Critique Of Western Philosophy And Social Theory

Author : D. Sprintzen
Publisher : Springer
Page : 287 pages
File Size : 40,5 Mb
Release : 2009-12-07
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780230101777

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Critique of Western Philosophy and Social Theory by D. Sprintzen Pdf

The "existential" drama at the heart of the modern world is the result of a truly cataclysmic transformation in our institutions and modes of belief. It rivals in scope and significance, if it does not surpass, the transformation occasioned by the "Scientific Revolution" of the sixteenth and seventeenth century. Few can still doubt - even if they do not yet appreciate - the comprehensive and global scope of this "Second Scientific Revolution." Our fundamental modes of thought and action, institutional structure, personal identity, economic development, and relation to nature, all require radical revision if human life on this planet (and beyond) is to survive and prosper. We are thus confronted with a world whose structures of meaning and corresponding institutional foundations are being undermined, thus presaging a revolutionary transformation. That transformation, however unclear at present, cannot fail to be radical and comprehensive. This work critically evaluates its nature, outlines the structures of an alternative world view and then develops the contours of the social and institutional order it suggests. It concludes with a discussion of practical strategies by which we may reasonably hope to meet the challenges confronting our civilization.

Author : Bertrand Russell
Publisher : Psychology Press
Page : 940 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 1945
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : STANFORD:36105005405415

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History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell Pdf

First published in 1946, History of Western Philosophy went on to become the best-selling philosophy book of the twentieth century. A dazzlingly ambitious project, it remains unchallenged to this day as the ultimate introduction to Western philosophy. Providing a sophisticated overview of the ideas that have perplexed people from time immemorial, it is 'long on wit, intelligence and curmudgeonly scepticism', as the New York Times noted, and it is this, coupled with the sheer brilliance of its scholarship, that has made Russell's History of Western Philosophy one of the most important philosophical works of all time. -- Publisher description.

Author : Michael Murphy
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 223 pages
File Size : 42,6 Mb
Release : 2021-01-28
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781786615534

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A Post-Western Account of Critical Cosmopolitan Social Theory by Michael Murphy Pdf

In this book, Michael Murphy argues that if cosmopolitanism is to remain critical and relevant, rather than set out another grand project, what is required is a process of critique and cooperation. At the level of inter-cultural exchange, this requires understanding the encounter with the Other as a mutual phase of development and holds out the potential to rejuvenate world philosophies.Through this process the cosmopolitan imagination emerges from a dialogue between global traditions of relational sociologies on matters of common concern. The second stage of the book applies this methodology to provide a radical account of being and acting in the world. This will be achieved through engaging in conversation with the works of the critical theorist Gerard Delanty, the decolonial theorist Walter Mignolo, and the Buddhist, Confucian, and phenomenological inspired work of Watsuji Tetsurō. In providing a move away from abstractions and ideals to instead focus on injustices and the everyday life, Murphy uncovers an independent source for political legitimacy not defined by the rationality of the state or dependent on the ideals of Western philosophy. Part of this investigation also reveals a post-individual account of agency as an enactive being. Emphasising agency as becoming has the potential to allow us to reimagine the relationship between the self and the institutions of democracy. The main themes of this book are eurocentrism, critical cosmopolitanism, post-individual subjectivity and democracy.

Author : Nicholas Bunnin,Jiyuan Yu
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
Page : 788 pages
File Size : 45,7 Mb
Release : 2009-01-27
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781405191128

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The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy by Nicholas Bunnin,Jiyuan Yu Pdf

The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy ???The style is fresh and engaging, and it gives a broad and accurate picture of the western philosophical tradition. It is a pleasure to browse in, even if one is not looking for an answer to a particular question.??? David Pears ???Its entries manage to avoid the obscurities of an exaggerated brevity without stretching themselves out, as if seeking to embody whole miniature essays. In short it presents itself as a model of clarity and clarification.??? Alan Montefiore

Author : Nigel Pleasants
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 12 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 2002-01-31
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781134657339

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Wittgenstein and the Idea of a Critical Social Theory by Nigel Pleasants Pdf

This book uses the philosophy of Wittgenstein as a perspective from which to challenge the very idea of critical social theory, represented preeminently by Giddens, Habermas and Bhaskar. Renouncing the quest for an alternative Wittgensteinian theory of social and political life, the author shows that Wittgenstein nevertheless has considerable significance for critical thought and practice.

Author : Daniel John O'Connor
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 666 pages
File Size : 45,6 Mb
Release : 1985
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : UVA:X001049457

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A Critical History of Western Philosophy by Daniel John O'Connor Pdf

Author : Stephen P. Turner
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
Page : 159 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 2018-03-08
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780745678283

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The Social Theory of Practices by Stephen P. Turner Pdf

This book presents the first analysis and critique of the idea of practice as it has developed in the various theoretical traditions of the social sciences and the humanities. The concept of a practice, understood broadly as a tacit possession that is 'shared' by and the same for different people, has a fatal difficulty, the author argues. This object must in some way be transmitted, 'reproduced', in Bourdieu's famous phrase, in different persons. But there is no plausible mechanism by which such a process occurs. The historical uses of the concept, from Durkheim to Kripke's version of Wittgenstein, provide examples of the contortions that thinkers have been forced into by this problem, and show the ultimate implausibility of the idea of the interpersonal transmission of these supposed objects. Without the notion of 'sameness' the concept of practice collapses into the concept of habit. The conclusion sketches a picture of what happens when we do without the notion of a shared practice, and how this bears on social theory and philosophy. It explains why social theory cannot get beyond the stage of constructing fuzzy analogies, and why the standard constructions of the contemporary philosophical problem of relativism depend upon this defective notion.

Author : Deborah Cook
Publisher : Verso Books
Page : 192 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 2018-11-27
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781788730815

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Adorno, Foucault and the Critique of the West by Deborah Cook Pdf

The alliance of critical theory between Frankfurt and Paris Adorno, Foucault and the Critique of the West argues that critical theory continues to offer valuable resources for critique and contestation during this turbulent period. To assess these resources, it examines the work of two of the twentieth century's more prominent social theorists: Theodor W. Adorno and Michel Foucault. Although Adorno was situated squarely in the Marxist tradition that Foucault would occasionally challenge, Deborah Cook demonstrates that their critiques of our current predicament are complementary in important respects. Among other things, these critiques converge in their focus on the historical conditions-economic in Adorno and political in Foucault-that gave rise to the racist and authoritarian tendencies that continue to blight the West. Cook also shows that, when Adorno and Foucault plumb the economic and political forces that have shaped our identities, they offer remarkably similar answers to the perennial question: What is to be done?

Author : Karin de Boer,R. Sonderegger
Publisher : Springer
Page : 270 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 2011-11-25
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780230357006

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Conceptions of Critique in Modern and Contemporary Philosophy by Karin de Boer,R. Sonderegger Pdf

Does philosophical critique have a future? What are its possibilities, limits and presuppositions? This collection by outstanding scholars from various traditions, responds to these questions by examining the forms of philosophical critique that have shaped continental thought from Spinoza and Kant to Marx, Foucault, Derrida and Rancière.

Author : Max Horkheimer
Publisher : A&C Black
Page : 313 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 1972-01-01
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780826400833

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Critical Theory by Max Horkheimer Pdf

These essays, written in the 1930s and 1940s, represent a first selection in English from the major work of the founder of the famous Institute for Social Research in Frankfurt. Horkheimer's writings are essential to an understanding of the intellectual background of the New Left and the to much current social-philosophical thought, including the work of Herbert Marcuse. Apart from their historical significance and even from their scholarly eminence, these essays contain an immediate relevance only now becoming fully recognized.

Author : Julie K. Ward,Tommy L. Lott
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
Page : 336 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 2008-04-15
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780470752043

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Philosophers on Race by Julie K. Ward,Tommy L. Lott Pdf

Philosophers on Race adds a new dimension to current research on race theory by examining the historical roots of the concept in the works of major Western philosophers.

Author : Tim Dant
Publisher : SAGE
Page : 188 pages
File Size : 43,6 Mb
Release : 2003
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 0761954791

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Critical Social Theory by Tim Dant Pdf

Critical theory has left an indelible mark on postwar social thought. But what are the relations between critical theory and 'the cultural turn' ? How did critical theory inform later French critical theorists, such as Lefebvre, Barthes and Baudrillard? This accomplished and accessible book: - Demonstrates the origins of critical theory in the Marxian analysis of the capitalist mode of production and Freudian psychoanalysis - Clearly explains the main achievements of critical theory - Elucidates how critical theory defines culture as a system that constrains and alienates the individual - Explores the potential for social change and personal emancipation in the critical heritage. The author locates the importance of myth and reason, the significance of sexuality, the place of work, the difference between art and entertainment, the nature of everyday life and the relationship between knowledge and action. The result is a lucid and informative text which will appeal to all students interested in the critical traditions of social thought.

Author : Sandra Wallace
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 193 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2012-01-30
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781136913082

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Contradictions of Archaeological Theory by Sandra Wallace Pdf

Is current archaeological theory stuck at an impasse? Sandra Wallace argues that archaeological theory has become mired as a result of logical and ontological contradictions. By showing that these contradictions are a result of common underlying philosophical assumptions and fallacies this book is able to show how a fresh approach to this discipline is necessary to resolve them, even if this requires re-examining some of the tenants of orthodox archaeology. This fresh approach is achieved by using Critical Realism as an "under labourer" to philosophically evaluate archaeological theory. Starting by assessing the historical impact of philosophy on the discipline and then looking at the current relationship between archaeology and the ontology of the material this book facilitates the construction of discipline specific theory by archaeologists. The result is an approach to archaeology that allows both students and practitioners to free themselves from endemic contradictions and re-discover their approach to archaeological theory.

Author : Jürgen Habermas
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
Page : 264 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 2015-10-07
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780745694214

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Postmetaphysical Thinking by Jürgen Habermas Pdf

In this new collection of recent essays, Habermas takes up and pursues the line of analysis begun in The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity. He begins by outlining the sources and central themes of twentieth-century philosophy, and the range of current debates. He then examines a number of key contributions to these debates, from the pragmatic philosophies of Mead, Perice and Rorty to the post-structuralism of Foucault. Like most contemporary thinkers, Habermas is critical of the Western metaphysical tradition and its exaggerated conception of reason. But he cautions against the temptation to relinquish this conception altogether. In opposition to the radical critics of Western philosophy, Habermas argues that postmetaphysical thinking can remain critical only if it preserves the idea of reason while stripping it of its metaphysical trappings. Habermas contributes to this task by developing further his distinctive approach to problems of meaning, rationality and subjectivity. This book will be of particular interest to students of philosophy, sociology and social and political theory, and it will be essential reading for anyone interested in the continuing development of Habermas's project.

Author : Michael A. Peters,Carl Mika
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 120 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 2017-07-28
Category : Education
ISBN : 9781351624718

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The Dilemma of Western Philosophy by Michael A. Peters,Carl Mika Pdf

This edited collection takes a multifaceted approach to the various limitations and achievements of Western philosophy. Considered on its own, Western philosophy is a highly contentious name. The contributors question its validity as a label and take to task its grand appearance within education. However, part of the problem with Western philosophy is that it has less conventional as well as dominant manifestations. The writers consider both forms of Western philosophy, devoting significant thought and time to it in its own right, but always referring it to the more specific issue of education. This book adds to a growing corpus that sketches the relationship between education and philosophy, showing that they are deeply intertwined, and it is indeed philosophy (and especially its Western variation) that supports Western education and allows it to flourish in the first instance. It is fitting, then, that at various points this book depicts education as a hegemonic vehicle of a deeper phenomenon – that of dominant Western philosophy. This book was originally published as a special issue of Educational Philosophy and Theory.