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The Accursed Share, Volume I
by Georges BatailleFrom the acclaimed French philosopher, intellectual, and novelist, a brilliant account of the social and economic costs of civilizationIn this important work, Georges Bataille uses his novel economic theory as the basis for an incisive inquiry into the very nature of civilization. He introduces here his concept of the accursed share, the surplus energy that any system, natural or cultural, must expend; it is this expenditure, according to Bataille, that most clearly defines a society. His examples include sacrifice among the Aztecs, potlatch among the Northwest Coast Indians, military conquest in Islam, and Buddhist monasticism in Tibet.In this way, Bataille proposes a theory of a &“general economy&” based on excess and exuberance that radically revises conventional economic models of scarcity and utility. A brilliant blend of economics and aesthetics, ethics and anthropology, The Accursed Share provides an excellent introduction to Bataille&’s philosophic work. It will be of particular interest not only to readers of his fiction and essays but also to cultural theorists, anthropologists, and economists of all schools.
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.
A Political History of Sport in Sweden (Palgrave Studies in Sport and Politics)
by Jens LjunggrenThis book presents a history of Swedish sport, highlighting in particular the relationship between sport politics and people’s changing attitudes towards sport from the eighteenth century until today. It scrutinizes the interaction between sport politics and people’s different approaches to sport in everyday life. By investigating how different ways of pursuing and conceptualizing sport have progressed and interacted, and how they have influenced as well been influenced by sport politics, this book discerns the role of both governmental and municipal politics in the development of sport in Sweden.
States of Health: The Ethics and Consequences of Policy Variation in a Federal System
by Leslie P. Francis John G. FrancisIs it morally or politically acceptable to have wide differences in the quality of health care when one crosses a state line? Federalism in the United States has been defended as a political structure that enables people to coexist in a single polity despite deep disagreements about some of the most fundamental aspects of human life. This federalism of the compound republic of the United States can create space for difference and latitude for innovation, and its flexibility in levels of policy enactment can allow for fruitful state-level experimentation, especially in the areas of health and health care, which has long been celebrated. However, when federalism results in significant differences in health care availability within a single country-with abortion being the tip of the iceberg of these differences, albeit a very pointed one-it can generate enormous ethical challenges for health care providers and their patients. These challenges often engender questions of what should be considered an enduring right: Which freedoms should transcend borders? States of Health identifies the practical relevance of federalism to people facing ethical decisions about health and health care, and it considers the theoretical justifications for permissible differences among states. It asks whether authority over important aspects of health is misaligned in the United States today, with some matters problematically left to the states while others are taken over by the federal government. Health care is a basic good, central to the ability of people to flourish. If state policies result in a landscape where residents of some states can flourish in ways that residents of other states cannot, the mutuality of a federal union might be threatened. States of Health reminds us that there are some divisions that a nation cannot endure.
A Brief History of the Philosophy of Time
by Adrian BardonThis thoroughly revised and updated edition of Adrian Bardon's A Brief History of the Philosophy of Time is a short introduction to the history, philosophy, and science of the study of time--from the pre-Socratic philosophers through Einstein and beyond. Bardon covers subjects such as time and change, the experience of time, physical and metaphysical approaches to the nature of time, the direction of time, time travel, time and freedom of the will, and scientific and philosophical approaches to cosmology and the beginning of time. He employs helpful illustrations and keeps technical language to a minimum in bringing the resources of over 2500 years of philosophy and science to bear on some of humanity's most fundamental and enduring questions.
Intersectionality: A Philosophical Framework (The Romanell Lectures)
by Naomi ZackIn Intersectionality, philosopher Naomi Zack presents a novel philosophical account of intersectionality - the process by which people already oppressed, experience more oppression because of their intersecting identities. Examples include women who experience racism or poor people who are under-served. Identifying such intersections allows for more precise analysis of oppression, as well as newly recognized identities, such as blackwomen or homeless people of colour. Zack here explores the meaning of intersectionality through analysis of current events and controversies including the #MeToo movement, the COVID-19 pandemic, and class opportunities for minorities in higher education. Her analysis develops a robust definition of intersectionality in terms of inclusion, recognition, and diversity; works out ontological issues about the relationship between persons, labels, and identity; explores the distinction between abstract philosophical thinking and activism; and discusses how intersectionality can be an effective basis for empowerment, as well as understanding. Zack's distinctively philosophical account explains how intersectionality, considered as a method of analysis, works and can be employed in many areas of progressive thought across varying disciplines. She concludes that identifying and challenging the injustice of oppressions logically requires a broad humanistic framework, that intersectionality cannot be reduced to mere talk of diversity and inclusion, and that intersectionality itself is a progressive method of analysis worthy of philosophical attention.
Regret
by Paddy McQueenPhilosopher Paddy McQueen provides a detailed examination of the nature of regret and its role in decision-making. Contrary to influential philosophical accounts of regret, he argues that we should only regret choices we make that were not justified at the time, based on the information that was available to us. Consequently, he suggests that many of us should have fewer regrets than we do, and we should worry less than we do about whether we might come to regret a decision. In making this case, he engages with important areas of philosophical debate, such as reasons, time and justification, the temporal self, values and valuing, responsibility, the causal framing of events, and self-forgiveness. The result is a complex, novel account of when we should regret the things that we do. In addition, McQueen explores how experiences of regret are shaped by social discourses, especially those about gender and parenthood. He examines how regret has become politicized in debates about abortion and trans identities and reveals ways in which regret is used to regulate people's reproductive choices. Through this cultural politics of regret, he challenges assumptions about gender identities and the expectations of regret that are attached to certain people's decisions. In so doing, he shows how confronting these assumptions and expectations can help to promote people's autonomy and well-being. Weaving these threads together, McQueen highlights the personal and political significance of regret.
Schelling's Mystical Platonism: 1792-1802
by Naomi FisherSchelling came of age during the pivotal and exciting years at the end of the eighteenth century, as Kant's philosophy was being incorporated into the German academic world. At this time, in addition to delving into the new Kantian philosophy, Schelling engaged in an intense study of Plato's dialogues and was immersed in a Neoplatonic intellectual culture. Attention to these aspects of Schelling's early philosophical development illuminates his fundamental commitments. Throughout the first decade of his adult life, from 1792-1802, Schelling was a mystical Platonist. Naomi Fisher argues that Schelling is committed to two overarching theses, which together comprise his mystical Platonism. First, Schelling considers the absolute to be ineffable: It cannot be described in conceptual terms. For this reason, it remains inferentially external to any given philosophical system and is only intimated to us in certain analogical formulations, in works of art, or in nature as a whole. Second, Schelling is committed to a kind of priority monism: All things are grounded in the absolute, but finite things possess an integral unity all their own, and so have a distinct and relatively independent existence. Highlighting these commitments resolves an interpretive dispute, according to which Schelling is a Fichtean idealist or a Spinozist, or he vacillates between these positions. Interpreting Schelling as advancing a mystical Platonism provides an alternative way of interpreting these early texts, such that they are by and large consistent. Fisher presents Schelling's early philosophy as a unique and compelling fusion of the old and new: Schelling fulfills the characteristic aims of post-Kantian philosophy in a way distinctive among his contemporaries, by drawing on and appropriating various strands of Platonism.
Schelling's Mystical Platonism: 1792-1802
by Naomi FisherSchelling came of age during the pivotal and exciting years at the end of the eighteenth century, as Kant's philosophy was being incorporated into the German academic world. At this time, in addition to delving into the new Kantian philosophy, Schelling engaged in an intense study of Plato's dialogues and was immersed in a Neoplatonic intellectual culture. Attention to these aspects of Schelling's early philosophical development illuminates his fundamental commitments. Throughout the first decade of his adult life, from 1792-1802, Schelling was a mystical Platonist. Naomi Fisher argues that Schelling is committed to two overarching theses, which together comprise his mystical Platonism. First, Schelling considers the absolute to be ineffable: It cannot be described in conceptual terms. For this reason, it remains inferentially external to any given philosophical system and is only intimated to us in certain analogical formulations, in works of art, or in nature as a whole. Second, Schelling is committed to a kind of priority monism: All things are grounded in the absolute, but finite things possess an integral unity all their own, and so have a distinct and relatively independent existence. Highlighting these commitments resolves an interpretive dispute, according to which Schelling is a Fichtean idealist or a Spinozist, or he vacillates between these positions. Interpreting Schelling as advancing a mystical Platonism provides an alternative way of interpreting these early texts, such that they are by and large consistent. Fisher presents Schelling's early philosophy as a unique and compelling fusion of the old and new: Schelling fulfills the characteristic aims of post-Kantian philosophy in a way distinctive among his contemporaries, by drawing on and appropriating various strands of Platonism.
States of Health: The Ethics and Consequences of Policy Variation in a Federal System
by Leslie P. Francis John G. FrancisIs it morally or politically acceptable to have wide differences in the quality of health care when one crosses a state line? Federalism in the United States has been defended as a political structure that enables people to coexist in a single polity despite deep disagreements about some of the most fundamental aspects of human life. This federalism of the compound republic of the United States can create space for difference and latitude for innovation, and its flexibility in levels of policy enactment can allow for fruitful state-level experimentation, especially in the areas of health and health care, which has long been celebrated. However, when federalism results in significant differences in health care availability within a single country-with abortion being the tip of the iceberg of these differences, albeit a very pointed one-it can generate enormous ethical challenges for health care providers and their patients. These challenges often engender questions of what should be considered an enduring right: Which freedoms should transcend borders? States of Health identifies the practical relevance of federalism to people facing ethical decisions about health and health care, and it considers the theoretical justifications for permissible differences among states. It asks whether authority over important aspects of health is misaligned in the United States today, with some matters problematically left to the states while others are taken over by the federal government. Health care is a basic good, central to the ability of people to flourish. If state policies result in a landscape where residents of some states can flourish in ways that residents of other states cannot, the mutuality of a federal union might be threatened. States of Health reminds us that there are some divisions that a nation cannot endure.
Dangerous Jokes: How Racism and Sexism Weaponize Humor
by Claire HoriskPeople often get away with belittling others if they frame their speech as jokes-speech that would be condemned if stated seriously. "It's just a joke," they say. But what is different or special about joking? And if jokes about lawyers and politicians are morally acceptable, then what is wrong with joking about race or gender? Furthermore, if we may joke about a politician's shirts, may we joke about his weight? People who are targeted by demeaning jokes feel their impact but may not be able to pinpoint where the harm lies. Dangerous Jokes develops a novel, well-researched, and compelling argument that lays bare the power of demeaning jokes in ordinary conversations. Claire Horisk draws on her expertise in philosophy of language and on evidence from sociology, law and cognitive science to explain how the element of humor-so often used as a defence-makes jokes more potent than regular speech in communicating prejudice and reinforcing social hierarchies. She addresses the morality of telling, being amused by, and laughing at, derogatory jokes, and she gives a new account of listening that addresses the morality of listening to demeaning speech. She leaves us with no illusions about whether "it's just a joke" is an excuse for demeaning humor.
A Brief History of the Philosophy of Time
by Adrian BardonThis thoroughly revised and updated edition of Adrian Bardon's A Brief History of the Philosophy of Time is a short introduction to the history, philosophy, and science of the study of time--from the pre-Socratic philosophers through Einstein and beyond. Bardon covers subjects such as time and change, the experience of time, physical and metaphysical approaches to the nature of time, the direction of time, time travel, time and freedom of the will, and scientific and philosophical approaches to cosmology and the beginning of time. He employs helpful illustrations and keeps technical language to a minimum in bringing the resources of over 2500 years of philosophy and science to bear on some of humanity's most fundamental and enduring questions.
A Livable Planet: Human Rights in the Global Economy
by Madison PowersHumanity faces an ecological predicament, consisting of a cluster of concurrent, mutually reinforcing crises. They are causally intertwined and resistant to resolution in isolation. In addition to climate disruption, the cluster includes land-system change, loss of biodiversity and biosphere integrity, alteration of biogeochemical cycles, and decreased freshwater availability. Madison Powers argues for a targeted human rights approach to the resolution of our predicament. He assigns priority to a bundle of rights strategically important for counteracting ecologically unsustainable, economically predatory market practices. These practices exhaust natural resources or degrade the environmental conditions essential for a livable planet. Their harmful ecological effects result from or are exacerbated by the structure of the global political economy, especially institutions that influence the acquisition, control, and use of land, energy, and water resources. These institutions shape the economic decisions that have transformed every region of the globe and altered the planetary conditions that support life on Earth. A livable planet thus requires changes in humanity's relation to the rest of nature, which in turn, requires transformation of our economic relationships and the political and economic ideals underpinning them. Specifically, the balance of power between states and markets should be reversed by implementing an enforceable institutional bulwark against market practices that subvert the ecological conditions essential for the secure realization of human rights. These practices enable the powerful to hoard economic opportunities, crowd out sustainable alternatives, extract resources from vulnerable communities, shift environmental and economic burdens, dodge political and market accountability, and hijack public institutions for private purposes.
A Livable Planet: Human Rights in the Global Economy
by Madison PowersHumanity faces an ecological predicament, consisting of a cluster of concurrent, mutually reinforcing crises. They are causally intertwined and resistant to resolution in isolation. In addition to climate disruption, the cluster includes land-system change, loss of biodiversity and biosphere integrity, alteration of biogeochemical cycles, and decreased freshwater availability. Madison Powers argues for a targeted human rights approach to the resolution of our predicament. He assigns priority to a bundle of rights strategically important for counteracting ecologically unsustainable, economically predatory market practices. These practices exhaust natural resources or degrade the environmental conditions essential for a livable planet. Their harmful ecological effects result from or are exacerbated by the structure of the global political economy, especially institutions that influence the acquisition, control, and use of land, energy, and water resources. These institutions shape the economic decisions that have transformed every region of the globe and altered the planetary conditions that support life on Earth. A livable planet thus requires changes in humanity's relation to the rest of nature, which in turn, requires transformation of our economic relationships and the political and economic ideals underpinning them. Specifically, the balance of power between states and markets should be reversed by implementing an enforceable institutional bulwark against market practices that subvert the ecological conditions essential for the secure realization of human rights. These practices enable the powerful to hoard economic opportunities, crowd out sustainable alternatives, extract resources from vulnerable communities, shift environmental and economic burdens, dodge political and market accountability, and hijack public institutions for private purposes.
Awkwardness: A Theory
by Alexandra PlakiasAwkwardness offers an account of the psychology and philosophical significance of a ubiquitous social phenomenon. Our aversion to awkwardness mirrors our desire for inclusion. This explains its power to influence and silence us: as social creatures, we don't want to mark ourselves as outsiders. As a result, our fear of awkwardness inhibits critique and conversation, acting as an impediment to moral and social progress. Even the act of describing people as "awkward" exacerbates existing inequities, by consigning them to a social status that gives them less access to the social goods (knowledge, confidence, social esteem) needed to navigate potentially awkward situations. Awkwardness discusses how we ostracize and punish those who fail to fit into existing social categories; how we all depend on--and are limited by--social scripts and norms for guidance; and how these norms frequently let us down when we need them. But awkwardness has a positive side: it can highlight opportunities for moral and social improvement, by revealing areas where our social norms and scripts fail to meet our needs or have yet to catch up with changing social and moral realities. Awkwardness ultimately underscores the conflict between our moral motivations and our desire for social approval and conformity.
Awkwardness: A Theory
by Alexandra PlakiasAwkwardness offers an account of the psychology and philosophical significance of a ubiquitous social phenomenon. Our aversion to awkwardness mirrors our desire for inclusion. This explains its power to influence and silence us: as social creatures, we don't want to mark ourselves as outsiders. As a result, our fear of awkwardness inhibits critique and conversation, acting as an impediment to moral and social progress. Even the act of describing people as "awkward" exacerbates existing inequities, by consigning them to a social status that gives them less access to the social goods (knowledge, confidence, social esteem) needed to navigate potentially awkward situations. Awkwardness discusses how we ostracize and punish those who fail to fit into existing social categories; how we all depend on--and are limited by--social scripts and norms for guidance; and how these norms frequently let us down when we need them. But awkwardness has a positive side: it can highlight opportunities for moral and social improvement, by revealing areas where our social norms and scripts fail to meet our needs or have yet to catch up with changing social and moral realities. Awkwardness ultimately underscores the conflict between our moral motivations and our desire for social approval and conformity.
Dangerous Jokes: How Racism and Sexism Weaponize Humor
by Claire HoriskPeople often get away with belittling others if they frame their speech as jokes-speech that would be condemned if stated seriously. "It's just a joke," they say. But what is different or special about joking? And if jokes about lawyers and politicians are morally acceptable, then what is wrong with joking about race or gender? Furthermore, if we may joke about a politician's shirts, may we joke about his weight? People who are targeted by demeaning jokes feel their impact but may not be able to pinpoint where the harm lies. Dangerous Jokes develops a novel, well-researched, and compelling argument that lays bare the power of demeaning jokes in ordinary conversations. Claire Horisk draws on her expertise in philosophy of language and on evidence from sociology, law and cognitive science to explain how the element of humor-so often used as a defence-makes jokes more potent than regular speech in communicating prejudice and reinforcing social hierarchies. She addresses the morality of telling, being amused by, and laughing at, derogatory jokes, and she gives a new account of listening that addresses the morality of listening to demeaning speech. She leaves us with no illusions about whether "it's just a joke" is an excuse for demeaning humor.
Regret
by Paddy McQueenPhilosopher Paddy McQueen provides a detailed examination of the nature of regret and its role in decision-making. Contrary to influential philosophical accounts of regret, he argues that we should only regret choices we make that were not justified at the time, based on the information that was available to us. Consequently, he suggests that many of us should have fewer regrets than we do, and we should worry less than we do about whether we might come to regret a decision. In making this case, he engages with important areas of philosophical debate, such as reasons, time and justification, the temporal self, values and valuing, responsibility, the causal framing of events, and self-forgiveness. The result is a complex, novel account of when we should regret the things that we do. In addition, McQueen explores how experiences of regret are shaped by social discourses, especially those about gender and parenthood. He examines how regret has become politicized in debates about abortion and trans identities and reveals ways in which regret is used to regulate people's reproductive choices. Through this cultural politics of regret, he challenges assumptions about gender identities and the expectations of regret that are attached to certain people's decisions. In so doing, he shows how confronting these assumptions and expectations can help to promote people's autonomy and well-being. Weaving these threads together, McQueen highlights the personal and political significance of regret.
Environmental Ethics and Medical Reproduction
by Cristina RichieCarbon emissions of global health care activities comprise 4-5% of total world emissions, placing the health care industry on par with the food sector. The United States health care industry in particular expends an estimated 479 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year -- nearly 8% of the country's total emissions. Health care impacts the environment through the use of resources needed to cure, treat, and prevent diseases; by extending lifespans; and by facilitating new births. In this book, Dr. Cristina Richie evaluates "medicalized reproduction" (MR) from an environmental perspective. From pre-conception gamete retrieval to in-vitro fertilization (IVF), to birthing suites, MR has an enormous carbon footprint. But, unlike other areas of high-carbon health care, such as organ transplantation or chemotherapy, medicalized reproduction does not treat, cure, or prevent disease. It is supported by an economized medical industry, and as such, is open for ethical scrutiny. Richie first situates MR within environmental ethics. Part I analyzes the numerous resources used for medical reproduction, emphasizing that MR is a voluntary lifestyle choice. Part II offers policy suggestions for sustainable MR, remaining sensitive to some individuals' desires to be parents coupled with the global push for medical and climate justice. The conclusion recognizes the obligation for environmental sustainability in all areas of life, including health care and family life.
Anglo Nostalgia: The Politics of Emotion in a Fractured West
by Edoardo Campanella Marta Dass?Nostalgia has become a major force in global politics. While Donald Trump hopes to "make America great again," Xi Jinping calls for a "great rejuvenation of the Chinese people," and a majority of Russians still mourn the Soviet Union. But it is Brexit, with its idealization of a bygone era of full sovereignty, that epitomizes nostalgic nationalism in its purest form. Despite its romantic flavor, nostalgia is a malaise--a combination of paranoia and melancholy that idealizes the past, while denigrating the present. This epidemic of mythicizing national history is shaping politics in risky ways, fueled by ageing populations, shifts in the global order, and technological disruption. When deployed in the political debate, collective nostalgia is used as an emotional weapon, capable of mobilizing a nation towards illusory goals. Drawing on psychology, political science, history and popular culture, Anglo Nostalgia analyses the rapid spread of this global phenomenon, before focusing on Brexit as a case study. With the detachment of informed outsiders, Campanella and Dass? expose nostalgia's great danger: the oversimplification of reality, leading to unprecedented political miscalculations and rising geopolitical tensions.
Environmental Ethics and Medical Reproduction
by Cristina RichieCarbon emissions of global health care activities comprise 4-5% of total world emissions, placing the health care industry on par with the food sector. The United States health care industry in particular expends an estimated 479 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year -- nearly 8% of the country's total emissions. Health care impacts the environment through the use of resources needed to cure, treat, and prevent diseases; by extending lifespans; and by facilitating new births. In this book, Dr. Cristina Richie evaluates "medicalized reproduction" (MR) from an environmental perspective. From pre-conception gamete retrieval to in-vitro fertilization (IVF), to birthing suites, MR has an enormous carbon footprint. But, unlike other areas of high-carbon health care, such as organ transplantation or chemotherapy, medicalized reproduction does not treat, cure, or prevent disease. It is supported by an economized medical industry, and as such, is open for ethical scrutiny. Richie first situates MR within environmental ethics. Part I analyzes the numerous resources used for medical reproduction, emphasizing that MR is a voluntary lifestyle choice. Part II offers policy suggestions for sustainable MR, remaining sensitive to some individuals' desires to be parents coupled with the global push for medical and climate justice. The conclusion recognizes the obligation for environmental sustainability in all areas of life, including health care and family life.
Intersectionality: A Philosophical Framework (The Romanell Lectures)
by Naomi ZackIn Intersectionality, philosopher Naomi Zack presents a novel philosophical account of intersectionality - the process by which people already oppressed, experience more oppression because of their intersecting identities. Examples include women who experience racism or poor people who are under-served. Identifying such intersections allows for more precise analysis of oppression, as well as newly recognized identities, such as blackwomen or homeless people of colour. Zack here explores the meaning of intersectionality through analysis of current events and controversies including the #MeToo movement, the COVID-19 pandemic, and class opportunities for minorities in higher education. Her analysis develops a robust definition of intersectionality in terms of inclusion, recognition, and diversity; works out ontological issues about the relationship between persons, labels, and identity; explores the distinction between abstract philosophical thinking and activism; and discusses how intersectionality can be an effective basis for empowerment, as well as understanding. Zack's distinctively philosophical account explains how intersectionality, considered as a method of analysis, works and can be employed in many areas of progressive thought across varying disciplines. She concludes that identifying and challenging the injustice of oppressions logically requires a broad humanistic framework, that intersectionality cannot be reduced to mere talk of diversity and inclusion, and that intersectionality itself is a progressive method of analysis worthy of philosophical attention.
Private Censorship
by J.P. MessinaConcerns about censorship have once again reached a fever pitch across the liberal West. In other historical periods, such concerns may have marked reactions to book bans and burnings. Often, they followed prosecutions and subsequent jailtime for things spoken or written. During the Red Scare, they were the hushed response to chilling state-sponsored watch-lists and employer-supported blacklists designed to ensure victory against communism. Against this history, complaints about the new censorship appear differently. With respect to the new censorship, there are no books burnings, no prosecutions, no laws or committees. Indeed, there is no coercive state involvement at all. With a few notable exceptions, complaints about censorship in the 21st-century West are complaints about the behavior of private parties: social groups, employers, media conglomerates, social media platforms, and search engines. To better understand the concerns surrounding nonstate interference with speech, Private Censorship offers an account of censorship, as well as an assessment of the ethical and political issues it raises across contexts. J.P. Messina asks and variously answers questions like: what should we think when employees get fired for things they say and how might patterns of such firings create a climate of fear inimical to free inquiry? When is it appropriate for social media firms to deplatform users, and what does it mean for our democracy that those in charge of such decisions are often wealthy Silicon Valley executives? Do search engines act as massive gatekeepers to information in troubling ways, and how might they be constrained, if they do? Along the way, Messina casts a critical eye on many popular proposals for responding to these complaints. Unlike these popular approaches, Private Censorship foregrounds the importance of rights to property, association, and free expression for thinking well about 21st-century censorship concerns.
A Brief History of Mathematical Thought
by Luke HeatonAdvertisements for the wildly popular game of Sudoku often feature the reassuring words, "no mathematical knowledge required." In fact, the only skill Sudoku does require is the use of mathematical logic. For many people, anxiety about math is so entrenched, and grade school memories so haunting, that these disclaimers - though misleading - are necessary to avoid intimidating potential buyers. In A Brief History of Mathematical Thought, Luke Heaton provides a compulsively readable history that situates mathematics within the human experience and, in the process, makes it more accessible. Mastering math begins with understanding its history. Heaton's book therefore offers a lively guide into and through the world of numbers and equations-one in which patterns and arguments are traced through logic in the language of concrete experience. Heaton reveals how Greek and Roman mathematicians like Pythagoras, Euclid, and Archimedes helped shaped the early logic of mathematics; how the Fibonacci sequence, the rise of algebra, and the invention of calculus are connected; how clocks, coordinates, and logical padlocks work mathematically; and how, in the twentieth century, Alan Turing's revolutionary work on the concept of computation laid the groundwork for the modern world. A Brief History of Mathematical Thought situates mathematics as part of, and essential to, lived experience. Understanding it does not require the application of various rules or numbing memorization, but rather a historical imagination and a view to its origins. Moving from the origin of numbers, into calculus, and through infinity, Heaton sheds light on the language of math and its significance to human life.
Colonial Capitalism and the Dilemmas of Liberalism
by Onur Ulas InceBy the mid-nineteenth century, Britain celebrated its possession of a unique "empire of liberty" that propagated the rule of private property, free trade, and free labor across the globe. The British also knew that their empire had been built by conquering overseas territories, trading slaves, and extorting tribute from other societies. Set in the context of the early-modern British Empire, Colonial Capitalism and the Dilemmas of Liberalism paints a striking picture of these tensions between the illiberal origins of capitalism and its liberal imaginations in metropolitan thought. Onur Ulas Ince combines an analysis of political economy and political theory to examine the impact of colonial economic relations on the development of liberal thought in Britain. He shows how a liberal self-image for the British Empire was constructed in the face of the systematic expropriation, exploitation, and servitude that built its transoceanic capitalist economy. The resilience of Britain's self-image was due in large part to the liberal intellectuals of empire, such as John Locke, Edmund Burke, and Edward Gibbon Wakefield, and their efforts to disavow the violent transformations that propelled British colonial capitalism. Ince forcefully demonstrates that liberalism as a language of politics was elaborated in and through the political economic debates around the contested meanings of private property, market exchange, and free labor. Weaving together intellectual history, critical theory, and colonial studies, this book is a bold attempt to reconceptualize the historical relationship between capitalism, liberalism, and empire in a way that continues to resonate with our present moment.