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Desmond M. Clarke presents a thematic history of French philosophy from the middle of the sixteenth century to the beginning of Louis XIV's reign. He explores the thought of lawyers, political leaders, theologians, and scholars, in relation to topics ranging from political theory, scepticism, and ethics, to philosophy of mind and women's equality

"Literary Essays about the political climate in the 20th Century by The Hon. Jerahmiel S. Grafstein, Q.C., Senator."--

Spinoza Contra Phenomenology fundamentally recasts the history of postwar French thought, typically presumed to have been driven by a critique of reason indebted to Nietzsche and Heidegger. Although the reception of phenomenology gave rise to many innovative developments in French philosophy, from existentialism to deconstruction, not everyone in France was pleased with this German import. This book recounts how a series of French philosophers used Spinoza to erect a bulwark against the nominally irrationalist tendencies of phenomenology. From its beginnings in the interwar years, this rationa

"A critical analysis of the philosophy of sovereignty from Hobbes through Derrida, arguing that we need to re-invent sovereignty as a motive for democratic political action while remaining alert to its dangers, specifically its relationship to violence"--

This book is the first systematic account of Pierre Charron's influence among the major French philosophers in the period (1601-1662). It shows that Charron's Wisdom was one of the main sources of inspiration of Pierre Gassendi's first published book, the Exercitationes adversus aristoteleos. It sheds new light on La Mothe Le Vayer, who is usually viewed as a major free thinker. By showing that he was a follower of Charron, La Mothe emerges neither as a skeptical apologist nor as a disguised libertine, as combatting superstition but not as irreligious. The book shows the close presence of Charron in the preambles of Descartes' philosophy and that the cogito is mainly based on the moral Academic self-assurance of Charron's wise man. This interpretation reverses the standard view of Descartes' relation to skepticism. Once this skepticism is recognized to be Charron's Academic one, it is seen not as the target but as the source of the cogito. Pascal is the last major philosopher for whom Charron's wisdom is crucially relevant. Montaigne and Descartes influenced, respectively, Pascal's view of the Pyrrhonian skeptic and of the skeptical main arguments. The book shows that Charron's Academic skeptical wise man is one of the main targets of his projected apology for Christianity, since he considered him as a threat and counter-example of the kind of Christian view of human beings he believed. By restoring the historical philosophical relevance of Charron in early modern philosophy and arguing for the relevance of Academic skepticism in the period, this book opens a new research program to early modern scholars and will be valuable for those interested in the history of philosophy, French literature and religion

Although the French Hellenist and sinologist François Jullien has published more than thirty books, half of which have been translated into English, he remains much less known in the English-language world than many of his fellow "French philosophers". This may be due to his work being perceived as within the limits of sinology. This book attempts to rectify this, highlighting Jullien's work at the intersection of Chinese and Western thought and drawing out the "unthought" in both traditions of thinking. This "unthought" can be seen as what conditions our thought, and opens it up onto new ways of thinking and understanding. The notion of "unthought" is at the core of Jullien's methodology, operating in what he calls the "divergence of the in-between". Written in an engaging style, Arne De Boever offers an accessible introduction to François Jullien's work that emphatically challenges some of the core assumptions of Western reasoning

Violence and Messianism looks at how some of the figures of the so-called Renaissance of "Jewish" philosophy between the two world wars - Franz Rosenzweig, Walter Benjamin and Martin Buber - grappled with problems of violence, revolution and war. At once inheriting and breaking with the great historical figures of political philosophy such as Kant and Hegel, they also exerted considerable influence on the next generation of European philosophers, like Lévinas, Derrida and others.

After the annexation of Georgia by Russia in the early 19th centurythe term "Sakartvelo" (Georgia) disappeared. The country splitinto two parts: Tbilisi government (eastern Georgia) and Kutaisigovernment (western Georgia). Unification of the country was achallenge for the Georgians dwelling inside and outside Georgia.The term "Sakartvelo" emerged once again in times of the independentRepublic of Georgia (1918-1921).The present paper considers the history of Tbilisi which was traditionallya political, administrative and cultural center of unitedGeorgia, of eastern Georgia, of Caucasus, of the Trans-CaucasianSoviet Federal Socialist Republic (Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armeniauntil 1936), of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Georgia (1936-1991) and Georgia (after proclaiming independence) and reflectedall changing political contexts.The following issues are introduced: the process of urbanization,the demographic situation and the migration processes, as well ascoexistence in the multicultural and multi-religious milieu. Alongwith the constructing activities, industrial, cultural and educationalachievements within the frames of the USSR, the violation ofhuman rights, restriction of the Georgian language, the Georgianchurch, purges, reprisals, civil unrest, nepotism, corruption, theprotests of opposition and the suppression of these protests, andconsequently the bleeding of the nation throughout the 20th centurywhich is still in place, are studied.

The suntan experienced a profound change in the last century. Considered a mark of the lower class for hundreds of years, tanning became a fad in the early 1920s and remains popular today. The tan, though, was much more than a matter of fashion,enjoying at first a boost from the medical establishment. Opinions ranging from hard science to quackery lauded the suntan as something of a panacea. Near the end of World War II, however, researchers increasingly warned against the hazards of overexposure to the sun, and a large new industry developed--sunscreen. Americans' current paradoxical obsessio