Suchergebnisse

The history of autobiography reveals how the structural features of an age are reflected in the modes of representation through which persons or selves are identified. Illustrates with the 'commentary', the reworking of classic stories, using analysis of Ulysses. (JLN)

Sergio Perez's book, Palabras de filosofos. Oralidad, escritura y memoria en la filosofia Antigua (Words of the Philosophers. Orality, Writing, & Memory in Ancient Philosophy) approaches the intellectual habits of the Greeks & Romans during the transition from an oral to a written tradition. He makes the connection between the discourses & the silences of social actors in his thesis that voice & memory constituted the true personality of the classic philosopher until the written culture took over. Contingent & determining factors of that transition are discussed; philosophy was transforming itself into an activity of analytical rigor, for which it needed writing. After that point, philosophy & poetry separated. Perez's sketch of the time shows how the philosopher was paradoxically trapped between the new analytical ambitions of the field & the silence (not writing) his own ethnical perspective forced on him. M. Pflum

Like free markets and Christianity, liberal education in the United States has more noisy claimants than true friends. Lately, it's conservatives who've been crying hosanna to the humanities and funding campus institutes that conscript classic texts into training future Platonic Guardians for business and national-security ventures. Sponsors of such ventures claim they're rescuing the liberal arts as a wellspring of republican beliefs and virtues from pollution by multiculturalist, postmodernist left-liberals. Adapted from the source document.

"This book provides a highly accessible narrative survey of political thought over the past two millenia. Exploring many key ideas in the Western tradition, it begins with the classic political thought of the ancient Greeks, it moves through the medieval and early Christian views of politics, and concludes by exploring the modern re-interpretation of political life"--

The Greek & Turkish Cypriot inter-communal conflict transcends the borders of the island Republic. Along with the constitutional deadlocks & enmity between the two Cypriot communities, the problem is heavily influenced by the involvement of a number of interested external parties. The Cyprus question remains a classic example of the interplay of national & international disputes. The peacemaking potential of the United Nations was seriously undermined by the attitudes & actions independently undertaken by the disputants & other interested external parties, & therefore explain to a large extent the inability & unwillingness of the Greek & Turkish Cypriots to reach a peaceful political settlement through inter-communal talks. Adapted from the source document.

In Chapter 7, titled "The Naturalization of Intelligence," of his book The Quest for Certainty. A Study of the Relation of Knowledge and Action (1929), John Dewey proposes a new theory of knowledge as praxis-oriented, overruling the classic model that had dominated in philosophy since the ancient Greeks. The intent of the book is to abandon the quest for certainty, understood as the indubitable knowledge of nature. This paper presents a critical analysis of Dewey's theory of knowledge, its antecedents & its outcome.

Discusses the loss of the fundamental Western political aesthetic on a global scale, focusing on state & international alliance trends toward using legal violence against separatism. It is contended that the most dominant Western states have drifted far from the classic Greek ideals of democracy in regard to national & international security. Markets receive higher priority than human rights, while ethnicity & separatism are viewed as hostile elements in the current cases of Israel, Palestine, India, & Afghanistan. Thought, science, reason, & a fundamental sense of human principles appear to be absent from political communication between Western states. Adapted from the source document.

"For more than two thousand years, philosophers and theologians have wrestled with the irreconcilable opposition between Greek rationality (Athens) and biblical revelation (Jerusalem). In Athens and Jersusalem, Lev Shestov -- an inspiration for the French existentialists and the foremost interlocutor of Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, and Martin Buber during the interwar years -- makes the gripping confrontation between these symbolic poles of ancient wisdom his philosophical testament, an argumentative and stylistic tour de force. Although the Russian-born Shestov is little known in the Anglophone world today, his writings influenced many twentieth-century European thinkers, such as Albert Camus, D. H. Lawrence, Thomas Mann, Czesław Miłosz, and Joseph Brodsky. Athens and Jerusalem is Shestov's final, groundbreaking work on the philosophy of religion from an existential perspective. This new, annotated edition of Bernard Martin's classic translation adds references to the cited works as well as glosses of passages from the original Greek, Latin, German, and French. Athens and Jerusalem is Shestov at his most profound and most eloquent and is the clearest expression of his thought that shaped the evolution of continental philosophy and European literature in the twentieth century. "--

"This text remains the only English translation of Bonhöffer's classic, definitive examination of Epictetus' ethics. Thorough, knowledgeable, perceptive, and accessible, the unity of this book and its thematic presentation make it an invaluable resource for both scholars and general readers eager to apply Stoic thinking in their daily lives. The translation is crisp, clear, consistent, and very readable. Careful attention to the details and nuances of the German as well as the Greek of Epictetus make this an excellent achievement. This new edition includes a useful biography of Bonhöffer, a new overview of the last twenty years of scholarship on Epictetus, and an extensive bibliography. It is essential reading for students taking courses on ancient Hellenistic or Roman philosophy, their instructors, and any non-academics who want to learn Stoicism"--

Examines the political philosophy & biography of Vaclav Havel, president of the postcommunist Czech Republic. It is argued that Havel's political approach resists easy classification. On the one hand, he can be viewed as antifoundationalist, particularly in his ideas of "radical democracy." A tendency toward a more classical humanistic conceptualization of politics is also noted, however, in Havel's ideas on morality, freedom, & politics. He also demonstrates a tension between the postmodern deconstruction of authority & a classical affirmation of authority, between transformation & tradition. Parallels are drawn between the situation of political crisis characterizing the demise of the Czech communist system & classic Greek tragedy; the numerous references to tragedy in Havel's political writings are offered as examples, highlighting his identification of the significant role of tragedy in the struggle for freedom. K. Hyatt Stewart

"The Balkans offer classic examples of how empires imagine they can transform themselves into national states (Ottomanism) and how nation-states project themselves into future empires (as with the Greek "Great Idea" and the Serbian "Načertaniye"). By examining the interaction between these two aspirations this volume sheds light on the ideological prerequisites for the emergence of Balkan nationalisms. With a balance between historical and literary contributions, the focus is on the ideological hybridity of the new national identities and on the effects of "imperial nationalisms" on the emerging Balkan nationalisms. The authors of the twelve essays reveal the relation between empire and nation-state, proceeding from the observation that many of the new nation-states acquired some imperial features and behaved as empires. This original and stimulating approach reveals the imperialistic nature of so-called ethnic or cultural nationalism"--