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The Founding of Israeli Democracy, 1948-1967
by Peter Y. MeddingIsrael is the only new state among the twenty-one countries in the world today that have maintained democracy without interruption since the end of the Second World War. Israel's case is all the more notable because its democracy was established under extremely adverse conditions: massive immigration; severe social dislocation; the introduction of ethnic, cultural, linguistic, religious, and national differences; rapid economic growth; a permanent security threat that led to five major wars in thirty-five years; and a population that, in the main, had little or no experience of a democratic order. In this insightful study of Israel's founding period from 1948 to 1967, Peter Medding addresses this puzzle, providing a lucid account of the political and historical conditions that gave rise to this distinctive period, as well as the changes which brought it to an end. The result is an eminently readable account of the state-building process and of the role played by David Ben-Gurion and other politicians in moving from consensus politics to a majoritarian-like democracy. Medding's analysis is further enriched by his comparisons of the development of Israeli democracy with that of other countries.
Morality, Politics, and Law
by Michael J. PerryAddressing the proper relation of moral and religious belief to politics and law, especially constitutional law, Perry here discusses whether a common moral foundation exists that is capable of providing, in a diverse social system like ours, consistent guidelines for handling divisive political, policy, religious and constitutional disputes. His study represents a distinctive position in the vast and growing literature on the moral foundations of liberal political and legal life.
Identity, Consciousness and Value
by Peter UngerThe topic of personal identity has prompted some of the liveliest and most interesting debates in recent philosophy. In a fascinating new contribution to the discussion, Peter Unger presents a psychologically aimed, but physically based, account of our identity over time. While supporting the account, he explains why many influential contemporary philosophers have underrated the importance of physical continuity to our survival, casting a new light on the work of Lewis, Nagel, Nozick, Parfit, Perry, Shoemaker, and others. Deriving from his discussion of our identity itself, Unger produces a novel but commonsensical theory of the relations between identity and some of our deepest concerns. In a conservative but flexible spirit, he explores the implications of his theory for questions of value and of the good life.
As Moscow Sees Us: American Politics and Society in the Soviet Mindset
by Richard M. MillsThis work explores how Soviet analysts interpret American domestic politics and social movements by examining their answers to such questions as: "Who rules America?" "How do these rulers stay in power?" and "How do the major classes interact in the American social and political arenas?" Mills demonstrates that, despite growing Soviet understanding of the American political system and their increasing interpretive emphasis on elites rather than classes, Soviet analysis continues to be constrained by an intricate "mindset" that resists modification. An intimate look at Soviet political thinking, this study also considers recent changes, and the prospects for the evolution of a more refined framework under perestroika.
Kant's Transcendental Psychology
by Patricia KitcherFor the last 100 years historians have denigrated the psychology of the Critique of Pure Reason. In opposition, Patricia Kitcher argues that we can only understand the deduction of the categories in terms of Kant's attempt to fathom the psychological prerequisites of thought, and that this investigation illuminates thinking itself. Kant tried to understand the "task environment" of knowledge and thought: Given the data we acquire and the scientific generalizations we make, what basic cognitive capacities are necessary to perform these feats? What do these capacities imply about the inevitable structure of our knowledge? Kitcher specifically considers Kant's claims about the unity of the thinking self; the spatial forms of human perceptions; the relations among mental states necessary for them to have content; the relations between perceptions and judgment; the malleability essential to empirical concepts; the structure of empirical concepts required for inductive inference; and the limits of philosophical insight into psychological processes.
Love's Knowledge: Essays on Philosophy and Literature
by Martha C. NussbaumThis volume brings together Nussbaum's published papers on the relationship between literature and philosophy, especially moral philosophy. The papers, many of them previously inaccessible to non-specialist readers, deal with such fundamental issues as the relationship between style and content in the exploration of ethical issues; the nature of ethical attention and ethical knowledge and their relationship to written forms and styles; and the role of the emotions in deliberation and self-knowledge. Nussbaum investigates and defends a conception of ethical understanding which involves emotional as well as intellectual activity, and which gives a certain type of priority to the perception of particular people and situations rather than to abstract rules. She argues that this ethical conception cannot be completely and appropriately stated without turning to forms of writing usually considered literary rather than philosophical. It is consequently necessary to broaden our conception of moral philosophy in order to include these forms. Featuring two new essays and revised versions of several previously published essays, this collection attempts to articulate the relationship, within such a broader ethical inquiry, between literary and more abstractly theoretical elements.
Science and Reason
by Henry E. KyburgIn this work Henry Kyburg presents his views on a wide range of philosophical problems associated with the study and practice of science and mathematics. The main structure of the book consists of a presentation of Kyburg's notions of epistemic probability and its use in the scientific enterprise i.e., the effort to modify previously adopted beliefs in the light of experience. Intended for cognitive scientists and people in artificial intelligence as well as for technically oriented philosophers, the book also provides a general overview of the philosophy of science for the non-philosopher by one of the leading authorities in the field.
The Non-Reality of Free Will
by Richard DoubleThe traditional disputants in the free will discussion--the libertarian, soft determinist, and hard determinist--agree that free will is a coherent concept, while disagreeing on how the concept might be satisfied and whether it can, in fact, be satisfied. In this innovative analysis, Richard Double offers a bold new argument, rejecting all of the traditional theories and proposing that the concept of free will cannot be satisfied, no matter what the nature of reality. Arguing that there is unavoidable conflict within our understanding of moral responsibility and free choice, Double seeks to prove that when we ascribe responsibility, blame, or freedom, we merely express attitudes, rather than state anything capable of truth or falsity. Free will, he concludes, is essentially an incoherent notion.
4th Refinement Workshop: Proceedings of the 4th Refinement Workshop, organised by BCS-FACS, 9–11 January 1991, Cambridge (Workshops in Computing)
by Joseph M. Morris Roger C. ShawThis volume contains the proceedings ofthe 4th Refinement Workshop which was organised by the British Computer Society specialist group in Formal Aspects of Computing Science and held in Wolfson College, Cambridge, on 9-11 January, 1991. The term refinement embraces the theory and practice of using formal methods for specifying and implementing hardware and software. Most of the achievements to date in the field have been in developing the theoretical framework for mathematical approaches to programming, and on the practical side in formally specifying software, while more recently we have seen the development of practical approaches to deriving programs from their speCifications. The workshop gives a fair picture of the state of the art: it presents new theories for reasoning about software and hardware and case studies in applying known theory to interesting small-and medium-scale problems. We hope the book will be Of interest both to researchers in formal methods, and to software engineers in industry who want to keep abreast of possible applications of formal methods in industry. The programme consisted both of invited talks and refereed papers. The invited speakers were Ib S0rensen, Jean-Raymond Abrial, Donald MacKenzie, Ralph Back, Robert Milne, Mike Read, Mike Gordon, and Robert Worden who gave the introductory talk. This is the first refinement workshop that solicited papers for refereeing, and despite a rather late call for papers the response was excellent.
7. Österreichische Artificial-Intelligence-Tagung / Seventh Austrian Conference on Artificial Intelligence: Wien, Austria, 24.–27. September 1991 Proceedings (Informatik-Fachberichte #287)
by Hermann Kaindl
Abrasax: Ausgewählte Papyri religiösen und magischen Inhalts. Band 2: Gebete (Fortsetzung) (Abhandlungen der Rheinisch-Westfälischen Akademie der Wissenschaften #17/2)
by Reinhold Merkelbach Maria Totti
Abstract Labour: A Critique (Language, Discourse, Society Ser.)
by Jim Cohen Jean-Marie Vincent Mhairi CowdenThese five philosophical essays are designed to constitute a unified whole, in both their critical and their constructive dimensions. Vincent addresses the crisis of meaning, the repetitiousness of technological processes and mechanisms and the declining sense of the real in political life.
The Advent of Sun Myung Moon: The Origins, Beliefs and Practices of the Unification Church
by G. ChryssidesThe Unification Church (popularly known as the 'Moonies') has been viewed as an eccentric and somewhat sinister 'cult', best known for the 'mass wedding' ceremonies conducted by its leader Sun Myung Moon. In The Advent of Sun Myung Moon George Chryssides remains critical of the movement, but brings the reader out of uninformed prejudice by presenting information about its Korean origins, its teachings and the many ceremonies which, until recently, remained undisclosed. The book is based on extensive conversations with members and critics alike, together with extended periods spent at UC seminars.
Advertising and Democracy in the Mass Age
by Terence H. QualterThis book examines the relationships between the social problems of the mass age, developments in late twentieth-century capitalism, the growth of a mass media advertising system, and the operation and assumptions of liberal democracy. Advertising must sell, not only goods and services, but also definitions of life and of status, images, hopes and feelings. In turn, the very universality of advertising, and its acceptance as a mode of communication, have forced the political system into the same mould.
Against Liberation: Putting Animals in Perspective
by Michael P. LeahyThe Western world is currently gripped by an obsessive concern for the rights of animals - their uses and abuses. In this book, Leahy argues that this is a movement based upon a series of fundamental misconceptions about the basic nature of animals.This is a radical philosophical questioning of prevailing views on animal rights, which credit animals with a self-consciousness like ours. Leahy's conclusions have implications for issues such as bloodsports, meat eating and fur trading.
Against Liberation: Putting Animals in Perspective
by Michael P. LeahyThe Western world is currently gripped by an obsessive concern for the rights of animals - their uses and abuses. In this book, Leahy argues that this is a movement based upon a series of fundamental misconceptions about the basic nature of animals.This is a radical philosophical questioning of prevailing views on animal rights, which credit animals with a self-consciousness like ours. Leahy's conclusions have implications for issues such as bloodsports, meat eating and fur trading.
American Presidents and Education (Contributions to the Study of Education)
by Maurice R. BerubeThe role of the president of the United States in regard to education changed significantly following the end of World War II. As the U.S. economy became more sophisticated and the country emerged as the dominant technological and world power, the demand for an educated work force increased. In this work, Maurice R. Berube offers the first comprehensive analysis of the involvement of American presidents in educational policy, tracing the efforts of administrations from Washington to Bush, and chronicling the national and international pressures to shape educational policies that have characterized the post-World War II era.Berube's work takes the form of a policy study as he analyzes presidential programs in education, the reasons for their implementation, and their correlation to national educational outcomes. Beginning with the birth of the presidency, he examines successful programs that had a considerable impact and less successful efforts that were significant either ideologically or as forerunners of future policies. The constitutional constraints of the president's role in education are explored, as well as recent developments including the corporate presidency and the rhetorical presidency. Among the other issues addressed are education and the economy and the federal and state constitutions' views of a right to education. This work will be a unique and valuable resource for students of presidential history, the politics of education, and contemporary issues in education, as well as an important addition to public and academic library collections.
The American Revolution (American History in Depth)
by Colin BonwickThis book traces the development of the United States from the 1760s to consolidation of the federal government during the 1790s. Its prime focus is on those internal processes that gave the American republic its distinctive character, though the Revolutionary War is also discussed. The book opens with a description of colonial America, and continues by examining the winning of independence. It then discusses two interwoven central themes. One is the establishment of republican governments and social developments within individual states. The second is the growth of national union from before the war to implementation of the federal constitution.
Animals and Medicine: The Contribution Of Animal Experiments To The Control Of Disease
by Jack Botting edited by Regina BottingAnimals and Medicine: The Contribution of Animal Experiments to the Control of Disease offers a detailed, scholarly historical review of the critical role animal experiments have played in advancing medical knowledge. Laboratory animals have been essential to this progress, and the knowledge gained has saved countless lives—both human and animal. Unfortunately, those opposed to using animals in research have often employed doctored evidence to suggest that the practice has impeded medical progress. This volume presents the articles Jack Botting wrote for the Research Defence Society News from 1991 to 1996, papers which provided scientists with the information needed to rebut such claims. Collected, they can now reach a wider readership interested in understanding the part of animal experiments in the history of medicine—from the discovery of key vaccines to the advancement of research on a range of diseases, among them hypertension, kidney failure and cancer. This book is essential reading for anyone curious about the role of animal experimentation in the history of science from the nineteenth century to the present.
Appearance and Sense: Phenomenology as the Fundamental Science and Its Problems (Phaenomenologica #120)
by Gustav ShpetDespite, or perhaps better by virtue of, its very brevity, Appearance and Sense is a difficult text to read and understand, particularly if we make the attempt independently of Husserl's Ideas I. This is certainly at least in part owing to the intent behind Shpet's work. On the one hand it strives to present Husserl' s latest views to a Russian philosophical audience not yet conversant with and, in all likelihood, not even aware of, his transcendental idealist turn. With this aim any reading would perforce be exacting. Yet, on the other hand, Shpet has made scant concession to his public. Indeed, his text is even more compressed, especially in the crucial areas dealing with the sense-bestowing feature of consciousness, than Husserl' s own. For all that, Shpet has not bequeathed to us simply an abbreviated paraphrase nor a selective commentary on Ideas I, although at many points it is just that. Rather, the text on the whole is a critical engagement with Husserl' s thought, where Shpet among other things refonnulates or at least presents Husserl's phenomenology from the perspective of hoping to illuminate a traditional philosophical problem in a radical manner. Since Husserl's text was published only in 1913 and Shpet's appeared sometime during 1914, the latter must have been conceived, thought through, and written in remarkable haste. Indeed, Shpet had already finished a first draft and was busy with a revision of it by the end of 1913.
Aquinas: An Introduction to the Life and Work of the Great Medieval Thinker
by F. CoplestonAquinas (1224-74) lived at a time when the Christian West was opening up to a wealth of Greek and Islamic philosophical speculation. An embodiment of the thirteenth-century ideal of a unified interpretation of reality (in which philosophy and theology work together in harmony), Aquinas was remarkable for the way in which he used and developed this legacy of ancient thought—an achievement which led his contemporaries to regard him as an advanced thinker. Father Copleston's lucid and stimulating book examines this extraordinary man—whose influence is perhaps greater today than in his own lifetime—and his thought, relating his ideas wherever possible to problems as they are discussed today.
Aristotle and Philoponus on Light (Routledge Library Editions: Aristotle)
by Jean De GrootOriginally published in 1991. Philoponus’ long commentary on Aristotle’s definition of light sets up the major concerns, both in optics and theory of light, that are discussed here. Light was of special interest in Neoplatonism because of its being something incorporeal in the world of natural bodies. Light therefore had a special role in the philosophical analysis of the interpenetration of bodies and was also a paradigm for the soul-body problem. The book contains much about the physiology of vision as well as the propagation of light. Several chapters investigate the philosophical theory behind what came to be known as ‘multiplication of species’ in medieval light theory. These issues in the history of science are placed within an analysis of Neoplatonic development of the distinction between Aristotle’s kinesis and energeia. The book treats Philoponus’ philosophy of mathematical science from the point of view of matter, quantity, and three-dimensionality.
Aristotle and Philoponus on Light (Routledge Library Editions: Aristotle)
by Jean De GrootOriginally published in 1991. Philoponus’ long commentary on Aristotle’s definition of light sets up the major concerns, both in optics and theory of light, that are discussed here. Light was of special interest in Neoplatonism because of its being something incorporeal in the world of natural bodies. Light therefore had a special role in the philosophical analysis of the interpenetration of bodies and was also a paradigm for the soul-body problem. The book contains much about the physiology of vision as well as the propagation of light. Several chapters investigate the philosophical theory behind what came to be known as ‘multiplication of species’ in medieval light theory. These issues in the history of science are placed within an analysis of Neoplatonic development of the distinction between Aristotle’s kinesis and energeia. The book treats Philoponus’ philosophy of mathematical science from the point of view of matter, quantity, and three-dimensionality.
Aristotle on Substance: The Paradox of Unity (PDF)
by Mary Louise GillThis book explores a fundamental tension in Aristotle's metaphysics: how can an entity such as a living organisma composite generated through the imposition of form on preexisting matterhave the conceptual unity that Aristotle demands of primary substances? Mary Louise Gill bases her treatment of the problem of unity, and of Aristotle's solution, on a fresh interpretation of the relation between matter and form. Challenging the traditional understanding of Aristotelian matter, she argues that material substances are subverted by matter and maintained by form that controls the matter to serve a positive end. The unity of material substances thus involves a dynamic relation between resistant materials and directive ends. Aristotle on Substance offers both a general account of matter, form, and substantial unity and a specific assessment of particular Aristotelian arguments. At every point, Gill engages Aristotle on his own philosophical ground through the detailed analysis of central, and often controversial, texts from the Metaphysics, Physics, On Generation and Corruption, De Anima, De Caelo, and the biological works. The result is a coherent, firmly grounded rethinking of Aristotle's central metaphysical concepts and of his struggle toward a fully consistent theory of material substances.