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Challenges to American National Security in the 1990s (Issues in International Security)
by M. Nacht A. Nichols G. H. Quester J. J. WeltmanThe decade of the 1990s offers a chance to build a new and better international order. What policy choices will this decade pose for the United States? This wide-ranging volume of essays imaginatively addresses these crucial issues. The peaceful revolutions of 1989-1990 in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe have swept away the foundations of the Cold War. The Eastern European nations are free; Europe is no longer divided; Germany is united. The Soviet threat to Western Europe is ending with the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the withdrawals and asymmetrical cuts of Soviet forces. And U.S.-Soviet rivalry in the Third World is giving way to cooperation in handling conflicts, as in Iraq and elsewhere. Much, of course, remains uncertain and unsettled. What sort of Soviet Union will emerge from the ongoing turmoil, with what political and economic system and what state structure? How far and how soon will the Eastern Euro pean states succeed in developing pluralist democracies and market economies? Are the changes irreversible? Certainly there will be turmoil, backsliding, and failures, but a return to the Cold War hardly seems likely.
Challenges to Democracy In and Beyond Education: American Policy, Politics, and Media in a Cynical Age (Critical Global Citizenship Education)
by Richard Van HeertumThis book explores political cynicism as a driving force at the heart of the current crisis of democracy in the United States, focusing on the crisis and the role of education, popular culture and news media in fostering and fighting cynicism. In this unique text, Van Heertum draws on historical and contemporary data, policy, and current events to map the growth of a cynicism that risks undermining the democratic principles upon which American society is built. Tracing the philosophical, social and historical origins of an “ubiquitous cynicism” cultivated in political discourse, media and educational policy, the chapters then explore avenues to challenge cynicism and restore hope through a more affirmative discourse, aesthetic education, media and educational reform, challenging rampant inequality, and methods to rein in corporate power. The book ultimately advocates for a radical democracy that can restore the power of the people to have a meaningful say in the decisions that affect their lives. A timely and useful contribution to the field of education, this book will be of interest to postgraduate students and researchers in the fields of educational policy and politics, the sociology of education and American studies.
Challenges to Democracy In and Beyond Education: American Policy, Politics, and Media in a Cynical Age (Critical Global Citizenship Education)
by Richard Van HeertumThis book explores political cynicism as a driving force at the heart of the current crisis of democracy in the United States, focusing on the crisis and the role of education, popular culture and news media in fostering and fighting cynicism. In this unique text, Van Heertum draws on historical and contemporary data, policy, and current events to map the growth of a cynicism that risks undermining the democratic principles upon which American society is built. Tracing the philosophical, social and historical origins of an “ubiquitous cynicism” cultivated in political discourse, media and educational policy, the chapters then explore avenues to challenge cynicism and restore hope through a more affirmative discourse, aesthetic education, media and educational reform, challenging rampant inequality, and methods to rein in corporate power. The book ultimately advocates for a radical democracy that can restore the power of the people to have a meaningful say in the decisions that affect their lives. A timely and useful contribution to the field of education, this book will be of interest to postgraduate students and researchers in the fields of educational policy and politics, the sociology of education and American studies.
Challenges to German Idealism: Schelling, Fichte and Kant (Renewing Philosophy)
by K. GoudeliThis book offers an important reappraisal of Schelling's philosophy and his relationship to German Idealism. Focusing on Schelling's self-critique in early identity philosophy the author rejects those criticisms of Schelling made by both Hegel and Heidegger. This work significantly redraws the boundaries of metaphysical thinking, arguing for a dialogue between rational philosophy, mythology and cosmology.
Challenges to The Second Law of Thermodynamics: Theory and Experiment (Fundamental Theories of Physics #146)
by Vladislav Capek Daniel P. SheehanThe advance of scienti?c thought in ways resembles biological and geologic transformation: long periods of gradual change punctuated by episodes of radical upheaval. Twentieth century physics witnessed at least three major shifts — relativity, quantum mechanics and chaos theory — as well many lesser ones. Now, st early in the 21 , another shift appears imminent, this one involving the second law of thermodynamics. Over the last 20 years the absolute status of the second law has come under increased scrutiny, more than during any other period its 180-year history. Since the early 1980’s, roughly 50 papers representing over 20 challenges have appeared in the refereed scienti?c literature. In July 2002, the ?rst conference on its status was convened at the University of San Diego, attended by 120 researchers from 25 countries (QLSL2002) [1]. In 2003, the second edition of Le?’s and Rex’s classic anthology on Maxwell demons appeared [2], further raising interest in this emerging ?eld. In 2004, the mainstream scienti?c journal Entropy published a special edition devoted to second law challenges [3]. And, in July 2004, an echo of QLSL2002 was held in Prague, Czech Republic [4]. Modern second law challenges began in the early 1980’s with the theoretical proposals of Gordon and Denur. Starting in the mid-1990’s, several proposals for experimentally testable challenges were advanced by Sheehan, et al. By the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, a rapid succession of theoretical quantum mechanical ? challenges were being advanced by C´ apek, et al.
Challenges to the Global Issue of End of Life Care: Training and Implementing Change (Advancing Global Bioethics #17)
by Pierre Mallia Nathan Emmerich Bert Gordijn Francesca PistoiaThis book addresses the problems faced by people and hospitals dedicated to providing optimal end-of-life care and asks whether ethicists can function as experts on this subject. Though ethics consultation is a growing practice in medical contexts, difficult questions surrounding the role of ethicists in professional decision-making remain. The chapters in this book examine the nature and plausibility of moral expertise, the relationship between character and expertise, the nature and limits of moral authority, the question of how one might become a moral expert, and the trustworthiness of moral testimony. This volume not only engages with the growing literature in the debate on end-of-life care but also offers new perspectives from both academics and practitioners. Such perspectives include ways on how to get together to optimize end-of-life care. This book is of particular interest to bioethicists, clinicians, ethics committees, students of social epistemology, patient groups, and institutions, especially religious, who may not be sufficiently imparting the social teachings of end-of-life care. It also shows how they are indeed stakeholders for what is today called ‘a good death’. These new essays advance discussions and provide practical information on dying as well as acting as a guide to those interested in actively effecting change.
Challenging a Fictitious Neutrality: Heidegger in Question
by Luce IrigarayWhy broach and challenge the question of neutrality? For some urgent reasons. The neuter is generally considered to be the condition of objectivity. However, historically, this is asserted by a subject which is masculine and not neuter. Claiming that truth and the way of reaching it are and must be in the neuter amounts to a misuse of power and a falsification of the real. Living beings are not naturally neuter; they are sexuate somehow or other. Subjecting them to the neuter as a condition of their objective status transforms living beings into cultural products deprived of their own origin and dynamism, and builds a world in which the development and the sharing of life are impossible. In this book, four contributors explore this basic mistake of our culture starting from the work of Heidegger and his insistence on maintaining that our being in the world - our Dasein - must be in the neuter. They question the nature of the truth which is then at stake and the political mistakes that it can cause. It is not here a question of sexuality strictly speaking nor of sexual choice. The concern of the two men and the two women who participate in this volume is with the sexuate determination of all living beings. Is not Heidegger’s Dasein, as neutered and supposedly neutral, a kind of technical device which prevents living beings from entering into presence? If so, where might that ultimately lead?
Challenging Anthropocene Ontology: Modernity, Ecology and Indigenous Complexities
by Dr Elisa Randazzo Dr Hannah RichterUsing the recent turn to ecology as a starting point, Hannah Richter and Elisa Randazzo bring ecological thinking into contact with Critical Indigenous Studies, in which awareness of the necessity for sustainable relations between humans and non-humans has long preceded Western Anthropocene discourse. Currently, the drastic ecological changes labelled as 'the Anthropocene' not only increasingly shape the political awareness and the priorities of citizens and governments, but also inform a large body of social scientific scholarship. Indigenous scholarship and practice, in particular ecological adaptability, is intrinsically related to power structures and political struggle – hence indigenous understanding of Anthropocene discourses are intertwined with discourses of colonialism and political contestation. This book problematises the depoliticising character of Western Anthropocene discourses in relation to indigenous ecologies. The authors reveal how the anti-colonial struggles of Indigenous communities and the unequal distribution of responsibilities for and suffering from ecological change, are concealed and devalued in Western discourses of the Anthropocene.
Challenging Anthropocene Ontology: Modernity, Ecology and Indigenous Complexities
by Dr Elisa Randazzo Dr Hannah RichterUsing the recent turn to ecology as a starting point, Hannah Richter and Elisa Randazzo bring ecological thinking into contact with Critical Indigenous Studies, in which awareness of the necessity for sustainable relations between humans and non-humans has long preceded Western Anthropocene discourse. Currently, the drastic ecological changes labelled as 'the Anthropocene' not only increasingly shape the political awareness and the priorities of citizens and governments, but also inform a large body of social scientific scholarship. Indigenous scholarship and practice, in particular ecological adaptability, is intrinsically related to power structures and political struggle – hence indigenous understanding of Anthropocene discourses are intertwined with discourses of colonialism and political contestation. This book problematises the depoliticising character of Western Anthropocene discourses in relation to indigenous ecologies. The authors reveal how the anti-colonial struggles of Indigenous communities and the unequal distribution of responsibilities for and suffering from ecological change, are concealed and devalued in Western discourses of the Anthropocene.
Challenging Approaches to Academic Career-Making (Bloomsbury Higher Education Research)
by Celia Whitchurch William Locke Giulio MariniDrawing on empirical research, this book develops the concept of career scripts to show how contemporary academic faculty in the UK and other English-speaking countries approach their roles and careers. The career paths of individuals may be informed by personal strengths, interests and commitments, by activity associated with professional practice (represented by Practice scripts), and by formal career structures (represented by Institutional scripts). Internal and Practice scripts have in turn led to new forms of activity, within both formal and informal institutional economies. Whereas the formal economy is represented by, for example, promotion criteria and career pathways, with visible, quantifiable markers, the informal economy is represented by personal interests and initiatives, together with professional relationships and networks that may be unique to the individual. This book shows how, by drawing on Internal and Practice scripts, individuals develop concertina-like careers, stretching the spaces and timescales available to them. At the same time, they are able to address misalignments and disjunctures that they encounter, including those associated with disciplinary and departmental affiliations, job profiles, progression criteria, and work allocation models. As a result, the authors identify a shift towards more open-ended approaches to roles and careers.
Challenging Approaches to Academic Career-Making (Bloomsbury Higher Education Research)
by Celia Whitchurch William Locke Giulio MariniDrawing on empirical research, this book develops the concept of career scripts to show how contemporary academic faculty in the UK and other English-speaking countries approach their roles and careers. The career paths of individuals may be informed by personal strengths, interests and commitments, by activity associated with professional practice (represented by Practice scripts), and by formal career structures (represented by Institutional scripts). Internal and Practice scripts have in turn led to new forms of activity, within both formal and informal institutional economies. Whereas the formal economy is represented by, for example, promotion criteria and career pathways, with visible, quantifiable markers, the informal economy is represented by personal interests and initiatives, together with professional relationships and networks that may be unique to the individual. This book shows how, by drawing on Internal and Practice scripts, individuals develop concertina-like careers, stretching the spaces and timescales available to them. At the same time, they are able to address misalignments and disjunctures that they encounter, including those associated with disciplinary and departmental affiliations, job profiles, progression criteria, and work allocation models. As a result, the authors identify a shift towards more open-ended approaches to roles and careers.
Challenging Citizens: The Case Study of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland (Central and Eastern European Perspectives on International Relations)
by Pavel Šaradín Hana Hurtíková Michal Soukop Markéta Zapletalová Agnieszka Zogata-Kusz Ewa GanowiczThe book aims to complement the existing research on democratic innovations mainly by making unique comparative analyses of the democratic innovations at the local level in selected European post-communist countries, i.e. the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia. Democratic innovations can help overcome political apathy, decreased confidence in democracy and improve efficiency of governance. We traditionally consider cities and municipalities to be cradles of democracy and connect them with deliberations on the further development of democratic theory and political practice. We therefore argue that the local level is a suitable arena and laboratory for both changes of institutional settings within the traditional model of representative democracy, and the structural changes, which concern changing relations between local representatives and citizens.
Challenging Discriminatory Practices of Religious Socialization among Adolescents: Critical Media Literacy and Pedagogies in Practice
by Kiran Vinod Bhatia Manisha Pathak-ShelatThis book examines how religion operates as an institution of governance and discipline in society. The authors unravel the ways in which adolescents are socialized into adhering to the dictates of their religious identities, which often translates into practices of micro-aggression enacted in and through their interaction with the ‘religious other’ in schools and classrooms. Through ethnographic immersion in villages in the Gujarat, the authors identify media as a powerful source through which the dominant ideology of religious discrimination is perpetuated among adolescents. Subsequently, a critical media education framework was developed in order to equip these young people with the critical skills needed to challenge power relations, with the goal being to identify resources for resistance within themselves and their immediate media environments. Using pedagogic techniques such as spatial and cultural mapping, content creation and applied theatre practices to create a reflective yet practical guide, the findings of this book can be applied to a wide range of socio-cultural contexts.
Challenging E Learning in the University (UK Higher Education OUP Humanities & Social Sciences Higher Education OUP)
by Robin Goodfellow Mary Lea"Informed by an intimate knowledge of a social literacies perspective, this book is full of profound insights and unexpected connections. Its scholarly, clear-eyed analysis of the role of new media in higher education sets the agenda for e-learning research in the twenty-first century" Ilana Snyder, Monash University "This book offers a radical rethinking of e-learning … The authors challenge teachers, course developers, and policy makers to see e-learning environments as textual practices, rooted deeply in the social and intellectual life of academic disciplines. This approach holds great promise for moving e-learning past its focus on technology and 'the learner' toward vital engagement with fields of inquiry through texts."Professor David Russell, Iowa State UniversityChallenging e-learning in the University takes a new approach to the growing field of e-learning in higher education. In it, the authors argue that in order to develop e-learning in the university we need to understand the texts and practices that are involved in learning and teaching using online and web-based technologies. The book develops an approach which draws together social and cultural approaches to literacies, learning and technologies, illustrating these in practice through the exploration of case studies. It is key reading for educational developers who are concerned with the promises offered, but rarely delivered, with each new iteration of learning with technologies. It will also be of interest to literacies researchers and to HE policy makers and managers who wish to understand the contexts of e-learning.
Challenging Power: Democracy and Accountability in a Fractured World
by Cynthia KaufmanArguing that we only have democracy when systems of power are held to account, Kaufman examines the real work being done to challenge the operations of power that underlie four unruly social problems: climate change, sweatshop labour, police abuse, and economic deprivation. In Accountability Democracy, Kaufman pairs each of these issues with an operation of power -- the large scale influence of multinational corporations; the power of governments; the authority of financial markets; and the control inherent in systems of meaning -- and using case studies like the Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh and the killing of Eric Garner, forcefully demonstrates the difficulty in challenging this nexus of power.Yet, advancing a positive message, Kaufman maintains that this network is not omnipotent and can be questioned if we develop 'mechanisms of accountability' which allow us to conceptualise the nature of these restrictions and the action required to resist them. Kaufman provides then, a model for ethical living that allows us to investigate and appreciate our own connection to the powerful forces that control our world.
Challenging Power: Democracy and Accountability in a Fractured World
by Cynthia KaufmanArguing that we only have democracy when systems of power are held to account, Kaufman examines the real work being done to challenge the operations of power that underlie four unruly social problems: climate change, sweatshop labour, police abuse, and economic deprivation. In Accountability Democracy, Kaufman pairs each of these issues with an operation of power -- the large scale influence of multinational corporations; the power of governments; the authority of financial markets; and the control inherent in systems of meaning -- and using case studies like the Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh and the killing of Eric Garner, forcefully demonstrates the difficulty in challenging this nexus of power.Yet, advancing a positive message, Kaufman maintains that this network is not omnipotent and can be questioned if we develop 'mechanisms of accountability' which allow us to conceptualise the nature of these restrictions and the action required to resist them. Kaufman provides then, a model for ethical living that allows us to investigate and appreciate our own connection to the powerful forces that control our world.
Challenging the Borders of Justice in the Age of Migrations (Studies in Global Justice #18)
by Juan Carlos Velasco MariaCaterina La BarberaThe volume gathers theoretical contributions on human rights and global justice in the context of international migration. It addresses the need to reconsider human rights and the theories of justice in connection with the transformation of the social frames of reference that international migrations foster. The main goal of this collective volume is to analyze and propose principles of justice that serve to address two main challenges connected to international migrations that are analytically differentiable although inextricably linked in normative terms: to better distribute the finite resources of the planet among all its inhabitants; and to ensure the recognition of human rights in current migration policies. Due to the very nature of the debate on global justice and the implementation of human rights and migration policies, this interdisciplinary volume aims at transcending the academic sphere and appeals to a large public through argumentative reflections. Challenging the Borders of Justice in the Age of Migrations represents a fresh and timely contribution. In a time when national interests are structurally overvalued and borders increasingly strengthened, it’s a breath of fresh air to read a book in which migration flows are not changed into a threat. We simply cannot understand the world around us through the lens of the ‘migration crisis’-a message the authors of this book have perfectly understood. Aimed at a strong link between theories of global justice and policies of border control, this timely book combines the normative and empirical to deeply question the way our territorial boundaries are justified.Professor Ronald Tinnevelt, Radboud University Nijmegen, The NetherlandsThis book is essential reading for those frustrated by the limitations of the dominant ways of thinking about global justice especially in relation to migration. By bringing together discussions of global justice, cosmopolitan political theory and migration, this collection of essays has the potential to transform the way in which we think and debate the critical issues of membership and movement. Together they present a critical interdisciplinary approach to international migration, human rights and global justice, challenging disciplinary borders as well as political ones. Professor Phil Cole, University of the West of England, UK
Challenging the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement: 20 Years of Responding to Anti-Israel Campaigns
by Ronnie Fraser Lola FraserChallenging the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement focuses on the efforts to oppose antisemitism, the academic boycott, and the BDS movement. The State of Israel has faced many threats, most of them military, since it was established in 1948, but the threat posed by the NGO forum at the United Nations World Conference against Racism in Durban, South Africa, in August 2001 was different. The forum unleashed the "new" antisemitism which targeted the State of Israel, as well as a non-violent, civil society-based campaign based on the South African anti-apartheid campaign of the 1980s – which was to form the basis of the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement directed at the State of Israel. Featuring case studies from the United States, Great Britain, Israel, and South Africa, each chapter of this wide-ranging volume discusses examples of opposition to the divisive BDS campaign and the proposed academic boycott of Israel over the last two decades, including the fight for formal recognition of the "new" antisemitism by governments and international bodies and the use of a variety of legal measures. The rise of antisemitism within academia and wider society is also examined. This book will be vital reading for students, scholars, and activists with an interest in social movements, Israel, and Middle East politics and history.
Challenging the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement: 20 Years of Responding to Anti-Israel Campaigns
by Ronnie Fraser Lola FraserChallenging the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement focuses on the efforts to oppose antisemitism, the academic boycott, and the BDS movement. The State of Israel has faced many threats, most of them military, since it was established in 1948, but the threat posed by the NGO forum at the United Nations World Conference against Racism in Durban, South Africa, in August 2001 was different. The forum unleashed the "new" antisemitism which targeted the State of Israel, as well as a non-violent, civil society-based campaign based on the South African anti-apartheid campaign of the 1980s – which was to form the basis of the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement directed at the State of Israel. Featuring case studies from the United States, Great Britain, Israel, and South Africa, each chapter of this wide-ranging volume discusses examples of opposition to the divisive BDS campaign and the proposed academic boycott of Israel over the last two decades, including the fight for formal recognition of the "new" antisemitism by governments and international bodies and the use of a variety of legal measures. The rise of antisemitism within academia and wider society is also examined. This book will be vital reading for students, scholars, and activists with an interest in social movements, Israel, and Middle East politics and history.
Challenging the Modern Synthesis: Adaptation, Development, and Inheritance
Since its origin in the early 20th century, the Modern Synthesis theory of evolution has grown to become the orthodox view on the process of organic evolution. Its central defining feature is the prominence it accords to genes in the explanation of evolutionary dynamics. Since the advent of the 21st century, however, the Modern Synthesis has been subject to repeated and sustained challenges. These are largely empirically driven. In the last two decades, evolutionary biology has witnessed unprecedented growth in the understanding of those processes that underwrite the development of organisms and the inheritance of characters. The empirical advances usher in challenges to the conceptual foundations of evolutionary theory. The extent to which the new biology challenges the Modern Synthesis has been the subject of lively debate. Many current commentators charge that the new biology of the 21st century calls for a revision, extension, or wholesale rejection of the Modern Synthesis Theory of evolution. Defenders of the Modern Synthesis maintain that the theory can accommodate the exciting new advances in biology. The original essays collected in this volume survey the various challenges to the Modern Synthesis arising from the new biology of the 21st century. The authors are evolutionary biologists, philosophers of science, and historians of biology from Europe and North America. Each of the essays discusses a particular challenge to the Modern Synthesis treatment of inheritance, development, or adaptation. Taken together, the essays cover a spectrum of views, from those that contend that the Modern Synthesis can rise to the challenges of the new biology, with little or no revision required, to those that call for the abandonment of the Modern Synthesis. The collection will be of interest to researchers and students in evolutionary biology, and the philosophy and history of the biological sciences.
CHALLENGING THE MODERN SYNTHESIS C: Adaptation, Development, and Inheritance
by Philippe Huneman and Denis M. WalshSince its origin in the early 20th century, the Modern Synthesis theory of evolution has grown to become the orthodox view on the process of organic evolution. Its central defining feature is the prominence it accords to genes in the explanation of evolutionary dynamics. Since the advent of the 21st century, however, the Modern Synthesis has been subject to repeated and sustained challenges. These are largely empirically driven. In the last two decades, evolutionary biology has witnessed unprecedented growth in the understanding of those processes that underwrite the development of organisms and the inheritance of characters. The empirical advances usher in challenges to the conceptual foundations of evolutionary theory. The extent to which the new biology challenges the Modern Synthesis has been the subject of lively debate. Many current commentators charge that the new biology of the 21st century calls for a revision, extension, or wholesale rejection of the Modern Synthesis Theory of evolution. Defenders of the Modern Synthesis maintain that the theory can accommodate the exciting new advances in biology. The original essays collected in this volume survey the various challenges to the Modern Synthesis arising from the new biology of the 21st century. The authors are evolutionary biologists, philosophers of science, and historians of biology from Europe and North America. Each of the essays discusses a particular challenge to the Modern Synthesis treatment of inheritance, development, or adaptation. Taken together, the essays cover a spectrum of views, from those that contend that the Modern Synthesis can rise to the challenges of the new biology, with little or no revision required, to those that call for the abandonment of the Modern Synthesis. The collection will be of interest to researchers and students in evolutionary biology, and the philosophy and history of the biological sciences.
Challenging the New Atheism: Pragmatic Confrontations in the Philosophy of Religion (Routledge Studies in American Philosophy)
by Aaron Pratt ShepherdThis book presents a pragmatic response to arguments against religion made by the New Atheism movement. The author argues that analytic and empirical philosophies of religion—the mainstream approaches in contemporary philosophy of religion—are methodologically unequipped to address the “Threefold Challenge” made by popular New Atheist thinkers such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and Daniel Dennett. The book has three primary motivations. First, it provides an interpretation of the New Atheist movement that treats their claims as philosophical arguments and not just rhetorical exercises or demagoguery. Second, it assesses and responds to these claims by elaborating four distinct contemporary philosophical perspectives— analytic philosophy, empirical philosophy, continental philosophy, and pragmatism—as well as contextualizing these perspectives in the history of the philosophy of religion. Finally, the book offers a metaphilosophical critique, returning again and again to the question of method. In the end, the author settles upon a modified version of pragmatism that he concludes is best suited for articulating the terms and stakes of the God Debate. Challenging the New Atheism will be of interest to scholars and students of American philosophy and philosophy of religion.
Challenging the New Atheism: Pragmatic Confrontations in the Philosophy of Religion (Routledge Studies in American Philosophy)
by Aaron Pratt ShepherdThis book presents a pragmatic response to arguments against religion made by the New Atheism movement. The author argues that analytic and empirical philosophies of religion—the mainstream approaches in contemporary philosophy of religion—are methodologically unequipped to address the “Threefold Challenge” made by popular New Atheist thinkers such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and Daniel Dennett. The book has three primary motivations. First, it provides an interpretation of the New Atheist movement that treats their claims as philosophical arguments and not just rhetorical exercises or demagoguery. Second, it assesses and responds to these claims by elaborating four distinct contemporary philosophical perspectives— analytic philosophy, empirical philosophy, continental philosophy, and pragmatism—as well as contextualizing these perspectives in the history of the philosophy of religion. Finally, the book offers a metaphilosophical critique, returning again and again to the question of method. In the end, the author settles upon a modified version of pragmatism that he concludes is best suited for articulating the terms and stakes of the God Debate. Challenging the New Atheism will be of interest to scholars and students of American philosophy and philosophy of religion.
Challenging the Phenomena of Technology: Embodiment, Expertise, And Evolved Knowledge (New Directions in Philosophy and Cognitive Science)
by M. HaylerWhat is 'technology'? What does it help us to do? What does it force us to consider about our experience of being in the world? In Challenging the Phenomena of Technology, technology is positioned as an experience with specific features, rather than as a class of objects, and this enables a reflection on the ways in which amateurs and experts interact with the artefacts that all humans rely upon. Using e-readers, such as the Kindle and iPad, as a case study, Hayler argues that the use of technology is both more complicated and more human than public discussion often gives it credit for, forcing us to consider its impacts on perception, cognition, and what it means to know anything at all.
Challenging the School Readiness Agenda in Early Childhood Education (Routledge Research in Early Childhood Education)
by Miriam B. TagerChallenging the normative paradigm that school readiness is a positive and necessary objective for all young children, this book asserts that the concept is a deficit-based practice that fosters the continuation of discriminatory classifications. Tager draws on findings of a qualitative study to reveal how the neoliberal agenda of school reform based on high-stakes testing sorts and labels children as non-ready, affecting their overall schooling careers. Tager reflects critically on the relationship between race and school readiness, showing how the resulting exclusionary measures perpetuate the marginalization of low-income Black children from an early age. Disrupting expected notions of readiness is imperative to ending practices of structural classism and racism in early childhood education.