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Minima Moralia: Reflections From Damaged Life
by Theodor AdornoA reflection on everyday existence in the ‘sphere of consumption of late Capitalism’, this work is Adorno’s literary and philosophical masterpiece. Built from aphorisms and reflections, he shifts in register from personal experience to the most general theoretical problems.
Minima Moralia: Reflections on a Damaged Life
by Theodor W. Adorno E. F. N. JephcottA reflection on everyday existence in the 'sphere of consumption of late Capitalism', this work is Adorno's literary and philosophical masterpiece.
Minimal Cooperation and Shared Agency (Studies in the Philosophy of Sociality #11)
by Anika FiebichThis volume examines minimality in cooperation and shared agency from various angles. It features essays written by top scholars in the philosophy of mind and action. Taken together, the essays provide a genuine contribution to the contemporary joint action debate.The main accounts in this debate present sufficient rather than necessary or minimal criteria for there to be cooperation. Much discussion in the debate deals with robust rather than more attenuate and simple cases of cooperation or shared agency. Focusing on such minimal cases, however, may help to explain how cooperation comes into existence and how minimal cooperation interrelates with more complex cases of cooperation. The contributors discuss minimality in cooperation by focusing on particular aspects. For example, they consider how social roles might deliver minimal cooperation constraints or what the minimal contextual criteria are for cooperation to emerge.Readers will find the answers to these and other questions: What is minimally cooperative behavior? By what steps could full members of a society organized by conventions, norms and institutions be constructed from creatures with minimal social skills and cognitive abilities? What do we experience of actions when we act together with a purpose?
A Minimal Metaphysics for Scientific Practice
by Andreas HüttemannWhat are the metaphysical commitments which best 'make sense' of our scientific practice (rather than our scientific theories)? In this book, Andreas Hüttemann provides a minimal metaphysics for scientific practice, i.e. a metaphysics that refrains from postulating any structure that is explanatorily irrelevant. Hüttemann closely analyses paradigmatic aspects of scientific practice, such as prediction, explanation and manipulation, to consider the questions whether and (if so) what metaphysical presuppositions best account for these practices. He looks at the role which scientific generalisation (laws of nature) play in predicting, testing, and explaining the behaviour of systems. He also develops a theory of causation in terms of quasi-inertial processes and interfering factors, and he proposes an account of reductive practices that makes minimal metaphysical assumptions. His book will be valuable for scholars and advanced students working in both philosophy of science and metaphysics.
Minimal Theologies: Critiques of Secular Reason in Adorno and Levinas
by Hent de VriesOriginally published in in 2004. What, at this historical moment "after Auschwitz," still remains of the questions traditionally asked by theology? What now is theology's minimal degree? This magisterial study, the first extended comparison of the writings of Theodor W. Adorno and Emmanuel Levinas, explores remnants and echoes of religious forms in these thinkers' critiques of secular reason, finding in the work of both a "theology in pianissimo" constituted by the trace of a transcendent other. The author analyzes, systematizes, and formalizes this idea of an other of reason. In addition, he frames these thinkers' innovative projects within the arguments of such intellectual heirs as Jürgen Habermas and Jacques Derrida, defending their work against later accusations of "performative contradiction" (by Habermas) or "empiricism" (by Derrida) and in the process casting important new light on those later writers as well. Attentive to rhetorical and rational features of Adorno's and Levinas's texts, his investigations of the concepts of history, subjectivity, and language in their writings provide a radical interpretation of their paradoxical modes of thought and reveal remarkable and hitherto unsuspected parallels between their philosophical methods, parallels that amount to a plausible way of overcoming certain impasses in contemporary philosophical thinking. In Adorno, this takes the form of a dialectical critique of dialectics; in Levinas, that of a phenomenological critique of phenomenology, each of which sheds new light on ancient and modern questions of metaphysics, ethics, and aesthetics. For the English-language publication, the author has extensively revised and updated the prize-winning German version.
A Minimalist Ontology of the Natural World (Routledge Studies in the Philosophy of Mathematics and Physics)
by Michael Esfeld Dirk-Andre DeckertThis book seeks to work out which commitments are minimally sufficient to obtain an ontology of the natural world that matches all of today’s well-established physical theories. We propose an ontology of the natural world that is defined only by two axioms: (1) There are distance relations that individuate simple objects, namely matter points. (2) The matter points are permanent, with the distances between them changing. Everything else comes in as a means to represent the change in the distance relations in a manner that is both as simple and as informative as possible. The book works this minimalist ontology out in philosophical as well as mathematical terms and shows how one can understand classical mechanics, quantum field theory and relativistic physics on the basis of this ontology. Along the way, we seek to achieve four subsidiary aims: (a) to make a case for a holistic individuation of the basic objects (ontic structural realism); (b) to work out a new version of Humeanism, dubbed Super-Humeanism, that does without natural properties; (c) to set out an ontology of quantum physics that is an alternative to quantum state realism and that avoids any ontological dualism of particles and fields; (d) to vindicate a relationalist ontology based on point objects also in the domain of relativistic physics.
The Minister's Charge: The Apprenticeship of Lemuel Barker
by William Dean HowellsWilliam Dean Howells (1837-1920) was an American realist author and literary critic. He wrote his first novel, Their Wedding Journey, in 1871, but his literary reputation really took off with the realist novel A Modern Instance, published in 1882, which describes the decay of a marriage. His 1885 novel The Rise of Silas Lapham is perhaps his best known, describing the rise and fall of an American entrepreneur in the paint business. His social views were also strongly reflected in the novels Annie Kilburn (1888) and A Hazard of New Fortunes (1890). While known primarily as a novelist, his short story "Editha" (1905) - included in the collection Between the Dark and the Daylight (1907) - appears in many anthologies of American literature. Howells also wrote plays, criticism, and essays about contemporary literary figures such as Ibsen, Zola, Verga, and, especially, Tolstoy, which helped establish their reputations in the United States. He also wrote critically in support of many American writers. It is perhaps in this role that he had his greatest influence.
Ministers of Propaganda: Truth, Power, and the Ideology of the Religious Right
by Scott M. ColeyScott Coley exposes the inner workings of the religious right&’s propaganda—and how Christians can resist it. Good evangelical Christians are Republican. It seems like it&’s always been this way. That means the propaganda is working. Scott Coley trains a critical eye on the fusion of evangelicalism and right-wing politics in Ministers of Propaganda. This timely volume unravels rhetoric and biblical prooftexting that support Christo-authoritarianism: an ideology that presses Christian theology into the service of authoritarian politics. Coley&’s historically informed argument unsettles evangelical orthodoxy on issues like creation science or female leadership—convictions not as unchanging as powerful religious leaders would have us believe. Coley explains that we buy into propaganda because of motivated reasoning, and when we are motivated by perceived self-interest, the Christian message is easily corrupted. But if we recover Jesus&’s commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves, right-wing propaganda will lose its power. Any reader troubled by American evangelicals&’ embrace of racism, misogyny, and other unchristian views will find answers and hope in these pages.
The Ministry of Truth: BigTech's Influence on Facts, Feelings and Fictions
by Vincent F. Hendricks Camilla MehlsenThe Ministry of Truth scrutinizes the information market in the era of the attention economy calling on citizens, public educators and politicians to action in averting the role of BigTech in critical infrastructure. Through phenomena such as influencers, ‘fake news’, and covid conspiracies, the authors reveal how social platforms control facts, feelings and narratives in our time to such a degree that they are the de facto arbiters of truth. BigTech seemingly controls the information infrastructure and also decides what we pay attention to. The authors suggest hope for a more democratic internet through their systematic analysis of the largest players of the information age. The aim is to amplify human agency for a robust deliberative democracy — not version 2.0 — but a lasting version with staying power. This book appeals to the general interest reader and professional invested in the mobilization of responsible technological development.Vincent F. Hendricks is Professor of Formal Philosophy at The University of Copenhagen. He is Director of the Center for Information and Bubble Studies (CIBS) funded by the Carlsberg Foundation.Camilla Mehlsen is Digital Media Expert and Spokesperson for the Danish child organization Children’s Welfare. She is author of several books on digital literacy and her work on digital media has been published in various newspapers and magazines.
Minor Ethics: Deleuzian Variations
by Casey Ford, Suzanne McCullagh, and Karen HouleAlongside the major narratives of ethics in the tradition of Western philosophy, a reader with an eye to the vague and the peripheral, to the turbulent and shifting, will spy minor lines of thinking – and with them, new histories and thus new futures.Minor Ethics develops a new approach to reading texts from the history of philosophical ethics. It aims to enliven lines of thought that are latent and suppressed within the major ethical texts regularly studied and taught, and to include texts and ideas that have been excluded from the canon of Western ethics. The editors and contributors have put Gilles Deleuze’s concepts – such as affect, assemblage, and multiplicity – into conversation with a range of ethical texts from ancient thought to the present. Rather than aiming for a coherent whole to emerge from these threads, the essays maintain a vigilant alertness to difference, to vibrations and resonances that are activated in the coupling of texts. What emerges are new questions, new problems, and new trajectories for thinking, which have as a goal the liberation of ethical questioning.Minor Ethics takes up a range of canonical ethical questions and thinks through concrete ethical problems relating to drug addiction, environmental responsibility, xenophobia, trauma, refugees, political parties, and cultural difference. The responses to these concerns demonstrate the minoritarian promise of the opening up of ethical thinking.
The Minor Gesture
by Erin ManningIn this wide-ranging and probing book Erin Manning extends her previous inquiries into the politics of movement to the concept of the minor gesture. The minor gesture, although it may pass almost unperceived, transforms the field of relations. More than a chance variation, less than a volition, it requires rethinking common assumptions about human agency and political action. To embrace the minor gesture's power to fashion relations, its capacity to open new modes of experience and manners of expression, is to challenge the ways in which the neurotypical image of the human devalues alternative ways of being moved by and moving through the world--in particular what Manning terms "autistic perception." Drawing on Deleuze and Guattari's schizoanalysis and Whitehead's speculative pragmatism, Manning's far-reaching analyses range from fashion to depression to the writings of autistics, in each case affirming the neurodiversity of the minor and the alternative politics it gestures toward.
Minorities and Populism – Critical Perspectives from South Asia and Europe (Philosophy and Politics - Critical Explorations #10)
by Ananya Vajpeyi Volker KaulThis volume assembles renowned scholars to address, for the first time, the relationship between minorities and populism in South Asia and Europe from a critical perspective. Despite the very different and to some extent opposite historical and political trajectories, there is today a convergence on nationalist affirmation and on majoritarian politics between South Asia and Europe. In India, the Hindu majority rebels against wide-ranging minority rights anchored in the Constitution. In Europe, the refugee crisis and Islamic radicalization bring to the forefront the postcolonial legacy. Despite all rhetoric, there are obvious dangers of majoritarianism. Populist parties are divisive, partisan, disregard minority rights, engage in lynching, social division, stigmatization and exclusion, turning minorities into second-class citizens. There is a profound structural connection between minorities and the current rise of populism in India and Europe. But there remains a deep perplexity and also anxiety: Does the presence of minorities necessarily have to trigger majoritarian policies? Are there no solutions to this dilemma? Many observers considered multicultural policies and affirmative action programs in India as a possible model for Europe to adopt in order to achieve greater integration. But eventually they seem to have failed. Why so? Are multiculturalism and the recognition of differences still options today? On the other hand, most scholars in India typically reject the European model of liberal democracy and secularism as impracticable in India and locate the reason for the current malaise in the west. But is liberal democracy really so bad in dealing with pluralism? This volume, collecting a selection of the Reset DOC Venice-Padua-Delhi dialogue series, is going to answer two fundamental questions. First, what precisely is the nexus between minorities and populism in South Asia and Europe? Starting from those case studies, the authors will also draw some general theoretical inferences about the nature of populism. Secondly, given the dangers of populism for minorities, the volume will look for the most adequate and feasible solutions.
Minorities and State-Building in the Middle East: The Case of Jordan (Minorities in West Asia and North Africa)
by Paolo Maggiolini Idir OuahesThis book offers fresh insights to enhance and diversify our understanding of the modern history of the state and societies in today’s Jordan, while also providing examples of why and how scholars can challenge the static and discursively government-minded approaches to minorities and minoritisation – especially the traditional emphasis on demographic balances. Despite its small size and initial appearance of homogeneity, Jordan provides an excellent case of a dynamic, relational, historically contingent and fluid approach to ethnic, political and religious minorities in the context of the imposition of a modern state system on complex and varied traditional societies. The editors and contributors present dynamic and relational perspectives on the status of and historical processes involved in the creation and absorption of minority groups within Jordan.
Minorities, Minority Rights and Internal Self-Determination
by Ulrike BartenThe book questions the classic idea of self-determination - the right to self-determination is a right of peoples, not of minorities - by examining the content of the right to self-determination and the content of minority rights. Self-determination has four dimensions: the political, the economic, the social and the cultural dimensions. Minorities have minority rights that touch on most aspects of life as a member of a minority. If there is an overlap between minority rights and the different dimensions of self-determination, the concept that the right to self-determination is only applicable to peoples loses credibility. No global and general conclusion is envisaged; there are restrictions in place. The work is limited to the European framework and is further restricted to classic minorities. The argument is based on a legitimacy and justice approach. The analysis in this book shows that some minority rights overlap with the different dimensions of internal self-determination. In short, classic minorities in Europe have a right to internal self-determination.
Minority Parties In U. S. Legislatures: Conditions Of Influence
by Jennifer ClarkThis study of the influence minority parties wield is both a major work of political science scholarship and a timely examination of an issue with real consequences for the functioning of democratic legislatures and the creation of legislation. Challenging conventional assumptions that the majority party dominates the legislature, Jennifer Hayes Clark investigates precisely the ways in which--and under what conditions--members of the minority party successfully pursue their interests. For this study, Clark collects fine-grained data from both the U. S. Congress and state legislatures to get a close look at three key points in the legislative process: committee assignments, bill cosponsorship, and roll-call votes. She finds that minority party members are not systematically excluded throughout the policymaking process. Indeed, their capacity to shape legislative decision-making is enhanced when party polarization is low, when institutional prerogatives are broadly dispersed rather than centralized, and when staff resources are limited. Under these conditions, bipartisanship bill cosponsorship and voting coalitions are also more prevalent. With the sharp increase of partisan polarization in state legislatures and in Congress, it is essential that scholars--as well as voters and reformers--understand how and when a minority party can effectively represent constituents.
MINT für Geisteswissenschaftler: Naturwissenschaften für Geisteswissenschaftler
by Walter HehlDer Beginn von Naturwissenschaft und Geisteswissenschaft in der Antike war gemeinsam, aber die Naturwissenschaft hatte sich bis zum Ende des 19. Jahrhundert durch ihre Erfolge dominant entwickelt. Gegen diese Dominanz prägte der Philosoph Wilhelm Dilthey 1883 den Begriff der Geisteswissenschaften. In den Naturwissenschaften war es andrerseits klar, dass ganze Bereiche des Geistes den Naturwissenschaften nicht zugänglich waren, etwa sinnliche Empfindungen und das Bewusstsein.Das Buch versucht zu zeigen, dass dieser harte Gegensatz weicher geworden ist. Die Physik ist geistiger geworden und die Technologie des Geistes hat sich entwickelt: Es ist im Grundsatz die Informationstechnologie. Mit der Mathematik als Fundament und als Hilfsmittel ergibt dies MINT.Ein geistiges Weltbild ohne MINT ist in Würde nicht möglich. Es gibt eine Reihe von MINT-Bereichen, die unmittelbar geisteswissenschaftlich von Nutzen sind. Beispiele sind etwa das Prinzip des Lasers undder Begriff der Entropie. Ein dritter, geistiger Bereich bleibt außerhalb: die Kunst. Aber Kunst und MINT sind keine Gegensätze.
Mipham's Beacon of Certainty
by John W. Pettit Penor RinpocheFor centuries, Dzogchen - a special meditative practice to achieve spontaneous enlightenment - has been misinterpreted by both critics and malinformed meditators as being purely mystical and anti-rational. In the grand spirit of Buddhist debate, 19th century Buddhist philosopher Mipham wrote Beacon of Certainty, a compelling defense of Dzogchen philosophy that employs the very logic it was criticized as lacking. Through lucid and accessible textural translation and penetrating analysis, Pettit presents Mipham as one of Tibet's greatest thinkers.
Mipham's Sword of Wisdom
by Khenchen Palden SherabPresents the Nyingma-lineage understanding of valid cognition in Buddhism. Its core subject is the Buddhist view of the two truths—the relative truth of conventional appearances and the absolute truth of emptiness and buddha nature—and how the two truths are inseparable. The main questions posed are: How can we know the two truths and how can we be certain that our knowledge is accurate?“The great scholar and advanced spiritual master Jamgon Mipham’s Sword of Wisdom is a classic work that explicates valid cognition. I am happy to see it now available in English with commentary and scholarly appendices that will be very helpful for serious students in understanding this profound and important text.”—His Holiness the Sakya Trichen Mipham’s Sword of Wisdom explores the Nyingma-lineage understanding of valid cognition in Vajrayana Buddhism. This translation, a clear and concise primer on higher realization through valid cognition in Buddhist philosophy, presents these ideas in English for the very first time and includes the sutra presentation of the two truths and the tantra teachings of the two truths as the purity and equality of all phenomena. When you’ve finished Mipham’s Sword of Wisdom, you’ll have rich insights into Nyingma teachings on valid cognition, a profound new understanding of the two truths and their inseparability, a solid foundation in valid cognition through direct perception and reasoning according to the traditional Indian treatises of Dharmakirti and Dignaga, and much more.
Mira por donde
by Fernando Savater"¿Escribir tu autobiografía? Pero ¿no eres demasiado joven?." Fernando Savater reconoce que le encanta este reproche, pues significa que todavía le queda algo para lo que "no es demasiado mayor"; aunque ganarse el piropo le haya costado escribir un volumen de memorias. Con una mezcla de ternura, ironía, melancolía, acidez y sentido del humor, el filósofo relata la historia de su vida, o más bien "lo que el tiempo ha hecho conmigo", como él prefiere describirlo. La primera parte se ocupa de su infancia en San Sebastián, la etapa más feliz de su vida, que llega hasta los doce años cuando su familia se trasladó a Madrid. La segunda recoge sus recuerdos de adolescencia y primera juventud, hasta la muerte de Francisco Franco cuando Savater contaba veintiocho años. La tercera parte abarca hasta hoy mismo, y se centra en su compromiso político, pues "hacer política cuando la democracia está amenazada es precisamente la primera obligación de una conciencia sana". El autor se explaya en sus gustos, sus aficiones y sus preferencias, porque como él dice "estamos unidos a este mundo y a la vida por cuanto aprobamos, no por nuestra capacidad de detestar". Las lecturas de infancia, las carreras de caballos, los filósofos que siempre lo acompañan o los lugares y las personas que ama forman parte de esta historia. En esta obra única, cargada de saber y sentimiento, el autor mira los tramos del camino recorrido, consciente de que uno no lo puede contar todo de sí mismo: "no refiero toda la verdad, pero creo que lo que digo es bastante verdadero siempre".
Mira por dónde: Autobiografía razonada
by Fernando SavaterCon una mezcla de ternura, ironía, melancolía, acidez y sentido del humor, el filósofo relata la historia de su vida, o más bien «lo que el tiempo ha hecho conmigo», como él prefiere describirlo. «¿Escribir tu autobiografía? Pero, ¿no eres demasiado joven?» Fernando Savater reconoce que le encanta este reproche, pues significa que todavía le queda algo para lo que no es «demasiado mayor»; aunque ganarse el piropo le haya costado escribir un volumen de memorias. La primera parte se ocupa de su infancia en San Sebastián, la etapa más feliz de su vida, que llega hasta los doce años, cuando su familia se trasladó a Madrid. La segunda recoge sus recuerdos de adolescencia y primera juventud, hasta la muerte de Franco, cuando Savater contaba veintiocho años. La tercera parte abarca hasta hoy mismo, y se centra en su compromiso político, pues «hacer política cuando la democracia está amenazada es precisamente la primera obligación de una conciencia sana». El autor se explaya en sus gustos, sus aficiones y sus preferencias, porque como él dice «estamos unidos a este mundo y a la vida por cuanto aprobamos, no por nuestra capacidad de detestar». Las lecturas de infancia, las carreras de caballos, los filósofos que siempre le acompañan o los lugares y las personas que ama forman parte de esta historia. En esta obra única, cargada de saber y sentimiento, el autor mira los tramos del camino recorrido, consciente de que uno no lo puede contar todo de sí mismo: «no refiero toda la verdad, pero creo que lo que digo es bastante verdadero siempre».
The Miracle Myth: Why Belief in the Resurrection and the Supernatural Is Unjustified
by Lawrence ShapiroThere are many who believe Moses parted the Red Sea and Jesus came back from the dead. Others are certain that exorcisms occur, ghosts haunt attics, and the blessed can cure the terminally ill. Though miracles are immensely improbable, people have embraced them for millennia, seeing in them proof of a supernatural world that resists scientific explanation.Helping us to think more critically about our belief in the improbable, The Miracle Myth casts a skeptical eye on attempts to justify belief in the supernatural, laying bare the fallacies that such attempts commit. Through arguments and accessible analysis, Larry Shapiro sharpens our critical faculties so we become less susceptible to tales of myths and miracles and learn how, ultimately, to evaluate claims regarding vastly improbable events on our own. Shapiro acknowledges that belief in miracles could be harmless, but cautions against allowing such beliefs to guide how we live our lives. His investigation reminds us of the importance of evidence and rational thinking as we explore the unknown.
The Miracle of Mindfulness, Gift Edition
by Thich Nhat HanhA new gift edition of the classic guide to meditation and mindfulness, featuring archival photography and beautiful calligraphy by Thich Nhat HanhSince its publication in 1975, The Miracle of Mindfulness has been cherished by generations of readers for its eloquent and useful introduction to the practice of meditation. Readers interested in an introduction to Buddhist thought, as well as those seeking to learn about mindfulness and stress reduction, continue to look to Thich Nhat Hanh's classic work for guidance and inspiration. This new hardcover gift edition features elegant calligraphic illustrations by Thich Nhat Hanh, as well as a dozen photographs spanning his early days as a peace activist to his life in Plum Village, a spiritual community that he founded in France. Also included in this edition is a historical chronology of Thich Nhat Hanh's life and work, and a revised afterword by Jim Forest.
Miracles (Elements in the Philosophy of Religion)
by David BasingerThis book is a critical overview of the manner in which the concept of miracle is understood and discussed in contemporary analytic philosophy of religion. In its most basic sense, a miracle is an unusual, unexpected, observable event brought about by direct divine intervention. The focus of this study is on the key conceptual, epistemological, and theological issues that this definition of the miraculous continues to raise. As this topic is of existential as well as theoretical interest to many, there is no reason to believe the concept of miracle won't continue to be of ongoing interest to philosophers.
Miracles: An Exercise in Comparative Philosophy of Religion (Comparative Philosophy of Religion #3)
by Karen R. Zwier David L. Weddle Timothy D. KnepperThis volume provides a comparative philosophical investigation into a particular concept from a variety of angles—in this case, the concept of “miracle.” The text covers deeply philosophical questions around the miracle, with a multiplicity of answers. Each chapter brings its own focus to this multifaceted effort. The volume rejects the primarily western focus that typically dominates philosophy of religion and is filled with particular examples of miracle narratives, community responses, and polemical scenarios across widely varying religious contexts and historical periods. Some of these examples defy religious categorization, and some papers challenge the applicability of the concept “miracle,” which is of western and monotheistic origin. By examining miracles thru a wide comparative context, this text presents a range of descriptive content and analysis, with attention to the audience, to the subjective experiences being communicated, and to the flavor of the narratives that come to surround miracles. This book appeals to students and researchers working in philosophy of religion and science, as well those in comparative religion. It represents, in written form, some of the perspectives and dialogue achieved in The Comparison Project’s 2017–2019 lecture series on miracles. The Comparison Project is an enterprise in comparing a variety of religious voices, allowing them to stand in dialogue.
Mircea Eliade: Myth, Religion, and History
by Nicolae BabutsMircea Eliade (1907–1986) was one of the twentieth century's foremost students of religion and cultural environments. This book examines the emergence, function, and value of religion and myth in his work.Nicolae Babuts, Robert Ellwood, Eric Ziolkowski, John Dadosky, Robert Segal, Mac Linscott Ricketts, Douglas Allen, and Liviu Borda examine Eliade's views on the interaction between the sacred and the profane. Each explores Eliade's phenomenological approach to the study of religion and myth. They show that modern rites of initiation, cultural activities, and spectacles like bullfighting, film, and, perhaps surprisingly, reading and writing, all harken back to the archetypal structures of the mythical imagination. Perhaps the greatest achievement of Eliade's phenomenological approach is that it reveals what we have in common with pre-Socratic man: the mind's structural capacity to endow objects and events with spiritual values and meanings.As a study of Eliade's concept of the mythic imagination, the book posits an analogy between the myths of the past and modern imitations. The authors suggest that in spite of their differences and their separate historical sources, myths represent basic structures of human consciousness. This book is essential reading for all students of religion, philosophy, and literature.