Philosophy : Movements

In the spring of 2003, Jacques Derrida sat down for a public debate in Paris with Algerian intellectual Mustapha Chérif. The eminent philosopher arrived at the event directly from the hospital where he had just been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, the illness that would take his life just over a year later. That he still participated in the exchange testifies to the magnitude of the subject at hand: the increasingly distressed relationship between Islam and the West, and the questions of freedom, justice, and democracy that surround it. As Chérif relates in this account of their dialogue, the topic of Islam held special resonance for Derrida—perhaps it is to be expected that near the end of his life his thoughts would return to Algeria, the country where he was born in 1930. Indeed, these roots served as the impetus for their conversation, which first centers on the ways in which Derrida’s Algerian-Jewish identity has shaped his thinking. From there, the two men move to broader questions of secularism and democracy; to politics and religion and how the former manipulates the latter; and to the parallels between xenophobia in the West and fanaticism among Islamists. Ultimately, the discussion is an attempt to tear down the notion that Islam and the West are two civilizations locked in a bitter struggle for supremacy and to reconsider them as the two shores of the Mediterranean—two halves of the same geographical, religious, and cultural sphere. Islam and the West is a crucial opportunity to further our understanding of Derrida’s views on the key political and religious divisions of our time and an often moving testament to the power of friendship and solidarity to surmount them. more...

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In Stages of Thought, Michael Barnes examines a pattern of cognitive development that has evolved over thousands of years--a pattern manifest in both science and religion. He describes how the major world cultures built upon our natural human language skills to add literacy, logic, and, now, a highly critical self-awareness. In tracing the histories of both scientific and religious thought, Barnes shows why we think the way that we do today. Although religious and scientific modes of thought are often portrayed as contradictory-one is highly rational while the other appeals to tradition and faith-Barnes argues that they evolved together and are actually complementary. Using the developmental thought of Piaget, he argues that cultures develop like individuals in that both learn easier cognitive skills first and master the harder ones later. This is especially true, says Barnes, because the harder ones often require first the creation of cognitive technology like writing or formal logic as well as the creation of social institutions that teach and sustain those skills. Barnes goes on to delineate the successive stages of the co-evolution of religious and scientific thought in the West, from the preliterate cultures of antiquity up to the present time. Along the way, he covers topics such as the impact of literacy on human modes of thought; the development of formalized logic and philosophical reflections; the emergence of an explicitly rational science; the birth of formal theologies; and, more recently, the growth of modern empirical science. This groundbreaking book offers a thorough and persuasive argument in favor of the development of modes of thought across cultures. It will serve as an invaluable resource for historians of religion, philosophers and historians of science, and anyone interested in the relationship between religion and science. more...

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Sir Thomas More wrote Utopia in 1516 in Latin. His Utopia is a fictional island, whose society, religion and politics he explores. Critics do not believe that the island depicted More's idea of the perfect society, but rather that he hoped to throw the politics of his own time into a new light by contrasting them with his imagined island society. The work references Plato's Republic. more...

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Die vorliegende Arbeit zielt darauf ab, Momente der Husserlschen PhAnomenologie hervorzuheben, in denen diese an ihre Grenzen gerAt. Die Husserlsche Analyse stAAt in unterschiedlichen Bereichen auf PhAnomene, die paradoxerweise nur in ihrer eigentA1/4mlichen UnzugAnglichkeit zugAnglich sind. Der Ausweis dieser GrenzphAnomene, die in der Husserl-Literatur bisher noch nicht systematisch untersucht worden sind, steht im Zentrum der Arbeit. Als Leitfaden der Untersuchung dient der Ich-Begriff, der in seiner voller Konkretion analysiert wird. Um dem Ich-Begriff bei Husserl gerecht zu werden, ist es erforderlich, auf seine vielfAltigen Dimensionen einzugehen: PassivitAt, FaktizitAt, IntersubjektivitAt und Zeit werden einer detaillierten Analyse unterzogen. Die Erforschung dieser vielfAltigen Dimensionen des Ich deckt eigentA1/4mliche AoeberschA1/4sse auf, die A1/4ber jede Form von Anschauung und Sinn hinausgehen und somit die Grenzen der jeweils bestehenden Ordnung sprengen. In den unterschiedlichen Kontexten hat der Verfasser sich systematisch mit phAnomenologisch orientierten Autoren zeitgenAssischer Philosophie (insbesondere LA(c)vinas, Derrida, Bernet, Richir und Waldenfels) auseinandergesetzt. Diese Auseinandersetzung zielt nicht nur darauf ab, die Husserlschen Texte neu zu befragen, sondern sie beabsichtigt auch, die Fruchtbarkeit der Husserlschen Analysen fA1/4r die zeitgenAssische Philosophie hervorzuheben. more...

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The first full-length account of 'the question of intellectuals' in twentieth-century Britain. Leading intellectual historian and cultural commentator Stefan Collini challenges the myth that there are no 'real' intellectuals in Britain and offers a persuasive analysis of 'the intellectual' as a concept as well as detailed discussions of influential figures such as T.S. Eliot, George Orwell, and Edward Said. - ;A richly textured work of history and a powerful contribution to contemporary cultural debate, Absent Minds provides the first full-length account of 'the question of intellectuals' in twentieth-century Britain - have such figures ever existed, have they always been more prominent or influential elsewhere, and are they on the point of becoming extinct today?. Recovering neglected or misunderstood traditions of reflection and debate from the late nineteenth century through to the present, Stefan Collini challenges the familiar cliche that there are no 'real' intellectuals in Britain. The book offers a persuasive analysis of the concept of 'the intellectual' and an extensive comparative account of how this question has been seen in the USA, France, and elsewhere in Europe. There are detailed discussions of influential or revealing figures such as. Julien Benda, T. S. Eliot, George Orwell, and Edward Said, as well as trenchant critiques of current assumptions about the impact of specialization and celebrity. Throughout, attention is paid to the multiple senses of the term 'intellectuals' and to the great diversity of relevant genres and media. through which they have communicated their ideas, from pamphlets and periodical essays to public lectures and radio talks. Elegantly written and rigorously argued, Absent Minds is a major, long-awaited work by a leading intellectual historian and cultural commentator, ranging across the conventional divides between academic disciplines and combining insightful portrait more...

Price: $35.00