Philosophy and Religion (R0)

This book about receptions of Simon Magus uncovers further facets of one who was held to be the evil archetype of heretics. Ephraim Nissan and Alberto Ferreiro explore how Simon Magus has been represented in text, visual art, and music. Special attention is devoted to the late medieval Catalan painter Lluís Borrassà and the Italian librettist and musician Arrigo Boito. The tradition of Simon Magus’ demonic flight, ending in his crashing down, first appears in the patristic literature. The book situates that flight typologically across cultures. Fascinating observations emerge, as the discussion spans flight of the wicked in rabbinic texts, flight and death of King Lear’s father and a Soviet-era Buryat Buddhist monk, flight and doom of the fool in an early modern German broadsheet, and more. The book explains and moves beyond extant scholarly wisdom on how the polemic against Mani (the founder of Manichaeism) was tinged with hues of Simon Magus. The novelty of this book is that it shows that Simon Magus’ receptions teach us a great deal about the contexts in which this archetype was deployed. 

At this moment of extreme political polarization in the U.S. which has the potential to threaten the very foundations of the state, Professor Michael DeArmey proposes a revised and updated Constitution. This enriched, reborn Constitution retains much of the current Constitution but also seeks to meliorate and indeed resolve entirely many of the seemingly intractable problems in American democracy. The rights of American citizens are revisited and expanded, and for the first time a wholly new Bill of Goods sets out government’s role in assisting in the necessities for life.

The book contains a careful defense of the proposed changes, including individual chapters focusing on the most controversial topics. Other chapters explore why a constitution is needed and survey the Federalist papers on Constitutional structure.  The book also examines the writings of Aristotle, John Adams’ Defence, and the correspondence of Madison and Jefferson.

This book investigates dispositions in grammatical-normative terms through a contrast between a naturalized paradigm and a Wittgenstein-inspired perspective. The book presents a conceptual analysis of the notion of disposition informed by Wittgenstein's and Ryle's philosophies to defend a normative notion of disposition.

The book opens with a presentation of the current naturalized paradigm on dispositions, focusing on its main presuppositions and limits. It then turns to the discussion of a Wittgensteinian-inspired dispositionalism of knowing and understanding, before filling the exegetical gap about Wittgenstein's own use of the notion of disposition. The author critically engages with the current paradigm using Ryle's notion of category mistake, before concluding with a presentation of some philosophical views where a notion of normative disposition is employed.

This book is essential reading for anyone searching for a new perspective on dispositions and will broaden the appeal of the Wittgensteinian tradition within contemporary analytic philosophy and, potentially, psychology as well.

This book forms an important part of the current revival of the debate around the category of historical epistemology. The term “historical epistemology” designates a methodology or research program aimed at building a historically informed theory of knowledge and/or a history of science and technology that enhances its epistemological aspects. This book offers an original panorama of the French debate surrounding the emergence and consolidation of the intellectual program of historical epistemology over a period ranging from the end of the 19th century to the second half of the 20th century. The first section of this book sets out to reconstruct sociologically and historically the processes of circulation of ideas - both nationally and internationally - that constituted the conditions of possibility for the emergence of the very idea of historical epistemology in the French intellectual context. The second section aims instead to highlight the main theoretical positions - both epistemological and historiographical - that would make it possible to trace a relative unity of intent among the authors who make up the canon of historical epistemology (in their oppositional relationship to other intellectual trends). Particular attention is also paid to defining a “minor canon” of this tradition, represented by what is known as “mathematical thought”. The third part of the volume focuses instead on reconstructing the anthropological, sociological and political perspectives underlying the methodology employed by authors belonging to historical epistemology. The three parts combined make for a uniquely broad yet focused book that is of interest to historians, philosophers and scientists alike.

This volume is a multilevel and multidisciplinary study of radicalization in the Balkans and MENA regions. It takes a dynamic approach embracing the complexity of the social, political and economic contexts under study. Moving away from unidimensional and security-centred research on the topic, each chapter adopts a participatory and inclusive perspective, engaging communities, youth and women as significant stakeholders in building a better understanding of the dynamics of the radicalization of youth in these regions. The multiple case studies presented here cover several macro drivers of radicalization to reveal the interactions and interrelations of individuals with meso-institutions and backgrounds such as family, neighbourhood, school, peer groups, religious and ethnic communities, political parties, etc. Consequently, the volume addresses several gaps in the literature regarding radicalization and violent extremism: it is based on firm empirical evidence; it allows for comparisons between social contexts in one specific country and between countries sharing macro similarities but also differences; it proposes a fruitful dialogue and collaborations between academics, researchers and civil society experts; and, finally, it offers decentralized perspectives on extremism in the West.

This volume is an important addition to a topic that is of interest to researchers across the social sciences, and to think tanks and policy makers working on/in these regions.

This book gathers several of the world’s leading scholars in the nature vs. nurture debate, offering a timely reconsideration of the dynamic interactions between physical, chemical, biological, social, and cultural factors that shape human multidimensionality. Emphasizing this multidimensionality, this edited volume seeks to bridge the divide between biology and social theory—two research communities that have too often overlooked each other. These disciplines, despite being central to understanding human nature, have long operated in isolation.

While some animal species exhibit higher degrees of phenotypic plasticity in specific traits, humans stand out as the most plastic species in both their neurological and sociocultural systems. This plasticity leads the contributors of this book to move beyond both biological reductionism and the blank-slate hypothesis. While biology undoubtedly plays a role in shaping and stabilizing human social and cultural processes, it does so only within the framework of an inherently social environment—one shaped by historically contingent and socially constructed realities, such as values, codes, and cultural perceptions. More importantly, cultural structures and social interactions actively shape and transform certain biological features that were once considered immutable.

This book lays the groundwork for a productive dialogue among biologists, psychologists, social theorists, and philosophers. It also highlights some of the moral and political consequences of different perspectives within the nature vs. nurture debate. Through updated scientific and philosophical theorizing, the chapters in this book aim to overcome, once and for all, the simplistic yet persistent opposition between nature and nurture, offering a far more complex and dynamic—yet richer and epistemologically manageable—picture of the human being.

This contributed volume presents eco-imagination as a new tool for knowledge and cultural, artistic, as well as scientific expression.  Herein eco-phenomenology becomes capable of opening a viable path towards a future of environmental and human sustainability. The contemporary urgency of sustainable configurations of the world and of life has made clear the inadequacy of the traditional phenomenological conception of imagination, understood in the mere relationship with perception. These chapters verify the ecological potential of the imagination, thanks to which the latent virtualities in the processes of self-individualization that constitute evolving life become visible. The book collectively argues that only if we use the eco-imagination can one introduce new forms of design thinking needed, since they are intrinsic to the ontopoietic progression of the logos of life.  This volume appeals to students and researchers in phenomenology and related fields.

This book provides a detailed overview of philosophical ramifications of the emerging area of plant behavior. It is also a response to some of the main criticisms of this heterogeneous discipline.  This volume is both a practical guide for those new to the subject, providing a historical reconstruction of the development of the topics, while at the same time an opportunity to allow for discussion at a more advanced level.  It is not a demonstrative text, but rich in insights to guide future theoretical and practical research.  This monograph appeals to interdisciplinary researchers and students working within the spectrum of life sciences to academic philosophy.

This book shows how multiple developments have caused the world to move from “an information society” to a “dream society”. Ongoing social and technological forces are pushing us from a world of words, rationality, and truth into a world of images, performance, and make-belief. Rather than deny or reject this transformation, this book argues that one should understand and embrace it as waves of new futures that the world must strive to surf for fame and fun. As a political scientist and futurist, the author also offers hints of new goals and forms of governance fit for a dream society, as he demonstrates that all current systems are ineffective and dangerously obsolete. This book is of great interest to political philosophers, futures scientists, sociologists, and those interested in cultural studies.

This book offers fresh academic insights, reflections, questions, issues, and approaches to development ethics, taking into account, African values and ethics. Development ethics is an area of applied ethics that examines the moral issues involved in global, social, and economic transformation. While it is a relatively new discipline, there have been numerous scholarly publications on it from Western perspectives. However, only a few studies that focused on development ethics from the African perspective. To address this gap, the book seeks to answer critical questions such as "What does development mean to Africans?", "How can we measure development?", "Who gets to decide?", and "What constitutes just development in Africa?"

This book explores the impact of ethical reasoning in forensic science and demonstrates that it is in fact a foundational skill required by those engaged in the field. Forensic science is viewed as a mechanism to aid the criminal justice system in finding truth, but failures within the field contribute to the growing injustice facing society. The author recognizes these failings and brings a new perspective by establishing bioethical principles as a foundation for improving ethical reasoning skills. These skills are a critical component of forensic science education for upcoming professionals. While other books focus on egregious cases of ethical misconduct, this text highlights the daily decisions and issues that occur during the forensic investigation and analysis processes. It is written for future forensic professionals and forensic science educators, as well as those individuals already working in the forensic science field.