Author: Mary Helen McMurran File Type: pdf Mind, Body, Motion, Matter investigates the relationship between the eighteenth centurys two predominant approaches to the natural world mechanistic materialism and vitalism in the works of leading British and French writers such as Daniel Defoe, William Hogarth, Laurence Sterne, the third Earl of Shaftesbury and Denis Diderot. Focusing on embodied experience and the materialization of thought in poetry, novels, art, and religion, the literary scholars in this collection offer new and intriguing readings of these canonical authors. Informed by contemporary currents such as new materialism, cognitive studies, media theory, and post-secularism, their essays demonstrate the volatility of the core ideas opened up by materialism and the possibilities of an aesthetic vitalism of form. **Review Mind, Body, Motion, Matter, with its thoughtful articulation of contemporary theoretical concerns with eighteenth-century literature, art, aesthetics, and philosophy, represents the leading edge of eighteenth-century studies. A collection of provocative, substantial, and well-argued essays, the volume not only reflects on what is past but also opens onto the future. (Natania Meeker, Departments of French and Comparative Literature, University of Southern California) Each of the essays in this collection helps reshape the way we think about British and French eighteenth-century literary culture. Those who are engaged with eighteenth-century philosophy and science will be especially interested in the range of topics addressed in Mind, Body, Motion, Matter. (Neil Saccamano, Department of English, Cornell University) About the Author Mary Helen McMurran is an associate professor in the Department of English and Writing Studies at the University of Western Ontario. Alison Conway is a professor in the Department of English and Writing Studies at the University of Western Ontario.

Author: Beverley Clack File Type: epub For over twenty years, Beverley Clack and Brian R. Clacks distinctive and thought-provoking introduction to the philosophy of religion has been of enormous value to students and scholars, providing an approach to the subject that is bold and refreshingly alternative. This revised and updated edition retains the accessibility which makes the book popular, while furthering its distinctive argument regarding the human dimension of religion. The central emphasis of the philosophy of religion the concept of God, and the arguments for and against Gods existence is reflected in thorough analyses, while alternative approaches to traditional philosophical theism are explored. The treatments of both the miraculous and immortality have been revised and expanded, and the concluding chapter updates the investigation of how philosophy of religion might be conducted in an age defined by religious terrorism. Clear, systematic and highly critical, the third edition of The Philosophy of Religion will continue to be essential reading for students and scholars of this fascinating and important subject.**Review The Philosophy of Religion is a first-rate book. Brief extracts from literature are used to good effect. Times Educational Supplement There is much to commend in the book. It is clearly written, well ordered, and straightforward. A lively book. The Expository Times This is without any doubt the best available introductory text to the philosophy of religion. It discusses many of the standard problems in the philosophy of religion, but it also moves beyond them to challenge new ways of looking at the discipline, not least in terms of gender and secular formation. Fascinating possibilities are opened up by means of this closer scrutiny of gender, and are connected with such themes as a new understanding of evil and suffering, a different account of life andafter death, and the pressing issues of ecology. Professor Grace M. Jantzen, Centre for Religion, Culture and Gender, University of Manchester This book shows why the philosophy of religion has been for forty years the most interesting branch of theology. It starts with the standard syllabus - religion, the existence of and nature of God, evil - and then goes on to show how new ideas have disrupted the old syllabus, ending with Iris Murdoch and Dennis Potter. Just the thing for getting beginners involved with the subject. Don Cupitt, Emmanuel College, Cambridge The Clack siblings have produced an innovative introduction to the philosophy of religion which combines clear exposition and comment with the stimulus of specific exam-type questions for revision and other purposes. Professor Sir Stewart Sutherland, University of Edinburgh Book Description This exciting textbook combines a clear introduction to the themes traditionally covered in the philosophy of religion with contemporary developments in the discipline. The combination of traditional and alternative approaches makes it the most.