macat international limited london (496 risultati)

Paperback. Condizione: new. Paperback. Reasoning is the critical thinking skill concerned with the production of arguments: making them coherent, consistent, and well-supported; and responding to opposing positions where necessary. The Better Angels of Our Nature offers a step-by-step class in precisely these skills. Author Steven Pinker's central thesis is simple: mankind has become increasingly less violent over the centuries, and will continue to do so. Pinker is aware, though, that many people instinctively believe the opposite, and Better Angels is devoted to marshalling data to support and illustrate this central argument, as well as a series of secondary arguments about how and why humanity has become less violent. Pinker's interpretative skills understanding the meaning of the complex evidence from history are also on display throughout, as he tackles the ambiguities of his data, the problems it presents, and the viable inferences one can draw from it. Stephen Pinker's optimistic 2011 book argues that, despite humanity's biological tendency toward violence, we are, in fact, less violent today than ever before citing extensive statistical evidence. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. The Age of Revolution is the first of four works by Eric Hobsbawm that collectively synthesize the ideas he developed over a lifetime spent studying the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Hobsbawm's vision is important he was a lifelong Marxist whose view of history was shaped by a fascination with social and economic history, yet who privileged evidence over political theory but the real power of these works, and especially The Age of Revolution, emanates from the wide range of the author's reading and his mastery of the critical thinking skill of evaluation. It is this skill that allows Hobsbawm to combine insights drawn from decades of reading into an original thesis that sees the crucial "long 19th century" as a period shaped by "dual revolution" the twin impacts of the Industrial Revolution in Britain, and the French Revolution on the continent. Hobsbawm supplemented his evaluative excellence with a firm grasp of reasoning, crafting a volume that contains brilliant, clearly-structured arguments which explain complicated ideas via well-chosen examples in ways that make his work accessible to intelligent general readers and scholars alike. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. Ways of Seeing is a key art-historical work that continues to provoke widespread debate. It is comprised of seven different essays, three of which are pictorial and the other containing texts and images. Berger first examines the relationship between seeing and knowing, discussing how our assumptions affect how we see a painting. He moves on to consider the role of women in artwork, particularly regarding the female nude. The third essay deals with oil painting looking at the relationship between subjects and ownership. Finally, Berger addresses the idea of ownership in a consumerist society, discussing the power of imagery in advertising, with particular regards to photography. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. Milton Friedman was one of the most influential economists of all time and his ideas had a huge impact on the economic policies of governments across the world. A key theorist of capitalism and its relationship to democratic freedoms, Friedman remains one of the most cited authorities in both academic economics and government economic policy. His work remains striking not just for its brilliant grasp of economic laws and realities, but also for its consistent application of high-level evaluation and reasoning skills to produce arguments that can convince experts and laypeople alike. Friedmans 1968 essay The Role of Monetary Policy is a key example of how Friedmans critical thinking skills helped to cement his influence and reputation. The paper addressed the question of how a governments monetary policy affects the economy from employment levels to inflation and so on. At its heart lies an evaluation and critique of the most widely accepted conception of monetary policy at the time the Phillips Curve which argued that increased inflation leads naturally to increased employment. Systematically noting the flaws and weaknesses of the Phillips Curve theory, Friedman showed why this is not, in fact, the case. He then drew up a systematic alternative argument for what governmental monetary policy could and should aim to do. Though economists now consider Friedmans ideas to have considerable limitations, The Role of Monetary Policy remains a masterclass in evaluating and countering faulty arguments. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. Eric Hoffers The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements is one of the most widely read works of social psychology written in the 20th-century. It exemplifies the powers of creative thinking and critical analysis at their best, providing an insight into two crucial elements of critical thinking. Hoffer is likely to go down in history as one of Americas great creative thinkers a writer not bound by standard frameworks of thinking or academic conventions, willing to beat his own path in framing the best possible answers to the questions he investigated. An impoverished, largely unschooled manual laborer who had survived the worst effects of the Great Depression in the United States, Hoffer was a passionate autodidact whose philosophical and psychological education came from omnivorous reading. Working without the help of any mentors, he forged the fearsomely creative and individual approach to problems demonstrated in The True Believer. The book, which earned him his reputation, examines the different phenomena of fanaticism religious or political and applies Hoffers analytical skills to reveal that, deep down, all true believers display the same needs and tendencies, whatever their final choice of belief. Incisive and persuasive, it remains a classic. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. How was the Soviet Union like a soup kitchen? In this important and highly revisionist work, historian Sheila Fitzpatrick explains that a reimagining of the Communist state as a provider of goods for the deserving poor can be seen as a powerful metaphor for understanding Soviet life as a whole. By positioning the state both as a provider and as a relief agency, Fitzpatrick establishes it as not so much a prison (the metaphor favoured by many of her predecessors), but more the agency that made possible a way of life. Fitzpatricks real claim to originality, however, is to look at the relationship between the all-powerful totalitarian government and its own people from both sides and to demonstrate that the Soviet people were not totally devoid of either agency or resources. Rather, they successfully developed practices that helped them to navigate everyday life at a time of considerable danger and multiple shortages. For many, Fitzpatrick shows, becoming an informer and reporting fellow citizens even family and friends to the state was a successful survival strategy. Fitzpatrick's work is noted mainly as an example of the critical thinking skill of reasoning; she marshals evidence and arguments to deliver a highly persuasive revisionist description of everyday life in Soviet time. However, her book has been criticized for the way in which it deals with possible counter-arguments, not least the charge that many of the interviewees on whose experiences she bases much of her analysis were not typical products of the Soviet system. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. Michelle Alexanders The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness is an unflinching dissection of the racial biases built into the American prison system. Named after the laws that enforced racial segregation in the southern United States until the mid-1960s, The New Jim Crow argues that while America is now legally a colorblind society treating all races equally under the law many factors combine to build profound racial weighting into the legal system. The US now has the worlds highest rate of incarceration, and a disproportionate percentage of the prison population is comprised of African-American men. Alexanders argument is that different legal factors have combined to mean both that African-Americans are more likely to be targeted by police, and to receive long jail sentences for their crimes. While many of Alexanders arguments and statistics are to be found in other books and authors work, The New Jim Crow is a masterful example of the reasoning skills that communicate arguments persuasively. Alexanders skills are those fundamental to critical thinking reasoning: organizing evidence, examining other sides of the question, and synthesizing points to create an overall argument that is as watertight as it is persuasive. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. John Lockes 1689 Two Treatises of Government is a key text in the history of political theory one whose influence remains marked on modern politics, the American Constitution and beyond. Two Treatises is more than a seminal work on the nature and legitimacy of government. It is also a masterclass in two key critical thinking skills: evaluation and reasoning. Evaluation is all about judging and assessing arguments asking how relevant, adequate and convincing they are. And, at its heart, the first of Lockes two treatises is pure evaluation: a long and incisive dissection of a treatise on the arguments in Sir Robert Filmers Patriarcha. Filmers book had defended the doctrine that kings were absolute rulers whose legitimacy came directly from God (the so-called divine right of kings), basing his arguments on Biblical explanations and evidence. Locke carefully rebutted Filmers arguments, on their own terms, by reference to both the Bible and to recorded history. Finding Filmers evidence either to be insufficient or unacceptable, Locke concluded that his argument for patriarchy was weak to the point of invalidity. In the second of Lockes treatises, the author goes on to construct his own argument concerning the sources of legitimate power, and the nature of that power. Carefully building his own argument from a logical consideration of man in the state of nature, Locke creates a convincing argument that civilised society should be based on natural human rights and the social contract. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. The German sociologist Max Weber is considered to be one of the founding fathers of sociology, and ranks among the most influential writers of the 20th-century. His most famous book, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, is a masterpiece of sociological analysis whose power is based on the construction of a rigorous, and intricately interlinked, piece of argumentation. Webers object was to examine the relationship between the development of capitalism and the different religious ideologies of Europe. While many other scholars focused on the material and instrumental causes of capitalisms emergence, Weber sought to demonstrate that different religious beliefs in fact played a significant role. In order to do this, he employed his analytical skills to understand the relationship between capitalism and religious ideology, carefully considering how far Protestant and secular capitalist ethics overlapped, and to what extent they mirrored each other. One crucial element of Webers work was his consideration the degree to which cultural values acted as implicit or hidden reasons reinforcing capitalist ethics and behavior an investigation that he based on teasing out the arguments that underpin capitalism. Incisive and insightful, Webers analysis continues to resonate with scholars today. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. The history of anthropology is, to a large extent, the history of differing modes of interpretation. As anthropologists have long known, examining, analyzing and recording cultures in the quest to understand humankind as a whole is a vastly complex task, in which nothing can be achieved without careful and incisive interpretative work. Edward Evans-Pritchards seminal 1937 Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic Among the Azande is a model contribution to anthropologys grand interpretative project, and one whose success is based largely on its authors thinking skills. A major issue in anthropology at the time was the common assumption that the faiths and customs of other cultures appeared irrational or illogical when compared to the civilized and scientific beliefs of the western world. Evans-Pritchard sought to challenge such definitions by embedding himself within a tribal culture in Africa that of the Azande and attempting to understand their beliefs in their proper contexts. By doing so, Evans-Pritchard proved just how vital context is to interpretation. Seen within their context, he was able to show, the beliefs of the Azande were far from irrational and magic actually formed a coherent system that helped mould a functional community and society for the tribe. Evans-Pritchards efforts to clarify meaning in this way have proved hugely influential, and have played a major part in guiding later generations of anthropologists from his day to ours. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: new. Paperback. Alasdair MacIntyres 1981 After Virtue was a ground-breaking contribution to modern moral philosophy. Dissatisfied with the major trends in the moral philosophy of his time, MacIntyre argued that modern moral discourse had no real rational basis. Instead, he suggested, if one wanted to build a rational theory for morality and moral actions, one would have to go all the way back to Aristotle. To build his arguments which are widely acknowledged to be as important as they are complex MacIntyre relies on two critical thinking skills above all others: evaluation and interpretation.The primary goal of evaluation is to judge the strength or weakness of arguments, asking how acceptable a given line of reasoning is, and how adequate it is to the situation. In After Virtue, MacIntyre applies incisive evaluation skills to major positions and figures in moral philosophy one after the other showing how and why Aristotles template remains a stronger way of considering moral questions. Throughout this process, MacIntyre also relies on his interpretative skills. As MacIntyre knows, clarifying meanings, questioning definitions, and laying down definitions of his key terms is as vital to advancing his arguments as it is to evaluating those of other philosophers. One of the most vital and controversial works in twentieth-century world moral philosophy, After Virtue (1981) examines how we think about, talk about, and act out our moral views in the modern world. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. Of all the controversies facing historians today, few are more divisive or more important than the question of how the Holocaust was possible. What led thousands of Germans many of them middle-aged reservists with, apparently, little Nazi zeal to willingly commit acts of genocide? Was it ideology? Was there something rotten in the German soul? Or was it as Christopher Browning argues in this highly influential book more a matter of conformity, a response to intolerable social and psychological pressure? Ordinary Men is a microhistory, the detailed study of a single unit in the Nazi killing machine. Browning evaluates a wide range of evidence to seek to explain the actions of the "ordinary men" who made up reserve Police Battalion 101, taking advantage of the wide range of resources prepared in the early 1960s for a proposed war crimes trial. He concludes that his subjects were not "evil;" rather, their actions are best explained by a desire to be part of a team, not to shirk responsibility that would otherwise fall on the shoulders of comrades, and a willingness to obey authority. Browning's ability to explore the strengths and weaknesses of arguments both the survivors' and other historians' is what sets his work apart from other studies that have attempted to get to the root of the motivations for the Holocaust, and it is also what marks Ordinary Men as one of the most important works of its generation. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. The 1979 publication of Susan Gubar and Sandra M. Gilberts ground-breaking study The Madwoman in the Attic marked a founding moment in feminist literary history as much as feminist literary theory. In their extensive study of nineteenth-century womens writing, Gubar and Gilbert offer radical re-readings of Jane Austen, the Brontes, Emily Dickinson, George Eliot and Mary Shelley tracing a distinctive female literary tradition and female literary aesthetic. Gubar and Gilbert raise questions about canonisation that continue to resonate today, and model the revolutionary importance of re-reading influential texts that may seem all too familiar. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. What makes good people capable of committing bad even evil acts? Few psychologists are as well-qualified to answer that question as Philip Zimbardo, a psychology professor who was not only the author of the classic Stanford Prison Experiment which asked two groups of students to assume the roles of prisoners and guards in a makeshift jail, to dramatic effect but also an active participant in the trial of a US serviceman who took part in the violent abuse of Iraqi prisoners in the wake of the second Gulf War. Zimbardos book The Lucifer Effect is an extended analysis that aims to find solutions to the problem of how good people can commit evil acts. Zimbardo used his problem-solving skills to locate the solution to this question in an understanding of two conditions. Firstly, he writes, situational factors (circumstances and setting) must override dispositional ones, meaning that decent and well-meaning people can behave uncharacteristically when placed in unusual or stressful environments. Secondly, good and evil are not alternatives; they are interchangeable. Most people are capable of being both angels and devils, depending on the circumstances. In making this observation, Zimbardo also built on the work of Stanley Milgram, whose own psychological experiments had shown the impact that authority figures can have on determining the actions of their subordinates. Zimbardo's book is a fine example of the importance of asking productive questions that go beyond the theoretical to consider real-world events. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. When it was published in 2008, Richard Thaler and Cass Sunsteins Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness quickly became one of the most influential books in modern economics and politics. Within a short time, it had inspired whole government departments in the US and UK, and others as far afield as Singapore. One of the keys to Nudges success is Thaler and Sunsteins ability to create a detailed and persuasive case for their take on economic decision-making. Nudge is not a book packed with original findings or data; instead it is a careful and systematic synthesis of decades of research into behavioral economics. The discipline challenges much conventional economic thought which works on the basis that, overall, humans make rational decisions by focusing instead on the irrational cognitive biases that affect our decision making. These seemingly in-built biases mean that certain kinds of economic decision-making are predictably irrational. Thaler and Sunstein prove themselves experts at creating persuasive arguments and dealing effectively with counter-arguments. They conclude that if governments understand these cognitive biases, they can nudge us into making better decisions for ourselves. Entertaining as well as smart, Nudge shows the full range of reasoning skills that go into making a persuasive argument. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: new. Paperback. Elizabeth Anscombes 1958 essay Modern Moral Philosophy is a cutting intervention in modern philosophy that shows the full power of good evaluative and analytical critical thinking skills. Though only 16 pages long, Anscombes paper set out to do nothing less than reform the entire field of modern moral philosophy something that could only be done by carefully examining the existing arguments of the giants of the field. To do this, she deployed the central skills of evaluation and analysis. In critical thinking, analysis helps understand the sequence and features of arguments: it asks what reasons these arguments produce, what implicit reasons and assumptions they rely on, what conclusions they arrive at. Evaluation involves judging whether or not the arguments are strong enough to sustain their conclusions: it asks how acceptable, adequate, and relevant the reasons given are, and whether or not the conclusions drawn from them are really valid. In Modern Moral Philosophy, Anscombe dispassionately turns these skills on figures that have dominated moral philosophy since the 18th-century, revealing the underlying assumptions of their work, their weaknesses and strengths, and showing that in many ways the supposed differences between their arguments are actually negligible. A brilliantly incisive piece, Modern Moral Philosophy radically affected its field, remaining required and controversial reading today. Anscombe's 1958 paper challenged the very foundations of moral philosophy, the discipline that tries to understand and differentiate between actions, right and wrong. It argues that moral philosophy should not be explored until a philosophy of psychology is already in place, and that, without a belief in God, morality can have no absolute rules. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Paperback. Condizione: new. Paperback. Written by the great medieval Jewish philosopher Maimonides, The Guide of the Perplexed attempts to explain the perplexities of biblical languageand apparent inconsistencies in the textin the light of philosophy and scientific reason. Composed as a letter to a student, The Guide aims to harmonize Aristotelian principles with the Hebrew Bible and argues that God must be understood as both unified and incorporeal. Engaging both contemporary and ancient scholars, Maimonides fluidly moves from cosmology to the problem of evil to the end goal of human happiness. His intellectual breadth and openness makes The Guide a lasting model of creative synthesis in biblical studies and philosophical theology. The Guide of the Perplexed attempts to explain the perplexities of biblical language. Engaging both contemporary and ancient scholars, Maimonides' intellectual breadth and openness makes this work a lasting model of creative synthesis in biblical studies and philosophical theology. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Paperback. Condizione: new. Paperback. Many still consider Ludwig Wittgensteins 1953 Philosophical Investigations to be one of the breakthrough works of twentieth-century philosophy. The book sets out a radically new conception of philosophy itself, and demonstrates all the attributes of a fine analytical mind. Taking an argument from Plato and subjecting it to detailed (and very clear) analysis, Wittgenstein shows his understanding of how the sequence and function of differing parts of a highly-complex argument can be broken down and assessed. In so doing, he reaches a logical position of simultaneous agreement and disagreement with Platos philosophical position. Philosophical Investigations is also a powerful example of the skill of interpretation. Philosophical problems often arise from confusions in the use of language and the way to solve these problems, Wittgenstein posits, is by clarifying language use. He argues that philosophers must study ordinary uses of language and examine how people use it as a tool in their everyday lives. In this highly-interpretative way, the meaning of a word or sentence becomes relative to the context (people, culture, community) in which it is used. Rather than debate abstract problems, Wittgenstein urges philosophers to concern themselves with ordinary life and the concrete situations in which humans find themselves. In Philosophical Investigations, Ludwig Wittgenstein presents a radical approach to the philosophy of language and the mind, setting out a startlingly fresh conception of philosophy itself. Wittgenstein begins from the insight that most philosophical problems trace back to incorrect assumptions about the nature of language. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Paperback. Condizione: new. Paperback. With his 1954 book The Nature of Prejudice, American psychologist Gordon Allport displays the crucial skill of reasoning, producing and organizing an argument that was persuasive enough to have a major impact not only in universities, but also on government policy. The question that Allport tackled was an old one: why are people so disposed to prejudice against those from other groups? Earlier psychologists had suggested a number of reasons, especially in the case of racial prejudice. Some had suggested that racism was a learned behaviour, conditioned by negative experiences of other races; others that there was an objective rationale to negative racial stereotypes. Allport, however, reasoned that prejudice is essentially a by-product of the necessary mental shortcuts the human brain uses to process the vast amount of information it takes in. Because our brains want to use as little effort as possible, they regularly fall back on simple stereotypes which easily generate prejudice. Gathering strong evidence for this hypothesis, he reasoned, clearly and persuasively, that our natural cognitive approach is the most significant factor in accounting for prejudice. Going further still, Allport also reasoned that, once this was better understood, social scientists would be able to influence policy-makers to curb discrimination by law. Gordon W. Allport's 1954 book The Nature of Prejudice not only helped mold the ways in which psychologists investigate prejudice - it also shaped US society as a whole, making a substantial contribution to the Civil Rights Movement and America's anti-discrimination and anti-segregation laws. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Paperback. Condizione: new. Paperback. In his 1997 work Guns, Germs and Steel, Jared Diamond marshals evidence from five continents and across 13,000 years of human history in an attempt to answer the question of why that history unfolded so differently in various parts of the globe. His results offer new explanations for why the unequal divisions of power and wealth so familiar to us today came into existence and have persisted.Balancing materials drawn from a vast range of sources, addressing core problems that have fascinated historians, anthropologists, biologists and geographers alike and blending his analysis to create a compelling narrative that became an international best-seller and reached a broad general market required a mastery of the critical thinking skill of reasoning that few other scholars can rival. Diamonds reasoning skills allow him to persuade his readers of the value of his interdisciplinary approach and produce well-structured arguments that keep them turning pages even as he refocuses his analysis from one disparate example to another. Diamond adds to that a spectacular ability to grasp the meaning of the available evidence produced by scholars in those widely different disciplines making Guns, Germs and Steel equally valuable as an exercise in high-level interpretation. Winner of the 1998 Pulitzer, Guns, Germs, and Steel attempts to answer why human history unfolded differently on different continents. Drawing on evidence from a diverse range of disciplines, Diamond argues that the varying rates of human development over the past 13,000 years have had little to do with genetic superiority. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Paperback. Condizione: new. Paperback. Hannah Arendts 1958 The Human Condition was an impassioned philosophical reconsideration of the goals of being human. In its arguments about the kind of lives we should lead and the political engagement we should strive for, Arendts interpretative skills come to the fore, in a brilliant display of what high-level interpretation can achieve for critical thinking. Good interpretative thinkers are characterised by their ability to clarify meanings, question accepted definitions and posit good, clear definitions that allow their other critical thinking skills to take arguments deeper and further than most. In many ways, The Human Condition is all about definitions. Arendts aim is to lay out an argument for political engagement and active participation in society as the highest goals of human life; and to this end she sets about defining a hierarchy of ways of living a vita activa, or active life. The book sets about distinguishing between our different activities under the categories of labor, work, and action each of which Arendt carefully redefines as a different level of active engagement with the world. Following her clear and careful laying out of each words meaning, it becomes hard to deny her argument for the life of action as the highest human goal. In his ground-breaking 1936 study The General Theory, Keynes argues that traditional economics has misunderstood the causes of unemployment. Employment is not determined by the price of labor; it is directly linked to demand. Keynes believes market economies are by nature unstable, and so require government intervention. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Paperback. Condizione: new. Paperback. In The Wisdom of Crowds, New Yorker columnist, Surowiecki, explores the question of whether the many are better than an elite few no matter their qualifications at solving problems, promoting innovation and making wise decisions. Surowieckis text uses multiple case studies and touches on the arenas of pop culture, sociology, business management and behavioural economics among others. Surowieckis is a fascinating text that is key to considerations and theorisations about economics, politics and sociology. In Wisdom of Crowds, New Yorker columnist, Surowiecki, explores the question of whether the many are better than an elite few no matter their qualifications at solving problems, promotion innovation and making wise decisions. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. What is a self? Greenblatt argues that the 16th century saw the awakening of modern self-consciousness, the ability to fashion an identity out of the culture and politics of ones society. In a series of brilliant readings, Greenblatt shows how identity is constructed in the work of Shakespeare, Marlowe, Spenser and other Renaissance writers. A classic piece of literary criticism, and the origins of the New Historicist school of thought, Renaissance Self-Fashioning remains a critical and challenging text for readers of Renaissance literature. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: new. Paperback. Frantz Fanon is one of the most important figures in the history of what is now known as postcolonial studies the field that examines the meaning and impacts of European colonialism across the world. Born in the French colony of Martinique, Fanon worked as a psychiatrist in Algeria, another French colony that saw brutal violence during its revolution against French rule. His experiences power the searing indictment of colonialism that is his final book, 1961s The Wretched of the Earth. Fanons account of the physical and psychological violence of colonialism forms the basis of a passionate, closely reasoned call to arms a call for violent revolution. Incendiary even today, it was more so in its time; the book first being published during the brutal conflict caused by the Algerian Revolution. Viewed as a profoundly dangerous work by the colonial powers of the world, Fanons book helped to inspire liberation struggles across the globe. Though it has flaws, The Wretched of the Earth is above all a testament to the power of passionately sustained and closely reasoned argument: Fanons presentation of his evidence combines with his passion to produce an argument that it is almost impossible not to be swayed by. Frantz Fanon's 1961 masterpiece is both a powerful analysis of the psychological effects of colonization and a rallying cry for violent uprising and independence. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Paperback. Condizione: new. Paperback. Aristotle remains one of the most celebrated thinkers of all time in large part thanks to his incisive critical thinking skills. In Politics, which can be considered one of the foundational books of the western political tradition, the focus is on problem-solving, and particularly on the generation and evaluation of alternative possibilities.Aristotles aim, in Politics, is to determine how best to organize a society. He looks in turn at several different type of organization kingship, oligarchy and the polity, or rule in the hands of many and evaluates the arguments for each in turn. But he takes the exercise further than his predecessors had done. Having concluded that rule by the aristocracy would be preferable, since it would mean rule by citizens capable of taking decisions on behalf of the society as a whole, Aristotle subjects his solution to a further checking process, asking productive questions in order to make a sound decision between alternatives.Politics was ground-breaking in its approach. Unlike previous thinkers, Aristotle based all his ideas on a practical assessment of how they would play out in the real world. Ultimately, Aristotle argues, the problem of self-interest means that the adoption of a mixed constitution one based on carefully considered laws which aims at a balance of power between the people and the elite is most likely to bring eudaemonia (happiness). Its a conclusion firmly based on careful evaluation (not least the process of judging the adequacy of arguments) and the product of outstanding problem-solving skills. Politics was one of the first books to investigate the concept of political philosophy and the starting point of political science studies as we know them. Written in the fourth century B.C.E., it explores how best to create political communities that support, serve, and improve citizens. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Paperback. Condizione: new. Paperback. Susan Sontags 1997 text, On Photography, brought photographic theory into the university classroom with its staunch defence of the medium as art and inspired a new wave of Marxist Criticism in the field. Sontag explains the way in which we are addicted to images and depend on them for knowledge of our surroundings and the problems and challenges this causes. Already an established academic figure, Sontag brought Walter Benjamins theories in into the academic mainstream. The book retains its relevance in the everyday world because of the applicability of its ideas to the world of digital photography. On Photography brought photographic theory into the university classroom with its staunch defense of the medium as art and inspired a new wave of Marxist Criticism in the field. The book retains its relevance in the everyday world because of the applicability of its ideas to the world of digital photography. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Paperback. Condizione: new. Paperback. Erwin Panofskys Meaning in the Visual Arts is considered a key work in art history. Its ideas have provoked widespread debate, and although it was first published more than sixty years ago, it continues to feature regularly on numerous university reading lists. Meaning in the Visual Arts comprises nine essays. In these, Panofsky argues for the independence of iconology as a branch of history. He moves on to demonstrate the anatomy of art and its study, as well as the controlling principles of interpretation. He then deals with the theories of human proportions, Gothic architecture, and the Northern Renaissance. Finally, Panofsky discusses his own American experiences. Erwin Panofsky's Meaning in the Visual Arts has been a core text in the study of art and art history since its publication. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Paperback. Condizione: new. Paperback. How should rulers rule? What is the nature of power? These questions had already been asked when Niccolo Machiavelli wrote The Prince in 1513. But what made his thinking on the topic different was his ability to interpret evidence: to look at old issues and find new meaning within them. Many of Machiavellis contemporaries thought that God would make sure morality was rewarded. To these people, it was inevitable that ethical individuals would enjoy success in this world and attain paradise in the next. Machiavelli was not so sure. He used the evidence of history to prove that people who can lie, cheat and murder tend to succeed. Machiavelli concluded that three main factors affect a political leaders success or failure. In doing so, he reached an entirely new understanding of the meaning of his evidence. Machiavelli argued that behaving in a moral way actually hinders a ruler. If everyone acted morally, he reasoned, then morals would not be a disadvantage. But in a world in which leaders are willing to be ruthless, a moral leader would make both themselves and their state vulnerable. Machiavellis novel interpretation posits that morals can make a leader hesitate, and this could cost them and the citizens they are responsible for everything. Though written more than 500 years ago, Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince is still both widely read and very influential. Readers turn to it for its direct advice on the question of how to attain - and retain - power. Machiavelli's answer, in brief: use any means necessary to make sure the state survives. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Paperback. Condizione: new. Paperback. What is a self? Greenblatt argues that the 16th century saw the awakening of modern self-consciousness, the ability to fashion an identity out of the culture and politics of ones society. In a series of brilliant readings, Greenblatt shows how identity is constructed in the work of Shakespeare, Marlowe, Spenser and other Renaissance writers. A classic piece of literary criticism, and the origins of the New Historicist school of thought, Renaissance Self-Fashioning remains a critical and challenging text for readers of Renaissance literature. In a series of brilliant readings, Greenblatt shows how identity is constructed in the work of Shakespeare, Marlowe, Spenser and other Renaissance writers. A classic piece of literary criticism Renaissance Self-Fashioning remains a critical and challenging text for readers of Renaissance literature. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Paperback. Condizione: new. Paperback. Soren Kierkegaards The Sickness unto Death is widely recognized as one of the most significant and influential works of Christian philosophy written in the nineteenth century. One of the cornerstones of Kierkegaards reputation as a writer and thinker, the book is also a masterclass in the art of interpretation. In critical thinking, interpretation is all about defining and clarifying terms making sure that everyone is on the same page. But it can also be about redefining terms: showing old concepts in a new light by interpreting them in a certain way. This skill is at the heart of The Sickness unto Death. Kierkegaards book focuses on the meaning of despair the sickness named in the title. For Kierkegaard, the key problem of existence was an individuals relationship with God, and he defines true despair as equating to the idea of sin something that separates people from God, or from the idea of a higher standard beyond ourselves. Kierkegaards interpretative journey into the ideas of despair, sin and death is a Christian exploration of the place of the individual in the world. But its interpretative skills inspired generations of philosophers of all stripes including notorious atheists like Jean-Paul Sartre. Considered the father of the philosophical movement known as Christian existentialism, which focuses on the living human being, Kierkegaard takes readers on a journey from the human self, its spirit, despair and sin, through to faith in this major 1849 work. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.