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Theodor Adorno and Film Theory: The Fingerprint of Spirit

What is the fundamental nature of the filmic object: is it a commodity or is it, can it be, art? What would that mean - can it still matter? This book introduces the thought of Theodor Adorno into film studies to repair the schism that characterizes the field, as historical and cultural modes of analysis displace theoretical and philosophical ones.

Theodor W. Adorno: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring T.W. Adorno (1903-69) was a German philosopher and social and cultural theorist. His work has come to be seen as increasingly relevant to understanding the pathologies of contemporary society evident in today's climate emergency, the financial crash, the reappearance of fascism in many countries, and the growing instability of the world order. This Very Short Introduction covers Adorno's work and life, explaining his key philosophical concepts and the philosophical background and historical context of Adorno's thinking. Andrew Bowie shows how Adorno's exploration of why human reason can have irrational consequences led him to rethink basic concepts like 'nature', 'history', and 'freedom', offering alternatives to many ways of thinking about these concepts in contemporary philosophy. The book also examines Adorno's social theory, as well as his highly critical assessments of jazz and modern culture, which he considered threatened by the effects of modern capitalism. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Theodor W. Adorno: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring T.W. Adorno (1903-69) was a German philosopher and social and cultural theorist. His work has come to be seen as increasingly relevant to understanding the pathologies of contemporary society evident in today's climate emergency, the financial crash, the reappearance of fascism in many countries, and the growing instability of the world order. This Very Short Introduction covers Adorno's work and life, explaining his key philosophical concepts and the philosophical background and historical context of Adorno's thinking. Andrew Bowie shows how Adorno's exploration of why human reason can have irrational consequences led him to rethink basic concepts like 'nature', 'history', and 'freedom', offering alternatives to many ways of thinking about these concepts in contemporary philosophy. The book also examines Adorno's social theory, as well as his highly critical assessments of jazz and modern culture, which he considered threatened by the effects of modern capitalism. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Theodor W. Adorno's Philosophy, Society, and Aesthetics (Marx, Engels, and Marxisms)

This book is a complete presentation of the most important themes of Theodor W. Adorno’s critical theory, and of its relevance for the understanding of the modern society. After an Introduction, which traces Adorno’s biographical and intellectual profile, the book is structured in three parts. The first is devoted to theoretical philosophy, and in particular to the concepts of philosophy, negative dialectics and metaphysics, and his aim is to clarify the Adornian understanding of such difficult concepts. The second is devoted to the main themes of Adorno’s social theory: the concept of domination, the relationship with Marxism, the theory of the decay of the individual, the critique of mass manipulation. The third part is devoted to aesthetics and culture criticism, and entails a conclusion in which the author outlines a confrontation between the Adornian and the Habermasian critique of modernity.

Theodore Roosevelt: A Manly President’s Gendered Personal and Political Transformations (Routledge Historical Americans)

Theodore Roosevelt explores the personal and political life of the 26th President of the United States. It considers among other things his "manliness," a gendered framework of traits for the Gilded Age and Progressive Period guiding him and other men in business, politics, and war, and shows how the development of these traits transformed Roosevelt’s personal and political decisions. The work covers a storied personal life and emphasizes mental and physical challenges from depression, asthma, partial blindness, and attempted assassination. Cogan addresses the political transformation from traditional, to "Square Deal" Republican, to "Bull Moose" Progressive. The text also reviews initiatives dismissing corrupt officials, closing saloons, and arresting pimps; busting monopolies and bettering workplaces and consumer products; and conserving wildlife and natural resources. Contrary to popular conception, Roosevelt’s manliness was not macho masculinity. Rather, it was an evolving framework of traits, including courage, service, and Christian morality. Supported by a series of intriguing primary source documents, this book is essential reading for understanding Roosevelt, his era, and his manliness. It is an accessible tool for students studying and instructors teaching courses on the Gilded Age and Progressive Period in American history.

Theodore Roosevelt: A Manly President’s Gendered Personal and Political Transformations (Routledge Historical Americans)

Theodore Roosevelt explores the personal and political life of the 26th President of the United States. It considers among other things his "manliness," a gendered framework of traits for the Gilded Age and Progressive Period guiding him and other men in business, politics, and war, and shows how the development of these traits transformed Roosevelt’s personal and political decisions. The work covers a storied personal life and emphasizes mental and physical challenges from depression, asthma, partial blindness, and attempted assassination. Cogan addresses the political transformation from traditional, to "Square Deal" Republican, to "Bull Moose" Progressive. The text also reviews initiatives dismissing corrupt officials, closing saloons, and arresting pimps; busting monopolies and bettering workplaces and consumer products; and conserving wildlife and natural resources. Contrary to popular conception, Roosevelt’s manliness was not macho masculinity. Rather, it was an evolving framework of traits, including courage, service, and Christian morality. Supported by a series of intriguing primary source documents, this book is essential reading for understanding Roosevelt, his era, and his manliness. It is an accessible tool for students studying and instructors teaching courses on the Gilded Age and Progressive Period in American history.

Theodore Sorensen and the Kennedys: A Life of Public Service

Of the hundreds of books written about John F. Kennedy, none have yet taken the full measure of the role that Theodore Sorensen played in shaping his presidency. Serving as President Kennedy’s speechwriter from 1952 until 1963, Sorensen was a key advisor in the White House and a gatekeeper of the Kennedy legacy in the years after his assassination. This book presents a compelling portrait of Sorensen’s life and place in the American political landscape. He became an outspoken critic of corruption in politics, a vocal opponent of the militarist foreign policy approach that successive administrations adopted, and an advisor to Democratic presidential candidates such as Robert F. Kennedy and Barack Obama. Taking up questions about the role of presidential advisors and the concept of public service, an ideal that was central to the most famous of the speeches that Sorensen wrote for President Kennedy, Michelle A. Ulyatt offers new insight into Sorensen’s influence on the Kennedy years and the generation of leaders who came after.

Theologia Cartesiana: L’explication physique de l’Eucharistie chez Descartes et Dom Desgabets (International Archives of the History of Ideas Archives internationales d'histoire des idées #84)

Theological Aesthetics: God in Imagination, Beauty, and Art

This book explores the role of aesthetic experience in our perception and understanding of the holy. Richard Viladesau's goal is to articulate a theology of revelation, examined in relation to three principal dimensions of the aesthetic realm: feeling and imagination; beauty (or taste); and the arts. After briefly considering ways in which theology itself can be imaginative or beautiful, Viladesau concentrates on the theological significance of aesthetic data provided by each of the three major spheres of aesthetic perception and response. Throughout the work, the underlying question is how each of these spheres serves as a source (however ambiguous) of revelation. Although he frames much of his argument in terms of Catholic theology--from the Church Fathers to Karl Rahner, Hans urs von Balthasar, Bernard Lonergan, and David Tracy--Viladesau also makes extensive use of ideas from the Protestant theologian of the arts Gerardus van der Leeuw, and draws insights from such diverse thinkers as Hans Goerg Gadamer, Wolfhart Pannenberg, and Iris Murdoch. His analysis is enlivened by the artistic examples he selects: the music of Mozart as contemplated by Karl Barth, Schoenbergs opera Moses und Aron, the sculptures of Chartres Cathedral, poems by Rilke and Michelangelo, and many others. What emerges from this study is what Viladeseau terms a transcendental theology of aesthetics. In Thomistic terms, he finds that beauty is not only a perfection but a transcendental. That is, any instance of beauty, rightly perceived and rightly understood, can be seen to imply divinely beautiful things as well. In other words, Viladesau argues, God is the absolute and necessary condition for the possibility of beauty.

Theological Analyses of the Clinical Encounter (Theology and Medicine #3)

Efforts to evaluate the clinical encounter in terms of autonomous agents governed by rationally justified moral principles continue to be criticised. These essays, written by physicians, ethicists, theologians and philosophers, examine various models of the clinical encounter emerging out of these criticisms and explore the prospects they offer for theological and religious discourse. Individual essays focus on the reformulation of covenant models; revisions of principles approaches; and topics such as power, authority, narrative, rhetoric, dialogue, and alterity. The essays display a range of conclusions about whether theology articulates generally accessible religious insights or is a tradition-specific discipline. Hence the volume reflects current debates in theology while analysing current models of the clinical encounter. Students, professionals, and scholars who find themselves at the intersection of theology and medicine will welcome these voices in an ongoing conversation.

Theological Anthropology in the Anthropocene: Reconsidering Human Agency and its Limits

The Anthropocene presents theology, and especially theological anthropology, with unprecedented challenges. There are no immediately available resources in the theological tradition that reflect directly on such experiences. Accordingly, the situation calls for contextually based theological reflection of what it means to be human under such circumstances. This book discusses the main elements in theological anthropology in light of the fundamental points: a) that theological anthropology needs to be articulated with reference to, and informed by, the concrete historical circumstances in which humanity presently finds itself, and b) that the notion of the Anthropocene can be used as a heuristic tool to describe important traits and conditions that call for a response by humanity, and which entail the need for a renewal of what a Christian self-understanding means. Jan-Olav Henriksen explores what such a response entails from the point of view of contemporary theological anthropology and discusses selected topics that can contribute to a contextually based position.

The Theological Basis of Liberal Modernity in Montesquieu's "Spirit of the Laws"

The Spirit of the Laws—Montesquieu’s huge, complex, and enormously influential work—is considered one of the central texts of the Enlightenment, laying the foundation for the liberally democratic political regimes that were to embody its values. In his penetrating analysis, Thomas L. Pangle brilliantly argues that the inherently theological project of Enlightenment liberalism is made more clearly—and more consequentially— in Spirit than in any other work. In a probing and careful reading, Pangle shows how Montesquieu believed that rationalism, through the influence of liberal institutions and the spread of commercial culture, would secularize human affairs. At the same time, Pangle uncovers Montesquieu’s views about the origins of humanity’s religious impulse and his confidence that political and economic security would make people less likely to sacrifice worldly well-being for otherworldly hopes. With the interest in the theological aspects of political theory and practice showing no signs of diminishing, this book is a timely and insightful contribution to one of the key achievements of Enlightenment thought.

The Theological Basis of Liberal Modernity in Montesquieu's "Spirit of the Laws"

The Spirit of the Laws—Montesquieu’s huge, complex, and enormously influential work—is considered one of the central texts of the Enlightenment, laying the foundation for the liberally democratic political regimes that were to embody its values. In his penetrating analysis, Thomas L. Pangle brilliantly argues that the inherently theological project of Enlightenment liberalism is made more clearly—and more consequentially— in Spirit than in any other work. In a probing and careful reading, Pangle shows how Montesquieu believed that rationalism, through the influence of liberal institutions and the spread of commercial culture, would secularize human affairs. At the same time, Pangle uncovers Montesquieu’s views about the origins of humanity’s religious impulse and his confidence that political and economic security would make people less likely to sacrifice worldly well-being for otherworldly hopes. With the interest in the theological aspects of political theory and practice showing no signs of diminishing, this book is a timely and insightful contribution to one of the key achievements of Enlightenment thought.

Theological Ethics and Moral Value Phenomena: The Experience of Values

The experience of moral values is often side-lined in discussions about moral reasoning, and yet our values define a large part of our moral motives, standards and expectations. Theological Ethics and Moral Value Phenomena explores whether the experience of a meeting point of the immanent and the transcendent, i.e. the moral self and God, can be the source of our values. The book starts by arguing for a greater theological engagement with value ethics, personalism and the phenomenological method by drawing on thinkers such as Max Scheler and William James. It then provides an understanding of the social and religious dimension of the valuing person, demonstrating the importance of the emotional, as well as the cognitive, dimension of value experience. Finally, this value perspective is utilised to engage with current moral issues such as professional ethics, environmental ethics, economical ethics and family ethics. Integrating the concepts of religious experience, moral motivation, and subjective and objective value within a broad framework of Christian theology and philosophy, this is vital reading for any scholar of Theology and Philosophy with an interest in ethics and moral reasoning.

Theological Ethics and Moral Value Phenomena: The Experience of Values

The experience of moral values is often side-lined in discussions about moral reasoning, and yet our values define a large part of our moral motives, standards and expectations. Theological Ethics and Moral Value Phenomena explores whether the experience of a meeting point of the immanent and the transcendent, i.e. the moral self and God, can be the source of our values. The book starts by arguing for a greater theological engagement with value ethics, personalism and the phenomenological method by drawing on thinkers such as Max Scheler and William James. It then provides an understanding of the social and religious dimension of the valuing person, demonstrating the importance of the emotional, as well as the cognitive, dimension of value experience. Finally, this value perspective is utilised to engage with current moral issues such as professional ethics, environmental ethics, economical ethics and family ethics. Integrating the concepts of religious experience, moral motivation, and subjective and objective value within a broad framework of Christian theology and philosophy, this is vital reading for any scholar of Theology and Philosophy with an interest in ethics and moral reasoning.

Theological Hermeneutics: Development and Significance (Library of Philosophy and Religion)

An introduction to the history and scope of interpretation theory in theology. It discusses hermeneutical consciousness in Christian thinking from the time of the Church Fathers up to today.

Theological Incorrectness: Why Religious People Believe What They Shouldn't

Why do religious people believe what they shouldn't -- not what others think they shouldn't believe, but things that don't accord with their own avowed religious beliefs? D. Jason Slone terms this phenomenon "theological incorrectness." He argues that it exists because the mind is built in such a way that it's natural for us to think divergent thoughts simultaneously. Human minds are great at coming up with innovative ideas that help them make sense of the world, he says, but those ideas do not always jibe with official religious beliefs. From this fact we derive the important lesson that what we learn from our environment -- religious ideas, for example -- does not necessarily cause us to behave in ways consistent with that knowledge. Slone presents the latest discoveries from the cognitive science of religion and shows how they help us to understand exactly why it is that religious people do and think things that they shouldn't.

Theological Metaphysics: A Pentecostal Theology of Being (T&T Clark Systematic Pentecostal and Charismatic Theology)

Insofar as Christian theology aims to make truthful claims about the nature of reality, it is necessarily involved in the enterprise of metaphysics. Pentecostals, precisely as Christians, are thus obliged to participate. Through this study it becomes evident that pentecostals aim to participate in the metaphysical discipline in the same way they theologize - that is, informed by the norms, practices, and speech acts that constitute their spirituality. This book aims to construct a Christian metaphysics that is at once attuned to pentecostal spirituality/theology and informed by the classical tradition of Christian metaphysics. Ultimately, this work offers a constructive and critical engagement with pentecostal spirituality, and with pentecostal theology via the larger ecumenical, creedal, and dogmatic metaphysical tradition. Thus, this book is explicitly and intentionally limited to understand metaphysics in conversation with the historical Christian tradition, and to understand a pentecostal vision of it.

Theological Metaphysics: A Pentecostal Theology of Being (T&T Clark Systematic Pentecostal and Charismatic Theology)

Insofar as Christian theology aims to make truthful claims about the nature of reality, it is necessarily involved in the enterprise of metaphysics. Pentecostals, precisely as Christians, are thus obliged to participate. Through this study it becomes evident that pentecostals aim to participate in the metaphysical discipline in the same way they theologize - that is, informed by the norms, practices, and speech acts that constitute their spirituality. This book aims to construct a Christian metaphysics that is at once attuned to pentecostal spirituality/theology and informed by the classical tradition of Christian metaphysics. Ultimately, this work offers a constructive and critical engagement with pentecostal spirituality, and with pentecostal theology via the larger ecumenical, creedal, and dogmatic metaphysical tradition. Thus, this book is explicitly and intentionally limited to understand metaphysics in conversation with the historical Christian tradition, and to understand a pentecostal vision of it.

The Theological Origins of Modernity

Exposing the religious roots of our ostensibly godless age, Michael Allen Gillespie reveals in this landmark study that modernity is much less secular than conventional wisdom suggests. Taking as his starting point the collapse of the medieval world, Gillespie argues that from the very beginning moderns sought not to eliminate religion but to support a new view of religion and its place in human life. He goes on to explore the ideas of such figures as William of Ockham, Petrarch, Erasmus, Luther, Descartes, and Hobbes, showing that modernity is best understood as a series of attempts to formulate a new and coherent metaphysics or theology. “Bringing the history of political thought up to date and situating it against the backdrop of contemporary events, Gillespie’s analyses provide us a way to begin to have conversations with the Islamic world about what is perhaps the central question within each of the three monotheistic religions: if God is omnipotent, then what is the place of human freedom?”—Joshua Mitchell, Georgetown University

The Theological Origins of Modernity

Exposing the religious roots of our ostensibly godless age, Michael Allen Gillespie reveals in this landmark study that modernity is much less secular than conventional wisdom suggests. Taking as his starting point the collapse of the medieval world, Gillespie argues that from the very beginning moderns sought not to eliminate religion but to support a new view of religion and its place in human life. He goes on to explore the ideas of such figures as William of Ockham, Petrarch, Erasmus, Luther, Descartes, and Hobbes, showing that modernity is best understood as a series of attempts to formulate a new and coherent metaphysics or theology. “Bringing the history of political thought up to date and situating it against the backdrop of contemporary events, Gillespie’s analyses provide us a way to begin to have conversations with the Islamic world about what is perhaps the central question within each of the three monotheistic religions: if God is omnipotent, then what is the place of human freedom?”—Joshua Mitchell, Georgetown University

The Theological Origins of Modernity

Exposing the religious roots of our ostensibly godless age, Michael Allen Gillespie reveals in this landmark study that modernity is much less secular than conventional wisdom suggests. Taking as his starting point the collapse of the medieval world, Gillespie argues that from the very beginning moderns sought not to eliminate religion but to support a new view of religion and its place in human life. He goes on to explore the ideas of such figures as William of Ockham, Petrarch, Erasmus, Luther, Descartes, and Hobbes, showing that modernity is best understood as a series of attempts to formulate a new and coherent metaphysics or theology. “Bringing the history of political thought up to date and situating it against the backdrop of contemporary events, Gillespie’s analyses provide us a way to begin to have conversations with the Islamic world about what is perhaps the central question within each of the three monotheistic religions: if God is omnipotent, then what is the place of human freedom?”—Joshua Mitchell, Georgetown University

Theological Philosophy: Rethinking the Rationality of Christian Faith (Transcending Boundaries in Philosophy and Theology)

For much of the modern period, theologians and philosophers of religion have struggled with the problem of proving that it is rational to believe in God. Drawing on the thought of Thomas Aquinas, Theological Philosophy seeks to overturn the longstanding problem of proving faith's rationality and to establish instead that rationality requires to be explained by appeals to faith. Building on a constructive argument developed in a companion book, Rationality as Virtue, Lydia Schumacher advances the conclusion that belief in the God of Christian faith provides an exceptionally robust rationale for rationality and is as such intrinsically rational. At the same time, Schumacher overcomes a common tendency to separate spiritual from ordinary life, and construes the latter as the locus of proof for the rationality of Christian faith.

Theological Philosophy: Rethinking the Rationality of Christian Faith (Transcending Boundaries in Philosophy and Theology)

For much of the modern period, theologians and philosophers of religion have struggled with the problem of proving that it is rational to believe in God. Drawing on the thought of Thomas Aquinas, Theological Philosophy seeks to overturn the longstanding problem of proving faith's rationality and to establish instead that rationality requires to be explained by appeals to faith. Building on a constructive argument developed in a companion book, Rationality as Virtue, Lydia Schumacher advances the conclusion that belief in the God of Christian faith provides an exceptionally robust rationale for rationality and is as such intrinsically rational. At the same time, Schumacher overcomes a common tendency to separate spiritual from ordinary life, and construes the latter as the locus of proof for the rationality of Christian faith.

Theological Poverty in Continental Philosophy: After Christian Theology (Political Theologies)

Colby Dickinson proposes a new political theology rooted in the intersections between continental philosophy, heterodox theology, and orthodox theology. Moving beyond the idea that there is an irresolvable tension at the heart of theological discourse, the conflict between the two poles of theology is made intelligible. Dickinson discusses the opposing poles simply as manifestations of reform and revolution, characteristics intrinsic to the nature of theological discourse itself. Outlining the illuminating space of theology, Theological Poverty in Continental Philosophy breaks new ground for critical theology and continental philosophy.Within the theology of poverty, the believer renounces the worldly for the divine. Through this focus on the poverty intrinsic to religious calling, the potential for cross-pollination between the theological and the secular is highlighted. Ultimately situating the virtue of theological poverty within a poststructuralist, postmodern world, Dickinson is not content to position Christian philosophy as the superior theological position, moving away from the absolute values of one tradition over another. This universalising of theological poverty through core and uniting concepts like grace, negation, violence and paradox reveal the theory's transmutable strength. By joining up critical theology and the philosophy of religion in this way, the book broadens the possibility of a critical dialogue both between and within disciplines.