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Street Spirit: The Power of Protest and Mischief
by Steve CrawshawWhen no one’s listening, it takes more than shouting louder to be heard …Street Spirit is a celebration of some of the most remarkable protests from around the world that have used humour, courage and creativity to bring about change.Among the many instances of imaginative defiance within, you'll discover the surprising impact of Lego figures in Siberia, red-hatted dwarves in Poland and a donkey holding a press conference in Azerbaijan - not to mention the story of how Darth Vader helped to effect a global arms treaty.With over 100 photographs and accompanying commentary on the power of non-violent protest from human rights campaigner Steve Crawshaw, who has been an eye-witness to some of the most dramatic demonstrations of recent years, Street Spirit is a unique visual guide that will inspire, enlighten and entertain.
Streitbare Demokratie in Deutschland und den Vereinigten Staaten: Der staatliche Umgang mit nichtgewalttätigem politischem Extremismus im Vergleich
by Gereon FlümannWie verfahren demokratische Verfassungsstaaten mit politischen Extremisten, die offen oder verdeckt eine diktatorische Ordnung anstreben, sich dabei jedoch zunächst keiner physischen Gewalt bedienen? Gereon Flümann unternimmt einen Vergleich der Vereinigten Staaten und der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und fragt danach, wie sich in beiden Staaten unterschiedliche Demokratieschutzkonzepte entwickelt haben und ob die jeweils selbst gesetzten Ansprüche im Umgang mit nichtgewalttätigem politischem Extremismus erfüllt werden. Mit der Analyse zweier fundamental differierender Ansätze – Tendenz zu repressiven Maßnahmen vs. Gewährung von Freiräumen – liefert seine Studie einen wichtigen Beitrag zur vergleichenden Erforschung demokratischer Streitbarkeit.
Streiten gegen die Erosion der Demokratie: Politikwissenschaft für das 21. Jahrhundert
by Rainer EisfeldEuropaweit und darüber hinaus unterliegen Demokratien alarmierender Aushöhlung. Rapider wirtschaftlicher, kultureller, politischer Wandel weckt Unsicherheiten und Aggressionen; Politiker, Parteien, selbst Regierungen versuchen Bürger durch systematische Lügen zu täuschen; neoliberale Deregulierungen schwächen die Bereitschaft zum zivilgesellschaftlichen Engagement; schroffe Einkommens- und Vermögensunterschiede treiben die Demokratie in Richtung Plutokratie; fremdenfeindliche Vorurteile polarisieren Gesellschaften; Antiterrorismus-Strategien untergraben bürgerliche Freiheiten; Vetospieler hemmen klimapolitischen Wandel. Zugleich wird seit Jahren gestritten über die Fragmentierung der Politikwissenschaft, ihre zweifelhafte Relevanz und ihre Abkopplung von der breiten Öffentlichkeit. Dieses Buch ist die erste umfassende Studie, die beide Fragenkomplexe miteinander verknüpft und präzise zu ergründen sucht: Wie kann, wie sollte die Politikwissenschaft dem Niedergang der Demokratie in jedem der erwähnten Bereiche entgegenwirken?Rainer Eisfelds Antworten lauten: Entwicklung einer Wissenschaftskultur öffentlichen Engagements; Auseinandersetzung mit Ursprüngen, Mustern und partizipativer Bewältigung durchgängigen Wandels als Hauptgegenstand der Disziplin; kategorisches Auftreten gegen Tendenzen zu einer Herrschaft notorischer Lügner; Konzentrierung der Forschungsprioritäten auf die Schlüsselbereiche, in denen Demokratie sich zurückbildet; für Laien zugängliche Darstellung gewonnener Resultate; Erweiterung der Analyse zur Präsentation konkreter Gestaltungsvorschläge.Dazu, so Eisfelds Fazit, bedarf es einer Disziplin, die als normativ orientierte, empirisch gestützte Demokratiewissenschaft brisanten Problemen den Vorrang einräumt vor ausgefeilten Methoden und bürgernaher Relevanz vor immer weiterer Spezialisierung.
Strength and Weakness: The Authoritarian Personality Today
by RichardChristie GerdaLederer William F. StoneThis book had its origins in conversations held at various meetings of the International Society of Political Psychology. The editors and con tributors are grateful for the forum that has given us the opportunity to discuss these topics over the last 10 years. We are most grateful to our contributors both for their chapters and for the intellectual stimulation they have given us. Jos Meloen in particular has been free with his time, advice, and enthusiasm. Although he declined to contribute a chapter, Bob Altemeyer has been a source of encouragement and a ready adviser on any question we have asked. The staff of Springer-Verlag has been most patient in adapting to our schedule. We are indebted to the secretarial staff at the University of Maine, and especially to Kathy McAuliffe, who has put in many extra hours above and beyond the call of duty. Finally, we dedicate this book to our departed friend and colleague, Silvan Tomkins, with whom we conversed at length about these and other topics, and from whom we received inspiration and diversion. William F. Stone Gerda Lederer Richard Christie v Contents Preface. . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . v Contributors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Part I Overview 1 Introduction: Strength and Weakness ........................ 3 WILLIAM F. STONE, GERDA LEDERER, and RICHARD CHRISTIE 2 The Authoritarian Character from Berlin to Berkeley and Beyond: The Odyssey of a Problem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 22 . . . . . .
Strength of Materials and Theory of Elasticity in 19th Century Italy: A Brief Account of the History of Mechanics of Solids and Structures (Advanced Structured Materials #52)
by Danilo Capecchi Giuseppe RutaThis book examines the theoretical foundations underpinning the field of strength of materials/theory of elasticity, beginning from the origins of the modern theory of elasticity. While the focus is on the advances made within Italy during the nineteenth century, these achievements are framed within the overall European context. The vital contributions of Italian mathematicians, mathematical physicists and engineers in respect of the theory of elasticity, continuum mechanics, structural mechanics, the principle of least work and graphical methods in engineering are carefully explained and discussed. The book represents a work of historical research that primarily comprises original contributions and summaries of work published in journals. It is directed at those graduates in engineering, but also in architecture, who wish to achieve a more global and critical view of the discipline and will also be invaluable for all scholars of the history of mechanics.
The Strength of Nonstandard Analysis
by Imme Van Den Berg Vitor NevesThis book reflects the progress made in the forty years since the appearance of Abraham Robinson’s revolutionary book Nonstandard Analysis in the foundations of mathematics and logic, number theory, statistics and probability, in ordinary, partial and stochastic differential equations and in education. The contributions are clear and essentially self-contained.
Strengthening Families, Communities, and Schools to Support Children's Development: Neighborhoods of Promise
by Edmund W. Gordon Betina Jean-Louis Nkechi ObioraDrawing on a range of contexts influenced by the Promise Neighborhoods Program—a federal place-based initiative to improve educational outcomes for students in distressed urban and rural neighborhoods—this book outlines effective characteristics and elements for implementing supplementary education. Chapter authors demonstrate that the disparities in educational achievement between white and non-white students can only be addressed by a holistic approach that takes the communities in which schools are situated as its focal point. This edited collection distills the insights gained from the communities implementing such comprehensive education programs and provides the framework and models for reproducing such successes.
Strengthening Families, Communities, and Schools to Support Children's Development: Neighborhoods of Promise
by Edmund W. Gordon Betina Jean-Louis Nkechi ObioraDrawing on a range of contexts influenced by the Promise Neighborhoods Program—a federal place-based initiative to improve educational outcomes for students in distressed urban and rural neighborhoods—this book outlines effective characteristics and elements for implementing supplementary education. Chapter authors demonstrate that the disparities in educational achievement between white and non-white students can only be addressed by a holistic approach that takes the communities in which schools are situated as its focal point. This edited collection distills the insights gained from the communities implementing such comprehensive education programs and provides the framework and models for reproducing such successes.
Stress and Animal Welfare: Key Issues in the Biology of Humans and Other Animals (Animal Welfare #19)
by Donald M. Broom Ken G. JohnsonThis is the Second Edition of a well-received book that reflects a fresh, integrated coverage of the concepts and scientific measurement of stress and welfare of animals including humans. This book explains the basic biological principles of coping with many forms of adversity. The major part of this work is devoted to explaining scientifically usable concepts in stress and welfare. A wide range of welfare indicators are highlighted in detail with examples being drawn from man and other species. The necessity for combining information from disciplines is emphasized with a one-health, one-welfare approach. This information forms the basis for a synthesis of new ideas. Among the issues covered are:- How brain and body systems regulate using feelings, physiological responses, behaviour and responses to pathology- Limits to adaptation- Assessing positive and negative welfare during both short-term and long-term situations- Ethical problems and suggested solutionsA proper assessment of animal welfare is essential to take informed decisions about what is morally acceptable in terms of practice and in the development of a more effective legislation. This work encapsulates a very wide body of literature on scientific aspects of animal welfare and will thus prove a valuable asset for animal welfare scientists, psychologists, students and teachers of all forms of biology, behaviour, medicine, veterinary medicine and animal usage.
Stress and Freedom
by Peter SloterdijkIn this short book Peter Sloterdijk offers a genealogy of the concept of freedom from Ancient Greece to the present day. This genealogy is part of a broader theory of the large political body, according to which Sloterdijk argues that political communities arise in response to a form of anxiety or stress. Through a highly original reading of Rousseau's late Reveries of a Solitary Walker, Sloterdijk shows that, for Rousseau, the modern subject emerges as a subject free of all stress, unburdened by the cares of the world. Most of modern philosophy, and above all German Idealism, is an attempt to reign back Rousseau's useless and anarchical subject and anchor it in the cares of the world, in the task of having to produce both the world and itself. In the light of this highly original account, Sloterdijk develops his own distinctive account of freedom, where freedom is conceptualized as the availability for the improbable. This important text, in which Sloterdijk develops his account of freedom and the modern subject, will be of great interest to students and scholars in philosophy and the humanities and to anyone interested in contemporary philosophy and critical theory.
Stricken by Sin, Cured by Christ: Agency, Necessity, and Culpability in Augustinian Theology
by Jesse CouenhovenAccording to Augustine's doctrine of original sin, Adam's progeny share a collective guilt which, like an infection, spreads through wayward sexual desires, passing from parent to child. But is it fair to blame sinners if they inherit evil like a disease? In Stricken by Sin, Cured by Christ Jesse Couenhoven clarifies the logic and illogic of Augustine's controversial views about human agency. The first half of the book examines why Augustine believed we are trapped by evil, and why only Christ can save us. Couenhoven examines overlooked texts Augustine wrote at the culmination of his career and offers a novel reading of his views about whether we control our personal identities, what we should be held culpable for, and whether freedom is compatible with necessity. The second half of the book develops a philosophically and scientifically astute theory of responsibility that makes it possible to retrieve some of Augustine's most divisive claims. Couenhoven makes a case for the surprising thesis that a carefully formulated doctrine of original sin is profoundly humane. The claim that sin is original takes seriously our dependence on one another for essential aspects of character and personality, our ownership of cognitive and volitional states that are not simply products of voluntary choices, and our status as personal agents of evil. Attending to these aspects of our lives challenges the idea that each individual's moral and spiritual standing is up to her or him, and drives us to ponder not only the nature of our responsibility and the shape of the freedom we seek, but also the need for grace we all share.
Strict Finitism and the Logic of Mathematical Applications (Synthese Library #355)
by Feng YeThis book intends to show that radical naturalism (or physicalism), nominalism and strict finitism account for the applications of classical mathematics in current scientific theories. The applied mathematical theories developed in the book include the basics of calculus, metric space theory, complex analysis, Lebesgue integration, Hilbert spaces, and semi-Riemann geometry (sufficient for the applications in classical quantum mechanics and general relativity). The fact that so much applied mathematics can be developed within such a weak, strictly finitistic system, is surprising in itself. It also shows that the applications of those classical theories to the finite physical world can be translated into the applications of strict finitism, which demonstrates the applicability of those classical theories without assuming the literal truth of those theories or the reality of infinity.Both professional researchers and students of philosophy of mathematics will benefit greatly from reading this book.
Strict Wildness: Discoveries in Poetry and History
by Peter ViereckA reviewer once called Peter Viereck's thought "not common sense but inspired, electric common sense." This volume of Viereck's selected essays on poetry and on history, written between 1938 through 2004, exemplifies this quality. Its main theme is suggested in Viereck's coined phrase "strict wildness," which suggests a balance between restraint (which by itself is staid and rigid) and passion (which by itself is incoherent). Frost called free verse tennis without the net. Viereck calls dead mechanical form "net without the tennis." Strict wildness, then, is spontaneity of feeling within strict organic form.The book explores questions of modernism and poetic craft with respect to American poetry. It discusses the controversy over Ezra Pound's politics and its relation to his poetics, as well as the nearly forgotten poet Vachel Lindsay. Viereck offers more general views on poetics, including the fruitful tensions between form and content, and the impact of modern technology on poetic expression. He also discusses history and politics, and contains essays on McCarthyism, the Cold War, political conformity of the Left and Right, and discusses issues of historiography and culture that define Viereck's highly individual, often critical brand of conservatism. In treating representative trends and figures in conservative thought, Viereck insists on clear awareness of what exists to conserve, what ought to be conserved, and why it should be conserved.In their range and originality, the writings brought together in Strict Wildness constitute an ideal introduction to Peter Viereck's literary and political thought and how they come together. It will be of interest to literary scholars, intellectual historians, and social scientists. The introduction allows the reader to grasp a clear sense of the context and background of Viereck's works.
Strict Wildness: Discoveries in Poetry and History
by Peter ViereckA reviewer once called Peter Viereck's thought "not common sense but inspired, electric common sense." This volume of Viereck's selected essays on poetry and on history, written between 1938 through 2004, exemplifies this quality. Its main theme is suggested in Viereck's coined phrase "strict wildness," which suggests a balance between restraint (which by itself is staid and rigid) and passion (which by itself is incoherent). Frost called free verse tennis without the net. Viereck calls dead mechanical form "net without the tennis." Strict wildness, then, is spontaneity of feeling within strict organic form.The book explores questions of modernism and poetic craft with respect to American poetry. It discusses the controversy over Ezra Pound's politics and its relation to his poetics, as well as the nearly forgotten poet Vachel Lindsay. Viereck offers more general views on poetics, including the fruitful tensions between form and content, and the impact of modern technology on poetic expression. He also discusses history and politics, and contains essays on McCarthyism, the Cold War, political conformity of the Left and Right, and discusses issues of historiography and culture that define Viereck's highly individual, often critical brand of conservatism. In treating representative trends and figures in conservative thought, Viereck insists on clear awareness of what exists to conserve, what ought to be conserved, and why it should be conserved.In their range and originality, the writings brought together in Strict Wildness constitute an ideal introduction to Peter Viereck's literary and political thought and how they come together. It will be of interest to literary scholars, intellectual historians, and social scientists. The introduction allows the reader to grasp a clear sense of the context and background of Viereck's works.
String Analysis for Software Verification and Security
by Tevfik Bultan Fang Yu Muath Alkhalaf Abdulbaki AydinThis book discusses automated string-analysis techniques, focusing particularly on automata-based static string analysis. It covers the following topics: automata-bases string analysis, computing pre and post-conditions of basic string operations using automata, symbolic representation of automata, forward and backward string analysis using symbolic automata representation, constraint-based string analysis, string constraint solvers, relational string analysis, vulnerability detection using string analysis, string abstractions, differential string analysis, and automated sanitization synthesis using string analysis. String manipulation is a crucial part of modern software systems; for example, it is used extensively in input validation and sanitization and in dynamic code and query generation. The goal of string-analysis techniques and this book is to determine the set of values that string expressions can take during program execution. String analysis can be used to solve many problems in modern software systems that relate to string manipulation, such as: (1) Identifying security vulnerabilities by checking if a security sensitive function can receive an input string that contains an exploit; (2) Identifying possible behaviors of a program by identifying possible values for dynamically generated code; (3) Identifying html generation errors by computing the html code generated by web applications; (4) Identifying the set of queries that are sent to back-end database by analyzing the code that generates the SQL queries; (5) Patching input validation and sanitization functions by automatically synthesizing repairs illustrated in this book. Like many other program-analysis problems, it is not possible to solve the string analysis problem precisely (i.e., it is not possible to precisely determine the set of string values that can reach a program point). However, one can compute over- or under-approximations of possible string values. If the approximations are precise enough, they can enable developers to demonstrate existence or absence of bugs in string manipulating code. String analysis has been an active research area in the last decade, resulting in a wide variety of string-analysis techniques. This book will primarily target researchers and professionals working in computer security, software verification, formal methods, software engineering and program analysis. Advanced level students or instructors teaching or studying courses in computer security, software verification or program analysis will find this book useful as a secondary text.
String Figures as Mathematics?: An Anthropological Approach to String Figure-making in Oral Tradition Societies (Studies in History and Philosophy of Science #36)
by Eric VandendriesscheThis book addresses the mathematical rationality contained in the making of string figures. It does so by using interdisciplinary methods borrowed from anthropology, mathematics, history and philosophy of mathematics. The practice of string figure-making has long been carried out in many societies, and particularly in those of oral tradition. It consists in applying a succession of operations to a string (knotted into a loop), mostly using the fingers and sometimes the feet, the wrists or the mouth. This succession of operations is intended to generate a final figure. The book explores different modes of conceptualization of the practice of string figure-making and analyses various source material through these conceptual tools: it looks at research by mathematicians, as well as ethnographical publications, and personal fieldwork findings in the Chaco, Paraguay, and in the Trobriand Islands, Papua New Guinea, which all give evidence of the rationality that underlies this activity. It concludes that the creation of string figures may be seen as the result of intellectual processes, involving the elaboration of algorithms, and concepts such as operation, sub-procedure, iteration, and transformation.
Strittige Themen im Umfeld der Naturwissenschaften: Ein Beitrag zur Debatte über Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft (Schriften der Mathematisch-naturwissenschaftlichen Klasse #16)
by Hans MohrDas vorliegende Werk stellt eine (ungewöhnliche) Form der Biographie dar. Es geht nicht um den chronologisch geordneten Lebensbericht eines Gelehrten, sondern um die Beschreibung und Analyse erlebter Streitfälle im Umfeld der Naturwissenschaften. Eingangs zitiert der philosophisch geübte Naturforscher aus seinem Blickwinkel jene Elemente, die (Natur-) Wissenschaft im Innersten ausmachen. Vor diesem Hintergrund berichtet der Autor über wichtige Erfahrungen und Einsichten, die ihm bei seinen Ausflügen in das Umfeld der Naturwissenschaften zuteil wurden, von der Philosophie und Theologie über Technik, Ökonomik und Medizin bis hin zu Politik und Gesellschaft.
Strokes of Luck: A Study in Moral and Political Philosophy
by Gerald LangStrokes of Luck provides a detailed and wide-ranging examination of the role of luck in moral and political philosophy. The first part tackles debates in moral luck, which are concerned with the assignment of blameworthiness to individuals who are separated only by lucky differences. 'Anti-luckists' think that one who, for example, attempts and succeeds in an assassination and one who attempts and fails are equally blameworthy. This book defends an anti-anti-luckist argument, according to which the successful assassin is more blameworthy than the unsuccessful one. Moreover, the successful assassin is, all things equal, a worse person than the unsuccessful one. The worldly outcomes of our acts can make an all-important difference, not only to how bad our acts can be deemed, but to how bad we are. The second part enters into debates about distributive justice. Lang argues that the attempt to neutralize luck in the distribution of advantages among individuals does not deserve its prominence in political philosophy: the 'luck egalitarian' programme is flawed. A better way forward is to re-invest in John Rawls's 'justice as fairness', which demonstrates a superior way of taming the bad effects of luck and unchosen disadvantage.
Strokes of Luck: A Study in Moral and Political Philosophy
by Gerald LangStrokes of Luck provides a detailed and wide-ranging examination of the role of luck in moral and political philosophy. The first part tackles debates in moral luck, which are concerned with the assignment of blameworthiness to individuals who are separated only by lucky differences. 'Anti-luckists' think that one who, for example, attempts and succeeds in an assassination and one who attempts and fails are equally blameworthy. This book defends an anti-anti-luckist argument, according to which the successful assassin is more blameworthy than the unsuccessful one. Moreover, the successful assassin is, all things equal, a worse person than the unsuccessful one. The worldly outcomes of our acts can make an all-important difference, not only to how bad our acts can be deemed, but to how bad we are. The second part enters into debates about distributive justice. Lang argues that the attempt to neutralize luck in the distribution of advantages among individuals does not deserve its prominence in political philosophy: the 'luck egalitarian' programme is flawed. A better way forward is to re-invest in John Rawls's 'justice as fairness', which demonstrates a superior way of taming the bad effects of luck and unchosen disadvantage.
Stroller (Object Lessons)
by Amanda Parrish MorganObject Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.Among the many things expectant parents are told to buy, none is a more visible symbol of status and parenting philosophy than a stroller. Although its association with wealth dates back to the invention of the first pram in the 1700s, in recent decades, four-figure strollers have become not just status symbols but cultural identifiers. There are sleek jogging strollers for serious athletes, impossibly compact strollers for parents determined to travel internationally with pre-ambulatory children, and those featuring a ride-on kick board or second, less “babyish” seat, designed with older siblings in mind. Despite the many models available, we are all familiar with the image of a harried mother struggling to use a stroller of any kind in a public space that does not accommodate it. There are anti-stroller evangelists, fervently preaching the gospel of baby wearing and attachment parenting. All of these attitudes, seemingly about an object, are also revealing of how we believe parents and children ought to move through the world.Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic.
Strong Borders, Secure Nation: Cooperation and Conflict in China's Territorial Disputes
by M. Taylor FravelAs China emerges as an international economic and military power, the world waits to see how the nation will assert itself globally. Yet, as M. Taylor Fravel shows in Strong Borders, Secure Nation, concerns that China might be prone to violent conflict over territory are overstated. The first comprehensive study of China's territorial disputes, Strong Borders, Secure Nation contends that China over the past sixty years has been more likely to compromise in these conflicts with its Asian neighbors and less likely to use force than many scholars or analysts might expect. By developing theories of cooperation and escalation in territorial disputes, Fravel explains China's willingness to either compromise or use force. When faced with internal threats to regime security, especially ethnic rebellion, China has been willing to offer concessions in exchange for assistance that strengthens the state's control over its territory and people. By contrast, China has used force to halt or reverse decline in its bargaining power in disputes with its militarily most powerful neighbors or in disputes where it has controlled none of the land being contested. Drawing on a rich array of previously unexamined Chinese language sources, Strong Borders, Secure Nation offers a compelling account of China's foreign policy on one of the most volatile issues in international relations.
Strong Borders, Secure Nation: Cooperation and Conflict in China's Territorial Disputes
by M. Taylor FravelAs China emerges as an international economic and military power, the world waits to see how the nation will assert itself globally. Yet, as M. Taylor Fravel shows in Strong Borders, Secure Nation, concerns that China might be prone to violent conflict over territory are overstated. The first comprehensive study of China's territorial disputes, Strong Borders, Secure Nation contends that China over the past sixty years has been more likely to compromise in these conflicts with its Asian neighbors and less likely to use force than many scholars or analysts might expect. By developing theories of cooperation and escalation in territorial disputes, Fravel explains China's willingness to either compromise or use force. When faced with internal threats to regime security, especially ethnic rebellion, China has been willing to offer concessions in exchange for assistance that strengthens the state's control over its territory and people. By contrast, China has used force to halt or reverse decline in its bargaining power in disputes with its militarily most powerful neighbors or in disputes where it has controlled none of the land being contested. Drawing on a rich array of previously unexamined Chinese language sources, Strong Borders, Secure Nation offers a compelling account of China's foreign policy on one of the most volatile issues in international relations.
Strong Constitutions: Social-Cognitive Origins of the Separation of Powers
by Maxwell A. CameronThe separation of powers is an idea with ancient origins, but nowadays it is often relegated to legal doctrine, public philosophy, or the history of ideas. Yet the concept is often evoked in debates on the "war" on terrorism, the use of emergency powers, or constitutional reform. So it is surprising that there have been few attempts to place the study of the separation of powers on a social scientific footing. To that end, this book makes a bold conjecture. It argues that the separation of powers emerged with the spread of literacy, became a central part of constitutional thought in the context of the Gutenberg revolution, and faces unprecedented challenges in our current era of electronic communication. The separation of powers is linked to social-cognitive changes associated with evolving media of communication. The essence of the argument is that constitutional states use texts to coordinate collective action, and they do so by creating governmental agencies with specific jurisdiction and competence over distinct types of power. The first, and most familiar to students of political science since Max Weber, is the power to make decisions backed by legally sanctioned coercion. Cameron highlights two other forms of power: the deliberative power to make procedurally legitimate laws, and the judicial power to interpret and apply laws in particular circumstances. The division of government into three such branches enables state officials and citizens to use written texts-legal codes and documents, including constitutions-along with unwritten rules and conventions to coordinate their activities on larger scales and over longer time horizons. Cameron argues that constitutional states are not weaker because their powers are divided. They are often stronger because they solve collective action problems rooted in speech and communication. The book is a must read for anyone interested in the separation of powers, its origin, evolution, and consequences.
Strong Hermeneutics: Contingency and Moral Identity
by Nicholas H. SmithRecent years have seen a resurgence of interest in ethics, particularly in the approaches of deconstruction and hermeneutics. At the same time, questions of identity have risen to prominence in philosophy and beyond into cultural studies and literature. Strong Hermeneutics is a clear and accessible investigation of both the enlightenment and postmodern or 'weak' approaches to contemporary discussions of ethics. The weak view, which can be traced back to Nietzche and seen in the recent work of Rorty and Lyotard, is sceptical of any universal principles in ethics. The enlightenment view, starting with Kant and more recently seen in the work of Habermas, views identity as subject to universal but formal moral constraints, the renewing of which is the proper task of ethics. Nicholas Smith argues that neither of these views can provide a proper framework for ethics. He puts forward a third position - a strong hermeneutics - drawing on the work of Hans-Georg Gadamer, Paul Ricoeur and Charles Taylor. Strong Hermeneutics presents a defence of this view, compares it with the realism and anti-realism debate in philosophy, and demonstrates its relevance to contemporary issues, particularly ecological responsibility.
Strong Hermeneutics: Contingency and Moral Identity
by Nicholas H. SmithRecent years have seen a resurgence of interest in ethics, particularly in the approaches of deconstruction and hermeneutics. At the same time, questions of identity have risen to prominence in philosophy and beyond into cultural studies and literature. Strong Hermeneutics is a clear and accessible investigation of both the enlightenment and postmodern or 'weak' approaches to contemporary discussions of ethics. The weak view, which can be traced back to Nietzche and seen in the recent work of Rorty and Lyotard, is sceptical of any universal principles in ethics. The enlightenment view, starting with Kant and more recently seen in the work of Habermas, views identity as subject to universal but formal moral constraints, the renewing of which is the proper task of ethics. Nicholas Smith argues that neither of these views can provide a proper framework for ethics. He puts forward a third position - a strong hermeneutics - drawing on the work of Hans-Georg Gadamer, Paul Ricoeur and Charles Taylor. Strong Hermeneutics presents a defence of this view, compares it with the realism and anti-realism debate in philosophy, and demonstrates its relevance to contemporary issues, particularly ecological responsibility.