The Despots Apprentice: Donald Trumps Attack on Democracy
Author: Brian Klaas File Type: pdf Donald Trump isnt a despot. But he is increasingly acting like a despots apprentice. Whether its attacking the press, threatening the rule of law, or staffing the White House with family members and cronies, Trump is borrowing moves from the worlds dictators. The presidents bizarre adoration of global strongmen has also transformed US foreign policy into a powerful force cheerleading some of the worlds worst regimes. An expert on authoritarianism, Brian Klaas is well placed to recognise the warning signs of tyranny. He argues forcefully that with every autocratic tactic or tweet, Trump further erodes democratic norms in the worlds most powerful democracy. The Despots Apprentice is an urgent exploration of the unique threat that Trump poses to global democracy-and how to save it from him before its too late.
Author: Kevin A. Morrison
File Type: pdf
Victorian Liberalism and Material Culture assesses the unexplored links between Victorian material culture and political theory. It seeks to transform understanding of Victorian liberalisms key conceptual metaphor ? that the mind of an individuated subject is private space. Focusing on the environments inhabited by four Victorian writers and intellectuals, it delineates how John Stuart Mills, Matthew Arnolds, John Morleys, and Robert Brownings commitments to liberalism were shaped by or manifested through the physical spaces in which they worked. The book also asserts the centrality of the embodied experience of actual people to Victorian political thought. Readers will gain new historical and literary understanding and will be introduced to an innovative methodology that links material culture and political theory. **
Author: Richard Adams
File Type: mobi
*Shardik* is a powerful work, dipping deep into old forms-allegory, epic, myth-resonating in the caverns of the readers unconscious . . . It is an exciting story, the adventures compelling. (*Los Angeles Times*) Grips with suspense, haunts with mystery . . . a memorable work, not to be read once only but to be reread as loved books are . . . a human saga. (*The Wall Street Journal*) Richard Adamss *Watership Down* was a number one bestseller, a stunning work of the imagination, and an acknowledged modern classic. In *Shardik* Adams sets a different yet equally compelling tale in a far-off fantasy world. *Shardik* is a fantasy of tragic character, centered on the long-awaited reincarnation of the gigantic bear Shardik and his appearance among the half-barbaric Ortelgan people. Mighty, ferocious, and unpredictable, Shardik changes the life of every person in the story. His advent commences a momentous chain of events. Kelderek the hunter, who loves and trusts the great bear, is swept on by destiny to become first devotee and then prophet, then victorious soldier, then ruler of an empire and priest-king of Lord Shardik-Messenger of God-only to discover ever-deeper layers of meaning implicit in his passionate belief in the bears divinity. A gripping tale of war, adventure, horror and romance, *Shardik*, on a deeper level, is a remarkable exploration of mankinds universal desire for divine incarnation.
Author: Jean-Antoine-nicolas de Caritat Marquis de Condorcet
File Type: pdf
Condorcet (1743&1794) was the last of the great eighteenth-century French philosophes and one of the most fervent am&ericanistes of his time. A friend of Franklin, Jefferson, and Paine and a member of the American Philosophical Society, he was well informed and enthusiastic about the American Revolution. Condorcet&s writings on the American Revolution, the Federal Constitution, and the new political culture emerging in the United States constitute milestones in the history of French political thought and of French attitudes toward the United States. These remarkable texts, however, have not been available in modern editions or translations. This book presents first or new translations of all of Condorcet&s major writings on the United States, including an essay on the impact of the American Revolution on Europe a commentary on the Federal Constitution, the first such commentary to be published in the Old World and his Eulogy of Franklin, in which Condorcet paints a vivid picture of his recently deceased friend as the archetype of the new American man self-made, practical, talented but modest, tolerant and free of prejudice&the embodiment of reason, common sense, and the liberal values of the Enlightenment.
Author: Terry Bennett
File Type: pdf
This fascinating Japanese photography book features over 140 images taken between 1853 and 1905 by the most important local and foreign photographers then working in Japan. Almost one-fourth of the images are hand colored, superb examples of a rich art form long since vanished. The Japan of this book too has disappeared, but author and compiler Terry Bennett has put together a unique portrait of the country at perhaps its most decisive turning point, a nation about to abandon its traditional ways and enter the modern age. Important features of Early Japanese Images include the following ul lA historical overview of the years 1853-1912l lThe story of early Western photographers in Japanl lThe story of early Japanese photographersl lOver 100 images reproduced in original sepia tonesl lOver 40 images reproduced as originally handcoloredl lAn invaluable index that identifies the photographersl ul **
Author: Brian Madison Jones
File Type: epub
In Abolishing the Taboo, Brian Madison Jones takes a new look at the integral role played by Dwight D. Eisenhower in the creation of a new nuclear creed for the United States during the Cold War. The author centers the narrative on Eisenhower, the man, the general, and the president, with specific focus on his intellectual and political understanding of nuclear technology in general and nuclear weapons in particular. Abolishing the Taboo presents an analysis of Eisenhowers thinking about nuclear weapons since 1945 as well as a survey of nuclear developments from 1953-1961. With heavy reliance upon archival research at the Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene, Kansas as well as published works by Eisenhower and his confidants, Abolishing the Taboo evidences how Dwight D. Eisenhower came to believe that nuclear weapons and nuclear technology were permissible and desirable assets to help protect U.S. national security against the threat of international communism. Through an analysis of Eisenhowers words and actions, Jones shows how and why Eisenhower sought to make nuclear weapons as available, useful, and ordinary for purposes of national security as other revolutionary military technology from the past, such as the tank. Jones describes Eisenhowers assessment of the role and value of nuclear technology as profound, sincere, and pragmatic, but also simplistic, uneven, and perilous and explains that Eisenhower consistently advanced his view that strength through nuclear technology was possible, necessary, and sustainable. Abolishing the Taboo shows how Eisenhower sought to reverse the perception that nuclear weapons were inherently dangerous by advocating steadily and consistently for the proper and acceptable use of nuclear technology to contribute to the safety of the republic. The president conceived policies such as the New Look, massive retaliation, Project Plowshare, and Atoms for Peace in part to convince the American public and the international community of the U.S.s genuine desire for peace as Eisenhower simultaneously entrenched atomic and thermonuclear weapons into the American national conscience, according to the author. Jones concludes that Eisenhower, more than any other single figure, expanded the role played by nuclear technology in American life and became the primary architect of the new American nuclear creed that made nuclear weapons and nuclear technology ordinary, abundant, and indispensable to U.S. national security in the postwar period.
Author: Paul Portner
File Type: pdf
This book presents the essential background for understanding semantic theories of mood. Mood as a category is widely used in the description of languages and the formal analysis of their grammatical properties. It typically refers to the features of a sentence-individual morphemes or grammatical patterns-that reflect how the sentence contributes to the modal meaning of a larger phrase, or that indicate the type of fundamental pragmatic function that it has in conversation. In this volume, Paul Portner discusses the most significant semantic theories relating to the two main subtypes of mood verbal mood, including the categories of indicative and subjunctive subordinate clauses, and sentence mood, encompassing declaratives, interrogatives, and imperatives. He evaluates those theories, compares them, and draws connections between seemingly disparate approaches, and he formalizes some of the literatures most important ideas in new ways in order to draw out their most significant insights. Ultimately, this work shows that there are crucial connections between verbal mood and sentence mood which point the way towards a more general understanding of how mood works and its relation to other topics in linguistics it also outlines the type of semantic and pragmatic theory which will make it possible to explain these relations. The book will be a valuable resource for researchers and students from advanced undergraduate level upwards in the fields of semantics and pragmatics, philosophy, computer science, and psychology. **
Author: Patricia Pires Boulhosa
File Type: pdf
The book uses sagas and legal texts to re-examine the relations between mediaeval Icelanders and the Norwegian kings. It demonstrates that the Icelanders - partly subjects of the king, and partly beyond his power - were ready to negotiate with him for their own benefit, and presents a methodological re-evaluation of authorial attributions of the sagas and their use as historical sources. Key to the book is a revisionary analysis of two laws made between the Icelanders and the kings of Norway a law probably issued by King Olafr inn helgi of Norway (1015-1028), and the purported submission agreements with King Hakon Hakonarson (1217-1263), known as Gizurarsattmali or Gamli sattmali. It also analyses the sagas of the fourteenth-century manuscript Moruvallabok against the historical context extracted from this legal re-evaluation.About the AuthorPatricia Pires Boulhosa has a Ph.D. (2003) in Mediaeval Icelandic Literature and History from the University of Cambridge, and degrees in Law and History from the Pontifical University, Sao Paulo, Brazil. This is her first book.
Author: Risto Saarinen
File Type: pdf
Weakness of will, the phenomenon of acting contrary to ones own better judgment, has remained a prominent discussion topic of philosophy. The history of this discussion in ancient, medieval, and modern times has been outlined in many studies. Weakness of Will in Renaissance and Reformation Thought is, however, the first book to cover the fascinating source materials on weakness of will between 1350 and 1650. In addition to considering the work of a broad range of Renaissance authors (including Petrarch, Donato Acciaiuoli, John Mair, and Francesco Piccolomini), Risto Saarinen explores the theologically coloured debates of the Reformation period, such as those provided by Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon, John Calvin, and Lambert Daneau. He goes on to discuss the impact of these authors on prominent figures of early modernity, including Shakespeare, Descartes, Spinoza, and Leibniz.While most of the historical research on weakness of will has focused on the reception history of Aristotles Nicomachean Ethics, Saarinen pays attention to the Platonic and Stoic discussions and their revival during the Renaissance and the Reformation. He also shows the ways in which Augustines discussion of the divided will is intertwined with the Christian reception of ancient Greek ethics, and argues that the theological underpinnings of early modern authors do not rule out weakness of will, but transform the philosophical discussion and lead it towards new solutions.ReviewSaarinens analyses are clear and cogent throughout the book ... It is a measure of Saarinens superb handling of this heterogeneous material that he acknowledges the philosophical insufficiency of some of it ... and still finds very instructive ways to use these texts in order to shed considerable light on their relevance to the theory of action and the moral psychology involved in weakness of will. In a convincing manner, Saarinen has certainly charted a lot of territory previously more or less unknown to the scholarly discussions on weakness of will in a historical perspective. As with his first book on the subject, this will hopefully prove a ground-breaking enterprise soon to be followed by other scholars in the area of early modern thought. Jorn Muller, British Journal for the History of Philosophy Saarinen provides a fascinating and in-depth study relevant to philosophical and theological anthropology, as well as to the Christian discussion of hamartiology. His nuanced treatment also breaks down the dichotomies that older scholarship posited between philosophy and theology, Renaissance and Reformation, humanism and scholasticism. It highlights the creative and eclectic nature of this intellectual period. Keith D. Stanglin, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews About the AuthorRisto Saarinen received his Dr. Theol. in 1988 and Dr. Phil. in 1994, both at the University of Helsinki. His PhD dissertation, Weakness of the Will in Medieval Thought (1994), received broad scholarly attention. From 1994 to 1999 Saarinen worked as Research Professor at the Institute for Ecumenical Research in Strasbourg, France. Since 2001 he has held the chair of Ecumenics at the University of Helsinki. Saarinen has published extensively in the fields of medieval and early modern philosophy and theology as well as contemporary ecumenism. From 2008 to 2013 he has been in charge of the Renaissance and Reformation research team on Philosophical Psychology, Morality and Politics at the Finnish Academys Centre of Excellence.