Download or read book Prehistoric Myths in Modern Political Philosophy written by Karl Widerquist and published by Edinburgh University Press. This book was released on 2016-12-05 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How modern philosophers use and perpetuate myths about prehistoryThe state of nature, the origin of property, the origin of government, the primordial nature of inequality and war why do political philosophers talk so much about the Stone Age? And are they talking about a Stone Age that really happened, or is it just a convenient thought experiment to illustrate their points?Karl Widerquist and Grant S. McCall take a philosophical look at the origin of civilisation, examining political theories to show how claims about prehistory are used. Drawing on the best available evidence from archaeology and anthropology, they show that much of what we think we know about human origins comes from philosophers imagination, not scientific investigation.Key FeaturesShows how modern political theories employ ambiguous factual claims about prehistoryBrings archaeological and anthropological evidence to bear on those claimsTells the story of human origins in a way that reveals many commonly held misconceptions

Download or read book Prehistoric Myths in Modern Political Philosophy written by Karl Widerquist and published by Edinburgh University Press. This book was released on 2016-12-05 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book looks at how modern philosophers pass on myths about prehistory. Why do political philosophers talk so much about the Stone Age? The state of nature, the origin of property, the origin of government, and the primordial nature of inequality and war are popular topics in political philosophy, but are they being used as more than just illustrative examples? Does the best available evidence from archaeology and anthropology support or conflict with the stories being passed on by political philosophers?This book presents a philosophical look at the origin of civilization, examining political theories to show how claims about prehistory are used and presents evidence that much of what we think we know about human origins comes not from scientific investigation but from the imagination of philosophers.

Download or read book Prehistoric Myths in Modern Political Philosophy written by Karl Widerquist and published by Edinburgh University Press. This book was released on 2016-12-07 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How modern philosophers use and perpetuate myths about prehistoryThe state of nature, the origin of property, the origin of government, the primordial nature of inequality and war why do political philosophers talk so much about the Stone Age? And are they talking about a Stone Age that really happened, or is it just a convenient thought experiment to illustrate their points?Karl Widerquist and Grant S. McCall take a philosophical look at the origin of civilisation, examining political theories to show how claims about prehistory are used. Drawing on the best available evidence from archaeology and anthropology, they show that much of what we think we know about human origins comes from philosophers imagination, not scientific investigation.Key FeaturesShows how modern political theories employ ambiguous factual claims about prehistoryBrings archaeological and anthropological evidence to bear on those claimsTells the story of human origins in a way that reveals many commonly held misconceptions

Download or read book Prehistoric Myths in Modern Political Philosophy written by Karl Widerquist and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book looks at how modern philosophers pass on myths about prehistory. Why do political philosophers talk so much about the Stone Age? The state of nature, the origin of property, the origin of government, and the primordial nature of inequality and war are popular topics in political philosophy, but are they being used as more than just illustrative examples? Does the best available evidence from archaeology and anthropology support or conflict with the stories being passed on by political philosophers? This book presents a philosophical look at the origin of civilization, examining political theories to show how claims about prehistory are used and presents evidence that much of what we think we know about human origins comes not from scientific investigation but from the imagination of philosophers.

Download or read book Myth written by Robert Alan Segal and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2015 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Where do myths come from? What is their function and what do they mean? In this Very Short Introduction Robert Segal introduces the array of approaches used to understand the study of myth. These approaches hail from disciplines as varied as anthropology, sociology, psychology, literary criticism, philosophy, science, and religious studies. Including ideas from theorists as varied as Sigmund Freud, Claude Levi-Strauss, Albert Camus, and Roland Barthes, Segal uses the famous ancient myth of Adonis to analyse their individual approaches and theories. In this new edition, he not only considers the future study of myth, but also considers the interactions of myth theory with cognitive science, the implications of the myth of Gaia, and the differences between story-telling and myth. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Download or read book The Symbolic Construction of Reality written by Jeffrey Andrew Barash and published by ReadHowYouWant.com. This book was released on 2010-10 with total page 430 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1933 eminent philosopher Ernst Cassirer (1874 - 1945) fled Nazi Germany for the United States. His fame in Europe having already been established through a public debate with Martin Heidegger in 1929, Cassirer would go on to become a noteworthy influence on American culture. His most important early writings focused on the symbol and symbolic...

Download or read book Classical Mythology A Very Short Introduction written by Helen Morales and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2007-08-23 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Zeus and Europa, to Diana, Pan, and Prometheus, the myths of ancient Greece and Rome seem to exert a timeless power over us. But what do those myths represent, and why are they so enduringly fascinating? Why do they seem to be such a potent way of talking about our selves, our origins, and our desires? This imaginative and stimulating Very Short Introduction goes beyond a simple retelling of the stories to explore the rich history and diverse interpretations of classical myths. It is a wide-ranging account, examining how classical myths are used and understood in both high art and popular culture, taking the reader from the temples of Crete to skyscrapers in New York, and finding classical myths in a variety of unexpected places: from arabic poetry and Hollywood films, to psychoanalysis, the bible, and New Age spiritualism. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Download or read book The Prehistory of Private Property written by Karl Widerquist and published by EUP. This book was released on 2022-11-30 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examining the origin and development of the private property rights system from prehistory to the present day This book debunks three false claims commonly accepted by contemporary political philosophers regarding property systems: that inequality is natural, inevitable, or incompatible with freedom; that capitalism is more consistent with negative freedom than any other conceivable economic system; and that the normative principles of appropriation and voluntary transfer applied in the world in which we live support a capitalist system with strong, individualist and unequal private property rights. The authors review the history of the use and importance of these claims in philosophy, and use thorough anthropological and historical evidence to refute them. They show that societies with common-property systems maintaining strong equality and extensive freedom were initially nearly ubiquitous around the world, and that the private property rights system was established through a long series of violent state-sponsored aggressions. Karl Widerquist is Professor of political philosophy at SFS-Qatar, Georgetown University. Grant S. McCall is Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Tulane University and Executive Director of the Center for Human-Environmental Research.

Download or read book Foundation Myths and Politics in Ancient Ionia written by Naoíse Mac Sweeney and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2013-11-21 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines foundation myths told about the Ionian cities during the archaic and classical periods. It uses these myths to explore the complex and changing ways in which civic identity was constructed in Ionia, relating this to the wider discourses about ethnicity and cultural difference that were current in the Greek world at this time. The Ionian cities seem to have rejected oppositional models of cultural difference which set in contrast East and West, Europe and Asia, Greek and Barbarian, opting instead for a more fluid and nuanced perspective on ethnic and cultural distinctions. The conclusions of this book have far-reaching implications for our understanding of Ionia, but also challenge current models of Greek ethnicity and identity, suggesting that there was a more diverse conception of Greekness in antiquity than has often been assumed.

Download or read book Prehistory written by Chris Gosden and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 153 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recent archaeological discoveries from China and central Asia have changed our understanding of how human civilization developed in the period of some 4 million years before the start of written history. In this new edition of his Very Short Introduction, Chris Gosden explores the current theories on the ebb and flow of human cultural variety.

Download or read book Basic Income written by Karl Widerquist and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2013 with total page 580 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first anthology published on the basic income proposal. Basic income is a policy that would assure an unconditional, individual income for everyone. Basic income attracts increasing attention throughout the world, and this anthology is useful not only for scholars, but also for teachers, students, and the general public. The volume offers an up-to-date overview of the main issues at the core of debate over basic income. The material in this anthology includes the most influential papers on basic income published in the last 60 years, as well as several influential but previously unpublished papers.

Download or read book Multiculturalism and Integration written by Michael Clyne and published by ANU E Press. This book was released on 2011-07-01 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Multiculturalism has been the official policy of all Australian governments (Commonwealth and State) since the 1970s. It has recently been criticised, both in Australia and elsewhere. Integration has been suggested as a better term and policy. Critics suggest it is a reversion to assimilation. However integration has not been rigorously defined and may simply be another form of multiculturalism, which the authors believe to have been vital in sustaining social harmony.

Download or read book Independence Propertylessness and Basic Income written by K. Widerquist and published by Springer. This book was released on 2013-03-07 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Independence, Propertylessness, and Basic Income argues that philosophers have focused too much on scalar freedom and proposes a theory of status freedom as effective control self-ownership: the power to have or refuse active cooperation with other willing people, or simply: freedom as the power to say no.

Download or read book Negotiating the Sacred II written by Elizabeth Burns Coleman and published by ANU E Press. This book was released on 2008-12-01 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Blasphemy and other forms of blatant disrespect to religious beliefs have the capacity to create significant civil and even international unrest. Consequently, the sacrosanctity of religious dogmas and beliefs, stringent laws of repression and codes of moral and ethical propriety have compelled artists to live and create with occupational hazards like uncertain audience response, self-censorship and accusations of deliberate misinterpretation of cultural production looming over their heads. Yet, in recent years, issues surrounding the rights of minority cultures to recognition and respect have raised new questions about the contemporariness of the construct of blasphemy and sacrilege. Controversies over the aesthetic representation of the sacred, the exhibition of the sacred as art, and the public display of sacrilegious or blasphemous works have given rise to heated debates and have invited us to reflect on binaries like artistic and religious sensibilities, tolerance and philistinism, the sacred and the profane, deification and vilification. Endeavouring to move beyond 'simplistic' points about the rights to freedom of expression and sacrosanctity, this collection explores how differences between conceptions of the sacred can be negotiated. It recognises that blasphemy may be justified as a form of political criticism, as well as a sincere expression of spirituality. But it also recognises that within a pluralistic society, blasphemy in the arts can do an enormous amount of harm, as it may also impair relations within and between societies. This collection evolved out a two-day conference called 'Negotiating the Sacred: Blasphemy and Sacrilege in the Arts' held at the Centre for Cross Cultural Research at The Australian National University in November 2005. This is the second volume in a series of five conferences and edited collections on the theme 'Negotiating the Sacred'. The first conference, 'Negotiating the Sacred: Blasphemy and Sacrilege in a Multicultural Society' was held at The Australian National University's Centre for Cross-Cultural Research in 2004, and published as an edited collection by ANU E Press in 2006. Other conferences in the series have included Religion, Medicine and the Body (ANU, 2006), Tolerance, Education and the Curriculum (ANU, 2007), and Governing the Family (Monash University, 2008). Together, the series represents a major contribution to ongoing debates on the political demands arising from religious pluralism in multicultural societies.

Download or read book Royal Courts in Dynastic States and Empires written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2011-08-11 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent decades the history of premodern states and empires has undergone major revision. At the heart of this process stood the court, encompassing the household as well as government institutions. This volume for the first time brings together the fruits of research on royal courts from antiquity to the modern world, from Asia to Europe. The authors are acknowledged specialists in their own fields, but they address themes relevant for all courts: the inner and outer dimensions of court architecture as well as staff organizations; the connections between court, capital, and realm; the relationship of the ruler with relatives and other elites. This volume pioneers comparative history combining a rich empirical orientation with a critical assessment of theoretical perspectives. This title is available online in its entirety in Open Access Contributors: Tülay Artan, Gojko Barjamovic, Peter Fibiger Bang, Jeroen Duindam, Sabine Dabringhaus, Nadia Maria El Cheikh, Ebba Koch, Metin Kunt, Paul Magdalino, Rosamond McKitterick, Ruth Macrides, Rolf Strootman, Isenbike Togan, Maria Antonietta Visceglia, and Andrew Wallace-Hadrill.

Download or read book Japan s Future in East Asia and the Pacific written by Mari Pangestu and published by ANU E Press. This book was released on 2007-12-01 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Japan’s Future in East Asia and the Pacific takes a ’big-picture‘ approach to Japan’s economic place in East Asia alongside that of China. It analyses Japan’s successes and experiments in trade policy as well as its failures in macro-economic policy. Japan’s diplomatic and economic integration strategies are also examined for their impact on East Asia and on Australia. The collection assesses China’s growth and dynamism and questions the nature of the competition for economic influence between Japan and China. Contributors to Japan’s Future in East Asia and the Pacific are all graduates of The Australian National University who are making their mark in the region as scholars and economists on East Asian and Pacific affairs.

Download or read book Unraveling the Tapestry of Time written by Barrett Williams and published by Barrett Williams. This book was released on 2023-04-17 with total page 74 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discover the timeless echoes of ancient myths that reverberate through our modern world with the ground-breaking eBook "Unraveling the Tapestry of Time." This thought-provoking tome meticulously weaves together the enduring threads of myth and legend that continue to shape and influence contemporary governance, political ideologies, and societal structures. Embark on a profound exploration of the ancient narratives that define the bedrock of our political landscape in Chapter 1, where you'll delve into the transformative role of myths and their evolution from past to present. Step into the world of political heroes in Chapter 2 and unveil the power of the Hero's Journey that from myth has traversed to become the archetype of political leadership. Witness the rise of modern Titans of Industry in Chapter 3 and peer into the deification of entrepreneurs within the mythology of wealth and success. Chapter 4 challenges you to dissect political ideologies as mythic tales, from Communism and Capitalism to the myth of the Nation-State. Traverse democracy’s historical roots and its Hellenic connections in Chapter 5, and rediscover the Roman influence on modern governance in Chapter 6. Enter the shadow realms of the Chthonic Power in Chapter 7 as secret societies and surveillance become a haunting reality. Grapple with the Myth of the Just War as Chapter 8 confronts the glorification and politicized use of militaristic force. Connect with the land in Chapter 9 through the lens of agricultural myths and understand environmental policies and land rights like never before. Witness the cunning of The Trickster in political strategy in Chapter 10, revealing the impact of populism and the political outsider. Chapter 11 presents a Tower of Babel, symbolizing the intersection of cultural diversity and political tension, before Chapter 12 invites you to decode political ceremonies as the new myth-making practices. Contemplate utopian and dystopian narratives in Chapter 13, and uncover the resurgence of the Feminine in Power with Chapter 14. Chapter 15 heralds a cyclic view of history, while Chapter 16 unwraps the immortal narratives that compose national identity. Chapter 17 evokes the submerged city of Atlantis as a metaphor for environmental politics, before digital realms offer new myths of power in Chapter 18. Chapter 19 dramatizes political scandals as contemporary tragedies, and finally, Chapter 20 concludes the odyssey by examining the myths driving expansionist politics and territorial conquests. "Unraveling the Tapestry of Time" offers a staggering panorama of how ancient paradigms persist and influence the modern arena of power and ideology. This book is a must-read for those enchanted by the union of past and present, the intellectual thrill-seekers looking to uncover the hidden powers of myth within the realities of our world. Embrace this journey through time and let the pages guide you through an enriching odyssey – a testament to humanity's unbreakable bond with its most primal stories.