Dissident Philosophers

Dissident Philosophers PDF Author: T. Allan Hillman
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1538159058
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
The book consists of sixteen essays (and an introduction) from prominent philosophers who are at odds with the predominant political trend(s) of academic philosophy, political trend(s) primarily associated with leftism. Some of these philosophers identify explicitly with the political right – an admittedly broad term which ranges from American conservative to British Tory, from religious right to non-religious right, from libertarian to authoritarian. Yet other dissident philosophers eschew the left/right dichotomy altogether while maintaining a firm political distance from the majority of their (left-leaning) colleagues. The primary goal of the volume is to represent a broad constituency of political philosophies and perspectives at variance with the prevailing political sentiments of the academy. Each essay is partly autobiographical in nature, detailing personal experiences that have influenced these philosophers throughout their lives, and partly philosophical, putting forth reflections on the intellectual viability of a right-leaning (or decidedly non-left leaning) political philosophy or some segment of it. The contemporary university is supposed to be the locus of viewpoint diversity, and yet as is evident to professors, students, and virtually anyone else who sets foot within its halls, it most certainly is not – particularly in matters political. Nevertheless, these essays are not instances of special-pleading or grievance incitement. Instead, each article provides a glimpse into the life of an academic philosopher whose views have largely been at odds with peers and colleagues. Furthermore, all of the essays were consciously constructed with the aim of being philosophically rigorous while eschewing technical language and verbose prose. In short, the essays will be enjoyable to a wide audience.

Dissident Philosophers

Dissident Philosophers PDF Author: T. Allan Hillman
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1538159058
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 321

Get Book Here

Book Description
The book consists of sixteen essays (and an introduction) from prominent philosophers who are at odds with the predominant political trend(s) of academic philosophy, political trend(s) primarily associated with leftism. Some of these philosophers identify explicitly with the political right – an admittedly broad term which ranges from American conservative to British Tory, from religious right to non-religious right, from libertarian to authoritarian. Yet other dissident philosophers eschew the left/right dichotomy altogether while maintaining a firm political distance from the majority of their (left-leaning) colleagues. The primary goal of the volume is to represent a broad constituency of political philosophies and perspectives at variance with the prevailing political sentiments of the academy. Each essay is partly autobiographical in nature, detailing personal experiences that have influenced these philosophers throughout their lives, and partly philosophical, putting forth reflections on the intellectual viability of a right-leaning (or decidedly non-left leaning) political philosophy or some segment of it. The contemporary university is supposed to be the locus of viewpoint diversity, and yet as is evident to professors, students, and virtually anyone else who sets foot within its halls, it most certainly is not – particularly in matters political. Nevertheless, these essays are not instances of special-pleading or grievance incitement. Instead, each article provides a glimpse into the life of an academic philosopher whose views have largely been at odds with peers and colleagues. Furthermore, all of the essays were consciously constructed with the aim of being philosophically rigorous while eschewing technical language and verbose prose. In short, the essays will be enjoyable to a wide audience.

The Philosophy and Politics of Czech Dissidence from Patocka to Havel

The Philosophy and Politics of Czech Dissidence from Patocka to Havel PDF Author: Aviezer Tucker
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Pre
ISBN: 0822972131
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 310

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Book Description
Winner of the Foundations of Political Theory First Book Prize Honorable Mention, 2001Theory meets practice in The Philosophy and Politics of Czech Dissidence from Patocka to Havel, a critical study of the philosophy and political practice of the Czech dissident movement Charter 77. Aviezer Tucker examines how the political philosophy of Jan Patocka (1907-1977), founder of Charter 77, influenced the thinking and political leadership of Vaclav Havel as dissident and president. The Philosophy and Politics of Czech Dissidence from Patocka to Havel is the first serious treatment of Havel as philosopher and Patocka as a political thinker. Through the Charter 77 dissident movement in Czechoslovakia, opponents of communism based their civil struggle for human rights on philosophic foundations, and members of the Charter 77 later led the Velvet Revolution. After Patocka's self-sacrifice in 1977, Vaclav Havel emerged a strong philosophical and political force, and he continued to apply Patocka's philosophy in order to understand the human condition under late communism and the meaning of dissidence. However, the political/philosophical orientation of the Charter 77 movement failed to provide President Havel with an adequate basis for comprehending and responding to the extraordinary political and economic problems of the postcommunist period. In his discussion of Havel's presidency and the eventual corruption of the Velvet Revolution, Tucker demonstrates that the weaknesses in Charter 77 member's understanding of modernity, which did not matter while they were dissidents, seriously harmed their ability to function in a modern democratic system. Within this context, Tucker also examines Havel's recent attempt to topple the democratic but corrupt government in 1997-1998. The Philosophy and Politics of Czech Dissidence from Patocka to Havel will be of interest to students of philosophy and politics, scholars and students of Slavic studies, and historians, as well as anyone fascinated by the nature of dissidence.

Philosophy as Experimentation, Dissidence and Heterogeneity

Philosophy as Experimentation, Dissidence and Heterogeneity PDF Author: José Miranda Justo
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1527575306
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 530

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Book Description
Contemporary philosophical research interconnects classical domains of philosophy, the arts, literature and social sciences. This collection of essays explores the operational role of experimentation, dissidence and heterogeneity in this process. It offers fundaments for the criticism of monolithical tendencies often put forward under the banner of the ‘Speculative Turn’ or New Realism, by means of exploring the contribution and influence of authors such as J. G. Hamann, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche and Guy Debord. These philosophers, historically placed within the margins of the philosophical mainstream, were decisive in the emergence of the philosophical thought and practices of Deleuze, Wittgenstein and Bataille, as shown here. The reader will also find re-evaluations of the contributions of Vico, Spinoza or Kant to posterity, next to new readings of authors like Foucault, Hadot, Benjamin and Adorno with regards to their significant experimental and dissident positions.

Confronting Totalitarian Minds: Jan Patočka on Politics and Dissidence

Confronting Totalitarian Minds: Jan Patočka on Politics and Dissidence PDF Author: Aspen E. Brinton
Publisher: Charles University in Prague, Karolinum Press
ISBN: 8024645378
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 299

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Book Description
The Czech philosopher Jan Patocka not only witnessed some of the most turbulent politics of twentieth-century Central Europe, but shaped his philosophy in response to that tumult. One of the last students of Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger, he inspired Václav Havel and other dissidents who confronted the Communist regime before 1989, as well as being actively involved in authoring and enacting Charter 77. He died in 1977 from medical complications resulting from interrogations of the secret police. Confronting Totalitarian Minds examines his legacy along with several contemporary applications of his ideas about dissidence, solidarity, and the human being’s existential confrontation with unjust politics. Expanding the current possibilities of comparative political theory, the author puts Patocka’s ideas about dissidence, citizen mobilization, and civic responsibility into conversation with notable world historical figures like Mahatma Gandhi, Vaclav Havel, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and other contemporary activists. In adding a fresh voice to contemporary conversations on transcending injustice, Confronting Totalitarian Minds seeks to educate a wider audience about this philosopher’s continued relevance to political dissidents across the world.

The Legacies of Totalitarianism

The Legacies of Totalitarianism PDF Author: Aviezer Tucker
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107121264
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 271

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Book Description
This book provides the first political theory of post-Communist Europe, discussing liberty, rights, transitional justice, property, privatization, and rule of law.

Philosophical Interventions

Philosophical Interventions PDF Author: Martha C. Nussbaum
Publisher: OUP USA
ISBN: 0199777853
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 440

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Book Description
This volume collects the notable published book reviews of Martha C. Nussbaum, an acclaimed philosopher who is also a professor of law and a public intellectual. Her academic work focuses on questions of moral and political philosophy and on the nature of the emotions. But over the past 25 years she has also written many book reviews for a general public, in periodicals such as The New Republic and The New York Review of Books. Dating from 1986 to the present, these essays engage, constructively and also critically, with authors like Roger Scruton, Allan Bloom, Charles Taylor, Judith Butler, Richard Posner, Catharine MacKinnon, Susan Moller Okin, and other prominent intellectuals of our time. Throughout, her views defy ideological predictability, heralding valuable work from little-known sources, deftly criticizing where criticism is due, and generally providing a compelling picture of how philosophy in the Socratic tradition can engage with broad social concerns. For this volume, Nussbaum provides an intriguing introduction that explains her selection and provides her view of the role of the public philosopher.

Philosophical Temperaments

Philosophical Temperaments PDF Author: Peter Sloterdijk
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231153732
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 138

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Book Description
New perspective on nineteen great philosophers--as well as the practice of philosophy itself.

The Nawal El Saadawi Reader

The Nawal El Saadawi Reader PDF Author: Nawāl Saʻdāwī
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN: 9781856495141
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
This collection portrays the intellectual and political development of an extraordinary thinker who explores a host of topics including women's oppression under recent interpretations of Islam and the subversive potential of creativity.

Early Modern Philosophy of Religion

Early Modern Philosophy of Religion PDF Author: Graham Oppy
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317546458
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 365

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Book Description
The early modern period in philosophy - encompassing the 16th to the 18th centuries - reflects a time of social and intellectual turmoil. The Protestant Reformation, the Catholic Counter-Reformation, and the birth of the Enlightenment all contributed to the re-evaluation of reason and faith. The revolution in science and in natural philosophy swept away two millennia of Aristotelian certainty in a human-centred universe. Covering some of the most important figures in the history of Western thought - notably Descartes, Locke, Hume and Kant - "Early Modern Philosophy of Religion" charts the philosophical understanding of religion at a time of intellectual and spiritual revolution. "Early Modern Philosophy of Religion" will be of interest to historians and philosophers of religion, while also serving as an indispensable reference for teachers, students and others who would like to learn more about this formative period in the history of ideas.

Socrates Founding Political Philosophy in Xenophon's "Economist", "Symposium", and "Apology"

Socrates Founding Political Philosophy in Xenophon's Author: Thomas L. Pangle
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022664250X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 254

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Book Description
The oeuvre of the Greek historian Xenophon, whose works stand with those of Plato as essential accounts of the teachings of Socrates, has seen a new surge of attention after decades in the shadows. And no one has done more in recent years to spearhead the revival than Thomas L. Pangle. Here, Pangle provides a sequel to his study of Xenophon’s longest account of Socrates, the Memorabilia, expanding the scope of inquiry through an incisive treatment of Xenophon’s shorter Socratic dialogues, the Economist, the Symposium, and the Apology of Socrates to the Jury. What Pangle reveals is that these three depictions of Socrates complement and, in fact, serve to complete the Memorabilia in meaningful ways. Unlike the Socrates of Plato, Xenophon’s Socrates is more complicated and human, an individual working out the problem of what it means to live well and virtuously. While the Memorabilia defends Socrates by stressing his likeness to conventionally respectable gentlemen, Xenophon’s remaining Socratic texts offer a more nuanced characterization by highlighting how Socrates also diverges from conventions of gentlemanliness in his virtues, behaviors, and peculiar views of quotidian life and governmental rule. One question threads through the three writings: Which way of life best promotes human existence, politics, and economics—that of the Socratic political philosopher with his philosophic virtues or that of the gentleman with his familial, civic, and moral virtues? In uncovering the nuances of Xenophon’s approach to the issue in the Economist, Symposium, and Apology, Pangle’s book cements the significance of these writings for the field and their value for shaping a fuller conception of just who Socrates was and what he taught.