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Asymmetric Federalism in India: Ethnicity, Development and Governance (Federalism and Internal Conflicts)
by Harihar BhattacharyyaThis book provides a critical account of federal asymmetry in India - its origins, context, forms and functioning - by taking into account the institutional effectiveness of asymmetric institutions in the regions for identity fulfillment, development and governance. It argues that while some asymmetry, de jure/ or de facto, is part of all federations for meeting some special circumstances, in India, which has followed a different path of federation building, asymmetric institutional solutions especially in the border areas have played a crucially important role in accommodating ethno-cultural diversity, ensuring law and order, a level of development and governance in a process that has turned the ‘rebels into stakeholders’. India’s federal asymmetric designs and their working has been a key to holding the peripheries within the Union of India. The book utilizes both archival research and empirical survey data, as well as elite interviews.
The Asymmetric Nature of Time: Accounting for the Open Future and the Fixed Past (Synthese Library #468)
by Vincent GrandjeanThis open access monograph offers a detailed study and a systematic defense of a key intuition we typically have, as human beings, with respect to the nature of time: the intuition that the future is open, whereas the past is fixed. For example, whereas it seems unsettled whether there will be a fourth world war, it is settled that there was a first world war.The book contributes, in particular, three major and original insights. First, it provides a coherent, non-metaphorical, and metaphysically illuminating elucidation of the intuition. Second, it determines which model of the temporal structure of the world is most appropriate to accommodate the intuition, and settles on a specific version of the Growing Block Theory of time (GBT). Third, it puts forward a naturalistic foundation for GBT, by exploiting recent results of our best physics (viz. General Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, and Quantum Gravity). Three main challenges are addressed: the dismissal of temporal asymmetries as non-fundamental phenomena only (e.g., thermodynamic or causal phenomena), the epistemic objection against GBT, and the apparent tension between GBT and relativistic physics. It is argued that the asymmetry between the open future and the fixed past must be grounded in the temporal structure of the world, and that this is neither precluded by our epistemic device, nor by the latest approaches to Quantum Gravity (e.g., the Causal Set Theory). Aiming at reconciling time as we find it in ordinary experience and time as physics describes it, this innovative book will raise the interest of both academic researchers and graduate students working on the philosophy of time. More generally, it presents contents of interest for all metaphysicians and non-dogmatic philosophers of physics.This is an open access book.
The Asymptote of Love: From Mundane to Religious to God's Love
by James KellenbergerIn The Asymptote of Love, James Kellenberger develops a theory of religious love that resists essentialist definitions of the term and brings into conversation historical debates on love in Western philosophy and Christian theology. He argues that if love can be likened to a mathematical asymptote, which is a straight line that infinitely approaches a curve but never quite reaches it, then the asymptote of love reaches toward the infinite endpoint of love at its uttermost, namely, God's love. Drawing upon a broad range of thinkers who have put forth classic debates on love—such as St. Augustine of Hippo, Anders Nygren, and St. Thomas Aquinas, as well as some lesser known figures in the debate, such as Leo Tolstoy and Albert Schweitzer—Kellenberger explains the profound connection between human agape and God's infinite love in its capacity to offer both directive guidance and to exist beyond human conception.
At His Crossroad: Reflections on the Work of France Bučar
by Igor KovačThis book is a translation and celebration of Slovenian politician France Bučar’s seminal work. Divided into two parts, the book first contains several studies of Bučar’s arguments. As Bučar applied his system theory to a variety of issues, so too the conglomerate of scholars and issues critically assessed is interdisciplinary, ranging from political science and economics, to law and philosophy, as well as to natural sciences. The contributors and the questions of their essays in the edited volume are as follows. Peter Verovsek (University of Sheffield) examines different branches of Critical Theory and classifies Bučar within them. Mark Hamilton (Inter-American Defense College) discusses system dynamics of Bučar’s system theory. Urška Velikonja (Georgetown University) applies Bučar’s system theory to the question of the ethics, rules, and regulations in financial economics. Finally, Matej Drev (Georgia Institute of Technology) connects Bučar to the issue of artificial intelligence and inequality.The second part is the English translation of Bučar’s book At A New Crossroads, which addresses the role of ethics in society. Bučar normatively redefines national identity as the crux of his novel understanding of ethics. Using system theory, he addresses the problems of globalization and governance, presenting a post-modern synthesis of the logic of free flow of capital and global citizenship, with national and cultural identity. Speaking to contemporary society, he shows how society and ethical life are reproduced. Bučar provides the reader with new tools to think about national identity and global politics. Bringing an important work on ethics, government, and identity to an entirely new readership, this book will appeal to a broad academic audience, namely students and practitioners in the fields of economics, social sciences, and humanities.
At Home in the Muddy Water: A Guide to Finding Peace Within Everyday Chaos
by Ezra BaydaMay we exist like a lotus, / At home in the muddy water. / Thus we bow to life as it is. This verse is an important reminder, says Ezra Bayda, of what the spiritual life is truly about: the willingness to open ourselves to whatever life presents--no matter how messy or complicated. And through that willingness to be open, we can discover wisdom, compassion, and the genuine life we all want. In At Home in the Muddy Water, Bayda applies this simple Zen teaching to a range of everyday concerns--including relationships, trust, sexuality, and money--showing that everything we need to practice is right here before us, and that peace and fulfillment is available to everyone, right here, right now, no matter what their circumstances.
At Least Know This: Essential Science to Enhance Your Life
by Guy P. HarrisonThis primer on essential scientific literacy gives readers the basics to understand themselves and the world around them, plus a glimpse of how much more science has to offer.Science tells us a good deal about who we are, where we come from, the nature of the universe, how our brains work, and much, much more. Unfortunately, most people are largely unaware of this treasure trove of information. As a result, we are more prone to do things like aim nuclear weapons at each other, inflate the meaning of cultural differences, lay waste to the land, poison and deplete the oceans, fill the sky with carbon, and generally make poor judgments that cause needless trouble.This book seeks to remedy this situation by providing scientific answers to the most basic yet important questions about existence. Following the standard six-question list used by journalists researching a news story, critical-thinking advocate Guy P. Harrison turns to science to answer the who, what, why, when, where and how of life on Earth.How old is our planet? Where did it come from and where is it located in the universe? What is everything made of? When did life begin? Who are we as a species and what connections do we share with other life forms? Why is human culture continuously plagued by war, disease, and crime? Harrison not only offers science's best current answers to these crucial questions but shows how all of this information fits together. Going well beyond the simplistic factoids readily available on any smartphone, he reveals the wider implications and deeper meanings inherent in the scientific worldview.Both entertaining and informative, this exciting tour of the cosmos and human nature will leave readers with an accurate, up-to-date view of realities small and large, near and far.
At the End of Property: Patents, Plants and the Crisis of Propertization
by Veit BraunRecent decades have witnessed the creation of new types of property systems, ranging from data ownership to national control over genetic resources. This trend has significant implications for wealth distribution and our understanding of who can own what. This book explores the idea of ownership in the realm of plant breeding, revealing how plants have been legally and materially transformed into property. It highlights the controversial aspects of turning seeds, plants and genes into property and how this endangers the viability of the seed industry. Examining ownership not simply as a legal concept, but as a bundle of laws, practices and technologies, this is a valuable contribution that will interest scholars of intellectual property studies, the anthropology of markets, science and technology studies and related fields.
At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails
by Sarah BakewellGreat philosophy meets powerful biography in this entertaining and immensely readable portrait of mid-20th century Paris and the fascinating characters of Sartre, de Beauvoir, Camus, and their circle, who loved and hated, drank and debated with each other--and forever changed the way we think about thinking.<P><P> At the Existentialist Café is a thrilling look at the famous group of post-war thinkers who became known as the Existentialists: Sartre, de Beauvoir, Camus, Heidegger, and their circle. Starting with Paris after the devastation of the Second World War, Sarah Bakewell (winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for her previous book) takes us inside the passionate debates and equally passionate lives of these brilliant, if flawed, characters. Here is a wonderful, vibrant look at the social, artistic and political currents that shaped the existentialist movement--a mode of thinking and being that, as Bakewell vividly shows, deeply affects us today. <P> Never has the story of this influential group, and especially that of the legendary relationship between Sartre and de Beauvoir, been told with such verve and sweep, weaving personal life with social upheaval and the universal quest for understanding.
At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails
by Sarah BakewellFrom the best-selling author of How to Live, a spirited account of one of the twentieth century’s major intellectual movements and the revolutionary thinkers who came to shape it<P><P> Paris, 1933: three contemporaries meet over apricot cocktails at the Bec-de-Gaz bar on the rue Montparnasse. They are the young Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and longtime friend Raymond Aron, a fellow philosopher who raves to them about a new conceptual framework from Berlin called Phenomenology. “You see,” he says, “if you are a phenomenologist you can talk about this cocktail and make philosophy out of it!”<P> It was this simple phrase that would ignite a movement, inspiring Sartre to integrate Phenomenology into his own French, humanistic sensibility, thereby creating an entirely new philosophical approach inspired by themes of radical freedom, authentic being, and political activism. This movement would sweep through the jazz clubs and cafés of the Left Bank before making its way across the world as Existentialism.<P> Featuring not only philosophers, but also playwrights, anthropologists, convicts, and revolutionaries, At the Existentialist Café follows the existentialists’ story, from the first rebellious spark through the Second World War, to its role in postwar liberation movements such as anticolonialism, feminism, and gay rights. Interweaving biography and philosophy, it is the epic account of passionate encounters—fights, love affairs, mentorships, rebellions, and long partnerships—and a vital investigation into what the existentialists have to offer us today, at a moment when we are once again confronting the major questions of freedom, global responsibility, and human authenticity in a fractious and technology-driven world.
At the Foundations of Bioethics and Biopolitics: Critical Essays on the Thought of H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr. (Philosophy and Medicine #125)
by Lisa M. Rasmussen Ana Iltis Mark J. CherryThis volume brings together a set of critical essays on the thought of Professor Doctor H. Tristram Engelhardt Junior, Co-Founding Editor of the Philosophy and Medicine book series. Amongst the founders of bioethics, Professor Engelhardt, Jr. looms large. Many of his books and articles have appeared in multiple languages, including Italian, Romanian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Chinese. The essays in this book focus critically on a wide swath of his work, in the process elucidating, critiquing, and/or commending the rigor and reach of his thought. This volume compasses analyses of many different aspects of Engelhardt's work, including social and political philosophy, biopolitics, the philosophy of medicine, and bioethics. It brings together internationally known scholars to assess key elements of Engelhardt's work.
At the Intersection of Language, Logic, and Information: ESSLLI 2018 Student Session, Sofia, Bulgaria, August 6–17, 2018, Selected Papers (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #11667)
by Jennifer Sikos Eric PacuitThe European Summer School in Logic, Language and Information (ESSLLI) is organized every year by the Association for Logic, Language and Information (FoLLI) in different sites around Europe. The papers cover vastly dierent topics, but each fall in the intersection of the three primary topics of ESSLLI: Logic, Language and Computation. The 14 papers presented in this volume have been selected among 24 papers presented by talks or posters at the Student Sessions of the 30th edition of ESSLLI, held in 2018 in Sofia, Bulgaria.The Student Session is a forum for PhD and Master students to present their research at the interfaces of logic, language and computation. It features three tracks: Logic and Computation (LoCo), Logic and Language (LoLa), and Language and Computation (LaCo).
At the Limits of the Secular: Reflections on Faith and Public Life
by William A. Barbieri Jr. Charles TaylorThis volume presents an integrated collection of constructive essays by eminent Catholic scholars addressing the new challenges and opportunities facing religious believers under shifting conditions of secularity and "post-secularity."Using an innovative "keywords" approach, At the Limits of the Secular is an interdisciplinary effort to think through the implications of secular consciousness for the role of religion in public affairs. The book responds in some ways to Charles Taylor's magnum opus, A Secular Age, although it also stands on its own. It features an original essay by David Tracy -- the most prominent American Catholic theologian writing today -- and groundbreaking contributions by influential younger theologians such as Peter Casarella, William Cavanaugh, and Vincent Miller.CONTRIBUTORSWilliam A. Barbieri Jr.Peter CasarellaWilliam T. CavanaughMichele DillonMary DoakAnthony J. GodziebaSlavica JakelicJ. Paul MartinVincent J. MillerPhilip J. RossiRobert J. SchreiterDavid Tracy
At the Margins of the Modern State: Critical Theory and Law
by Seyla BenhabibThe international order of the post-WW II period is in disarray. The sounds of war can be heard all around us, from Ukraine to Gaza, from Darfur to the Congo, and there is growing skepticism towards human rights and democracy, the rule of law and peace among peoples.Facile expressions such as “Eurocentrism” and “demise of the West and the rise of the rest” miss the real challenge in this situation: how to extend moral, legal and political universalism to address the experiences of the multitude of humanity for whom western modernity has brought not only equality but also subordination, not only emancipation but also domination. Benhabib argues that rethinking this universalist project and participating in world-building together can be achieved by reconstructing and retrieving the best insights of critical social theory in the Frankfurt tradition and the liberal Kantianism of Rawls and Dworkin. In that spirit, this volume addresses state and popular sovereignty, Third World approaches to International Law, the 1951 Refugee Convention, and climate change legislation, while focusing on the changing fortunes of the European Union and cosmopolitanism. Benhabib engages with postcolonial thinkers and argues that, although validity claims and relations of domination and inequality are often intermixed, it is possible to reconstruct the insights of international law to serve a more inclusive universalism and world-building. This vibrant defense of human rights and universal norms in an age of political skepticism and extremism will appeal to a wide readership and will be of particular interest to students and scholars in political theory, critical theory and law.
At War with Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House
by H. R. McMasterAn Instant New York Times Bestseller!A revealing account of National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster’s turbulent and consequential thirteen months in the Trump White House.At War with Ourselves is the story of helping a disruptive President drive necessary shifts in U.S. foreign policy at a critical moment in history. McMaster entered an administration beset by conflict and the hyper partisanship of American politics. With the candor of a soldier and the perspective of a historian, McMaster rises above the fray to lay bare the good, the bad, and the ugly of Trump’s presidency and give readers insight into what a second Trump term would look like.While all administrations are subject to backstabbing and infighting, some of Trump’s more unscrupulous political advisors were determined to undermine McMaster and others to advance their narrow agendas. McMaster writes candidly about Cabinet officials who, deeply disturbed by Trump’s language and behavior, prioritized controlling the President over collaborating to provide the President with options.McMaster offers a frank and fresh assessment of the achievements and failures of his tenure as National Security Advisor and the challenging task of maintaining one’s bearings and focus on the mission in a hectic and malicious environment.Determined to transcend the war within the administration and focus on national security priorities, McMaster forged coalitions in Washington and internationally to help Trump advance U.S. interests. Trump’s character and personality helped him make tough decisions, but sometimes prevented him from sticking to them. McMaster adroitly assesses the record of Trump’s presidency in comparison to the Obama and Biden administrations.With the 2024 election on the horizon, At War with Ourselves highlights the crucial importance of competence in foreign policy, and makes plain the need for leaders who possess the character and intellect to guide the United States in a tumultuous world.
At Work in the Ruins: Finding Our Place in the Time of Climate Crises and Other Emergencies
by null Dougald Hine&‘One of the most perceptive and thought-provoking books …Essential reading for these turbulent times.&’ Amitav Ghosh, author of The Great Derangement&‘Dougald Hine&’s brilliant book demands we stare into that abyss and rethink our securest certainties about what is actually going on in the climate crisis. It&’s lucidly unsettling and yet in the end empowering. There is something we can do, and it starts with where we look, how we see and what we choose to change.&’ Brian Eno, Musician&‘[A] rich book, which like a poetic or religious text deserves multiple readings&’ Richard Smith, British Medical Journal&‘I consider this book a must-read for all those activists feeling lost, desperate and perhaps subject to &‘press-on-itis&’.&’ Gail Bradbrook, cofounder, Extinction RebellionDougald Hine, world-renowned environmental thinker, has spent most of his life talking to people about climate change. And then one afternoon in the second year of the pandemic, he found he had nothing left to say. Why would someone who cares so deeply about ecological destruction want to stop talking about climate change now? At Work in the Ruins explores that question.&‘Climate change asks us questions that climate science cannot answer,&’ Dougald says. Questions like, how did we end up in this mess? Is it just a piece of bad luck with atmospheric chemistry – or is it the result of a way of approaching the world that would always have brought us to such a pass? How we answer such questions also has consequences.Through our over-reliance on the single lens of science, Dougald writes that we are blinded to the nature of the crises around and ahead of us, leading to &‘solutions&’ that can only make things worse. At Work in the Ruins is his reckoning with the strange years we have been living through and our long history of asking too much of science. He offers guidance by standing firmly forward and facing the depth of the trouble we are in, to ultimately, helps us find the work that is worth doing, even in the ruins.
Athanasius Kircher: The Last Man Who Knew Everything
by Paula FindlenFirst published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Athanasius Kircher: The Last Man Who Knew Everything
by Paula FindlenFirst published in 2004.Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680) -- German Jesuit, occultist, polymath - was one of most curious figures in the history of science. He dabbled in all the mysteries of his time: the heavenly bodies, sound amplification, museology, botany, Asian languages, the pyramids of Egypt -- almost anything incompletely understood. Kircher coined the term electromagnetism, printed Sanskrit for the first time in a Western book, and built a famous museum collection. His wild, beautifully illustrated books are sometimes visionary, frequently wrong, and yet compelling documents in the history of ideas. They are being rediscovered in our own time. This volume contains new essays on Kircher and his world by leading historians and historians of science, including Stephen Jay Gould, Ingrid Rowland, Anthony Grafton, Daniel Stoltzenberg, Paula Findlen, and Barbara Stafford.-
Athanasius Kircher, the Mysteries of the Geocosmos, Magnetism, and the Universe
by Agustín UdíasAthanasius Kircher, the eminent 17th-century German Jesuit professor of mathematics at the Roman College emerges as a captivating figure within the pages of this monograph by Agustín Udías. Aptly deemed 'the man who knew everything,' Kircher's thirty-two comprehensive works, spanning an array of subjects, provide a unique lens into his visionary perspectives. This book delves into three selected works where Kircher unveils his conceptualization of the Earth, termed the 'Geocosmos,' treated magnetism as a cosmic and spiritual force, and embarks on a cosmic exploration from Earth to the stars. From his groundbreaking speculations on the Earth's interior, attributing earthquakes and volcanoes to intricate channels of air, water, and fire, to his cosmic journey accompanied by the ethereal spirit Cosmiel, Kircher's enduring allure persists. Despite variance from contemporary knowledge, situated at the beginning of modern science, Kircher's proposals of the structure of the Earth’s interior, cosmic magnetic theories, and space journey to the stars offer a compelling glimpse into the intellectual landscape of a bygone era, making this book an essential exploration for scholars seeking a nuanced understanding of Kircher's profound influence.
Atheism
by Alexandre KojèveOne of the twentieth century’s most brilliant and unconventional thinkers, Alexandre Kojève was a Russian émigré to France whose lectures on Hegel in the 1930s galvanized a generation of French intellectuals. Although Kojève wrote a great deal, he published very little in his lifetime, and so the ongoing rediscovery of his work continues to present new challenges to philosophy and political theory. Written in 1931 but left unfinished, Atheism is an erudite and open-ended exploration of profound questions of estrangement, death, suicide, and the infinite that demonstrates the range and the provocative power of Kojève’s thought.Ranging across Heidegger, Buddhism, Christianity, German idealism, Russian literature, and mathematics, Kojève advances a novel argument about freedom and authority. He investigates the possibility that there is not any vantage point or source of authority—including philosophy, science, or God—that is outside or beyond politics and the world as we experience it. The question becomes whether atheism—or theism—is even a meaningful position since both affirmation and denial of God’s existence imply a knowledge that seems clearly outside our capacities. Masterfully translated by Jeff Love, this book offers a striking new perspective on Kojève’s work and its implications for theism, atheism, politics, and freedom.
Atheism: The Basics (The Basics)
by Graham OppyAtheism: The Basics is a concise and engaging introduction to belief in the non-existence of deities. Atheism has long fascinated people but debate around this controversial position may seem daunting. In this lively and lucid book, Graham Oppy addresses the following important questions: • What does it mean to be an atheist? • What is the difference between atheism, agnosticism, theism and innocence? • How has atheism been distributed over time and place? • What does science tell us about atheism? • Are there good reasons to be an atheist? • Are there good reasons not to be an atheist? • What do we mean by ‘new atheism'? With a glossary of key terms and suggestions for further reading throughout, the book considers key philosophical arguments around atheism, making this an ideal starting point for anyone seeking a full introduction to the arguments between those who hold atheistic beliefs and those who do not.
Atheism and Agnosticism (Elements in the Philosophy of Religion)
by Graham OppyThis book is an elementary introduction to atheism and agnosticism. It begins with a careful characterisation of atheism and agnosticism, distinguishing them from many other things with which they are often conflated. After a brief discussion of the theoretical framework within which atheism and agnosticism are properly evaluated, it then turns to the sketching of cases for atheism and agnosticism. In both cases, the aim is not conviction, but rather advancement of understanding: the point of the cases is to make it intelligible why some take themselves to have compelling reason to adopt atheism or agnosticism.
Atheism Considered: A Survey of the Rational Rejection of Religious Belief
by C.M. LorkowskiAtheism Considered is a systematic presentation of challenges to the existence of a higher power. Rather than engage in polemic against a religious worldview, C.M. Lorkowski charitably refutes the classical arguments for the existence of god, pointing out flaws in their underlying reasoning and highlighting difficulties inherent to revealed sources. In place of a theistic worldview, he argues for adopting a naturalistic one, highlighting naturalism’s capacity to explain world phenomena and contribute to the sciences. Lorkowski demonstrates that replacing theism with naturalism, contra popular assumptions, sacrifices nothing in terms of ethics or meaning. Instead, morality ultimately proves more important than religion and does not rely on it. Appropriate for classroom use, this book is meant to cultivate understanding, tolerance, and fruitful dialogue between believers and nonbelievers.
Atheism For Dummies
by Dale McgowanThe easy way to understand atheism and secular philosophyFor people seeking a non-religious philosophy of life, as well as believers with atheist friends, Atheism For Dummies offers an intelligent exploration of the historical and moral case for atheism. Often wildly misunderstood, atheism is a secular approach to life based on the understanding that reality is an arrangement of physical matter, with no consideration of unverifiable spiritual forces.Atheism For Dummies offers a brief history of atheist philosophy and its evolution, explores it as a historical and cultural movement, covers important historical writings on the subject, and discusses the nature of ethics and morality in the absence of religion.A simple, yet intelligent exploration of an often misunderstood philosophyExplores the differences between explicit and implicit atheismA comprehensive, readable, and thoroughly unbiased resourceAs the number of atheists worldwide continues to grow, this book offers a broad understanding of the subject for those exploring atheism as an approach to living.
Atheism on Trial: A Lawyer Examines the Case for Unbelief
by W. Mark LanierIn the courtroom, lawyers depend on rules of evidence to make their arguments. A case is made by establishing certain facts from which proof can be determined. But what happens when the truth seems to be a matter of faith? Can the legal mind discern the validity of one's belief or unbelief? Nationally recognized trial lawyer Mark Lanier turns his analytical mind to the arguments for atheism and agnosticism. With critical thinking and precision of thought, he examines the rationales made for unbelief and assesses them on their own terms, finding points of strength and weakness in their logic and coherence. He considers whether atheistic frameworks give satisfactory and consistent explanatory answers for understanding human existence and the world around us. He cross-examines the strongest arguments of prominent atheists and also interrogates the questions of agnostics as to whether God is knowable. Through his evenhanded, levelheaded approach, Lanier challenges us all to decide for ourselves what we believe.
Atheism Revisited: Rethinking Modernity and Inventing New Modes of Life
by Szymon Wróbel Krzysztof SkoniecznyAtheism Revisited is a collection of essays that explore the multifaceted nature of atheism. Starting from the notion that today’s atheism is shaped by the defining processes of Modernity—such as secularization and the breakup of science, philosophy, and theology—the first part of the book undertakes a thorough scrutiny of Modern atheisms, from Spinoza and Hobbes to Marx and Nietzsche. The second part of the book seeks to draw practical conclusions from this scrutiny and answer the questions: what is the state of atheism today? What is the role of an atheist in a world affected by religious fundamentalisms? What should the relationship between atheists and religious people look like? The wide scope of the book allows readers to see atheism as a central concern of many intellectual movements, from Marxism and French Theory to post-secularism and the reevaluation of Modernity, and to understand atheism as a focal point of the most important contemporary philosophical debates.