Philosophy is hard. Part of the reason it can feel so annoying is because it seems like it should not be hard. After all, philosophy just involves thinking, and we all think — thinking is easy! We do it without...well, thinking. Yet philosophy involves not just thinking, but thinking well. Of course it is true that we all think. But thinking, like football, maths, baking and singing is someth…
The volume develops the concepts of the self and its reflexive nature as they are linked to modern thought from Hegel to Luhmann. The moderns are reflexive in a double sense: they create themselves by self-reflexivity and make their world – society – in their own image. That the social world is reflexive means that it is made up of non-subjective (or supra-subjective) communication. The vol…
The notion of "human rights" is widely used in political and moral debates. The core idea, that all human beings have some inalienable basic rights, is appealing and has an important practical function: It allows moral criticism of various wrongs and calls for action in order to prevent them. The articles in this collection take up a tension between the wide political use of human rights claims…
In the current climate of concern over disinformation and the so-called ‘post-truth era,’ psychological warfare has returned to discussions of national and international politics. Yet questions concerning psychological warfare — when, where, and how it came about — are poorly understood. This monograph reveals the complexity of these questions by investigating the historical-geographica…
The nature of olfaction; its importance for understanding perennial issues of philosophy of mind, perception, and consciousness; and its implications for cognitive neuroscience.What are smells? Despite the best efforts of philosophy and the chemosciences, the question remains vexing—but no more perplexing than the historical lapse of the past few centuries to seriously consider a sense that h…
How are artificial intelligence (AI) and the strong claims made by their philosophical representatives to be understood and evaluated from a Kantian perspective? Conversely, what can we learn from AI and its functions about Kantian philosophy’s claims to validity? This volume focuses on various aspects, such as the self, the spirit, self-consciousness, ethics, law, and aesthetics to answer th…
This book contributes to the foundations of a critical theory of communication as shaped by the forces of digital capitalism. One of the world's leading theorists of digital media Professor Christian Fuchs explores how the thought of some of the Frankfurt School’s key thinkers can be deployed for critically understanding media in the age of the Internet. Five essays that form the heart of thi…
Despite the increasing concern for the issue of respect for persons displayed over the last decades by political philosophers, human-right thinkers, social and ethical theorists, a comprehensive treatment of the problem from a historical-philosophical perspective is conspicuously absent. The present collection of essays aims to contribute to the fulfillment of this gap by offering a reconstruct…
Helmuth Plessner (1892-1985) was one of the founders of philosophical anthropology, and his book The Stages of the Organic and Man, first published in 1928, has inspired generations of philosophers, biologists, social scientists, and humanities scholars. This volume offers the first substantial introduction to Plessner’s philosophical anthropology in English, not only setting it in context wi…
[Given, If, Then] attempts to conceive a possibility of reading, through a set of readings: reading being understood as the relation to an Other that occurs prior to any semantic or formal identification, and, therefore, prior to any attempt at assimilating, or appropriating, what is being read to the one who reads. As such, it is an encounter with an indeterminable Other, an Other who is other…
This book, in the form of a classical philosophical treatise, presents a large-scale theoretical project: It uses a metaphilosophical perspective to present the framework for postmetaphysical thinking, situating it in the domain of the metaphysics of morality. It offers an innovative defence of scepticism based on a critical and radical analysis of the concepts of knowledge and truth. Metaphysi…
Provides an account of the nature of philosophy which is rooted in the question of the meaning of life. It makes a powerful and vivid case for believing that this question is neither obscure nor obsolete, but reflects a quintessentially human concern to which other traditional philosophical problems can be readily related; allowing them to be reconnected with natural interest, and providing a d…
What is a problem? What’s asked in that question, and how does one even begin to take its measure? How else could one begin, except as one does with any other problem—by way of its impulsion. Of Learned Ignorance: Idea of a Treatise in Philosophy is about philosophy because philosophy is about problems: philosophy, in a word, is where problems become a problem. After Anti-Oedipus, in the Ka…
"Why do we think differently from one another? Why do religious people adhere to their faith even against reason, whilst atheist thinkers label it “nonsense”? Why do some judges turn more to moral values and others less? Why do we attach different meanings to the same words? These questions can be tackled on psychological or sociological levels, but we can also analyze the subjects on the e…
The philosophy of Gilbert Simondon has reinvigorated contemporary thinking about biological and technological beings. In this book, Jean-Hugues Barthélémy takes up Simondon’s thought and shows how life and technology are connected by a transversal theme: individuation. In the first essay, Barthélémy delivers a contemporary interpretation of Simondon’s concept of ontogenesis against the …
The Presocratic philosophers, writing in Greece in the sixth and fifth centuries BCE, invented new ways of thinking about human life, the natural world, and structures of reality. They also developed novel ways of using language to express their thought. In this book, Victoria Wohl examines these innovations and the productive relation between them in the work of five figures: Parmenides, Herac…
The history of developmental biology is interwoven with debates as to whether mechanistic explanations of development are possible or whether alternative explanatory principles or even vital forces need to be assumed. In particular, the demonstrated ability of embryonic cells to tune their developmental fate precisely to their relative position and the overall size of the embryo was once though…
What is ‘the good’ of the film experience? And how does the budding field of ‘film as philosophy’ answer this question? Charting new routes for film ethics, Martin P. Rossouw develops a critical account of the transformational ethics at work within the ‘film as philosophy’ debate. Whenever philosophers claim that films can do philosophy, they also persistently put forward edifying p…
This book raises three interlinked questions: first, how to do a social history of time; second, what are the ways in which it can be done without succumbing to the usual, and at times inevitable, pull of some of the useful binaries in which most of the historical accounts of time have been written; and third, how, as a result of overcoming some of these binaries, do we go beyond simply sta…
Twenty-first-century literature by women from across the Caribbean and its diaspora evidences an urge to start afresh. It frequently points to the lingering legacy of enslavement, coloniality, and patriarchy as it denounces the pernicious effects of an inequitable global economic order premised on exploitative relationships and unsustainable practices that have ushered in ecological …
There is a saying by Ludwig Wittgenstein that could be used to summarize the un-derlyingmessageofthisstudy:DieGrenzenmeinerSprachebedeutendieGrenzenmeinerWelt,which is commonly translated into English asthelimitsofmylanguagemeanthelimitsofmyworld.Languagesandlanguagehierarchiesdevelopoutofideologiesthatconnectindividuals,languages,andculturewithinasocialspace.Peoplearejudgedaccording to their l…
Tahukan Anda bahwa untuk hidup sukses Anda tidak cukup hanya bekerja keras, namun harus pula menemukan faktor-faktor penentu kesuksesan dan kemudian menyelaraskan dengan kehidupan? Faktor takdir, nasib, bakat, kemampuan memanfaatkan momentum (waktu dan tempat yang tepat), dukungan orang-orang di sekitar, pengembangan internal (diri sendiri), pemanfaatan faktor kali (leverage) serta teknologi…
The subject of my book is a Portuguese Cistercian nun, Joana de Jesus (1617–1681),whowroteanautobiographicalmysticaltext.However,themostfamousPortuguesenun is still Mariana Alcoforado (1640–1723),probably the fictional author of theLet-tresPortugaises.1Thisbook–anardentcorrespondencebetweenacloisterednunanda French aristocrat – had wide appeal in the European literary scene of its time.…
How to think philosophically about religion? The separation of church and state takes form in the nineteenth century. In public universities in the Netherlands, systematic, church-related theology is replaced by philosophy of religion. As a window on academic thinking about faith, Willem B. Drees, Leiden University's last professor of philosophy of religion, reads the work of his predecessors. …
From subtle discrimination in everyday life, to horrors like lynching in the Old South, cultural imperialism, and "ethnic cleansing", racism exists in many different forms, in almost every facet of society. Despite civil rights movements and other attempts at progress, racial prejudices and stereotypes remain deeply embedded in Western culture. Racism takes a frank and objective look at why the…
This study argues for a new view of contemporary Arab thought by analyzing the idea of time that underlies key discussions over Arab heritage (tur?th). Focusing on three authors, it shows how their work was shaped by a linear temporality and how they break with a common understanding of Arab thought by critiquing its temporal basis. This analysis leads to a richer engagement with contemporary A…
Rachel berjumpa dengan Lopez tanpa gagasan apa pun sebelumnya tentang dia. Ia adalah orang asing baginya. Ia bahkan tidak berbagi latar belakang agamanya. Rachel, barangkali, seorang peziarah pascagereja, yang mencari bagi dirinya kebenaran terdalam dan berjuang dengan masalah-masalah hidupnya sendiri. Ia berjumpa dari hati ke hati dengan Lopez, melintasi keterpisahan lima abad sejarah dan keti…
Poststructuralism changes the way we understand the relations between human beings, their culture, and the world. Following a brief account of the historical relationship between structuralism and poststructuralism, this Very Short Introduction traces the key arguments that have led poststructuralists to challenge traditional theories of language and culture. While the author discusses such wel…
Imagine studying a building not by walking its hallways or perusing its blueprints, but by examining each of its bricks: the pockmarks produced by air bubbles in the clay, the whorls of reds and browns, the trowel’s impressions in the mortar. Imagine evaluating a mosaic not for the bigger picture but for the glint of indi-vidual tesserae. Or imagine not watching a film but looki…
Towards a New Social Contract Ars Electronica 2023 is dedicated to the complex questions of truth and the concept of ownership in this digital age. In doing so, the festival navigates the central questions of our time. The focus is on how our perception of “authentic” and “original” is being transformed and whether truth can be owned, and how this relates to digitalization and the rapid…
If you walk into the Ra?jara?j??varan ?iva temple in Ta?ipparamba, in the Ka???r district of northern Kerala, you will see many standard features: lush green lawns, old stone architecture, the occasional elephant munching on grass, low tiled roofs housing an array of deities that surround the main shrine. Having paid your respects to the various spirit…
The key event in this first part of the tale occurs when the old fisherman innocently opens the sealed flask he found, and the Djinn materializes from the bottle, and threatens to kill the old man. How are we to interpret this opening event?If this were someone’s dream, a common psychological interpretation would be that the Djinn, imprisoned in the bottle, represents a repressed, unconscious…
Cows—certain types ofbovinae—can evoke strong emotions among peo-ple, different emotions rooted in different worldviews. One worldview,which is arguably a galaxy of worldviews emerging over centuries in India,has come to be called “Hindu.” Some people who identify themselvesas Hindus have strong feelings about cows—feelings that tie into theirsense of conviction that cows are not just…
What is spirituality? What is the relationship between spirituality and religion? Are they inseparable or just coincidentally connected? Does spirituality need a reference to God or is true spirituality perhaps only possible without religion? How do different forms of spirituality affect the lives of individuals and society? This book is dedicated to these questions and thus comprehensively exp…
Ramon Harvey revisits the Muslim theologian Ab? Man??r al-M?tur?d? (d. 333/944) from Samarqand and puts his system, and that of the M?tur?d? school, into lively dialogue with modern thought.Combining rigorous study of Arabic M?tur?d? texts with insights from Husserl’s phenomenology and analytic theology, Harvey explores themes from epistemology and metaphysics to the nature of God and specifi…
To begin with a thinker who remained always attuned to the du-plicitous nature of beginning requires candor. There is a thetic dimension to every beginning, and we will do well not to deny it here. Rather, let us begin by attending to the things Reiner Schürmann himself said about beginning: “A starting point,” he wrote, “that neither abandons ordinary experience nor t…
Questions of time and concepts of temporality have increasingly been moving into the focus of current research. A broad timeframe is covered in the publication Temporalität in Kunst und Kunsttheorie seit 1800 [Temporality in Art and Art Theory since 1800], ed-ited by Thomas Kisser in 2011. It reflects and discusses the problem of time in images across epochs – by analysing the role of time i…
The claim “what we know is what exists” appears, at first glance, to be quite an obvious statement – we know dogs and horses and so it seems obvious that dogs and horses exist. However, upon further reflection, it rather seems that what is most properly the object of our knowledge is not these particular dogs and horses themselves, but something that is universal – what Plato called a …
Since beginning this project, I have practiced a daily routine of scrolling through news sites and taking screenshots of Anthropocene-related stories. I have quickly accumulated quite an archive. Browsing through my collection, I log that most of the climate headlines are dark, dim, and foreboding. I also notice an increasing number of announcements about the end o…
Ethics 101 offers an exciting look into the history of moral principles that dictate human behavior. Unlike traditional textbooks that overwhelm, this easy-to-read guide presents the key concepts of ethics in fun, straightforward lessons and exercises featuring only the most important facts, theories, and ideas. Ethics 101 includes unique, accessible elements such as: -Explanations of the ma…
From classical to hard rock, and jazz to hip hop, music is constantly evolving, but many of the basics have stayed the same. Understanding these basics is key to becoming a successful musician and well-rounded music lover. Music Theory 101 covers everything novice musicians and lifelong learners need to know, including: -How to read sheet music -Understanding the construction of chords a…
Too often, textbooks turn the noteworthy theories, principles, and figures of philosophy into tedious discourse that even Plato would reject. Philosophy 101 cuts out the boring details and exhausting philosophical methodology, and instead, gives you a lesson in philosophy that keeps you engaged as you explore the fascinating history of human thought and inquisition. From Aristotle and Heideg…
After 30 years of research, the author of The History of Correlation organized his notes into a manuscript draft during the lockdown months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Getting it into shape for publication took another few years. It was a labor of love. Readers will enjoy learning in detail how correlation evolved from a completely non-mathematical concept to one today that is virtually always vi…
Why do people come to reject climate science or the safety and efficacy of vaccines, in defiance of the scientific consensus? A popular view explains bad beliefs like these as resulting from a range of biases that together ensure that human beings fall short of being genuinely rational animals. This book presents an alternative account. It argues that bad beliefs arise from genuinely rational p…
One central aim of science is to provide explanations of natural phenomena. What role(s) does mathematics play in achieving this aim? How does mathematics contribute to the explanatory power of science? Rules to Infinity defends the thesis, common though perhaps inchoate among many members of the Vienna Circle, that mathematics contributes to the explanatory power of science by expressing conce…
Italo Calvino’s Se una notte d’inverno un viaggiatore is perhaps the best recognised and well-known second-person text among contem-porary readers. Published in 1979, the novel is a strange narrative collage composed of the beginnings of ten different novels which are interrupted by a second narrative strand in which a Reader (the pro-tagonist of the novel) is in searc…
How ought we to live? What really exists? How do we know? This book introduces important themes in ethics, knowledge, and the self, via readings from Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Hegel, Darwin, and Buddhist writers. It emphasizes throughout the point of studying philosophy, explains how different areas of philosophy are related, and explores the contexts in which philosophy was and is studied.
The first contemporary translation of the 1,000-year-old text at the foundation of modern medicine and biology • Presents the actual words of Avicenna translated directly from the original Arabic, removing the inaccuracies and errors of most translators • Explains current medical interpretations and ways to apply Avicenna’s concepts today, particularly for individualized medicine …
More than two hundred years ago, a theater journal from Hamburg reviewed a performance of The Marriage of Figaro. Its author was probably Bernhard Anselm Weber, a composer and music director. The evening’s entertainment left a deep impression on Mozart’s fellow musician:It is just as one would expect from Mozart: great and beautiful, full of new ideas a…
Th is is a book about practical reason, action, and emotion in Kant. My aim is to answer what is the real importance of emotion for Kant. I will try to show that Kant had considerable views about emotions and that he was not blind to their importance in action in general. My object is not moral action, but action in general, including weak and even evil ones. My purpose is to show that Kant de…