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Suspension of Belief (Elements in Ancient Philosophy)
by null Daniel VazquezThis Element offers a systematic outline of ancient conceptions and uses of suspension of belief (understood broadly) while engaging with contemporary philosophy. It discusses the notion of epochē ('suspension of judgement') and other related terms, like aporia, aphasia, paradox, hypothesis, agnosticism, and Socratic wisdom. It examines the Academic and Pyrrhonian sceptics and some of their arguments and strategies for suspension. It also includes the use and conditions for suspension of belief in other philosophers like Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, Plotinus, Protagoras, and Democritus. The Element is divided into four thematic sections, each addressing one of the following questions: What is suspension of belief? When does it arise? What could its scope be? And what are its practical and moral implications?
Animal Models of Human Disease (Elements in the Philosophy of Biology)
by null Sara GreenThe crucial role of animal models in biomedical research calls for philosophical investigation of how and whether knowledge about human diseases can be gained by studying other species. This Element delves into the selection and construction of animal models to serve as preclinical substitutes for human patients. It explores the multifaceted roles animal models fulfil in translational research and how the boundaries between humans and animals are negotiated in this process. The book also covers persistent translational challenges that have sparked debates across scientific, philosophical, and public arenas regarding the limitations and future of animal models. Among the are persistent tensions between standardization and variation in medicine, as well as between strategies aiming to reduce and recapitulate biological complexity. Finally, the book examines the prospects of replacing animal models with animal-free methods. The Element demonstrates why animal modeling should be of interest to philosophers, social scientists, and scientists alike.
Solidarity with Animals: Promises, Pitfalls, and Potential
'Solidarity' has received considerable scholarly attention and is central in many social justice movements. It is striking, then, that solidarity's relevance, meaning and practical implications in the context of animal protection have not been systematically explored. This is particularly surprising given the recent so-called 'political turn' in animal ethics. Work in the political turn accepts claims about the moral status of animals and people's personal obligations towards them, but advances the field in at least two ways. First, thinkers emphasize that mutually beneficial human-animal relations cannot rely solely on personal transformation, but also require institutional transformation. Secondly, scholars claim that to meaningfully improve the lives of animals, we must not only change our political systems, but better understand various animals' own perspectives and political agency to feed into 'more-than-human politics'. But while much work in this political turn has been done on concepts like 'justice', 'agency', 'representation', etc., only very few animal scholars have talked about 'solidarity'. And those that have, have done so only in very specific contexts and frameworks. This lack of attention is also mirrored also within animal activism, where those few campaigners who have employed the term have done so only in a very loose way. This edited collection brings together the leading thinkers in the fields of animal ethics, politics, social philosophy, world religions, and the law to explore this lacuna and thus provide the first book length treatment of solidarity between the species.
Solidarity with Animals: Promises, Pitfalls, and Potential
by Alasdair Cochrane'Solidarity' has received considerable scholarly attention and is central in many social justice movements. It is striking, then, that solidarity's relevance, meaning and practical implications in the context of animal protection have not been systematically explored. This is particularly surprising given the recent so-called 'political turn' in animal ethics. Work in the political turn accepts claims about the moral status of animals and people's personal obligations towards them, but advances the field in at least two ways. First, thinkers emphasize that mutually beneficial human-animal relations cannot rely solely on personal transformation, but also require institutional transformation. Secondly, scholars claim that to meaningfully improve the lives of animals, we must not only change our political systems, but better understand various animals' own perspectives and political agency to feed into 'more-than-human politics'. But while much work in this political turn has been done on concepts like 'justice', 'agency', 'representation', etc., only very few animal scholars have talked about 'solidarity'. And those that have, have done so only in very specific contexts and frameworks. This lack of attention is also mirrored also within animal activism, where those few campaigners who have employed the term have done so only in a very loose way. This edited collection brings together the leading thinkers in the fields of animal ethics, politics, social philosophy, world religions, and the law to explore this lacuna and thus provide the first book length treatment of solidarity between the species.
The Art of Losing Control: A Philosopher's Search for Ecstatic Experience
by Jules EvansHumans have always sought ecstatic experiences - moments where they go beyond their ordinary self and feel connected to something greater than them. Such moments are fundamental to human flourishing, but they can also be dangerous. Beginning around the Enlightenment, western intellectual culture has written off ecstasy as ignorance or delusion. But philosopher Jules Evans argues that this diminishes our reality and denies us the healing, connection and meaning that ecstasy can bring. He sets out to discover how people find ecstasy in a post-religious culture, how it can be good for us, and also harmful. Along the way, he explores the growing science of ecstasy, to help the reader - and himself - learn the art of losing control. Jules' exploration of ecstasy is an intellectual and emotional odyssey balancing personal experience, interviews and readings from ancient and modern philosophers that will change the way you think about how you feel. From Aristotle and Plato, via the Bishop of London and Sister Bliss, radical jihadis and Silicon Valley transhumanists, The Art of Losing Control is a funny and life-enhancing journey through under-explored terrain.
Against the Death Penalty: Writings from the First Abolitionists—Giuseppe Pelli and Cesare Beccaria
by Cesare Beccaria Giuseppie PelliThe first known abolitionist critique of the death penalty—here for the first time in EnglishIn 1764, a Milanese aristocrat named Cesare Beccaria created a sensation when he published On Crimes and Punishments. At its centre is a rejection of the death penalty as excessive, unnecessary, and pointless. Beccaria is deservedly regarded as the founding father of modern criminal-law reform, yet he was not the first to argue for the abolition of the death penalty. Against the Death Penalty presents the first English translation of the Florentine aristocrat Giuseppe Pelli's critique of capital punishment, written three years before Beccaria's treatise, but lost for more than two centuries in the Pelli family archives.Peter Garnsey examines the contrasting arguments of the two abolitionists, who drew from different intellectual traditions. Pelli was a devout Catholic influenced by the writings of natural jurists such as Hugo Grotius, whereas Beccaria was inspired by the French Enlightenment philosophers. While Beccaria attacked the criminal justice system as a whole, Pelli focused on the death penalty, composing a critique of considerable depth and sophistication. Garnsey explores how Beccaria's alternative penalty of forced labour, and its conceptualisation as servitude, were embraced in Britain and America, and delves into Pelli's voluminous diaries, shedding light on Pelli's intellectual development and painting a vivid portrait of an Enlightenment man of letters and of conscience.With translations of letters exchanged by the two abolitionists and selections from Beccaria's writings, Against the Death Penalty provides new insights into eighteenth-century debates about capital punishment and offers vital historical perspectives on one of the most pressing questions of our own time.
Formelsammlung Wirtschaftsmathematik: Wissen kompakt für Studierende und Praktiker
by Franz W. PerenDiese etablierte Formelsammlung enthält und erklärt mathematische Formeln innerhalb ökonomischer Zusammenhänge, wie sie in den Wirtschaftswissenschaften und in der wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Praxis unbedingt notwendig sind. Das Verständnis der Formeln und deren praktische Anwendung werden durch nützliche Hilfen und erklärliche Beispiele sinnvoll unterstützt, so dass der Kontext wirtschaftsmathematischer Formeln klar und verständlich dargestellt wird. Diese Formelsammlung ist ein unverzichtbares Tool für Studierende der Wirtschaftswissenschaften, aber auch ein nützliches Nachschlagewerk für Verantwortliche aus Wirtschaft, Politik und Lehre. Die Inhalte wurden für die 6. Auflage teilweise überarbeitet und ergänzt.
Sociological Theory: From Comte to Postcolonialism
by Alessandro OrsiniThis textbook analyses the work of classical and contemporary sociological theorists. The first part is dedicated to Comte, Spencer, Marx, Durkheim, Weber, Pareto, and Simmel. The second part covers the major contemporary sociological perspectives: Functionalism, Marxism, Conflict Theory, Symbolic Interactionism, Phenomenological Sociology, and Rational Choice Theory. The third part is devoted to Postmodern Theory, Feminist Theory, Postcolonial Theory, and Race Theory. The author combines academic rigour with clear and accessible language, offering students an in-depth and extensive overview of the main, recurring problems that have troubled sociological theory from its origins to the present day. The textbook uses contemporary examples, analysing how sociological theory can explain the most tragic phenomena of our time, including the war in Ukraine, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, US-China competition over Taiwan, nuclear proliferation, radicalization, neofascism, white suprematism, jihadism, and terrorism. With pedagogic features aiding learning, this book helps navigate the various approaches, methods, and research that divide sociologists into distinct schools. This textbook is therefore an invaluable tool to any sociology student looking to gain a comprehensive understanding of the foundational thinkers that have shaped the discipline.
Brave New Words: How AI Will Revolutionize Education (and Why That’s a Good Thing)
by Salman Khan‘Salman Khan has long been on the cutting edge of education, and in Brave New Words, he shows us what’s next. The book is a timely master class for anyone interested in the future of learning in the AI era. No one has thought more about these issues—or has more interesting things to say about them’ Bill GatesWhether we like it or not, the AI revolution is coming to education. In Brave New Words, Salman Khan, the visionary behind Khan Academy, explores how artificial intelligence and GPT technology will transform learning, offering a roadmap for teachers, parents, and students to navigate this exciting (and sometimes intimidating) new world.A pioneer in the world of education technology, Khan explains the ins and outs of these cutting-edge tools and how they will forever change the way we learn and teach. Rather than approaching the ChatGPT revolution with white-knuckled fear, Khan wants parents and teachers to embrace AI and adapt to it (while acknowledging its imperfections and limitations). He emphasizes that embracing AI in education is not about replacing human interaction but enhancing it, so that every student can complement the work they're already doing in profoundly new and creative ways, to personalize learning, adapt assessments, and support success in the classroom, preparing students for an increasingly digital future.But Brave New Words is not just about technology - it's about what this technology means for our society, and the practical implications for administrators, guidance counsellors, and hiring managers who can harness the power of AI in education and the workplace. Khan also delves into the ethical and social implications of AI and GPT, offering thoughtful insights into how we can use these tools to build a more accessible education system for students around the world.
The Routledge Handbook of Essence in Philosophy (Routledge Handbooks in Philosophy)
by Kathrin Koslicki Michael J. RavenEssences have been assigned important but controversial explanatory roles in philosophical, scientific, and social theorizing. Is it possible for the same organism to be first a caterpillar and then a butterfly? Is it impossible for a human being to transform into an insect like Gregor Samsa does in Kafka’s The Metamorphosis? Is it impossible for Lot’s wife to survive being turned into a pillar of salt? Traditionally, essences (or natures) have been thought to help answer such central questions about existence, identity, persistence, and modality. These questions are not only of great philosophical interest, they also are of great interest to society at large.This Handbook surveys the state of the art on essence. Core issues about essence are discussed in 33 chapters, all of them written exclusively for this volume by leading experts. They are organized into the following four major parts, each with its own introduction that provides a summary and comparison of the part’s chapters: History Essence and Essentialisms: Themes and Variations Applications Anti-Essentialist Challenges. The volume is accessible enough for students while also providing enough details to make it a valuable reference for researchers.While the notion of essence has been targeted for sustained criticisms since antiquity, recent work has renewed interest in the topic. This Handbook explains and synthesizes much of this current interest, placing essence within its historical context and drawing connections to many contemporary areas of philosophy as well as to scholarly work in other disciplines. With cross-references in each chapter and a comprehensive index, The Routledge Handbook of Essence in Philosophy is a useful resource and essential reading for anyone, whether in or out of academic philosophy, seeking clarification on one of philosophy’s most distinctive and notorious notions.
The Routledge Handbook of Essence in Philosophy (Routledge Handbooks in Philosophy)
Essences have been assigned important but controversial explanatory roles in philosophical, scientific, and social theorizing. Is it possible for the same organism to be first a caterpillar and then a butterfly? Is it impossible for a human being to transform into an insect like Gregor Samsa does in Kafka’s The Metamorphosis? Is it impossible for Lot’s wife to survive being turned into a pillar of salt? Traditionally, essences (or natures) have been thought to help answer such central questions about existence, identity, persistence, and modality. These questions are not only of great philosophical interest, they also are of great interest to society at large.This Handbook surveys the state of the art on essence. Core issues about essence are discussed in 33 chapters, all of them written exclusively for this volume by leading experts. They are organized into the following four major parts, each with its own introduction that provides a summary and comparison of the part’s chapters: History Essence and Essentialisms: Themes and Variations Applications Anti-Essentialist Challenges. The volume is accessible enough for students while also providing enough details to make it a valuable reference for researchers.While the notion of essence has been targeted for sustained criticisms since antiquity, recent work has renewed interest in the topic. This Handbook explains and synthesizes much of this current interest, placing essence within its historical context and drawing connections to many contemporary areas of philosophy as well as to scholarly work in other disciplines. With cross-references in each chapter and a comprehensive index, The Routledge Handbook of Essence in Philosophy is a useful resource and essential reading for anyone, whether in or out of academic philosophy, seeking clarification on one of philosophy’s most distinctive and notorious notions.
Rücktritte von politischen Ämtern: Perspektiven auf das Ende von politischen Karrieren
by Manuel Becker Volker Kronenberg Christopher PrinzPolitikwissenschaftliche und zeitgeschichtliche Untersuchungen zu den Karrieren deutscher Spitzenpolitiker*innen beschäftigten sich bislang vor allem mit deren Aufstieg und weniger mit dem Ende von politischen Laufbahnen. Aus welchen Gründen treten Politiker*innen aus dem Amt zurück? Was sind die Hintergründe, Motive und Konsequenzen einer solchen Entscheidung? Müssen Rücktritte zwingend Resultat eines Scheiterns sein oder kann es auch „erfolgreiche“ Rücktritte geben? In diesem Band werden theoretische Grundlagen der Rücktrittsforschung aus rechtlicher und politikwissenschaftlicher Perspektive erarbeitet, Rücktrittskulturen in unterschiedlichen Ländern vergleichend untersucht sowie verschiedene Fallbeispiele in ihren spezifischen Einzelfallbedingungen unter die Lupe genommen.
Multilevel Pedagogical Leadership in Higher Education: A Non-Affirmative Approach (Educational Governance Research #25)
by Janne Elo Michael UljensThis Open Access book addresses the theoretical grounding of the pedagogical dimensions of higher education leadership and its empirical study. The book’s general point of departure is that educational leadership is a multi-level phenomenon, operating as policy work on a transnational and national level, as educational leadership on various organizational levels, and as supervision and teaching on an interactional level. It is in and through these discursive practices that policies are initiated, interpreted, translated and enacted. The volume demonstrates how Non Affirmative Theory (NAT) of education applies to understanding and dealing with the pedagogical dimensions of the multi-level and multi-actor phenomena of HE leadership in a coherent manner. It allows one to explore how the pedagogical scope of action at each level of leadership is framed or staged by the other levels, as well as how actors at different levels utilise their scope. The book starts out by exploring the pedagogical aspects of HE leadership as a multi-level and multi-actor phenomenon at a theoretical level. It continues to discuss nation state HE in a global perspective, and HE leadership in an organisational perspective. Next, the book looks at departmental leadership, management and development. Parallel with this, the volume critically explores the non-affirmative position itself by a contrasting dialogue with other theoretical approaches.
The Heart and its Attitudes
by Stephen DarwallPhilosophers don't often write about the heart. At least, analytical philosophers don't. Why is this? Philosophers are said to live life ?in their heads? rather than ?from their hearts.? But even if that is so, why don't they think and write about the heart? Moreover, it can hardly have escaped philosophers' attention that matters of the heart are central to what we human beings value most about our lives, including our lives with animals. Philosophers write a lot about friendship and love, but they tend to do so in terms that leave out heartfelt connection. They speak rather of commitment to one another and each other's well-being, or taking each other as ends, or sharing deliberative standpoints or living life together, or a whole host of other topics, and much less about mutual emotional vulnerability and sharing and being in one another's hearts. Surely one explanation of philosophers' reticence is that talk of ?the heart? seems unavoidably metaphorical. It turns out to be easy enough, however, to cash the metaphor in if we simply take ?heart? refers to a cluster of emotional susceptibilities that have an essentially reciprocating structure. The heart aims at heartfelt connection-at shared experience of joys and sorrows, hopes and fears, and other personal emotions. We seek naturally to share these feelings with others and must suppress our natural tendencies if we wish to avoid doing so. Our heart's wish is to be open to other hearts in the hope that they will be open to ours, and thereby us, in return. This book is a systematic treatment-perhaps the first-of ?attitudes of the heart?-remorse (versus guilt), love, trust, gratitude, personal anger (versus righteous anger), jealousy, and others-and their role in mediating personal relationship, attachment, and connection. This is obviously interesting in its own right, but it also shows how heartfelt attitudes mirror more extensively studied ?reactive attitudes? of guilt, resentment, and blame (?attitudes of the will?). Whereas the latter mediate moral relations of mutual respect and accountability, attitudes of the heart are the currency of heartfelt connection and personal relationship.
The Heart and its Attitudes
by Stephen DarwallPhilosophers don't often write about the heart. At least, analytical philosophers don't. Why is this? Philosophers are said to live life ?in their heads? rather than ?from their hearts.? But even if that is so, why don't they think and write about the heart? Moreover, it can hardly have escaped philosophers' attention that matters of the heart are central to what we human beings value most about our lives, including our lives with animals. Philosophers write a lot about friendship and love, but they tend to do so in terms that leave out heartfelt connection. They speak rather of commitment to one another and each other's well-being, or taking each other as ends, or sharing deliberative standpoints or living life together, or a whole host of other topics, and much less about mutual emotional vulnerability and sharing and being in one another's hearts. Surely one explanation of philosophers' reticence is that talk of ?the heart? seems unavoidably metaphorical. It turns out to be easy enough, however, to cash the metaphor in if we simply take ?heart? refers to a cluster of emotional susceptibilities that have an essentially reciprocating structure. The heart aims at heartfelt connection-at shared experience of joys and sorrows, hopes and fears, and other personal emotions. We seek naturally to share these feelings with others and must suppress our natural tendencies if we wish to avoid doing so. Our heart's wish is to be open to other hearts in the hope that they will be open to ours, and thereby us, in return. This book is a systematic treatment-perhaps the first-of ?attitudes of the heart?-remorse (versus guilt), love, trust, gratitude, personal anger (versus righteous anger), jealousy, and others-and their role in mediating personal relationship, attachment, and connection. This is obviously interesting in its own right, but it also shows how heartfelt attitudes mirror more extensively studied ?reactive attitudes? of guilt, resentment, and blame (?attitudes of the will?). Whereas the latter mediate moral relations of mutual respect and accountability, attitudes of the heart are the currency of heartfelt connection and personal relationship.
The Three Ethologies: A Positive Vision for Rebuilding Human-Animal Relationships (Animal Lives)
by Matthew CalarcoA transformative vision for human-animal relations on personal, social, and environmental levels. The Three Ethologies offers a fresh, affirmative vision for rebuilding human-animal relations. Venturing beyond the usual scholarly and activist emphasis on restricting harm, Matthew Calarco develops a new philosophy for understanding animal behavior—a practice known as ethology—through three distinct but interrelated lenses: mental ethology, which rebuilds individual subjectivity; social ethology, which rethinks our communal relations; and environmental ethology, which reconfigures our relationship to the land we co-inhabit with our animal kin. Drawing on developments in philosophy, (eco)feminist theory, critical geography, Indigenous studies, and the environmental humanities, Calarco casts an inspiring vision of how ethological living can help us to reimagine our ideas about goodness, truth, and beauty.
Listening to the Philosophers: Notes on Notes
by Raffaella CribioreListening to the Philosophers offers the first comprehensive look into how philosophy was taught in antiquity through a stimulating study of lectures by ancient philosophers that were recorded by their students. Raffaella Cribiore shows how the study of notes—whether Philodemus of Gadara's notes of Zeno's lectures in the first century BCE, or Arrian recording the Discourses of Epictetus in the second century CE, or the students of Didymus the Blind in the fourth century and Olympiodorus in the sixth century—can enable us to understand the methods and practices of what was an orally conducted education. By considering the pedagogical and mnemonic role of notetaking in ancient education, Listening to the Philosophers demonstrates how in antiquity the written and the spoken worlds were intimately intertwined.
Critical Thinking Skills For Dummies
by Martin CohenLearn how to argue points effectively, analyze information, and make sound judgments The ability to think clearly and critically is a lifelong benefit that you can apply in any situation that calls for reflection, analysis, and planning. Being able to think systematically and solve problems is also a great career asset. Critical Thinking Skills For Dummies helps you hone your thinking abilities and become a better communicator. You’ll find hands-on, active instruction and exercises that you can put to work today as you navigate social media and news websites, chat with AI, fact-check your own and others’ views, and more. Become a thinking machine, with this Dummies guide. Identify other people’s arguments and conclusions—and spot holes in them Evaluate evidence and produce more effective arguments in any situation Read between the lines of what people say and form your own judgments Apply critical thinking to school or college assignments to improve your academic performance This is the perfect Dummies title for students, researchers, and everyone who seeks to improve their reasoning and analysis ability.
Edmund Burke (Classic Thinkers)
by Ross CarrollFew thinkers have provoked such violently opposing reactions as Edmund Burke. A giant of eighteenth-century political and intellectual life, Burke has been praised as a prophet who spied the terror latent in revolutionary or democratic ideologies, and condemned as defender of social hierarchy and outmoded political institutions. Ross Carroll tempers these judgments by situating Burke’s arguments in relation to the political controversies of his day. Burke’s writings must be understood as rhetorically brilliant exercises in political persuasion aimed less at defending abstract truths than at warning his contemporaries about the corrosive forces – ideological, social, and political – that threatened their society. Drawing on Burke’s enormous corpus, Carroll presents a nuanced portrait of Burke as, above all, a diagnostician of political misrule, whether domestic, foreign, or imperial. Burke’s lasting value, Carroll argues, derives less from the content of his specific positions than from the difficult questions he forces us to ask of ourselves. This engaging and illuminating account of Burke’s work is a vital reference for students and scholars of history, philosophy, and political thought.
A Field Guide To Getting Lost (Canons #66)
by Rebecca SolnitIn this investigation into loss, losing and being lost, Rebecca Solnit explores the challenges of living with uncertainty. A Field Guide to Getting Lost takes in subjects as eclectic as memory and mapmaking, Hitchcock movies and Renaissance painting, Beautifully written, this book combines memoir, history and philosophy, shedding glittering new light on the way we live now.
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.
Almost Everything: Notes on Hope
by Anne LamottDespair and uncertainty surround us: in the news, in our families, and in ourselves. But even when life is at its bleakest, Anne Lamott shows how we can rediscover the hope and wisdom that are buried within us and that can make life sweeter than we ever imagined. Divided into short chapters that explore life's essential truths, Almost Everything pinpoints these moments of insight and, with warmth and humour, offers a path forward.
A Politics of Melancholia: From Plato to Arendt
by George Edmondson Klaus MladekWhy melancholia is a vital form of social critique and a catalyst for political renewalMelancholia is wrongly condemned as a condition of withdrawal and despair that alienates its sufferer from community. Countering that misconception, A Politics of Melancholia reclaims an understanding of melancholia not as an affliction in need of a remedy but as an affirmative stance toward decay and ruination in political life, and restores the melancholic figure—by turns inventive and destructive, outraged and inspired—to their rightful place as the poet of political thought.George Edmondson and Klaus Mladek identify pivotal moments of political melancholia in ancient and modern texts, offering new perspectives on the death of Socrates in Plato&’s dialogues, the fratricide in Hamlet, Woyzeck&’s killing of Marie in Georg Büchner&’s Woyzeck, the murder of Moses in Freud&’s thought, and the betrayal of the revolutionary idea that Hannah Arendt identifies in her critique of eighteenth-century revolutions. Melancholia emerges here as a disposition that is mournful but also jubilant, a mood of unbending disconsolation that remains faithful to a scene of downfall, to events that cannot be forgotten, and to things that cannot be governed.Recovering a tradition of thought that is both affirmative and hopeful, this eloquent book reveals how political melancholia embodies a shared condition of discontent that binds communities together and inspires change.
Scandinavia and Bismarck: The Zenith of Scandinavianism (War, Culture and Society, 1750–1850)
by Rasmus Glenthøj Morten Nordhagen OttosenThis book accounts for Scandinavian unification efforts in a time of great upheaval. The ideological repercussions of the European revolutions of 1848-1849 and the Crimean War (1853-1856) transformed both the international political system and nationalism into more ‘realist’ types. The First Schleswig War (1848-1851) having nearly turned into one of Scandinavian unification, the influence of Scandinavianism extended into the Danish, Swedish and Norwegian courts, cabinets and parliaments, attracting interest from the great powers. The Crimean War offered another window of opportunity for Scandinavian unification, before the Danish-German conflict over the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein nearly united Scandinavia upon the outbreak of the Second Schleswig War in 1864. The ultimate failure of Scandinavianism in its unification efforts was not predetermined, although historiography has made it appear as such. Napoleon III, Cavour and Bismarck all actively contributed to plans for Scandinavian unification, the latter even declaring himself as “very strongly Scandinavian”.
Scandinavia After Napoleon: The Genesis of Scandinavianism (War, Culture and Society, 1750–1850)
by Rasmus Glenthøj Morten Nordhagen OttosenThis book explores the intellectual grounds of Scandinavianist ideology and its political development into a national unification movement. Denmark, Norway and Sweden were nearly annihilated during the Napoleonic Wars. The lesson learned was that survival was a matter of size. Whereas their union of 1814 offered Sweden-Norway geostrategic security tempered by fear of Russia, Denmark was the biggest territorial loser of the Napoleonic Wars and faced separatism connected to German nationalism in the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. This evolved into a national conflict that threatened Denmark’s survival as a nation. Meanwhile, a new generation of Danes, Swedes and Norwegians had come to regard kindred language, culture and religion as a case for Scandinavian union that could offer protection against Russia and Germany. When the European revolutions of 1848 unleashed the First Schleswig War, the influence of Scandinavianism was such that it nearly turned into a Scandinavian war of unification.