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The New Critical Thinking: An Empirically Informed Introduction
by Jack Lyons Barry WardThis book aims to improve real-world critical thinking.Traditional critical thinking texts neglect two crucial facts. First, as psychologists have shown, many of our mistakes are caused not by faulty formal reasoning but because we bypass it in favor of intuitive, often unreliable heuristics. Second, good critical thinking requires not only the proper assessment of inference but also of our premises: the evaluation of information sources is of fundamental importance, especially in this internet era of fake news and politicized science.This highly innovative text is psychologically informed, both in its diagnosis of inferential errors and in teaching students how to watch out for, and circumnavigate, their natural intellectual blind spots. It also incorporates insights from epistemology and philosophy of science to formulate best practices for assessing information sources on the internet and other media. The result is a practical, hands-on primer for real-world critical thinking.The authors bring more than five combined decades of classroom experience to the subject, covering the usual core topics of deductive, inductive, causal, and probabilistic inference, argument identification, reconstruction, and diagramming, while also extending the text’s scope to include testimony, the nature and credibility of science, rhetoric, and dialectical argumentation.The Second Edition further develops and refines these innovations, combining in-depth discussion of “fake news” and conspiracy theories with exercises and projects designed to teach broadly applicable source assessment skills. There is also a more nuanced positive account of science that emphasizes its continuity with commonsense causal reasoning. For instructors, there are additional online resources, notably banks of exam questions with solutions and various class projects.Key Features: Uses contemporary psychological explanations and remedies for pervasive errors in belief formation. No other critical thinking text generally applies this psychological approach Rigorously addresses the evaluation of premises based on testimony, in particular the testimony of internet sources Carefully explains the concept of validity, paying particular attention to distinguishing logical possibility from other species of possibility Uses frequency trees as a simple and reliable alternative to more complicated Bayesian methods Uses arguments maps, which improve students’ reasoning and argument evaluation Key Updates to the Second Edition: Expanded discussion of the psychology of reasoning and belief, including treatment of motivated reasoning Uses a conventional truth-table–based approach to propositional logic while incorporating a more intuitive, psychologically informed approach to the logic of conditionals New Summary Boxes Enhanced treatment of testimony, with an expanded discussion of fake news, conspiracy theories, and the application of general epistemic principles to navigate the extremes of gullibility and unmotivated skepticism. New exercises that emphasize practical, hands-on source assessment skills An improved discussion of the nature of science emphasizing the central role of causal inference and the multi-generational, cumulative character of scientific knowledge A new Index of Arguments, summarizing the most common argument forms and associated defeaters for the inductive forms New online content, including exams and additional questions (plus solutions), suitable for upload to course management software (e.g., Blackboard, etc.) For online resources suitable for students and instructors, please see the appropriate link on the book’s Routledge web page: www.routledge.com/9781032317281
The New Critical Thinking: An Empirically Informed Introduction
by Jack Lyons Barry WardThis book aims to improve real-world critical thinking.Traditional critical thinking texts neglect two crucial facts. First, as psychologists have shown, many of our mistakes are caused not by faulty formal reasoning but because we bypass it in favor of intuitive, often unreliable heuristics. Second, good critical thinking requires not only the proper assessment of inference but also of our premises: the evaluation of information sources is of fundamental importance, especially in this internet era of fake news and politicized science.This highly innovative text is psychologically informed, both in its diagnosis of inferential errors and in teaching students how to watch out for, and circumnavigate, their natural intellectual blind spots. It also incorporates insights from epistemology and philosophy of science to formulate best practices for assessing information sources on the internet and other media. The result is a practical, hands-on primer for real-world critical thinking.The authors bring more than five combined decades of classroom experience to the subject, covering the usual core topics of deductive, inductive, causal, and probabilistic inference, argument identification, reconstruction, and diagramming, while also extending the text’s scope to include testimony, the nature and credibility of science, rhetoric, and dialectical argumentation.The Second Edition further develops and refines these innovations, combining in-depth discussion of “fake news” and conspiracy theories with exercises and projects designed to teach broadly applicable source assessment skills. There is also a more nuanced positive account of science that emphasizes its continuity with commonsense causal reasoning. For instructors, there are additional online resources, notably banks of exam questions with solutions and various class projects.Key Features: Uses contemporary psychological explanations and remedies for pervasive errors in belief formation. No other critical thinking text generally applies this psychological approach Rigorously addresses the evaluation of premises based on testimony, in particular the testimony of internet sources Carefully explains the concept of validity, paying particular attention to distinguishing logical possibility from other species of possibility Uses frequency trees as a simple and reliable alternative to more complicated Bayesian methods Uses arguments maps, which improve students’ reasoning and argument evaluation Key Updates to the Second Edition: Expanded discussion of the psychology of reasoning and belief, including treatment of motivated reasoning Uses a conventional truth-table–based approach to propositional logic while incorporating a more intuitive, psychologically informed approach to the logic of conditionals New Summary Boxes Enhanced treatment of testimony, with an expanded discussion of fake news, conspiracy theories, and the application of general epistemic principles to navigate the extremes of gullibility and unmotivated skepticism. New exercises that emphasize practical, hands-on source assessment skills An improved discussion of the nature of science emphasizing the central role of causal inference and the multi-generational, cumulative character of scientific knowledge A new Index of Arguments, summarizing the most common argument forms and associated defeaters for the inductive forms New online content, including exams and additional questions (plus solutions), suitable for upload to course management software (e.g., Blackboard, etc.) For online resources suitable for students and instructors, please see the appropriate link on the book’s Routledge web page: www.routledge.com/9781032317281
Completely Free: The Moral and Political Vision of John Stuart Mill
by John Peter DiIulioAn original, unified reconstruction of Mill’s moral and political philosophy—one that finally reveals its consistency and full powerFew thinkers have been as influential as John Stuart Mill, whose philosophy has arguably defined Utilitarian ethics and modern liberalism. But fewer still have been subject to as much criticism for perceived ambiguities and inconsistencies. In Completely Free, John Peter DiIulio offers an ambitious and comprehensive new reading that explains how Mill’s ethical, moral, and political ideas are all part of a unified, coherent, and powerful philosophy.Almost every aspect of Mill’s practical philosophy has been charged with contradictions, illogic, or incoherence. Most notoriously, Mill claims an absolute commitment both to promoting societal happiness and to defending individual liberty—a commitment that many critics believe must ultimately devolve into an either/or. DiIulio resolves these and other problems by reconsidering and reconstructing the key components of Mill’s practical thought: his theories of happiness, morality, liberty, and freedom. Casting new light on old texts, DiIulio argues that Mill’s Utilitarianism and liberalism are not only compatible but philosophically wedded, that his theories naturally emanate from one another, and that the vast majority of interpretive mysteries surrounding Mill can be readily demystified. In a manner at once sympathetic and critical, DiIulio seeks to present Mill in his most lucid and potent form.From the higher pleasures and moral impartiality to free speech and nondomination, Completely Free provides an unmatched account of the unity and power of Mill’s enduring moral and political thought.
An Unwritten Future: Realism and Uncertainty in World Politics (Princeton Studies in International History and Politics #186)
by Jonathan KirshnerAn argument for the classical realist approach to world politics An Unwritten Future offers a fresh reassessment of classical realism, an enduring approach to understanding crucial events in the international political arena. Jonathan Kirshner identifies the fundamental flaws of classical realism&’s would-be successors and shows how this older, more nuanced and sophisticated method for studying world politics better explains the formative events of the past. Kirshner also reveals how this approach is ideally equipped to comprehend the vital questions of the present—such as the implications of China&’s rise, the ways that social and economic change alter the balance of power and the nature of international conflict, and the consequences of the end of the US-led postwar order for the future of world politics.Laying out realism&’s core principles, Kirshner discusses the contributions of the perspective&’s key thinkers, including Thucydides, Hans Morgenthau, and Raymond Aron, among others. He illustrates how a classical realist approach gives new insights into major upheavals of the twentieth century, such as Britain&’s appeasement of Nazi Germany and America&’s ruinous involvement in Vietnam. Kirshner also addresses realism&’s limits and explores contemporary issues, including the ascent of great power challengers, the political implications of globalization, and the diffusion of power in modern world politics.A reexamination of the realist tradition, with a renewed emphasis on the crucial roles played by uncertainty, contingency, and contestation, An Unwritten Future demonstrates how a once-popular school of thought provides invaluable insights into pressing real-world problems.
The Roots of American Individualism: Political Myth in the Age of Jackson
by Alex ZakarasA panoramic history of American individualism from its nineteenth-century origins to today’s bitterly divided politicsIndividualism is a defining feature of American public life. Its influence is pervasive today, with liberals and conservatives alike promising to expand personal freedom and defend individual rights against unwanted intrusion, be it from big government, big corporations, or intolerant majorities. The Roots of American Individualism traces the origins of individualist ideas to the turbulent political controversies of the Jacksonian era (1820–1850) and explores their enduring influence on American politics and culture.Alex Zakaras plunges readers into the spirited and rancorous political debates of Andrew Jackson’s America, drawing on the stump speeches, newspaper editorials, magazine articles, and sermons that captivated mass audiences and shaped partisan identities. He shows how these debates popularized three powerful myths that celebrated the young nation as an exceptional land of liberty: the myth of the independent proprietor, the myth of the rights-bearer, and the myth of the self-made man.The Roots of American Individualism reveals how generations of politicians, pundits, and provocateurs have invoked these myths for competing political purposes. Time and again, the myths were used to determine who would enjoy equal rights and freedoms and who would not. They also conjured up heavily idealized, apolitical visions of social harmony and boundless opportunity, typically centered on the free market, that have distorted American political thought to this day.
The Nature and Normativity of Defeat (Elements in Epistemology)
by null Christoph KelpDefeat is the loss of justification for believing something in light of new information. This Element mainly aims to work towards developing a novel account of defeat. It distinguishes among three broad views in the epistemology of defeat: scepticism, internalism, and externalism and argues that that sceptical and internalist accounts of defeat are bound to remain unsatisfactory. As a result, any viable account of defeat must be externalist. While there is no shortage of externalist accounts, the Element provides reason to think that extant accounts remain unsatisfactory. The Element also explains the constructive tasks of developing an alternative account of defeat and showing that it improves on the competition.
The Differentiation and Autonomy of Law (Elements in Philosophy of Law)
by null Emilios ChristodoulidisThis Element looks first at the fundamental principle of modernity that is the functional differentiation of society, and the emergence of autonomous, positive law. The careful architecture of differentiation, balance, and mutual performance between the legal, political and economic systems is jeopardised with the hypertrophy of any one of the structurally coupled systems at the expense of the others. The pathologies are described in the second section of the Element. It explores how, under conditions of globalisation, market thinking came to hoist itself to the position of privileged site of societal rationality. In the third section we look at what sustains law's own 'reflexive intelligence' under conditions of globalisation, and whether we can still rely today on the constitutional achievement to guarantee law's autonomy, its democratic credentials and its ability to reproduce normative expectations today.
Politische Theorie des Anarchismus: Zum paradoxen Streben nach Autonomie, Selbstbestimmung und Selbstorganisation (Edition Politik #168)
by Jonathan EibischDer anarchistische Politikbegriff erscheint widersprüchlich: Der Ablehnung von Politik steht eine Bezugnahme auf sie gegenüber. Diese Paradoxie entspringt einer bestimmten Denkweise, die dabei hilft, Netzwerke zwischen verschiedenen Strömungen, Gruppen und Diskursen zu weben. So eröffnet sich die Möglichkeit, auf widersprüchliche gesellschaftliche Verhältnisse zu antworten, um sie zu überschreiten. Dies zeigt sich im Modus des Strebens nach Autonomie, in Kontroversen zwischen Individualismus und Kollektivismus und in theoretischen Konzepten wie der sozialen Revolution. In diesem Kontext verdeutlicht Jonathan Eibisch, dass es eine zeitgemäße politische Theorie des Anarchismus gibt - und wie sie aussehen kann.
Künstliche Intelligenz und ethische Verantwortung (Edition Moderne Postmoderne)
by Michael Reder Christopher KoskaWie sieht ethische Verantwortung im Zeitalter der Digitalisierung, Datafizierung und Künstlichen Intelligenz aus? Die Beiträger*innen geben fundierte Einsichten in die KI-gestützte Entscheidungs- und Urteilsfindung. Von der digitalen Operationalisierung über die Rolle des Menschen im Zentrum des technischen Fortschritts bis hin zur Konzeption von vertrauenswürdigen Systemen - im Fokus steht die Diskussion von Chancen und Herausforderungen, die nicht nur Akademiker*innen vielseitige Anregungen zur weiteren Auseinandersetzung mit dem Thema gibt.
Theorie beruflicher Didaktik: Philosophische Reflexionen und pädagogische Perspektiven (Pädagogik)
by Ruben Tecklenburg-RapskeWie kann das Fundament einer Theorie beruflicher Didaktik aussehen, die den Anspruch der Prozessorientierung in aller Tiefe und Breite aufnimmt? Ruben Tecklenburg-Rapske verknüpft zentrale Ansätze der Philosophie, Bildungstheorie und Didaktik. Er entwickelt so miteinander verzahnte, modellhafte Vorschläge, die bestehende theoretische Grundlagen ergänzen oder ersetzen. Die pädagogisch didaktische Theorie wird dadurch als eigenständig erfahrungsbezogener Zusammenhang von Begriffen, Urteilen und Schlüssen fassbar, in dem komplexe Themen und Fragen der Berufspädagogik neu diskutierbar sind.
Denken des Medialen: Zur Bedeutung des »Dazwischen« (Edition Medienwissenschaft #69)
by Jörg Sternagel Eva SchürmannAls Mitte und Mittelndes befinden Medien sich in einem grundsätzlichen Dazwischen, das geeignet ist, falschen Gegensätzen zugunsten eines spannungsreichen Sowohl-als-auch zu entkommen. Aus kunst-, kultur- und medienphilosophischer Perspektive fragen die Beiträger*innen des Bandes nach den Erscheinungsweisen eines medialen Zwischenraumes. Wenn wir die Mitte nicht nur räumlich, sondern auch zeitlich denken - nämlich als Weg und Bewegung der Vermittlung - geraten weitere Qualitäten des Medialen in den Blick. Gegenüber einem vermittlungs- und formvergessenen Denken gilt es, die Bedeutung des Dazwischen hervorzuheben, durch die die Gegenstände geistiger Bezugnahme erst zu dem werden, was sie sind.
Der politische Konsens: Über die Suche der Demokratie nach dem verlorenen »Einen« (Edition Politik #169)
by Tobias BraunAuf welchem Grund ruhen Demokratien und ihre politischen Ordnungen? Was sind die Quellen von Einigkeit, wie die Bedingungen von Einigung? Und liegt der Demokratie ein Konsens als Fundament zugrunde oder bringt sie ihn erst hervor? Tobias Braun nimmt den Begriff des »politischen Konsens« als Ausgangspunkt und sondiert damit die Grundlagen und Spannungen moderner und postmoderner Demokratietheorien, u.a. von Fraenkel, Barber und Habermas sowie Mouffe und Nancy. Er zeigt auf, was für Rückschlüsse aus dem Fehlen des »Einen« in Bezug auf die innertheoretische Funktion konsensualer Annahmen gezogen werden können - und beantwortet die Frage, ob der Konsens einer bestimmten Kultur entstammt oder das Ergebnis politischen Streits ist.
Kritische Theorie aktualisieren: Adorno und Foucault in den Kraftfeldern von Subjekt, Macht und Ideologie (Edition Moderne Postmoderne)
by Paul ErxlebenGibt es eine Macht ohne Gewalt? Sind Ideologien eine Form des Wissens? Und wie werden unterworfene Individuen zu mündigen Subjekten? Paul Erxleben sucht Antworten, indem er Theodor W. Adorno mit Michel Foucault ins Gespräch bringt. Kritische Gesellschaftstheorie, so zeigt seine Analyse, aktualisiert sich in der Reflexion auf den Zeitkern zentraler Begriffe. Durch deren Redefinition greifen beide öffentliche Intellektuelle in ihr jeweiliges Theorie-Praxis-Gefüge ein. Vor diesem Hintergrund finden Begriffe von Adorno und Foucault in drei Kraftfeldern zu einer Konstellation zusammen. Aus dem Vergleich erwachsen Thesen über Ohnmacht, positionale Ideologiekritik und mündige Subjektivierungsweisen.
The Enlightenment and Original Sin (The Life of Ideas)
by Matthew KadaneAn eloquent microhistory that argues for the centrality of the doctrine of original sin to the Enlightenment. What was the Enlightenment? This question has been endlessly debated. In The Enlightenment and Original Sin, historian Matthew Kadane advances the bold claim that the Enlightenment is best defined through what it set out to accomplish, which was nothing short of rethinking the meaning of human nature. Kadane argues that this project centered around the doctrine of original sin and, ultimately, its rejection, signaling the radical notion that an inherently flawed nature can be overcome by human means. Kadane explores this and other wide-ranging themes through the story of a previously unknown figure, Pentecost Barker, an eighteenth-century purser and wine merchant. By examining Barker’s personal diary and extensive correspondence with a Unitarian minister, Kadane tracks the transformation of Barker’s consciousness from a Puritan to an Enlightenment outlook, revealing through one man’s journey the large-scale shifts in self-understanding whose philosophical reverberations have shaped debates on human nature for centuries.
Decolonising and Indigenising Music Education: First Peoples Leading Research and Practice (ISME Series in Music Education)
by Te Oti Rakena Clare Hall Anita Prest David JohnsonCentring the voices of Indigenous scholars at the intersection of music and education, this co-edited volume contributes to debates about current colonising music education research and practices, and offers alternative decolonising approaches that support music education imbued with Indigenous perspectives. This unique collection is far-ranging, with contributions from Chile, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Malaysia, India, South Africa, Kenya, and Finland. The authors interrogate and theorise research methodologies, curricula, and practices related to the learning and teaching of music. Providing a meeting place for Indigenous voices and viewpoints from around the globe, this book highlights the imperative that Indigenisation must be Indigenous-led.The book promotes Indigenous scholars’ reconceptualisations of how music education is researched and practised, with an emphasis on the application of decolonial ways of being. The authors provocatively demonstrate the value of power-sharing and eroding the gaze of non-Indigenous populations. Pushing far beyond the concepts of Western aesthetics and world music, this vital collection of scholarship presents music in education as a social and political action, and shows how to enact Indigenising and decolonising practices in a wide range of music education contexts.
Decolonising and Indigenising Music Education: First Peoples Leading Research and Practice (ISME Series in Music Education)
by Te Oti Rakena, Clare Hall, Anita Prest and David JohnsonCentring the voices of Indigenous scholars at the intersection of music and education, this co-edited volume contributes to debates about current colonising music education research and practices, and offers alternative decolonising approaches that support music education imbued with Indigenous perspectives. This unique collection is far-ranging, with contributions from Chile, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Malaysia, India, South Africa, Kenya, and Finland. The authors interrogate and theorise research methodologies, curricula, and practices related to the learning and teaching of music. Providing a meeting place for Indigenous voices and viewpoints from around the globe, this book highlights the imperative that Indigenisation must be Indigenous-led.The book promotes Indigenous scholars’ reconceptualisations of how music education is researched and practised, with an emphasis on the application of decolonial ways of being. The authors provocatively demonstrate the value of power-sharing and eroding the gaze of non-Indigenous populations. Pushing far beyond the concepts of Western aesthetics and world music, this vital collection of scholarship presents music in education as a social and political action, and shows how to enact Indigenising and decolonising practices in a wide range of music education contexts.
Advances in Brain Inspired Cognitive Systems: 13th International Conference, BICS 2023, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, August 5–6, 2023, Proceedings (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #14374)
by Jinchang Ren Amir Hussain Iman Yi Liao Rongjun Chen Kaizhu Huang Huimin Zhao Xiaoyong Liu Ping Ma Thomas MaulThis book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the International Conference on Brain Inspired Cognitive Systems, BICS 2023, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in August 2023. The 36 full papers included in this book were reviewed and selected from 58 submissions and are organized in thematic sections as follows: Bio-inspired systems and Neural Computation; Image Recognition, Detection and Classification; Vision and Object Tracking; Data Analysis and Machine Learning and Applications.
Political Economy: Comparative, International, and Historical Perspectives (Springer Texts in Political Science and International Relations)
by Christian May Daniel Mertens Andreas Nölke Michael SchedelikThis textbook offers a comprehensive introduction to Political Economy. It combines comparative,international and historical perspectives into a holistic framework of analysis. Drawing on the workof Karl Polanyi, the book shows how capitalist economies differ around the globe and how they areembedded in the international economic order. Through a critical-institutionalist lens, it helps toaccount for the evolution of contemporary capitalism and addresses current topics at the intersection of political science and economics.Students and instructors can draw on supplementary material, such as Power Point slides withall figures and tables as well as the Springer Nature Flashcards app with exercises.
More than Nothing: A History of the Vacuum in Theoretical Physics, 1925-1980
by Aaron Sidney WrightThe vacuum is central to physicists' best theories of subatomic particles, gravitation, and cosmology. Nothingness provides the reference point with which to compare new particle creation and annihilation. Cosmologists use empty universes to study the causal structure of spacetime. Paradoxically, our best physical theories of particles, gravity, and spacetime are theories of nothingness. Stranger still, the physicists' vacuum is a hive of activity. Quantum fluctuations fill empty space with particles, and astronomers measure gravitational waves, the vibrations of empty spacetime itself. More than Nothing uses the history of the vacuum to show how technical concepts in physics are made real through everyday practice. It provides new insight into the development of twentieth-century theoretical physics through sustained analysis of understudied figures including John Wheeler's geometrodynamics and Sidney Coleman's false vacuum. It reveals the surprising influence on physicists from the psychology of impossible objects to drawings of the black hole, and the ways in which the development of the physics of the vacuum became inseparable from the development of larger cultural movements in aesthetics, art, psychology, and fiction. Across decades and across disciplines, More than Nothing shows how physicists over and again chose to study the vacuum for insight into the world around them. Drawing on newly unearthed laboratory notes, private letters, and published material, More than Nothing offers a scoping history of the vacuum as a lens into the development of modern physics.
Poor: Grit, courage, and the life-changing value of self-belief
by Katriona O'SullivanThe No. 1 BestsellerBiography of the Year, Irish Book Awards 2023The Last Word Listeners' Choice Award, Irish Book Awards 2023'One of the best [books] I have read about the complexities of poverty . . . one of the most remarkable people you will ever meet' GuardianLike young girls everywhere Katriona O’Sullivan grew up bright, enthusiastic, curious. But she was also surrounded by abject poverty and chaos, and after she became pregnant and homeless at 15, what followed was five years of barely surviving. Yet today Katriona is an award-winning academic whose work explores barriers to education for girls like her.What set Katriona on this unexpected path were the mentors and supporters who truly saw her. The teachers who showed her how to wash in the school toilets or turned up at her door to convince her to sit at least one GCSE. The community worker who encouraged her to apply for training schemes. The friend who introduced Katriona to Trinity College’s access program while she was a cleaner. Simple acts that would help her turn her life around.Told with warmth, clarity and compassion – compassion for her parents, for her younger self, for others – Poor is both an astonishing personal testimony and an impassioned plea for the future of our children.‘Powerful – Katriona is a legend’ Barry Keoghan‘Raw, passionate and resolutely honest – I’ll never forget it’ Annie Mac'Full of insight . . . so important' Fi Glover, Times Radio 'I read poor in one sitting I found it so compelling . . . moving, uplifting, brave, heroic' Nuala McGovern, Woman's Hour, BBC Radio Four'Moving, funny, brave and original - just like the author . . . absolutely incredible' Roísín Ingle, Irish Times Women's Podcast‘One of the books of the year’ Patrick Kielty, Late Late Show, RTÉ One'One of the most important books I have ever read … a beautiful telling of determination despite the odds' Lynn Ruane, Irish Times 'Fearless, funny and searingly honest' Adil Ray OBE'Raw and remarkable' Irish Independent 'A book of empowerment and hope' Patricia Scanlan‘Remarkable . . . a vivid retelling of Katriona flourishing, despite her beginnings’ BBC News West MidlandsNumber 1 bestseller, Irish Times, March 2024
The Art of Memory
by Frances A YatesThis unique and brilliant book is a history of human knowledge. Before the invention of printing, a trained memory was of vital importance. Based on a technique of impressing 'places' and 'images' on the mind, the ancient Greeks created an elaborate memory system which in turn was inherited by the Romans and passed into the European tradition, to be revived, in occult form, during the Renaissance. Frances Yates sheds light on Dante’s Divine Comedy, the form of the Shakespearian theatre and the history of ancient architecture; The Art of Memory is an invaluable contribution to aesthetics and psychology, and to the history of philosophy, of science and of literature.
In a Flight of Starlings: The Wonder of Complex Systems
by Giorgio ParisiFrom the 2021 Nobel Prize winner in Physics, a remarkable journey into the practice of groundbreaking science 'Giorgio Parisi is renowned for his scientific creativity, originality, and power. In this exhilarating little book, he shows his human side, too. By its end, readers will feel they've made a charming, witty new friend' Frank WilczekThe world is shaped by complexity. In this enlightening book, Nobel Prize winner Giorgio Parisi guides us through his unorthodox yet exhilarating work to show us how. It all starts with investigating the principles of physics by observing the sophisticated flight patterns of starlings. Studying the movements of these birds, he has realized, proves an illuminating way into understanding complex systems of all kinds - collections of everything from atoms to planets to other animals like ourselves. Along the way, Parisi reflects on the lessons he's taken from a life in pursuit of scientific truth: the importance of serendipity to the discovery of new ideas, the surprising kinship between physics and other fields of study and the value of science to a thriving society. In so doing, he removes the practice of science from the confines of the laboratory and into the real world. Complexity is all around us - from climate to finance to biology, it offers a unique way of finding order in chaos. Part elegant scientific treatise, part thrilling intellectual journey, In a Flight of Starlings is an invitation to find wonder in the world around us.
Painting, Science, and the Perception of Coloured Shadows: ‘The Most Beautiful Blue’ (Science and the Arts since 1750)
by Paul SmithMany artists and scientists – including Buffon, Goethe, and Philipp Otto Runge – who observed the vividly coloured shadows that appear outdoors around dawn and dusk, or indoors when a candle burns under waning daylight, chose to describe their colours as ‘beautiful’. Paul Smith explains what makes these ephemeral effects worthy of such appreciation – or how depictions of coloured shadows have genuine aesthetic and epistemological significance. This multidisciplinary book synthesises methodologies drawn from art history (close pictorial analysis), psychology and neuroscience (theories of colour constancy), history of science (the changing paradigms used to explain coloured shadows), and philosophy (theories of perception and aesthetic value drawn from Wittgenstein and Merleau-Ponty). This title will be of interest to scholars in art history, art theory, and the history of science and technology.
Indigenous Legal Judgments: Bringing Indigenous Voices into Judicial Decision Making
by Nicole Watson and Heather DouglasThis book is a collection of key legal decisions affecting Indigenous Australians, which have been re-imagined so as to be inclusive of Indigenous people’s stories, historical experience, perspectives and worldviews.In this groundbreaking work, Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars have collaborated to rewrite 16 key decisions. Spanning from 1889 to 2017, the judgments reflect the trajectory of Indigenous people’s engagements with Australian law. The collection includes decisions that laid the foundation for the wrongful application of terra nullius and the long disavowal of native title. Contributors have also challenged narrow judicial interpretations of native title, which have denied recognition to Indigenous people who suffered the prolonged impacts of dispossession. Exciting new voices have reclaimed Australian law to deliver justice to the Stolen Generations and to families who have experienced institutional and police racism. Contributors have shown how judicial officers can use their power to challenge systemic racism and tell the stories of Indigenous people who have been dehumanised by the criminal justice system.The new judgments are characterised by intersectional perspectives which draw on postcolonial, critical race and whiteness theories. Several scholars have chosen to operate within the parameters of legal doctrine. Some have imagined new truth-telling forums, highlighting the strength and creative resistance of Indigenous people to oppression and exclusion. Others have rejected the possibility that the legal system, which has been integral to settler-colonialism, can ever deliver meaningful justice to Indigenous people.The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.
What God Would Have Known: How Human Intellectual and Moral Development Undermines Christian Doctrine
by J. L. SchellenbergClassical Christian ideas loom large in philosophy of religion today. But arguments against Christian doctrine have been neglected. J. L. Schellenberg's new book remedies this neglect. And it does so in a novel way, by linking facts about human intellectual and moral development to what God would have known at the time of Jesus. The tide of human development, which the early Christians might have expected to corroborate their teaching, has in fact brought many results that run contrary to that teaching. Or at least it will be seen to have done so, says Schellenberg, when we think about the consequences of any God existent then being fully cognizant, when Christian doctrine was first formed, of all that we have laboriously learned since then. Newly discovered facts, not just about such things as evolution and the formation of the New Testament but also about mental illness, violent punishment, the relations between women and men, and the status of same-sex intimacy, suggest detailed new arguments against the content of the Christian revelation—Schellenberg designs and defends twenty—when the prior understanding of the purported revealer is taken into account. Written with Schellenberg's characteristic combination of verve and careful precision, What God Would Have Known offers a thorough and incisive treatment of its subject that remains respectful and fair-minded throughout. It is not concerned with the overworked question of whether classical Christians believe irrationally, but with what overlooked arguments about human development show in relation to the truth or falsity of Christian claims about reality. Fully conversant with relevant developments in science, the book is particularly generous in its attention to recent developments in social and ethical spheres as it works toward its striking conclusion that the God of the Christians, all good and all wise, would not have believed Christian doctrine.