A companion to ethics should be a companion for two kinds of inquirers. The first consists, of course, of students and teachers of philosophy. The second comprises a much wider group– anyone who is interested in the state of philosophical ethics today, and the history of how we got to where we are....
Editing and compiling this historical and critical review of twentieth-century philosophy has been extremely challenging, but ultimately it has been a rewarding task. The project was conceived in 2002 with the aim of drawing together experts in the various subject areas who could comment both authoritatively and critically on the current condition of their respective disciplines and on the natu…
The collapse of positivism and its attendant verification principle of meaning was undoubtedly the most important philosophical event of the twentieth century. Their demise heralded a resurgence of metaphysics, along with other traditional problems of philosophy that verificationism had suppressed. Accompanying this resurgence has come something new and altogether unanticipated: a renaissance i…
The book illuminates Calvin's thought by placing it in the context of the theological and exegetical traditions--ancient, medieval, and contemporary-- that formed it and contributed to its particular texture. Steinmetz addresses a range of issues almost as wide as the Reformation itself, including the knowledge of God, the problem of iconoclasm, the doctrines of justification and predestination…
In September 1989 the Solidarity party, an arm of the Polish anticommunist labor movement, took control of the government in Poland after the party had earlier won all parliamentary seats. In the same month, Hungary opened its borders with Austria, thus permitting huge numbers of refugees to flee Eastern Europe and particularly East Germany.......
In a recent ecumenical study, the Wesleyan theologian Edgardo Colón-Emeric observes that ‘predestination cannot simply be treated as a historical artifact...but as an abiding structural element of a sound doctrine of Christian perfection’.1 By contrast, the American religious historian Peter Thuesen speaks for the majority of contemporary theologians when he warns that predestinarian contr…
In the Gospels, Christ predicts to his disciples that the end of days is approaching and will bring about a great tribulation marked by war, pestilence, famine, and the appearance of false prophets. He also declares that his message of salvation will be preached throughout the entire world and will reach all of its peoples before the consummation of history. Although this promised course of eve…
The present volume is published along with the monograph, The Real Cassian Revisited (Monastic Life, Greek Paideia, and Origenism in the Sixth Century), in the sameseries.ThisisacriticaleditionoftextsofCodex573 (ninth century) of the Monastery of Metamorphosis (the Great Meteoron), Greece. The Codex, entitled ‘The Book of Monk Cassian the Roman’, was copied at the Great Laura of Sabas in P…
Every organization faces challenges and hardships. The Only Leadership Book You’ll Ever Need teaches leaders how to overcome their most difficult obstacle: employee engagement. By pinpointing specific areas leaders can focus on and change, this book shows how one leader can effectively change the entire workplace environment — for the better. Topics addressed include: -The 10 Keys to Workpl…
It gives me great pleasure to provide this preface to the revised edition of A Theory of Justice. Despite many criticisms of the original work, I still accept its main outlines and defend its central doctrines. Of course, I wish, as one might expect, that I had done certain things differently, and I would now make a number of important revisions. But if I were writing A Theory of Justice over a…
By championing the ideals of independence, evangelism, and conservatism, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has grown into the largest Protestant denomination in the country. The Convention's mass democratic form of church government, its influential annual meetings, and its sheer size have made it a barometer for Southern political and cultural shift. Its most recent shift has been starboar…
In contemporary American culture it has become commonplace to hear people on the street, and even politicians, arguing that government should not “legislate morality.”.........
The nineteenth century was one of the most diverse and creative periods in the history of Christian theology. Its problems, challenges, and developments continue to be assimilated by theologians today, while its great thinkers – G. W. F. Hegel, Friedrich Schleiermacher, Søren Kierkegaard, John Henry Newman, et al. – are the subject of intensive international scholarship.
This reissue of Barth’s A Shorter Commentary on Romans links to the renewed interest today in a ‘theological’ interpretation of Scripture. In response to the modern preoccupation with what lies behind the text (the author’s context), and to a postmodern preoccupation with what lies in front of the text (the reader’s context), both theologians and biblical scholars are asking the follo…
In the stressful world of the twenty-first century, many active people are in need of advice on how to reconcile the competing demands of ambition and happiness, work and family, friendship and competition. Mutatis mutandis, the same holds true for the Roman Empire, when, as has been emphasized in a number of studies over the last decade or so, the elite was engaged in a constant struggle for p…
On What Matters is a major work in moral philosophy. It is the long-awaited follow-up to Derek Parfit's 1984 book Reasons and Persons, one of the landmarks of twentieth-century philosophy. In this first volume Parfit presents a powerful new treatment of reasons and rationality, and a critical examination of three systematic moral theories -- Kant's ethics, contractualism, and consequentialism -…
Paul, the apostle was one of the most controversial figures of the ancient world. In this reconstruction of his life Jerome Murphy-O'Connor combines evidence from classical studies, biblical studies, ancient history and archaeology to present a realistic biography of Christianity's flawed hero.
An exploration of Augustine's treatment of language in his Confessions - a major work of Western philosophy and literature, with continuing intellectual importance. Philip Burton traces the role of language in Augustine's career, up to his reinvention of himself as a Christian intellectual, commentating on Scripture and preaching to his flock.
Ursula Coope argues that Aristotle sees time as a universal order within which all changes are related to each other. This interpretation enables her to explain two striking Aristotelian claims: that the now is like a moving thing, and that time depends for its existence on the mind.
The third edition of Social Identity builds on the international success of previous editions, offering an easy access critical introduction to social science theories of identity, for advanced undergraduates and postgraduates. All of the previous chapters have been updated and extra material has been added where relevant, for example on globalization. Two new chapters have also been added; one…
‘In this stunning book, Roy Bhaskar develops his own program of critical realism into a radically new and original theory of dialectics and a critique of previous theories from the ancient Greeks to twentieth century neo-Marxism. The result is comparable in its scope and ambition to Sartre’s critique of dialectical reasoning. It is hard to think of any other contemporary philosopher with th…
Karl Marx's theories have shaped and directed political economic, and social thought for 150 years. Here the renowned philosopher Peter Singer describes Marx's life and early ideas before clearly and concisely identifying the central vision that unifies Marx's thought and enables us to grasp it as a whole. In this new edition. Singer explores whether Marx and his ideas remain relevant to politi…
The essays which comprise this book are designed to justify and develop scientific realism, critical naturalism, and a certain, characteristically Marxian, approach to the analysis and criticism of philosophical ideas. The first two chapters consolidate and develop the theories outlined in A Realist Theory of Science and The Possibility of Naturalism, as well as in a number of other recent publ…
This book gives a clear and readable overview of the philosophical work of Jurgen Habermas, the most influential German philosopher alive today, who has commented widely on subjects such as Marxism, the importance and effectiveness of communication, the reunification of Germany, and the European Union. Gordon Finlayson provides readers with a clear and readable overview of Habermas's forbidding…
Games are played everywhere: from economics and online auctions to social interactions, and game theory is about how to play such games in a rational way, and how to maximize their outcomes. This VSI reveals, without mathematical equations, the insights the theory can bring to everything from how to play poker optimally to the sex ratio among bees.
The Students Library of Education has been designed to meet the needs of students of Education at Colleges of Education and at University Institutes and Departments. It will also be valuable for practising teachers and educationists. The series takes full account of the latest developments in teacher-training and of new methods and approaches in education. Separate volumes will provide authorit…
This anthology was designed for lower-division (freshmen and sophomore) students in Introduction to Philosophy courses. After several years of using some of the more comprehensive anthologies, and rejecting spoon-fed introductory text, I came to the conclusion that the more rigorous anthologies are simply too hard for the average undergraduate nonphilosophy major. There was need for an antholog…
For nineteenth century scholars the Holy Land was not just a region of the globe - it was an idea, an intellectual and moral space charged with the heat of debate between those trying to understand the religious, social and scientific upheavals of the time. Edwin Aiken explores the various ways in which geographical knowledge was used in these debates. In particular he shows how religious write…
There are a number of ways in which this book could fail. It has several goals, some of them pedagogical. One of these goals is to introduce readers to the philosophy of mathematics. In my attempt to avoid failure here I’ve included chapters on traditional points of view, such as formalism and constructivism, as well as Platonism. And since I’m aiming at a broad audience, I’ve taken pains…
This 2007 text is a comparative, analysis of one of the most fundamental stages in the formation of Europe. Leading scholars explore the role of the spread of Christianity and the formation of new principalities in the birth of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Bohemia, Hungary, Poland and Rus' around the year 1000. Drawing on history, archaeology and art history, and emphasizing problems related to the…
"Postmodernism has been a buzzword in contemporary society for the last decade. But how can it be defined? In this Very Short Introduction Christopher Butler challenges and explores the key ideas of postmodernists, and their engagement with theory, literature, the visual arts, film, architecture, and music. He treats artists, intellectuals, critics, and social scientists as if they were all mem…
Perhaps no medieval theologian has experienced the ebb and flow f human affections to the extent that John Wyclif would endure. Both hailed and reviled in his own lifetime, he would later be held up as hero and villain after his death, only to be reclaimed and ignored intermittently over the centuries. This is not the place for Wycliffite historiography; the essays contained in this volume will…
Whenever science operates at the cutting edge of what is known, it invariably runs into philosophical issues about the nature of knowledge and reality. Scientific controversies raise such questions as the relation of theory and experiment, the nature of explanation, and the extent to which science can approximate to the truth. Within particular sciences, special concerns arise about what exists…
The study of human evolution is advancing rapidly. Newly discovered fossil evidence is adding ever more pieces to the puzzle of our past, whilst revolutionary technological advances in the study of ancient DNA are completely reshaping theories of early human populations and migrations. In this Very Short Introduction, Bernard Wood traces the history of palaeoanthropology from its beginnings in …
The task of collecting, arranging, and editing essays into the coherent sequence necessary for an effective book-long presentation brings with it many challenges. In this particular case the arrangement of Professor Masons papers into three parts is his own and will be subsequently explained in the author's introduction. The decision, however, to include a cumulative bibliography along with anc…
The aim of this volume is defined by that of the series of which it is part, namely to provide students of philosophy with an accurate rendering and critical elucidation of the dialogue. While the main interest of the commentary is philosophical, the nature of the dialogue has necessitated the inclusion of more literary and historical matter than in some other volumes of the series.
This book explores some early works of Christian literature, those devoted to the New Testament in the 200 years or so after the rise of Constantine by Juvencus, Sedulius, and Arator. They have been somewhat neglected in the Anglophone world, at least, though there are notable exceptions among the small number of relevant monographs; it is important, especially in an increasingly interdisciplin…
The publication of this monograph marks the culmination of an interest panning a quarter of a century. In 1967,1 was a mature-aged student in a first-year Hebrew class at the University of Melbourne, and my attention was arrested by the lecturer's comment when we first encountered the word loj. I acknowledge my gratitude to Revd Dudley Hallam who described it as 'a rich, old, covenant word'. H…
In its heyday during the 1990s, neoliberalism bestrode the world like a colossus. It ate its way into the heart of the former Soviet bloc. It confronted countries of the global South with the new rules and conditions for their economic development. Showing itself to be a remarkably versatile creature, neoliberalism even charmed the post-Mao Chinese Communist Party cadres whose reformed ‘socia…
The default view is that hallucinations are experiences of nothing at all. “There’s nothing there,” we’ll tell the victim—provided we think the victim is sober enough to respond to the facts. The default view about the denizens of fictional worlds, similarly, is that the characters and events depicted aren’t real; they correspond to nothing at all. I’m speaking, of course, of the …
In this well-known work, Etienne Gilson undertakes a sufficiently difficult task, namely, to define the spirit of mediaeval philosophy. He focuses on and supports his conclusion that the Middle Ages produced, besides a Christian literature and art as everyone admits, this very Christian philosophy, which is a matter of dispute.
When I teach the Republic now, the reactions to it are more urgent and more intense than they were a quarter-century ago when i was working this translation and interpretation. The Republic is, of course, a permanent book, one of the small number of books that engage the interest and sympathy of thoughtful persons wherever books are esteemed and read in freedom......
This is a reissue of Jerrold Levinson's 1990 book which gathers together the writings that made him a leading figure in contemporary aesthetics. A new introduction reflects on the essays and their influence over the last 20 years.
The notorious Guy Fawkes was a member of the plot to blow up England’s Parliament and kill King James I in November 1605. The plan was thwarted when the king’s men discovered Fawkes in the cellars carrying a lantern (above) and guarding barrels of gunpowder. Since then, on November 5 Britain celebrates his defeat, often by burning Fawkes in effigy, a ritual that mocks him and warns potentia…
St Maximus the Confessor, the greatest of Byzantine theologians, lived through the most catastrophic period the Byzantine Empire was to experience before the Crusades. This book introduces the reader to the times and upheavals during which Maximus lived. It discusses his cosmic vision of humanity and his Christology. The study makes available several of Maximus’ theological treatises, many of…
The present investigation has grown out of several preoccupations, some private, some professional, and others, finally, that I would call public. Private preoccupation: to say nothing of my gaze directed back now over a long life—Reflexion faite (looking back)—it is a question here of returning to a lacuna in the problematic of Time and Narrative and in Oneself as Another, where temporal e…
Some of the world's specialists provide in this handbook essays about what kinds of things there are, in what ways they exist, and how they relate to each other. They give the word on such topics as identity, modality, time, causation, persons and minds, freedom, and vagueness.
From this cabin in the Wind River Range of the Rockies I look out onto a landscape of desire. In these recent years of drought everything longs for rain. My wife and I woke up to three inches of late snow a few days ago and mountain bluebells, delighted at the unexpected moisture, have suddenly appeared in a brief riot of color across the meadow...
In this work Jenkins takes a closer look at Christianity in the global South, revealing what it is like, and what it means for the future. The faith of the South, Jenkins finds, is first and foremost a biblical faith. Indeed, in the global South, many Christians identify powerfully with the world portrayed in the New Testament.
At least two well-developed bodies of literature have emerged on practical questions relating to death, one the concern of psychology, the other the concern of ethics. These flow from two basic questions: how can we live well in the face of death? and when, if ever, is it legitimate deliberately to bring human life to an end? Related to both of these is a third question that seems to press eve…