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On Slowness: Toward an Aesthetic of the Contemporary (Columbia Themes in Philosophy, Social Criticism, and the Arts)
by Lutz KoepnickSpeed is an obvious facet of contemporary society, whereas slowness has often been dismissed as conservative and antimodern. Challenging a long tradition of thought, Lutz Koepnick instead proposes we understand slowness as a strategy of the contemporary—a decidedly modern practice that gazes firmly at and into the present's velocity.As he engages with late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century art, photography, video, film, and literature, Koepnick explores slowness as a critical medium to intensify our temporal and spatial experiences. Slowness helps us register the multiple layers of time, history, and motion that constitute our present. It offers a timely (and untimely) mode of aesthetic perception and representation that emphasizes the openness of the future and undermines any conception of the present as a mere replay of the past. Discussing the photography and art of Janet Cardiff, Olafur Eliasson, Hiroshi Sugimoto, and Michael Wesely; the films of Peter Weir and Tom Tykwer; the video installations of Douglas Gordon, Willie Doherty, and Bill Viola; and the fiction of Don DeLillo, Koepnick shows how slowness can carve out spaces within processes of acceleration that allow us to reflect on alternate temporalities and durations.
On Slowness
by Lutz KoepnickA counterintuitive take on the deceleration of time and its function in contemporary art and culture.
On The Social Contract
by Jean-Jacques RousseauThis new edition features a revision by Donald A. Cress of his bestselling 1987 translation of On the Social Contract together with an Introduction, footnotes, <p><p>and chronology by David Wootton, one of our leading historians of the Enlightenment.
On Social Evolution: Phenomenon and Paradigm
by Shiping TangTang provides a coherent and systematic exploration of social evolution as a phenomenon and as a paradigm. He critically builds on existing discussions on social evolution, while drawing from a wide range of disciplines, including archaeology, evolutionary anthropology, sociology, economics, political science, the philosophy of social sciences, and evolutionary biology. Clarifying the relationship between biological evolution and social evolution, Tang lays bare the ontological and epistemological principles of the social evolutionary paradigm. He also presents operational principles and tools for deploying this paradigm to understand empirical puzzles about human society. This is a vital resource for students, practitioners, and philosophers of all social sciences.
On Social Facts
by Margaret GilbertAre social groups real in any sense that is independent of the thoughts, actions, and beliefs of the individuals making up the group? Using methods of philosophy to examine such longstanding sociological questions, Margaret Gilbert gives a general characterization of the core phenomena at issue in the domain of human social life. After developing detailed analyses of a number of central everyday concepts of social phenomena--including shared action, a social convention, a group's belief, and a group itself--she proposes that the core social phenomena among human beings are "plural subject" phenomena. In her analyses Gilbert discusses the work of such thinkers as Emile Durkheim, Georg Simmel, Max Weber, and David Lewis. "Gilbert's book aims to . . . exhibit some general and structural features of the conceptual scheme in terms of which we think about social groups, collective action, social convention, and shared belief. . . . [It] offers an important corrective to individualistic thinking in the social sciences. . . . "--Michael Root, Philosophical Review "In this rich and rewarding work, Margaret Gilbert provides a novel and detailed account of our everyday concepts of social collectivity. In so doing she makes a seminal contribution to . . . some vexed issues in the philosophy of social science. . . . [An] intellectually pioneering work. "--John D. Greenwood, Social Epistemology
On Social Facts (International Library Of Philosophy)
by Margaret GilbertAre social groups real in any sense that is independent of the thoughts, actions, and beliefs of the individuals making up the group? Using methods of philosophy to examine such longstanding sociological questions, Margaret Gilbert gives a general characterization of the core phenomena at issue in the domain of human social life. After developing detailed analyses of a number of central everyday concepts of social phenomena--including shared action, a social convention, a group's belief, and a group itself--she proposes that the core social phenomena among human beings are "plural subject" phenomena. In her analyses Gilbert discusses the work of such thinkers as Emile Durkheim, Georg Simmel, Max Weber, and David Lewis. "Gilbert's book aims to ... exhibit some general and structural features of the conceptual scheme in terms of which we think about social groups, collective action, social convention, and shared belief.... [It] offers an important corrective to individualistic thinking in the social sciences...."--Michael Root, Philosophical Review "In this rich and rewarding work, Margaret Gilbert provides a novel and detailed account of our everyday concepts of social collectivity. In so doing she makes a seminal contribution to ... some vexed issues in the philosophy of social science.... [An] intellectually pioneering work."--John D. Greenwood, Social Epistemology
On Solitude
by Michel De MontaigneFor the true bibliophile and design-savvy book lover, here is the next set of Penguin's celebrated Great Ideas series by some of history's most innovative thinkers. Acclaimed for their striking and elegant package, each volume features a unique type-driven design that highlights the bookmaker's art. Offering great literature and great design at great prices, this series is ideal for readers who want to explore and savor the Great Ideas that have shaped our world.
On Søren Kierkegaard: Dialogue, Polemics, Lost Intimacy, and Time (Transcending Boundaries in Philosophy and Theology)
by Edward F. MooneyTracing a path through Kierkegaard's writings, this book brings the reader into close contact with the texts and purposes of this remarkable 19th century Danish writer and thinker. Kierkegaard writes in a number of voices and registers: as a sharp observer and critic of Danish culture, or as a moral psychologist, and as a writer concerned to evoke the religious way of life of Socrates, Abraham, or a Christian exemplar. In developing these themes, Mooney sketches Kierkegaard's Socratic vocation, gives a close reading of several central texts, and traces 'The Ethical Sublime' as a recurrent theme. He unfolds an affirmative relationship between philosophy and theology and the potentialities for a religiousness that defies dogmatic creeds, secular chauvinisms, and restrictive philosophies.
On Space and Time
by Shahn MajidWhat is the true nature of space and time? These concepts are at the heart of science, but they remain deeply wrapped in enigma. Their structure at both the smallest pre-subatomic and the largest cosmological levels continues to defy modern physics and may require revolutionary new ideas for which science is still grasping. This unique volume brings together world leaders in cosmology, particle physics, quantum gravity, mathematics, philosophy and theology, to provide fresh insights into the deep structure of space and time. Andrew Taylor explains the evidence for dark matter and dark energy. Shahn Majid argues that space and time should be quantum. Roger Penrose explains what in his view comes before the 'Big Bang'. Alain Connes argues that matter is geometry as a fine structure to spacetime. Michael Heller explores the philosophical and theological implications of spacetime. John Polkinghorne argues for a theory of how time unfolds.
On Sport and the Philosophy of Sport: A Wittgensteinian Approach (Ethics and Sport)
by Graham McFeeWhat is the ‘philosophy of sport’? What does one do to count as a practitioner in the philosophy of sport? What conception of philosophy underpins the answer to those questions? In this important new book, leading sport philosopher Graham McFee draws on a lifetime’s philosophical inquiry to reconceptualise the field of study. The book covers important topics such as Olympism, the symbolisation of argument, and epistemology and aesthetics in sport research; and concludes with a section of ‘applied’ sport philosophy by looking at rules and officiating. Using a Wittgensteinian framework, and employing a rich array of sporting examples throughout, McFee challenges the assumptions of traditional analytic philosophy regarding the completeness required of concepts and the exceptionlessness required of philosophical claims, providing the reader with a new set of tools with which to approach this challenging subject. On Sport and the Philosophy of Sport is fascinating and important reading for any serious students or researchers of sport philosophy.
On State Secession from International Law Perspectives
by Jing LuThis book provides essential legal information on state secession in an innovative manner: unlike conventional approaches, which invariably focus on whether there is a right to secession, here the discussion centers on how secessionist conflicts can be effectively resolved. To that end, the book not only reveals the inadequacy of the current international legal framework, but also carefully considers how relevant actors can work to improve the legal system. In short, it argues that secessionists and non-secessionists should conclude an agreement to reconcile their conflicting rights to self-determination, while external actors should do their utmost to ensure the success of these efforts. Positive external involvement requires external actors to refrain from the use of force and to participate more rationally in secessionist conflicts. Given its subject matter, the book will appeal to a broad readership, including students and researchers in international law, international relations and ethnic studies, as well as enthusiasts in these fields.
On Stoic and Peripatetic Ethics: The Work of Arius Didymus (Rutgers University Studies In Classical Humanities #Vol. 1)
by David RiesmanProviding the only full-length study of the compendium of Greek philosophy attributed to Arius Didymus, court philosopher to the Roman emperor Caesar Augustus, this volume elucidates Stoic and Peripatetic ethics for classicists and philosophers. The authors provide careful textual analysis of important passages by this synthesizer of the major schools of Greek thought. Essays include translations of major passages.
On Stories (Thinking in Action)
by Richard KearneyStories offer us some of the richest and most enduring insights into the human condition and have preoccupied philosophy since Aristotle. On Stories presents in clear and compelling style just why narrative has this power over us and argues that the unnarrated life is not worth living. Drawing on the work of James Joyce, Sigmund Freud's patient 'Dora' and the case of Oscar Schindler, Richard Kearney skilfully illuminates how stories not only entertain us but can determine our lives and personal identities. He also considers nations as stories, including the story of Romulus and Remus in the founding of Rome. Throughout, On Stories stresses that, far from heralding the demise of narrative, the digital era merely opens up new stories.
On Study: Giorgio Agamben And Educational Potentiality (New Directions in the Philosophy of Education)
by Tyson E. LewisIn an educational landscape dominated by discourses and practices of learning, standardized testing, and the pressure to succeed, what space and time remain for studying? In this book, Tyson E. Lewis argues that studying is a distinctive educational experience with its own temporal, spatial, methodological, aesthetic, and phenomenological dimensions. Unlike learning, which presents the actualization of a student’s "potential" in recognizable and measurable forms, study emphasizes the experience of potentiality, freed from predetermined outcomes. Studying suspends and interrupts the conventional logic of learning, opening up a new space and time for educational freedom to emerge. Drawing upon the work of Italian philosopher and critical theorist Giorgio Agamben, Lewis provides a conceptually and poetically rich account of the interconnections between potentiality, freedom, and study. Through a mixture of educational critique, phenomenological description, and ontological analysis, Lewis redeems study as an invaluable and urgent educational experience that provides alternatives to the economization of education and the cooptation of potentiality in the name of efficiency. The resulting discussion uncovers multiple forms of study in a variety of unexpected places: from the political poetry of Adrienne Rich, to tinkering classrooms, to abandoned manifestos, and, finally, to Occupy Wall Street. By reconnecting education with potentiality this book provides an educational philosophy that undermines the logic of learning and assessment, and turns our attention to the interminable paradoxes of studying. The book will be key reading for scholars in the fields of educational philosophy, critical pedagogy, foundations of education, composition and rhetoric, and critical thinking and literacy studies.
On The Sublime
by Longinus Benjamin JowettSaint Longinus' writing On The Sublime has been considered a classic since it was first written and remains a piece worth reading.
On Suicide (Penguin Great Ideas)
by David HumeOne of the most important thinkers ever to write in English, the Empiricist David Hume liberated philosophy from the superstitious constraints of religion; here, he argues that all are free to choose between life and death, considers the nature of personal taste and succinctly criticises common philosophies of the time.
On the Abolition of All Political Parties
by Czeslaw Milosz Simon Leys Simone WeilAn NYRB Classics Original Simone Weil--philosopher, activist, mystic--is one of the most uncompromising of modern spiritual masters. In "On the Abolition of All Political Parties" she challenges the foundation of the modern liberal political order, making an argument that has particular resonance today, when the apathy and anger of the people and the self-serving partisanship of the political class present a threat to democracies all over the world. Dissecting the dynamic of power and propaganda caused by party spirit, the increasing disregard for truth in favor of opinion, and the consequent corruption of education, journalism, and art, Weil forcefully makes the case that a true politics can only begin where party spirit ends. This volume also includes an admiring portrait of Weil by the great poet Czeslaw Milosz and an essay about Weil's friendship with Albert Camus by the translator Simon Leys. bel laureate Czesław Miłosz and an essay about Weil's friendship with Albert Camus by the translator Simon Leys.
On the Advantage and Disadvantage of History for Life
by Friedrich Nietzsche Peter Preuss(Part II of Thoughts Out of Season)
On the Advantage and Disadvantage of History for Life
by Peter Preuss Friedrich NietzscheOn the Advantage and Disadvantage of History for Life is an excellent point of entry into the philosophy of Nietzsche. Not only does it sound many of the main points of the whole, but is a clear statement of the profoundest concerns which animate the whole. If it is understood for what it is it can, better than any other work, provide the foundation for an appropriating study of this powerful thinker.
On the Aesthetic Education of Man
by Friedrich Schiller'The artist is certainly the child of his age, but all the worse for him if he is at the same time its pupil, even worse its minion.'On the Aesthetic Education of Man is one of the most profound works of German philosophy, in which Friedrich Schiller analyses politics, revolution and the history of ideas to define the relationship between beauty and art. Resulting from Schiller's deep disillusionment with the course of the French Revolution and expressed as a series of letters to a patron, On the Aesthetic Education of Man is an impassioned attempt to drag mankind upwards from failure to greatness through placing ideas of aesthetic education at the heart of the human experience: 'Our era has actually taken both wrong turnings, and has fallen prey to coarseness on the one path, lethargy and perversity on the other. Having strayed along both paths, it is beauty that can lead [us] back.' Schiller's arguments are as arresting, challenging and inspiring today as when they were first written - it is above all one of the great political statements from a time of revolutionary change.
On the Aesthetic Education of Man: And Letters to Prince Frederick Christian von Augustenburg
by Friedrich. Schiller Alexander Schmidt Keith Tribe“The artist is certainly the child of his age, but all the worse for him if he is at the same time its pupil, even worse its minion.” <p><p>One of the most profound works of German philosophy, Friedrich Schiller’s On the Aesthetic Education of Man examines politics, revolution, and the history of ideas in order argue that art should have a greater role in shaping society. Deeply disillusioned with the course of the French Revolution, Schiller expressed his complaints in a series of letters to a patron, an impassioned attempt to drag mankind upward from failure to greatness by placing ideas of aesthetic education at the heart of the human experience: “Our era has actually taken both wrong turnings, and has fallen prey to coarseness on the one path, lethargy and perversity on the other. Having strayed along both paths, it is beauty that can lead [us] back.”
On the Aesthetic Education of Man
by Friedrich Schiller Reginald SnellA classic of eighteenth-century thought, Friedrich Schiller’s treatise on the role of art in society ranks among German philosophy’s most profound works. In addition to its importance to the history of ideas, this 1795 essay remains relevant to our own time.Beginning with a political analysis of contemporary society — in particular, the French Revolution and its failure to implement universal freedom — Schiller observes that people cannot transcend their circumstances without education. He conceives of art as the vehicle of education, one that can liberate individuals from the constraints and excesses of either pure nature or pure mind. Through aesthetic experience, he asserts, people can reconcile the inner antagonism between sense and intellect, nature and reason.Schiller’s proposal of art as fundamental to the development of society and the individual is an enduringly influential concept, and this volume offers his philosophy’s clearest, most vital expression.
On the Aesthetics of Architecture: A Psychological Approach to the Structure and the Order of Perceived Architectural Space (Routledge Library Editions: Ethnoscapes)
by Ralf WeberOriginally published in 1995 as part of the Ethnoscapes: Current Challenges in the Environmental Social Sciences series, reissued now with a new series introduction, On the Aesthetics of Architecture is a result of an interdisciplinary study in architectural theory, psychology and philosophy and the author’s experience as a practicing architect. It tries to relate theories of aesthetics and recent advances in the psychology of visual perception to the practice of design.The text starts with an analysis of traditional and contemporary schools of thought in architectural theory, and then proceeds through the formulation of a general theory of aesthetics based on perceptual and cognitive information processing to a description of the actual conditions under which aesthetic experiences of buildings and cities take place. It exemplifies principles of aesthetic appropriateness through an analysis of architectural space and form.Weber’s book attempts to move the discussion of architectural aesthetics beyond the shifting doctrines of style and the often ambiguous dicta of critics. While the author makes no claim that his interpretation of psychological research will result in good architecture, he does insist on the need to bring the discussion of form back to more objective grounds. As such, it provided a valuable teaching resource and an important new contribution to the discussion among architects themselves, as well as between psychologists, philosophers and art theorists at the time.
On the Animal Trail
by Baptiste MorizotFrom the forests of Yellowstone to the steppes of the Haut-Var, the French philosopher and environmentalist Baptiste Morizot invites us to develop a different relationship to nature: to become detectives of nature and to follow the footprints of the many wonderful and extraordinary animals with which we share the Earth. By deciphering and interpreting an animal’s footprints and other signs, we gradually discover not only which animal it is, but the animal’s motives too. Through this kind of ‘philosophical tracking’, we come to see the world from the animal’s point of view, to learn to live in this world from the perspective of another species. We begin to let go of our anthropocentric point of view and to recapture the kind of perspective that our ancestors once had when they had no choice but to adopt an animal point of view if they wanted to survive. In short, by following animal trails, we learn how to pay increased attention to the living world around us and how to cohabit this world with others, thereby enriching our understanding of other species, of the world we share with them and of ourselves.
On the Basis of Morality (Hackett Classics)
by Arthur SchopenhauerThis edition originally published by Berghahn Books.Schopenhauer's treatise on ethics is presented here in E. F. J. Payne’s definitive translation, based on the Hubscher edition (Wiesbaden, 1946-1950). This edition includes an Introduction by David Cartwright, a translator’s preface, biographical note, selected bibliography, and an index. For convenient reference to passages in Kant's work discussed by Schopenhauer, Academy edition numbers have been added.