Author: Ted Honderich
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Ted Honderich investigates the morality of the September 11th attacks and what terrorism tells us about ourselves and our obligations. Did we have a responsibility for what took place? Did we respond to it as we should have? What are we to do now? After the Terror inquires into the natural fact of morality and the worked-out moralities of philosophers. It reaches to the moral core of our lives.Honderich writes, We can be held partly responsible for the 3,000 deaths at the twin towers and at the Pentagon. We are rightly to be held responsible along with the killers. We share the guilt. Those who condemn us have a reason to do so. Did we bring the killing at the twin towers on ourselves? Did we have it coming? Those offensive questions, and their offensive, but affirmative answer, do contain a truth.ReviewIn these bad times, when many intellectuals have become the spear-carriers of the new order, reading the words of Ted Honderich is a rare delight. This uncompromising and courageous philosopher continues the dissenting tradition of Bertrand Russell and Jean-Paul Sartre, more needed now than ever before.(Tariq Ali ) About the AuthorTed Honderich has been the Grote Professor of the Philosophy of Mind and Logic at University College London, and visiting professor at Yale University, the Graduate Center at CUNY, and Brooklyn College. His books include Philosopher A Kind of Life The Oxford Companion to Philosophy and The Supposed Justifications.
Author: Paul North
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The Yield is a once-in-a-generation reinterpretation of the oeuvre of Franz Kafka. At the same time, it is a powerful new entry in the debates about the supposed secularity of the modern age. Kafka is one of the most admired writers of the last century, but this book presents us with a Kafka few will recognize. It does so through a fine-grained analysis of the three hundred thoughts the writer penned near the end of World War I, when he had just been diagnosed with tuberculosis. Since they were discovered after Kafkas death, the meaning of the so-called Zurau aphorisms has been open to debate. Paul Norths elucidation of what amounts to Kafkas only theoretical work shows them to contain solutions to problems Europe has faced throughout modernity. Kafka offers responses to phenomena of violence, discrimination, political repression, misunderstanding, ethnic hatred, fantasies of technological progress, and the subjugation of the worker, among other problems. Reflecting on secular modernity and the theological ideas that continue to determine it, he critiques the ideas of sin, suffering, the messiah, paradise, truth, the power of art, good will, and knowledge. Kafkas controversial alternative to the bad state of affairs in his day? Rather than fight it, give in. Developing some of Kafkas arguments, The Yield describes the ways that Kafka envisions we can be good by yielding to our situation instead of striving for something better.
Author: Raymond van Dam
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The reign of the emperor Constantine (306-337) was as revolutionary for the transformation of Romes Mediterranean empire as that of Augustus, the first emperor three centuries earlier. The abandonment of Rome signaled the increasing importance of frontier zones in northern and central Europe and the Middle East. The foundation of Constantinople as a new imperial residence and the rise of Greek as the language of administration previewed the establishment of a separate eastern Roman empire.ReviewVan Dams illuminating insights and careful scholarship are matched by playful interpretations of ambiguous evidence and an eminently readable prose. The approach of the book is particularly refreshing as it brings together at least two fields of study which have far too often been separated in late Roman and early Byzantine scholarship political philosophy and the development of Christian theology. Van Dams analysis of each in light of the other enriches our understanding of both and exposes the complex internal dynamics of late Roman society and culture that are obscured by a narrower focus on Constantines biography or conversion. For this reason the book is important for patristic theologians and scholars of early Christianity as well as for Roman, late antique, and Byzantine historians. Van Dams study of Emperor Constantine constitutes a major reappraisal of this pivotal figure for Roman history and western civilization as a whole. Despite its importance, however, the book will surely not be the final word for either popular or scholarly discussions of the famous Christian emperor. New generations will feel compelled to evaluate him afresh in light of their own interpretive stances. Indeed Van Dam has intimated as much in his Introduction, suggesting that as we repeatedly construct Constantine, we are Eusebius true heirs. --BMCRThis diverse, far-reaching book is a penetrating, original study of a second Roman revolution, when the Roman Empire switched to a new universal religion within a generation. Highly recommended, --Choice Book DescriptionThe reign of the emperor Constantine (306-337) was as revolutionary for the transformation of Romes Mediterranean empire as that of Augustus, the first emperor three centuries earlier. The abandonment of Rome signaled the increasing importance of frontier zones in northern and central Europe and the Middle East.
Author: Stephen T. Hosmer
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Operations targeted against senior enemy leaders have long been viewed as a potential means of shaping the policy and behavior of enemy states. As a result, the United States has launched a variety of overt and covert operations in efforts to attack enemy leaders directly, facilitate their overthrow by coup or rebellion, or secure their ouster through external invasion. This book examines a number of leadership attacks from World War II to the present to offer insights into the comparative efficacy of various forms of leadership attacks, their potential coercive and deterrent value, and the possible unintended consequences of their ill-considered use. The book concludes that direct attacks, coups, and rebellions have met with only limited success and, even when successful, have sometimes yielded counterproductive results. Moreover, neither direct attacks nor coups have been of significant coercive or deterrent value, although rebellions have at times provided useful negotiating leverage. By contrast, external invasions have proved to be more efficacious both in shaping the targeted countries policy and behavior and in exerting coercive effects. The book concludes by outlining the likely conditions under which future leadership attacks are likely to be sanctioned and by delineating the prerequisites of effective use of air power in such contexts.
Author: Serge Champeau
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The European Union seems to have rescued its single currency, but it has not yet put an end to the crisis. In this major new book, a group of fifteen international philosophers, economists, political scientists, sociologists, and legal experts compare the economic, political, constitutional, social, and cultural interpretations of the European crisis. They describe the challenges the EU faces in relation to legitimacy and democracy and address head-on the uncertainty over the future of Europe. The book considers different possible scenarios--from the Unions dissolution, with or without the continuation of the integration process, to its reinforcement through the building of a political union addressing the challenges of legitimacy, democracy and justice. Such a strengthened union could mark a new stage for democracy--not the democracy of ancient cities and modern states, but one convenient to the complex entities, neither national nor supra-national, of which the European Union, despite the crisis, is still the best modern example.
Author: Victor Kiernan
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For centuries, the duel played an integral role in the preservation of the aristocratic order in Europe, despite countless attempts by both church and state to ban the practice. The drama of the duel has been romanticized in countless works of literature, and it has been an enduring fixture in films and theater reflecting the period. But how did the duel come to prominence in the first place as the form by which men staked their honor? And how did it develop its allure as a cultural and artistic device? Renowned historian Victor Kiernan explores these questions and more in The Duel in European History. With wit and insight, Kiernan provides an entertaining history of the evolution of the ritual of the duel, beginning with its medieval originswhen it was regarded as a badge of rankand following the practice up to the early twentieth century, by which time it had come to be seen as an irrational anachronism. Kiernan argues persuasively that the idea of the duel was unique to Europe and its colonies, and, in its contribution to the development of the officers corps, played a key part in shaping European military power. In doing so, he sheds new light on the ascendency of aristocratic classes and the role that their values played in European history. This edition adds new depth to Kiernans fascinating historical account, with an original introduction from esteemed historian David Blackbourn, further exploring how and why the duel continues to ignite curiosity and the imagination. **
Author: Rob Dückers
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Although the Nijmegen artists Herman, Paul and Jean de Limbourg were barely thirty years old when they suddenly died in 1416, they could already look back on a formidable career. Now, even almost six hundred years after their creation, their colourful and highly refined miniatures in the Belles Heures and Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry still speak vividly to our imagination. In 2005, Museum Het Valkhof in Nijmegen presented the exhibition The Limbourg Brothers. Nijmegen Masters at the French Court (1400-1416). This was the first time that original miniatures out of four manuscripts by the Limbourg brothers were shown in the Netherlands. The exhibition formed an excellent opportunity to invite prominent scholars to share their views on the art of the Limbourg brothers during a two day conference. This publication presents in written form the conference papers delivered by some of the leading scholars in the field. In that respect, this volume acts as an addendum to the catalogue. Contributors of this title include, Hanneke van Asperen, Gregory T. Clark, Herman Th. Colenbrander, Rob Duckers, Eberhard Konig, Margaret Lawson, Stephen G. Perkinson, Pieter Roelofs, Victor M. Schmidt.**