Search results

Henry More (1614-1687), the Cambridge Platonist, is often presented as an elusive and contradictory figure. An early apologist for the new natural philosophy and its rational support for Christian doctrine, More also defended the existence of witchcraft and wrote extensively on the nature of the soul and the world of spirits. A vigorous and prolific controversialist against many varieties of contemporary `atheism' and `enthusiasm', More was himself a spiritual perfectionist and illuminist, believing that the goal of the religious life was a conscious union with God. Until now, most biographies of More have ignored these, his own, preoccupations, and have made of him a rather eccentric but important illustrative figure in one of several larger narratives dominated by canonical figures like Descartes, Boyle, Spinoza or Newton. This is the first modern biography to place his own religious and philosophical preoccupations centre-stage, and to provide a coherent interpretation of his work from a consideration of his own writings, their contexts and aims. It is also the first study of More to exploit the full range of his prolific writings and a number of unknown manuscripts relating to his life. In addition, it contains an annotated handlist of his extant correspondence

Personal accounts help us understand notions of self, interpersonal relations, and historical events. Chinese Autobiographical Writing contains full translations of works by fifty individuals that illuminate the history and conventions of writing about oneself in the Chinese tradition. From poetry, letters, and diaries to statements in legal proceedings, these engaging and readable works draw us into the past and provide vivid details of life as it was lived from the pre-imperial period to the nineteenth century. Some focus on a person's entire life, others on a specific moment. Some have an element of humor, others are entirely serious. Taken together, these selections offer an intimate view of how Chinese men and women, both famous and obscure, reflected on their experiences as well as their personal struggles and innermost thoughts. With an introduction and list of additional readings for each selection, this volume is ideal for undergraduate courses on Chinese history, literature, religion, and women and family. Read individually, each piece illuminates a person, place, and moment. Read in chronological order, they highlight cultural change over time by showing how people explored new ways to represent themselves in writing. The open access publication of this book was made possible by a grant from the James P. Geiss and Margaret Y. Hsu Foundation.

A biography of a famous general from his boyhood in the New Mexico Territory, through his controversial military career, to his later years when many honors were conferred upon him

Intro -- Half Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Photos -- List of Illustrations -- Preface: Take Off -- Introduction -- Part I The Parable of the Talents -- 1. Social Engineer -- 2. A Watchmaker's Work -- 3. Estates-General -- 4. Order and Progress -- 5. A NATO-Russia Alliance? -- 6. The Brussels Job -- 7. The Pebble in the Shoe -- 8. The People Speak -- 9. Between the Sword and the Wall -- 10. Out of the Quagmire -- Part II One Hell at a Time -- 11. The Network -- 12. The Dirt, the Mud and the Dust -- 13. The Nurse and the Surgeon -- 14. Spring Tide -- 15. At Europe's Door -- 16. Faith and Protection -- 17. The Great March -- Part III Nerves of Steel -- 18. After Malaysia -- 19. Back to Campaigning -- 20. The Straw Polls -- 21. Checkmate -- 22. The 45th President -- Epilogue: The Peace Bell -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- Back Cover.

Der Tod eines Alter Ego erweist sich für Trauernde als gravierende Kontingenzerfahrung. Sie vermag das individuelle Selbstverständnis in umfassender Weise zu erschüttern, wobei sich Trauer als Schmerz von unvergleichlicher Intensität und Tiefe konstituiert. Die emotionale Erfahrung wird hierbei – nach Maßgabe psychologischer und therapeutischer Vorstellungen – zum Ausgangspunkt und zum Maßstab individueller Selbstvergewisserung. Diese Auffassung von Trauer korrespondiert mit einer allgemeinen, im Kontext moderner Gesellschaften entstandenen Zuschreibung von Emotionalität zur Ebene des inneren Erlebens: Ich bin, was meine Gefühle mir sagen. Dass es gelingen kann, Trauer als persönlichen Schmerz zu thematisieren und zum Ausgangspunkt individueller Selbstthematisierung zu machen, setzt systemtheoretisch gesehen semantische Strukturen zur Kommunizierung von individuellem Leid voraus. Im Rahmen einer auf biografischen Interviews basierenden Studie hat sich die symbolische Codierung von Trauer als individuell einzigartige Erfahrung von Schmerz und Leid erwiesen. Unabhängig von kommunikativen Zurechnungen sozialer Systeme können, so zeigt das Material weiterhin, verschiedenste lebensgeschichtliche Brüche und Diskontinuitätserfahrungen thematisiert werden. Trauer eröffnet aber nicht nur punktuell eine Selbstthematisierung: Die zentrale These lautet, dass Trauer als Biografiegenerator fungiert, indem sie eine systematische und umfassende Rekonstruktion der Lebensgeschichte unter den Aspekten von Leid und Schmerz erlaubt.

The supervision of water systems in many countries is centralised and taken over from local water management collectives of 'water workers' by governmental or other water management institutions. Communities are literally and figuratively cut-off from 'their' water systems, due to the increase of urbanisation and industrialisation. On account of water management, humankind changed from communities of actively engaged water workers into passive users. In so doing, crucial knowledge about how communities created, maintained, and expanded 'living water systems', such as rice terraces, low-pasture systems, polders, floating-gardens, brooks-mill, and tidal systems, is rapidly diminishing. Revealing stories (oral accounts) of water workers generate insights and understanding of forgotten aspects of the landscape. They hold information on how to engage with water in a more holistic way, strategies that might help in facing today's challenges. The world in general, but planners, spatial designers, and water managers working with water, in particular, have so far taken little account of these stories. Without documenting stories that are about the dynamic interaction between people and landscape, valuable knowledge has disappeared and continues to do so. To help to overcome this knowledge gap, to learn from the past, the Visual Water Biography (VWB) is developed. The novel method is based on the Delft layer approach in which the spatial relationship of a design and its topography is studied, and developed by many authors from the faculty of landscape architecture at TU Delft in combination with the landscape biography approach. The Visual Water Biography visualises and maps: 1) knowledge and 2) engagement of water workers by focusing on 3) circular and 4) cyclical processes that are descended in the landscape. The method developed for spatial planners, researchers, and designers explicitly allows for multi-disciplinary engagement with water workers, water professionals, people from other disciplines such as historians and ecologists, and the general public. The added value of the VWB method is shown by the case of the Dutch Sprengen and Brooks system, a water system that is well documented in terms of landscape biography but less understood as a living water system.

One of Canada's most outspoken and respected advocates of internationalism during the early Cold War, John King Gordon had a remarkably eclectic professional life. Keith R. Fleming's biography of Gordon explores the man's many careers, from his start as a Manitoba clergyman in the 1920s to his work as a United Nations field officer in Korea, the Middle East, and the Congo.In "The World Is Our Parish," Fleming traces how Gordon's passion for social reform and humanitarianism led him to become a clergyman, a political activist, a journalist, a professor, and one of Canada's leading advocates of liberal internationalism in the years after World War Two. An exceptional biography of an extraordinary but little-known Canadian, "The World Is Our Parish" uses Gordon's professional and intellectual journey to reveal the confluence of liberal Christianity, social democracy, and internationalism in Canadian politics and thought

AbstractRobert Caro's biographies of Robert Moses and Lyndon Johnson prove fruitful for political theory, particularly when approached in tandem, along the lines of Plutarch's comparative profiles. Building on the supposition that general insights into political power and its ethics lie in biographical particulars, Caro demonstrates that the most exhaustively detailed research of the most extreme subjects can yield otherwise inaccessible findings. Similarities between Moses and Johnson expose common mechanics of accumulating power, converting personal relationships into institutional authority, and show that norms are given effect as tools used by politicians. Contrasts offer the career as a unit of moral evaluation and suggest that although power may corrupt, it also "reveals." A praiseworthy career should aim at ends distinct from both ideals and means. Assessment depends not only on intents or accomplishments, but on means, weighing their morality against their necessity.

Franz Sigel was born November 18, 1824 at Sinsheim in the grand duchy of Baden Germany. Like many of the young German revolutionaries he was educated at the Karlsruhe Military Academy and after graduating received a commission in the Regular Army. He participated in the German Revolution and eventually acted as minister of War for the revolutionary forces which were overthrown by the Prussians. He fled to Switzerland then to England and finally to New York City in 1852. Before the Civil War he taught school in the German American Institute in New York and in 1857 moved to St. Louis. In 1861 he was made director of the St. Louis school district and then joined the Union forces. He played a major role in unifying the German population and "I fights mit Sigel" became a passport among the Germans in the ranks. He performed well at Camp Jackson, Carthage and at Wilson's Creek, Missouri. At Pea Ridge he was mainly responsible for the Union victory. His career then took a turn for the worse as he was transferred to the East in 1862 and came under the direct scrutiny of General Halleck. He participated in the Battles of Cedar Mountain and Second Manassas. Soon after he was transferred to the District of Lehigh, Pennsylvania and remained there until 1864. After lobbying for a new command Sigel was appointed to command the Department of West Virginia where he suffered his greatest loss at the Battle of New Market. Soon after he was relieved from command. After his resignation in May 1865 he engaged in literary and political pursuits. He travelled often and gave lectures and speeches in favor of the Republican Party. He held several political appointments throughout his post war career and continued to be a major force in rallying German support for the Republicans. He died at his home in the Bronx on August 22, 1902. ; Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-03, Section: A, page: 0779. ; Major Professor: James P. Jones. ; Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.