Bøker i Ashgate New Critical Thinking in Philosophy-serien

Jaroslav Peregrin explores the relationship between meaning and structure, focusing on the aspects of the Saussurean legacy that he feels are crucial in this endeavour and can be seen as congenial to the views of language entertained by the "postanalytic" philosophers.

The purpose of this book is to provide the reader with an accessible guide to the most significant developments in Hume's scholarship, while, at the same time, defending a general interpretatation of Hume's philsophy.

In recent years, the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer has experienced a revival in the degree of interest it has attracted. This book covers a perceived gap in the scholarship, focusing on his moral philosophy and his ideas on religion and theology.

Presenting a critical history of the philosophy of science in the twentieth century, focusing on the transition from logical positivism in its first half to the 'new philosophy of science' in its second, this title examines the influence of several key figures, focusing on Thomas Kuhn and Karl Popper.

Baruch Spinoza a Dutch rationalist philosopher of the 17th century and Donald Davidson one of the most distinguished contemporary American analytic philosophers, are two thinkers not usually analysed in conjunction with each other in the philosophical literature yet there are remarkable parallels in their thought. In this book Floris van der Burg identifies topics of comparison in the areas of ontology, epistemology, philosophy of mind and philosophy of language and, after explaining the theory of each philosopher, examines the parallel themes between Spinoza and Davidsonian theory.

Examining Julia Kristeväs contention that contemporary Western society is witnessing a crisis of subjectivity due to the failure of the paternal function, Gambaudo places Kristeväs thesis within the context of Freudian psychoanalytic thought and shows how Kristeva defends her position against a cultural climate privileging scientific and cognitive answers to aesthetic concerns.

A comprehensive analysis of the work on subjectivity by Dieter Henrich, one of the most respected and frequently cited philosophers in Germany. The text evaluates it in the context of contemporary debates in both continental and analytic traditions.

Engaging with the controversial reading of "Spinoza" presented by Gilles Deleuze in "Expressionism in Philosophy" (1968), this book focuses on Deleuze's redeployment of Spinozist concepts within the context of his own philosophical project of constructing a philosophy of difference as an alternative to the Hegelian dialectical philosophy.

Uncovers the nature and authority of conceptual determination by critically thinking through neglected arguments in Hegel's "Science of Logic" pivotal for understanding reason and its role in philosophy. This book is of interest to readers of Hegel, as well as those wondering how thought can be objective.

John McDowell's "Mind and World" has become a seminal text, putting forward many new ideas on the manner in which concepts mediate the relation between minds and the world. This book elaborates and simplifies his ideas giving greater clarity to them and assisting in the understanding and appreciation of his work.

In providing a critique of modern moral philosophy from this perspective, the authors line of enquiry lends much support to 'Vitrue Ethics' as exemplified in the work or Hursthouse and Stole while taking a more combative approach with those with whom he disputes.

In its discussion of various theories of knowledge, this text explores several areas: the general idea underlying modal epistemology; modal theories and warranted belief; tracking dispositionality; masking, mimicking and altering; and a dispositional theory and warranted belief.

This text investigates the issue of why there is something instead of nothing. In an attempt to answer this most extreme of philosophical questions, the author draws upon both the intellectual and emotional aspects of human thought.

The topics discussed in this text include: negotiating the good life; the importance of practical reason; the problems of Aristotle's metaphysics; man as a political animal; friendship, justice and the common good; and a neo-Aristotelian way forward.

This volume explores the philosophical, psychological and political assumptions that underpin a concern for nature, offering suggestions on how the domination of humans and nature may be overcome. It is an introduction to the philosophy of ecology, known as deep ecology.

This is an attempt to address the ethical issues raised by mental illness and its treatment by focusing on the question of autonomy. The mentally ill may be regarded as non-autonomous by virtue of irrationality, which may result in treatment models which may deny them a voice.

A dominant epistemological assumption behind Western philosophy is that it is possible to locate some form of commonality between languages, traditions, or cultures. This book argues that the thesis of incommensurability challenges this assumption and provides contributions to the discussion of incommensurability and related issues in philosophy.

Kant's take on the relationship between humanity and divinity is more complex and less assured than that to be found in most modern philosophers and apologists. The author traces this uneasy truth, or troubling notion, in the works of Kant, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche.

Defends the bold claim that humans can organise themselves to live peacefully and prosperously together in an anarchist utopia. This book refutes errors about what anarchism is, about utopianism, and about human sociability and its history. It analyses natural human social activity which places anarchy in the real landscape of sociability.

Zizek has emerged as the pre-eminent European cultural theorist of the last decade and has been described as the ultimate Marxist/Lacanian cultural studies scholar. Sharpe undertakes the difficult task of drawing out an evolving argument from Zizek's texts from 1989 to 2001. Sharpe from the University of Melbourne.

Investigates the nexus between 'the seemingly impossible of high theory and the seemingly accessible possibilities of popular discourse', as encountered in liberation movements based on identity. This book offers an explication of complex philosophical issues and an understanding of how they relate to the political practicalities of everyday life.

The author systematically assesses the underlying presuppositions of MacIntyre and Hauerwas, finding that their attempts to secure moral knowledge and restate virtue ethics, both philosophical and theological, fail, and proposing alternative indications.

Presents a reconstruction of the libertarian argument and then brings to bear a critical evaluation leading to an ultimate rejection of libertarianism. Exposing the limitations of libertarianism and disclosing its errors, Attas argues that the rights which libertarians adopt with respect to persons, natural resources and products are indefensible.

Using phenomenology to uncover the implicit logic in personal love, sexual love, and hatred, this book provides insights into the uniqueness of the beloved and offers explanations for some of the worst outbreaks of violence and hatred in modern times.