Has the passing of the old God paved the way for a new kind of religious project, a more responsible way to seek, sound, and love the things we call divine?
Contemporary philosophical pluralism recognizes the inevitability and legitimacy of multiple ethical perspectives and values, making it difficult to isolate the higher-order principles on which to base a theory of justice.
In his philosophy of ethics and time, Emmanuel Levinas highlighted the tension that exists between the "e;ontological adventure"e; of immediate experience and the "e;ethical adventure"e; of redemptive relationships-associations in which absolute responsibility engenders a transcendence of being and self.
Ethnic cleansing and other methods of political and social exclusion continue to thrive in our globalized world, complicating the idea that unity and diversity can exist in the same society.
Axel Honneth has been instrumental in advancing the work of the Frankfurt School of critical theorists, rebuilding their effort to combine radical social and political analysis with rigorous philosophical inquiry.
While ancient civilizations worshipped strong, active emotions, modern societies have favored more peaceful attitudes, especially within the democratic process.
The celebrated author of Gender Trouble here redefines Antigone's legacy, recovering her revolutionary significance and liberating it for a progressive feminism and sexual politics.
Michel Foucault was the first to embed the roots of human sexuality in discipline and biopolitics, therefore revolutionizing our conception of sex and its relationship to society, economics, and culture.
Americans increasingly cite moral values as a factor in how they vote, but when we define morality simply in terms of a voter's position on gay marriage and abortion, we lose sight of the ethical decisions that guide our everyday lives.
In the 1960s, the strict opposition between the religious and the secular began to break down, blurring the distinction between political philosophy and political theology.
A former student and collaborator of Jacques Derrida, Catherine Malabou has generated worldwide acclaim for her progressive rethinking of postmodern, Derridean critique.
We believe we know our bodies intimately-that their material reality is certain and that this certainty leads to an epistemological truth about sex, gender, and identity.
Political philosopher Noelle McAfee proposes a powerful new political theory for our post-9/11 world, in which an old pathology-the repetition compulsion-has manifested itself in a seemingly endless war on terror.
Some critical theorists understand the self as constituted by power relations, while others insist upon the self's autonomous capacities for critical reflection and deliberate self-transformation.
This book offers new perspectives on the early and formative years of the German-Jewish philosopher Hans Jonas, through innovative studies of his German and Hebrew work in pre-war Germany and Palestine.
Philosophy, Psychology, and Psychologism presents a remarkable diversity of contemporary opinions on the prospects of addressing philosophical topics from a psychological perspective.
Leading philosopher's guide to the ideas that will shape the 21st century'Ideas are the cogs that drive history, and understanding them is half way to being aboard that powerful juggernaut rather than under its wheels'.
The essays collected in this volume take a new look at the role of language in the thought of Martin Heidegger to reassess its significance for contemporary philosophy.
The Power of Religion in the Public Sphere represents a rare opportunity to experience a diverse group of preeminent philosophers confronting one pervasive contemporary concern: what role does or should religion play in our public lives?
Jean Grondin completes the first history of metaphysics and respects both the analytical and the Continental schools while transcending the theoretical limitations of each.
Informed by a provocative exhibition at the Louvre curated by the author, The Severed Head unpacks artistic representations of severed heads from the Paleolithic period to the present.
In the introduction to The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir notes that "e;a man never begins by establishing himself as an individual of a certain sex: his being a man poses no problem.
The Undiscovered Dewey explores the profound influence of evolution and its corresponding ideas of contingency and uncertainty on John Dewey's philosophy of action, particularly its argument that inquiry proceeds from the uncertainty of human activity.
For Elisabeth Roudinesco, a historian of psychoanalysis and one of France's leading intellectuals, Canguilhem, Sartre, Foucault, Althusser, Deleuze, and Derrida represent a "e;great generation"e; of French philosophers who accomplished remarkable work and lived incredible lives.
As a linguist, Julia Kristeva has pioneered a revolutionary theory of the sign in its relation to social and political emancipation; as a practicing psychoanalyst, she has produced work on the nature of the human subject and sexuality, and on the "e;new maladies"e; of today's neurotic.
Conceptions of evil have changed dramatically over time, and though humans continue to commit acts of cruelty against one another, today we possess a clearer, more moral way of analyzing them.
During John Dewey's lifetime (1859-1952), one public opinion poll after another revealed that he was esteemed to be one of the ten most important thinkers in American history.
Michael Dummett's three John Dewey Lectures-"e;The Concept of Truth,"e; "e;Statements About the Past,"e; and "e;The Metaphysics of Time"e;-were delivered at Columbia University in the spring of 2002.