Beauty, responsibility, and power : ethical and political consequences of pragmatist aesthetics /
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This book addresses the interrelations between aesthetics, ethics, and politics in the framework of pragmatist aesthetics, offering a comprehensive panorama of the ways and fields in which pragmatist aesthetics ties in with vital social and ethical problems of modernity. Most of the contributors refer to the model propounded by Richard Shusterman. Following in Dewey's footsteps, Shusterman has elaborated and expanded his concept, adding new dimensions to it. The most important supplement is the idea of aesthetic experience being constituted by our bodiliness. In somaesthetics , pragmatism has acquired a new dimension - a fully developed, comprehensive aesthetic theory. Pragmatist aesthetics with its essential notion of the body engages in critical dialogue with many key concepts of modernity which locate the body in social and cultural frameworks. The articles collected in this volume illustrate the complex range of pragmatist aesthetics and its impact on the understanding of crucial issues in social and moral philosophy.
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1 online resource (viii, 195 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789401211628 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Bayuda and its neighbours /
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The Bayuda, although an arid desert located in modern-day Sudan, has nonetheless been inhabited, farmed, worshipped in, and fought over by humans from the Palaeolithic onwards. Yet despite the longevity of its human occupation, the region has only in recent years become the focus of more intensive scholarly research. This volume, the first in a series dedicated to exploring the archaeology and history of Northeast Africa, aims to build on this trend by drawing together the very latest archaeological research and data and shedding light on how the Bayuda Desert and its environs were transformed into a cultural landscape. The contributions gathered here introduce, examine, and (re)assess a number of important issues, many of which are new in the archaeology of Nubia, as well as considering them against a broader comparative background. From climate change over the past millennia - and its far-reaching consequences in the present - through to an examination of the cultural influences of the Kingdom of Kerma, and from analysis of funeral rites through to interpretations of rock art, forgotten trade routes, and the commerce in cattle and slaves, this insightful volume offers a wealth of new information into the history of ancient Nubia.
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196 pages : illustrations (some color), maps (some color), plans ; 28 cm. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9782503599069
The Mongol Empire and its Legacy /
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The Mongol empire was founded early in the 13th century by Chinggis Khan and within the span of two generations embraced most of Asia, becoming the largest land-based state in history. The united empire lasted only until around 1260, but the major successor states continued on in the Middle East, present day Russia, Central Asia and China for generations, leaving a lasting impact - much of which was far from negative - on these areas and their peoples. The papers in this volume present new perspectives on the establishment of the Mongol empire, Mongol rule in the eastern Islamic world, Central Asia and China, and the legacy of this rule. The various authors approach these subjects from the view of political, military, social, cultural and intellectual history. This publication has also been published in paperback, please click here for details.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004492738
9789004110489
The story of Apollonius, King of Tyre : a study of its Greek origin and an edition of the two oldest Latin recensions /
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The story of Apollonius King of Tyre has rightly been called the most popular romance of the Middle Ages. From Iceland to Greece, from Spain to Russia, versions of this novel are recorded. It is the variation among the Latin versions and the numerous vernacular adaptations that make this story especially interesting. Shakespeare used and adapted it in his Pericles, Prince of Tyre. Its plot continues to fascinate us. Incest, deception, pirates, famine, sex and shipwreck form its tasty ingredients. Its links with the Greek novel, which today stands in the centre of scholarly interest, are striking. In this book the author attempts to show that the novel originated in Greece, or more precisely Asia Minor, possibly in Tarsus. A graffito from Pergamum and a coin struck in Tarsus at the time of Caracalla's visit (215 AD) support his conviction. All these aspects make the present book attractive to scholars of many different disciplines.
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1 online resource (xxiii, 293 pages) : map. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789047405665 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Dining with John : communal meals and identity formation in the Fourth Gospel and its historical and cultural context /
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This book explores the accounts of communal meals and the metaphorical use of food and drink language in the narrative world of the Gospel of John. It argues that the Johannine community regularly gathered for communal meals in which the food and drink on the menu would have taken on a spiritual significance far exceeding the physical sustenance. The study employs a socio-rhetorical methodology and consequently moves from text to context. It tentatively describes the texts' influence on the formation of early Christian identity and suggests that the Johannine meal accounts provide a way to imagine the demographic composition of the community and its historical context.
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1 online resource (xx, 370 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004223820 :
0928-0731 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Orthodoxy, liberalism, and adaptation : essays on ways of worldmaking in times of change from biblical, historical, and systematic perspectives /
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How does religion cope with changing situations? Are orthodoxy and liberalism really competing strategies? The essays in this volume argue three views. (1)Orthodoxy is not to be seen as the real and original form of a given religion, but as an idealized original form that should be construed as a construction in reaction to changes in time. (2) Over the ages, liberalism - despite its laudable strive for adaptation - has been less successful than generally assumed. This lesson from history can be quite important in view of the adaptation processes for Muslims in Western Europe. (3) Of great importance for the survival of religion seems to be a clear definition of the boundaries of religiously informed practices and ethics. Their recognisability and authenticity shall - when combined with a due lack of obtrusion - be of great influence for the ongoing acceptance of religion(s) in the public domain.
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Proceedings of a symposium held in Feb. 2008 at the Conference Centre "Bovendonck" in southern Netherlands. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. :
9789004209848 :
1566-208X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Looking beneath the surface : medical ethics from Islamic and Western perspectives /
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Looking Beneath the Surface explores Arab-Islamic and Western perspectives on medical ethical issues: genetic research and treatment, abortion, organ donation, and palliative sedation and euthanasia. The contributions in this volume discuss the state of the (medical) art, the role of laws, counseling, and spiritual counseling in the decision-making process. The different approaches to the ethical issues, ways of moral reasoning, become clear in these contributions, especially the role of tradition for Islam and the importance of autonomy for the West. Beneath the differences, however, the reader will also discover common values, such as the role of dignity and the value of life, and similar practices. Some of the main differences are sociocultural in nature, rather than religious as such. Well-known experts in the fields of medicine and ethics have contributed to this volume from different religious and secular backgrounds. The book offers a carefully written introduction and final chapter on intercultural comparisons. Looking Beneath the Surface is more than a collection of writings on issues in medical ethics: it helps the reader to compare different paradigms of accountability and moral reasoning.
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1 online resource (xv, 324 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789401209830 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Art, Philosophy, and Ideology : Writings on Aesthetics and Visual Culture from the Avantgarde to Postsocialism /
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This volume presents a selection of aesthetic and art theoretical writings by the internationally renowned philosopher Aleš Erjavec from the 1990s to the present. Erjavec was an active participant in the artistic revolt in Slovenia throughout the 1980 and became one of the most notable international theorists of late- and post-socialist developments in art. His work also extended to new, emergent forms of contemporary art and visual culture in global art and culture networks. The diverse contexts and artists with which he has engaged gives him a unique critical perspective on major debates in philosophical aesthetics and art theory.
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1 online resource (408 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004697515
Criminalization Vol. II : Where Do We Go from Here? /
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In this second of two volumes, Criminalization: Where Do We Go from Here embarks on an exploration of the historical roots of over criminalization. It traces its origins back to ancient legal systems and societal norms, elucidating the evolution of the legal framework alongside shifting attitudes and policy decisions. The chapters shed light on the socio-cultural forces that have contributed to the proliferation of criminal laws, resulting in a state of over criminalization in contemporary society, supported by empirical analysis. See Less
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1 online resource (249 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004711105
Christianity and resistance in the 20th century : from Kaj Munk and Dietrich Bonhoeffer to Desmond Tutu /
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How is the Christian supposed to act when his or her government misbehaves? Should one suffer and obey the authority, or should one render resistance; and if so, should it be passive or active; and if active, should it be violent or not? This book will not provide the answer to this question, but it will describe and analyse important persons of the 20th century who were placed in a situation where they did not merely 'turn the other cheek', but felt that they had to resist a regime; a decision which had consequences for them all. Thus the book provides insight to a central and current question of Christian and indeed religious thinking.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047424574 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Historical Muscat : an illustrated guide and gazetteer /
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Historical Muscat is an attempt to define and explain the historical environment that determined the significance and design of Oman's capital city Muscat, its twin city Matrah, and their environs prior to 1970. It also examines how the development of the Muscat conurbation since 1970 has transcended the historical boundaries of the existing settlements and how the process of development has proceeded largely without any consideration of the impact on Muscat's tangible or remembered history. At the heart of the book is a historical gazetteer of forts, gates, palaces, mosques, houses, quarters, settlements, and other sites covering the broader Muscat region from Bandar Jissah to al-Sib. The text is accompanied by a large number of illustrations, including maps from various eras and both historical and more contemporary photographs.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [127]-132) and index. :
9789047418771 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Tradition in social science /
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Tradition in Social Science is the social philosophy written early in life by the jurisprudent who became the preeminent public law jurist in France in the first quarter of the twentieth century, Maurice Hauriou. His work remains prominent in theorizing European Community as well as in Latin American jurisprudence. His studies concern three areas of research: legal theory, social science, and philosophy. In this book Hauriou first focuses on the object and method of the social sciences in a preliminary chapter. The main text is devoted first to a philosophy of history that uses the growth objectively in fraternity, liberty and equality as the criterion for progress; and next to the subjective elements of progress, namely, the recognition of a "pessimistic individualism" in which failure in conduct is to be expected, but is rectified by social institutions. This part closes with the dynamizing of his philosophy of history by evolution and alternation between two phases of social development, namely, middle ages and renaissances. The second part is the philosophy of social science built around social matter, where the dynamic of imitation is the motive force, and three social networks-positive, religious, and metaphysical-specify its consequences. The last of these, the political fabric, is provided with a final chapter of its own. The main doctrinal device that Hauriou developed for use in law was his theory of the institution; this is developed for the first time in the present work.
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1 online resource (xxvii, 303 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 249-255) and index. :
9789401207041 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Religion and internet /
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While the churches are emptying, other virtual religious places - as the religious websites - seem to be filling up. The researcher focusing on religion and internet or digital religion as an object of study must seek answers to a number of questions. Is computer-mediated religious communication a particular communication process whose object is what we conventionally call religion? Or is it a modern, independent form of religious expressiveness that finds its new-born status in the web and its particular language? To examine the questions above, and others, the book collects more empirical data, claiming that the Internet will have a specific or novel impact on how religious traditions are interpreted. The blurring of previous boundaries (offline/online, virtual/local, illegitimate/legitimate religion) is another theme common to all the contributions in this volume.
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1 online resource (xi, 217 pages) : illustrations (some color) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004302549 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
After one hundred years : the 1910 exhibition "Meisterwerke muhammedanischer Kunst" reconsidered /
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The exhibition \'Meisterwerke muhammedanischer Kunst\' that took place in Munich in 1910 marked a turning point in the approach to Islamic Art. The show attempted to break free of Orientalism and exotic fantasies and, in doing so, set a new standard for the reception of Islamic art in Europe. Moreover, naming the Islamic artefacts masterpieces, it layed claim to bestow upon Islamic art "a place equal to that of other cultural periods". This book is the first comprehensive study on this path-breaking exhibition. It includes a wealth of unpublished material and numerous novel ideas on the subject and addresses the exhibition's historical context, organization, realization and display as well as its reception in the West and its later influence on the study of Islamic art.
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Outgrowth of a scholarly conference held in Munich on the 24th and 25th of October 2008 in the International Meeting Centre (IBZ) of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004191020 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The mythic voice of Statius : power and politics in the Thebaid /
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This is the first thematic study of Statius' Thebaid to be published in monograph form in English in the past twenty years. It examines in detail the thematic design and intent of the Thebaid and considers the question of its contemporary relevance. The book focuses on the central theme of power - how it is exercised on the supernatural and human levels and the consequences of its pursuit and abuse in terms of the human condition. An ensuing discussion explores the political undercurrents of the epic. This discussion is in four main parts: (1) 'Use and Abuse of Supernatural Power'; (2) 'Pursuit and Abuse of Monarchal Power'; (3) 'Consequences of the Abuse of Power'; and (4) 'Political Relevance to Contemporary Rome'. The views expressed represent a fundamental departure from previous studies and constitute a critical reassessment of the Thebaid . The provision of translations makes the book accessible to the Latinless reader.
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1 online resource (xiv, 198 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 184-190) and indexes. :
9789004329416 :
0169-8958 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Salvaging Modernity: A Social Contract for the Age of Permacrisis /
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Modernity is stuck on an unsustainable course, which poses a challenge to both critical theory and praxis. My book develops a comprehensive diagnosis of the times by reviewing the rapidly growing field of critical theories that focus on structural paradoxes and social suffering. To address the complex challenges of the era of permacrisis, various emancipatory praxes are elaborated from the perspective of intersubjective (e.g., mimetic violence), technological (e.g., algorithmic reification), and discursive (e.g., cynical justification) distortions. In order to provide a synthetic framework, a new social contract is proposed, based on responsibility towards the particularistic other instead of universal justice.
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1 online resource (231 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004736177
How to make our signs clear : C.S. Peirce and semiotics /
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How to Make Our Signs Clear is the result of an international cooperation between European and Brazilian Peircean scholars (I. A. Ibri, E. Višňovský, C. Paolucci and others) and strives to dispel simplifications of Peirce´s semiotic as well as to collect various insights into it and into its consequences for philosophy, especially philosophy of language, pragmatism and epistemology. The central theme of this book is the notion of the sign as a specific triadic relational unit, treated from various perspectives and applied to various fields of philosophy: semeiotic knowledge grows up from the discussions, common interests and possible conflicts between the readers of Peirce´s works. This book does not offer a general overview of Peirce´s theory of signs, but rather various analyses of consequences of some capacities of his semiotic.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004347786 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The critical analysis of religious diversity /
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Drawing on international and thematic case studies, The Critical Analysis of Religious Diversity asks its readers to pay attention to the assumptions and processes by which scholars, religious practitioners and states construct religious diversity. The study has three foci: theoretical and methodological issues; religious diversity in non-Western contexts; and religious diversity in social contexts. Together, these trans-contextual studies are utilised to develop a critical analysis exploring how agency, power and language construct understandings of religious diversity. As a result, the book argues that reflexive scholarship needs to consider that the dynamics of diversification and homogenisation are fundamental to understanding social and religious life, that religious diversity is a Western concept, and that definitions of 'religious diversity' are often entangled by and within dynamic empirical realities.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004367111 :
1573-4293 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.