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Understand Postmodernism: Teach Yourself (TY Philosophy)
by Glenn WardUnderstand Postmodernism is an indispensable guide to this sometimes challenging domain. Using contemporary examples to further your understanding, it takes a broad look at theorists in a range of disciplines. Whether you're encountering postmodernism for the first time, or you need a quick reference to support your studies, this guide offers a comprehensive introduction to the key ideas in this thought-provoking philosophy. NOT GOT MUCH TIME? One, five and ten-minute introductions to key principles to get you started. AUTHOR INSIGHTS Lots of instant help with common problems and quick tips for success, based on the author's many years of experience. TEST YOURSELF Tests in the book and online to keep track of your progress. EXTEND YOUR KNOWLEDGE Extra online articles at www.teachyourself.com to give you a richer understanding of psychology. FIVE THINGS TO REMEMBER Quick refreshers to help you remember the key facts. TRY THIS Innovative exercises illustrate what you've learnt and how to use it.
Understanding a Course in Miracles
by Iyanla Vanzant D. Patrick MillerThis comprehensive introduction to the grassroots phenomenon A Course in Miracles covers the book's role in America's changing spiritual landscape, investigates its origins and history, and explains its principal tenets and philosophies. Weaving together extensive research and student perspectives, journalist D. Patrick Miller sheds light on the provocative and oft-misunderstood text. An examination of the teachings and influence of A Course in Miracles, one of the most popular and controversial texts in contemporary spirituality. With a new foreword by Iyanla VanzantCovers common questions, such as What exactly is the Course? Is it Christian, Buddhist, New Age, or something else entirely? How did the author channel the message? More than two million copies of A Course in Miracles available worldwide in 19 languages, with thousands of study groups devoted to it. From the Trade Paperback edition.
Understanding Aesthetics for the Merchandising and Design Professional
by Ann FioreBridging the gap between the study of aesthetics and its application in the merchandising and design environments, the 2nd Edition of Understanding Aesthetics presents a research-based focus on the concepts of aesthetics and their effect on product value and consumer behavior. The multisensory approach to studying the elements and principles of design helps students master the underlying factors of successful design and learn how products and their promotional surroundings can establish brand identity and create a pleasing environment for the consumer.
Understanding African Philosophy: A Cross-cultural Approach to Classical and Contemporary Issues (Philosophy and the Human Situation)
by Richard H. BellFirst published in 2002. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Understanding and Being: The Halifax Lectures on Insight, Volume 5
by Bernard Lonergan Elizabeth Morelli Mark MorelliBernard Lonergan (1904-1984) was a noted Canadian philosopher and theologian. He devoted his life to articulating a generalized method of inquiry and its implications, not only for the human and natural sciences, but also for a better world and a higher quality of human life. His own clear vision showed him the need to overcome the terrible fragmentation of knowledge and life in our time. The struggle to achieve an integrated view is the theme that unified the body of his work. In the history of that struggle, Understanding and Being plays a central role. Published a year after his profound and complex Insight, it is the edited transcription of some thirty hours of Lonergan's lectures on that seminal book. Understanding and Being serves as a guide to the very challenging terrain of Insight, or, as one commentator put it, if Insight is the Everest in the range of Lonergan's works, Understanding and Being is the approach through rolling foothills. This edition, the second, incorporates more of the historical setting in the text and adds a wealth of explanatory notes, as well as previously unedited discussions that followed the lectures.
Understanding and Changing the World: From Information to Knowledge and Intelligence
by Joseph SifakisThis book discusses the importance of knowledge as an intangible asset, separate from physical entities, that can enable us to understand and/or change the world. It provides a thorough treatment of knowledge, one that is free of ideological and philosophical preconceptions, and which relies exclusively on concepts and principles from the theory of computing and logic. It starts with an introduction to knowledge as truthful and useful information, and its development and management by computers and humans. It analyses the relationship between computational processes and physical phenomena, as well as the processes of knowledge production and application by humans and computers. In turn, the book presents autonomous systems that are called upon to replace humans in complex operations as a step toward strong AI, and discusses the risks – real or hypothetical – of the careless use of these systems. It compares human and machine intelligence, attempting to answer the question of whether and to what extent computers, as they stand today, can approach human-level situation awareness and decision-making. Lastly, the book explains the functioning of individual consciousness as an autonomous system that manages short- and long-term objectives on the basis of value criteria and accumulated knowledge. It discusses how individual values are shaped in society and the role of institutions in fostering and maintaining a common set of values for strengthening social cohesion. The book differs from books on the philosophy of science in many respects, e.g. by considering knowledge in its multiple facets and degrees of validity and truthfulness. It follows the dualist tradition of logicians, emphasizing the importance of logic and language and considering an abstract concept of information very different from the one used in the physical sciences. From this perspective, it levels some hopefully well-founded criticism at approaches that consider information and knowledge as nothing more than the emergent properties of physical phenomena. The book strikes a balance between popular books that sidestep fundamental issues and focus on sensationalism, and scientific or philosophical books that are not accessible to non-experts. As such, it is intended for a broad audience interested in the role of knowledge as a driver for change and development, and as a common good whose production and application could shape the future of humanity.
Understanding and Conscious Experience: Philosophical and Scientific Perspectives (Routledge Studies in the Philosophy of Science)
by Mircea Dumitru Andrei Ionuț MărășoiuThis volume explores how understanding relates to conscious experience. In doing so, it builds bridges between different philosophical disciplines and provides a metaphysically robust characterization of understanding, both in and beyond science.The past two decades have witnessed growing interest from epistemologists, philosophers of science, philosophers of mind and ethicists in the nature and value of intellectual understanding. This volume features original essays on understanding and the phenomenal experiences that underlie it. The chapters are divided into three thematic sections. Part 1 provides theoretical characterizations of understanding, including Henk de Regt’s defense of a contextual theory of scientific understanding and a debate on whether scientific inference and explanatory power are necessary or central features of understanding. Part 2 explores how conscious experience and understanding are related. The chapters articulate a phenomenal theory of understanding and address themes that are connected to understanding, including awareness, transformative experiences and exemplification. Finally, Part 3 is devoted to domain-specific inquiries about understanding, such as logical proofs, particle physics and moral understanding.Understanding and Conscious Experience will be of interest to scholars and advanced students working in the philosophy of science, epistemology, philosophy of mind, ethics and phenomenology.
Understanding and Dealing with Controlling, Intimidating and Manipulative Personalities
by Martin J SmithThis book will examine at individuals who control, intimate, and manipulate in work, home, family, and social environments, using robust Psychological theory to comprehend and successfully tackle those who exhibit these behaviours. The focus of this book will be to look at general Personality theory together with more specific focus on the Dark Triad of personality traits and, from the Five Factor Model, the domain of Agreeableness vs Antagonism. This approach will build a greater understanding of a much broader form of controlling intimidating and manipulative personality type. The book will include both useable techniques as well as self-reflection exercises the reader can use or pass on to students, clients and service users. This book is based on a programme the author has been teaching for over twelve years to a range of audiences across a variety of roles and has also been highlighted frequently in the press over the past decade.
Understanding and Interpreting Machine Learning in Medical Image Computing Applications: First International Workshops, Mlcn 2018, Dlf 2018, And Imimic 2018, Held In Conjunction With Miccai 2018, Granada, Spain, September 16-20, 2018, Proceedings (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #11038)
by Danail Stoyanov Zeike Taylor Seyed Mostafa Kia Ipek Oguz Mauricio Reyes Anne Martel Lena Maier-Hein Andre F. Marquand Edouard Duchesnay Tommy Löfstedt Bennett Landman M. Jorge Cardoso Carlos A. Silva Sergio Pereira Raphael MeierThis book constitutes the refereed joint proceedings of the First International Workshop on Machine Learning in Clinical Neuroimaging, MLCN 2018, the First International Workshop on Deep Learning Fails, DLF 2018, and the First International Workshop on Interpretability of Machine Intelligence in Medical Image Computing, iMIMIC 2018, held in conjunction with the 21st International Conference on Medical Imaging and Computer-Assisted Intervention, MICCAI 2018, in Granada, Spain, in September 2018. The 4 full MLCN papers, the 6 full DLF papers, and the 6 full iMIMIC papers included in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected. The MLCN contributions develop state-of-the-art machine learning methods such as spatio-temporal Gaussian process analysis, stochastic variational inference, and deep learning for applications in Alzheimer's disease diagnosis and multi-site neuroimaging data analysis; the DLF papers evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of DL and identify the main challenges in the current state of the art and future directions; the iMIMIC papers cover a large range of topics in the field of interpretability of machine learning in the context of medical image analysis.
Understanding and Using Educational Theories
by Karl Aubrey Alison RileyThis textbook gives readers a clear overview of a selection of 19 of the most influential thinkers on education, including established names (Vygotsky, Bruner, Dewey), more recent thinkers (Freire, hooks, Claxton) and other key names whose writing has helped shaped our views on teaching and learning. Each chapter includes practical examples showing how theories can be used to inform classroom teaching, and critiques of each theorist exploring opposing viewpoints and the strengths and weaknesses of different ideas. This third edition includes: New chapters on Barak Rosenshine and Daniel Goleman Revamped reflective tasks with a greater practical focus for the classroom More models and theoretical diagrams throughout This is an essential primer for any university course that includes learning theory, with particular relevance for initial teacher education, education studies and early childhood degrees. Karl Aubrey has recently retired from his post at Bishop Grosseteste University. Alison Riley is the Programme Leader for the BA Early Childhood Studies at Bishop Grosseteste University.
Understanding and Using Educational Theories
by Karl Aubrey Alison RileyThis textbook gives readers a clear overview of a selection of 19 of the most influential thinkers on education, including established names (Vygotsky, Bruner, Dewey), more recent thinkers (Freire, hooks, Claxton) and other key names whose writing has helped shaped our views on teaching and learning. Each chapter includes practical examples showing how theories can be used to inform classroom teaching, and critiques of each theorist exploring opposing viewpoints and the strengths and weaknesses of different ideas. This third edition includes: New chapters on Barak Rosenshine and Daniel Goleman Revamped reflective tasks with a greater practical focus for the classroom More models and theoretical diagrams throughout This is an essential primer for any university course that includes learning theory, with particular relevance for initial teacher education, education studies and early childhood degrees. Karl Aubrey has recently retired from his post at Bishop Grosseteste University. Alison Riley is the Programme Leader for the BA Early Childhood Studies at Bishop Grosseteste University.
Understanding and Working with Shame: Psychotherapeutic, Cultural and Philosophical Perspectives
by Carsten René JørgensenThis book discusses the pivotal role of shame in a wide range of mental disorders and as a driving force in societal polarization and escalating conflicts between nations and population groups.Exploring the phenomenology of one of the most vulnerable and painful of human emotions, shame, Jørgensen dives deep into its many facets and the ways in which it manifests in mental illnesses and everyday life. Delving into an in-depth discussion of the differentiation between the moral and ethical feelings of guilt and shame, he presses the need to distinguish between constructive and destructive feelings of shame. He examines how shame permeates societal and cultural expectations, on both individual and collective levels. Solution-centric in its approach, the author not only discusses the destructive feelings of shame particularly common among individuals with more severe mental disorders, but also offers specific advice to therapists on how to deal with it.The book will be an essential read for psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, philosophers, and anyone wanting to understand the power of shame in our lives.
Understanding Anselm's Ontological Argument
by Guy JacksonAnselm's ontological argument is one of the most fascinating, most controversial, and most misunderstood arguments in the entire history of Western thought. By centring the argument firmly in the Neoplatonic tradition within which Anselm was writing, Understanding Anselm's Ontological Argument sheds fresh light and clarity on this enigmatic piece of philosophy. It argues that, far from resting upon a fallacy or illegitimately attempting to define God into existence, Anselm's argument is a powerful and plausible philosophical proof, and deserves to be taken seriously as such. Written to be understandable for specialists and non-specialists alike, Understanding Anselm's Ontological Argument is ideal for scholars and researchers in philosophy of religionand philosophy in the Middle Ages (especially Neoplatonism) as well as for medievalists in general.
Understanding Beliefs (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge Series)
by Nils J. NilssonWhat beliefs are, what they do for us, how we come to hold them, and how to evaluate them. Our beliefs constitute a large part of our knowledge of the world. We have beliefs about objects, about culture, about the past, and about the future. We have beliefs about other people, and we believe that they have beliefs as well. We use beliefs to predict, to explain, to create, to console, to entertain. Some of our beliefs we call theories, and we are extraordinarily creative at constructing them. Theories of quantum mechanics, evolution, and relativity are examples. But so are theories about astrology, alien abduction, guardian angels, and reincarnation. All are products (with varying degrees of credibility) of fertile minds trying to find explanations for observed phenomena. In this book, Nils Nilsson examines beliefs: what they do for us, how we come to hold them, and how to evaluate them. We should evaluate our beliefs carefully, Nilsson points out, because they influence so many of our actions and decisions.Some of our beliefs are more strongly held than others, but all should be considered tentative and changeable. Nilsson shows that beliefs can be quantified by probability, and he describes networks of beliefs in which the probabilities of some beliefs affect the probabilities of others. He argues that we can evaluate our beliefs by adapting some of the practices of the scientific method and by consulting expert opinion. And he warns us about “belief traps”—holding onto beliefs that wouldn't survive critical evaluation. The best way to escape belief traps, he writes, is to expose our beliefs to the reasoned criticism of others.
Understanding Bourdieu
by Tony Schirato Jen Webb Geoff DanaherBourdieu's work is formidable-the journey is tough. Follow this French foreign legion-take an apple, take a hanky-but take this book.Peter Beilharz , Professor of Sociology , La Trobe UniversityPierre Bourdieu's work on the sociology of culture and language, on practical reason, on education, on citizenship and the cultures of poverty, and on a range of other topics is now coming to be seen as one of the 20th century's most important contributions to our thinking about the world. Understanding Bourdieu is a comprehensive and lucid introduction to his work. Measured and judicious, it's the best road map of this significant body of work currently available.John Frow, Regius Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature, University of EdinburghYou name it, Pierre Bourdieu has written about it. Now considered one of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century, he has left his mark on most of the 'big' theoretical issues in the world of contemporary theory: gender, subjectivity, the body, culture, citizenship, and globalisation. His terms are now commonplace: 'social capital', 'cultural capital', 'field', and 'habitus'.Bourdieu examines how people conduct their lives in relation to one another and to major social institutions. He argues that culture and education aren't simply minor influences, but as important as economics in determining differences between groups of people. Unlike the other grand systematisers Marx and Foucault, Bourdieu has tested these arguments in detailed fieldwork. His range is eclectic, his vision is vast, and his writing is often dense and challenging.Understanding Bourdieu offers a comprehensive introduction to Bourdieu's work. It is essential reading for anyone tackling him for the first time.
Understanding Campus-Community Partnerships in Conflict Zones: Engaging Students for Transformative Change
by Dalya Yafa Markovich Daphna Golan Nadera Shalhoub-KevorkianThis book explores the opportunities and limitations of campus-community partnerships in Israel. In a conflict-ridden society with a struggling civic culture, the chapters examine partnerships at ten academic institutions, focusing on the micro-processes through which these partnerships work from the perspectives of students, NGOs, and disadvantaged communities. The editors and contributors analyse the range of strategies and cultural repertoires used to construct, maintain, negotiate and resist the various partnerships. Evaluating the various challenges raised by campus-community partnerships exposes the institutional and epistemological divides between academia and the community, and thus offers valuable insights into the ways partnerships can contribute to transformative change in conflict zones. This book will be of interest and value to researchers and students of campus-community partnerships as well as the anthropology of inclusion-exclusion and civic culture.
Understanding Central America
by Thomas Walker Christine J. Wade John A. BoothUnderstanding Central America explains how domestic, global, political, and economic forces have shaped rebellion and regime change in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras throughout their histories, during the often-turbulent 1970s and since. The authors explain the origins and development of the region’s political conflicts, their resolution and ongoing political change. This sixth edition provides analysis of citizens’ attitudes and participation through 2012 and up-to-date information on political changes in each of the five countries, including the 2013 and 2014 elections. Recent developments include dramatic changes in party systems in Honduras, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua; the extremely narrow victory of the newly elected FMLN president in El Salvador; and Guatemala’s prosecution of human rights abusers. This book is an essential resource, as it provides a comprehensive introduction to the region and a model for how to convey its complexities in accessible language.
Understanding Chinese and Western Cultures
by Tang YijieThe title is a collection of essays centering on the topic of intercultural communication between Chinese and Western cultures by Tang Yijie, one of the most renowned philosophy scholars in China.Comprised of five parts, the author discusses how Chinese culture should modernize itself through borrowing from Western culture premised on a self-awareness of Chinese culture per se. The book begins by critiquing theories of the so-called clash of civilizations and new empires and argues for the coexistence of cultures and a global consciousness instead. Chapters in the second part revisit contemporary Chinese culture in transition and call for the cultural integration of China and the West, with China defined in both its ancient and modern guises. By providing reflections on the cultural trends of the 1980s and 1990s, the third part illustrates the inevitable growth of diversified cultural development while analyzing cases of cultural dialogue in history, philosophy and religion. The fourth part demonstrates the significance of culture diversity and interaction while the fifth provides thoughts and reflections on some real-life cultural issues.This title will appeal to all levels of readers interested in Chinese culture, cross-cultural studies and topics of cultural pluralism.
Understanding Collapse: Ancient History and Modern Myths
by Guy D. MiddletonUnderstanding Collapse explores the collapse of ancient civilisations, such as the Roman Empire, the Maya, and Easter Island. In this lively survey, Guy D. Middleton critically examines our ideas about collapse - how we explain it and how we have constructed potentially misleading myths around collapses - showing how and why collapse of societies was a much more complex phenomenon than is often admitted. Rather than positing a single explanatory model of collapse - economic, social, or environmental - Middleton gives full consideration to the overlooked resilience in communities of ancient peoples and the choices that they made. He offers a fresh interpretation of collapse that will be accessible to both students and scholars. The book is an engaging, introductory-level survey of collapse in the archaeology/history literature, which will be ideal for use in courses on the collapse of civilizations, sustainability, and climate change. It includes up-to-date case studies of famous and less well-known examples of collapses, and is illustrated with 25 black and white illustrations, 3 line drawings, 16 tables and 18 maps.
Understanding Communities of School Leadership: Changing Dynamics of Organizations (SpringerBriefs in Education)
by Joseph F. MurphyThis book examines the evolution of schooling from bureaucracy and hierarchy to post-industrial schools, and places teachers’ leadership on center stage at the same time. That is, it asks teachers to deepen leadership in their classrooms and with other teachers. The book carries education and schooling from formal control to a social influence process and addresses the deeply rooted difficulty of focusing too much energy on content. It reveals the strong power of internal and external context and helps educators implant the idea of the school not as a fixed, immutable home, but as a relatively deep social process. It shows how co-leadership comes alive in schools. Communities of schooling is one of the three most critical developments in education in the last 140 years. When it is linked with the two other fundamental reorientations in schooling - “dispersed ownership” and “constructivist work” - it becomes the most powerful force in education since the 1700s. This book shows how communities of schooling replace the earlier pillars of “learning as telling,” “hierarchy of control,” and “non-democratic influence.” The work also explains the meaning and understanding of school work as a social influence process where all school-based educators exert power, but at different levels. The idea of enhancing individual and collective capacity through interdependency, shared work, and collective responsibility is unpacked.
Understanding Contemporary Korea from a Russian Perspective: Political and Economic Development since 2008
by Anatoly Torkunov Georgy Toloraya Ilya DyachkovThis book presents a comprehensive overview of political and economic developments as well as security issues in the Korean Peninsula during 2008–2020 from a Russian perspective. The authors offer a rich analysis of domestic affairs in both Korean states and the international situation they act in. The book’s first section, Diverging Development Paths, analyzes the evolution of North and South Korea in the early twenty-first century. The next section, The Nuclear Challenge, assesses Seoul’s and Pyongyang’s foreign policy options within ever-changing domestic and international circumstances – under the looming nuclear shadow. The final section, Partnering with Russia, presents an unprecedented first-hand account of Seoul’s and Pyongyang’s dealings with Moscow. The book provides a unique account with expertise from Russia, one of the four states directly involved in Korean affairs, providing insights on domestic and diplomatic decision-making of the two Korean states and international efforts to resolve the nuclear issue.
Understanding Deleuze
by Claire Colebrook'The best introduction to Deleuze, and to the collective writings of Deleuze and Guattari, available yet! Claire Colebrook has produced a truly accessible pathway into the labyrinthine enchantments offered for contemporary thought by Deleuzianism, making concepts clear, showing their political and theoretical complexity, elaborating their social and artistic relevance. A wonderful, lucid opening onto the new worlds of Deleuze.'Elizabeth Grosz, Rutgers University'A wonderfully clear introduction to key Deleuzian concepts and to their effectiveness in fields ranging from ethics and politics to cinema, literary and cultural studies. Claire Colebrook provides a series of effortless transitions from Deleuze's philosophical concerns (eg: difference, representation, desire and affect) to concrete problems in a variety of fields. This book is an excellent guide to an important body of critical thought.'Paul Patton, Professor of Philosophy, University of NSWA genuine attempt to think differently, Gilles Deleuze's work challenges, provokes and frustrates. Surprisingly practical as well as innovative, it is now being seen as a 'must read' for students and scholars across the humanities and social sciences. Claire Colebrook's Understanding Deleuze offers a comprehensive and very accessible introduction to his work. hink differently. It is built on the notion of an immanent ethics: how can we have a political and ethical theory without some external foundation such as the subject or morality? He argues that the only way we can do this is with a theory of the virtual, and he sees all life (not just cyberculture) as virtual. Deleuze goes further than Foucault or Derrida in questioning the boundaries of the subject and knowledge. For Deleuze perception extends beyond the human, to animals, machines and microorganisms.Deleuze's writing is challenging and hard to read, and so far there is no introduction to his work. Claire Colebrook's primer offers an accessible introduction to the whole Deleuzian oeuvre, including the work he did with Guattari.
Understanding Digital Ethics: Cases and Contexts
by Jonathan Beever Rudy McDaniel Nancy A. StanlickRapid changes in technology and the growing use of electronic media signal a need for understanding both clear and subtle ethical and social implications of the digital, and of specific digital technologies. Understanding Digital Ethics: Cases and Contexts is the first book to offer a philosophically grounded examination of digital ethics and its moral implications. Divided into three clear parts, the authors discuss and explain the following key topics: • Becoming literate in digital ethics • Moral viewpoints in digital contexts • Motivating action in digital ethics • Speed and scope of digital information • Moral algorithms and ethical machines • The digital and the human • Digital relations and empathy machines • Agents, autonomy, and action • Digital and ethical activism. The book includes cases and examples that explore the ethical implications of digital hardware and software including videogames, social media platforms, autonomous vehicles, robots, voice-enabled personal assistants, smartphones, artificially intelligent chatbots, military drones, and more. Understanding Digital Ethics is essential reading for students and scholars of philosophical ethics, those working on topics related to digital technology and digital/moral literacy, and practitioners in related fields.
Understanding Disability: Interdisciplinary Critical Approaches
by Ranu Uniyal Fatima RizviThis edited volume brings together contributions on disability studies organized around two themes: literary and sociological aspects. The contributors include academics, disability activists, and researchers from within and outside the Indian periphery. While the book strengthens the disability discourse and contributes to building academic scholarship on this subject, it also promotes disability activism by giving space to both direct practitioners and persons with disabilities. The chapters discuss various analytical and literary aspects of the marginalization experienced by the disabled community and bring forth new and elaborate perspectives. It draws connections across multiple identities and includes personal narratives across nations, cultures and societies. It is an excellent research resource on disability studies in India for scholars and students in the area of humanities, education, law, sociology and social work, while at the same time also addressing the global context.
Understanding Dying, Death, and Bereavement
by Michael R. Leming George E. DickinsonUsing a social-psychological approach, the new edition of this book remains solidly grounded in theory and research, while also providing useful information to help individuals examine their own feelings about-and cope with-death and grieving. The well-known authors and researchers integrate stimulating personal accounts throughout the text, and apply concepts to specific examples that deal with cross-cultural perspectives and the practical matters of death and dying.