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Seeing like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed - Thryft
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James C. Scott | Yale University Press

Seeing like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed

$13.72

Goodreads rating: 4.2

$13.72

Compulsory ujamaa villages in Tanzania, collectivization in Russia, Le Corbusier’s urban planning theory realized in Brasilia, the Great Leap Forward in China, agricultural "modernization" in the Tropics—the twentieth century has been racked by grand utopian schemes that have inadvertently brought death and disruption to millions. Why do well-intentioned plans for improving the human condition go tragically awry?In this wide-ranging and original book, James C. Scott analyzes failed cases of large-scale authoritarian plans in a variety of fields. Centrally managed social plans misfire, Scott argues, when they impose schematic visions that do violence to complex interdependencies that are not—and cannot—be fully understood. Further, the success of designs for social organization depends upon the recognition that local, practical knowledge is as important as formal, epistemic knowledge. The author builds a persuasive case against "development theory" and imperialistic state planning that disregards the values, desires, and objections of its subjects. He identifies and discusses four conditions common to all planning disasters: administrative ordering of nature and society by the state; a "high-modernist ideology" that places confidence in the ability of science to improve every aspect of human life; a willingness to use authoritarian state power to effect large- scale interventions; and a prostrate civil society that cannot effectively resist such plans.
Desiring Donne - Poetry, Sexuality, Interpretation - Thryft
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Ben Saunders | Harvard University Press

Desiring Donne - Poetry, Sexuality, Interpretation

$8.06 $3.47 57% off

Goodreads rating: 3.86

$8.06 $3.47 57% off

96% off est. retail
Throughout his life, John Donne was well acquainted with the consequences of desire. He wanted a courtly career badly enough to renounce the Catholicism of his childhood. Later, he wanted a woman badly enough to gamble that career for her sake; he lost, but found a new calling in the Anglican Church. There he pursued philosophical and theological questions with an intensity to match his former social ambitions, and was not above addressing God Himself in tones of "immoderate desire." Death became his ultimate object of passionate attention; and ever since that final consummation, critics have argued over the nature and import of Donne's desires, while simultaneously (if not always self-consciously) revealing a great deal about their own.Saunders explores this dialectic of desire, re-evaluating both Donne's poetry and the complex responses it has inspired, from his earliest readers to his recent professional critics. In the process, Saunders considers an extraordinary range of topics, including the technology of the book, prosodic theory, the problem of misogyny, the history of sexuality, and even the purpose of criticism itself; remarkably, he does so while keeping Donne's poetry in focus at all times.Witty, erudite, theoretically engaged, but intensely readable, this study takes into account recent developments in the fields of historicism, feminism, queer theory, and postmodern psychoanalysis, while offering dazzling close readings of many of Donne's most famous poems.
Political Liberalism - Thryft
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Professor John Rawls | Columbia University Press

Political Liberalism

$8.58

Goodreads rating: 3.95

$8.58

Revising and continuing the idea of justice and fairness in A Theory of Justice, Rawls poses the question of how a stable and just society of free and equal citizens can live in concord when deeply divided by reasonable and incompatible doctrines. With its distinctive form of liberalism----resting on an idea of free public reason---- Political Liberalism yields new insights into the question of justice in our pluralistic society.
Untimely Meditations - Thryft
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Friedrich Nietzsche, R.J. Hollingdale, J.P. Stern  | Cambridge University Press

Untimely Meditations

$7.24

Goodreads rating: 4.12

$7.24

本书是尼采中晚期作品，收录了尼采四篇“沉思”：《《施特劳斯――表白者和作家》《历史学对于生活的利与弊》《作为教育者的叔本华》和《瓦格纳在拜雷特》，前两篇探讨消极的，令人忧虑的现象：“知识庸人”施特劳斯和历史学，后两篇是对神圣的救世主形象叔本华和瓦格纳的颂歌。尼采在本书中完成了一种彻底的重新评价，他将“不合时宜”等同于单纯性和真诚性的高贵品质，认为被敬仰和喜爱的哲学家在其关于生活价值的问题中想到的从来不是合乎时宜的德性，而是一种应当追求的更高和更纯洁的品质。
Ethical Theory - Thryft
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James Rachels | Oxford University Press

Ethical Theory

$21.87

Goodreads rating: 2.0

$21.87

Rachels's two-volume Ethical Theory provides a comprehensive overview of contemporary moral philosophy, reprinting classic and contemporary articles, including many that are not otherwise readily available. Each volume contains a clearly written, substantial introduction that guides thebeginner through the intricacies of the subject.
Perception, Knowledge And Belief - Selected Essays - Thryft
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Fred I. Dretske | Cambridge University Press

Perception, Knowledge And Belief - Selected Essays

$11.29

Goodreads rating: 4.5

$11.29

This collection of essays by eminent philosopher Fred Dretske brings together work on the theory of knowledge and philosophy of mind spanning thirty years. The two areas combine to lay the groundwork for a naturalistic philosophy of mind. The essays focus on perception, knowledge, and consciousness. Together, they show the interconnectedness of Dretske's work in epistemology and his more contemporary ideas on philosophy of mind, shedding light on the links that can be made between the two. This collection will be a valuable resource for a wide range of philosophers and their students, and will also be of interest to cognitive scientists, psychologists, and philosophers of biology.
(Un)Manly Citizens : Jean-Jacques Rousseau's and Germaine de Stael's Subversive Women - Thryft
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Lori Jo Marso | Johns Hopkins University Press

(Un)Manly Citizens : Jean-Jacques Rousseau's and Germaine de Stael's Subversive Women

$10.95

Goodreads rating: 3.67

$10.95

In (Un)Manly Citizens , political theorist Lori Jo Marso explores an alternative vision of citizenship in the writings of French Enlightenment figures Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Germaine de Staël. This critique transgresses the boundary between political philosophy and literature in turning explicitly to fictional texts as the site of an alternative conception of the self, citizenship, and democratic politics. Marso departs from previous feminist scholarship on Rousseau by reading Emile and La Nouvelle Héloïse from the perspective of his women characters. In this reading, Sophie and Julie emerge as subversive of the narrow range of femininity usually understood as advocated by Rousseau. Tracing the words, gestures, and even the silence of the women characters in Rousseau's texts, Marso argues that these women display an uncanny ability to deconstruct the qualities and dictates of scholarship for which Rousseau is infamous. Germaine de Staël builds on the perspective of Rousseau's women to uncover the radical potential of the feminine as a way to reconceptualize citizenship. Based on her experience of the French Revolution, Staël demonstrates the limits of establishing strict identities as prerequisites for citizen participation. In Staël's novels, Delphine and Corinne , Marso locates a citizenship practice premised on the recognition of individuals in terms of their concrete histories and situations. Marso's scholarship makes us aware of how early in the history of modern political thought the potential of an unmanly vision of citizenship as a radical critique of politics was already being discussed and formulated.
Untimely Meditations - Thryft
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Friedrich Nietzsche, R.J. Hollingdale, J.P. Stern  | Cambridge University Press

Untimely Meditations

$7.91

Goodreads rating: 4.12

$7.91

本书是尼采中晚期作品，收录了尼采四篇“沉思”：《《施特劳斯――表白者和作家》《历史学对于生活的利与弊》《作为教育者的叔本华》和《瓦格纳在拜雷特》，前两篇探讨消极的，令人忧虑的现象：“知识庸人”施特劳斯和历史学，后两篇是对神圣的救世主形象叔本华和瓦格纳的颂歌。尼采在本书中完成了一种彻底的重新评价，他将“不合时宜”等同于单纯性和真诚性的高贵品质，认为被敬仰和喜爱的哲学家在其关于生活价值的问题中想到的从来不是合乎时宜的德性，而是一种应当追求的更高和更纯洁的品质。
Mimesis : The Representation of Reality in Western Literature - Fiftieth-Anniversary Edition - Thryft
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Erich Auerbach, Willard R. Trask  | Princeton University Press

Mimesis : The Representation of Reality in Western Literature - Fiftieth-Anniversary Edition

$7.98

Goodreads rating: 4.28

$7.98

A half-century after its translation into English, Erich Auerbach's Mimesis still stands as a monumental achievement in literary criticism. A brilliant display of erudition, wit, and wisdom, his exploration of how great European writers from Homer to Virginia Woolf depicted reality has taught generations how to read Western literature. This new expanded edition includes a substantial essay in introduction by Edward Said as well as an essay, never before translated into English, in which Auerbach responds to his critics.A German Jew, Auerbach was forced out of his professorship at the University of Marburg in 1935. He left for Turkey, where he taught at the state university in Istanbul. There he wrote Mimesis , publishing it in German after the end of the war. Displaced as he was, Auerbach produced a work of great erudition that contains no footnotes, basing his arguments instead on searching, illuminating readings of key passages from his primary texts. His aim was to show how from antiquity to the twentieth century literature progressed toward ever more naturalistic and democratic forms of representation. This essentially optimistic view of European history now appears as a defensive--and impassioned--response to the inhumanity he saw in the Third Reich. Ranging over works in Greek, Latin, Spanish, French, Italian, German, and English, Auerbach used his remarkable skills in philology and comparative literature to refute any narrow form of nationalism or chauvinism, in his own day and ours.For many readers, both inside and outside the academy, Mimesis is among the finest works of literary criticism ever written.
Waiting for the Dawn : A Plan for the Prince - Thryft
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Wm. Theodore de Bary | Columbia University Press

Waiting for the Dawn : A Plan for the Prince

$15.22

Goodreads rating: 4.5

$15.22

The Ming-i Tai-fang Lu of Huang Tsunghsi (1610-1695) is unique in the history of Chinese Political literature. Since the time of Confucius and Mencius, no other work in the long Confucian tradition has stood out so clearly as a major critique of Chinese dynastic institutions.
Theories of Rights - Thryft
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Jeremy Waldron | Oxford University Press

Theories of Rights

$21.68

Goodreads rating: 4.19

$21.68

This latest addition to the Oxford Readings in Philosophy series covers a topic which is one of the focal points of much of the current work in moral and politicaltheory.
Salafism in Lebanon : Local and Transnational Movements - Thryft
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Zoltan Pall | Cambridge University Press

Salafism in Lebanon : Local and Transnational Movements

$8.53 $3.67 57% off

Goodreads rating: 5.0

$8.53 $3.67 57% off

97% off est. retail
This book is an insightful and in-depth analysis of the dynamics of non-violent Lebanese Salafi groups, shedding light on the lesser-known peaceful proselytization aspects of Salafism. It also explores the importance of transnational links, leading to the fragmentation of the Lebanese Salafi community. The book highlights how Salafism creates and mobilizes material and symbolic resources, reshaping the structures of authority within Lebanon's Sunni Muslim community. Highly recommended for those interested in understanding the complexity of Salafism in Lebanon beyond its association with violence.
Social Justice in the Liberal State - Thryft
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Bruce A. Ackerman | Yale University Press

Social Justice in the Liberal State

$7.48

Goodreads rating: 3.43

$7.48

Certain to become the most important work in political theory since John Rawls's A Theory of Justice, this book presents a brilliantly original, compelling vision of a just society-a world in which each of us may live his own life in his own way without denying the same right to others. Full of provocative discussions of issues ranging from education to abortion, it makes fascinating reading for anyone concerned with the future of the liberal democratic state.
Modern Feminisms : Political, Literary, Cultural - Thryft
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Maggie Humm | Columbia University Press

Modern Feminisms : Political, Literary, Cultural

$24.60

Goodreads rating: 3.83

$24.60

This is the first comprehensive collection of feminist politics and writings by the most influential feminists of the twentieth century, with a full glossary of key terms, section introductions, and entries on individual writers. Contributors include Simone de Beauvoir, Catharine A. MacKinnon, Audre Lorde, Adrienne Rich, Betty Friedan, Gayle Rubin, Laura Mulvey, Elaine Showalter, and Julia Kristeva.Modern Feminisms covers key feminist ideas and perspectives on the family, sexuality, work, education, patriarchy, race, language, culture, and representation, and provides a persepective on the variety of modern feminisms that have emerged in the twentieth century.
Justice and the Politics of Difference - Thryft
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Iris Marion Young | Princeton University Press

Justice and the Politics of Difference

$11.48

Goodreads rating: 4.15

$11.48

This book challenges the prevailing philosophical reduction of social justice to distributive justice. It critically analyzes basic concepts underlying most theories of justice, including impartiality, formal equality, and the unitary moral subjectivity. Starting from claims of excluded groups about decision making, cultural expression, and division of labor, Iris Young defines concepts of domination and oppression to cover issues eluding the distributive model. Democratic theorists, according to Young do not adequately address the problem of an inclusive participatory framework. By assuming a homogeneous public, they fail to consider institutional arrangements for including people not culturally identified with white European male norms of reason and respectability. Young urges that normative theory and public policy should undermine group-based oppression by affirming rather than suppressing social group difference. Basing her vision of the good society on the differentiated, culturally plural network of contemporary urban life, she argues for a principle of group representation in democratic publics and for group-differentiated policies. "This is an innovative work, an important contribution to feminist theory and political thought, and one of the most impressive statements of the relationship between postmodernist critiques of universalism and concrete thinking.... Iris Young makes the most convincing case I know of for the emancipatory implications of postmodernism." --Seyla Benhabib, State University of New York at Stony Brook
The Oxford Handbook of Postcolonial Studies - Thryft
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Graham Huggan | Oxford University Press

The Oxford Handbook of Postcolonial Studies

$18.83

Goodreads rating: 4.6

$18.83

The Oxford Handbook of Postcolonial Studies provides a comprehensive overview of the latest scholarship in postcolonial studies, while also considering possible future developments in the field. Original chapters written by a worldwide team of contritbuors are organised into five cross-referenced sections, "The Imperial Past," "The Colonial Present," "Theory and Practice," "Across the Disciplines," and "Across the World." The chapters offer both country-specific and comparative approaches to current issues, offering a wide range of new and interesting perspectives. The Handbook reflects the increasingly multidisciplinary nature of postcolonial studies and reiterates its continuing relevance to the study of both the colonial past--in its multiple manifestations--and the contemporary globalized world. Taken together, these essays, the dialogues they pursue, and the editorial comments that surround them constitute nothing less than a blueprint for the future of a much-contested butintellectually vibrant and politically engaged field.
Technologies of Freedom - Thryft
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Ithiel de Sola Pool | Belknap Press: An Imprint Of Harvard University Press

Technologies of Freedom

$16.03

Goodreads rating: 4.37

$16.03

How can we preserve free speech in an electronic age? In a masterly synthesis of history, law, and technology, Ithiel de Sola Pool analyzes the confrontation between the regulators of the new communications technology and the First Amendment.
The American Philosopher: Conversations With Quine, Davidson, Putnam, Nozick, Danto, Rorty, Cavell, MacIntyre, and Kuhn
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Giovanna Borradori, Rosanna Crocitto  | University Of Chicago Press

The American Philosopher: Conversations With Quine, Davidson, Putnam, Nozick, Danto, Rorty, Cavell, MacIntyre, and Kuhn

$12.90

Goodreads rating: 3.53

$12.90

73% off est. retail
If you're intrigued by the evolution of American philosophy and appreciate the resonance of deep, candid conversations among intellectual titans, "The American Philosopher" could prove to be a fascinating read. The book acts as a conduit into the minds of several influential thinkers, revealing how they perceive not only each other's ideas but also the broader philosophical landscape. It's a chance to engage with the ongoing discourse between analytic and continental traditions, offering a nuanced perspective on America's philosophical identity crisis.
Architectural Principles in the Age of Historicism - Thryft
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Carroll William Westfall, Robert Jan Van Pelt  | Yale University Press

Architectural Principles in the Age of Historicism

$14.35

Goodreads rating: 4.0

$14.35

Explores the relationship between architectural history and the current practice of architecture. The authors draw on insights from anthropology, ancient history, theology, philosophy and the Holocaust. They also provide practical ideas which should help students build a more human world.
The Concept of a Legal System : An Introduction to the Theory of a Legal System - Thryft
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Joseph Raz | Oxford University Press

The Concept of a Legal System : An Introduction to the Theory of a Legal System

$17.10 $10.26 40% off

Goodreads rating: 3.85

$17.10 $10.26 40% off

What does it mean to assert or deny the existence of a legal system? How can one determine whether a given law belongs to a certain legal system? What kind of structure do these systems have, that is--what necessary relations obtain between their laws? The examination of these problems in this volume leads to a new approach to traditional jurisprudential question, though the conclusions are based on a critical appraisal, particularly those of Bentham, Austin, Kelsen, and Hart.
A Critique of Adjudication : fin de siecle - Thryft
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Duncan Kennedy | Harvard University Press

A Critique of Adjudication : fin de siecle

$9.50

Goodreads rating: 4.14

$9.50

A major statement from one of the foremost legal theorists of our day, this book offers a penetrating look into the political nature of legal, and especially judicial, decision making. It is also the first sustained attempt to integrate the American approach to law, an uneasy balance of deep commitment and intense skepticism, with the Continental tradition in social theory, philosophy, and psychology.At the center of this work is the question of how politics affects judicial activity-and how, in turn, lawmaking by judges affects American politics. Duncan Kennedy considers opposing views about whether law is political in character and, if so, how. He puts forward an original, distinctive, and remarkably lucid theory of adjudication that includes accounts of both judicial rhetoric and the experience of judging. With an eye to the current state of theory, legal or otherwise, he also includes a provocative discussion of postmodernism.Ultimately concerned with the practical consequences of ideas about the law, A Critique of Adjudication explores the aspects and implications of adjudication as few books have in this century. As a comprehensive and powerfully argued statement of a critical position in modern American legal thought, it will be essential to any balanced picture of the legal, political, and cultural life of our nation.
After the Rights Revolution : Reconceiving the Regulatory State - Thryft
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Cass R. Sunstein | Harvard University Press

After the Rights Revolution : Reconceiving the Regulatory State

$8.06 $4.84 40% off

Goodreads rating: 3.83

$8.06 $4.84 40% off

In the twentieth century, American society has experienced a “rights revolution”: a commitment by the national government to promote a healthful environment, safe products, freedom from discrimination, and other rights unknown to the founding generation. This development has profoundly affected constitutional democracy by skewing the original understanding of checks and balances, federalism, and individual rights. Cass Sunstein tells us how it is possible to interpret and reform this regulatory state regime in a way that will enhance freedom and welfare while remaining faithful to constitutional commitments.Sunstein vigorously defends government regulation against Reaganite/Thatcherite attacks based on free-market economics and pre–New Deal principles of private right. Focusing on the important interests in clean air and water, a safe workplace, access to the air waves, and protection against discrimination, he shows that regulatory initiatives have proved far superior to an approach that relies solely on private enterprise. Sunstein grants that some regulatory regimes have failed and calls for reforms that would amount to an American perestroika: a restructuring that embraces the use of government to further democratic goals but that insists on the decentralization and productive potential of private markets.Sunstein also proposes a theory of interpretation that courts and administrative agencies could use to secure constitutional goals and to improve the operation of regulatory programs. From this theory he seeks to develop a set of principles that would synthesize the modern regulatory state with the basic premises of the American constitutional system. Teachers of law, policymakers and political scientists, economists and historians, and a general audience interested in rights, regulation, and government will find this book an essential addition to their libraries.
The Basic Concepts of Legal Thought - Thryft
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George P. Fletcher | Oxford University Press

The Basic Concepts of Legal Thought

$27.69

Goodreads rating: 3.5

$27.69

In this one-of-a-kind text, George P. Fletcher, a renowned legal theorist, offers a provocative yet accessible overview of the basics of legal thought. The first section of the book is designed to introduce the reader to fundamental concepts such as the rule of law and deciding cases under the law. It continues with an analysis of the values of justice, desert, consent, and equality, as they figure into our judgment of legal cultures in terms of soundness and legitimacy. The final chapters address the problems of morality and consistency in the law. In each case the author not only introduces the basic ideas but considers important arguments in the contemporary literature and raises original claims of his own. Ideally suited for courses in the philosophy of law, legal issues, and jurisprudence, Basic Concepts of Legal Thought fills a void in the literature, as there is no other volume that both eases law students into the mysteries of legal philosophy and provides an introductionto the legal mind for non-lawyers.
The Practice of Everyday Life - Thryft
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Michel de Certeau, Steven F. Rendall  | University Of California Press

The Practice of Everyday Life

$9.86

Goodreads rating: 4.11

$9.86

Michel de Certeau considers the uses to which social representation and modes of social behavior are put by individuals and groups, describing the tactics available to the common man for reclaiming his own autonomy from the all-pervasive forces of commerce, politics, and culture. In exploring the public meaning of ingeniously defended private meanings, de Certeau draws brilliantly on an immense theoretical literature in analytic philosophy, linguistics, sociology, semiology, and anthropology--to speak of an apposite use of imaginative literature.
When Words Lose Their Meaning : Constitutions and Reconstitutions of Language, Character, and Community - Thryft
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James Boyd White | University Of Chicago Press

When Words Lose Their Meaning : Constitutions and Reconstitutions of Language, Character, and Community

$14.17

Goodreads rating: 4.16

$14.17

Through fresh readings of texts ranging from Homer's Iliad , Swift's Tale of a Tub , and Austen's Emma through the United States Constitution and McCulloch v. Maryland , James Boyd White examines the relationship between an individual mind and its language and culture as well as the "textual community" established between writer and audience. These striking textual analyses develop a rhetoric—a "way of reading" that can be brought to any text but that, in broader terms, becomes a way of learning that can shape the reader's life."In this ambitious and demanding work of literary criticism, James Boyd White seeks to communicate 'a sense of reading in a new and different way.' . . . [White's] marriage of lawyerly acumen and classically trained literary sensibility—equally evident in his earlier work, The Legal Imagination —gives the best parts of When Words Lose Their Meaning a gravity and moral earnestness rare in the pages of contemporary literary criticism."—Roger Kimball, American Scholar"James Boyd White makes a state-of-the-art attempt to enrich legal theory with the insights of modern literary theory. Of its kind, it is a singular and standout achievement. . . . [White's] selections span the whole range of legal, literary, and political offerings, and his writing evidences a sustained and intimate experience with these texts. Writing with natural elegance, White manages to be insightful and inciteful. Throughout, his timely book is energized by an urgent love of literature and law and their liberating potential. His passion and sincerity are palpable."—Allan C. Hutchinson, Yale Law Journal"Undeniably a unique and significant work. . . . When Words Lose Their Meaning is a rewarding book by a distinguished legal scholar. It is a showcase for the most interesting sort of inter-disciplinary the kind that brings together from traditionally separate fields not so much information as ideas and approaches."—R. B. Kershner, Jr., Georgia Review
What is a Law of Nature? - Thryft
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D.M. Armstrong | Cambridge University Press

What is a Law of Nature?

$20.17

Goodreads rating: 3.67

$20.17

This is a study of a crucial and controversial topic in metaphysics and the philosophy of science: the status of the laws of nature. D. M. Armstrong works out clearly and in comprehensive detail a largely original view that laws are relations between properties or universals. The theory is continuous with the views on universals and more generally with the scientific realism that Professor Armstrong has advanced in earlier publications. He begins here by mounting an attack on the orthodox and sceptical view deriving from Hume that laws assert no more than a regularity of coincidence between instances of properties. In doing so he presents what may become the definitive statement of the case against this position. Professor Armstrong then goes on to establish his own theory in a systematic manner defending it against the most likely objections, and extending both it and the related theory of universals to cover functional and statistical laws. This treatment of the subject is refreshingly concise and vivid: it will both stimulate vigorous professional debate and make an excellent student text.
The Political Philosophy of Hobbes : Its Basis and Its Genesis - Thryft
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Leo Strauss, Elsa M. Sinclair  | University Of Chicago Press

The Political Philosophy of Hobbes : Its Basis and Its Genesis

$5.41

Goodreads rating: 3.91

$5.41

In this classic analysis, Leo Strauss pinpoints what is original and innovative in the political philosophy of Thomas Hobbes. He argues that Hobbes's ideas arose not from tradition or science but from his own deep knowledge and experience of human nature. Tracing the development of Hobbes's moral doctrine from his early writings to his major work The Leviathan, Strauss explains contradictions in the body of Hobbes's work and discovers startling connections between Hobbes and the thought of Plato, Thucydides, Aristotle, Descartes, Spinoza, and Hegel.
The New Grammarians' Funeral : A Critique of Noam Chomsky's Linguistics - Thryft
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Ian Robinson | Cambridge University Press

The New Grammarians' Funeral : A Critique of Noam Chomsky's Linguistics

$11.93

Goodreads rating: 4.5

$11.93

This is probably the sharpest consideration of Chomskyan linguistics yet to appear. Ian Robinson argues that it is important to recognise Chomsky's positive achievement as a definition of the domain of traditional syntax in the context of an adherence to traditional grammar. But this strictly limited achievement offers no basis for many of the claims made for linguistics. Chomsky's views of language as a whole are narrow and conceptually confused; his psychology is based on the predication of unnecessary entities; and the central ambition to make linguistics a natural science is deeply misconceived. The common reader will find the argument clear and invigorating. The study of language necessarily interests philosophers as well as linguists: so the ordinary person with no more than an interest in poetry or speech may feel himself disadvantaged as an amateur. On the contrary: it is by the common reader that the discussion of language is finally judged, and Mr Robinson speaks for the central common sense of speakers and readers of language and literature.
Jurismania : Madness of American Law - Thryft
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Paul F. Campos | Oxford University Press

Jurismania : Madness of American Law

$4.50 $2.70 40% off

Goodreads rating: 3.22

$4.50 $2.70 40% off

91% off est. retail
In Jurismania, Paul Campos asserts that our legal system is beginning to exhibit symptoms of serious mental illness. Trials and appeals that stretch out for years and cost millions, 100 page appellate court opinions, 1,000 page statutes before which even lawyers tremble with fear, and a publicthat grows more litigious every day all testify to a judicial overkill that borders on obsessive-compulsive disorder. Campos locates the source of such madness, paradoxically, in our worship of reason and the resulting belief that all problems are amenable to legal solutions. In insightfuldiscussions of a wide range of cases, from NCAA regulations of student-athletes to the Simpson trial, from our most intractable social disputes over abortion and physician-assisted suicide to the war on drugs and the increasingly fastidious attempts to regulate behavior in public spaces, Camposshows that the mania for more law exacerbates the very problems it seeks to remedy. In his final chapter, the author calls instead for a humbling recognition of the limits of reason and a much more modest role for our legal system.Clearly written and laced with a delicious wit, Jurismania gives us a CAT-scan of the American legal mind at work. It reveals not only that the patient is even worse off than we imagined, but also clarifies the many reasons why.
The Theory of Meaning - Thryft
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George H. Parkinson | Oxford University Press

The Theory of Meaning

$6.39

Goodreads rating: 3.5

$6.39

188p paperback, 9 essays include Isaiah Berlin, D Shwayder, notes, bibliography, index, very good
Reference and Modality - Thryft
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Leonard Linsky | Oxford University Press

Reference and Modality

$6.41

Goodreads rating: 4.0

$6.41

Reference and Oxford Readings in Philosophy [paperback] Leonard Linsky [Apr 15, 1971]
Rights and Persons - Thryft
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Abraham Irving Melden | University Of California Press

Rights and Persons

$5.41

Goodreads rating: 3.0

$5.41

Rights and Persons by A.I. Melden.
Risks and Wrongs - Thryft
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Jules L. Coleman | Cambridge University Press

Risks and Wrongs

$27.02

Goodreads rating: 4.0

$27.02

This major new book by one of America's preeminent legal theorists is concerned with the conflict between the goals of justice and economic efficiency in the allocation of risk, especially risk pertaining to safety. The author approaches his subject from the premise that the market is central to liberal political, moral, and legal theory. In the first part of the book, he rejects traditional 'rational choice' liberalism in favor of the view that the market operates as a rational way of fostering stable relationships and institutions within communities of individuals with broadly divergent conceptions of the good. However, markets are needed most where they are most difficult to create and sustain, and one way to understand contract law in liberal legal theory, according to Professor Coleman, is as an institution designed to reduce uncertainty and thereby make markets possible.
Leviathan
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Thomas Hobbes, J.C.A. Gaskin  | Oxford University Press

Leviathan

$8.90

Goodreads rating: 3.71

$8.90

56% off est. retail
If you're inclined towards deep thinking about the mechanisms of society and governance, "Leviathan" by Thomas Hobbes is something you shouldn't miss. This edition comes with modernized spelling and valuable annotations to help you navigate Hobbes's complex arguments. It's a book that has been revered for generations, constantly finding relevance in the evolving political landscape. It could offer you a new lens to view authority, human nature, and social contracts.
Locke: Two Treatises of Government Student edition - Thryft
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John Locke | Cambridge University Press

Locke: Two Treatises of Government Student edition

$8.36

Goodreads rating: 3.87

$8.36

This is a new revised version of Dr. Laslett's standard edition of Two Treatises. First published in 1960, and based on an analysis of the whole body of Locke's publications, writings, and papers. The Introduction and text have been revised to incorporate references to recent scholarship since the second edition and the bibliography has been updated.
Hobbes: Leviathan : Revised student edition - Thryft
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Richard Tuck, Quentin Skinner, Thomas Hobbes  | Cambridge University Press

Hobbes: Leviathan : Revised student edition

$9.80

Goodreads rating: 3.71

$9.80

Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan is arguably the greatest piece of political philosophy written in the English language. Written in a time of great political turmoil (Hobbes' life spanned the reign of Charles I, the Civil Wars, the Commonwealth and the Protectorate, and the Restoration), Leviathan is an argument for obedience to authority grounded in an analysis of human nature. Since its first publication in 1991 Richard Tuck's edition of Leviathan has been recognised as the single most accurate and authoritative text, and for this revised edition Professor Tuck has provided a much amplified and expanded introduction, which will provide students unfamiliar with Hobbes with a cogent and accessible introduction to this most challenging of texts. Other vital aids to study include an extensive guide to further reading, a note on textual matters, a chronology of important events and brief biographies of important persons mentioned in Hobbes' text.
Rousseau: 'The Discourses' and Other Early Political Writings - Thryft
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Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Victor Gourevitch  | Cambridge University Press

Rousseau: 'The Discourses' and Other Early Political Writings

$10.21

Goodreads rating: 4.03

$10.21

The work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau is presented in two volumes, which together form the most comprehensive anthology of Rousseau's political writings in English. Volume I contains the earlier writings such as the First and Second Discourses. The American and French Revolutions were profoundly affected by Rousseau's writing, thus illustrating the scope of his influence. Volume II contains the later writings such as the Social Contract. The Social Contract was publicly condemned on publication causing Rousseau to flee. In exile he wrote both autobiographical and political works. These volumes contain comprehensive introductions, chronologies, and guides to further reading, and will enable students to fully understand the writings of one of the world's greatest thinkers.
Beginning Theory - Thryft
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Peter Barry | Manchester University Press

Beginning Theory

$8.22

Goodreads rating: 3.85

$8.22

This book is perfect for students and readers looking to navigate the complex field of literary and cultural theory. It unravels the intricacies of different approaches and theories in a lucid and expert manner. Unlike other books, it allows readers to develop their own ideas once they grasp the foundational concepts. With updated content and new chapters, it provides a comprehensive overview of the history and contemporary developments in theory. Whether you are a student or an enthusiast, this book is an essential tool to help you understand the ever-evolving world of literary and cultural theory.
Renaissance Self Fashioning : From More to Shakespeare - Thryft
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Professor Stephen Greenblatt | University Of Chicago Press

Renaissance Self Fashioning : From More to Shakespeare

$8.24

Goodreads rating: 4.09

$8.24

Renaissance Self-Fashioning is a study of sixteenth-century life and literature that spawned a new era of scholarly inquiry. Stephen Greenblatt examines the structure of selfhood as evidenced in major literary figures of the English Renaissance—More, Tyndale, Wyatt, Spenser, Marlowe, and Shakespeare—and finds that in the early modern period new questions surrounding the nature of identity heavily influenced the literature of the era. Now a classic text in literary studies, Renaissance Self-Fashioning continues to be of interest to students of the Renaissance, English literature, and the new historicist tradition, and this new edition includes a preface by the author on the book's creation and influence."No one who has read [Greenblatt's] accounts of More, Tyndale, Wyatt, and others can fail to be moved, as well as enlightened, by an interpretive mode which is as humane and sympathetic as it is analytical. These portraits are poignantly, subtly, and minutely rendered in a beautifully lucid prose alive in every sentence to the ambivalences and complexities of its subjects."—Harry Berger Jr., University of California, Santa Cruz
Constraints on the Waging of War : An Introduction to International Humanitarian Law - Thryft
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Frits Kalshoven, Liesbeth Zegveld  | Cambridge University Press

Constraints on the Waging of War : An Introduction to International Humanitarian Law

$9.48

Goodreads rating: 3.56

$9.48

This fully revised fourth edition of Constraints on the Waging of War considers the development of the principal rules of international humanitarian law from their origins to the present day. Of particular focus are the rules governing weapons and the legal instruments through which respect for the law can be enforced. Combining theory and actual practice, this book appeals to specialists as well as to students turning to the subject for the first time.
After the Fact: Two Countries, Four Decades, One Anthropologist - The Jerusalem-Harvard Lectures
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Clifford Geertz | Harvard University Press

After the Fact: Two Countries, Four Decades, One Anthropologist - The Jerusalem-Harvard Lectures

$13.90

Goodreads rating: 3.75

$13.90

67% off est. retail
If you're intrigued by how cultural observation intertwines with personal and disciplinary growth, "After the Fact" offers a unique perspective. Clifford Geertz doesn't just take you on a journey through two towns he studied; he also invites you to witness the transformation of anthropology and the world over four decades. It's thought-provoking for anyone interested in the human condition and the way we study it.
The Mass Ornament : Weimar Essays - Thryft
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Siegfried Kracauer | Harvard University Press

The Mass Ornament : Weimar Essays

$3.89

Goodreads rating: 4.14

$3.89

Siegfried Kracauer was one of the twentieth century’s most brilliant cultural critics, a daring and prolific scholar, and an incisive theorist of film. In this volume his finest writings on modern society make their long-awaited appearance in English.This book is a celebration of the masses―their tastes, amusements, and everyday lives. Taking up themes of modernity, such as isolation and alienation, urban culture, and the relation between the group and the individual, Kracauer explores a kaleidoscope of shopping arcades, the cinema, bestsellers and their readers, photography, dance, hotel lobbies, Kafka, the Bible, and boredom. For Kracauer, the most revelatory facets of modern life in the West lie on the surface, in the ephemeral and the marginal. Of special fascination to him is the United States, where he eventually settled after fleeing Germany and whose culture he sees as defined almost exclusively by “the ostentatious display of surface.”With these essays, written in the 1920s and early 1930s and edited by the author in 1963, Kracauer was the first to demonstrate that studying the everyday world of the masses can bring great rewards. The Mass Ornament today remains a refreshing tribute to popular culture, and its impressively interdisciplinary essays continue to shed light not only on Kracauer’s later work but also on the ideas of the Frankfurt School, the genealogy of film theory and cultural studies, Weimar cultural politics, and, not least, the exigencies of intellectual exile.In his introduction, Thomas Levin situates Kracauer in a turbulent age, illuminates the forces that influenced him―including his friendships with Walter Benjamin, Theodor Adorno, and other Weimar intellectuals―and provides the context necessary for understanding his ideas. Until now, Kracauer has been known primarily for his writings on the cinema. This volume brings us the full scope of his gifts as one of the most wide-ranging and penetrating interpreters of modern life.
On Liberty, Utilitarianism and Other Essays
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Frederick Rosen, Mark Philp, John Stuart Mill  | Oxford University Press

On Liberty, Utilitarianism and Other Essays

$6.90

Goodreads rating: 3.94

$6.90

59% off est. retail
If you're looking to understand the bedrock principles shaping modern political thought, Mill's collection is pivotal. Not only does it delve into fundamental issues like liberty, ethics, and gender equality, but also it's essential for anyone intrigued by the underpinnings of Western political systems. Reading these essays might feel like you're in conversation with the very ideas that support contemporary debates about individual and societal values.