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Of Grammatology
by Jacques DerridaThe deconstruction bombshell that rocked the Anglophone world.Jacques Derrida’s revolutionary approach to phenomenology, psychoanalysis, structuralism, linguistics, and indeed the entire European tradition of philosophy—called deconstruction—changed the face of criticism. It provoked a questioning of philosophy, literature, and the human sciences that these disciplines would have previously considered improper. Forty years after Of Grammatology first appeared in English, Derrida still ignites controversy, thanks in part to Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak’s careful translation, which attempted to capture the richness and complexity of the original. This fortieth anniversary edition, where a mature Spivak retranslates with greater awareness of Derrida’s legacy, also includes a new afterword by her which supplements her influential original preface. Judith Butler has added an introduction. All references in the work have been updated. One of contemporary criticism’s most indispensable works, Of Grammatology is made even more accessible and usable by this new release.
Of Human Freedom (Penguin Great Ideas)
by EpictetusIn this personal and practical guide to moral self-improvement and living a good life, the second-century philosopher Epictetus tackles questions of freedom and imprisonment, stubbornness and fear, family, friendship and love, and leaves an intriguing document of daily life in the classical world.GREAT IDEAS. Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.
Of Human Kindness: What Shakespeare Teaches Us About Empathy
by Paula Marantz CohenAn award-winning scholar and teacher explores how Shakespeare&’s greatest characters were built on a learned sense of empathy While exploring Shakespeare&’s plays with her students, Paula Marantz Cohen discovered that teaching and discussing his plays unlocked a surprising sense of compassion in the classroom. In this short and illuminating book, she shows how Shakespeare&’s genius lay with his ability to arouse empathy, even when his characters exist in alien contexts and behave in reprehensible ways. Cohen takes her readers through a selection of Shakespeare&’s most famous plays, including Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and The Merchant of Venice, to demonstrate the ways in which Shakespeare thought deeply and clearly about how we treat &“the other.&” Cohen argues that only through close reading of Shakespeare can we fully appreciate his empathetic response to race, class, gender, and age. Wise, eloquent, and thoughtful, this book is a forceful argument for literature&’s power to champion what is best in us.
Of Human Potential: An Essay in the Philosophy of Education (Routledge Revivals)
by Israel SchefflerThe concept of potential plays a prominent role in the thinking of parents, educators and planners the world over. Although this concept accurately reflects central features of human nature, its current use perpetuates traditional myths of fixity, harmony and value, calculated to cause untold mischief in social and educational practice. First published in 1985, Israel Scheffler's book aims to demythologise the concept of potential. He shows its roots in genuine aspects of human nature, but at the same time frees it from outworn philosophical myths by means of analytical reconstruction - thereby improving both its theoretical and its practical applicability. The book concludes with an interpretation of policy-making in education, and reflections on the ideal education of a policy-maker. It emphasises human symbolism, choice, temporal continuity, and self-determination as indispensible elements of any adequate philosophy of education. Of Human Potential will be of interest to a broad range of philosophers, educators and social scientists.
Of Intelligence
by Farid ChehabThey call me Intelligence. I float in weightlessness, bathed in the cosmos. I feel content here, yet I want to understand my true nature. So let me detach myself from my human roots to take stock of what we have accomplished together. For millennia, we have been a team. Together, our knowledge has accumulated, making us universally privileged with an awareness that we are gods in the natural world. I will tell you what’s needed to carry our partnership into the deep future. We’ll need to discuss the birth of digital technology and its relationship with my organic origin. Are we divergent, or children of a common origin? How will my relationship with science evolve? How should education re-invent itself to pave the way? What will my relationship with consciousness and theism resemble? How will the future marry intelligence and love? What are humanity’s new values going to be, and where will your beautiful legacy of art and culture end up? Together, will we create a new humanity or will I be forced to find other territories to flourish? Will I meet other intelligences for better or worse? Will I annex the universe… the universes? But first, who am I?
Of Jaguars and Butterflies: Metalogues on Issues in Anthropology and Philosophy
by Geoffrey Lloyd Aparecida VilaçaWhat are we to make of statements that jaguars see themselves as humans, or of doubts about the boundary between dreams and waking? Jointly authored by an anthropologist and a philosopher, this book investigates some of the most puzzling ideas and practices reported in modern ethnography and ancient philosophy, concerning humans, animals, persons, spirits, agency, selfhood, consciousness, nature, life, death, disease and health. The study’s twin aims are first to explore the possibility of achieving a better understanding of the materials we discuss and then to see what lessons we can draw from them to challenge and revise our own fundamental assumptions.
Of Literature and Knowledge: Explorations in Narrative Thought Experiments, Evolution and Game Theory
by Peter Swirski"Of Literature and Knowledge looks ... like an important advance in this new and very important subject... literature is about to become even more interesting." – Edward O. Wilson, Pellegrino University Professor, Harvard University. Framed by the theory of evolution, this colourful and engaging volume presents a new understanding of the mechanisms by which we transfer information from narrative make-believe to real life. Ranging across game theory and philosophy of science, as well as poetics and aesthetics, Peter Swirski explains how literary fictions perform as a systematic tool of enquiry, driven by thought experiments. Crucially, he argues for a continuum between the cognitive tools employed by scientists, philosophers and scholars or writers of fiction. The result is a provocative study of our talent and propensity for creating imaginary worlds, different from the world we know yet invaluable to our understanding of it. Of Literature and Knowledge is a noteworthy challenge to contemporary critical theory, arguing that by bridging the gap between literature and science we might not only reinvigorate literary studies but, above all, further our understanding of literature.
Of Man: Thi Life Of Man, Solitary, Poore, Nasty, Brutish And Short (Penguin Great Ideas #Vol. 31)
by Thomas HobbesThe founding father of modern political philosophy, Thomas Hobbes, living in an era of horrific violence, saw human life as meaningless and cruel; here, he argues the only way to escape this brutality is for all to accept a 'social contract' that acknowledges the greater authority of a Sovereign leader.
Of Men and Numbers: The Story of the Great Mathematicians (Dover Books On Mathematics Ser.)
by Jane MuirWhile mathematics itself may be a formidable subject for many, the lives and accomplishments of history’s greatest mathematicians—from Pythagoras to Cantor—offer fascinating reading.In this delightful and informative recounting, for example, we learn how Pascal’s life was abruptly changed by a family of fanatical bonesetters, how Descartes was influenced by three dreams, and how the scholarly Swiss Leonhard Euler (whose famous conjecture was finally disproved in 1959, after 177 years) almost ended up in the Russian navy.Here, too, are Cardano, the gambler who becomes the 16th century’s most fashionable doctor; Archimedes, Newton, and Gauss, often considered the three greatest mathematicians of all times; Lobatchevsky, the inventor of non-Euclidean geometry; and the tragic Galois, a founder of modern higher algebra.In addition to a wealth of interesting and informative anecdotes, presented in a delightfully conversational style, the author offers lucid, accessible explanations of these thinkers’ invaluable contributions to the edifice of modern mathematical thought and to man’s understanding of himself and his universe.—Print ed.
Of Moral Conduct: A Theory of Obligation, Reasons, and Value
by Robert AudiIn this book Robert Audi presents an original ethics of conduct, spanning moral theory, practical ethics, and theories of obligation and value. Conduct is determined not just by what we do, but also by why and how we do it. To integrate these dimensions of conduct, Audi clarifies the relation between intention and obligation, explains the difference between moral rightness and moral worth, and describes myriad manners of human actions. He also clarifies major moral standards such as justice, fidelity, beneficence, and liberty, and explores ethics from the perspectives of the theory of action, the epistemology of moral principles, the metaphysics of normative properties, and the value of human experiences. His concluding chapters offer a theory of reasons and values and propose an original theory of value.
Of Reality: The Purposes of Philosophy
by Gianni VattimoWe think it is wise to accept reality, rather than fight for something that does not exist or might never be. But in Of Reality, Gianni Vattimo condemns this complacency, with its implicit support of the status quo. Instead he urges us to never stop questioning, contrasting, or overcoming reality, which is not natural, inevitable, or objective. Reality is a construct, reflecting, among other things, our greed, biases, and tendencies toward violence. It is no accident, Vattimo argues, that the call to embrace reality has emerged at a time when the inequalities of liberal capitalism are at their most extreme. Developed from his popular Gifford Lectures, this book advances a critical approach that recovers our interpretive powers and native skepticism toward normative claims. Though he recognizes his ideas invite charges of relativism, the philosopher counters with a discussion of truth, highlighting its longstanding ties to history and social circumstance. Truth is always contingent and provisional, and reason and reasonableness are bound to historical context. Truth is therefore never objective, and resistance to reality is our best hope to defeat the indifference that threatens the scope of freedom and democracy.
Of Remixology: Ethics and Aesthetics after Remix
by David J. GunkelA new theory of moral and aesthetic value for the age of remix, going beyond the usual debates over originality and appropriation.Remix—or the practice of recombining preexisting content—has proliferated across media both digital and analog. Fans celebrate it as a revolutionary new creative practice; critics characterize it as a lazy and cheap (and often illegal) recycling of other people's work. In Of Remixology, David Gunkel argues that to understand remix, we need to change the terms of the debate. The two sides of the remix controversy, Gunkel contends, share certain underlying values—originality, innovation, artistic integrity. And each side seeks to protect these values from the threat that is represented by the other. In reevaluating these shared philosophical assumptions, Gunkel not only provides a new way to understand remix, he also offers an innovative theory of moral and aesthetic value for the twenty-first century.In a section called “Premix,” Gunkel examines the terminology of remix (including “collage,” “sample,” “bootleg,” and “mashup”) and its material preconditions, the technology of recording. In “Remix,” he takes on the distinction between original and copy; makes a case for repetition; and considers the question of authorship in a world of seemingly endless recompiled and repurposed content. Finally, in “Postmix,” Gunkel outlines a new theory of moral and aesthetic value that can accommodate remix and its cultural significance, remixing—or reconfiguring and recombining—traditional philosophical approaches in the process.
Of Rule and Office: Plato's Ideas of the Political
by Melissa LaneA constitutionalist reading of Plato&’s political thoughtPlato famously defends the rule of knowledge. Knowledge, for him, is of the good. But what is rule? In this study, Melissa Lane reveals how political office and rule were woven together in Greek vocabulary and practices that both connected and distinguished between rule in general and office as a constitutionally limited kind of rule in particular. In doing so, Lane shows Plato to have been deeply concerned with the roles and relationships between rulers and ruled. Adopting a longstanding Greek expectation that a ruler should serve the good of the ruled, Plato&’s major political dialogues—the Republic, the Statesman, and Laws—explore how different kinds of rule might best serve that good. With this book, Lane offers the first account of the clearly marked vocabulary of offices at the heart of all three of these dialogues, explaining how such offices fit within the broader organization and theorizing of rule.Lane argues that taking Plato&’s interest in rule and office seriously reveals tyranny as ultimately a kind of anarchy, lacking the order as well as the purpose of rule. When we think of tyranny in this way, we see how Plato invokes rule and office as underpinning freedom and friendship as political values, and how Greek slavery shaped Plato&’s account of freedom. Reading Plato both in the Greek context and in dialogue with contemporary thinkers, Lane argues that rule and office belong at the center of Platonic, Greek, and contemporary political thought.
Of Sheep, Oranges, and Yeast: A Multispecies Impression
by Julian YatesIn what senses do animals, plants, and minerals “write”? How does their “writing” mark our livesour past, present, and future? Addressing such questions with an exhilarating blend of creative flair and theoretical depth, Of Sheep, Oranges, and Yeast traces how the lives of, yes, sheep, oranges, gold, and yeast mark the stories of those animals we call “human.”Bringing together often separate conversations in animal studies, plant studies, ecotheory, and biopolitics, Of Sheep, Oranges, and Yeast crafts scripts for literary and historical study that embrace the fact that we come into being through our relations to other animal, plant, fungal, microbial, viral, mineral, and chemical actors. The book opens and closes in the company of a Shakespearean character talking through his painful encounter with the skin of a lamb (in the form of parchment). This encounter stages a visceral awareness of what Julian Yates names a “multispecies impression,” the way all acts of writing are saturated with the “writing” of other beings. Yates then develops a multimodal reading strategy that traces a series of anthropo-zoo-genetic figures that derive from our comaking with sheep (keyed to the story of biopolitics), oranges (keyed to economy), and yeast (keyed to the notion of foundation or infrastructure). Working with an array of materials (published and archival), across disciplines and historical periods (Classical to postmodern), the book allows sheep, oranges, and yeast to dictate their own chronologies and plot their own stories. What emerges is a methodology that fundamentally alters what it means to read in the twenty-first century.
Of Silence and Song
by Dan Beachy-QuickMusings on joy and suffering, midlife and meaning, by a National Book Award–nominated poet and essayist praised for his “fine ear” (Publishers Weekly).Midway through the journey of his life, Dan Beachy-Quick found himself without a path, unsure how to live well. Of Silence and Song follows him on his resulting classical search for meaning in the world and in his particular, quiet life. In essays, fragments, marginalia, images, travel writing, and poetry, Beachy-Quick traces his relationships and identities. As father and husband. As teacher and student. As citizen and scholar. And as poet and reader, wondering at the potential and limits of literature.Of Silence and Song finds its inferno—and its paradise—in moments both historically vast and nakedly intimate. Hell: disappearing bees, James Eagan Holmes, Columbine, and the persistent, unforgivable crime of slavery. And redemption: in the art of Marcel Duchamp, the pressed flowers in Emily Dickinson’s Bible, and long walks with his youngest daughter.Curious, earnest, and masterful, Of Silence and Song is an unforgettable exploration of the human soul.Praise for the writing of Dan Beachy-Quick:“Intelligent, compassionate, exquisite . . . a unique voice.” —Cole Swensen“Rich, profound, fascinating.” —Los Angeles Times
Of The Social Contract and Other Political Writings (Cambridge Texts In The History Of Political Thought Ser.)
by Jean-Jacques Rousseau'Man was born free, and everywhere he is in chains.' These are the famous opening words of a treatise that has stirred vigorous debate ever since its first publication in 1762. Rejecting the view that anyone has a natural right to wield authority over others, Rousseau argues instead for a pact, or 'social contract', that should exist between all the citizens of a state and that should be the source of sovereign power. From this fundamental premise, he goes on to consider issues of liberty and law, freedom and justice, arriving at a view of society that has seemed to some a blueprint for totalitarianism, to others a declaration of democratic principles.Translated by Quintin HoareWith a new introduction by Christopher Bertram
Of the Abuse of Words (Penguin Great Ideas)
by John LockeJohn Locke was one of the greatest figures of the Enlightenment, whose assertion that reason is the key to knowledge changed the face of philosophy. These writings on thought, ideas, perception, truth and language are some of the most influential in the history of Western thought. Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.
Of Women Borne: A Literary Ethics of Suffering (Gender, Theory, and Religion)
by Cynthia WallaceThe literature of Adrienne Rich, Toni Morrison, Ana Castillo, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie teaches a risky, self-giving way of reading (and being) that brings home the dangers and the possibilities of suffering as an ethical good. Working the thought of feminist theologians and philosophers into an analysis of these women's writings, Cynthia R. Wallace crafts a literary ethics attentive to the paradoxes of critique and re-vision, universality and particularity, and reads in suffering a redemptive or redeemable reality.Wallace's approach recognizes the generative interplay between ethical form and content in literature, which helps isolate more distinctly the gendered and religious echoes of suffering and sacrifice in Western culture. By refracting these resonances through the work of feminists and theologians of color, her book also shows the value of broad-ranging ethical explorations into literature, with their power to redefine theories of reading and the nature of our responsibility to art and each other.
Off-Earth: Ethical Questions and Quandaries for Living in Outer Space
by Erika NesvoldCan we do better in space than we&’ve done here on Earth?We&’ve pinpointed the destination, refined the technology, designed the habitat, outfitted our space residents. Are we forgetting something? A timely reminder that it&’s not just rocket science, this thought-provoking book explores the all-too-human issues raised by the prospect of settling in outer space. It&’s worth remembering, Erika Nesvold suggests, that in making new worlds, we don&’t necessarily leave our earthly problems behind. Accordingly, her work highlights the complex ethical challenges that accompany any other-worldly venture—questions about the environment, labor rights, and medical ethics, among others. Any such venture, Nesvold contends, must be made on behalf of all humanity, with global input and collaboration. Off-Earth thus includes historical and contemporary examples from outside the dominant Western/US, abled, and privileged narrative of the space industry. Nesvold calls on experts in ethics, sociology, history, social justice, and law to launch a hopeful conversation about the potential ethical pitfalls of becoming a multi-planet species—and, ideally, to shed light on similar problems we presently face here on Earth. Space settlement is rapidly becoming ever more likely. Will it look like the utopian vision of Star Trek? Or the dark future of Star Wars? Nesvold challenges us to decide.
The Off-Screen: An Investigation of the Cinematic Frame
by Eyal PeretzFrom the Renaissance on, a new concept of the frame becomes crucial to a range of artistic media, which in turn are organized around and fascinated by this frame. The frame decontextualizes, cutting everything that is within it from the continuity of the world and creating a realm we understand as the realm of fiction. The modern theatrical stage, framed paintings, the novel, the cinematic screen—all present us with such framed-off zones. Naturally, the frame creates a separation between inside and out. But, as this book argues, what is outside the frame, what is offstage, or off screen, remains particularly mysterious. It constitutes the primary enigma of the work of art in the modern age. It is to the historical and conceptual significance of this "off" that this book is dedicated. By focusing on what is outside the frame of a work of art, it offers a comprehensive theory of film, a concise history of American cinema from D.W. Griffith to Quentin Tarantino, and a reflection on the place and significance of film within the arts of modernity in general.
Offene Ordnung?
by Andreas ZiemannWelterfahrung, Vergesellschaftung und die Organisation der Alltagspraxis sind grundlegend situiert und situativ. In Situationen erleben und handeln wir - mit Anderen, für Andere, gegen Andere. Als Kategorie ist die Situation jedoch ins Vergessen geraten und theoretisch wie empirisch scheinbar irrelevant geworden. Dabei - so eine zentrale These des Sammelbandes - kann gerade die ,Situation' zwischen der Handlungs- und Strukturtheorie, zwischen dem Mikro- und Makrobereich des Sozialen vermitteln. Aus philosophischer und soziologischer Perspektive wird hier an einer Re-Vitalisierung der Situationstheorie und -analyse gearbeitet. Eine zentrale Frage lautet: Wie wird soziale Ordnung in actu und in situ verhandelt, dargestellt und legitimiert? Dabei geht es auch um die programmatische Anfrage respektive das Erklären des Auftauchens und Eindringens von Unerwartetem, Unwahrscheinlichem, Komischem oder Neuem in Situationen. Mit Beiträgen von: Gregor Bongaerts, Jens Bonnemann, Anna Echterhölter, Lorenz Engell, Joachim Fischer, Wil Martens, Stefan Meißner, Karl Mertens, Jo Reichertz, Hans-Georg Soeffner, Christiane Voss und Andreas Ziemann.
Offense and Offensiveness: A Philosophical Account (Routledge Studies in Ethics and Moral Theory)
by Andrew SneddonThis book offers a comprehensive study of the nature and significance of offense and offensiveness. It incorporates insights from moral philosophy and moral psychology to rationally reconstruct our ordinary ideas and assumptions about these notions. When someone claims that something is offensive, others are supposed to listen. Why? What is it for something to be offensive? Likewise, it’s supposed to matter if someone claims to have been offended. Is this correct? In this book, Andrew Sneddon argues that we should think of offense as a moralized bad feeling. He explains offensiveness in terms of symbolic value. We tend to give claims of both offense and offensiveness more credence than they deserve. While it is in principle possible for there to be genuine moral problems of offense and offensiveness, we should expect such problems to be rare. Offense and Offensiveness: A Philosophical Account will be of interest to scholars and students working in moral philosophy and moral psychology.
Öffentliche Kontrolle der Streitkräfte in der Russischen Föderation
by Nadja DouglasDer Band befasst sich mit den Grundlagen der gegenwärtigen Beziehungen zwischen zivilen Akteuren und staatlichen Machtstrukturen. Der Schwerpunkt liegt auf dem Themenfeld der öffentlichen Kontrolle von Streitkräften und der Frage, warum zivile Akteure ein wachsames Auge auf die militärische Institution sowie zivile Behörden, die den Einsatz von Gewalt legitimieren, haben sollten. Am Beispiel von Wehrpflicht und Rekrutierung als Schnittstelle zwischen Militär und Gesellschaft analysiert die Studie den institutionellen Wandel im politisch-militärischen Bereich im postsowjetischen Russland. In kritischer Auseinandersetzung mit der konventionellen Militärsoziologie verlagert das Buch den Fokus weg von der exklusiven Machtbeziehung zwischen politischen und militärischen Eliten im Kontext der nationalen Sicherheit. Stattdessen berücksichtigt es die menschliche und gesellschaftliche Sicherheit, d.h. die Bedürfnisse und Forderungen von Individuen und Gruppen an der Basis, die vom Militär und der herrschenden Sicherheitslage in Russland betroffen sind. Das Buch richtet sich an Leser mit Interesse an zivil-militärischen Beziehungen, gegenwärtiger russischer Gesellschaftspolitik und Theorien sozialer Bewegungen.
The Office and Philosophy: Scenes from the Unexamined Life
by J. Jeremy WisnewskiNot many books refer to Hooters restaurant and philosopher John Stuart Mill on the same page. Focusing on the American/British television comedy series "The Office", Wisnewski (Hartwick College, Oneonta, NY) and fellow philosophers draw lessons from the quirky analysis of the unexamined life portrayed in its episodes. For example, one chapter is entitled: "Pam and Jim on the Make: The Epistemology of Self-Deception".