- Table View
- List View
On the Sociology of International Law and International Society
by Bart LandheerThe academic or scientific occupation with international relations is not always an encouraging task. At times one gets an image of the enormous psychic and physical forces which operate in the international realm, and it then seems that the role of the publicist is almost a negligible one. If one, in addition, arrives at the conclusion that human social action is not really a volitional process, then there is indeed ample room for pessimism and despair. Nevertheless, in the complexity of our consciousness, the different elements of which life is made of blend into a unity of which the idea is as much a part or even more so than the deed or action. The stress on action expresses the crudeness of our times but the idea has been much more the motivation of history and its cohesive force over long periods. Action in terms of force is never in itself the entire solution because it carries no conviction or understanding, at least unless its role is a very moderate one.
On the Standardization of Chinese Legislative Language
by Xiaobo Dong Yafang ZhangBy integrating different research angles and methods of philosophy of law, sociology of law, applied linguistics, and legal translation, this book presents a groundbreaking approach to the non-standardization phenomenon in Chinese legislative language, unveils the underlying causes and adverse effects thereof, and provides potential principles, strategies, and methods to be followed in the standardization of Chinese legislative language. Divided into three parts, this book firstly talks about the fuzziness of language, addressing both the active and negative influences thereof on the legislation; secondly approaches the non-standardization phenomenon in Chinese legislative language from the perspective of philosophy of law; and thirdly offers a comprehensive studies on the standardization of Chinese legislative language, offering possible solutions to address the above-mentioned problems and promote the standardized development of law making. This book facilitates the legal practitioners, jurists, law students, legal translators as well as the non-experts to get a better understanding of the mechanism and process of legislation and improve their skills and capacities in apprehending and translating Chinese laws and regulations.
On the Take: How Medicine's Complicity with Big Business Can Endanger Your Health
by Jerome P. KassirerWe all know that doctors accept gifts from drug companies, ranging from pens and coffee mugs to free vacations at luxurious resorts. But as the former Editor-in-Chief of The New England Journal of Medicine reveals in this shocking expose, these innocuous-seeming gifts are just the tip of an iceberg that is distorting the practice of medicine and jeopardizing the health of millions of Americans today. In On the Take, Dr. Jerome Kassirer offers an unsettling look at the pervasive payoffs that physicians take from big drug companies and other medical suppliers, arguing that the billion-dollar onslaught of industry money has deflected many physicians' moral compasses and directly impacted the everyday care we receive from the doctors and institutions we trust most. Underscored by countless chilling untold stories, the book illuminates the financial connections between the wealthy companies that make drugs and the doctors who prescribe them. Kassirer details the shocking extent of these financial enticements and explains how they encourage bias, promote dangerously misleading medical information, raise the cost of medical care, and breed distrust. Among the questionable practices he describes are: the disturbing number of senior academic physicians who have financial arrangements with drug companies; the unregulated "front" organizations that advocate certain drugs; the creation of biased medical education materials by the drug companies themselves; and the use of financially conflicted physicians to write clinical practice guidelines or to testify before the FDA in support of a particular drug. A brilliant diagnosis of an epidemic of greed, On the Take offers insight into how we can cure the medical profession and restore our trust in doctors and hospitals.
On the Uniqueness of Humankind (Ethics of Science and Technology Assessment #25)
by Hans-Rainer Duncker K. PrießBiological and philosophical anthropologies of the 20th century keep emphasising the "Sonderstellung" of humans among the realm of living beings. However, it is not clear how this particular role should be characterised, how it should be reconciled with biological findings, and which theoretical and practical conclusions should be drawn from it. Partly in opposition to these anthropological views on humankind biological disciplines underline the extensive similarities and common characteristics between humans and other species. Apparently, these biological findings concur with the criticism of anthropocentrism, which is expressed in Western philosophy of nature and by ethicists. To discuss these issues the Europäische Akademie organized the conference "The Uniqueness of Humankind – Über die Sonderstellung des Menschen". The proceedings of the conference documented in this volume approached the theoretical and practical concept of the "Sonderstellung" against the background of present day knowledge in biosciences. Furthermore, by interdisciplinary efforts, an attempt was made to clarify those conceptual problems that arise with the idea of the uniqueness of humankind. The present volume partly takes up and further develops topics that have been raised by volume 15, On Human Nature, that was published in this series in 2002.
On the Uses and Abuses of Political Apologies (Rhetoric, Politics and Society)
by Mihaela Mihai Mathias ThalerExamining the complex nature of state apologies for past injustices, this probes the various functions they fulfil within contemporary democracies. Cutting-edge theoretical and empirical research and insightful philosophical analyses are supplemented by real-life case studies, providing a normative and balanced account of states saying 'sorry'.
On the Wrong Side of The Law: Complaints Against Metropolitan Police, 1829-1964 (Palgrave's Critical Policing Studies)
by Graham SmithThis book, the first of a two volume study, provides an historical account of complaints against Metropolitan police officers between formation of the force in 1829 and codification of remedies for misconduct under the Police Act 1964. A complainant centred standpoint is developed to counteract the marginalization of the interests of victims, which is held to demonstrate that the drive for effective and efficient law enforcement has overshadowed the public interest in holding officers to account for misconduct. After officer accountability before the criminal courts diminished in the nineteenth century, missed opportunities to reform complaints procedures following commissions of inquiry in 1906-08, 1928 and 1960-62 are discussed. The second volume of the study, Combating Impunity: Complaints Against Metropolitan Police, 1964-2021, will examine the part played by complainants and civil society organisations in combating police impunity in the citizen oversight era.
On Values in Finance and Ethics: Forgotten Trails and Promising Pathways (SpringerBriefs in Finance)
by Henry SchäferThis book uses the building blocks of modern capital market theory, including behavioural finance, as the point of departure for an analysis of hidden ethical content in the contemporary research into capital markets. It illustrates the significant degree of alienation between the financial and the real side of economies, stemming from the long-standing struggle between ethics and economics. Furthermore, it provides a roadmap of modern value thinking, highlighting the crucial role of stakeholders and non-governmental organizations.
On Violence and On Violence Against Women
by Jacqueline RoseA blazingly insightful, provocative study of violence against women from the peerless feminist critic.'An immense achievement.'JUDE KELLY CBE, founder of the Women of the World Foundation'Explodes the myth that violence and misogyny only happens to other women.'VAL McDERMID'Ambitious, sobering . . . this is a hugely important book.'LAUREN ELKINWhy has violence, and especially violence against women, become so much more prominent and visible across the world?To explore this question, Rose tracks the multiple forms of today's violence - historic and intimate, public and private - as they spread throughout our social fabric, offering a new account of violence inour time.In this provocative and incisive book, Rose casts her net wide: trans rights and #MeToo; the sexual harassment of migrant women; the trial of Oscar Pistorius; domestic violence in pandemic lockdown; the writing of Roxane Gay, Anna Burns, Hisham Matar and Han Kang.What obscene pleasure in violence do so many male leaders of the Western world unleash in their supporters? Is violence always gendered and if so, always in the same way? What is required of the human mind when it grants itself permission to enact violence?On Violence and On Violence Against Women is an agitation against injustice, a challenge to radical feminism and a formidable call to action.
On War and Democracy
by Christopher KutzOn War and Democracy provides a richly nuanced examination of the moral justifications democracies often invoke to wage war. In this compelling and provocative book, Christopher Kutz argues that democratic principles can be both fertile and toxic ground for the project of limiting war's violence. Only by learning to view war as limited by our democratic values—rather than as a tool for promoting them—can we hope to arrest the slide toward the borderless, seemingly endless democratic "holy wars" and campaigns of remote killings we are witnessing today, and to stop permanently the use of torture and secret law.Kutz shows how our democratic values, understood incautiously and incorrectly, can actually undermine the goal of limiting war. He helps us better understand why we are tempted to believe that collective violence in the name of politics can be legitimate when individual violence is not. In doing so, he offers a bold new account of democratic agency that acknowledges the need for national defense and the promotion of liberty abroad while limiting the temptations of military intervention. Kutz demonstrates why we must address concerns about the means of waging war—including remote war and surveillance—and why we must create institutions to safeguard some nondemocratic values, such as dignity and martial honor, from the threat of democratic politics.On War and Democracy reveals why understanding democracy in terms of political agency, not institutional process, is crucial to limiting when and how democracies use violence.
On War and Democracy
by Christopher KutzOn War and Democracy provides a richly nuanced examination of the moral justifications democracies often invoke to wage war. In this compelling and provocative book, Christopher Kutz argues that democratic principles can be both fertile and toxic ground for the project of limiting war's violence. Only by learning to view war as limited by our democratic values—rather than as a tool for promoting them—can we hope to arrest the slide toward the borderless, seemingly endless democratic "holy wars" and campaigns of remote killings we are witnessing today, and to stop permanently the use of torture and secret law.Kutz shows how our democratic values, understood incautiously and incorrectly, can actually undermine the goal of limiting war. He helps us better understand why we are tempted to believe that collective violence in the name of politics can be legitimate when individual violence is not. In doing so, he offers a bold new account of democratic agency that acknowledges the need for national defense and the promotion of liberty abroad while limiting the temptations of military intervention. Kutz demonstrates why we must address concerns about the means of waging war—including remote war and surveillance—and why we must create institutions to safeguard some nondemocratic values, such as dignity and martial honor, from the threat of democratic politics.On War and Democracy reveals why understanding democracy in terms of political agency, not institutional process, is crucial to limiting when and how democracies use violence.
On Western Terrorism: From Hiroshima to Drone Warfare (Chomsky Perspectives)
by Noam Chomsky Andre VltchekNoam Chomsky discusses Western power and propaganda with filmmaker and investigative journalist Andre Vltchek. *BR**BR*This book is the perfect introduction to Chomsky's political thinking, and makes a refreshing read for anyone who is uneasy about the West's wider role in the world. *BR**BR*Beginning with the New York newsstand where Chomsky started his political education as a teenager, the discussion broadens out to encompass colonialism and imperial control, propaganda and the media, the 'Arab Spring' and drone warfare. The authors offer a powerful critique of the legacy of colonialism, touching upon many countries including Syria, Nicaragua, Cuba, China, Chile and Turkey. *BR**BR*Contains a new foreword by Noam Chomsky.*BR*
On Western Terrorism: From Hiroshima to Drone Warfare (Chomsky Perspectives)
by Noam Chomsky Andre VltchekNoam Chomsky discusses Western power and propaganda with filmmaker and investigative journalist Andre Vltchek. *BR**BR*This book is the perfect introduction to Chomsky's political thinking, and makes a refreshing read for anyone who is uneasy about the West's wider role in the world. *BR**BR*Beginning with the New York newsstand where Chomsky started his political education as a teenager, the discussion broadens out to encompass colonialism and imperial control, propaganda and the media, the 'Arab Spring' and drone warfare. The authors offer a powerful critique of the legacy of colonialism, touching upon many countries including Syria, Nicaragua, Cuba, China, Chile and Turkey. *BR**BR*Contains a new foreword by Noam Chomsky.*BR*
On What Matters: Volume Three
by Derek ParfitDerek Parfit presents the third volume of On What Matters, his landmark work of moral philosophy. Parfit develops further his influential treatment of reasons, normativity, the meaning of moral discourse, and the status of morality. He engages with his critics, and shows the way to resolution of their differences. This volume is partly about what it is for things to matter, in the sense that we all have reasons to care about these things. Much of the book discusses three of the main kinds of meta-ethical theory: Normative Naturalism, Quasi-Realist Expressivism, and Non-Metaphysical Non-Naturalism, which Derek Parfit now calls Non-Realist Cognitivism. This third theory claims that, if we use the word 'reality' in an ontologically weighty sense, irreducibly normative truths have no mysterious or incredible ontological implications. If instead we use 'reality' in a wide sense, according to which all truths are truths about reality, this theory claims that some non-empirically discoverable truths-such as logical, mathematical, modal, and some normative truths-raise no difficult ontological questions. Parfit discusses these theories partly by commenting on the views of some of the contributors to Peter Singer's collection Does Anything Really Matter? Parfit on Objectivity. Though Peter Railton is a Naturalist, he has widened his view by accepting some further claims, and he has suggested that this wider version of Naturalism could be combined with Non-Realist Cognitivism. Parfit argues that Railton is right, since these theories no longer deeply disagree. Though Allan Gibbard is a Quasi-Realist Expressivist, he has suggested that the best version of his view could be combined with Non-Realist Cognitivism. Parfit argues that Gibbard is right, since Gibbard and he now accept the other's main meta-ethical claim. It is rare for three such different philosophical theories to be able to be widened in ways that resolve their deepest disagreements. This happy convergence supports the view that these meta-ethical theories are true. Parfit also discusses the views of several other philosophers, and some other meta-ethical and normative questions.
On What Matters: Volume Three (The\berkeley Tanner Lectures)
by Derek ParfitDerek Parfit presents the third volume of On What Matters, his landmark work of moral philosophy. Parfit develops further his influential treatment of reasons, normativity, the meaning of moral discourse, and the status of morality. He engages with his critics, and shows the way to resolution of their differences. This volume is partly about what it is for things to matter, in the sense that we all have reasons to care about these things. Much of the book discusses three of the main kinds of meta-ethical theory: Normative Naturalism, Quasi-Realist Expressivism, and Non-Metaphysical Non-Naturalism, which Derek Parfit now calls Non-Realist Cognitivism. This third theory claims that, if we use the word 'reality' in an ontologically weighty sense, irreducibly normative truths have no mysterious or incredible ontological implications. If instead we use 'reality' in a wide sense, according to which all truths are truths about reality, this theory claims that some non-empirically discoverable truths-such as logical, mathematical, modal, and some normative truths-raise no difficult ontological questions. Parfit discusses these theories partly by commenting on the views of some of the contributors to Peter Singer's collection Does Anything Really Matter? Parfit on Objectivity. Though Peter Railton is a Naturalist, he has widened his view by accepting some further claims, and he has suggested that this wider version of Naturalism could be combined with Non-Realist Cognitivism. Parfit argues that Railton is right, since these theories no longer deeply disagree. Though Allan Gibbard is a Quasi-Realist Expressivist, he has suggested that the best version of his view could be combined with Non-Realist Cognitivism. Parfit argues that Gibbard is right, since Gibbard and he now accept the other's main meta-ethical claim. It is rare for three such different philosophical theories to be able to be widened in ways that resolve their deepest disagreements. This happy convergence supports the view that these meta-ethical theories are true. Parfit also discusses the views of several other philosophers, and some other meta-ethical and normative questions.
Once Bitten, Twice Fined
by Graeme H. PaganThis lively book is an account of Graeme Pagan's encounters and experiences in over forty years of legal practice in Oban. It is a lively mixture of the humorous and the sad, the significant and the trivial, the intentional and the serendipitous and paints an entertaining and informative picture of the life in this beautiful part of western Scotland. Graeme Pagan was involved professionally with an enormously wide range of cases in his long and varied career. But this is not a book just for those interested in the law; it is full of human interest and the peculiarities of life in the Highlands and Islands. Here he includes stories about accident enquiries, court room anecdotes, and some cautionary tales of divorce and family law from less enlightened times, including the hilarious tale of the Brigadier who wanted to divorce a woman who was not his wife. We also learn about the solicitor who was a prisoner-of-war for an hour and a half; the man who was assaulted by a ferret, and how the author accidentally ended up on the catwalk while on the way to a session at the Edinburgh Jazz Festival. On a more serious note, Graham Pagan also relates incidents from his political activism, his
Once in Golconda: A True Drama of Wall Street 1920-1928 (Pelican Ser.)
by John BrooksAt noon, on September 16, 1920, a horrendous explosion rocked Wall Street, instantly claiming the lives of thirty pedestrians and seriously injuring hundreds more. Yet, for all of its awesome force, that bomb was a firecracker compared to another, much more spectacular one, several years later - the great stock market crash of 1929.Once in Golconda is a dramatic chronicle of the breath-taking rise, devastating fall, and painstaking rebirth of Wall Street in the years between the wars. Focusing on the lives and fortunes of some of the era's most memorable traders, bankers, boosters, and frauds, John Brooks brings to vivid life all the ruthlessness, greed, and reckless euphoria of the '20s bull market, the desperation of the days leading up to the crash of '29, and the bitterness of the years that followed. Writing with authority, verve, and considerable humour, Brooks introduces us to a bygone world in which the likes of Junius Morgan and fellow members of the Yankee "aristocracy" jealously controlled Wall Street as if it were their private hunting preserve. At the centre of this colourful whirlwind of a tale is the magnificently hubristic Richard Whitney. The story of his rise to the presidency of the New York Stock Exchange and his eventual downfall and imprisonment for stock fraud and embezzlement characterizes the play of monumental forces that transformed Wall Street from WASP Camelot to public institution. Though it was first published in 1969, this riveting tale explores timeless themes of profound significance for today's investors - from the corruption that led to the creation of today's securities laws to the folly of investor hubris in a bull market.'A fast-moving, sophisticated account . . . embracing the stock-market boom of the twenties, the crash of 1929, the Depression, and the coming of the New Deal. Its leitmotif is the truly tragic personal history of Richard Whitney, the aristocrat Morgan broker and head of the Stock Exchange, who ended up in Sing Sing.' Edmund Wilson, writing in the New Yorker
Once A Liar: A Novel (Hq Fiction Ebook Ser.)
by A.F. BradyThe next gripping thriller from AF Brady…
Once Out of Nature: Augustine on Time and the Body
by Andrea NightingaleOnce Out of Nature offers an original interpretation of Augustine’s theory of time and embodiment. Andrea Nightingale draws on philosophy, sociology, literary theory, and social history to analyze Augustine’s conception of temporality, eternity, and the human and transhuman condition. In Nightingale’s view, the notion of embodiment illuminates a set of problems much larger than the body itself: it captures the human experience of being an embodied soul dwelling on earth. In Augustine’s writings, humans live both in and out of nature—exiled from Eden and punished by mortality, they are “resident aliens” on earth. While the human body is subject to earthly time, the human mind is governed by what Nightingale calls psychic time. For the human psyche always stretches away from the present moment—where the physical body persists—into memories and expectations. As Nightingale explains, while the body is present in the here and now, the psyche cannot experience self-presence. Thus, for Augustine, the human being dwells in two distinct time zones, in earthly time and in psychic time. The human self, then, is a moving target. Adam, Eve, and the resurrected saints, by contrast, live outside of time and nature: these transhumans dwell in an everlasting present. Nightingale connects Augustine’s views to contemporary debates about transhumans and suggests that Augustine’s thought reflects our own ambivalent relationship with our bodies and the earth. Once Out of Nature offers a compelling invitation to ponder the boundaries of the human.
Once Out of Nature: Augustine on Time and the Body
by Andrea NightingaleOnce Out of Nature offers an original interpretation of Augustine’s theory of time and embodiment. Andrea Nightingale draws on philosophy, sociology, literary theory, and social history to analyze Augustine’s conception of temporality, eternity, and the human and transhuman condition. In Nightingale’s view, the notion of embodiment illuminates a set of problems much larger than the body itself: it captures the human experience of being an embodied soul dwelling on earth. In Augustine’s writings, humans live both in and out of nature—exiled from Eden and punished by mortality, they are “resident aliens” on earth. While the human body is subject to earthly time, the human mind is governed by what Nightingale calls psychic time. For the human psyche always stretches away from the present moment—where the physical body persists—into memories and expectations. As Nightingale explains, while the body is present in the here and now, the psyche cannot experience self-presence. Thus, for Augustine, the human being dwells in two distinct time zones, in earthly time and in psychic time. The human self, then, is a moving target. Adam, Eve, and the resurrected saints, by contrast, live outside of time and nature: these transhumans dwell in an everlasting present. Nightingale connects Augustine’s views to contemporary debates about transhumans and suggests that Augustine’s thought reflects our own ambivalent relationship with our bodies and the earth. Once Out of Nature offers a compelling invitation to ponder the boundaries of the human.
Once Out of Nature: Augustine on Time and the Body
by Andrea NightingaleOnce Out of Nature offers an original interpretation of Augustine’s theory of time and embodiment. Andrea Nightingale draws on philosophy, sociology, literary theory, and social history to analyze Augustine’s conception of temporality, eternity, and the human and transhuman condition. In Nightingale’s view, the notion of embodiment illuminates a set of problems much larger than the body itself: it captures the human experience of being an embodied soul dwelling on earth. In Augustine’s writings, humans live both in and out of nature—exiled from Eden and punished by mortality, they are “resident aliens” on earth. While the human body is subject to earthly time, the human mind is governed by what Nightingale calls psychic time. For the human psyche always stretches away from the present moment—where the physical body persists—into memories and expectations. As Nightingale explains, while the body is present in the here and now, the psyche cannot experience self-presence. Thus, for Augustine, the human being dwells in two distinct time zones, in earthly time and in psychic time. The human self, then, is a moving target. Adam, Eve, and the resurrected saints, by contrast, live outside of time and nature: these transhumans dwell in an everlasting present. Nightingale connects Augustine’s views to contemporary debates about transhumans and suggests that Augustine’s thought reflects our own ambivalent relationship with our bodies and the earth. Once Out of Nature offers a compelling invitation to ponder the boundaries of the human.
Once Out of Nature: Augustine on Time and the Body
by Andrea NightingaleOnce Out of Nature offers an original interpretation of Augustine’s theory of time and embodiment. Andrea Nightingale draws on philosophy, sociology, literary theory, and social history to analyze Augustine’s conception of temporality, eternity, and the human and transhuman condition. In Nightingale’s view, the notion of embodiment illuminates a set of problems much larger than the body itself: it captures the human experience of being an embodied soul dwelling on earth. In Augustine’s writings, humans live both in and out of nature—exiled from Eden and punished by mortality, they are “resident aliens” on earth. While the human body is subject to earthly time, the human mind is governed by what Nightingale calls psychic time. For the human psyche always stretches away from the present moment—where the physical body persists—into memories and expectations. As Nightingale explains, while the body is present in the here and now, the psyche cannot experience self-presence. Thus, for Augustine, the human being dwells in two distinct time zones, in earthly time and in psychic time. The human self, then, is a moving target. Adam, Eve, and the resurrected saints, by contrast, live outside of time and nature: these transhumans dwell in an everlasting present. Nightingale connects Augustine’s views to contemporary debates about transhumans and suggests that Augustine’s thought reflects our own ambivalent relationship with our bodies and the earth. Once Out of Nature offers a compelling invitation to ponder the boundaries of the human.
Once Upon a Time in Russia: The Rise of the Oligarchs and the Greatest Wealth in History
by Ben MezrichA gripping and shocking insight into the lives of Russia’s most famous oligarchs from New York Times bestselling author of The Accidental Billionaires and Bringing Down the House. Once Upon a Time in Russia is the untold true story of the larger-than-life billionaire oligarchs who surfed the waves of privatization to reap riches after the fall of the Soviet regime: “Godfather of the Kremlin” Boris Berezovsky, a former mathematician whose first entrepreneurial venture was running an automobile reselling business, and Roman Abramovich, his dashing young protégé who built a multi-billion-dollar empire of oil and aluminium. Locked in a complex, uniquely Russian partnership, Berezovsky and Abramovich battled their way through the “Wild East” of Russia with Berezovsky acting as the younger man’s krysha- literally, his roof, his protector.Written with the heart-stopping pace of a thriller -but even more compelling because it is true - this story of amassing obscene wealth and power depicts a rarefied world seldom seen up close. Under Berezovsky’s krysha, Abramovich built one of Russia’s largest oil companies from the ground up and in exchange made cash deliveries - including 491 million dollars in just one year. But their relationship frayed when Berezovsky attacked President Vladimir Putin in the media - and had to flee to the UK. Abramovich continued to prosper. Dead bodies trailed Berezovsky’s footsteps, and threats followed him to London, where an associate of his died painfully and famously of Polonium poisoning. Then Berezovsky himself was later found dead, declared a suicide.Exclusively sourced, capturing a momentous period in recent world history, Once Upon a Time in Russia is at once personal and political, offering an unprecedented look into the wealth, corruption, and power behind what Graydon Carter called ‘the story of our age’.
Oncofertility: Ethical, Legal, Social, and Medical Perspectives (Cancer Treatment and Research #156)
by Teresa K. Woodruff Laurie Zoloth Lisa Campo-Engelstein Sarah RodriguezOncofertility has emerged as a way to address potential lost or impaired fertility in cancer patients and survivors, with active biomedical research that is developing new ways to help these individuals preserve their ability to have biological children. In order to move beyond oncofertility as a science and medical technology and begin to address the ethical, legal, and social ramifications of this emerging field, we must give voice to scholars from the humanities and social sciences to engage in a multidisciplinary discussion. This book brings together a pool of experts from a variety of fields, including communication, economics, ethics, history, law, religion, and sociology, to examine the complex issues raised by recent developments in oncofertility and to offer advice from national and international perspectives as we create new technology. Given the inherent interdisciplinary nature of oncofertility, this book is not only valuable, but also necessary to cultivate a deep understanding of new issues with the eventual aim of offering proposals for addressing them. Indeed, this book will be useful for people not only within the humanities and social sciences disciplines but also for those who are confronted with cancer and the possibility of impaired fertility and the medical practitioners within oncology and reproductive medicine who are at the front lines of this emerging field.
The One and Only Law: Walter Benjamin and the Second Commandment
by James MartelWalter Benjamin’s “Critique of Violence,” widely considered his final word on law, proposes that all manifestations of law are false stand-ins for divine principles of truth and justice that are no longer available to human beings. However, he also suggests that we must have law—we are held under a divine sanction that does not allow us to escape our responsibilities. James R. Martel argues that this paradox is resolved by considering that, for Benjamin, there is only one law that we must obey absolutely—the Second Commandment against idolatry. What remains of law when its false bases of authority are undermined would be a form of legal and political anarchism, quite unlike the current system of law based on consistency and precedent. Martel engages with the ideas of key authors including Alain Badiou, Immanuel Kant, and H.L.A. Hart in order to revisit common contemporary assumptions about law. He reveals how, when treated in constellation with these authors, Benjamin offers a way for human beings to become responsible for their own law, thereby avoiding the false appearance of a secular legal practice that remains bound by occult theologies and fetishisms.
One Another’s Equals: The Basis of Human Equality
by Jeremy WaldronAn enduring theme of Western philosophy is that we are all one another’s equals. Yet the principle of basic equality is woefully under-explored in modern moral and political philosophy. What does it mean to say we are all one another’s equals? Jeremy Waldron confronts this question fully and unflinchingly in a major new multifaceted account.