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The constraint is the possibility - this was the idea behind a conference that took place in Gent (Belgium) in 2010, under the title "Yes we Kant! Critical reflections on objectivity", and where many of the papers included in this volume were first presented. The questions addressed there all regarded the nature and meaning of objectivity, and how and whether Immanuel Kant''s theory of constitution can still prove relevant to such philosophical concerns. This involves, of course, careful exegesis of Kant''s works, but as the Prussian sage himself recognised: it is the spirit, and not the letter of a philosopher''s oeuvre that one should seek to grasp. This volume, then, seeks to explore to what extent the idea that the constraint is the possibility captures the spirit of transcendental philosophy. In the "Critique of Pure Reason", this idea finds expression in the metaphor of the dove, who regrets that air resistance keeps him from flying ever higher, but forgets that it is this same resistance that keeps him aloft. In much the same way, the limitations and constraints on knowledge may be the very conditions of possibility for objectivity, and not the reasons for its impossibility.

Many authors have already observed that the Tractatus Theologico-Politicus of Baruch Spinoza was, in its time, the most discussed and most vehemently refuted book. Indeed, at the dawn of the Enlightenment, and almost until the end of the XIX century, Spinoza''s Theological-Political Treatise was an assertive and powerful appeal to freedom of expression and thought, a bold claim of religious tolerance and freedom of conscience in a Europe that was unaccustomed to the exercise of free thought. But, what is after all the subject of the Theological-Political Treatise, a book maligned for so long and by so many as ultra pestilential and immoral? The present volume, collecting a bunch of essays by notable European scholars, attempts to address some of the problems created by the broad spectrum of topics included in Spinoza''s Theological-Political Treatise.

This book is a study of the traditional relationships that exist in Oman between land and social organisation, and how they have evolved. The author starts with the theme of aridity and, using the extensive literature of the 1200 year old Ibadi community to supplement his field work, shows how the techniques of water exploitation have influenced the country''s social organisation and its political ideology. He describes how the settlement organisation has evolved in two stages; the first in the years before Islam when the Persians irrigated the land using aflaj or horizontal water channels; the second after the Arabs had overthrown the Persians and, influenced by Ibadism, established a more democratic society dominated by a strong tribal structure in the villages. The tribal structure is then examined in detail and the author shows how close the links are between the Islamic ideology, land use, and social organisation. As a contribution to the human geography of Oman as well as to general knowledge of the Middle East the book will interest Arabists, Islamic historians and social anthropologists, as well as hydrologists and geographers.

The Austronesian-speaking Sama peoples make up one of the most widespread cultural groups within the Southeast Asian island world. The so-called sea-nomadic Sama Dilaut, part of the linguistic sub-group of the Sama-Bajau, form a very distinct community both socially and culturally. The performing arts are a crucial part of their life and cultural identity. Yet, previous studies of Sama Dilaut societies have hardly touched upon their music or dance forms. This edited volume attempts to close this gap in our knowledge. Contributions focus on kulintangan and other types of instrumental music, song repertoire and dance. Other topics include: Continuity and transformation in Sama Dilaut performing arts; Issues of globalisation and identity negotiation through music; Transnational flows and their impact on Sama Dilaut music and dance; The relationship between Sama Dilaut performing arts and those of surrounding communities; The impact of constructions of nationhood on Sama Dilaut music-making.

In the early modern period, Latin was the most important international language and was therefore regularly used in political contexts in order to shape ideological discourses of the time. The present volume collects papers of a conference dedicated to these ideological impacts of Neo-Latin literature. The contributions cover a wide range of texts connected with some of the most prominent political discussions in Europe during the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. They do not only shed light on the specific historical context, but also describe more general discursive mechanisms on which the specific texts are relying (eg: the role of exemplary texts and figures from antiquity, the importance of literary genres, the connection with vernacular traditions). Thus, the volume makes an important contribution to understanding the crucial importance of Latin literature within the political culture of early modern Europe.

In this international historical survey the different varieties of realism are explained in their theoretical context and categorised according to established definitions. The book is divided into three chronological sections. The first part, covering the years 18301917, describes the origins of the realist style in Europe and North America, the emergence of Naturalism and the origins of socialist art. The second part (1917-1960) explains the different stages of socialist realism in the USSR as well as the directions taken by realism in the West (social realism, magic realism and documentary photography) and in emergent countries (Mexican muralism and other forms of revolutionary art). In the last part (1960-1990) the influence of modernism on realism is discussed (new realism, Pop Art, photo-realism, political art in Asia and Latin America, forms of critical realism in the world-wide student movements of the late 1960s). This is the only extensive manual of its kind to be published in the 21st century describing the varieties of realism in Argentina, Australia, Austria, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia (USSR), Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, United States of America. The manual includes a dictionary of artistic terms.