Anthropology in the Age of Technology : The Philosophical Contribution of Günther Anders /
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This book is the first to discuss, for an English-speaking audience, the ideas of the German-Jewish man of letters, thinker, and activist Günther Anders. Anders is one of few philosophers to deal intensely with the moral consequences of Auschwitz and Hiroshima. He can rightly be called the philosopher of the atomic age, and his thinking a philosophy of modern technology. In biting manifestoes, sharp aphorisms, and penetrating essays, in stirring diary notes and political fables, Anders strikes out the age in which we live. As a twentieth-century visionary, he exposes the absence of the moral and social imaginations that is necessary to prevent our history from ending in a total catastrophe. In the gap between our technical creations and our utter inability to imagine their destructive potential lies the basis for the unstoppable activity of this practical philosopher. From every possible angle, he attempts to comprehend this modern schizophrenia in its roots and consequences. Anders is one of the most important thinkers of the twentieth century. He tried to describe and analyze the variety of manifestations of the "self-destructive progress of our technical civilization," which makes humanity into an "anti-quated" sort. He diagnosed countless important problems, ranging from the world of media to the dictates of the world of machinery, and he investigated their social, political, and philosophical meaning. To read his writings is more than becoming acquainted with a rich and colorful philosopher. It is more than an encounter with a moving and passionate individual. It is ultimately a confrontation with oneself, with our own guilt and responsibility, with our personal hopes and fears, with our lack of imagination and with our need to recover it.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004495708
9789042014022
Sociality as the Human Condition Anthropology in Economic, Philosophical and Theological Perspective.
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In addition to being contemplated in the classical disciplines of anthropology, human sociality has been subjected to scientific examination in the natural and social sciences. This book offers a substantial discussion of empirical research programs within current economics (experimental and neuroeconomics), with special regard to the themes of reciprocity and altruism. These themes are discussed from a philosophical perspective informed by phenomenology and hermeneutics, and linked to theories of conflict, recognition and alterity in social philosophy, which are used to show the limitations of the purely science-based naturalistic approaches in economics. Finally, the book introduces the concept of the neighbor in Christian theology and shows how this figure brings a new perspective to the examination of human sociality.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004207486 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Phenomenology, architecture, and the built world : exercises in philosophical anthropology /
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Phenomenology, Architecture and the Built World is an introduction to the methods and basic concepts of phenomenological philosophy through an analysis of the phenomenon of the built world. The conception of the built world that emerges is of space and time fashioned in accordance with a living understanding of what it is for human beings to exist in the world. Human building and making is thus no mere supplementary instrument in the pursuit of the ends of life, but a fundamental embodiment of the self-understanding of human beings. Phenomenological description is uniquely capable of bringing into view the physiognomy of this understanding, its texture and complexity, thereby providing an important basis for a critique of what constitutes its essence and its conditions of possibility.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004340015 :
1875-2470 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Modern and Postmodern Crises of Symbolic Structures : Essays in Philosophical Anthropology /
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In debates about philosophical anthropology human beings have been defined in different ways. In Modern and Postmodern Crises of Symbolic Structures , the contributors view the human being primarily as animal symbolicum. They examine how the human being creates, interprets and changes symbolic structures, as well as how he is affected and impacted by them. The focus lies on the context of modernity and postmodernity, which is characterized by a number of interrelated crises of symbolic structures. These crises have affected the realms of science, religion, art, politics and education, and thus provoked crucial changes in the human being's relations to himself, others and reality. The crises are not viewed merely as manifestations of dysfunctions, but rather as complex processes of transformation that also provide new opportunities.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004440968
9789004440951
The dialectic of practice and the logical structure of the tool : philosophy, archaeology and the anthropology of technology /
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The Dialectic of Practice and the Logical Structure of the Tool undertakes a critical review of recent trends in the archaeological and anthropological theory of technology from processual neo-positivism and postprocessual relativism to the contemporary French and American anthropology, and the symmetrical theory of material culture. On the basis of a critique of their logical premises and epistemological consequences, it draws on the tradition of Hegelian dialectics in order to propose an alternative understanding of technology as a material social practice within which the subject and the object -the socio-cultural and the natural- are produced concurrently as inter-constituted elements, and they are unified through their mutual negative relation to each other.
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Also issued in print: 2020. :
1 online resource (92 pages). :
Specialized. :
Includes bibliographical references. :
9781789694055 (ebook) :
Mana : a history of a western category /
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In Mana: A History of a Western Category Nicolas Meylan proposes a critical account of Western imaginations of mana, a word belonging originally to Oceanic languages but borrowed by European languages in which it acquired the meaning 'supernatural power.' While mana is best known for its tenure in the disciplines studying religion, Nicolas Meylan situates such academic uses in a wider context, analyzing the ways Westerners conceptualized mana in the earlier colonial context as well as its mobilizations in the late 20th and early 21st centuries by (video)game designers and Neo-Pagan witches. This focus on various Western uses of mana allows for the critical investigation of the ways power has been mystified in conjunction with religion.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004349247 :
2214-3270 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Freiheit und Prädetermination unter dem Auspiz der prästabilierten Harmonie : Leibniz und Fichte in der Perspektive /
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Dieses Werk stellt das Denken zweier Geistesgrößen, Leibnizens und Fichtes sich gegenüber und vergleicht es. Fichte sieht in Leibniz einen Vorläufer und erwähnt ihn mit liebevoller Bewunderung. Fichtes Wissenschaftslehre von 1801/02 wird Leibnizens "Monadologie" aufgreifen und Leibnizens Gedanken einer prästabilierten Harmonie. Beide Philosophen verstehen sich als Freiheitsapostel, wobei bei Leibniz Gott eine genaue Notion jedes Individuums hat, die Freiheit ein mentaler Akt ist, bei Fichte jedes Individuum ein je bestimmtes Soll hat, das es, Freiheit verwirklichend, im Leben zu erfüllen gilt. Fichte erkennt in Leibniz einen Vorläufer der eigenen Transzendentalphilosophie. Ein Unterschied zwischen den beiden Denkern besteht darin, dass Leibniz stets die Individualität im Auge hat, wo Fichte vom reinen Vernunftwesen ausgeht, dessen individuelle Pathologien ihn nicht interessieren. Beide Philosophen supponieren, dass die Welt ein Ende habe, Leibniz, auf dass das Weltgericht stattfinden könne, Fichte, auf dass in einer neuen Welt nur noch die sittlichen Individuen wiedergeboren werden. Der vorliegende Text versucht auch, den Bogen zu schlagen von der philosophischen Tradition des Abendlandes, und insbesondere von Leibniz, Kant und Fichte zu einer Gotteslehre auf Grund der modernen Physik. Die hochenergetische Urmaße wird gefasst als psychophysische Energeia, die sich - im Leibnizschen Sinne Wissen, Macht und Wollen - aus dem Nichts kontrahiert hat und nun ins All explodiert. In der Kontraktion aus dem ursprünglich Verwobenen hat das Absolute sich vom Nichts, das Gute sich vom Bösen geschieden, entsteht das Übel als privatio boni.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789401203562
9789042020979
Philosophisches Denken : Einübungen /
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Der Titel Philosophisches Denken, Einübungen zielt nicht auf eine Philosophie, die gegeben ist wie irgend ein Ding, dessen Gebrauch man erlernen kann. Wir entwerfen vielmehr Philosophie, deren Achse die gestaltbildende Seinsnatur des menschlichen Geistes ist. Wäre das morphopoietische Sein des Menschen nicht von Grund auf bildnerisch, so vermöchte der Mensch sie nicht als Philosoph künstlerisch zu erproben, indem er eine Welt in Philosophie und Kunst bildet. Hat der Mensch sich aber so als Welt zu begreifen und zu tätigen gelernt, dann ist dies keine Leistung einer zufälligen Beliebigkeit, sondern die Notwendigkeit des endlichen Geistes, die ihren währenden Ausdruck darin findet, daß der Mensch nach Ursprung und Grund seines möglichen Seins fragt, bewegt von dem Verlangen, begründet und gegründet wissen zu wollen. Dieses Wissen wird als Sprache vernehmbar, die der Mensch durch seine dialogische Weltnatur verlautbart. Es war eine überepochale Einsicht des Philosophen Platon, als er den Menschen als Philosophen begriff, der immer schon wissen will, warum er überhaupt wissen kann. Darum ist es die Wesensaufgabe des Menschen unter raumzeitlichen Bedingungen, den Ursprung seines Seins allererst in sich selbst einholen zu müssen. Der Mensch ist eh und je, wenn auch zunächst verschleiert, dennoch aus der noch ruhenden Kraft seines Geistes Philosoph, ein Philosoph auf dem Sprung zur Tat morphopoietischen Handelns in Philosophie und Kunst. Dies deutlich zu machen, ist der Sinn dieser philosophischen Einübungen.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004455689
9789051834086
The Aesthetics of Taste: Eating within the Realm of Art /
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When does eating become art? The Aesthetics of Taste answers this question by exploring the position of taste in contemporary culture and the manner in which taste meanders its way into the realm of art. The argument identifies aesthetic values not only in artistic practices, where they are naturally expected, but also in the spaces of everydayness that seem far removed from the domain of fine arts. As such, it seeks to grasp what artists - who offer aesthetic as well as culinary experiences - actually try to communicate, while also pondering whether a cook can be an artist.
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1 online resource :
9789004534926
9789004534933
Culture still matters : notes from the field /
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Varisco's Culture Still Matters: Notes from the Field is on the relationship between ethnographic fieldwork and the culture concept in the ongoing debate over the future of anthropology, drawing on the history of both concepts. Despite being the major social science that offers a methodology and tools to understand diverse cultures worldwide, scholars within and outside anthropology have attacked this field for all manner of sins, including fostering colonialism and essentializing others. This book revitalizes constructive debate of this vibrant field's history, methods and contributions, drawing on the author's ethnographic experience in Yemen. It covers complicated theoretical concepts about culture and their critiques in readable prose, accessible to students and interested social scientists in other fields. With forewords from Bryan S. Turner and Anouar Majid.
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1 online resource. :
9789004381339
Plato and myth : studies on the use and status of platonic myths /
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This volume seeks to show how the philosophy of Plato relates to the literary form of his discourse. Myth is one aspect of this relation whose importance for the study of Plato is only now beginning to be recognized. Reflection on this topic is essential not only for understanding Plato's conception of philosophy and its methods, but also for understanding more broadly the relation between philosophy and literature. The twenty chapters of this volume, contributed by scholars of diverse backgrounds and approaches, elucidate the various uses and statuses of Platonic myths in the first place by reflecting on myth per se and in the second place by focusing on a specific myth in the Platonic corpus.
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1 online resource (488 pages) :
9789004224360 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Islamic Ethics and the Trusteeship Paradigm : Taha Abderrahmane's Philosophy in Comparative Perspectives /
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Islamic Ethics and the Trusteeship Paradigm explores the emerging ethical theory of the trusteeship paradigm as developed by the Moroccan philosopher Taha Abderrahmane (b. 1944). The volume, with contributions in English and Arabic, examines the development of this modern Islamic theory of ethics and how it permeates various disciplines: philosophy, theology, legal theory, moral theory, sociology and anthropology, communication, environment and biomedical ethics. The trusteeship paradigm aims to make ethics the compass of human thinking and action in order to overcome the predicaments humanity faces and realize a more just and balanced world. This makes of it one of the principal and profound ethical theories in Islamic scholarship that engages both classical and modern thought.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004438354
9789004438361
The Eastern Christian Tradition in Modern Russian Thought and Beyond /
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In The Eastern Christian Tradition in Modern Russian Thought and Beyond, Teresa Obolevitch reflects on the ontology and anthropology of neo-patristic synthesis and its connection to Western philosophy, with a focus on the work of Georges Florovsky and Vladimir Lossky. The book also examines the concept of apophaticism in Russian philosophy: in neo-patristic synthesis and the thought of Semyon Frank and Lev Karsavin, as well as in epistemological and cosmological comparison with process theology. Additionally, Obolevitch's work undertakes a comparative analysis of the reception of Russian sophiology in the West, especially in the work of Thomas Merton, and also considers similarities between neo-patristic synthesis and Zen Buddhism in the thought of Merton and Sergey Horujy.
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In The Eastern Christian Tradition in Modern Russian Thought and Beyond, Teresa Obolevitch elucidates the main philosophical and theological ideas of the Eastern Christian tradition of neo-patristic synthesis and considers them in comparative philosophical context. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004521827
9789004521810
Moshe Idel : representing God /
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Moshe Idel, the Max Cooper Professor Emeritus at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Senior Researcher at the Shalom Hartman Institute, is a world-renowned scholar of the Jewish mystical tradition. His historical and phenomenological studies of rabbinic, philosophic, kabbalistic, and Hasidic texts have transformed modern understanding of Jewish intellectual history and highlighted the close relationship between magic, mysticism, and liturgy. A recipient of two of the most prestigious awards in Israel, the Israel Prize for Jewish Thought (1999) and the Emmet Prize for Jewish Thought (2002), Idel's numerous studies have uncovered persistent patterns of Jewish religious thought that challenge conventional interpretations of Jewish monotheism, while offering a pluralistic understanding of Judaism. His explorations of the mythical, theurgical, mystical, and messianic dimensions of Judaism have been attentive to history, sociology, and anthropology, while rejecting a naïve historicist approach to Judaism.
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1 online resource (xv, 205 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 197-205). :
9789004280786 :
2213-6010 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The Pragmatics of Defining Religion : Contexts, Concepts and Contests /
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This volume promotes a pragmatic, anti-essentialist and anti-hegemonic approach to the problem of the definition of religion. It argues that definitions of religion are context-bound strategies for pursuing a variety of purposes, extra-academic as well as academic. Religions being immensely varied, complex and multi-functional phenomena, they need to be studied by several academic disciplines from many different perspectives. It is, therefore, legitimate and useful that many definitions of religions are developed. The volume has contributions from scholars in Philosophy of Religion, the Comparative Study of Religions, Anthropology of Religion, Sociology of Religion and Psychology of Religion. It has chapters on the polemics of defining religion in modern contexts, the history of the concept of religion, and the methodology of its definition; it includes several definition proposals.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004379091 :
0169-8834 ;
Wittgenstein on the human spirit /
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Wittgenstein on the Human Spirit provides a new understanding of Wittgenstein's discourse as an insightful philosophy of culture, pursued through self-reflection. It offers an edifying perspective on the conceptual underpinnings of culture as a shared expressive spiritual form of life. The ideas investigated in it are highly relevant for discussions in philosophy, aesthetics, anthropology, and cultural studies. The book embraces three studies: The Spirit of Jews , The Spirits of Culture and Civilization , and The Common Spirit of Human Beings . The first discusses Wittgenstein's remarks about Jews, focusing on their place within his philosophical thinking, self-reflection, and European discourse about culture and Jews. It shows how overcoming the anti-Semitic attitude implicit in them set off the major change in his philosophy. The second discusses Wittgenstein's reflections on the "deterioration of culture" in the modern period, showing how they are related to his remarks about following rules. The third discusses Wittgenstein's insights regarding the symbolic nature of myth, magic and religion. It suggests that modern human beings and those of ancient cultures possess a common expressive spiritual nature. This enables us to understand expressive practices in other cultures without interpretation. Nonetheless religious belief during the modern period is problematic.
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1 online resource (xii, 276 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 255-259) and index. :
9789401207928 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Religion in the Making : The Emergence of the Sciences of Religion /
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This volume explores the ways in which religion became the object of scientific research in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Most obvious is the development of an increasingly autonomous science of religion (with founding fathers like Max Müller and C.P. Tiele). However, within anthropology (Tylor, Frazer), sociology (Durkheim, Max Weber), and psychology (William James), religion also came to be seen as a separate entity to be studied comparatively. To capture this wide field this book focuses on the emergence of the discourse on religion in a broad academic context, among different disciplines. The emphasis is on general socio-historical developments, rather than on individual biographies. Part I deals with the institutionalization of science of religion in France, Britain, and the Netherlands. Part II focuses on boundary disputes between the emerging \'sciences of religion\'. Part III examines new conceptualizations of religion underlying the new endeavour (\'ritual\', \'magic\', \'survival\').
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Papers from a conference held May 22-24, 1997 at the University of Amsterdam. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004379039 :
0169-8834 ;
Explaining, Interpreting, and Theorizing Religion and Myth : Contributions in Honor of Robert A. Segal /
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In Explaining, Interpreting, and Theorizing Religion and Myth: Contributions in Honor of Robert A. Segal , nineteen renowned scholars offer a collection of essays addressing the persisting question of how to approach religion and myth as academic categories. Taking their cue from the work of Robert A. Segal, they discuss how to theorize about religion and myth from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. With cases from ancient Greece and Mesopotamia to East Asia and the modern world by and large, and engaging with diverse disciplines such as psychology, philosophy, anthropology, history, film, theology, and religious studies among others, the volume establishes a synthesis that demonstrates the pervasiveness as well as the pitfalls of the categories "religion" and "myth" in the world.
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1 online resource. :
9789004435025
9789004435018