Human Nature, Cultural Diversity, and the French Enlightenment

Human Nature, Cultural Diversity, and the French Enlightenment PDF Author: Henry Vyverberg
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195345223
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
In this work, Henry Vyverberg traces the evolution and consequences of a crucial idea in French Enlightenment thought--the idea of human nature. Human nature was commonly seen as a broadly universal, unchanging entity, though perhaps modifiable by geographical, social, and historical factors. Enlightenment empiricism suggested a degree of cultural diversity that has often been underestimated in studies of the age. Evidence here is drawn from Diderot's celebrated Encyclopedia and from a vast range of writing by such Enlightenment notables as Voltaire, Rousseau, and d'Holbach. Vyverberg explains not only the age's undoubted fascination with uniformity in human nature, but also its acknowledgment of significant limitations on that uniformity. He shows that although the Enlightenment's historical sense was often blinkered by its notions of a uniform human nature, there were also cracks in this concept that developed during the Enlightenment itself.

Measure of the Earth

Measure of the Earth PDF Author: Larrie D. Ferreiro
Publisher: Basic Books (AZ)
ISBN: 0465017231
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 378

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Book Description
Describes the early 18th-century expedition of scientists sent by France and Spain to colonial Peru to measure the degree of equatorial latitude, which could resolve the debate between whether the earth was spherical or flattened at the poles.

The Battle for the American Mind

The Battle for the American Mind PDF Author: Carl J. Richard
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9780742534360
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 380

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Book Description
The Battle for the American Mind brings together religion, politics, economics, science, and literature to present a compelling history of the American people. In this brief and entertaining book, noted historian Carl J. Richard argues that there have been three worldviews that have dominated American thought--theism, humanism, and skepticism. Theists put their faith in God, humanists in man, and skeptics have faith in neither god nor man. Each worldview has had an epoch of domination, leading to the present "Age of Confusion" where theists, humanists, and skeptics battle one another for control of American hearts and minds. By clearly explaining what Americans believed, exploring why they did so, and showing how that impacted the nation's development, Carl J. Richard presents a unique portrait of the United States--past and present.

Traitors, Collaborators and Deserters in Contemporary European Politics of Memory

Traitors, Collaborators and Deserters in Contemporary European Politics of Memory PDF Author: Gelinada Grinchenko
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319664964
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 421

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Book Description
This volume offers a multidisciplinary approach to shaping and imposition of “formulas for betrayal” as a result of changing memory politics in post-war Europe. The contributors, who specialize in history, sociology, anthropology, memory studies, media studies and cultural studies, discuss the exertion of political control over memory (including the selection, imposition, silencing or ideological “twisting” of facts), the usage of “formulas for betrayal” in various cultural-political contexts, and the discursive framing of the betraying subject for the purpose of legitimizing various memory regimes and ideologies.

Volume 2, Tome I: Kierkegaard and the Greek World - Socrates and Plato

Volume 2, Tome I: Kierkegaard and the Greek World - Socrates and Plato PDF Author: Katalin Nun
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351874721
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
The articles in this volume employ source-work research to trace Kierkegaard's understanding and use of authors from the Greek tradition. A series of figures of varying importance in Kierkegaard's authorship are treated, ranging from early Greek poets to late Classical philosophical schools. In general it can be said that the Greeks collectively constitute one of the single most important body of sources for Kierkegaard's thought. He studied Greek from an early age and was profoundly inspired by what might be called the Greek spirit. Although he is generally considered a Christian thinker, he was nonetheless consistently drawn back to the Greeks for ideas and impulses on any number of topics. He frequently contrasts ancient Greek philosophy, with its emphasis on the lived experience of the individual in daily life, with the abstract German philosophy that was in vogue during his own time. It has been argued that he modeled his work on that of the ancient Greek thinkers specifically in order to contrast his own activity with that of his contemporaries.

Captain Cook and the Pacific

Captain Cook and the Pacific PDF Author: John McAleer
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300207247
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
British Royal Navy Captain James Cook's voyages of exploration across and around the Pacific Ocean were a marvel of maritime achievement, and provided the first accurate map of the Pacific. The expeditions answered key scientific, economic, and geographic questions, and inspired some of the most influential images of the Pacific made by Europeans. Now readers can immerse themselves in the adventure through the collections of London's National Maritime Museum, which illuminate every aspect of the voyages: oil paintings of lush landscapes, scientific and navigational instruments, ship plans, globes, charts and maps, rare books and manuscripts, coins and medals, ethnographic material, and personal effects. Each artifact holds a story that sheds light on Captain Cook, the crews he commanded, and the effort's impact on world history. Showcasing one of the richest resources of Cook-related material in the world, this publication invites readers to engage with the extraordinary voyages--manifested in material culture--and their continuing significance today.

The Art and Science of Making the New Man in Early 20th-Century Russia

The Art and Science of Making the New Man in Early 20th-Century Russia PDF Author: Yvonne Howell
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350232866
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 201

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Book Description
The idea that morally, mentally, and physically superior 'new men' might replace the currently existing mankind has periodically seized the imagination of intellectuals, leaders, and reformers throughout history. This volume offers a multidisciplinary investigation into how the 'new man' was made in Russia and the early Soviet Union in the first third of the 20th century. The traditional narrative of the Soviet 'new man' as a creature forged by propaganda is challenged by the strikingly new and varied case studies presented here. The book focuses on the interplay between the rapidly developing experimental life sciences, such as biology, medicine, and psychology, and countless cultural products, ranging from film and fiction, dolls and museum exhibits to pedagogical projects, sculptures, and exemplary agricultural fairs. With contributions from scholars based in the United States, Canada, the UK, Germany and Russia, the picture that emerges is emphatically more complex, contradictory, and suggestive of strong parallels with other 'new man' visions in Europe and elsewhere. In contrast to previous interpretations that focused largely on the apparent disconnect between utopian 'new man' rhetoric and the harsh realities of everyday life in the Soviet Union, this volume brings to light the surprising historical trajectories of 'new man' visions, their often obscure origins, acclaimed and forgotten champions, unexpected and complicated results, and mutual interrelations. In short, the volume is a timely examination of a recurring theme in modern history, when dramatic advancements in science and technology conjoin with anxieties about the future to fuel dreams of a new and improved mankind.

Books in Early Modern Norway

Books in Early Modern Norway PDF Author: Gina Dahl
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004207201
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 263

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Book Description
During recent decades much has been written about early modern book distribution, but until now Norway has been absent from the discussion. Drawing on book listings, this study seeks to fill this lacuna by exploring the market for books in early modern Norway. Its approach is multifaceted: consideration of the types of books accessed by different elements of Norwegian society is set alongside developments within the book market itself, such as the extended life of popular books, the gradual replacement of Latin by the vernacular and the rise in the eighteenth century in the number of books available on the market. The study demonstrates the internationality of the Norwegian book market while acknowledging specific patterns that determine its Norwegian character.

The New York Times Index

The New York Times Index PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Indexes
Languages : en
Pages : 1460

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Book Description


Dawn of a New Order

Dawn of a New Order PDF Author: Rein Mullerson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1786732254
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 291

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Book Description
The most significant development in global politics following the end of the bi-polar Cold War era has been the rise of a multi-polar state system. This has led to the emergence of major potential super-powers, global rivalry, international terrorism and the gradual weakening of the one remaining hegemonic, uni-polar state after the Cold War - the US. The idealistic hopes following the collapse of communism have evaporated and Cold War competition between liberal capitalism and communism has been replaced by multi-polar global rivalry that can only be resolved by a balance of power buttressed by international law. In this ambitious and thought-provoking book, Professor Rein Mullerson outlines the challenges associated with the new geopolitics of the twenty-first century. Based on in-depth research over several decades it is an essential tool for understanding the new world order and the ensuing crises in global politics.

The History of a Periphery

The History of a Periphery PDF Author: Juliet B. Wiersema
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 1477327754
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 191

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Book Description
An exploration of Colombian maps in New Granada. During the late Spanish colonial period, the Pacific Lowlands, also called the Greater Chocó, was famed for its rich placer deposits. Gold mined here was central to New Granada’s economy yet this Pacific frontier in today’s Colombia was considered the “periphery of the periphery.” Infamous for its fierce, unconquered Indigenous inhabitants and its brutal tropical climate, it was rarely visited by Spanish administrators, engineers, or topographers and seldom appeared in detail on printed maps of the period. In this lavishly illustrated and meticulously researched volume, Juliet Wiersema uncovers little-known manuscript cartography and makes visible an unexamined corner of the Spanish empire. In concert with thousands of archival documents from Colombia, Spain, and the United States, she reveals how a "periphery" was imagined and projected, largely for political or economic reasons. Along the way, she unearths untold narratives about ephemeral settlements, African adaptation and autonomy, Indigenous strategies of resistance, and tenuous colonialisms on the margins of a beleaguered viceroyalty.