Download or read book The Predicament of Modern Politics written by Harold J. Spaeth and published by . This book was released on 1964 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Modern Predicament written by George Scialabba and published by Pressed Wafer. This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nonfiction. Politics. Literary Criticism THE MODERN PREDICAMENT is George Scialabba's second essay collection, following his acclaimed WHAT ARE INTELLECTUALS GOOD FOR? (Pressed Wafer, 2009). In 23 compact, lucid essays ranging across philosophy (Kierkegaard, Nietzsche), literature (D. H. Lawrence, T. S. Eliot), history (Michael Foucault, Christopher Lasch) and politics (Michael Harrington), Scialabba poses a number of searching questions, directly and eloquently, continually returning to one: Is moral progress possible, and at what price? In her introduction Barbara Ehrenreich writes, "As long as we exist as a species, we'll be debating what constitutes morality and virtue, and we could hardly have a better guide than George Scialabba." James Woods hails THE MODERN PREDICAMENT as a stimulating encounter with "one of America's best all-round intellects."
Download or read book The Cambridge Companion to Leo Strauss written by Steven B. Smith and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2009-05-11 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Leo Strauss was a central figure in the twentieth century renaissance of political philosophy. The essays of The Cambridge Companion to Leo Strauss provide a comprehensive and non-partisan survey of the major themes and problems that constituted Strauss's work. These include his revival of the great 'quarrel between the ancients and the moderns,' his examination of tension between Jerusalem and Athens, and most controversially his recovery of the tradition of esoteric writing. The volume also examines Strauss's complex relation to a range of contemporary political movements and thinkers, including Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, Max Weber, Carl Schmitt, and Gershom Scholem, as well as the creation of a distinctive school of 'Straussian' political philosophy.
Download or read book Modern Political Ideologies written by Andrew Vincent and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2009-03-30 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thoroughly revised and updated, this third edition provides acomprehensive account of the major political ideologies of the pasttwo centuries. Provides an expanded and thoroughly updated account of themajor political ideologies of the past two centuries, includingliberalism, conservatism, socialism, anarchism, fascism, feminism,environmentalism, and nationalism Features a brand new chapter on fundamentalism, along withgreater emphasis on the global impact of ideologies in general Examines the complex overlap and interplay of ideas that existboth within and between ideologies Incorporates the newest developments and scholarship in thefield, and includes a helpful new glossary of key terms
Download or read book The Impossible State written by Wael B. Hallaq and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2012-11-20 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wael B. Hallaq boldly argues that the "Islamic state," judged by any standard definition of what the modern state represents, is both impossible and inherently self-contradictory. Comparing the legal, political, moral, and constitutional histories of premodern Islam and Euro-America, he finds the adoption and practice of the modern state to be highly problematic for modern Muslims. He also critiques more expansively modernity's moral predicament, which renders impossible any project resting solely on ethical foundations. The modern state not only suffers from serious legal, political, and constitutional issues, Hallaq argues, but also, by its very nature, fashions a subject inconsistent with what it means to be, or to live as, a Muslim. By Islamic standards, the state's technologies of the self are severely lacking in moral substance, and today's Islamic state, as Hallaq shows, has done little to advance an acceptable form of genuine Shari'a governance. The Islamists' constitutional battles in Egypt and Pakistan, the Islamic legal and political failures of the Iranian Revolution, and similar disappointments underscore this fact. Nevertheless, the state remains the favored template of the Islamists and the ulama (Muslim clergymen). Providing Muslims with a path toward realizing the good life, Hallaq turns to the rich moral resources of Islamic history. Along the way, he proves political and other "crises of Islam" are not unique to the Islamic world nor to the Muslim religion. These crises are integral to the modern condition of both East and West, and by acknowledging these parallels, Muslims can engage more productively with their Western counterparts.
Download or read book The Policy State written by Karen Orren and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2017-10-23 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The steady accretion of public policies over the decades has fundamentally changed how America is governed. The formulation and delivery of policy have emerged as the government’s entire raison d’être, redefining rights and reconfiguring institutional structures. The Policy State looks closely at this massive unnoticed fact of modern politics and addresses the controversies swirling around it. Government has become more responsive and inclusive, but the shift has also polarized politics and sowed a deep distrust of institutions. These developments demand a thorough reconsideration of historical governance. “A sterling example of political science at its best: analytically rigorous, historically informed, and targeted at questions of undeniable contemporary significance... Orren and Skowronek uncover a transformation that revolutionized American politics and now threatens to tear it apart.” —Timothy Shenk, New Republic “Wherever you start out in our politics, this book will turn your sense of things sideways and make you rethink deeply held assumptions. It’s a model of what political science could be, but so rarely is.” —Yuval Levin, National Review “A gripping narrative...opening up new avenues for reflection along methodological, conceptual, and normative lines.” —Bernardo Zacka, Contemporary Political Theory
Download or read book The Policy State written by Karen Orren and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2017-10-23 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The steady accretion of public policies over the decades has fundamentally changed how America is governed. The formulation and delivery of policy have emerged as the government’s entire raison d’être, redefining rights and reconfiguring institutional structures. The Policy State looks closely at this massive unnoticed fact of modern politics and addresses the controversies swirling around it. Government has become more responsive and inclusive, but the shift has also polarized politics and sowed a deep distrust of institutions. These developments demand a thorough reconsideration of historical governance. “A sterling example of political science at its best: analytically rigorous, historically informed, and targeted at questions of undeniable contemporary significance... Orren and Skowronek uncover a transformation that revolutionized American politics and now threatens to tear it apart.” —Timothy Shenk, New Republic “Wherever you start out in our politics, this book will turn your sense of things sideways and make you rethink deeply held assumptions. It’s a model of what political science could be, but so rarely is.” —Yuval Levin, National Review “A gripping narrative...opening up new avenues for reflection along methodological, conceptual, and normative lines.” —Bernardo Zacka, Contemporary Political Theory
Download or read book The Predicament of Blackness written by Jemima Pierre and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2013 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What is the meaning of blackness in Africa? This title tackles the question of race in West Africa through its post-colonial manifestations. Pierre examines key facets of contemporary Ghanaian society, from the pervasive significance of 'whiteness' to the practice of chemical skin-bleaching to the government's active promotion of Pan-African 'heritage tourism'.
Download or read book Leo Strauss on Science written by Svetozar Y. Minkov and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2016-11-23 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing upon a wealth of previously unpublished archival material, Leo Strauss on Science brings to light the thoughts of Leo Strauss on the problem of science. Introducing us to Strauss's reflections on the meaning and perplexities of the scientific adventure, Svetozar Y. Minkov explores questions such as: Is there a human wisdom independent of science? What is the relation between poetry and mathematics, or between self-knowledge and theoretical physics? And how necessary is it for the human species to exist immutably in order for the classical analysis of human life to be correct? In pursuing these questions, Minkov aims to change the conversation about Strauss, one of the great thinkers of the past century.
Download or read book The Future of Illusion written by Victoria Kahn and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2014-01-13 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent years, the rise of fundamentalism and a related turn to religion in the humanities have led to a powerful resurgence of interest in the problem of political theology. In a critique of this contemporary fascination with the theological underpinnings of modern politics, Victoria Kahn proposes a return to secularism—whose origins she locates in the art, literature, and political theory of the early modern period—and argues in defense of literature and art as a force for secular liberal culture. Kahn draws on theorists such as Carl Schmitt, Leo Strauss, Walter Benjamin, and Hannah Arendt and their readings of Shakespeare, Hobbes, Machiavelli, and Spinoza to illustrate that the dialogue between these modern and early modern figures can help us rethink the contemporary problem of political theology. Twentieth-century critics, she shows, saw the early modern period as a break from the older form of political theology that entailed the theological legitimization of the state. Rather, the period signaled a new emphasis on a secular notion of human agency and a new preoccupation with the ways art and fiction intersected the terrain of religion.
Download or read book Politics without Stories written by David Ricci and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2016-10-27 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Conservatives use great stories to prescribe government policy. Liberals engage the world via science and pragmatism, rendering liberalism less inspiring. This book examines this difference.
Download or read book The Spirit of Modern Republicanism written by Thomas L. Pangle and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1990-10-15 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pangle reexamines the moral philosophy of the Founding Fathers and finds that at the heart of the Framers' republicanism was a dramatically new vision of civic virtue, religious faith, and intellectual life, rooted in an unprecendented commitment to private and economic liberties, and that this commitment represented a departure from both the classical and biblical traditions. He challenges those who explain 18th century political thought exclusively in terms of historical circumstances, Calvinistic faith, or economic and social ideology. He develops a new interpretation of John Locke's moral and political philosophy, arguing that Locke's greatest political and rhetorical achievement was in transforming the God of the Bible into the God of reason and nature; and shows Locke's influence on the Framers' thought. ISBN 0-226-64540-1: $22.50.
Download or read book Dream Trippers written by David A. Palmer and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2017-11-27 with total page 347 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the past few decades, Daoism has become a recognizable part of Western “alternative” spiritual life. Now, that Westernized version of Daoism is going full circle, traveling back from America and Europe to influence Daoism in China. Dream Trippers draws on more than a decade of ethnographic work with Daoist monks and Western seekers to trace the spread of Westernized Daoism in contemporary China. David A. Palmer and Elijah Siegler take us into the daily life of the monastic community atop the mountain of Huashan and explore its relationship to the socialist state. They follow the international circuit of Daoist "energy tourism," which connects a number of sites throughout China, and examine the controversies around Western scholars who become practitioners and promoters of Daoism. Throughout are lively portrayals of encounters among the book’s various characters—Chinese hermits and monks, Western seekers, and scholar-practitioners—as they interact with each other in obtuse, often humorous, and yet sometimes enlightening and transformative ways. Dream Trippers untangles the anxieties, confusions, and ambiguities that arise as Chinese and American practitioners balance cosmological attunement and radical spiritual individualism in their search for authenticity in a globalized world.
Download or read book Introduction to Political Theory written by Ramona Grey and published by Cognella Academic Publishing. This book was released on 2013-12-31 with total page 562 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Political Theory and the Human Predicament: An Introduction to Major Political Thinkers presents the work of important political theorists from Plato to Marx. The primary source material introduces students to the political and ethical questions theorists have, with varying degrees of success, tried to answer and shows how these questions have evolved over time. The political thinkers are covered chronologically and the selected readings from their works are organized with subheadings that enable readers to easily locate key passages for study and discussion. Each chapter opens with an informative introductory essay that acquaints readers with the theorist s life and times, and his or her particular approach to the study of politics and the human condition. Together the introductory essays and selected readings provide an overview of the assumptions and important arguments still used by those seeking to understand human nature, society and political life. Above all, Political Theory and the Human Predicament aims to encourage a careful and, therefore, a critical reading of the most significant and often controversial ideas regarding justice, legitimate authority, law, rights, freedom, and the good life examined in the works of classical and modern political theory. Questions at the end of each chapter are designed to encourage students to consider their own assumptions and political values when assessing the merits of a particular argument, and can be used to enhance classroom discussion, or to facilitate essay and homework assignments. Ramona Grey earned her Ph.D. at the University of California, Riverside. Currently Dr. Grey is an associate professor in the Political Science Department at the University of Montana, where she teaches courses in ancient, medieval, and modern political theory, utopianism, and contemporary political thought. She is a recipient of the university s Distinguished Teaching Award. Her professional writing addresses politics and art in utopia, natural law theory, and the American writer and naturalist Joseph Wood Krutch. Her articles have appeared in American Studies and the Antioch Review.
Download or read book Politics Without Stories written by David M. Ricci and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Liberal candidates, scholars, and activists mainly promote pragmatism rather than large and powerful narratives - which may be called 'alpha stories' for their commanding presence over time. Alternatively, conservative counterparts to such liberals tend to promote their policy preferences in alpha stories praising effective markets, excellent traditions, and limited government. In this face-off, liberals represent a post-Enlightenment world where many modern people, following Max Weber, are 'disenchanted', while many conservatives, echoing Edmund Burke, cherish stories borrowed from the past. Politics without Stories describes this storytelling gap as an electoral disadvantage for liberals because their campaigning lacks, and will continue to lack, the inspiration and shared commitments that great, long-term stories can provide. Therefore, Ricci argues that, for tactical purposes, liberals should concede their post-Enlightenment skepticism and rally around short-term stories designed to frame, in political campaigns, immediate situations which they regard as intolerable. These may help liberals win elections and influence the course of modern life"--
Download or read book Political Theory and the Human Predicament written by Ramona June Grey and published by Cognella Academic Publishing. This book was released on 2018-10-06 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Political Theory and the Human Predicament: An Introduction to Major Political Thinkers presents the work of important political theorists from Plato to Marx. The primary source material introduces students to the political and ethical questions theorists have, with varying degrees of success, tried to answer and shows how these questions have evolved over time. The political thinkers are covered chronologically and the selected readings from their works are organized to allow readers to easily locate key passages for study and discussion. Each chapter opens with an informative introductory essay that acquaints readers with the theorist's life and times, and his or her particular approach to the study of politics and the human condition. Together the introductory essays and selected readings provide an overview of the assumptions and important arguments still used by those seeking to understand human nature, society and political life. Political Theory and the Human Predicament aims to encourage a careful and critical reading of the most significant and often controversial ideas--regarding justice, legitimate authority, law, rights, freedom, and the good life--examined in the works of classical and modern political theory. This revised edition features questions at the end of each chapter that are designed to help readers gauge their understanding of the original material. Several of these questions are analytical, for which there are no clear-cut answers, and have been added to encourage students to consider their own assumptions and political values when assessing the merits of a particular argument. These can be used to enhance classroom discussion or to facilitate essay and homework assignments. Political Theory and the Human Predicament is written for introductory political theory courses, political ethics courses, and more specialized courses in ancient and modern political thought.
Download or read book Spinoza s Critique of Religion written by Leo Strauss and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1996-11-20 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Leo Strauss articulates the conflict between reason and revelation as he explores Spinoza's scientific, comparative, and textual treatment of the Bible. Strauss compares Spinoza's Theologico-political Treatise and the Epistles, showing their relation to critical controversy on religion from Epicurus and Lucretius through Uriel da Costa and Isaac Peyrere to Thomas Hobbes. Strauss's autobiographical Preface, traces his dilemmas as a young liberal intellectual in Germany during the Weimar Republic, as a scholar in exile, and as a leader of American philosophical thought. "[For] those interested in Strauss the political philosopher, and also those who doubt whether we have achieved the 'final solution' in respect to either the character of political science or the problem of the relation of religion to the state." —Journal of Politics "A substantial contribution to the thinking of all those interested in the ageless problems of faith, revelation, and reason." —Kirkus Reviews Leo Strauss (1899-1973) was the Robert Maynard Hutchins Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of political science at the University of Chicago. His contributions to political science include The Political Philosophy of Hobbes, The City and the Man, What is Political Philosophy?, and Liberalism Ancient and Modern.
