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The Universal Right to Education: Justification, Definition, and Guidelines (Sociocultural, Political, and Historical Studies in Education)
by Joel SpringIn this book, Joel Spring offers a powerful and closely reasoned justification and definition for the universal right to education--applicable to all cultures--as provided for in Article 26 of the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights. One sixth of the world's population, nearly 855 million people, are functionally illiterate, and 130 million children in developing countries are without access to basic education. Spring argues that in our crowded global economy, educational deprivation has dire consequences for human welfare. Such deprivation diminishes political power. Education is essential for providing citizens with the tools for resisting totalitarian and repressive governments and economic exploitation. What is to be done? The historically grounded, highly original analysis and proposals Spring sets forth in this book go a long way toward answering this urgent question. Spring first looks at the debates leading up to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, to see how the various writers dealt with the issue of cultural differences. These discussions provide a framework for examining the problem of reconciling cultural differences with universal concepts. He next expands on the issue of education and cultural differences by proposing a justification for education that is applicable to indigenous peoples and minority cultures and languages. This justification is then applied to all people within the current global economy. Acknowledging that the right to an education is inseparable from children's rights, he uses the concept of a universal right to education to justify children's rights, and, in turn, applies his definition of children's liberty rights to the concept of education. His synthesis of cultural, language, and children's rights provides the basis for a universal justification and definition for the right to education -- which, in the concluding chapters, Spring uses to propose universal guidelines for human rights education, and instruction in literacy, numeracy, cultural centeredness, and moral economy.
The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog
by James W. SireFor students, Sire, a speaker and writer who has taught English, philosophy, and theology at universities and seminaries, introduces a variety of worldviews from a Western Christian perspective: theism, deism, naturalism, Marxism, nihilism, existentialism, Eastern monism, New Age philosophy, and postmodernism. He addresses their development and how they underlie how people in the Western world think. This edition has been revised and updated to include a new chapter on Islam by a contributing author, and incorporates developments about the worldview notion from Sire's Naming the Elephant: Worldview as a Concept. The chapter on deism has been expanded to account for diversities in thinking. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog
by James W. SireVoted one of Christianity Today's 1998 Books of the YearFor more than thirty years, The Universe Next Door has set the standard for a clear, readable introduction to worldviews. In this new fifth edition James Sire offers additional student-friendly features to his concise, easily understood introductions to theism, deism, naturalism, Marxism, nihilism, existentialism, Eastern monism, New Age philosophy and postmodernism. Included in this expanded format are a new chapter on Islam and informative sidebars throughout.The book continues to build on Sire's refined definition of worldviews from the fourth edition and includes other updates as well, keeping this standard text fresh and useful. In a world of ever-increasing diversity, The Universe Next Door offers a unique resource for understanding the variety of worldviews that compete with Christianity for the allegiance of minds and hearts.The Universe Next Door has been translated into over a dozen languages and has been used as a text at over one hundred colleges and universities in courses ranging from apologetics and world religions to history and English literature.Sire's Naming the Elephant: Worldview as a Concept provides a useful companion volume for those desiring a more in-depth discussion of the nature of a worldview.
The Universe Speaks in Numbers: How Modern Math Reveals Nature's Deepest Secrets
by Graham FarmeloHow math helps us solve the universe's deepest mysteries One of the great insights of science is that the universe has an underlying order. The supreme goal of physicists is to understand this order through laws that describe the behavior of the most basic particles and the forces between them. For centuries, we have searched for these laws by studying the results of experiments. Since the 1970s, however, experiments at the world's most powerful atom-smashers have offered few new clues. So some of the world's leading physicists have looked to a different source of insight: modern mathematics. These physicists are sometimes accused of doing 'fairy-tale physics', unrelated to the real world. But in The Universe Speaks in Numbers, award-winning science writer and biographer Farmelo argues that the physics they are doing is based squarely on the well-established principles of quantum theory and relativity, and part of a tradition dating back to Isaac Newton. With unprecedented access to some of the world's greatest scientific minds, Farmelo offers a vivid, behind-the-scenes account of the blossoming relationship between mathematics and physics and the research that could revolutionize our understanding of reality. A masterful account of the some of the most groundbreaking ideas in physics in the past four decades. The Universe Speaks in Numbers is essential reading for anyone interested in the quest to discover the fundamental laws of nature.
The Universe Within: From Quantum to Cosmos (The CBC Massey Lectures)
by Neil TurokWinner of the Lane Anderson Award, longlisted for the Charles Taylor Prize, shortlisted for the Libris Award for Non-Fiction and selected as an Amazon.ca Best Book "With [The Universe Within’s] deeply thoughtful reflections on the place of science in society, on the need to educate the underserved, and on plenty of other topics rarely addressed in this sort of book, Turok takes you where no physicist has gone before. It’s well worth making the journey with him." — TIME Magazine The most anticipated nonfiction book of the season, this year's Massey Lectures is a visionary look at the way the human mind can shape the future by world-renowned physicist Neil Turok. Every technology we rely on today was created by the human mind, seeking to understand the universe around us. Scientific knowledge is our most precious possession, and our future will be shaped by the breakthroughs to come. In this personal, visionary, and fascinating work, Neil Turok, Director of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, explores the transformative scientific discoveries of the past three centuries — from classical mechanics, to the nature of light, to the bizarre world of the quantum, and the evolution of the cosmos. Each new discovery has, over time, yielded new technologies causing paradigm shifts in the organization of society. Now, he argues, we are on the cusp of another major transformation: the coming quantum revolution that will supplant our current, dissatisfying digital age. Facing this brave new world, Turok calls for creatively re-inventing the way advanced knowledge is developed and shared, and opening access to the vast, untapped pools of intellectual talent in the developing world. Scientific research, training, and outreach are vital to our future economy, as well as powerful forces for peaceful global progress. Elegantly written, deeply provocative, and highly inspirational, The Universe Within is, above all, about the future — of science, of society, of ourselves.
The Universe and Dr. Einstein
by Lincoln Barnett Albert EinsteinTHE SEARCH FOR TRUTHThis is a brilliant, readable and clear report, by a gifted journalist, of the significance of Einstein's theories and their far reaching effect upon the modern world. Written for laymen, it penetrates the realms of space, explains the facts available on the nature of atoms, and merges for purposes of clarity, the relation between philosophy and modern science.Utilizing the theories of Newton, Planck, Gamow, Lemaitre and Jeans, Barnett explains the Einstein concept of the universe. Relating these scientific theories to the philosophical systems existing at the time, he shows how all forms of human activity are influenced by the discoveries of science, and how Einstein's theories are a step in this long history of research."Everybody who has a mind, or who imagines he is a thinker, should understand this much of Relativity as a minimum."--Philip Wylie"The Universe and Dr. Einstein sets a new standard in science writing and is, I think, the first American book that can be compared in maturity, clarity, and grace with the distinguished and influential works of Sir James Jeans and Sir Arthur Eddington."--Gerald Wendt, N. Y. Herald Tribune Book Review"I do not see how Lincoln Barnett could have done a more skillful job in his attempt to get a reasonably popular yet valid sketch of the philosophical concepts which physical experiments of this century have forced on science."--Karl T. Compton, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Universe and Multiple Reality: a Physical Explanation of Manifesting, Magic and Miracles
by M. R. FranksPostulating the many-worlds interpretation of quantum physics and the reality of mind apart from the physical brain, Franks asserts that physics explains various paranormal phenomena.
The Universe as It Really Is: Earth, Space, Matter, and Time
by Dr Thomas R. ScottThe universe that science reveals to us can seem far outside the comfort zone of the human mind. Subjects near and far open up dizzying vistas, from the infinitesimal to the colossal. Humanity, the unlikely product of uncountable coincidences on unimaginable scales, inhabits a tumultuous universe that extends from our immediate environs to the most distant galaxies and beyond. But when the mind balks at the vertiginous complexity of the universe, science unveils the elegance amid the chaos.In this book, Thomas R. Scott ventures into the known and the unknown to explain our universe and the laws that govern it. The Universe as It Really Is begins with physics and the building blocks of the universe—time, gravity, light, and elementary particles—and chemistry’s ability to explain the interactions among them. Scott, with the assistance of James Lawrence Powell, next tours the earth and atmospheric sciences to explain the forces that shape our planet and then takes off for the stars to describe our place in the cosmos. He provides vivid introductions to our collective scientific inheritance, narrating discoveries such as the shape of the atom and the nature of the nucleus or how we use GPS to measure time and what that has to do with relativity. A clear demonstration of the power of scientific reasoning to bring the incomprehensible within our grasp, The Universe as It Really Is gives an engrossing account of just how much we do understand about the world around us.
The Universe in Zero Words
by Dana MackenzieMost popular books about science, and even about mathematics, tiptoe around equations as if they were something to be hidden from the reader's tender eyes. Dana Mackenzie starts from the opposite premise: He celebrates equations. No history of art would be complete without pictures. Why, then, should a history of mathematics--the universal language of science--keep the masterpieces of the subject hidden behind a veil?The Universe in Zero Words tells the history of twenty-four great and beautiful equations that have shaped mathematics, science, and society--from the elementary (1+1=2) to the sophisticated (the Black-Scholes formula for financial derivatives), and from the famous (E=mc2) to the arcane (Hamilton's quaternion equations). Mackenzie, who has been called "a popular-science ace" by Booklist magazine, lucidly explains what each equation means, who discovered it (and how), and how it has affected our lives.Illustrated in color throughout, the book tells the human and often-surprising stories behind the invention or discovery of the equations, from how a bad cigar changed the course of quantum mechanics to why whales (if they could communicate with us) would teach us a totally different concept of geometry. At the same time, the book shows why these equations have something timeless to say about the universe, and how they do it with an economy (zero words) that no other form of human expression can match.The Universe in Zero Words is the ultimate introduction and guide to equations that have changed the world.
The Universe of Experience: A Worldview Beyond Science and Religion
by Lancelot WhyteModern experience forces philosophy and social thought to confront the basic problems of value. Is this life worth caring about? How can we find a way between the deceit of fanatical belief and despair? In the view of Lancelot Law Whyte, the essential challenge to mankind today is an underlying nihilism promoting violence and frustrating sane policies on major social issues. Avoiding the seductive trap of utopianism, Whyte approaches this challenge by defining the terms of a potentially worldwide consensus of heart, mind, and will.In this volume, Whyte addresses the problems of despair and fanatical religious or political reactions that arise from despair. He begins with the basic problem of nihilism, or the tendency toward pessimism and self/other destruction that faces us at this point in human development. Rejecting all forms of religious sectarianism as separating God from the individual and people from each other, he discerns, as well, a fundamental disunity and incompleteness among the sciences that render them incapable of supplying a guide to social order. Whyte sees the universe as an arena of conflict between tendencies toward order and disorder with the former dominating and containing the latter. In place of science and traditional religion, Whyte draws upon what he sees as the unconscious tradition, a genius of the community, shared in degrees by all its members, that points mankind toward a better way of living.Whyte does not posit a state of perfection, nor does he suggest the end of human suffering. Instead he suggests that an integrated state of being, freed from the old mind-body dualism will be a new starting point in human evolution. Accessibly written and firmly rooted in science, philosophy, and history, The Universe of Experience will be of interest to sociologists, psychologists, and philosophers.
The Universe of Things: On Speculative Realism (Posthumanities #30)
by Steven ShaviroFrom the rediscovery of Alfred North Whitehead&’s work to the rise of new materialist thought, including object-oriented ontology, there has been a rapid turn toward speculation in philosophy as a way of moving beyond solely human perceptions of nature and existence. Now Steven Shaviro maps this quickly emerging speculative realism, which is already dramatically influencing how we interpret reality and our place in a universe in which humans are not the measure of all things. The Universe of Things explores the common insistence of speculative realism on a noncorrelationist thought: that things or objects exist apart from how our own human minds relate to and comprehend them. Shaviro focuses on how Whitehead both anticipates and offers challenges to prevailing speculative realist thought, moving between Whitehead&’s own panpsychism, Harman&’s object-oriented ontology, and the reductionist eliminativism of Quentin Meillassoux and Ray Brassier.The stakes of this recent speculative realist thought—of the effort to develop new ways of grasping the world—are enormous as it becomes clear that our inherited assumptions are no longer adequate to describe, much less understand, the reality we experience around us. As Shaviro acknowledges, speculative realist thought has its dangers, but it also, like the best speculative fiction, holds the potential to liberate us from confining views of what is outside ourselves and, he believes, to reclaim aesthetics and beauty as a principle of life itself. Bringing together a wide array of contemporary thought, and evenhandedly assessing its current debates, The Universe of Things is an invaluable guide to the evolution of speculative realism and the provocation of Alfred North Whitehead&’s pathbreaking work.
The University and Social Justice: Struggles across the Globe
by Aziz Choudry and Salim VallyHigher education has long been contested terrain. From student movements to staff unions, the fight for accessible, critical, and quality public education has turned university campuses globally into sites of struggle. Whether calling for the decommodification or the decolonization of education, many of these struggles have attempted to draw on (and, in turn, resonate with) longer histories of popular resistance, broader social movements, and radical visions of a fairer world. In this critical collection, Aziz Choudry, Salim Vally, and a host of international contributors bring grounded, analytical accounts of diverse struggles relating to higher education into conversation with each other. Featuring contributions written by students and staff members on the frontline of struggles from 12 different countries, including Canada, Chile, France, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Occupied Palestine, the Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, and the US, the book asks what can be learned from these movements’ strategies, demands, and visions.
The University and the People
by Scott M. GelberThe University and the Peoplechronicles the influence of Populism—a powerful agrarian movement—on public higher education in the late nineteenth century. Revisiting this pivotal era in the history of the American state university, Scott Gelber demonstrates that Populists expressed a surprising degree of enthusiasm for institutions of higher learning. More fundamentally, he argues that the mission of the state university, as we understand it today, evolved from a fractious but productive relationship between public demands and academic authority. Populists attacked a variety of elites—professionals, executives, scholars—and seemed to confirm academia’s fear of anti-intellectual public oversight. The movement’s vision of the state university highlighted deep tensions in American attitudes toward meritocracy and expertise. Yet Populists also promoted state-supported higher education, with the aims of educating the sons (and sometimes daughters) of ordinary citizens, blurring status distinctions, and promoting civic engagement. Accessibility, utilitarianism, and public service were the bywords of Populist journalists, legislators, trustees, and sympathetic professors. These “academic populists” encouraged state universities to reckon with egalitarian perspectives on admissions, financial aid, curricula, and research. And despite their critiques of college “ivory towers,” Populists supported the humanities and social sciences, tolerated a degree of ideological dissent, and lobbied for record-breaking appropriations for state institutions.
The University in Dissent: Scholarship in the corporate university (Research into Higher Education)
by Gary RolfeThe rise of corporatism in the North American University was charted by Bill Readings in the mid nineteen-nineties in his book The University in Ruins. The intervening years have seen the corporate university grow and extend to the point where its evolution into a large business corporation is seemingly complete. Rolfe’s book examines the factors contributing to the transformation of the university from a site of culture and knowledge to what might be termed an ‘information factory’, and explores strategies for how, in Readings’ words, members of the academic community might continue to ‘dwell in the ruins of the university’ in a productive and authentic way. Drawing on the work of critics and philosophers such as Barthes, Derrida, Lyotard and Deleuze, The University in Dissent suggests that this can only be achieved subversively through the development of a ‘community of philosophers’ who are prepared to challenge, critique and subvert the mission statement of the ‘university of excellence’ from within, focusing on how scholarly and academic thought and writing might develop in this new post-Enlightenment era. Summarising, contextualising and extending previous understandings of the rise of corporatism and the subsequent demise of the traditional aims and values of the university, Rolfe assesses the situation in contemporary UK and international settings. He recognises that changes to the traditional idea of the university are inevitable and explores some of the challenges and consequences of this shift in the academic world, suggesting how academics can work with change, whilst at the same time seeking to undermine its worst excesses. This timely and thought provoking book is a must-read for all academics at University level, as well as education policy makers.
The University of Google: Education in the (Post) Information Age
by Tara BrabazonLooking at schools and universities, it is difficult to pinpoint when education, teaching and learning started to haemorrhage purpose, aspiration and function. Libraries and librarians have been starved of funding. Teachers cram their curriculum with 'skill development' and 'generic competencies' because knowledge, creativity and originality are too expensive to provide to unmotivated students and parents obsessed with league tables, not learning. Meanwhile, the internet offers a glut of information on everything-under-the-sun, a mere mouse-click away. Bored surfers fill their cursors and minds with irrelevancies. We lose the capacity to sift, discard and judge. Information is no longer for social good, but for sale. Tara Brabazon argues that this information fetish has been profoundly damaging to our learning institutions and to the ambitions of our students and educators. In The University of Google she projects a defiant and passionate vision of education as a pathway to renewal, where research is based on searching and students are on a journey through knowledge, rather than consumers in the shopping centre of cheap ideas. Angry, humorous and practical in equal measure, The University of Google is based on real teaching experience and on years of engaged and sometimes exasperated reflection on it. It is far from a luddite critique of the information age. Tara Brabazon celebrates the possibilities of digital platforms in education, but deplores the consequences of placing funding on technology and not teachers. In doing so, she opens a new debate on how to make our educational system both productive and provocative in the (post-) information age.
The Unknowable in Early Modern Thought: Natural Philosophy and the Poetics of the Ineffable
by Kevin KilleenEarly modern thought was haunted by the unknowable character of the fallen world. The sometimes brilliant and sometimes baffling fusion of theological and scientific ideas in the era, as well as some of its greatest literature, responds to this sense that humans encountered only an incomplete reality. Ranging from Paradise Lost to thinkers in and around the Royal Society and commentary on the Book of Job, The Unknowable in Early Modern Thought explores how the era of the scientific revolution was in part paralyzed by and in part energized by the paradox it encountered in thinking about the elusive nature of God and the unfathomable nature of the natural world. Looking at writers with scientific, literary and theological interests, from the shoemaker mystic, Jacob Boehme to John Milton, from Robert Boyle to Margaret Cavendish, and from Thomas Browne to the fiery prophet, Anna Trapnel, Kevin Killeen shows how seventeenth-century writings redeployed the rich resources of the ineffable and the apophatic—what cannot be said, except in negative terms—to think about natural philosophy and the enigmas of the natural world.
The Unknown Reality, Vol 1 (A Seth Book)
by Jane RobertsFrom the Bestselling Author of Seth SpeaksIn this mind-stretching journey into the very frontiers of consciousness, Seth reveals the multidimensional nature of the human soul. In Seth Speaks, Seth introduced the concept of &“probable realities,&” in which our idle daydreams and unfulfilled impulses do take place, in which all possible choices are fully experienced by other portions of the self. Now in this first volume of The &“Unknown&” Reality, Seth explains the dazzling labyrinths of unseen probabilities involved in any decision, and how our awareness of these can enrich the waking life we know. In a fascinating exploration of the cosmic web of our existence, Seth reveals:• The purpose of dreams, and how they are often fulfilled unconsciously• Misconceptions about death and the afterlife• How different probable realities intersect and influence one another• The relationship between physical health and inner reality• A series of exercises to help you discover the unknown portions of your greater identity&“The self is multidimensional when it is physically alive. It is a triumph of spiritual and psychological identity, ever choosing from a myriad of probable realities its own clear unassailable focus. When you don&’t realize this, then you project upon life after death all of the old misconceptions. . . . The fact is that in life you poise delicately and yet perfectly between realities, and after death you do the same.&” — Jane Roberts, Speaking for Seth
The Unknown Reality, Vol 2 (A Seth Book)
by Jane RobertsFrom the Bestselling Author of Seth SpeaksIn this second volume of The &“Unknown&” Reality, Seth radically expands our conceptions of &“self,&” by showing us that the human personality is literally infinite in its scope and potential. He discloses precisely how probable realities combine to create our waking lives, and how our &“higher selves&” make decisions regarding our everyday existence. In a far-reaching exploration of the dynamics of desire and free will, he asserts that each atom, molecule, and cell has its own consciousness and powers of choice. With humor and simple analogies, Seth leads us beyond our ordinary level of awareness into a spectacular discovery of the multidimensional nature of the self, including:• &“Consciousness units&” as the basis of our universe• The relevance of extrasensory perception in understanding our world• The worlds we visit in dreams and out-of-body states• Dreaming as a science to create present and future realities• &“Families of consciousness&” we choose to belong to• Practical methods for exploring your own &“unknown&” reality&“There is an &“unknown&” reality. I am part of it, and so are you . . . Each individual is a part of the unknown reality . . . To explore the unknown reality you must venture within your own psyche, travel inward through invisible roads as you journey outward on physical ones . . . I hope that [in this book] the reader can see the greater dimensions that touch ordinary living, and sense the psyche&’s greater magic.&” — Jane Roberts, Speaking for Seth
The Unknown War: Anti-Soviet armed resistance in Lithuania and its legacies (Europa Country Perspectives)
by Arūnas StreikusThe armed anti-Soviet resistance movement which arose in the second half of 1944 in Lithuania, as Soviet forces began to reoccupy the Baltic countries and Galicia, sparking a nearly decade-long fierce military conflict, has yet to become established in the common narrative of contemporary European history. However, controversy regarding the nature of this `war after the war' and its legacies constitutes one of the core elements in the contemporary information warfare waged by Russia against its neighbouring countries. The origins of various distortions surrounding the story of the partisan war in the western borderlands of the Soviet Union can even be traced to the final stages of that war, when Soviet propaganda sought to discredit the campaign as a battle waged by criminal elements. In this example of a historical event charged with controversial memories and geopolitical connotations, a thorough academic approach is extraordinarily instrumental. Responding to the growing need for historical research capable of providing international readers with the latest findings in the thematic field under question, six scholars from Vilnius University address the diverse aspects of this phenomenon as well as its role in the culture and politics of memory. Toward this end, this analysis – among the most comprehensive explorations of this history to date – is being released in both Lithuanian and English.
The Unnoticed Effects of EU Accession: Evidence on Mobility and Integration of Bulgarian Migrants in Germany (Studien zur Migrations- und Integrationspolitik)
by Vesela KovachevaThis study provides empirical evidence on the considerable but often unnoticed impact of EU accession on the mobility and integration of migrants from Bulgaria in Germany. Original data from a time-location sampling survey in Hamburg reveal that free movement not only induced a high level of mobility among EU citizens from Bulgaria after 2007 but also enabled their more permanent settlement in Germany. The study also provides statistical evidence that EU citizenship contributed to better legal integration of Bulgarian migrants in Germany, but national policies shaped to a greater extent their integration in terms of participation in the core areas of life. Restrictive policies such as transitional periods in the freedom of work hampered labour market integration and created more disadvantaged positions for workers. Inclusive policies such as the dual citizenship policy facilitated the naturalisation of settled migrants and led to exceptionally high naturalisation rates for Bulgarians that point to their successful integration in society. However, integration successes remain almost unnoticed in public discourse, which is dominated by the image of Bulgarian migration as a challenge.
The Unpolitical: On the Radical Critique of Political Reason
by Massimo CacciariMassimo Cacciari is one of the leading public intellectuals in today's Italy, both as an outstanding philosopher and political thinker and as now three times (and currently) the mayor of Venice. This collection of essays on political topics provides the best introduction in English to his thought to date. The political focus does not, however, prevent these essays from being an introduction to the full range of Cacciari's thought.The present collection includes chapters on Hofmannstahl, Lukács, Benjamin, Nietzsche, Weber, Derrida, Schmitt, Canetti, and Aeschylus. Written between 1978 and 2006, these essays engagingly address the most hidden tradition in European political thought: the Unpolitical. Far from being a refusal of politics, the Unpolitical represents a merciless critique of political reason and a way out of the now impracticable consolations of utopia and harmonious community. Drawing freely from philosophy and literature, The Unpolitical represents a powerful contribution to contemporary political theory.A lucid and engaging Introduction by Alessandro Carrera sets these essays in the context of Cacciari's work generally and in the broadest context of its historical and geographical backdrop.
The Unprecedented American Presidency: From Constitutional Foundation to Contemporary Practice
by Thomas SandersThis Palgrave Pivot presents a comprehensive introduction along with four essays on the institution of the American presidency, reflecting on broad implications for American political culture and practice. Each by an eminent scholar of the presidency, these pieces provide a thorough understanding of the uniqueness of the executive office of government and its evolution, with special emphasis on twentieth and twenty-first century practices and challenges. Together, they help to shed light on the current political crisis, and explain the circumstances in which Donald Trump has come to occupy this central office of American democracy.
The Unreasonable Silence of the World: Universal Reason and the Wreck of the Enlightenment Project (Routledge Revivals)
by Joseph Wayne Smith Gary Sauer-ThompsonPublished in 1997. This book develops a postmodernist critique of philosophy - although not the postmodernism of literary philosophers such as Derrida. This postmodernism is one of ecological limitationism coupled with a practical common sense ’realism’. The authors affirm the reality of life-world and the primacy of practice against materialists, physicalists and reductionists. They attempt to show that orthodox Anglo-American analytic philosophy is not merely incapable of completing its own quest to supply a regionally justified system of reality, but, more importantly, it fails as well to meet the challenges of the age.
The Unresolved National Question in South Africa: Left thought under apartheid and beyond
by Edward Webster & Karin PampallisThis volume examines the way in which various strands of left thought have addressed the National Question. The re-emergence of debates on the decolonisation of knowledge has revived interest in the National Question, which began over a century ago and remains unresolved. Tensions that were suppressed and hidden in the past are now being openly debated. Despite this, the goal of one united nation living prosperously under a constitutional democracy remains elusive. This edited volume examines the way in which various strands of left thought have addressed the National Question, especially during the apartheid years, and goes on to discuss its relevance for South Africa today and in the future. Instead of imposing a particular understanding of the National Question, the editors identified a number of political traditions and allowed contributors the freedom to define the question as they believed appropriate - in other words, to explain what they thought was the Unresolved National Question. This has resulted in a rich tapestry of interweaving perceptions. The volume is structured in two parts. The first examines four foundational traditions: Marxism-Leninism (the Colonialism of a Special Type thesis); the Congress tradition; the Trotskyist tradition; and Africanism. The second part explores the various shifts in the debate from the 1960s onwards, and includes chapters on Afrikaner nationalism, ethnic issues, black consciousness, feminism, workerism and constitutionalism. The editors hope that by revisiting the debates not popularly known among the scholarly mainstream, this volume will become a catalyst for an enriched debate on our identity and our future.
The Unschooled Mind: How Children Think and How Schools Should Teach
by Howard GardnerMerging cognitive science with educational agenda, Gardner makes an eloquent case for restructuring our schools by showing just how ill-suited our minds and natural patterns of learning are to the prevailing modes of education. This reissue includes a new introduction by the author.