As Chinese philosophy absorbs Western influences, it need not deny its own unique sources and methods. Chen Lai argues that the introduction of Western thought to modern China in the past one hundred years will lead to the birth of a new philosophy with typical Chinese cultural features. Although an anti-traditional attitude prevails among younger intellectuals today, Confucianism is by no means dead and gone. Philosophers are re-examining the Confucian classics with a modern critical perspective, reaffirming the ideological value of Confucianism to the spiritual life of contemporary Chinese society. This book analyses the central issues involved in the Confucian renewal and details the relevance of neo-Confucian and modern philosophers who were influenced by Confucius.

A pillar of African American literature, Richard Wright is one of the most celebrated and controversial authors in American history. His work championed intellectual freedom amid social and political chaos. Despite the popular and critical success of books such as Uncle Tom's Children (1938), Black Boy (1945), and Native Son (1941), Wright faced staunch criticism and even censorship throughout his career for the graphic sexuality, intense violence, and communist themes in his work. Yet, many political theorists have ignored his radical ideas.In The Politics of Richard Wright, an interdisciplinary group of scholars embraces the controversies surrounding Wright as a public intellectual and author. Several contributors explore how the writer mixed fact and fiction to capture the empirical and emotional reality of living as a black person in a racist world. Others examine the role of gender in Wright's canonical and lesser-known writing and the implications of black male vulnerability. They also discuss the topics of black subjectivity, internationalism and diaspora, and the legacy of and responses to slavery in America.Wright's contributions to American political thought remain vital and relevant today. The Politics of Richard Wright is an indispensable resource for students of American literature, culture, and politics who strive to interpret this influential writer's life and legacy.

What are the limits of tolerance in constitutional or liberal democracies today? This is a crucial question, for if there were no limits to tolerance, it would ultimately destroy itself by accepting the intolerable. The concept of tolerance has to be assessed from a political point of view, thus questioning to what extent its potential achievement does not suppose any moral mutation in humanity. For instance, if people were all already ‘virtuous’ according to a commonly held moral framework, there would be simply no need to speak of tolerance. Conversely, if it were the case that people could be made ‘virtuous’, then tolerance would be the matter of an improbable utopia. Ultimately, we need to consider how tolerance can be conceptualised in a way that is relevant to people and their societies as they actually are. In a time when a growing amount of political demands touches on themes of cultural identity and rights, and while we witness a mounting wave of religious fundamentalism, what should democracies accept and what should they refuse?

Roberto Marchesini presents a timely proposal within post-human philosophy in order to overcome the centuries of separation between human beings, non-human animals and technology. This book highlights the inspiring nature of the relationship with non-human beings – what Marchesini calls “Epiphany” – and how its enhancement can open new existential dimensions. Technology is also reinterpreted, no longer as a performative tool, but as a virus that infiltrates the human dimension and changes its predicates. Technopoietic events are not just the product of human intelligence, but they arise from an epiphany (a becoming alterity), thus positioning technology well within the ontological and somatic dimension of human beings. This book lays the foundations for a new and non-anthropocentric Humanism, which is able to recognize the essential role that non-human alterities have had throughout our history.

The book explores the latest debates in the field of social epistemology, concerning epistemic justification of democracy. On the one hand, we find those who support a standard approach, assuming that democratic legitimacy must be grounded on the production of epistemically high-quality decisions (true, truth-sensitive, truth-conductive, correct, justified, rational, epistemically responsible and so on). On the other hand, there are those who don’t deem epistemic justification as either necessary or conducive to democratic legitimacy, and those who accept the necessity of the epistemic justification of democracy while rejecting its reduction to the production of true or justified decisions. Fundamentally, this range of positions is highly influenced by their respective stances regarding the status of experts within the democratic decision-making process. This book offers both a unique perspective on this debate and registers the challenge of a new discipline of applied, ‘real world’ epistemology.

Drawing on the relationship between Derrida and Levinas and on the unresolved tension between their philosophical corpuses, this book aims to offer new possible interpretations on the future of democracy. What philosophical and political ideals can emerge from a parallel reading of these two acclaimed thinkers, and from their ‘philosophical alliance’? This volume attempts to re-imagine and to re-engage the realm of politics, by offering new perspectives on the multiple crises that traverse the contemporary age. This book includes the following interviews: Penser aujourd’hui with Emmanuel Levinas by Catherine ChalierUne éthique de la mémoire. Un entretien à Yad Vashemwith Jacques Derrida by Michal Ben NatftaliAccueil, éthique, droit, politique with Jacques Derrida by Michel WieviorkaUne hospitalité sans condition with Jacques Derrida

Wars have played a momentous role in shaping the course of human history. The ever-present specter of conflict has made it an enduring topic of interest in popular culture, and many movies, from Hollywood blockbusters to independent films, have sought to show the complexities and horrors of war on-screen.In The Philosophy of War Films, David LaRocca compiles a series of essays by prominent scholars that examine the impact of representing war in film and the influence that cinematic images of battle have on human consciousness, belief, and action. The contributors explore a variety of topics, including the aesthetics of war as portrayed on-screen, the effect war has on personal identity, and the ethical problems presented by war.Drawing upon analyses of iconic and critically acclaimed war films such as Saving Private Ryan (1998), The Thin Red Line (1998), Rescue Dawn (2006), Restrepo (2010), and Zero Dark Thirty (2012), this volume's examination of the genre creates new ways of thinking about the philosophy of war. A fascinating look at the manner in which combat and its aftermath are depicted cinematically, The Philosophy of War Films is a timely and engaging read for any philosopher, filmmaker, reader, or viewer who desires a deeper understanding of war and its representation in popular culture.

What is an “Atmosphere”? As part of the book series “Atmospheric Spaces”, this volume analyses a new phenomenological and aesthetic paradigm based on the notion of the "Atmosphere", conceived as a feeling spread out into the external space rather than asa private mood. The idea of "Atmosphere" is here explored from different perspectives and disciplines, in the context of a full valorization of the so-called “affective turn” in Humanities.

Since antiquity, Epicurus’ thought has been compared to a powerful drug able to cure the pains of the soul that have always tormentedman preventing him from living a peaceful existence: but we know that the Greek term pharmakon can be interpreted in its two opposite meanings of medicine and poison; and indeed, the same duplicity animates Epicurus’ philosophy which, by acting as a medicine for the human soul, also has the effect of a poison, destroying from within, philosophy traditionally conceived as a disinterested contemplation of truth. The philosophical revolution undertaken by Epicurus as a fracture with respect to all the previous tradition, from Thales to Aristotle, coincides with an inversion of the traditional relation between man and cosmos, between theory and practice: the classic question “what is reality made of?” is replaced by the Epicurean question that is at the basis of his philosophical anthropocentrism: “how must reality be made and how should one understand it in order to be happy? ”. Each specific articulation of Epicurean philosophy is subordinate to the task of achieving a happy existence that is in no way inferior to any of the divine realities’.

After the publication of Nietzsche’s Untimely Meditations (Unzeitgemässe Betrachtungen) the term 'Untimely' was introduced widely in philosophical studies, not merely in Nietzschean contexts. Although this concept has become very popular, it is surprising that it has been neglected by critical studies. Indeed, there are only a few publications that fully present the issue of 'Untimely' on the international scene. In this volume the reader will find different reflections moving from the Nietzschean texts, rethinking the question of the ‘Untimely’ beyond the 'master', and exploring wider horizons of research.

This special issue of Cinéma & Cie analyses the logic and processes of re-intermediation emerging in the contemporary European media industry landscape, providing an opportunity to bring questions of availability, text circulation and gatekeeping to the centre of scholarly debates and investigations. Through contributions showcasing a wide array of methodological and theoretical approaches, the volume illustrates and analyses the presence of new gatekeepers, their impact in shaping texts and their consumption in different European contexts. Its case studies include file sharing, Curzon Home Cinema, VOD services and the problematic implementation of the Digital Single Market policy.

A&P is a multidiscilinary journal which gathers international scholars and thinkers to analyse the latest debates in the field of philosophy and anthropology.

To engage with the aesthetic is to watch yourself watching and what you see cannot be reached, for all that exists is the reflection of the vision performed by you. The aesthetic experience offers insights into the consciousness that are both ancient and linked to creative inventions in present-day art culture. In "A Place to Know", Margaretha Rossholm Lagerlöf interprets twelve recent artworks, from Sol LeWitt to Katharina Grosse. She sets out the unique claims and qualities which are inherent in seeing and understanding contemporary art. The book presents four analytical categories of artwork, charting the character of the aesthetic experience and the traditions that determine how we think about visual art. She peels back the layers of consciousness to lay bare the forgotten seams of experience, interwoven with artistic expression. The ancient thus arcs into a deepened awareness of avant-garde art.

Chiasmi International: Trilingual Studies Concerning the Thought of Merleau-Ponty is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes articles, reviews, and discussions in Italian, French, and English on the thought of the French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty. The journal is produced in cooperation with the Italian Società di Studi su Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and is distributed by Mimesis International, Librairie philosophique J. Vrin in France, and Pennsylvania State University in the United States. All issues are available online from the Philosophy Documentation Center. The journal is abstracted and indexed in The Philosopher's Index, PhilPapers, and the Philosophy Research Index.

In 1924, B. Russell claimed the crucial importance of relationships to our understanding of many unresolved philosophical problems. Such observation is more than fundamental for the contemporary philosophical agenda: ontology, philosophy of religion and several other theoretical fields require an explanation for the very nature of what a relationship is and how it works. Collecting several contributions on the very meaning of relations, the volume aims to expand the international debate in the field from a philosophical perspective. Ranging from history of philosophy to ontology, from philosophy of religion to the history of religious doctrines, leading scholars from all over the world come together to address this timely topic.

To use Alan Badiou's words, "It is no exaggeration to say that Quentin Meillassoux has opened up a new path in the history of philosophy." The present book, Time Without Becoming, is the text of a conference that Meillassoux gave at Middlesex University in London in May 2008. Following his seminal After Finitude, Meillassoux proceeds here to further explore his notion of absolute contingency, which is able to produce and destroy, without a reason, any becoming. In her contribution, Anna Longo challenges this idea by confronting Meillassoux’s speculative materialism with emergentism.