (modern systems theory) on the study of conflicts. It covers conflict in Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Jordan plus Egypt as well as Israel - the types of domestic, inter-state and global conflict dimensions which emanate from this region are at the heart of any analysis of conflict (and cooperation) dynamics in the entire Arab-Israeli region. It integrates the study of conflicts in the Middle East region into a modern systems theoretical framework.

Exploration of Cortical Function summarizes recent research efforts aiming at the revelation of cortical population coding and signal processing strategies. Topics include optical detection techniques of population activity in the sub-millimeter range, advanced methods for the statistical analysis of these data, and biologically inspired neuronal modeling techniques for population activities in the frameworks of optimal coding, statistical learning theory, and mean-field recurrent networks.

Exploration of Cortical Function is unique in that it covers one complete branch of population-based brain research ranging from techniques for data acquisition over data analysis up to modeling techniques for the quantification of functional principles. The volume covers an area which is of great current interest to researchers working on cerebral cortex. The combination of models and image analysis techniques to examine the activity of large cohorts of neurons is especially intriguing and prone to considerable error and debate.

The intended readership is students and researchers from many disciplines, including neuroscience, biology, physics, and computer science, interested in how an interdisciplinary framework from biology advanced statistics and computational neuroscience can be used to gather a quantitative understanding of cortical function. Experimentalists may gain insight into statistical and neuronal modeling techniques, whereas theoreticians will find an introductory treatment of neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, and measurement techniques.

Chemical vapor sensing arrays have grown in popularity over the past two decades, finding applications for tasks such as process control, environmental monitoring, and medical diagnosis. This is the first in-depth analysis of the process of choosing materials and components for these "electronic noses", with special emphasis on computational methods. For a view of component selection with an experimental perspective, readers may refer to the complementary volume of Integrated Microanalytical Systems entitled "Combinatorial Methodologies for Sensor Materials."

Knowledge Representation and Relation Nets introduces a fresh approach to knowledge representation that can be used to organize study material in a convenient, teachable and learnable form. The method extends and formalizes concept mapping by developing knowledge representation as a structure of concepts and the relationships among them. Such a formal description of analogy results in a controlled method of modeling new' knowledge in terms of existing' knowledge in teaching and learning situations, and its applications result in a consistent and well-organized approach to problem solving. Additionally, strategies for the presentation of study material to learners arise naturally in this representation. While the theory of relation nets is dealt with in detail in part of this book, the reader need not master the formal mathematics in order to apply the theory to this method of knowledge representation. To assist the reader, each chapter starts with a brief summary, and the main ideas are illustrated by examples. The reader is also given an intuitive view of the formal notions used in the applications by means of diagrams, informal descriptions, and simple sets of construction rules. Knowledge Representation and Relation Nets is an excellent source for teachers, courseware designers and researchers in knowledge representation, cognitive science, theories of learning, the psychology of education, and structural modeling.

This book summarizes strategies, methods, algorithms, frameworks and systems for the fault-tolerant design and control of automated vehicles and processes. Intelligent systems may be able to accommodate inevitable faults, but this ability requires targeted design processes and advanced control systems. This book explains the respective elements involved in automated vehicles and processes. It provides detailed descriptions of fault-tolerant design, not offered in the existent scientific literature. With regard to fault-tolerant control, the focus is on innovative methods, which can accommodate not only uncertainties, but also shared and flexible redundant elements. The book is intended to present a concise guide for researchers in the field of fault-tolerant design and control, and to provide concrete insights for design and control engineers working in the field of automated vehicles and processes.

It is generally assumed that regional integration leads to stability and peace. This book is the first systematic study of the impact of European integration on the transformation of border conflicts. It provides a theoretical framework centred on four 'pathways' of impact and applies them to five cases of border conflicts: Cyprus, Ireland, Greece/Turkey, Israel/Palestine and various conflicts on Russia's border with the EU. The contributors suggest that integration and association provide the EU with potentially powerful means to influence border conflicts, but that the EU must constantly re-adjust its policies depending on the dynamics of each conflict. Their findings reveal the conditions upon which the impact of integration rests and challenge the widespread notion that integration is necessarily good for peace. This book will appeal to scholars and students of international relations, European politics, and security studies studying European integration and conflict analysis.

By bringing into dialogue modern systems theory and international relations, this text provides theoretically innovative and empirically rich perspectives on conflicts in world society.
This collection contrasts Niklas Luhmann's theory of world society in modern systems theory with more classical approaches to the study of conflicts, offering a fresh perspective on territorial conflicts in international relations. It includes chapters on key issues such as:
conflicts and human rights
conflicts in the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa
war and violence
Greek-Turkish relations
conflict theory
the role of states in world societal conflicts
legal territorial disputes in Australia
hegemony and conflict in global law
conflict management after 9/11.
While all contributions draw from the theory of world society in modern systems theory, the authors offer rich multi-disciplinary perspectives which bring in concepts from international relations, peace and conflict studies, sociology, law and philosophy.
Territorial Conflicts in World Society will appeal to international relations specialists, peace and conflict researchers and sociologists.

By bringing into dialogue modern systems theory and international relations, this text provides theoretically innovative and empirically rich perspectives on conflicts in world society.

This collection contrasts Niklas Luhmann's theory of world society in modern systems theory with more classical approaches to the study of conflicts, offering a fresh perspective on territorial conflicts in international relations. It includes chapters on key issues such as:

• conflicts and human rights
• conflicts in the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa
• war and violence
• Greek-Turkish relations
• conflict theory
• the role of states in world societal conflicts
• legal territorial disputes in Australia
• hegemony and conflict in global law
• conflict management after 9/11.

While all contributions draw from the theory of world society in modern systems theory, the authors offer rich multi-disciplinary perspectives which bring in concepts from international relations, peace and conflict studies, sociology, law and philosophy.

Territorial Conflicts in World Society will appeal to international relations specialists, peace and conflict researchers and sociologists.

This book offers an innovative theoretical and empirical analysis of integration in EU foreign and interior policies across the three pillars, from the Maastricht Treaty to the Treaty of Nice.

The establishment of the three pillar structure with the Maastricht Treaty has been one of the key transformations of European governance. This divided EU policies into three main areas: European Community, Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) and for the first time the two sovereignty related areas of foreign and interior policies became part of the formal governance structure of the EU.

This is the first volume to present a comparative perspective on how integration in both areas across the three pillars has contributed to the construction of a distinct sovereignty dimension of the EU. Drawing from sociological institutionalism and on the basis of the two case studies of EU Middle East and migration policies, it offers a comprehensive empirical analysis of cross-pillar policy-making dynamics in foreign and interior policies in the EU.

EU Foreign and Interior Policies will appeal to scholars and researchers interested in international relations, European Union politics and Middle East studies.

This book brings together theories of world society with poststructuralist and postcolonial work on modern subjectivity to understand the universalising and particularising processes of globalisation. It addresses a theoretical void in global studies by attending to the co-constituted process through which modern subjectivities and global processes emerge and interact. The editors outline a key problem in global studies, which is a lack of engagement between the local/particular/individual and the 'universalising' processes in which they are situated. The volume deals with this concern with contributions from historical sociologists, poststructuralist and postcolonial scholars and by focusing in the Middle East, religion in global modernity and non-human subjectivities.

In the recent past a marked increase of the damages caused by natural hazard processes has been documented, for example by the Munich Re-Insurance. On a regional scale, a similar development can be observed in mountain regions such as the Alps, where it is particularly a rise in flood events that has caused the maximum amount of economic damage. Three major aspects may help to explain this phenomenon: The changing frequency-magnitude relationship of the natural hazard processes, the multiplication of the damage potential due to the socio-economic change, and the non-adequate way of coping with the changing risk by the official authorities. As a consequence, this book tries to address key questions related to these developments and to give answers to these problems. Question 1: How can the strategies for coping with the rise in extreme flooding be improved? Question 2: How can the damage potential and other socio-economic aspects be quantified? Question 3: How can new computer based technologies contribute to minimizing the risks related to alpine natural hazards? An initial chapter gives an overview of the global change aspects of natural hazards and their related risks. While three chapters outline answers to question 1, four chapters discuss question 2. Five chapters give examples of new technologies.

Drawing on international case studies from emerging economies and developing countries including South Africa, India, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Tunisia, Indonesia, China and Russia, this book examines the rise, nature and effectiveness of recent developments in social policy in the Global South. By analysing these new emerging trends, the book aims to understand how they can contribute to meaningful change and whether they could offer alternative solutions to the social, economic and environmental policy challenges facing low-income countries within a contemporary global context. It pays particular attention to reforms and innovations relating to the objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the move away from a welfare state, towards a ‘welfare multitude’, in which new actors, such as civil society organisations, play an increasingly important role in social policy.

This book summarizes strategies, methods, algorithms, frameworks and systems for the fault-tolerant design and control of automated vehicles and processes. Intelligent systems may be able to accommodate inevitable faults, but this ability requires targeted design processes and advanced control systems. This book explains the respective elements involved in automated vehicles and processes. It provides detailed descriptions of fault-tolerant design, not offered in the existent scientific literature. With regard to fault-tolerant control, the focus is on innovative methods, which can accommodate not only uncertainties, but also shared and flexible redundant elements. The book is intended to present a concise guide for researchers in the field of fault-tolerant design and control, and to provide concrete insights for design and control engineers working in the field of automated vehicles and processes.

Drawing from theories of world society and from historical-sociological theories the book studies the past, present, and future of Middle East Christianity. It focuses on the interplay between local practices and post-colonial entanglements in global modernity. The chapters of this book engage, inspired by these theories, key empirical dynamics that affect Middle East Christianity. This includes a historical overview on the history of Christians in the region, the relationship between Islam and Christianity, as well as case studies on the Maronites in Lebanon, Egypt's Copts, the role of Protestant missionaries in the 19th century, processes of individualization amongst Middle East Christians, as well as papal diplomacy in the region.

How can we understand long-term change in world politics better? Based on readings of thinkers as diverse as Habermas, Foucault and Luhmann, the contributors to this volume propose a framework for understanding such change in terms of social evolution. They show that processes of social learning and unlearning are key to understanding the long-term historical evolution of complex societies, and propose to approach these with the core concepts of autonomization, hierarchical complexity, and co-evolution. Four case studies illustrate this social evolutionary perspective to the study of world politics, examining the evolution of forms of organizing political authority, of conflicts, of diplomacy, of law as boundary condition.

In the recent past a marked increase of the damages caused by natural hazard processes has been documented, for example by the Munich Re-Insurance. On a regional scale, a similar development can be observed in mountain regions such as the Alps, where it is particularly a rise in flood events that has caused the maximum amount of economic damage. Three major aspects may help to explain this phenomenon: The changing frequency-magnitude relationship of the natural hazard processes, the multiplication of the damage potential due to the socio-economic change, and the non-adequate way of coping with the changing risk by the official authorities. As a consequence, this book tries to address key questions related to these developments and to give answers to these problems. Question 1: How can the strategies for coping with the rise in extreme flooding be improved? Question 2: How can the damage potential and other socio-economic aspects be quantified? Question 3: How can new computer based technologies contribute to minimizing the risks related to alpine natural hazards? An initial chapter gives an overview of the global change aspects of natural hazards and their related risks. While three chapters outline answers to question 1, four chapters discuss question 2. Five chapters give examples of new technologies.

Chemical vapor sensing arrays have grown in popularity over the past two decades, finding applications for tasks such as process control, environmental monitoring, and medical diagnosis. This is the first in-depth analysis of the process of choosing materials and components for these "electronic noses", with special emphasis on computational methods. For a view of component selection with an experimental perspective, readers may refer to the complementary volume of Integrated Microanalytical Systems entitled "Combinatorial Methodologies for Sensor Materials."

Knowledge Representation and Relation Nets introduces a fresh approach to knowledge representation that can be used to organize study material in a convenient, teachable and learnable form. The method extends and formalizes concept mapping by developing knowledge representation as a structure of concepts and the relationships among them. Such a formal description of analogy results in a controlled method of modeling `new' knowledge in terms of `existing' knowledge in teaching and learning situations, and its applications result in a consistent and well-organized approach to problem solving. Additionally, strategies for the presentation of study material to learners arise naturally in this representation. While the theory of relation nets is dealt with in detail in part of this book, the reader need not master the formal mathematics in order to apply the theory to this method of knowledge representation. To assist the reader, each chapter starts with a brief summary, and the main ideas are illustrated by examples. The reader is also given an intuitive view of the formal notions used in the applications by means of diagrams, informal descriptions, and simple sets of construction rules. Knowledge Representation and Relation Nets is an excellent source for teachers, courseware designers and researchers in knowledge representation, cognitive science, theories of learning, the psychology of education, and structural modeling.

Chemicals inhibiting the biosynthesis of branched-chain amino acids form a new and promising class of herbicides. This volume discusses in an authoritative way recent developments in this field and covers important aspects of these potent herbicides (synthesis, structure-activity, mode of action, selectivity, weed resistance, metabolism).