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Down the Slippery Slope: Arguing in Applied Ethics
by David LambA `slippery slope' argument in medical ethics is one that opposes itself to a new proposal on the grounds that it is not per se intolerable but will lead to a situation that is. Lamb evaluates such arguments, demonstrating their centrality to the subject.
Down But Not Out: A Reassessment of Critical Turning Points in Analytic Philosophy (Synthese Library #464)
by Alberto VoltoliniThis book provides a detailed reassessment of the role and impact of analytic philosophy in the overall philosophical debate. It does so by focusing on several important turning points that have been particularly significant for analytic philosophy’s overall history, such as Bertrand Russell's critique of Meinong, and the vindication of Heidegger's famous 'Nothing'- sentence. In particular, the book scrutinizes whether the theses written about such points have been convincingly argued for, or whether they have gained attraction as a type of rhetorical device. Due to its broad nature, this book is of interest to scholars interested in all aspects of philosophy, at both graduate level and above.
Doubting the Divine in Early Modern Europe: The Revival of Momus, the Agnostic God
by George McClureIn this book, George McClure examines the intellectual tradition of challenges to religious and literary authority in the early modern era. He explores the hidden history of unbelief through the lens of Momus, the Greek god of criticism and mockery. Surveying his revival in Italy, France, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, and England, McClure shows how Momus became a code for religious doubt in an age when such writings remained dangerous for authors. Momus ('Blame') emerged as a persistent and subversive critic of divine governance and, at times, divinity itself. As an emblem or as an epithet for agnosticism or atheism, he was invoked by writers such as Leon Battista Alberti, Anton Francesco Doni, Giordano Bruno, Luther, and possibly, in veiled form, by Milton in his depiction of Lucifer. The critic of gods also acted, in sometimes related fashion, as a critic of texts, leading the army of Moderns in Swift's Battle of the Books, and offering a heretical archetype for the literary critic.
Doubt in Islamic Law
by Intisar A. RabbThis book considers an important and largely neglected area of Islamic law by exploring how medieval Muslim jurists resolved criminal cases that could not be proven beyond a doubt. Intisar A. Rabb calls into question a controversial popular notion about Islamic law today, which is that Islamic law is a divine legal tradition that has little room for discretion or doubt, particularly in Islamic criminal law. Despite its contemporary popularity, that notion turns out to have been far outside the mainstream of Islamic law for most of its history. Instead of rejecting doubt, medieval Muslim scholars largely embraced it. In fact, they used doubt to enlarge their own power and to construct Islamic criminal law itself. Through a close examination of legal, historical, and theological sources, and a range of illustrative case studies, this book shows that Muslim jurists developed a highly sophisticated and regulated system for dealing with Islam's unique concept of doubt, which evolved from the seventh to the sixteenth century.
Doubt and Skepticism in Antiquity and the Renaissance
by Michelle ZerbaThis book is an interdisciplinary study of the forms and uses of doubt in works by Homer, Sophocles, Aristophanes, Cicero, Machiavelli, Shakespeare, and Montaigne. Based on close analysis of literary and philosophical texts by these important authors, Michelle Zerba argues that doubt is a defining experience in antiquity and the Renaissance, one that constantly challenges the limits of thought and representation. The wide-ranging discussion considers issues that run the gamut from tragic loss to comic bombast, from psychological collapse to skeptical dexterity, and from solitary reflection to political improvisation in civic contexts and puts Greek and Roman treatments of doubt into dialogue not only with sixteenth-century texts, but with contemporary works as well. Using the past to engage questions of vital concern to our time, Zerba demonstrates that although doubt sometimes has destructive consequences, it can also be conducive to tolerance, discovery, and conversation across sociopolitical boundaries.
Double Vision: Moral Philosophy and Shakespearean Drama
by Tzachi ZamirHamlet tells Horatio that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in his philosophy. In Double Vision, philosopher and literary critic Tzachi Zamir argues that there are more things in Hamlet than are dreamt of--or at least conceded--by most philosophers. Making an original and persuasive case for the philosophical value of literature, Zamir suggests that certain important philosophical insights can be gained only through literature. But such insights cannot be reached if literature is deployed merely as an aesthetic sugaring of a conceptual pill. Philosophical knowledge is not opposed to, but is consonant with, the literariness of literature. By focusing on the experience of reading literature as literature and not philosophy, Zamir sets a theoretical framework for a philosophically oriented literary criticism that will appeal both to philosophers and literary critics. Double Vision is concerned with the philosophical understanding induced by the aesthetic experience of literature. Literary works can function as credible philosophical arguments--not ones in which claims are conclusively demonstrated, but in which claims are made plausible. Such claims, Zamir argues, are embedded within an experiential structure that is itself a crucial dimension of knowing. Developing an account of literature's relation to knowledge, morality, and rhetoric, and advancing philosophical-literary readings of Richard III, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, Antony and Cleopatra, Hamlet, and King Lear, Zamir shows how his approach can open up familiar texts in surprising and rewarding ways.
The Double Shift: Spinoza and Marx on the Politics of Work
by Jason Read"This book is a must read for students of contemporary capitalism."—Kathi Weeks, Duke University"Why do people fight for their exploitation as if it was liberation?" How Marx and Spinoza can explain our perverse attachment to the indignities of workIn a world of declining wages, working conditions, and instability, the response for many has been to work harder, increasing hours and finding various ways to hustle in a gig economy. What drives our attachment to work? To paraphrase a question from Spinoza, "Why do people fight for their exploitation as if it was liberation?"The Double Shift turns towards the intersection of Marx and Spinoza in order to examine the nature of our affective, ideological, and strategic attachment to work. Through an examination of contemporary capitalism and popular culture it argues that the current moment can be defined as one of "negative solidarity."The hardship and difficulty of work is seen not as the basis for alienation and calls for its transformation but rather an identification with the difficulties and hardships of work. This distortion of the work ethic leads to a celebration of capitalists as job creators and suspicion towards anyone who is not seen as a "real worker."The book is grounded in philosophy, specifically Marx and Spinoza, and is in dialogue with Plato, Smith, Hegel, and Arendt, but, at the same time, in examining contemporary ideologies and ideas about work it discusses motivational meetings at Apple Stores, the culture of Silicon Valley, and films and television from Office Space to Better Call SaulThe Double Shift argues for a transformation of our collective imagination and attachment to work.
The Double Life of Paul De Man
by Evelyn BarishA landmark biography that reveals the secret past of one of the most influential academics of the twentieth century. Over thirty years after his death in 1983, Paul de Man, a hugely charismatic intellectual who created with deconstruction an ideology so pervasive that it threatened to topple the very foundations of literature, remains a haunting and still largely unexamined figure. Deeply influential, de Man and his theory-driven philosophy were so dominant that his passing received front-page coverage, suggesting that a cult hero, if not intellectual rock star, had met an untimely end. Yet in 1988, de Man's reputation was ruined when it was discovered that he had written an anti-Semitic article and worked for a collaborating Belgium newspaper during World War II. Who was he, really, and who had he been? No one knew. Still in shock, few of his followers wanted to find out. Once an admirer, although never a theorist, the biographer Evelyn Barish began her own investigation. Relying on years of original archival work and interviews with over two hundred of de Man's circle of friends and family, most of them now dead, Barish vividly re-creates this collaborationist world of occupied Belgian and France. Born in 1919 to a rich but tragically unstable family, Paul de Man, a golden boy, was influenced by his uncle Henri de Man, a socialist turned Nazi collaborator who became the de facto Belgian prime minister. By the early 1940s, Paul, while seemingly only a reviewer for Nazi newspapers, was secretly rising in far more important jobs in Belgium's and France's collaborationist regimes. Postwar, barred from the university, de Man created a publishing house, but stole all its assets; then, facing jail, he fled to New York, abandoning his family (his opportunistic, anti-Semitic writing seemed the least of his crimes). Arriving penniless, he quickly rose again, befriending an entire generation of American writers in New York, including Dwight Macdonald, Elizabeth Hardwick, and Mary McCarthy. Barish sketches de Man's renowned careers at Bard and Yale, as well as the circumstances surrounding his loving--but bigamous--second marriage to former Bard student Patricia Kelley, who created the tranquillity he so lacked. Juxtaposing this personal story to his meteoric rise through American academia, Barish traces the origins of the philosophical deconstructionism that he later created with Jacques Derrida, showing how de Man attracted followers with his attack on the hypocrisy of society that attempts to cover up the "essential alienation" of art from "the system." While focusing on the biographical facts, this commanding and psychologically probing biography reveals as much about human behavior and the cross-currents of twentieth-century intellectual thought as it does about the man who held an entire generation in his thrall.
The Double Edged Helix: Social Implications of Genetics in a Diverse Society
by Adrienne Asch Jon Beckwith Peter Conrad Lisa N. Geller Joseph Alper Catherine ArdThe authors address the medical and ethical implications of the new technologies, outlining potential positive and negative effects of genetic research on minorities, people with disabilities, and those of diverse sexual orientations. Presenting a wide array of perspectives, this book emphasizes the need to ensure that research into genetics does not result in discrimination against people on the basis of their DNA.
Dot to Dot Zen
by Gerald L. EricksenThe author presents a series of 79 visual koans in the form of dot-to-dots which help to translate Eastern thought into Western understanding. Each illustration is accompanied by a concise phrase from Buddhist teachings along with a brief interpretation. There is also an on-going sequence of relaxation instructions drawn from Buddhist psychology. Each set fosters a unique interaction between mind and spirit, which will help lead the reader from confusion to enlightenment.
Dot to Dot Zen
by Gerald L. EricksenThe author presents a series of 79 visual koans in the form of dot-to-dots which help to translate Eastern thought into Western understanding. Each illustration is accompanied by a concise phrase from Buddhist teachings along with a brief interpretation. There is also an on-going sequence of relaxation instructions drawn from Buddhist psychology. Each set fosters a unique interaction between mind and spirit, which will help lead the reader from confusion to enlightenment.
Dostoyevsky Reads Hegel in Siberia and Bursts into Tears (The Margellos World Republic of Letters)
by Laszlo FoldenyiAn exemplary collection of work from one of the world&’s leading scholars of intellectual history László F. Földényi is a writer who is learned in reference, taste, and judgment, and entertaining in style. Taking a place in the long tradition of public intellectual and cultural criticism, his work resonates with that of Montaigne, Rilke, and Mann in its deep insight into aspects of culture that have been suppressed, yet still remain in the depth of our conscious. In this new collection of essays, Földényi considers the fallout from the end of religion and how the traditions of the Enlightenment have replaced neither the metaphysical completeness nor the comforting purpose of the previously held mythologies. Combining beautiful writing with empathy, imagination, fascination, and a fierce sense of justice, Földényi covers a wide range of topics that include a meditation on the metaphysical unity of a sculpture group and an analysis of fear as a window into our relationship with time.
Dostoyevsky, or The Flood of Language (European Perspectives: A Series in Social Thought and Cultural Criticism)
by Julia KristevaGrowing up in Bulgaria, Julia Kristeva was warned by her father not to read Dostoyevsky. “Of course, and as usual,” she recalls, “I disobeyed paternal orders and plunged into Dosto. Dazzled, overwhelmed, engulfed.” Kristeva would go on to become one of the most important figures in European intellectual life—and she would return over and over again to Dostoyevsky, still haunted and enraptured by the force of his writing.In this book, Kristeva embarks on a wide-ranging and stimulating inquiry into Dostoyevsky’s work and the profound ways it has influenced her own thinking. Reading across his major novels and shorter works, Kristeva offers incandescent insights into the potent themes that draw her back to the Russian master: God, otherness, violence, eroticism, the mother, the father, language itself. Both personal and erudite, the book intermingles Kristeva’s analysis with her recollections of Dostoyevsky’s significance in different intellectual moments—the rediscovery of Bakhtin in the Thaw-era Eastern Bloc, the debates over poststructuralism in 1960s France, and today’s arguments about whether it can be said that “everything is permitted.” Brilliant and vivid, this is an essential book for admirers of both Kristeva and Dostoyevsky. It also features an illuminating foreword by Rowan Williams that reflects on the significance of Kristeva’s reading of Dostoyevsky for his own understanding of religious writing.
Dostoyevsky in the Face of Death: or Language Haunted by Sex (European Perspectives: A Series in Social Thought and Cultural Criticism)
by Julia KristevaJulia Kristeva has been both attracted and repelled by Dostoyevsky since her youth. In this extraordinary book, by turns poetic and intensely personal, she brings her unique critical sensibility to bear on the tormented and visionary Russian author.Kristeva ranges widely across Dostoyevsky’s novels and his journalism, plunging deep into the great works—and many of the smaller ones—to investigate her fascination with the Russian author. What emerges is a luminous vision of the writer’s achievements, seen in a wholly new way through Kristeva’s distinctive perspective on language. With her keen psychoanalytical eye, she offers brilliant insights into the passionate heroines of the great novels. Focusing on Dostoyevsky’s polyphonic writing, Kristeva also demonstrates the importance of Orthodox Christianity throughout his body of work, analyzing the complex ways his carnivalesque theology informs his fiction and commentary.An original and profound interpretation of one of the nineteenth century’s greatest writers, this book’s insights are also relevant to the twentieth and twenty-first centuries—up to our unsettled present, to which Kristeva’s humane reading of the suffering Russian author brings understanding and even solace.
Dostoevsky's Spiritual Art: The Burden of Vision
by George PanichasFyodor Dostoevsky's highest and most permanent achievement as a novelist lies in his exploration of man's religious complex, his world and his fate. His primary vision is to be found in his last five novels: Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, The Devils, A Raw Youth, and The Brothers Karamazov. This volume culminates twenty years of studying, teaching, and writing on Dostoevsky. Here George A. Panichas critically analyzes the religious themes and meanings of the author's major works. Focusing on the pervasive spiritual consciousness at play, Panichas views Dostoevsky not as a religious doctrinaire, but as a visionary whose five great novels constitute a sequential meditation on man's human and superhuman destiny.
Dostoevsky, Grigor'ev, and Native Soil Conservatism
by Wayne DowlerNative soil was a mid-nineteenth-century Russian reaction against materialism and positivism. It emphasized the need for people to live their lives and develop themselves naturally, so that class difference might be reconciled, the achievements of the West fused with the communalism and Christian fraternity preserved by the Russian peasant, and the Russian nation united in the pursuit of common moral ideals. The metaphor 'Russia and the West' summarized much of the intellectual and political debate of the period: how Russia should use its indigenous and its 'borrowed' cultural elements to solve the political, economic, and social problems of a difficult period. Professor Dowler presents a detailed study of Native Soil conservatism from about 1850 to 1880 – its various intellectual facets, its leading thinkers, and its growth and gradual disintegration. In this utopian movement, literary creativity, aesthetics, and education took on special significance for human spiritual and social development. Dowler therefore examines the writings of two of the most gifted exponents of Native Soil – F.M. Dostoevsky and A.A. Grigor'ev – and looks at their circle and the journals to which they contributed in an assessment of their responses to the challenges of the period of Emancipation.
The Doppelgänger
by Dimitris VardoulakisThe Doppelg nger or Double presents literature as the "double" of philosophy. There are historical reasons for this. The genesis of the Doppelg nger is literature's response to the philosophical focus on subjectivity. The Doppelg nger was coined by the German author Jean Paul in 1796 as a critique of Idealism's assertion of subjective autonomy, individuality and human agency. This critique prefigures post-War extrapolations of the subject as decentred. From this perspective, the Doppelg nger has a "family resemblance" to current conceptualizations of subjectivity. It becomes the emblematic subject of modernity. This is the first significant study on the Doppelg nger's influence on philosophical thought. The Doppelg nger emerges as a hidden and unexplored element both in conceptions of subjectivity and in philosophy's relation to literature. Vardoulakis demonstrates this by employing the Doppelg nger to read literature philosophically and to read philosophy as literature. The Doppelg nger then appears instrumental in the self-conception of both literature and philosophy.
The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell
by Aldous HuxleyHalf an hour after swallowing the drug I became aware of a slow dance of golden lights . . . Among the most profound explorations of the effects of mind-expanding drugs ever written, here are two complete classic books--The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell--in which Aldous Huxley, author of the bestselling Brave New World, reveals the mind's remote frontiers and the unmapped areas of human consciousness. This new edition also features an additional essay, "Drugs That Shape Men's Minds," which is now included for the first time.
The Door to Satisfaction
by Lama Thubten Zopa RinpocheIn Door to Satisfaction Lama Zopa Rinpoche reveals a text he discovered in a cave in the Himalayas that captures the essential point of Buddhist training. Rinpoche says, "Only when I read this text did I come to know what the practice of Dharma really means." Without proper motivation, it does not matter what we do. Whether reciting prayers, meditating, or enduring great hardships, if our actions are devoid of good intention they will not become Dharma practice. Proper motivation transcends our ordinary, ephemeral desires and ultimately seeks the happiness of all living beings. "In your life," says Rinpoche, "there is nothing to do other than to work for others, to cherish others. There is nothing more important in your life than this." This powerful, simple message applies to Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike--we all have the power to unlock our greatest potential. Open this book and open the door to a timeless path leading to wisdom and joy.
The Door of Liberation: Essential Teachings of the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition
by His Holiness the Dalai Lama Geshe WangyalThis book contains seven fundamental Buddhist texts considered essential to Western students by Geshe Wangyal, who first brought Tibetan Buddhism to America. Ranging from early scriptural sources to meditation and visualization guides of Tibetan Buddhist practice, this is indispensible reading for those interested in opening the door to the highest realms of freedom, wisdom, and compassion.
Doomed to Repeat?: Terrorism and the Lessons of History
by Sean BrawleyThis collection of scholarly essays explores the role of history in terrorism studies and today’s counterterrorism initiatives.In Doomed to Repeat?, scholars, policy makers, and other practitioners explore how a better understanding of the past can help us combat terrorism in the future. The first section establishes a broader context for discussion by examining the connections between history and Terrorism Studies. The second section presents the insights of non-historians who know the importance of historical perspective in understanding current events. Section Three provides case studies that explore the history of terrorism and politically motivated violence. Section Four concludes by placing concerns about terrorism in regional and foreign policy context. “This collection helps us advance our understanding of terrorism beyond simplistic and dichotomist assertions about “them” and “us.” Taken together, these essays highlight the importance of analyzing, rather than assuming.” —Chris Dixon, Professor, School of History, Philosophy, Religion, and Classics, The University of Queensland, Australia
Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe
by Niall Ferguson"All disasters are in some sense man-made."Setting the annus horribilis of 2020 in historical perspective, Niall Ferguson explains why we are getting worse, not better, at handling disasters.Disasters are inherently hard to predict. Pandemics, like earthquakes, wildfires, financial crises. and wars, are not normally distributed; there is no cycle of history to help us anticipate the next catastrophe. But when disaster strikes, we ought to be better prepared than the Romans were when Vesuvius erupted, or medieval Italians when the Black Death struck. We have science on our side, after all. Yet in 2020 the responses of many developed countries, including the United States, to a new virus from China were badly bungled. Why? Why did only a few Asian countries learn the right lessons from SARS and MERS? While populist leaders certainly performed poorly in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, Niall Ferguson argues that more profound pathologies were at work--pathologies already visible in our responses to earlier disasters.In books going back nearly twenty years, including Colossus, The Great Degeneration, and The Square and the Tower, Ferguson has studied the foibles of modern America, from imperial hubris to bureaucratic sclerosis and online fragmentation.Drawing from multiple disciplines, including economics, cliodynamics, and network science, Doom offers not just a history but a general theory of disasters, showing why our ever more bureaucratic and complex systems are getting worse at handing them.Doom is the lesson of history that this country--indeed the West as a whole--urgently needs to learn, if we want to handle the next crisis better, and to avoid the ultimate doom of irreversible decline.
Don't Worry, Be Grumpy
by Ajahn Ajahn BrahmLaugh aloud even as you look at life anew with these stories from the bestselling author of Who Ordered This Truckload of Dung?In 108 brief stories with titles like "The Bad Elephant," "Girlfriend Power," and "The Happiness License," Ajahn Brahm offers up more timeless wisdom that will speak to people from all walks of life. Drawing from his own experiences, stories shared by his students, and old chestnuts that he delivers with a fresh twist, Ajahn Brahm shows he knows his way around the humorous parable, delighting even as he surprises us with unexpected depth and inspiration.
Don't Worry: 48 Lessons on Relieving Anxiety from a Zen Buddhist Monk
by Shunmyo MasunoDiscover why 90% of your worries won&’t come true in this highly practical, internationally bestselling guide by the renowned Zen Buddhist author of The Art of Simple Living.Think of a time when you were worried about something, but then you suddenly realized how insignificant it was. Isn&’t it amazing how much lighter you felt? The key is to focus only on the here and now. By doing so, you free yourself from unnecessary anxiety, and your mind will be at peace. In Don&’t Worry, you will learn to: • Lesson #1: stop comparing yourself to others—90% of your obsessions will disappear; • Lesson #4: remove unnecessary things from your life and make your life absolutely simple; • Lesson #10: stop seeking, stop rushing, stop obsessing; • Lesson #11: interpret things positively—you are the one to decide whether you are happy or not; • Lesson #14: stop taking in too much information; • Lesson #19: take a break from competition—it&’s the Zen way of avoiding anxiety; • Lesson #24: act instead of worrying—things will definitely work out better.By following this book&’s 48 simple lessons—and taking to heart the nearly 30 zengo, or Zen sayings, quoted throughout—you&’ll enjoy a calmer, more relaxed, more positive version of yourself.A PENGUIN LIFE TITLE
Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes
by Daniel L. EverettA riveting account of the astonishing experiences and discoveries made by linguist Daniel Everett while he lived with the Pirahã, a small tribe of Amazonian Indians in central Brazil. Everett, then a Christian missionary, arrived among the Pirahã in 1977–with his wife and three young children–intending to convert them. What he found was a language that defies all existing linguistic theories and reflects a way of life that evades contemporary understanding: The Pirahã have no counting system and no fixed terms for color. They have no concept of war or of personal property. They live entirely in the present. Everett became obsessed with their language and its cultural and linguistic implications, and with the remarkable contentment with which they live–so much so that he eventually lost his faith in the God he’d hoped to introduce to them. Over three decades, Everett spent a total of seven years among the Pirahã, and his account of this lasting sojourn is an engrossing exploration of language that questions modern linguistic theory. It is also an anthropological investigation, an adventure story, and a riveting memoir of a life profoundly affected by exposure to a different culture. Written with extraordinary acuity, sensitivity, and openness, it is fascinating from first to last, rich with unparalleled insight into the nature of language, thought, and life itself. From the Hardcover edition.