Wordtrade LogoWordtrade.com

 

Review Essays of Academic, Professional & Technical Books in the Humanities & Sciences

 

Wordtrade.com Reviews:

New Professional and Academic Books, including Some Textbooks and Primers

See side panels for guide to this page and review page topics---->

Recent Main Topics Featured:

Selected Recent Reviews: 2011

  1. A Study of the Life and Works of Athanasius Kircher, 'Germanus Incredibilis': With a Selection of His Unpublished Correspondence and an Annotated Translation of His Autobiography by John Edward Fletcher and Elizabeth Fletcher (Aries Book: Brill Academic) Athanasius Kircher, a German Jesuit in 17th-century Rome, was an enigma. Intensely pious and a prolific author, he was also a polymath fascinated with everything from Egyptian hieroglyphs to the tiny creatures in his microscope. His correspondence with popes, princes and priests was a window into the restless energy of the period. It showed first-hand the seventeenth-century’s struggle for knowledge in astronomy, microscopy, geology, chemistry, musicology, Egyptology, horology… The list goes on. Kircher’s books reflect the mind-set of 17th-century scholars - endless curiosity and a … read more substantial larding of naiveté: Kircher scorned alchemy as the wishful thinking of charlatans, yet believed in dragons. His life and correspondence provide a key to the transition from the Middle Ages to a new scientific age. This book, though unpublished, has been long quoted and referred to. Awaited by scholars and specialists of Kircher, it is finally available with this edition. More

  2. Critical Discourse Studies in Context and Cognition edited by Christopher Hart (Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture Series: John Benjamins Publishing Company) Critical Discourse Studies (CDS), under the general editors of Ruth Wodak and Greg Myers and associate editor Johann Unger, University of Lancaster, is an exciting research enterprise in which scholars are concerned with the discursive reproduction of power and inequality. However, researchers in CDS are increasingly recognizing the need to investigate the cognitive dimensions of discourse and context if they want to fully account for any connection between language, legitimization and social action. Critical Discourse Studies in Context and Cognition, edited by Christopher Hart, Northumbria University, presents a collection of papers in CDS concerned with various ideological discourses. Analyses are firmly rooted in linguistics and cognition constitutes a major focus of attention. The chapters, which are written by prominent researchers in CDS, come from a broad range of theoretical perspectives spanning pragmatics, cognitive psychology and cognitive linguistics. More

  3. Transforming Self and Others Through Research: Transpersonal Research Methods and Skills for the Human Sciences and Humanities by Rosemarie Anderson and William Braud (SUNY Series in Transpersonal and Humanistic Psychology: SUNY Press) Research approaches in the field of transpersonal psychology can be transformative for researchers, participants, and the audience of a project. Transforming Self and Others Through Research offers these transformative approaches to those conducting research across the human sciences and the humanities. Rosemarie Anderson and William Braud first described such methods in their book Transpersonal Research Methods for the Social Sciences (1998). Since that time, in hundreds of empirical studies, these methods have been tested and integrated with qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method research designs. Anderson, Professor of Transpersonal Psychology at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology and Braud, Professor Emeritus at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, writing with a contribution from Jennifer Clements, invite scholars to bring multiple ways of knowing and personal resources to their scholarship. While emphasizing established research conventions for rigor, Anderson and Braud encourage researchers to plumb the depths of intuition, imagination, play, mindfulness, compassion, creativity, and embodied writing as research skills. Experiential exercises to help readers develop these skills are provided. More

  4. Preparing for Tantra: Creating the Psychological Ground for Practice by Rob Preece (Snow Lion Publications) The preliminary practices of Tantra are not a hurdle to be gotten through in order to get somewhere else; they are an extraordinarily rich collection of practices which have much to offer as a means of cultivating and maturing the practitioner's psychological ground. They can enable experiences to unfold, and they can clear the way when there seem to be problems or hindrances practitioners are struggling with. More 

  5. Democratic Enlightenment: Philosophy, Revolution, and Human Rights, 1750-1790 [Hardcover] by Jonathan I. Israel (Oxford University Press) That the Enlightenment shaped modernity is uncontested. Yet remarkably few historians or philosophers have attempted to trace the process of ideas from the political and social turmoil of the late eighteenth century to the present day. This is precisely what Jonathan Israel now does.
    In Democratic Enlightenment, Israel demonstrates that the Enlightenment was an essentially revolutionary process, driven by philosophical debate. The American Revolution and its concerns certainly acted as a major factor in the intellectual ferment that shaped the wider upheaval that followed, but the radical philosophes were no less critical than enthusiastic about the American model. From 1789, the General Revolution's impetus came from a small group of philosophe-revolutionnaires, men such as Mirabeau, Sieyes, Condorcet, Volney, Roederer, and Brissot. Not aligned to any of the social groups represented in the French National assembly, they nonetheless forged "la philosophie moderne"--in effect Radical Enlightenment ideas--into a world-transforming ideology that had a lasting impact in Latin America, Canada and eastern Europe as well as France, Italy, Germany, and the Low Countries. In addition, Israel argues that while all French revolutionary journals powerfully affirmed that la philosophie moderne was the main cause of the French Revolution, the main stream of historical thought has failed to grasp what this implies. Israel sets the record straight, demonstrating the true nature of the engine that drove the Revolution, and the intimate links between the radical wing of the Enlightenment and the anti-Robespierriste "Revolution of reason." More

  6. The Existence of God: An Exposition and Application of Fregean Meta-Ontology by Stig Børsen Hansen (Quellen Und Studien Zur Philosophie: De Gruyter) This study breaks new ground on the question of the existence of God. It innovatively combines biblical scholarship with an analysis of existence drawn from the writings of the philosopher Gottlob Frege. It shows that the strength of Frege's approach is its emphasis on the notions of proper name and predicate; this in turn sheds new light on important elements of theological language. Finally, the Fregean approach in this book is defended against objections drawn from readings of Ludwig Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus.  More

  7. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics, 19th edition: Expert Consult Premium Edition – Enhanced Online Features and Print by Robert M. Kliegman, MD, Bonita F. Stanton, MD, and Richard E. Behrman, MD; Joseph W. St. Geme III, MD, and Nina F. Schor, MD, PhD, (Elsevier Saunders) Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics has been the world's most trusted pediatrics resource for nearly 75 years. Drs. Robert Kliegman, Bonita Stanton, Richard Behrman, and two new editors – Joseph St. Geme, III, MD and Nina Schor, MD, who contribute on the key subspecialties, including pediatric infectious disease and pediatric neurology – continue to provide the most authoritative coverage of the best approaches to care. This streamlined 19th edition covers the latest on genetics, neurology, infectious disease, melamine poisoning, sexual identity and adolescent homosexuality, and psychosis associated with epilepsy. The expanded online access features the regularly updated text, case studies, new references and journal articles, Clinics articles, and exclusive web-only content. More

  8. Plants As Persons: A Philosophical Botany by Matthew Hall and Harold Coward (SUNY Series on Religion and the Environment: State University of New York, SUNY) Plants are people too? Not exactly, but in this work of philosophical botany Matthew Hall challenges readers to reconsider the moral standing of plants, arguing that they are other-than-human persons. Plants constitute the bulk of our visible biomass, underpin all natural ecosystems, and make life on Earth possible. Yet plants are considered passive and insensitive beings rightly placed outside moral consideration. As the human assault on nature continues, more ethical behavior toward plants is needed. Hall surveys Western, Eastern, Pagan, and Indigenous thought, as well as modern science and botanical history, for attitudes toward plants, noting the particular resources for plant personhood and those modes of thought which most exclude plants. The most hierarchical systems typically put plants at the bottom, but Hall finds much to support a more positive view of plants. Indeed, some Indigenous animisms actually recognize plants as relational, intelligent beings who are the appropriate recipients of care and respect. New scientific findings encourage this perspective, revealing that plants possess many of the capacities of sentience and mentality traditionally denied them. More

  9. Treasury of the True Dharma Eye: Zen Master Dogen's Shobo Genzo by Dogen Dogen and Kazuaki Tanahashi (Shambhala) represents the collective San Francisco Zen Center community endeavor at translating and understanding the work in its entirety. It lacks the scholarly extras of  BDK English Tripitaka Series but used in conjunction with the Standard translation can offer essential insight about what the text is getting at. below the table of contents I offer examples of translations of chapter 1 (of the 75 chapter version) or 3 (of the 95 chapter version) The Genjo-Koan so one can compare for oneself.
    Treasury of the True Dharma Eye
    (Shobo Genzo, in Japanese) is a monumental work, considered to be one of the profoundest expressions of Zen wisdom ever put on paper, and also the most outstanding literary and philosophical work of Japan. It is a collection of essays by Eihei Dogen (1200–1253), founder of Zen’s Soto school.
    Kazuaki Tanahashi and a team of translators that represent a Who’s Who of American Zen have produced a translation of the great work that combines accuracy with a deep understanding of Dogen’s voice and literary gifts. The finely produced, two-volume boxed set includes a wealth of materials to aid understanding, including maps, lineage charts, a bibliography, and an exhaustive glossary of names and terms—and, as a bonus, the most renowned of all Dogen’s essays, “Recommending Zazen to All People.” More

  10. The Postconventional Personality: Assessing, Researching, and Theorizing Higher Development  by Angela H. Pfaffenberger, Paul W. Marko and Allan Combs (SUNY Series in Transpersonal and Humanistic Psychology: State University of New York Press, SUNY) Cutting-edge volume devoted to optimal adult development. Postconventional stages of personality development involve growth well beyond the average, and have become a rapidly growing subject of research not only in developmental psychology circles but also in areas such as executive leadership development. This book is the first to bring together many of the major researchers in the field, showcasing diverse perspectives ranging from the spiritual to the corporate. The contributors present research on essential questions about the existence and prevalence of high levels of personal growth, whether such achievement is correlated with other types of psychological growth, whether high levels of growth actually indicate happiness, what kinds of people exhibit these higher levels of development, how they may have developed this expanded perspective, and the characteristics of their viewpoints, abilities, and preoccupations. For anyone interested in Ken Wilber's integral psychology, as well as those in executive coaching, this volume is an invaluable resource and will be a standard reference for years to come. More

  11. Socrates and Philosophy in the Dialogues of Plato by Sandra Peterson (Cambridge University Press) In Plato's Apology, Socrates says he spent his life examining and questioning people on how best to live, while avowing that he himself knows nothing important. Elsewhere, however, for example in Plato's Republic, Plato's Socrates presents radical and grandiose theses.
    In this book Sandra Peterson offers a new hypothesis which explains the puzzle of Socrates' two contrasting manners. She argues that the apparently confident doctrinal Socrates is in fact conducting the first step of an examination: by eliciting his interlocutors' reactions, his apparently doctrinal lectures reveal what his interlocutors believe is the best way to live. She tests her hypothesis by close reading of passages in the Theaetetus, Republic, and Phaedo. Her provocative conclusion, that there is a single Socrates whose conception and practice of philosophy remain the same throughout the dialogues, will be of interest to a wide range of readers in ancient philosophy and classics. More

  12. A Companion to Greek Mythology by Ken Dowden and Niall Livingstone (Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World: Wiley-Blackwell) approaches the richly diverse phenomenon of Greek myth from a distinctive new angle -- one that delves deeply into its origins in shared Indo-European story patterns and the Greeks’ contacts with their Eastern Mediterranean neighbours. Contributions from a team of international experts trace the development of Greek myth into a shared language, heritage, and way of thinking throughout the entire Greco-Roman world.
    Individual essays address such topics as how myths were presented in stories, poems, dramas and all forms of visual art, as well as theiK3%)= ;wZ⧏kc}jJ DNIa mu$)hII|A,;6\$[ڸ虬\DRB"cWZA29N mߗ4 ?|K [ Д-:ID-BM*_͓O>~ JiX&~ 5f15O|PM 1CCʨ)4BJ[Kv!K{ 1IBCJJ LdIQE@5"& pBNy=!hAU`k@U~^7PɉQE KkyMp-\Cez"b@BS _`)#fA  6Ke ET:B5KDϓD]`CP0LuudPR <;Y~~a_UKKtM؍ǃwn̽_s[G< >j'>GJ٦WTi [mR\j`?؝4ev{҄MN+xwE1 mU;2 !%mR6*fFi4>SA0HHZ3to G7}ɉɸ2# UO!1Z#D +I2Lԫ7:ҵ@|hLR뒏+x ߢ&RI$R azDF_v& ĉD)5> BfBPHBGx@ rTmI _"g4pKG>ʀso{WlCdA8==9XD¬Z7y;c/OE @ H|տt$ @Ju$hRh4e[ 4iwAXUТEP@j%Y# fJFڄH%Uӽ)4 RCj*@g]L$>Jd2*Ŀ@@ЙPp,$qJ]LL'k ,%:iSeaA~װ_;ap}BHMZA(*Ú)D*5E;# pi{j Y{|%*3[kW3\3*_Wo\O'4uWh!+i~j&i-U>@v@D(L {?E%.Z N0UJ*ΗeFmZ[|`$X {T,haALURPAsbSGzսh\:R,JI 2bR*%gm LAu-P #@9iNM }JYC NI VSo~^HُAR  7+070*hvx.$fweJ&`w[p! UMy¡0I޸y:VKU ((4ۏ1쮺J*Ph20@w¦2`$fVl2GL Vo37^渋穜|g}VY8NPPmӀx&uLJPPH?)'mK4˅ XuB@%TH60Hc#-Lӏmȉ0YZQl.dA BcePbS6H0=ȴL{iA|D8'bTvڔ&4nBE `Ȇhg!o`cэ+41Wɡ4R6lR w,iBrBJ)qБ#U\Fm؂ ,کo묢Փ5FK | #T~Zlaw<O] PRPQK 0Vg+gnaK+.c|}/|^q:ޯ{Lw_Dt ա?:Fθ F$">'$:ߜ!h)~™L0=Z5sq;XfBSό`$dCBAUGKΚVqg`uV I#E@P&;.iNެ'ͦ hepI85|M;}ۋc% |S: \V ent method of philosophical and historical investigation which may produce many new discoveries in the fields of ethics and moral inquiry provided it is correctly employed. More

  13. Warming the Stone Child: Myths and Stories about Abandonment and the Unmothered Child by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, audiobook, 2 CDs, unabridged, running time 1 hours (Jungian Storyteller Series: Sounds True)
    The pain of abandonment, both real and metaphorical, can cast a shadow over a persons entire adult experience. Warming the Stone Child investigates the abandoned child archetype in world myths and cultures to find clues about the process of healing the unmothered child within us all. Spiced with Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes' storytelling, Warming the Stone Child is a unique listening experience with a practical edge.
    On 2 CDs, Estes leads listeners past the gates of the conscious mind to discover the unmothered child within. Along the way, this gifted storyteller and Jungian psychoanalyst instructs them about the psychology of abandonment in childhood, how it affects them in later life, and its curiously special gifts and powers. Drawing from many world cultures, Estes has gathered a collection of deep myths, fables, and fairy tales with adult listeners in mind. Her storytelling creates a compelling picture of the orphan figure through the ages, while helping listeners understand the meaning of preadolescent abandonment in their own lives. More

  14. Rabbi Joseph Gikatilla's Hermeneutics by Elke Morlok (Mohr Siebeck) Elke Morlok deals with the hermeneutics of R. Joseph Gikatilla, one of the most outstanding and influential kabbalists of medieval Jewish mysticism. His literary creativity falls onto the last decades of the 13th century, when very innovative ideas on kabbalah and its hermeneutics were developed and formulated for the first time. The author analyzes several key concepts throughout his writings such as his ideas on letter combination, symbol, memory, imagination and ritual and their varying functions within the hermeneutical and theosophic structures that underlie Gikatilla's approach. With the application of methods derived from modern theories on language and literature, she tries to create the basis for a fruitful encounter between medieval mystical hermeneutics and postmodern hermeneutical approaches. As Gikatilla incorporates two main trends of kabbalistic thinking during the medieval period, he was one of the most valuable sources for Christian thinkers interested in medieval kabbalistic thought. More

  15. Plato's Parmenides and Its' Heritage: History and Interpretation from the Old Academy to Later Platonism and Gnosticism  by John D. Turner and Kevin Corrigan (Writings from the Greco-Roman World Supplements, 2: Brill Academic) Paper
    Plato's Parmenides and Its' Heritage: Its Reception in Neoplatonic, Jewish, and Christian Texts by John D. Turner and Kevin Corrigan (Writings from the Greco-Roman World Supplements, 3: Brill Academic) Paper
    'Plato’s Parmenides and Its Heritage' presents in two volumes ground-breaking results in the history of interpretation of Plato’s Parmenides, the culmination of six years of international collaboration by the SBL Annual Meeting seminar, “Rethinking Plato’s Parmenides and Its Platonic, Gnostic and Patristic Reception” (2001–2007).
    The theme of Volume 1 is the dissolution of firm boundaries for thinking about the tradition of Parmenides interpretation from the Old Academy through Middle Platonism and Gnosticism. The volume suggests a radically different interpretation of the history of thought from Plato to Proclus than is customary by arguing against Proclus’s generally accepted view that there was no metaphysical interpretation of the Parmenides before Plotinus in the third century C.E. Instead, this volume traces such metaphysical interpretations, first, to Speusippus and the early Platonic Academy; second, to the Platonism of the first and second centuries C.E. in figures like Moderatus and Numenius; third, to the emergence of an exegetical tradition that read Aristotle’s categories in relation to the Parmenides; and, fourth, to important Middle Platonic figures and texts. The contributors to Volume 1 are Kevin Corrigan, Gerald Bechtle, Luc Brisson, John Dillon, Thomas Szlezák, Zlatko Pleše, Noel Hubler, John D. Turner, Johanna Brankaer, Volker Henning Drecoll, and Alain Lernould.
    Volume 2 examines and establishes for the first time evidence for a significant knowledge of the Parmenides in Philo, Clement, and patristic sources. It offers an extensive and balanced analysis of the case for and against the various possible attributions of date and authorship of the Anonymous Commentary in relation to Gnosticism, Middle Platonism, and Neoplatonism and argues that on balance the case for a pre-Plotinian authorship is warranted. It also undertakes for the first time in this form an examination of the Parmenides in relation to Jewish and Christian thought, moving from Philo and Clement through Origen and the Cappadocians to Pseudo-Dionysius. The contributors to Volume 2 are Matthias Vorwerk, Kevin Corrigan, Luc Brisson, Volker Henning Drecoll, Tuomas Rasimus, John F. Finamore, John M. Dillon, Sara Ahbel-Rappe, Gerald Bechtle, David T. Runia, Mark Edwards, Jean Reynard, and Andrew Radde-Gallwitz. More

  16. Popular Religion and Shamanism by Edited by Ma Xisha and Meng Huiying (Religious Studies in Contemporary China Collection: Brill Academic) addresses two areas of religion within Chinese society; the lay teachings that Chinese scholars term folk or `popular' religion, and shamanism. Each area represents a distinct tradition of scholarship, and the book is therefore split into two parts.
    PART I: Popular Religion discusses the evolution of organized lay movements over an arc often centuries. Its eight chapters focus on three key points: the arrival and integration of new ideas before the Song dynasty, the coalescence of an intellectual and scriptural tradition during the Ming, and the efflorescence of new organizations during the late Qing.
    PART II: Shamanism reflects the revived interest of scholars in traditional beliefs and culture that reemerged with the 'open' policy in China that occurred in the 197os. Two of the essays included in this section address shamanism in northeast China where the traditions played an important role in the cultures of the Manchu, Mongol, Sibe, Daur, Oroqen, Evenki, and Hezhen. The other essay discusses divination rites in a local culture of southwest China.
    Both sections of Popular Religion and Shamanism will introduce Western readers to the ideas of Chinese scholars, not just their data. More

  17. Re-Symbolization of the Self: Human Development and Tarot Hermeneutic by Inna Semetsky (Sense Publishers) This groundbreaking book brings depth of meaning and intellectual scholarship to the field of human development while also lifting the human spirit by offering new dimensions of self-formation through the ancient medium of Tarot. It should be of great interest to health and human service professionals. --JEAN WATSON, Distinguished Professor, University of Colorado Denver College of Nursing; author of Nursing: The Philosophy and Science of Caring and Caring Science as Sacred Science.

    Semetsky's book is a timely antidote for our current crises in education. Drawing on her empirical research with Tarot and her deep knowledge of Jungian psychology, she offers an approach to education that stirs the depths of the Self as it deepens mind into soul. Her Tarot hermeneutic opens a path toward a revolutionary pedagogy that, in its commitment to the complexity, fullness and fluidity of human subjectivity, recovers the ethical and therapeutic dimensions of education. A bold book, a daring achievement, a spark of illumination! --ROBERT D. ROMANYSHYN, Senior Core Faculty, Pacifica Graduate Institute; Affiliate Member of the Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts; author of The Wounded Researcher: Research with Soul in Mind and Ways of the Heart: Essays toward an Imaginal Psychology.
    This text elucidates the potential of Tarot well beyond its popular usage. It demonstrates how Tarot can become a pedagogical and counseling tool for enriching human experiences and the whole of culture with wisdom, integrity, meaning, and spirituality. A must to read! ---MARY K. GREER, author of Tarot for Your Self: A Workbook for Personal Transformation.
    Bringing together popular and academic cultures, Inna Semetsky presents Tarot as a system of transformative hermeneutics for adult self-education and cultural pedagogy. Her research is a decisive and intelligent step ahead from the reductive stereotype of Tarot as fortune-telling. The fifteen life stories at the heart of the book exemplify the author's commitment to alternative modes of education and counseling that transcend individual, cultural or language barriers. Assembling a rich array of sources, from Hermeticism to Jungian depth psychology, the philosophies of Noddings, Buber, and Deleuze, and the science of self-organization, this book opens a new path to personal and social revitalization. It should be widely read across disciplinary divides by scholars, students, and professionals alike. --PHILIP WEXLER, Professor, Hebrew University of Jerusalem; author of Symbolic Movement: Critique and Spirituality in Sociology of Education and Holy Sparks: Social Theory, Education and Religion. More

  18. Archetypal Cosmos: Rediscovering the Gods in Myth, Science, and Astrology by Keiron Le Grice (Floris Books) The modern world is passing through a period of critical change on many levels: cultural, political, ecological and spiritual. We are witnessing the decline and dissolution of the old order, the tumult and uncertainty of a new birth. Against this background, Keiron Le Grice argues that the developing insights of a new cosmology could provide a coherent framework of meaning to lead us beyond the growing fragmentation of culture, belief and personal identity.
    In a compelling synthesis of the ideas of seminal thinkers from depth psychology and new paradigm science, Le Grice positions the new discipline of archetypal astrology at the centre of an emerging world view that reunifies psyche and cosmos, spirituality and science, mythology and metaphysics, enabling us to see mythic gods, heroes and themes in a fresh light.
    Heralding a 'rediscovery of the gods' and the passage into a new spiritual era, The Archetypal Cosmos presents a new understanding of the role of myth and archetypal principles in our lives, one that could give a cosmic perspective and deeper meaning to our personal experience.

  19. Keiron Le Grice, Ph.D., is founder and co-editor of Archai: The Journal of Archetypal Cosmology. He is adjunct faculty in the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness programme at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. More 


Art

Images of Medieval Sanctity by Debra Higgs Strickland (Visualising the Middle Ages: Brill Academic) Assembled on the occasion of Gary Dickson's retirement from the University of Edinburgh following a distinguished career as an internationally acclaimed scholar of medieval social and religious history, this volume contains contributions by both established and newer scholars inspired by Dickson's particular interests in medieval popular religion, including 'religious enthusiasm'. Together, the essays comprise a comprehensive and rich investigation of the idea of sanctity and its many medieval manifestations across time (fifth through fifteenth centuries) and in different geographical locations (England, Scotland, France, Italy, the Low Countries). By approaching the theme of sanctity from multiple disciplinary perspectives, this highly original collection pushes forward current academic thinking about medieval hagiography, iconography, social history, women's studies, and architectural history. See example of her article on the holy and unholy in representation.
DEBRA HIGGS STRICKLAND, Ph.D. (1993) in Art History, Columbia University, is Deputy Director of the Glasgow Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, University of Glasgow. Her major publications include Saracens, Demons, and Jews: Making Monsters in Medieval Art (Princeton, 2003).  More

The Afterlife of Raphael's Paintings by Cathleen Hoeniger (Cambridge University Press) Raphael is one of the rare artists who have never gone out of fashion. Acclaimed during his lifetime, he was imitated by contemporaries and served as a model for painters through the nineteenth century. Because of the artist's renown, his works have continuously been subject to care, conservation, and restoration. In The Afterlife of Raphael's Paintings, Cathleen Hoeniger, Associate Professor of Art History at Queen's University, focuses on the legacy of Raphael's art: the historical trajectory or afterlife of the paintings themselves. More

From Hieroglyphics to Isotype: A Visual Autobiography by Otto Neurath (Hyphen, Princeton Architectural Press) From 1943 until his death in December 1945, Austrian sociologist Otto Neurath worked tirelessly on numerous versions of an innovative visual autobiography entitled From Hieroglyphics to Isotype. Now, sixty-five years later, comes the first publication of his full text, carefully edited from the original manuscripts. This edition highlights the important role visual material played in Neurath's life—from his earliest years to his professional work on the Isotype picture language. This engaging and informal account gives a rich picture of Central-European culture around the turn of the twentieth century, seen through the eyes of Neurath's insatiable intelligence, as well as a detailed exposition of the technique of Isotype. From Hieroglyphics to Isotype includes an appendix showing examples from Neurath's extensive collection of visual material. More

Green Interior Design by Lori Dennis (Allworth Press) Since average Americans spend 90 percent of their lives indoors, it is no wonder they are looking homeward to become more environmentally friendly. While jumping in with both feet works for some, transforming the home into a green Mecca can be overwhelming.
How does one design and craft green interiors? Is it difficult to make the change? With all the product choices flooding the marketplace, how does one choose the right ones? Is designing green too expensive? More

Crows, Cranes & Camellias by Amy Reigle Newland (Hotei Publishing, Brill Academic) Little is known about the artist Ohara Koson (1877-1945), whose career bridged the era between the decline of the full-coloured woodblock print (nishiki-e) in the late 19th century/early 20th century and the emergence of the Shin hanga ('new print') movement in the 1910s. An artist principally marketed abroad, Koson's bird-and-flower prints met with great success in the United States and Europe. He has only recently received attention in his native Japan following the discovery of important reference material including original sketches and paintings for his prints. More

Manet, Baudelaire and Photography Book 1 & Manet, Baudelaire and Photography Book 2 by Larry Leroy Ligo (Edwin Mellen Press) Professor Ligo s defense and illustration of his claim that Manet s work represents an intelligent and active attempt to embody the modernist aesthetic of his friend, the poet and art critic Charles Baudelaire, makes for absorbing reading. Well aware of the many reasons why Baudelaire may not have been either willing or able to write a full-length essay on Manet in the years 1863-1866 when he knew him best (hard years for Baudelaire, who would die in 1867 and who had lived in Brussels since 1864, in a desperate search for funds and publishers), Professor Ligo fills in the background details both on the friendship between the two men and the artistic life of the times. There are fascinating parallels between specific works by the two artists (Baudelaire’s essay on Wagner s "Tannhauser", for instance, seen in tandem with Manet s "D’jeuner sur l herbe" and particularly interesting arguments about photography and the place of the crowd for both Baudelaire and Manet. Dr. Ligo makes a strong and well-documented case for his conviction that Manet consciously decided to take up the challenge to contemporary painters that Baudelaire sets down in his famous and influential essay, “The Painter of Modern Life”. There is much here for scholars of both Baudelaire and Manet (the parallels enable us to see each in a different light) and for the general reader interested in impressionism, the influence of photography and/or aesthetics more broadly. More

Cézanne in Provence edited by Philip Conisbee and Denis Coutagne (Yale University Press) It was in Paris, not Provence, that Cézanne's art history was made. The centre of the artworld has since been shifted from Paris by the rise of America, but power relations between periphery and centre prevail. The major exhibition that gave rise to this catalogue (available in English and French) would not have been possible without the power of the centre, Washington's National Gallery of Art. The Musée Granet in Aix was thereby able to offer a blockbuster show as a major tourist magnet for the Midi during summer 2006, when the Jas de Bouffan opened to the public. All this is part of a project, 'Cézanne 2006', backed by various development agencies. What is represented for cultural tourism is 'Cézanne's Provence', a short-circuit of nature and painter in which the genius loci of the Aixois landscape supposedly formed Cézanne's approach and the art then forged how we came to see this terrain. More

Music

Music for Sight Singing 5th edition[Spiral-bound] by Thomas E. Benjamin, Michael Horvit, Robert S. Nelson (Schirmer) Designed for the "musicianship" portion of the freshman theory sequence presents music that is carefully chosen to challenge--not overwhelm--the student.
Ease into sight singing, with this accessible text that offers an array of beginning-level pieces designed to build your musicianship skills and your confidence at the same time. The authors' multifaceted approach includes a variety of examples, exercises, and musical genres that ensure well-rounded skill development, from simple rhythms and melodies to duets and canons.
More 

Plato on Music, Soul and Body by Francesco Pelosi (Cambridge University Press) Plato's reflection on the relationship between soul and body has attracted scholars' attention since antiquity. Less noted, but worthy of consideration, is Plato's thought on music and its effects on human beings. This book adopts an innovative approach towards analysing the soul—body problem by uncovering and emphasising the philosophical value of Plato's treatment of the phenomenon of music. By investigating in detail how Plato conceives of the musical experience and its influence on intelligence, passions and perceptions, it illuminates the intersection of cognitive and emotional functions in Plato's philosophy of mind.
FRANCESCO PELOSI obtained a Ph.D. in philosophy at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa. His main field of research is the relation between music and philosophy in ancient Greece. More

Philosophy

Parmenides, Plato and Mortal Philosophy: Return from Transcendence by Vishwa Adluri (Continuum) Parmenides has survived the "parricide" committed against him in Plato's Sophist and in every philosophy of plurality and becoming. Despite the brevity of the fragments of his poem, supposedly titled On Nature (Peri Phuseos), and the apparent simplicity of its central thought -- "being is" -- Parmenides continues to nourish speculation, historical research, and philological debate. We now even have Parmenides Publishing, which has printed or reprinted over half a dozen studies of the pre-Socratic to date. The series Continuum Studies in Ancient Philosophy currently includes no fewer than three books on the topic: Raymond Tallis' The Enduring Significance of Parmenides, Lisa Atwood Wilkinson's Parmenides and To Eon, and Vishwa Adluri's Parmenides, Plato, and Mortal Philosophy. Adluri's work stands out for the radicality of its argument, the subtlety of its interdisciplinary interpretations, and the forthright passion that motivates it.
Adluri's radical reading denies that Parmenides is the enemy of plurality and becoming. How can this be, if the poem bluntly argues that, since "being is," becoming is unthinkable and being is eternally one -- pastless, futureless, and featureless? The answer begins in plain sight, on the surface of the poem, but this surface has been ignored all too often by readers who assume they already know what Parmenides stands for.  Parmenides does not in fact say "being is." The phrase (with its sundry tortured variations) is uttered by an unnamed goddess who addresses the poem's narrator. The poem begins in the first person, describing the narrator's (Parmenides'?) passionate journey ("as far as thumos might reach," fragment 1, line 1) to the gates of the divine domain. The goddess then welcomes the voyager and presents two accounts: an account of the "truth" (monistic being) and an account of mortal opinions about the mutable cosmos. The usual assumption is that the first-person proem is window dressing: like the dactylic hexameter, it is a remnant of or concession to the prephilosophical, mythmaking culture from which Parmenides is emerging. The goddess' first account is assumed to be Parmenides' own theory. Her second account is then problematic: if there is nothing but being, how can there "be" a plurality of phenomena, opinions (whether true or untrue), and opiners? Parmenides the monist turns out to be an extreme dualist, due to his uncompromising split between reality and appearance. Our task is then to construct a logical solution to this split -- if not within Parmenides' theory itself, then in our own physical or metaphysical theories. More

Interpreting Heidegger: Critical Essays by Lee Braver (Cambridge University Press) This volume of essays by internationally prominent scholars interprets the full range of Heidegger's thought and major critical interpretations of it. It explores such central themes as hermeneutics, facticity and Ereignis, conscience in Being and Time, freedom in the writings of his period of transition from fundamental ontology, and his mature criticisms of metaphysics and ontotheology. The volume also examines Heidegger's interpretations of other authors, the philosophers Aristotle, Kant and Nietzsche and the poets Rilke, Trakl and George. A final group of essays interprets the critical reception of Heidegger's thought, both in the analytic tradition (Ryle, Carnap, Rorty and Dreyfus) and in France (Derrida and Lévinas). This rich and wide-ranging collection will appeal to all who are interested in the themes, the development and the context of Heidegger's philosophical thought. More

From Inquiry to Demonstrative Knowledge: New Essays on Aristotle's Posterior Analytics edited by J. H. Lesher (Academic Printing and Publishing)  ISBN 9781926598017. Aristotle's Posterior Analytics is regarded as an original work that determined the course of philosophy of science — and to some extent of science itself — for two millennia. Nevertheless the work poses many challenges to the scholar. How does the demonstrative syllogism that is the focus of Aristotle's interest in the APo relate to the non-syllogistic accounts of phenomena that we find in his scientific treatises? How do the accounts of knowledge, definition, and explanation put forward in the APo stand in relation to other elements in Aristotle's philosophy — his accounts of substance, the four causes, the distinctions between actuality and potentiality, form and matter, processes and activities, etc? How exactly do we know the first principles of scientific inquiry: why should we suppose that we have access to some non-demonstrative way of knowing, why in explaining how we can know first principles does Aristotle focus instead on how we form concepts, and what could it possibly mean to say that 'while we perceive the particular, perception is of the universal'? The distinguished contributors to this volume address all of these questions and more. The volume sets a new standard for the interpretation and assessment of one of Aristotle's most important philosophical works. More

On Aristotle's 'Metaphysics': An Annotated Translation of the So-called 'Epitome'  by Averroës and edited translated by Rudiger Arnzen (Scientia Graeco-Arabica: De Gruyter) The Arab philosopher Abu L-Walid Muhammad Ibn Rushd (1126-98), among western historians of philosophy better known by his Latinized name Averroës, composed more than thirty commentaries and studies on the works of Aristotle. Although these commentaries had an enormous influence on medieval Latin and Hebrew philosophy in general as well as on the reception and transformation of Aristotelian doctrines in particular, a lot of them are still in need of reliable critical editions, and an even greater number still await complete modern translations in order to be readily accessible to students and scholars of medieval philosophy unable to read the original Arabic texts.
This applies also to the work presented here for the first time in a complete English translation for which there is no definitive critical edition of the Arabic text available. As a matter of fact, the translation was originally supposed to be accompanied by a critical edition of the Arabic text itself—a plan that had to be postponed for the time being because it was impossible to obtain copies of all extant medieval and early modern manuscripts of the work. However, the translation is based not only on the previous editions of the text, but also on a number of thoroughly collated Arabic manuscripts not taken into consideration in these editions. Thus, the present translation is not only of interest to those engaged in medieval philosophy yet unable to examine the Arabic documents, but it might also be helpful for exploring the Arabic manuscripts and assaying Averroes' intentions more comprehensively and accurately than this has been possible on the basis of the previous Arabic editions. More

Petrarch's Humanism and the Care of the Self by Gur Zak (Cambridge University Press) Petrarch was one of the founding fathers of Renaissance humanism, yet the nature and significance of his ideas are still widely debated. In this book, Gur Zak examines two central issues in Petrarch's works - his humanist philosophy and his concept of the self. Zak argues that both are defined by Petrarch's idea of care for the self. Overcome by a strong sense of fragmentation, Petrarch turned to the ancient idea that philosophy can bring harmony and wholeness to the soul through the use of spiritual exercises in the form of writing. Examining his vernacular poetry and his Latin works from both literary and historical perspectives, Zak explores Petrarch's attempts to use writing as a spiritual exercise, how his spiritual techniques absorbed and transformed ancient and medieval traditions of writing, and the tensions that arose from his efforts to care for the self through writing. More

When Philosophers Rule: Ficino on Plato's Republic, Laws & Epinomis (Commentaries by Ficino on Plato's Writing) Translation by Arthur Farndell (Shepheard-Walwyn) Marsillio Ficino of Florence (1433-99) was one of the most influential thinkers of the Renaissance. He put before society a new ideal of human nature, emphasising its divine potential. As teacher and guide to a remarkable circle of men, he made a vital contribution to changes that were taking place in European thought. For Ficino, the writings of Plato provided the key to the most important knowledge for mankind, knowledge of God and the soul. It was the absorption of this knowledge that proved so important to Ficino, to his circle, and to later writers and artists. As a young man, Ficino had been directed by Cosimo de’ Medici towards the study of Plato in the original Greek. Later he formed a close connection with Cosimo’s grandson, Lorenzo de’ Medici, under whom Florence achieved its age of brilliance. Gathered round Ficino and Lorenzo were such men as Landino, Bembo, Poliziano and Pico della Mirandola. The ideas they discussed became central to the work of Spenser, Shakespeare, Donne, Botticelli, Michelangelo, Raphael, Dürer, and many other writers and artists. Until philosophers are kings, or the kings and princes of this world have the spirit and power of philosophy, and political greatness and wisdom meet in one, and those commoner natures who pursue either to the exclusion of the other are compelled to stand aside, cities will never have rest from their evils, - no, nor the human race, as I believe, - and then only will this our State have a possibility of life and behold the light of day.' Republic, Book V, 473D With these words Plato expressed his ideal form of government. Often dismissed as unrealisable, they have appealed down the ages to men of goodwill. Having translated all of the Dialogues from Greek into Latin, at the request of his Medici patrons, Ficino was asked to prepare summaries by Lorenzo de’ Medici, the de facto ruler of the republic of Florence, who aspired to be the kind of enlightened ruler Plato described. More

Politics

Storied Communities: Narratives of Contact and Arrival in Constituting Political Community edited by Hester Lessard, Rebecca Johnson and Jeremy Webber (UBC Press) Political communities are defined and often contested through stories and storytelling. Scholars have long recognized that two foundational sets of stories narratives of contact and narratives of arrival helped to define settler societies. We are only beginning to understand how ongoing issues of migration and settlement are linked to issues of indigenous-settler contact.
In Storied Communities, scholars from multiple disciplines disrupt the assumption in many works that indigenous and immigrant identities fall into two separate streams of analysis. The authors do not attempt to build a new master narrative they instead juxtapose narratives of contact and arrival as they explore key themes: the nature and hazards of telling stories in the political realm; the literary, ceremonial, and identity-forming dimensions of the narrative form; actual narratives of contact and arrival; and the institutional and theoretical implications of foundation narratives and storytelling. In the process, they deepen our understanding of the role of narrative in community and nation building. More

Critical Urban Studies: New Directions edited by Jonathan S. Davies and David L. Imbroscio, with an introduction by Clarence N. Stone (SUNY Press) Urban scholarship has had detractors of late, particularly in mainstream political science, where it has been accused of parochialism and insularity.
Critical Urban Studies, edited by Jonathan S. Davies, Reader in Public Policy at the University of Warwick and David L. Imbroscio, Professor of Political Science at the University of Louisville, offers a repudiation of this critique, reasserting the need for critical urban scholarship and demonstrating the fundamental importance of urban studies for understanding and changing contemporary social life. Contributors to the volume identify an orthodox perspective in the field, subject it to critique, and map out a future research agenda for the field. The result is a series of essays pointing scholars and students to the major theoretical and policy challenges facing urbanists and other critical social scientists. More

Uranium Wars: The Scientific Rivalry that Created the Nuclear Age by Amir D. Aczel (Macmillian) Set against the darkening shadow of World War II, Uranium Wars follows the time's most brilliant scientists as they race to capture nuclear power. Pioneering woman physicist Lise Meitner uncovered nuclear fission but never won the Nobel Prize. Denmark's Niels Bohr sided with the Allies when he held a secret meeting with his protégé and possible Nazi collaborator Werner Heisenberg. Years of dogged research culminated on a racquetball court at the University of Chicago as Italian physicist Enrico Fermi set off the first nuclear chain reaction that led to the building of the atom bomb. Told with flair by one of our best popular science writers, Uranium Wars is a fast paced and vivid narrative about a pivotal moment in history. Amir U. Aczel expertly connects the dots to today, when nations seek nuclear capability and scientists strive to better understand and responsibly manage the most controversial type of energy ever discovered.
Hardly a day goes by without a major news report about nuclear issues, whether it's the international community's response to Iran's nuclear program or the future of Pakistan's atomic arsenal. At the same time, some politicians and scientists envision a future in which nuclear reactors dot the country, generating electricity that will help break our dependence on fossil fuels. Nuclear energy can help us combat global warming because this power source does not entail the release of carbon into the atmosphere. But the promise of a carbon-free energy source is checked by concerns about the ill effects of nuclear waste, as well as the danger of another disaster like the 1986 meltdown of a nuclear plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, the human toll of which we have yet to fully quantify. More

The United States and Public Diplomacy edited Kenneth A. Osgood, Brian C. Etheridge (Diplomatic Studies: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers) Public diplomacy is the art of cultivating public opinion to achieve foreign policy objectives. A vital tool in contemporary statecraft, public diplomacy is also one of the most poorly understood elements of a nation’s “soft power.”
The United States and Public Diplomacy adds historical perspective to the ongoing global conversation about public diplomacy and its proper role in foreign affairs. It highlights the fact that the United States has not only been an important sponsor of public diplomacy, it also has been a frequent target of public diplomacy initiatives sponsored by others. Many of the essays in this collection look beyond Washington to explore the ways in which foreign states, non-governmental organizations, and private citizens have used public diplomacy to influence the government and people of the United States. More

Toward a New Framework for Peaceful Settlement of China's Territorial and Boundary Disputes by Junwu Pan (Brill) This book provides a precious chance to take legal perspectives of China's territorial and boundary disputes against the new background of China's increasingly integrating itself into global economic, political and legal systems. Based on international law and China's new policy, the author examines the possibility of using the third party, which is notably missing in China's international engagement, to settle China's territorial and boundary disputes. This book pinpoints the problems and opportunities China is confronting in its attitude to international law and inter-national courts and tribunals. In the light of international law, especially of norms and principles used by the International Court of Justice and other international courts and tribunals, the author creatively proposes a new framework for settlement of China's territorial and boundary disputes. The author is a promising young scholars specializing in China's territorial and boundary issues. More

Jihadists and Weapons of Mass Destruction: A Growing Threat by Gary Ackerman (Editor), Jeremy Tamsett (CRC)  Written for professionals, academics, and policymakers working at the forefront of counterterrorism efforts, Jihadists and Weapons of Mass Destruction is an authoritative and comprehensive work addressing the threat of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the hands ofjihadists, both historically and looking toward the future threat environment. Providing insight on one of the foremost security issues of the 21st century, this seminal resource effectively:

  • Documents current trends in the ideology, strategy, and tactics of jihadists as these relate to WMD
  • Includes a section devoted to jihadist involvement with chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons
  • Explores the role of intelligence, law enforcement, and policymakers in anticipating, deterring, and mitigating WMD attacks
  • Provides an overview of nonproliferation policies designed to keep WMD out of the hands of jihadists
  • Conducts a groundbreaking quantitative empirical analysis of jihadist behavior Elicits leading experts' estimates of the future WMD threat from jihadists

Leading international experts clearly differentiate between peaceful Muslims and jihadists, exploring how jihadists translate their extreme and violent ideology into strategy. They also focus on WMD target selection and the spread of WMD knowledge in jihadist communities. Devoid of sensationalism, this multidimensional evaluation adds a heightened level of sophistication to our understanding of the prospects for and nature of jihadist WMD terrorism. More

What Is a Just Peace? Edited by Pierre Allan, Alexis Keller (Oxford University Press) Just War has attracted considerable attention. The words peace and justice are often used together. Surprisingly, however, little conceptual thinking has gone into what constitutes a Just Peace. This book, which includes some of the world's leading scholars, debates and develops the concept of Just Peace. The problem with the idea of a Just Peace is that striving for justice may imply a Just War. In other words, peace and justice clash at times. Therefore, one often starts from a given view of what constitutes justice, but this a priori approach leads - especially when imposed from the outside - straight into discord. This book presents conflicting viewpoints on this question from political, historical, and legal perspectives as well as from a policy perspective. The book also argues that Just Peace should be defined as a process resting on four necessary and sufficient conditions: thin recognition whereby the other is accepted as autonomous; thick recognition whereby identities need to be accounted for; renouncement, requiring significant sacrifices from all parties; and finally, rule, the objectification of a Just Peace by a "text" requiring a common language respecting the identities of each, and defining their rights and duties. This approach based on a language-oriented process amongst directly concerned parties, goes beyond liberal and culturalist perspectives. Throughout the process, negotiators need to build a novel shared reality as well as a new common language allowing for an enduring harmony between previously clashing peoples. It challenges a liberal view of peace founded on norms claiming universal scope. The liberal conception has difficulty in solving conflicts such as civil wars characterized typically by fundamental disagreements between different communities. Cultures make demands that are identity-defining, and some of these defy the "cultural neutrality" that is one of the foundations of liberalism. Therefore, the concept of Just Peace cannot be solved within the liberal tradition.

As Just War has attracted considerable attention for centuries, the words peace and justice have been, and are still, often used together. While an old doctrine of Just War exists, surprisingly little conceptual thinking has gone into what constitutes a peace that is a just one. This book debates this problématique and develops the concept of a Just Peace. More

Sentencing: A Reference Handbook by Dean Champion, Mildred Vasan (Contemporary World Issues: ABC-CLIO) examines the sentencing process in detail. The initial chapter on history and development defines sentencing and its goals. Sentencing is the application of one or more punishments / sanctions following a criminal conviction. These punishments include fines and / or incarceration, or placement under the super­vision of probation officers. The Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 restated a number of sentencing objectives that have guided sentencing judges in their leniency or harshness toward convicted defendants. More

Pot Politics: Marijuana and the Costs of Prohibition edited by Mitch Earleywine (Oxford University Press) Marijuana use continues to attract interest and fuel controversy. Big, green pot leaves have adorned the covers of Time, National Review, and Forbes. Almost 100 million Americans have tried marijuana at least once. Groups such as The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana (NORML) and The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) have tens of thousands of members. Polls suggest that 70-80% of Americans support medicinal marijuana. At least 11 U.S. states have experimented with decriminalization and medical marijuana laws, with new initiatives appearing each year. Meanwhile, other groups such as Partnership for a Drug Free America and Mothers Against Drugs protest legalization. Clearly, debate about marijuana policy shows no sign of abating. More

Guide to U.S. Elections 5th Edition 2 volumes (CQ Press) In Volume One, part one examines the evolution of the U.S. electoral system and includes material on the franchise and voting rights. It also explores the impact of major post–World War II political issues. Part two examines the evolution of campaign finance, traces the development of political parties, profiles major and minor parties, and discusses the historical significance of southern primaries. Part three features an overview and chronology of presidential elections along with information and data on presidential primaries, nominating conventions, popular and electoral voting, and the Electoral College. More

Guide To Political Campaigns In America by Paul S. Herrnson (CQ Press) is the first complete resource for scholarly and practical insight into every important aspect of political campaigns and campaign activities. Campaigns are a critical part of the political process in the United States, and this unique volume provides students, researchers, scholars, and others interested in campaigns and politics with a broad foundation of knowledge about the history of campaigns and the issues, people, processes, and types and levels of races involved. More

Religion

A Study of the Life and Works of Athanasius Kircher, 'Germanus Incredibilis': With a Selection of His Unpublished Correspondence and an Annotated Translation of His Autobiography by John Edward Fletcher and Elizabeth Fletcher (Aries Book: Brill Academic) Athanasius Kircher, a German Jesuit in 17th-century Rome, was an enigma. Intensely pious and a prolific author, he was also a polymath fascinated with everything from Egyptian hieroglyphs to the tiny creatures in his microscope. His correspondence with popes, princes and priests was a window into the restless energy of the period. It showed first-hand the seventeenth-century’s struggle for knowledge in astronomy, microscopy, geology, chemistry, musicology, Egyptology, horology… The list goes on. Kircher’s books reflect the mind-set of 17th-century scholars - endless curiosity and a … read more substantial larding of naiveté: Kircher scorned alchemy as the wishful thinking of charlatans, yet believed in dragons. His life and correspondence provide a key to the transition from the Middle Ages to a new scientific age. This book, though unpublished, has been long quoted and referred to. Awaited by scholars and specialists of Kircher, it is finally available with this edition. More

The Existence of God: An Exposition and Application of Fregean Meta-Ontology by Stig Børsen Hansen (Quellen Und Studien Zur Philosophie: De Gruyter) This study breaks new ground on the question of the existence of God. It innovatively combines biblical scholarship with an analysis of existence drawn from the writings of the philosopher Gottlob Frege. It shows that the strength of Frege's approach is its emphasis on the notions of proper name and predicate; this in turn sheds new light on important elements of theological language. Finally, the Fregean approach in this book is defended against objections drawn from readings of Ludwig Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus.  More

A Companion to Greek Mythology by Ken Dowden and Niall Livingstone (Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World: Wiley-Blackwell) approaches the richly diverse phenomenon of Greek myth from a distinctive new angle -- one that delves deeply into its origins in shared Indo-European story patterns and the Greeks’ contacts with their Eastern Mediterranean neighbours. Contributions from a team of international experts trace the development of Greek myth into a shared language, heritage, and way of thinking throughout the entire Greco-Roman world.
Individual essays address such topics as how myths were presented in stories, poems, dramas and all forms of visual art, as well as the role of myth in philosophy, learning, religion, mystery-cult, and Greek self identity. Other essays explore contemporary reception of Greek myth and the potential of modern theoretical approaches. A Companion to Greek Mythology offers invaluable insights into the ancient world that will help to shape our understanding of the wide ranging appeal and influence of Greek myth across the ages. More

The Silent God by Marjo C. A. Korpel and Johannes C. De Moor (Brill Academic) The silence of God is a recurring theme in modern reflection. It is not only addressed in theology, religious studies and philosophy, but also in literary fiction, film and theatre. The authors show that the concept of a silent deity emerged in the ancient Near East (including Greece). What did the Ancients mean when they assumed that under circumstances their deities remained silent? What reasons are discernable for silence between human beings and their gods? For the first time the close interrelation between the divine and the human in the revelatory process is demonstrated here on the basis of a wealth of translated ancient texts. In an intriguing epilogue, the authors explore the theological consequences of what they have found. More

Paradise in Antiquity: Jewish and Christian Views by Markus Bockmuehl and Guy G. Stroumsa (Cambridge University Press) The social and intellectual vitality of Judaism and Christianity in antiquity was in large part/ a function of their ability to articulate a viably transcendent hope for the human condition. Narratives of paradise — based on the concrete symbol of the Garden of Delights —came to play a central role for Jews, Christians, and eventually Muslims too.
These collected essays highlight the multiple hermeneutical perspectives on biblical paradise from Second Temple Judaism and Christian origins to the systematic expositions of Augustine and rabbinic literature, and show that while early Christian and Jewish sources draw on texts from the same Bible, their perceptions of paradise often reflect the highly different structures of the two sister religions. Dealing with a wide variety of texts, these essays explore major themes such as the allegorical and literal interpretations of paradise, the tension between heaven and earth, and paradise's physical location in space and time.
MARKUS BOCKMUEHL is Professor of Biblical and Early Christian Studies and a Fellow of Keble College at the University of Oxford. He is the editor of the The Cambridge Companion to Jesus  (Cambridge University Press, 2001) and the co-editor (with Donald A. Hagner) of The Written Gospel  (Cambridge University Press, 2005).
GUY G. STROUMSA is Professor of the Study of the Abrahamic Religions and a Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall at the University of Oxford, and Martin Buber Professor Emeritus of Comparative Religion, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the author of The End of Sacrifice: Religious Transformations in Late Antiquity (2009) and A New Science: The Discovery of Religion in the Age of Reason (2010), as well as the co-editor (with Graham N. Stanton) of Tolerance and Intolerance in Early Judaism and Christianity (Cambridge University Press, 1998). More

Constructing Tradition: Means and Myths of Transmission in Western Esotericism by Andreas Kilcher, Antoine Faivre, Matthias Heiduk, and Philipp Theisohn (Aries Book Series: Brill Academic) The question of constructing tradition, concepts of origin, and memory as well as techniques and practices of knowledge transmission, are central for cultures in general. In esotericism, however, such questions and techniques play an outstanding role and are widely reflected upon, in its literature. Esoteric paradigms not only understand themselves in elaborated mytho-poetical narratives as bearers of "older", "hidden", "higher" knowledge. They also claim their knowledge to be of a particular origin. And they claim this knowledge has been transmitted by particular (esoteric) means, media and groups. Consequently, esotericism not only involves the construction of its own tradition; it can even be understood as a specific form of tradition and transmission. The various studies of the present volume, which contains the papers of a conference held in Tubingen in July 2007, provide an overview of the most important concepts and ways of constructing tradition in esotericism. More

Plato and the Talmud by Jacob Howland (Cambridge University Press) This innovative study sees the relationship between Athens and Jerusalem through the lens of the Platonic dialogues and the Talmud. Howland argues that these texts are animated by comparable conceptions of the proper roles of inquiry and reasoned debate in religious life, and by a profound awareness of the limits of our understanding of things divine. Insightful readings of Plato's Apology, Euthyphro, and chapter three of tractate Ta'anit explore the relationship of prophets and philosophers, fathers and sons, and gods and men (among other themes), bringing to light the tension between rational inquiry and faith that is essential to the speeches and deeds of both Socrates and the Talmudic sages. In reflecting on the pedagogy of these texts, Howland shows in detail how Talmudic aggadah and Platonic drama and narrative speak to different sorts of readers in seeking mimetically to convey the living ethos of rabbinic Judaism and Socratic philosophizing. More

Horoscopes and Public Spheres: Essays on the History of Astrology Edited by Günther Oestmann, / H. Darrel Rutkin, / Kocku von Stuckrad (Walter de Gruyter) examines the specific role of horoscopic astrology in Western culture from antiquity to the nineteenth century. Focusing on the public appearance of astrological rhetoric, the essays break new ground for a better understanding of the function of horoscopes in public discourse. The volume's three parts address the use of imperial horoscopes in late antiquity, the transformation of doctrines and rhetorics in Islamic medieval contexts, and the important status of astrology in early modern Europe. The combination of in-depth historical studies and methodological considerations results in an important contribution to religious and cultural studies.

Kant und Swedenborg: Zugänge zu einem umstrittenen Verhältnis by Friedemann Herausgeber v. Stengel (Max Niemeyer Verlag) Kant as the leading representative of the philosophical enlightenment and the seer Swedenborg, regarded as the father of modern esotericism, would appear at first sight to be two diametrically opposed 18th century figures. At the same time, Swedenborg was one of the few authors to whom Kant dedicated a work of his own – the Dreams of a Spirit-Seer. Since then, controversy has surrounded Swedenborg’s significance for Kant’s philosophical biography and the history of his works. In the present volume, philosophers, religious scholars, theologians and literary scholars from six countries present their – far from consensual – interpretations of the relationship between Kant’s critical philosophy and Swedenborg’s “visionary realism”.

The Secret History of Western Sexual Mysticism: Sacred Practices and Spiritual Marriage by Arthur Versluis  (Destiny Books) Beginning with the ancient Greek Mystery traditions, Gnosticism, and the practices in early Christianity, Arthur Versluis uncovers the secret line of Western sexual mysticism that, like the Tantra of the East, seeks transcendence or union with God through sexually charged practices. Throughout antiquity, and right into the present day, sexuality has played an important, if largely hidden, role in religious traditions and practices. This includes not only Christian but also kabbalistic, hermetic, and alchemical currents of sexual mysticism, many discussed together here for the first time. More

Hidden Intercourse: Eros and Sexuality in the History of Western Esotericism edited by Wouter J. Hanegraaff, Jeffrey J. Kripal (Aries: Brill Academic) From rumours about gnostic orgies in antiquity to the explicit erotic symbolism of alchemical texts, from the subtly coded eroticism of medieval kabbalah to the sexual magic practiced by contemporary occultists and countercultural translations of Asian Tantra, the history of Western esotericism is rich in references to the domains of eros and sexuality. This volume, which brings together an impressive array of top-level specialists, is the first to analyze the eroticism of the esoteric without sensationalism or cheap generalizations, but on the basis of expert scholarship and attention to textual and historical detail. While there are few other domains where the imagination may so easily run wild, the various contributions seek to distinguish fact from fiction--only to find that historical realities are sometimes even stranger than the fantasies. In doing so, they reveal the outlines of a largely unknown history spanning more than twenty centuries.  More

Asian Religions

Popular Religion and Shamanism by Edited by Ma Xisha and Meng Huiying (Religious Studies in Contemporary China Collection: Brill Academic) addresses two areas of religion within Chinese society; the lay teachings that Chinese scholars term folk or `popular' religion, and shamanism. Each area represents a distinct tradition of scholarship, and the book is therefore split into two parts.
PART I: Popular Religion discusses the evolution of organized lay movements over an arc often centuries. Its eight chapters focus on three key points: the arrival and integration of new ideas before the Song dynasty, the coalescence of an intellectual and scriptural tradition during the Ming, and the efflorescence of new organizations during the late Qing.
PART II: Shamanism reflects the revived interest of scholars in traditional beliefs and culture that reemerged with the 'open' policy in China that occurred in the 197os. Two of the essays included in this section address shamanism in northeast China where the traditions played an important role in the cultures of the Manchu, Mongol, Sibe, Daur, Oroqen, Evenki, and Hezhen. The other essay discusses divination rites in a local culture of southwest China.
Both sections of Popular Religion and Shamanism will introduce Western readers to the ideas of Chinese scholars, not just their data. More

An Introduction to Tantric Philosophy: The Paramarthasara of Abhinavagupta and the Commentary by Yogaraja translated by Lyne Bansat-Boudon and Kamalesha Tripathi, Introduction, notes, cricitally revised Sanskrit text, appendix, indices byLyne Bansat-Boudon (Routledge Studies in Tantric Traditions: Routledge) The Paramarthasara, or 'Essence of Ultimate Reality', is a work of the Kashmirian polymath Abhinavagupta (tenth—eleventh centuries). It is a brief treatise in which the author outlines the doctrine of which he is a notable exponent, namely non-dualistic Saivism, which he designates in his works as the Trika, or 'Triad' of three principles: Siva, Sakti and the embodied soul (nara).
The main interest of the Paramarthasara is not only that it serves as an introduction to the established doctrine of a tradition, but also advances the notion of jivanmukti, 'liberation in this life', as its core theme. Further, it does not confine itself to an exposition of the doctrine as such but at times hints at a second sense lying beneath the evident sense, namely esoteric techniques and practices that are at the heart of the philosophical discourse. Its commentator, Yogaraja (eleventh century), excels in detecting and clarifying those various levels of meaning.
An Introduction to Tantric Philosophy presents, along with a critically revised Sanskrit text, the first annotated English translation of both Abhinavagupta's Paramarthasara and Yogaraja's commentary.
This book will be of interest to dologists, as well as to specialists and students of Religion, Tantric studies and Philosophy. More

Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism: Sacred Texts and Language, Ritual Traditions, Arts, Concepts Volume II  edited by Knut A. Jacobsen (Handbook of Oriental Studies: Brill Academic Publishers) This is the second of the five volumes of Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism. The goal of the Encyclopedia is to present the latest scholarship on all aspects of the Hindu religious traditions. The Encyclopedia makes available in-depth critical scholarship, and the depth and breadth of information provided in this work are unmatched by any reference work on Hinduism. I should appeal to a wide range of readers. At the foundation of the Encyclopedia is a fascination with a phenomenon that we as humans share, and in the examination of this phenomenon, the emphasis is on critical knowledge. Hinduism as a religious tradition functions on a number of different levels, from the most complex architecture, philosophy, and linguistic activity to the performance of short ritual acts: a woman connecting for a brief moment to a statue of the god Ganesa in a wayside shrine on her way to work, a Hindu holy man performing his morning rituals in the Himalaya, a young boy learning to recite Sanskrit ritual texts at a school for priest education in South India, a dance performance in a temple, an astrologer giving advice to a client, the tying of a short thread to a tree by a pilgrim at a Hindu sacred place, a meeting of the organizational committee of a Hindu temple anywhere in the world, a philosophical discussion at an assembly of learned persons in Benares, artisans making stone sculptures for temples, Vedic sacred formulas and texts recited daily, and manuscripts of Hinduism being preserved in facilities and libraries worldwide. In these and many other ways, the Hindu traditions are performed by hundreds of millions of people every day. The goal of the Encyclopedia is to present the Hindu traditions as they take place on all these levels. Hinduism, it is often observed, has no common church and no common creed, and it is not based on a holy book or a single founder. That may be so, but Hinduism has many organizations, many creeds, many sacred texts, and founders of a number of organizations and knowledge traditions. The vision of this work is to approach the mosaic and network of Hindu traditions in all their multiplicity, and as both historical and contemporary institutions from different angles and in a variety of contexts, and to document a number of connections and networks.

For many scholars whose work is dedicated to understanding the history, structure, and pluralism of Hindu traditions, Hinduism is definitely the world's most exciting religion. This enthusiasm for the subject is displayed in the articles of the Encyclopedia. The articles are clear, comprehensive, interesting and exciting, and they do justice to the Hindu traditions both in the context of ancient civilizations and as global living traditions. More

Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism: Volume One: Regions, Pilgrimage, Deities edited by Knut A. Jacobsen (Handbook of Oriental Studies / Handbuch Der Orientalistik: Brill Academic)

The five-volume Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism is a thematically organized encyclopedia, presenting the latest research on all the main aspects of the Hindu traditions. Its essays are original work written by the world’s foremost scholars on Hinduism. The encyclopedia aims at a balanced and even-handed view of Hinduism, recognizing the divergent perspectives and methods in the academic study of a religion that is both an ancient historical tradition and a flourishing tradition today. Following a pluralistic approach, the encyclopedia embraces the greatest possible diversity, plurality, and heterogeneity. It thus emphasizes that Hinduism encompasses a variety of regional religious traditions, as well as a global world religion.
The the extent we are able to review individual volumes we will review each section by its theme.
Volume I of the Encyclopedia of Hinduism covers two main thematic fields. First it presents the regional traditions of Hinduism with articles on the Indian states and main regions of India and on historical regions outside of India. Here the reader will also find entries on sacred space and pilgrimage traditions, sacred time and festival traditions. The second thematic field concerns the various gods, goddesses and divine powers of Hinduism past and present.  More

The Yoga Sutras: An Essential Guide to the Heart of Yoga Philosophy by Nicolai Bachman ( Sounds True) Open your yoga practice with an in-depth course on the Sutras of Patanjali. We know there's more to the yogic path than asana, or physical postures, but how do we access the deeper wisdom of yoga philosophy? More than 2,000 years ago, the legendary master Patanjali answered this question in 195 pearls of insight known as the Yoga Sutras. Now Sanskrit and Ayurveda teacher Nicolai Bachman offers The Yoga Sutras, a complete course with a fresh new approach to working with Patanjali's seminal text for guidance and inspiration on your own journey toward clarity and happiness.

Why do we react the way we do in certain situations? How can suffering be an opportunity for growth? Why are nonviolence and truth important to a student? Patanjali's sutras offer an illuminating perspective on these questions and more. To help integrate this wisdom into our modern life, Bachman offers a unique approach. Instead of reading each sutra sequentially from beginning to end, he focuses on and discusses 51 key concepts. By exploring these principles with him and learning to chant the sutras in Sanskrit, the essence of yoga philosophy is revealed—helping us open to its heart and soul. The Yoga Sutras invites you to discover a variety of practical tools and heartfelt insights for transforming your practice, including:

  • A 336-page color-illustrated workbook with a concise history of yoga and the sutras, in-depth explanation of key themes, translation of all 195 sutras, and a complete glossary of Sanskrit terms for quick reference
  • Six sessions full of insights to further your learning about yoga's essential principles
  • A guided reading on CD of the complete sutras with pronunciation instructions for following along
  • Fifty-one study cards to encourage reflection of each concept and inspire action

When you immerse yourself in Patanjali's sutras, the heart of yoga—and what yoga means for you personally—will unveil itself in new and profound ways. Whether you're a seasoned teacher or a student looking to go deeper with your practice, this essential course offers a treasury of teachings to help realize the"outer joy and inner happiness" of yoga. More

One Hundred Thousand Moons: An Advanced Political History of Tibet  by Tsepon Wangchuk Deden Shakabpa and Derek F. Maher (Brill's Tibetan Studies Library: Brill Academic Publishers) DRAWING ON A VAST ARRAY OF HISTORICAL AND biographical sources, this volume elaborates Tibetan political history, arguing that Tibet has long been an independent nation, and that the 195o incursion by the Chinese was an invasion of a sovereign country. The author situates Tibet's relations with a series of Chinese, Manchurian, and Mongolian empires in terms of the preceptor-patron relationship, an essentially religious connection in which Tibetan religious figures offered spiritual instruction to the contemporaneous emperor or other militarily powerful figure in exchange for protection and religious patronage. Simultaneously, this volume serves as an introduction to many aspects of Tibetan culture, society, and especially religion. The book includes a compendium of biographies of the most significant figures in Tibet's past. More

HdO Early Chinese Religion: Shang Through Han (1250 BC-220 AD) edited by John Lagerwey and Marc Kalinowski (Handbook of Oriental Studies, Section Four, China: Brill Academic Publishers) Together, and for the first time in any language, the 24 essays gathered in these volumes provide a composite picture of the history of religion in ancient China from the emergence of writing ca. 125o BC to the collapse of the first major imperial dynasty in 220 AD. It is a multifaceted tale of changing gods and rituals that includes the
emergence of a form of "secular humanism" that doubts the existence of the gods and the efficacy of ritual and of an imperial orthodoxy that founds its legitimacy on a distinction between licit and illicit sacrifices. Written by specialists in a variety of disciplines, the essays cover such subjects as divination and cosmology, exorcism and medicine, ethics and self-cultivation, mythology, taboos, sacrifice, shamanism, burial practices, iconography and political philosophy.
Produced under the aegis of the Centre de recherche sur les civilisations chinos, japonaise et tibétaine (UMR
8155) and the École Pratique des Hautes Etudes (Paris). More

Atheism

Philosophers without Gods: Meditations on Atheism and the Secular Life edited by Louise M. Antony (Oxford University Press) Atheists are frequently demonized as arrogant intellectuals, antagonistic to religion, devoid of moral sentiments, advocates of an "anything goes" lifestyle. Now, in this revealing volume, nineteen leading philosophers open a window on the inner life of atheism, shattering these common stereotypes as they reveal how they came to turn away from religious belief. These highly engaging personal essays capture the marvelous diversity to be found among atheists, providing a portrait that will surprise most readers. Many of the authors, for example, express great affection for particular religious traditions, even as they explain why they cannot, in good conscience, embrace them. None of the contributors dismiss religious belief as stupid or primitive, and several even express regret that they cannot, or can no longer, believe. Perhaps more important, in these reflective pieces, they offer fresh insight into some of the oldest and most difficult problems facing the human mind and spirit. For instance, if God is dead, is everything permitted? Philosophers without Gods demonstrates convincingly, with arguments that date back to Plato, that morality is independent of the existence of God. Indeed, every writer in this volume adamantly affirms the objectivity of right and wrong. Moreover, they contend that secular life can provide rewards as great and as rich as religious life. A naturalistic understanding of the human condition presents a set of challenges--to pursue our goals without illusions, to act morally without hope of reward--challenges that can impart a lasting value to finite and fragile human lives. Collectively, these essays highlight the richness of atheistic belief--not only as a valid alternative to religion, but as a profoundly fulfilling and moral way of life. More

The Higher Self in Christopher Brennan's Poems: Esotericism, Romanticism, Symbolism by Katherine Barnes (Aries: Brill Academic) Many critics contend that Christopher Brennan is Australia's most important scholar and poet. Because his poetry was often written in a more obscure fashion, he never received the recognition that scholars of world literature believe he deserved. Poems 1913 is considered his most important work, and it is on the basis of that collection that Brennan's writing is considered some of the finest poetry produced before the start of World War I.  More

Judaism 

The Martyrdom of a Moroccan Jewish Saint by Sharon Vance(Brill's Series in Jewish Studies:Brill Academic) The martyrdom in 1834 of Sol Hatchuel, a Jewish girl from Tangier, traumatized the Jewish community and inspired a literary response in Morocco and beyond. This study focuses on works written in the first century after her death in Hebrew, Judeo-Arabic, Judeo- Spanish-Spanish and French that tell her story and interpret its meaning. The author places both the event and the texts that narrate it in their historical context and shows how its significance changed in each language and literary setting. The texts, prose and poetic laments by North African rabbis and a romantic feuilleton from the Judeo-Spanish press, and their historical context reveal the complex relations between Jews and Muslims in North Africa and the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century and the intersection between religious polemics and gender discourse. More

Christian Conceptions of Jewish Books: The Pfefferkorn Affair by Avner Shamir (Museum Tusculanum Press) explores the conflicting perceptions that Christians held of the meaning and significance of Jewish books at the beginning of the 16th century - a time when, following their general expulsion from many countries and territories, there were fewer Jews in western and central Europe than in the previous thousand years. The book tells the story of the so-called "Pfefferkorn affair": a tenacious campaign led by the German Johann Pfefferkorn - previously a Jew and converted to Christianity - to confiscate and burn all Jewish post-biblical literature in the Holy Roman Empire in the years 1509-1510. The author follows the fate of the confiscated books and their examination by a commission of experts, exploring how Christians perceived Jewish scholarship and knowledge and the consequences of those perceptions. More

The Philosophy of the Talmud by Hyam Maccoby (Routledge) This is a new presentation of the philosophy of the Talmud. The Talmud is not a work of formal philosophy, but much of what it says is relevant to philosophical enquiry of the kind that has been going on recently. In particular, the Talmud has original ideas about the relation between-universal ethics and the ethics of a particular community. This leads into discussion about the relation between morality and ritual, and also about the epistemological role of tradition. Governing the discussion is a theory of logic that differs significantly from Greek logic. Talmudic logic is one of analogy, not classification, and is peculiarly suitable for the discussion of moral and legal human situations. More

Judah Moscato Sermons: Edition and Translation, Volume One  by Gianfranco Miletto and Giuseppe Veltri (Studies in Jewish History and Culture: Brill Academic) Judah ben Joseph Moscato (c.1533–1590) was one of the most distinguished rabbis, authors, and preachers of the Italian-Jewish Renaissance. The book Sefer Nefusot Yehudah belongs to the very centre of his important homiletic and philosophical oeuvre. Composed in Mantua and published in Venice in 1589, the collection of 52 sermons addresses the subject of the Jewish festivals, focusing on philosophy, mysticism, sciences and rites. This and subsequent volumes will provide a critical edition of the original Hebrew text, accompanied by an English translation. All those interested in intellectual history, the history of Jewish philosophy, homiletics, philologists, theologians, and specialists of Hebraic and Italian culture. More

Kabbalah

Rabbi Joseph Gikatilla's Hermeneutics by Elke Morlok (Mohr Siebeck) Elke Morlok deals with the hermeneutics of R. Joseph Gikatilla, one of the most outstanding and influential kabbalists of medieval Jewish mysticism. His literary creativity falls onto the last decades of the 13th century, when very innovative ideas on kabbalah and its hermeneutics were developed and formulated for the first time. The author analyzes several key concepts throughout his writings such as his ideas on letter combination, symbol, memory, imagination and ritual and their varying functions within the hermeneutical and theosophic structures that underlie Gikatilla's approach. With the application of methods derived from modern theories on language and literature, she tries to create the basis for a fruitful encounter between medieval mystical hermeneutics and postmodern hermeneutical approaches. As Gikatilla incorporates two main trends of kabbalistic thinking during the medieval period, he was one of the most valuable sources for Christian thinkers interested in medieval kabbalistic thought. More

Kabbalah and Modernity edited by Boaz. Huss, Marco Pasi, and C.K.M. von Stuckrad (Aries Book Series: Brill) The persistence of kabbalistic groups in the twentieth century has largely been ignored or underestimated by scholars of religion. Only recently have scholars began to turn their attention to the many-facetted roles that kabbalistic doctrines and schools have played in nineteenth- and twentieth-century culture. Often, and necessarily, this new interest and openness went along with a contextualization and revaluation of earlier scholarly approaches to kabbalah. This volume brings together leading representatives of this ongoing debate in order to break new ground for a better understanding and conceptualization of the role of kabbalah in modern religious, intellectual, and political discourse. More

A Journey into the Zohar: An Introduction to the Book of Radiance by Nathan Wolski (State University of New York Press: SUNY) The crowning work of medieval Kabbalah, the Zohar is unlike any other work in the Jewish canon. Written in Aramaic, the Zohar contains complex mystical exegesis as well as a delightful epic narrative about the Companions--a group of sages who wander through second-century Israel discussing the Torah while encountering children, donkey drivers, and other surprising figures who reveal profound mysteries to them. Nathan Wolski offers original translations of episodes involving this mystical fellowship and goes on to provide a sustained reading of each. With particular emphasis on the literary and performative dimensions of the composition, Wolski takes the reader on a journey through the central themes and motifs of the zoharic world: kabbalistic hermeneutics, the structure of divinity, the nature of the soul, and, above all, the experiential core of the Zohar--the desire to be saturated and intoxicated with the flowing fluids of divinity. A Journey into the Zohar opens the mysterious, wondrous, and at times bewildering universe of one of the masterpieces of world mystical literature to a wider community of scholars, students, and general readers alike. More

A River Flows from Eden: The Language of Mystical Experience in the Zohar by Melila Hellner-Eshed (Stanford University Press) In the Zohar, the jewel in the crown of Jewish mystical literature, the verse "A river flows from Eden to water the garden" (Genesis 2:10) symbolizes the river of divine plenty that unceasingly flows from the depths of divinity into the garden of reality.

Hellner-Eshed's book investigates the flow of this river in the world of the Zoharic heroes, Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai and his disciples, as they embark upon their wondrous spiritual adventures. By focusing on the Zohar's language of mystical experience and its unique features, the author is able to provide remarkable scholarly insight into the mystical dimensions of the Zohar, namely the human quest for an enhanced experience of the living presence of the divine and the Zohar's great call to awaken human consciousness. More

Intertextuality in the Tales of Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav: A Close Reading of Sippurey Ma'asiyot by Marianne Schleicher (Numen Book Series: Brill Academic Publishers) Until 1806, Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav (1772-1810) disseminated his thoughts on redemption through homilies. In 1806, however, Nahman chose the genre of tales as an additional and innovative means of religious discourse. An academic close reading of all of the tales, known as Sippurey Ma'asiyot, has not yet been undertaken. As the first comprehensive scholarly work on the whole selection of tales and contrary to previous scholarship, this book does not reduce the tales to biographical expressions of Nahman's tormented soul and messianic aspirations. Instead, it treats them as religious literature where the concept of "intertextuality" is considered essential to explain how Nahman defines his theology of redemption and invites his listeners and readers to appropriate his religious world-view.  More

Man and Theogony in the Lurianic Cabala by Daphne Freedman (Gorgias Press) After the establishment of the Zoharic corpus amongst leading rabbis, no major changes took place in Jewish esoterism until the middle of the 16th century, when in Safed (in Upper Galilee, Palestine; present-day Zefat, Israel) a religious centre of extreme importance for Judaism was established, which was mainly inspired by teachers coming from families expelled from Spain. Until the expulsion of the Jews from Spain (1492) and during the two generations that followed it, the Kabbalistic literary output had certainly been abundant, in Spain till the expulsion as well as in Italy and the Middle East; but it was primarily a matter of systematizing or even popularizing the Zohar or of extending the speculation already developed in the 13th century; there were also some attempts at reconciling philosophy and Kabbala. It should be noted that even the traditionalist theologians adopted a careful and rather reserved attitude toward Kabbala.  More

Likutei Amarim Tanya in Hebrew and English by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (Kehot Publication Society) Because the Tanya is considered a 'written Torah'  by Chabad Hassidim it requires, in every generation, an 'oral Torah' to accompany it and to serve as an usher and guide. Written by the great Hasidic master Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi in the late eighteenth century, the Tanya is considered to be one of the most extraordinary books of moral teachings ever written.  More

Opening the Tanya: Discovering the Moral and Mystical Teachings of a Classic Work of Kabbalah by Adin Steinsaltz (Jossey-Bass) is a groundbreaking book that offers a definitive introduction, explanation, and commentary upon the Tanya. For more than two hundred years, the Tanya has been studied by those who know of its insight and wisdom with the devotion and the intensity usually associated with the Bible, the Talmud, the Koran, the Upanishads, and the Bhagavad Gita. Now internationally acclaimed author, scholar, and teacher Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz has written an illuminating and inspiring introduction to the Tanya. Opening the Tanya offers an overview of the Tanya’s broad philosophical and spiritual messages as well as point-by-point commentary on the text itself. More

Learning From the Tanya : Volume Two in the Definitive Commentary on the Moral and Mystical Teachings of a Classic Work of Kabbalah by Adin Steinsaltz (Jossey-Bass) offers a key for unlocking the mysteries of one of the most extraordinary books of moral teachings ever written. A seminal document in the study of Kabbalah, the Tanya explores and solves the dilemmas of the human soul by arriving at the root causes of its struggles. Though it is a classic Jewish spiritual text, the Tanya and its commentary take a broad and comprehensive approach that is neither specific to Judaism nor tied to a particular personality type or time or point of view. The internationally celebrated Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, who has dedicated his life to the study, teaching, and writing of books that explain Jewish scripture, religious practice, spirituality, and mysticism to Jews and non-Jews throughout the world, is the author of this explanation and line-by-line commentary on the Tanya. As relevant today as it was two hundred years ago, the Tanya helps us to understand the many thousands of complexities, doubts, and drives within us as a single basic problem—the struggle between our Godly soul and our animal soul. More

Gnosticism

 

Esotericism at the University of Amsterdam by Wouter J. Hanegraaff and Joyce Pijnenburg (Amsterdam University Press) In 1999, an innovative chair and expertise center was created at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Amsterdam, focused on the history of Western esotericism from the Renaissance to the present. The label "Western esotericism" refers here to a complex of historical currents such as, notably, the Hermetic philosophy of the Renaissance, mystical, magical, alchemical and astrological currents, Christian kabbalah, Paracelsianism, Rosicrucianism, Christian theosophy, and the many occultist and related esoteric currents that developed in their wake during the 19th and the 20th centuries. This complex of "alternative" religious currents is studied from a critical historical and interdisciplinary perspective, with the intention of studying the roles that they have played in the history of Western culture.
In the past ten years, the chair for History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents has succeeded in establishing itself as the most important center for study and teaching in this domain, and has strongly contributed to the establishment of Western esotericism as a recognized academic field of research. This volume is published at the occasion of the 10th anniversary. It contains a history of the creation and development of the chair, followed by articles on aspects of Western esotericism by the previous and current staff members, contributions by students and Ph.D. students about the study program, and reflections by international top specialists about the field of research and its academic development. More

Echoes from the Gnosis: 100th Anniversary Edition of the Spiritual Classics by G.R.S. Mead edited by John Algeo, introduction Robert Gilbert, Commentary by Stephan Hoeller (Quest Books) Long before the mid-twentieth-century discovery of the Nag Hammadi Library, G. R. S. Mead had translated ancient Gnostic texts. Here in one book is the entire collection of his eleven volumes first published between 1906 and 1908, including "The Hymn of Jesus" and "The Wedding Song of Wisdom."
Each Gnostic text has added historical background, source information, literary comment, and spiritual interpretation. Mead, who devoted his life to esoteric studies and was a pioneer in the Gnostic revival, uniquely understood the complex symbolism of his subject. The reader may be surprised to learn that some of these texts were originally not books, but instead initiatory mystery rituals.
Editor John Algeo preserves Mead's own inspired language. To enhance the texts for today's readers, the volume includes new explanatory essays by contemporary Gnostic Stephan Hoeller and a biography by Robert Gilbert, a world authority on Mead. More

The Voudon Gnostic Workbook by Michael Bertiaux ( Expanded Edition) (Weiser Books) A long-awaited new edition of the seminal text on the spiritual system that is a convergence of Gnosticism and Haitian voodoo, The Voudon Gnostic Workbook, is a singular sacred work that is comprehensive in scope--from "how to be a lucky Hoodoo" to how magick and voodoo intersect energetically, to esoteric time travel. Complete with charts and graphs and instructive interdimensional physics, The Voudon Gnostic Workbook is an "object of desire" among students of the occult. Michael Bertiaux is an occult practitioner and instructor in the Chicago area who developed a large following based on his voodoo-infused Gnostic teachings. 
The The Voudon Gnostic Workbook presents the teachings of a Franco-Haitian esoteric and theurgical society known as "La Couleuvre Noire" (The Black Snake), which by reason of their tradition is believed by its members to be a society derived from an adept who died in Leogane, Haiti, in 1774. This tradition also entails teachings derived from African mysticism and spiritism, as these teachings were developed in two hundred years of occult work and casework practice in esotericism and a type of psychology within Haitian culture and the wider Voudon diaspora, which grew out of the occult practices of the members of this order.
More

Gnostic Revisions of Genesis Stories And Early Jesus Traditions by Gerard P. Luttikhuizen (Nag Hammadi & Manichaean Studies: Brill Academic) argues that the intellectuals behind early Gnostic revisions of Genesis stories were second-century Christians with an ideological background in Greek-Hellenistic philosophy, who adopted and reinterpreted biblical narrative materials with a view to exposing the inferiority of the creator-God of Genesis and the ignorance of those Christians who continued to worship this God. It also discusses controversies between Gnostic and early orthodox Christians about the person and the mission of Jesus Christ. More

The Gospel Of Mary: Beyond A Gnostic And A Biblical Mary Magdalene by Esther A. De Boer (Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series: T. & T. Clark Publishers) Two basic viewpoints are usually distinguished in recent scholarly work on the Biblical and Gnostic Mary Magdalene: (1) Gnostic authors have constructed a Gnostic Mary Magdalene using the biblical portrait of her as a vehicle for Gnostic teaching, and, (2) biblical authors neglected the important role of Mary Magdalene, of which Gnostic authors preserved evidence. In addition, on the one hand the Gnostic Mary Magdalene is valued as a female apostolic leader, as an advocate of women and of egalitarian discipleship, and as a revealer of Gnostic insights. On the other hand, scholars point to the specific dualism, and the subsequently negative female imagery in Gnostic writings, and reject a positive evaluation of the Gnostic Mary Magdalene. More

Alternative Christs by Olav Hammer(Cambridge University Press) The lack of reliable biographical data on Jesus Christ has left his life open to radical interpretations. This book explores the views of Gnostics, Manicheans, and Muslims as well as less well-known traditions and individuals, without taking sides in any theological arguments.
Few, if any, individuals have had such a profound influence on Western culture as Jesus, even though not a single detail of his life or teaching can be confirmed with certainty. This lack of reliable biographical data has left his life open to broad interpretation. Jesus, gnostic and apocryphal sources insist, never truly died on the cross since he was a divine being, whose human frame was an illusion. Muslim sources affirm that Jesus was a prophet of God and will return at the end of time. Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels formulated racial theories in which Jesus was a redeemer for Aryans only, while the Renaissance polymath Guillaume Postel was convinced that Christ had returned as a Venetian woman. This book explores these and other views without taking sides in any theological arguments and presents research on a variety of alternative Christologies. More 

Magic

Magic and the Law: A collection of Essays edited by Christine A. Corcos (Durham: Carolina University Press) The nearly two dozen studies in this collection explore the very rich ways in which the rule of law and the practice of magic enrich and inform each other. The authors bring both a U.S. and a comparative law perspective while examining areas such as law and religion, criminal law, intellectual property law, the law of evidence, and animal rights. Topics include alchemy in fifteenth-century England, a discussion of how a courtroom is like a magic show, stage hypnotism and the law, Scottish witchcraft trials in the eighteenth century, the question of whether stage magicians can look to intellectual property to protect their rights, tarot card readings and the First Amendment, and an analysis of whether a magician can be qualified as an expert witness under the Federal Rules of Evidence. More

Sepher Raziel: A Sixteenth Century English Grimoire by Don Karr and Stephen Skinner (Sourceworks of Ceremonial Magic Series, Volume 6: Golden Hoard / Llewellyn Worldwide)  Sepher Raziel (also called Liber Salomenk) is not the same as the Hebrew Sepher Raziel ha-Melakh. It is a full grimoire in the Solomonic tradition from a 1564 century English manuscript, derived from Latin sources. As such it is one of the earliest grimoires produced in this series. It begins with directions for making the parchment, pen and ink of Art, required to write the names. It contains seven separate Treatises:

  1. Liber Clavis which is concerned with astrology and its correct use in magic, something long forgotten by modern astrologers, with the precise interactions between planets, Signs and Houses.
  2. The Ala outlines in four sections the magical virtues of stones, herbs and beasts, and words.
  3. The Tractatus Thymiamatus explains why incense is essential to magical operations, and the effect of various incenses on the spirits, with a list of the key perfumes and suffumigations. An Appendix gives the modern and botanical names.
  4. The Treatise of Times gives details of the correct hours of the day and night for each operation, with associated angels and the proper names of the Sun, Moon and planets to be used in each season. This is something left out of almost all other grimoires.
  5. The Treatise on Purity explains the exact preparations, and the reasons for ritual purity.
  6. Samaim is a treatise on the seven Heavens, with the names of their angels.
  7. The Book of Virtues and Miracles is a treatise on the Semiforas, the names of God, and how they are to be used in invocation to produce miraculous results.

More

Jewish Mysticism and Magic: An Anthropological Perspective by Maureen Bloom (Routledge) Jewish Mysticism and Magic: An Anthropological Perspective explores the origins of mysticism in Judaism and the associated development of the Jewish magical tradition.
Using the methodology of structural analysis and the theory of structural transformation, texts of early and late antiquity are analysed with reference to symbolic rites and rituals. Scriptural and Talmudic texts resonate with ideas of 'sacred and mundane' and ritual 'purity and impurity' and reflect a worldview where an omnipotent God governed a cosmos in which disorder vied with order. Particular features include:

  • Discussion of the relationship between Babylonian culture and Jewish laws and customs.
  • Examination of how, paradoxically, esoteric beliefs attained and retained powerful influence on Jewish culture.
  • Analysis of texts showing the influence of early cultural constructs on Jewish magical spells and formulae and the persistence of their symbolic significance.

This wide-ranging study provides a unique anthropological perspective on Jewish mysticism and magic and will be essential reading for students and scholars who are interested in Jewish studies, anthropology and mysticism. More

Psychomagic: The Transformative Power of Shamanic Psychotherapy by Alejandro Jodorowsky (Inner Traditions) Psychomagic describes a healing path using the power of dreams, theater, poetry, and shamanism.

While living in Mexico, legendary filmmaker, visionary writer and psychotherapist Alejandro Jodorowsky became familiar with the colorful and effective cures provided by folk healers. He says he realized that it is easier for the unconscious to understand the language of dreams than that of rationality. Illness can even be seen as a physical dream that reveals unresolved emotional and psychological problems.
Psychomagic presents the shamanic and genealogical principles Jodorowsky discovered to create a healing therapy that could use the powers of dreams, art, and theater to empower individuals to heal wounds that in some cases had traveled through generations. The concrete and often surreal poetic actions Jodorowsky employs are part of an elaborate strategy intended to break apart the dysfunctional persona with whom the patient identifies in order to connect with a deeper self. According to Jodorowsky, that is when true transformation can manifest. More

The Clavis or Key to the Magic of Solomon: From an Original Talismanic Grimoire in Full Color by Ebenezer Sibley and Frederick Hockley by Joseph H Peterson (Ibis) The Clavis or Key to the Magic of Solomon is one of several notebooks from the estate of Ebenezer Sibley, transcribed under the direction of Frederic Hockley (1808-1885). Sibley was a prominent physician and an influential author, who complemented his scientific studies with writings on the “deeper truths” including magic, astrology, alchemy, and hypnotherapy. Both Sibley and Hockley were major inspirations in the occult revival of the past two centuries, influencing A.E. Waite, S.L. Mathers, Aleister Crowley, as well as the Golden Dawn, Rosicrucian, and Masonic movements. This collection reflects Sibley’s teachings on the practical use of celestial influences and harmonies. The Clavis contains clear and systematic instructions for constructing magical tools and pentacles for many practical purposes. It includes eight separate magical texts: The Mysterious Ring, Experiments of the Spirits, Birto, Vassago, Agares, Bealpharos, The Wheel of Wisdom, and the Complete Book of Magic Science. The manuscript reproduced here is the most accurate and complete known, very beautifully and carefully written complete with extraordinary hand-colored seals and colored handwritten text. 282 color pages with a color fold-out and a huge index. More

Christianity

The Myth of Paganism: Nonnus, Dionysus and the World of Late Antiquity by Robert Shorrock, Series Editor: David Taylor (Classical Literature and Society Series: Bristol Classical Press) With the adoption of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman world in the fourth century AD, the role of the poet underwent a radical transformation. In place of the traditional poet of the Muses there emerged a new figure, claiming inspiration and authority from Christ. The poet of Christ soon came to eclipse the poet of the Muses, and in doing so established a conceptual framework that still drives modern approaches to the period. Christian poetry is taken seriously as making a relevant and valuable contribution to our understanding of the late antique world; by contrast pagan or secular poetry is largely ignored, as though it were devoid of meaning.
The Myth of Paganism seeks to re-evaluate the role of pagan poetry in late antiquity. Instead of maintaining a strict dichotomy between pagan and Christian, it presents a broader definition of these poets as active participants and collaborators in the creation of late antique culture. Attention focuses on an exploration of the contemporary resonance of Nonnus Dionysiaca traditionally regarded as a pagan epic in terms of its theme and content, yet in all probability the work of a Christian poet responsible for a Homeric-style retelling of St Johns Gospel. More

Passion of Christ, Passion of the World by Leonardo Boff (Orbis) First Place Award Winner in Spirituality, Catholic Press Association
A fine reinterpretation of atonement theory from a liberationist perspective. The central thesis holds: every understanding of Jesus death must begin with Jesus historical project embodied in his message and praxis of the kingdom of God. --Roger Haight, author Jesus Symbol of God This classic work of liberation theology explores the meaning of the Cross, both as it has been interpreted in the past and how it should be interpreted in the context of contemporary faith and circumstances. These particular circumstances include the poverty and repression, fear and violence under which so many of the world s people suffer today. In such a world, how can the Cross be understood and preached and what are the consequences of that understanding?
When Boff first wrote in the 1970s his immediate context was military dictatorship, torture, and violent repression. As he notes in his new Preface, that context must be enlarged today to include the passion of the Earth a continuation of the Passion of Christ in our time. The meaning of Christ s Cross remains the same: at once the symbol of a crime, and a sign of love and hope that violence does not have the last word.  More

The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Studies  by Susan Ashbrook Harvey and David G. Hunter (Oxford Handbooks in Religion and Theology: Oxford University Press) responds to and celebrates the explosion of research in this inter-disciplinary field over recent decades. As a one-volume reference work, it provides an introduction to the academic study of early Christianity (c. 100-600 AD) and examines the vast geographical area impacted by the early church, in Western and Eastern late antiquity. It is thematically arranged to encompass history, literature, thought, practices, and material culture. It contains authoritative and up-to-date surveys of current thinking and research in the various sub-specialties of early Christian studies, written by leading figures in the discipline. The essays orientate readers to a given topic, as well as to the trajectory of research developments over the past 30-50 years within the scholarship itself. Guidance for future research is also given. Each essay points the reader towards relevant forms of extant evidence (texts, documents, or examples of material culture), as well as to the appropriate research tools available for the area.
This volume will be useful to advanced undergraduate and post-graduate students, as well as to specialists in any area who wish to consult a brief review of the 'state of the question' in a particular area or sub-specialty of early Christian studies, especially one different from their own. More

Orthodoxy, Process and Product by L Boeve, M Lamberigts, and T Merrigan (Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium: Peeters) From 2002-2008, three research groups from the departments of systematic theology and church history at the Faculty of Theology, K.U.Leuven, joined forces in an interdisciplinary project, entitled "Orthodoxy: Process and Product". The aim of the project was a "church-historical and systematic-theological study of the determination of truth in church and theology". The present volume contains contributions from all senior members of the project research group. The contributions are the result of a research conference in 2006, in which both the question of the nature of truth as such, and the process of determination of theological truth was approached from many different angles. Thus, questions from philosophy, systematic theology and history of church and theology are discussed, including such themes as the implications of various philosophical theories of truth for theology, the question of religious pluralism and its ramifications for theological truth-claims, theological truth claims in the thought of Gregory of Nyssa, Augustine, John Driedo, and at the Second Vatican Council. In addition, the meta-question of the relationship between the historical and the systematic aspects of theological truth and the way in which the historical and systematic theological disciplines interact play an important role in this volume. More

The Unlikely Buddhologist: Tiantai Buddhism in Mou Zongsan's New Confucianism by Jason Clower (Modern Chinese Philosophy: Brill Academic) Mou Zongsan (1909-1995) was such a seminal, polymathic figure that scholars of Asian philosophy and religion will be absorbing his influence for at least a generation. Drawing on expertise in Confucian, Buddhist, Daoist, and modern Western thought, Mou built a system of "New Confucian" philosophy aimed at answering one of the great questions: "What is the relationship between value and being?" However, though Mou acknowledged that he derived his key concepts from Tiantai Buddhist philosophy, it remains unclear exactly how and why he did so. In response, this book investigates Mou's buddhological writings in the context of his larger corpus and explains how and why he incorporated Buddhist ideas selectively into his system. Written extremely accessibly, it provides a comprehensive unpacking of Mou's ideas about Buddhism, Confucianism, and metaphysics with the precision needed to make them available for critical appraisal. More

Karl Barth's Dialogue With Catholicism in Gottingen & Munster: Its Signifigance for His Doctrine of God  by Amy Marga (Beitrage Zur Histoischen Theologie: Mohr Siebek) Amy Marga studies Karl Barth's early encounter with Roman Catholic theology during the 1920s, especially seen in his seminal set of dogmatic lectures given in Gottingen, and his second set of dogmatic lectures, given in Münster and which remain unpublished. Her analysis demonstrates his search for a concept of God's objectivity — Gegenständlichkeit —which would not be dependent upon philosophically-laden concepts such as the analogia entis, but which would rather be anchored in God's being alone. The author shows that Roman Catholicism, especially the thought of Erich Przywara, became the key interlocutor that helped Barth bring this clarity to his doctrine of revelation and the triune God.
At no time in Karl Barth's long career did Roman Catholicism play a more crucial role for him than in the 1920s. This decade saw Barth deliver two out of his three sets of lectures on dogmatic theology, the Gottingen and Münster cycles, both of which directly engaged Roman Catholic thought (the third cycle of lectures makes up the Church Dogmatics). Roman Catholicism became a conversation partner that Barth encountered with a directness and concreteness that was unprecedented in his day, and it acted as a conduit for his retrieval of Reformation theology for modern Protestantism. This study investigates the ways in which Barth engaged Catholicism in the decades of the 1920s, especially on several pivotal, material points, such as God's concrete and objective presence in the creaturely sphere, the event of revelation as an act of reconciliation, and the correspondence that exists between human knowledge of God and God's own, triune knowledge. These material issues, on which Barth found clarity and depth through the encounter with Roman Catholicism, led him to what he saw as the heart of the Protestant-Catholic divide: the doctrine of God. More

The Brill Dictionary of Gregory of Nyssa Edited by Lucas Francisco Mateo-Seco & Giulio Maspero, translated by Seth Cherney (Brill Academic) is the fruit of wide-ranging collaboration between experts in Philology, Philosophy, History and Theology. These scholars shared the desire to develop a comprehensive reference work that would help attract more people to the study of the 'Father of Fathers' and assist them in their work. Gregory of Nyssa's thought is at once quintessentially classic and modern, as it speaks directly to the contemporary reader. As interest in Gregory has increased along with the number of works devoted to him, the need for a comprehensive introduction and bibliographical reference work has arisen. In order to meet this need, more than forty scholars from various disciplines and perspectives have contributed to this work. In two hundred articles, the Brill Dictionary of Gregory of Nyssa provides a symphonic vision of the studies on Gregory of Nyssa and his thought. The work is fun to browse and skip around in, one peculiarity is Gregory's surviving works are listed by their standard abbreviations.  More

The Sentences Book 1: The Mystery of the Trinity by Peter Lombard and Giulio Silano (Mediaeval Sources in Translation: PIMS)

The Sentences Book 2: On Creation by Peter Lombard and Giulio Silano (Mediaeval Sources in Translation: PIMS)

The Sentences Book 3: Incarnation of the Word by Peter Lombard and Giulio Silano (Mediaeval Sources in Translation: PIMS)

The Sentences, Book 4: On the Doctrine of Signs by Peter Lombard and Giulio Silano (Mediaeval Sources in Translation: PIMS)

Major and eventually revolutionary translation of a central work in medieval Western theology.

Despite the centrality of Peter Lombard's work in the history of the Western academic tradition, very little is known about his life. The earliest unimpeach­able reference occurs in a letter of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, of around 1138— 1140, introducing him to the abbot of St. Victor in Paris. By 1144, a poet in far-off Bavaria could list him as one of the theological luminaries of the Parisian schools. His major work, the four books of the Sentences, was written in the mid twelfth century, and as early as the 1160s, the text was glossed and commented on in the schools. There is hardly a theologian of note throughout the rest of the Middle Ages who did not write a commentary on it.

Yet in spite of its importance in Western intellectual history and its capacity to excite many generations of students and teachers, the Sentences has received little attention in more recent times. Indeed, it has been called 'one of the least read of the world's great books.' The form of the work has proved misleading, not least to modern readers. One recurring question is whether Peter could be called an author at all, since he seems to be a mere compiler of the works of the Fathers and other universally accepted ecclesiastical writers. But it would be misleading to describe Peter's efforts as mere anthologizing. Rather, his Sentences can be likened to a modern legal casebook and the patristic citations in it to legal precedents. In other words, they serve as the binding authorities which collectively provide the matter for the normative elaboration of the Christian faith. This laborious activity of collecting sentences from ancient works and framing new ones occurred in the classroom. In short, the effort to identify and point out the coherence of the Christian tradition was inseparable from the work of teaching. Technique, rationality, and dialectic were emphasized, not for their own sake, but to bring the tradition alive and make it relevant to students and the larger communities they would serve.

Peter Lombard's major work, the four books of the Sentences, was written in the mid twelfth century, and as early as the 1160s, the text was glossed and commented on in the schools. There is hardly a theologian of note throughout the rest of the Middle Ages who did not write a commentary on the. Sentences. Yet in spite of its importance in Western intellectual history and its capacity to excite many generations of students and teachers, the Sentences has received little attention in more recent times. Indeed, it has been called 'one of the least read of the world's great books.'

Volume One makes available for the first time in English a full translation of Book 1 of the Sentences. It consists of forty-eight Distinctions, the bulk of which deal with God in his transcendence and with the mystery of the Trinity. The person of God the Father is the topic in Distinction iv, that of God the Son in v—ix, that of God the Holy Spirit in x—xviii. Distinctions xix—xxxiv are deeply concerned with the language that can be used in describing the Trinity and the relations among the divine persons. The remaining distinctions deal with the divine attributes as they become manifest in God's action "toward creatures. An important concern is the preservation of God's sovereign freedom and the avoidance of any confusion regarding the absolute transcendence of God, despite his graceful self-disclosure in creation and revelation.

Volume Two makes available for the first time in English a full translation of the forty-four Distinctions of Book 2. In the first Peter sets out a definition of creation and ponders the reasons which God may have had for engaging in it. Angels, their creation, nature, fall, ranks, and ministries are the subject of Distinctions 2-11. Distinctions 12-15 set out an hexaemeron, or an account of the six days of creation as described in Genesis. The next five Distinctions concentrate on the creation of man and woman and the state of human beings before their sinful fall, including their manner of procreation. Distinctions 21-29, organized around the fall, are de­voted to human psychology, freedom of choice, and grace. In Distinctions 30-33 the focus is on original sin, its transmission by the current mode of procreation, its remission in baptism. And the Book concludes in Distinctions 34-44 with a de­tailed analysis of actual sin and how it occurs by free choice in the diminished condition of human freedom after the fall.

Volume Three makes available for the first time in English a full translation of Book 3 of the Sentences. The first twenty-two of its forty Distinctions deal with the mystery of the Word made flesh: Christ's incarnation, passion, and death, and the consequent restoration of humankind. With the question of whether Christ had the virtues of faith, hope, and charity, a transition is made from Chris­tology to a consideration of the virtues; these belong in this Book principally be­cause the Christian is called to live them in imitation of Christ, who embodies all of them perfectly. The last four Distinctions outline the Decalogue in the context of the two commandments given by Christ regarding the love of God and neighbour. The Book closes by asserting the superiority of the Gospel over the Law of the Old Testament.

Volume Four: Peter Lombard's major work, the four books of the Sentences, was written in the mid twelfth century and, as early as the 1160s, the text was glossed and commented on in the schools. There is hardly a theologian of note throughout the rest of the Middle Ages who did not write a commentary on the Sentences. Yet in spite of its importance in Western intellectual history and its capacity to excite generations of students and teachers, the Sentences has received little attention in recent times. Indeed, it has been called 'one of the least read of the world's great books.'

Book 3 closed with a reflection on the relative inadequacy of the Old Law, because what it commanded could not be done well or easily in the absence of grace. While the sacraments of the Old Law were only signs, the sacraments of the Church are also the principal instruments of that grace now freely available to Christians. These sacraments are the main subject of Book 4, taking up forty-two of its fifty Distinctions: Baptism is treated in Distinctions 2-6, confirmation in 7, the Eucharist in 8-13, penance in 14-22, extreme unction in 23, sacred orders in 24 and 25, and marriage in 26-42. The Book concludes with eight Distinctions on the last things - the resurrection of the body, purgation, hell, the last judgement, and eternity.

Theses volumes each contain an introduction to Peter and to the Sentences and its particular book, a list of the major chapter headings, and a bibliography. More

Book of All Saints by Adrienne von Speyr (Ignatius Press) Adrienne von Speyr, a renowned mystic and spiritual writer from Switzerland, was received into the Catholic Church at the age of 38 by one of the theological giants of the 20th century, Fr. Hans Urs von Balthasar, on the Feast of All Saints, 1940. Balthasar became her spiritual director and confessor until her death in 1967, during which time Adrienne was favored with many gifts of authentic mystical prayer. Balthasar considered one of the central characteristics of Adrienne's prayer to be her transparency to the inspirations she received from God, along with a deep personal communion with the saints.  More

Meister Eckhart: An Asian Perspective by Hee-Sung Keel (Louvain Theological & Pastoral Monographs: Peeters Publishers) Meister Eckhart (1260?-1328) is undoubtedly the most important thinker in the West for drawing the spiritual heritage of Christian mysticism close to the monistic spirit that infuses so much of Asian religious thought. His vision of the unio mystica of God and the soul as a perfect unity goes far beyond the conventional mysticism of love that was dominant before him. Eckhart's "mysticism of unity," a bold and revolutionary affirmation of a perfect divine-human unity realized in the ground of the soul, as well as the mysti­cal atheism it gave rise to, inspired a wealth of profound spiritual insights that continue to challenge the reader of his sermons today. More

 

Islam

Opposition and Legitimacy in the Ottoman Empire: Conspiracies and Political Cultures by Florian Riedler (SOAS/Routledge Studies on the Middle East: Routledge) This book looks at opposition to the Ottoman government in the second half of the nineteenth century, examining a number of key political conspiracies and how these relate to an existing political culture. In his detailed analysis of these conspiracies, the author offers a new perspective on an important and well researched period of Ottoman history.
A close reading of police records on five conspiracies offers the opportunity to analyse this opposition in great detail, giving special attention to the different groups of political actors in these conspiracies that often did not come from the established political elites. Florian Riedler investigates how their background of class and education, but also their individual life experiences influenced their aims and strategies, their political styles as well as their ways of thinking on political legitimacy. In contrast, the reaction of the authorities to these conspiracies reveals the official understanding of Ottoman legitimacy.
The picture that emerges of the political culture of opposition during the second half of the nineteenth century offers a unique contribution to our understanding of the great changes in the political system of the Ottoman Empire at the time. As such, it will be of great interest to scholars of Middle Eastern history, political history, and the Ottoman Empire. More

The History of the Seljuq State: A Translation with Commentary of the Akhbar al-dawla al-saljuqiyya by Sadr al-Din 'Ali ibn Nasir Husayni, translated by Clifford Edmond Bosworth (Routledge Studies in the History of Iran and Turkey: Routledge)
The Akhbar al-dawla al-saljuqiyya is one of the key primary documents on the history of Western Persia and Iraq in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. This book provides an accessible English translation and commentary on the text, making available to a new readership this significant work on the pre-modern history of the Middle East and the Turkish peoples.
The text is a chronicle of the Seljuq dynasty as it emerged within the Iranian lands in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, dominating the Middle Eastern lands, from Turkey and Syria to Iran and eastern Afghanistan. During this formative period in the central and eastern Islamic lands, they inaugurated a pattern of Turkish political and military dominance of the Middle East and beyond, from Egypt to India, in some cases well into the twentieth century.
Shedding light on many otherwise obscure aspects of the political history of the region, the book provides a more detailed context for the political history of the wider area. As such, it will be of great interest to scholars of Middle Eastern history and is an important addition to the existing literature on the Seljuq dynasty. More

Court Cultures in the Muslim World: Seventh to Nineteenth Centuriesby Albrecht Fuess and Jan-Peter Hartung (SOAS/Routledge Studies on the Middle East: Routledge) Courts and the complex phenomenon of the courtly society have received intensified interest in academic research over recent decades; however, the field of Islamic court culture has so far been overlooked. This book provides a comparative perspective on the history of courtly culture in Muslim societies from the earliest times to the nineteenth century, and presents an extensive collection of images of courtly life and architecture within the Muslim realm.
The thematic methodology employed by the contributors underlines their inter-disciplinary and comprehensive approach to issues of politics and patronage from across the Islamic world stretching from Cordoba to India. Themes range from the religious legitimacy of Muslim rulers, terminologies for court culture in Oriental languages, Muslim concepts of space for royal representation, accessibility of rulers, and the role of royal patronage for Muslim scholars and artists, to the growing influence of European courts as role models from the eighteenth century onwards. Discussing specific terminologies for courts in Oriental languages and explaining them to the non-specialist, chapters describe the specific features of Muslim courts and point towards future research areas. As such, it fills this important gap in the existing literature in the areas of Islamic history, religion, and Islam in general. More 

Beshara and Ibn 'Arabi: A Movement of Sufi Spirituality in the Modern World by Suha Taji-Farouki (Anqa Publishers) Investigating sufi-inspired spirituality in the modern world, this interdisciplinary volume focuses on Beshara, a spiritual movement that originated in Britain in the 1970s.
Beshara's main inspiration is the Andalusian mystic Muhyi al-Din Ibn 'Arabi (d.1240), possibly the most influential thinker of the second half of Islamic history. Ibn Arabi's teaching was brought to Britain by Bulent Rauf (d. 1987), a descendant of the Ottoman elite, and discovered there by counterculture youth searching for new spiritual ways. Beshara is their joint legacy.
The first detailed analysis of the adoption and adaptation of Ibn Arabi's heritage by non-Muslims in the West, Beshara and Ibn 'Arabi is a study of the movement's history, teachings and practices. It explores the interface between sufism and the New Age, and the broader contemporary encounter between Islam and the West. Investigating from a global perspective the impact of cultural transformations associated with modernisation and globalization on religion, this timely volume concludes by tracing possible futures of sufi spirituality both in the West and in the Muslim world.
This book is essential reading for anyone interested in religious studies and the sociology of religion, Islamic studies and Sufism, and issues of cultural and spiritual dialogue between West and East.
Suha Taji-Farouki is Senior Lecturer in Modern Islam at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, and Research Associate at The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London. She has published widely on modern Islamic thought, including (ed.) Islamic Thought in the Twentieth Century (Institute for Ismaili Studies) and Modern Muslim Intellectuals and the Qur'an (Oxford University Press). Her most recent work is a study and translation of A Prayer for Spiritual Elevation and Protection by Ibn 'Arabi (Anqa). More 

Gog and Magog in Early Eastern Christian and Islamic Sources by Emeri van Donzel and Andrea Schmidt. With a contribution by Claudia Ott (Brill's Inner Asian Library: Brill Academic) Alexander's alleged Wall against Gog and Magog, often connected with the enclosure of the apocalyptic people, was a widespread theme among Syriac Christians in Mesopotamia. In the ninth century Sallam the Interpreter dictated an account of his search for the barrier to the Arab geographer Ibn Khurradadhbih. The reliability of Sallam's journey from Samarra to Western China and back (842-45), however, has always been a highly contested issue. Van Donzel and Schmidt consider the travel account as historical.
This volume presents a translation of the source while at the same time it carefully looks into other Eastern Christian and Muslim traditions of the famous lore. A comprehensive survey reconstructs the political and topographical data. As so many other examples, also this story pays witness to the influence of the Syriac Christian tradition on Koran and Muslim Traditions.  More

The Banquet: A Reading of the Fifth Sura of the Qur'an by Michel Cuypers (Rhetorica Semitica) Cuyper's work is a ground-breaking contribution to Islamic-Christian studies and is being warmly received by the Islamic academic community. He applies recent methods of rhetorical textual studies to the analysis of the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam, which previously has been seen by many as a fragmented text with little sense of order. He has achieved a systematic and organised reading of the Qur'an text that is in absolute accordance with the Islamic faith, a task that has never before been accomplished. Muslim and Christian theologians around the world recognise his achievement as one of the most important contributions to an understanding of Islam based on Christian scholarship. More

Logic, Rhetoric and Legal Reasoning in the Qur'an: God's Arguments by Rosalind Ward Gwynne (Routledge) [Hardcover] Muslims have always used verses from the Qur'an to support opinions on law, theology, or life in general, but almost no attention has been paid to how the Qur'an presents its own precepts as conclusions proceeding from reasoned arguments. Whether it is a question of God's powers of creation, the rationale for his acts, or how people are to think clearly about their lives and fates, Muslims have so internalized Qur'anic patterns of reasoning that many affirm that the Qur'an appeals first of all to the human powers of intellect.
This book provides a new key to both the Qur'an and Islamic intellectual history. Examining Qur'anic argument by form and not content helps readers to discover the significance of passages often ignored by the scholar who compares texts and the believer who focuses upon commandments, as it allows scholars of Qur'anic exegesis, Islamic theology, philosophy, and law to tie their findings in yet another way to the text that Muslims consider the speech of God. More

The Cambridge Companion to Muhammad edited by Jonathan E. Brockopp (Cambridge Companions to Religion: Cambridge University Press) As the Messenger of God, Muhammad stands at the heart of the Islamic religion, revered by Muslims throughout the world. The Cambridge Companion to Muhammad comprises a collection of essays by some of the most accomplished scholars in the field exploring the life and legacy of the Prophet. The book is divided into three sections, the first charting his biography and the milieu into which he was born, the revelation of the Qur'ān, and his role within the early Muslim community. The second part assesses his legacy as a law-maker, philosopher, and politician and, finally, in the third part, chapters examine how Muhammad has been remembered across history in biography, prose, poetry, and, most recently, in film and fiction. Essays are written to engage and inform students, teachers, and readers coming to the subject for the first time. They will come away with a deeper appreciation of the breadth of the Islamic tradition, of the centrality of the role of the Prophet in that tradition, and, indeed, of what it means to be a Muslim today.
Muhammad is the world's most popular name for boys. The king of Morocco, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the president of Egypt are all named Muhammad, and when the famous boxer Cassius Clay became a Muslim, he was given the name Muhammad Ali. If there is a Muslim family in the world that does not have a brother, grandfather, or uncle named Muhammad, they almost certainly have a relative who has been given one of the Prophet's other names: Mustafa', Ahmad, or al-Amin. One also finds the names Muhammadi ("Muhammad like") and Muhammadayn ("double Muhammad"). These habits of naming are indicative of a popular devotion to the Prophet that enhances, and in some cases overwhelms, the historical limits of the man who died more than fourteen centuries ago. More

Pathways to an Inner Islam: Massignon, Corbin, Guénon, and Schuon by Patrick Laude (State University of New York Press) provides an introduction to the esoteric or spiritual "inner Islam" presented by Western thinkers Louis Massignon, Henry Corbin, René Guénon, and Frithjof Schuon. Particularly interested in Sufism--the mystical tradition of Islam--these four twentieth-century authors who wrote in French played an important role in presenting Islamic spirituality to the West and have also had an influence in parts of the Muslim world, such as Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan. Patrick Laude brings them together to argue that an understanding of their inner Islam challenges reductionist views of Islam as an essentially legalistic tradition and highlights its spiritual qualities. The book discusses their thought on the definitions of spiritual Islam and Sufism, the metaphysical and mystical understanding of the Prophet and the Qur<aµn, the function of femininity in Islamic spirituality, and the inner understanding of jihaµd. In addition, the writers' Christian backgrounds and their participation in the intellectual and spiritual traditions of both Christianity and Islam offer a dynamic perspective on interfaith dialogue. More

Ibn Arabî - Time and Cosmology by Mohamed Haj Yousef (Culture and Civilization in the Middle East: Routledge) is the first comprehensive attempt to explain Ibn Arabî’s distinctive view of time and its role in the process of creating the cosmos and its relation with the Creator. By comparing this original view with modern theories of physics and cosmology, Mohamed Haj Yousef constructs a new cosmological model that may deepen and extend our understanding of the world, while potentially solving some of the drawbacks in the current models such as the historical Zeno's paradoxes of motion and the recent Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox (EPR) that underlines the discrepancies between Quantum Mechanics and Relativity. More

Martin Luther and Islam: A Study in Sixteenth-Century Polemics and Apologetics by Adam S. Francisco (The History of Christian-Muslim Relations: Brill) The Ottoman assault upon Vienna in 1529 sent shockwaves through­out Germany. Although the Habsburg army had successfully thwarted the attack, according to eyewitness accounts some 30,000 people in sur­rounding towns and villages had either been killed or taken back to Istanbul for sale in the slave market.' What was perhaps more unsettling, at least to those who were perceptive of the ideological motivation behind the siege, was the determination of Sultan Suleyman (1520­1566) and his Muslim Turkish army to 'conquer the infidel lands for Islam.' In response to the threat, and after reading what he considered the best description of Ottoman religion and culture Georgius de Hungaria's Tractatus de moribus, condictionibus et nequicia Turcorum (1481) Martin Luther (1483-1546) wrote, 'Since we now have the Turk and his religion at our very doorstep our people must be warned lest, either moved by the splendour of the Turkish religion and the external appearances of their customs or displeased by the meagre display of our own faith or the deformity of our customs, they deny their Christ and follow Muhammad. Assessing the nature of Ottoman religion and culture, and the threat that it posed to Christians. More

The Age of Beloveds: Love and the Beloved in Early-Modern Ottoman and European Culture and Society by Walter G. Andrews, Mehmet Kalpakli (Duke University Press) (Hardcover) "The Age of Beloveds is a treasure and a masterpiece. With breathtakingly extensive original research, it is beautifully written, in a style both inviting and impressive. It is the fruit of a lifetime's project to add Ottoman literature to the canons of world literature." -Victoria Holbrook, author of The Unreadable Shores of Love: Turkish Modernity and Mystic Romance.
The Age of Beloveds offers a rich introduction to early-modern Ottoman culture through a study of its beautiful lyric love poetry. At the same time, it suggests provocative cross-cultural parallels in the sociology and spirituality of love in Europe—from Istanbul to London—during the long sixteenth century. Walter G. Andrews and Mehmet Kalpakli provide a generous sampling of translations of Ottoman poems, many of which have never appeared in English, along with informative and inspired close readings. The authors explain that the flourishing of Ottoman power and culture during the "Turkish Renaissance" manifested itself, to some degree, as an "age of beloveds," in which young men became the focal points for the desire and attention of powerful officeholders and artists as well as the inspiration for a rich literature of love.
The authors show that the "age of beloveds" was not just an Ottoman, eastern European, or Islamic phenomenon. It extended into western Europe as well, pervading the cultures of Venice, Florence, Rome, and London during the same period. Andrews and Kalpakli contend that in an age dominated by absolute rulers and troubled by war, cultural change, and religious upheaval, the attachments of dependent courtiers and the longings of anxious commoners aroused an intense interest in love and the beloved. The Age of Beloveds reveals new commonalities in the cultural-history of two worlds long seen as radically different.  More

Beauty And Love by Seyh Galip and Victoria Rowe Holbrook (MLA Texts and Translations: Modern Language Association) Companion volume in Turkish: Husn u Ask by Seyh Galip and Victoria Rowe Holbrook (MLA Texts and Translations: Modern Language Association) Holbrook's brilliant translation of the greatest Turkish romance brings Galip's dramatic imagery alive while making ingenious use of Ottoman mete for the first time in English. Her introduction is the finest brief treatment of Islamic mysticism in existence. Her profound knowledge of Sufism clarifies the philosophical vocabulary of the tale, and her modernized spelling of the text breaks with transliteration tradition to to make her work accessible to all readers of Turkish—Orhan Pamuk
Likewise her translation may well aid in the revival of appreciation of Ottoman poetics and the mysticism of love. The girl Beauty and the boy Love are betrothed to each other as children. But Beauty violates the custom of the tribe by falling in love with him, and Love must undergo the trials of a journey to the Land of the Heart to prove himself worthy—a journey to realization of both his and Beauty's true nature. More

God's Terrorists: The Wahhabi Cult And the Hidden Roots of Modern Jihad by Charles Allen (Da Capo Press) An important study of the little-known history of the Wahhabi, a fundamentalist Islamic tribe whose teachings influence today's extreme Islamic terrorists, including the Taliban and Osama bin Laden. More

Al-Hidayah: The Guide: A Classical Manual of Hanafi Law - VOLUME 1 by Burhan al-Din al-Marghinani, translated by Imran Ahsan Khan Nyazee (Amal Press) The Hidayah represents the refined, distilled and authentic version of a legal tradition developed over many centuries. It presents the corpus of Hanafi law in its approved and preferred form and forges an organic link with the other schools of law.  There is no book that can match the power of al-Hidayah as a teaching manual. Education in Islamic law is not complete without this book. More

The Reflective Heart : Discovering Spiritual Intelligence in Ibn 'Arabi's 'Meccan Illuminations' by James Winston Morris (Fons Vitae) For centuries Ibn ‘Arabi has been considered the “Greatest Master” of Islamic spiritual teaching, but Western readers have only recently had access to his greatest writings. This introduction to Ibn ‘Arabi’s Meccan Illuminations highlights the mysticism and realization of Sufi spiritual life, providing an intellectually penetrating look without requiring specialized knowledge. The development of several key themes and modes of reflection in Ibn ‘Arabi’s spiritual teachings are explored as are the gradually unfolding meanings that distinguish this important classical text of Sufi practice. More

Ibn Arabi by William Chittick (Makers of the Muslim World: Oneworld Publications) Bulent Rauf, the inspiration behind the British esoteric school Beshara, was often quoted as saying  Muhyi ad-Din Ibn Arabi is not so much a person as a meaning.  William Chittick who is easily the foremost interpreter of the greatest Sheik in America, and who has written two massive studies of ibn Arabi, seems to come into agreement with Bulent.  Muhyi ad-Din Ibn Arabi is an encyclopedic writer, whose contribution to the mystical meaning of Islam and the Qur'an is as central to Islam as the theology of Thomas Aquinas is foundational for Western Catholicism.  However unlike Thomas Aquinas, Muhyi ad-Din Ibn Arabi has never known such entrenched institutional support.  In fact, about a century after his death, the central tenets of his writings were subtly and effectively vilified and misrepresented by Ibn Taymiyya,  the spiritual godfather of all literalistic and fundamentalist, authoritarian and even terrorist forms of Islam. More

Encyclopedia of the Qur'an - Set Volumes 1-5 plus Index Volume edited by Jane Dammen McAuliffe (Brill Academic) The Qur'ān is the primary religious text for one-sixth of the worlds population. Understood by Muslims to contain God's own words, it has been an object of reverence and of intense study for centuries. The thousands of volumes that Muslim scholars have devoted to qur'ānic interpretation and to the linguistic, rhetorical and narrative analysis of the text are sufficient to create entire libraries of qur'ānic studies.
Drawing upon a rich scholarly heritage, Brill's Encyclopaedia of the Qur'ān (EQ) combines alphabetically-arranged articles about the contents of the Qur'ān. It is an encyclopaedic dictionary of qur'ānic terms, concepts, personalities, place names, cultural history and exegesis extended with essays on the most important themes and subjects within qur'ānic studies. With nearly 1000 entries in 5 volumes, the EQ is the first comprehensive, multi-volume reference work on the Qur'ān to appear in a Western language. More

Buddhism

Preparing for Tantra: Creating the Psychological Ground for Practice by Rob Preece (Snow Lion Publications) The preliminary practices of Tantra are not a hurdle to be gotten through in order to get somewhere else; they are an extraordinarily rich collection of practices which have much to offer as a means of cultivating and maturing the practitioner's psychological ground. They can enable experiences to unfold, and they can clear the way when there seem to be problems or hindrances practitioners are struggling with. More 

Treasury of the True Dharma Eye: Zen Master Dogen's Shobo Genzo by Dogen Dogen and Kazuaki Tanahashi (Shambhala) represents the collective San Francisco Zen Center community endeavor at translating and understanding the work in its entirety. It lacks the scholarly extras of  BDK English Tripitaka Series but used in conjunction with the Standard translation can offer essential insight about what the text is getting at. below the table of contents I offer examples of translations of chapter 1 (of the 75 chapter version) or 3 (of the 95 chapter version) The Genjo-Koan so one can compare for oneself.
Treasury of the True Dharma Eye
(Shobo Genzo, in Japanese) is a monumental work, considered to be one of the profoundest expressions of Zen wisdom ever put on paper, and also the most outstanding literary and philosophical work of Japan. It is a collection of essays by Eihei Dogen (1200–1253), founder of Zen’s Soto school.
Kazuaki Tanahashi and a team of translators that represent a Who’s Who of American Zen have produced a translation of the great work that combines accuracy with a deep understanding of Dogen’s voice and literary gifts. The finely produced, two-volume boxed set includes a wealth of materials to aid understanding, including maps, lineage charts, a bibliography, and an exhaustive glossary of names and terms—and, as a bonus, the most renowned of all Dogen’s essays, “Recommending Zazen to All People.” More

The Buddha from Dölpo, Revised and Expanded: A Study of the Life and Thought of the Tibetan Master Dölpopa Sherab Gyaltsen  by Cyrus Stearns (Tsadra Foundation: Snow Lion)The Buddha from Dölpo is a revised and enlarged edition of the only book about the most controversial Buddhist master in the history of Tibet, Dölpopa Sherab Gyalt-sen (1292-1361), who became perhaps the greatest Tibetan expert of the Kalacakra, or Wheel of Time, a vast system of tantric teachings. Based largely on esoteric Buddhist knowledge from the legendary land of Shambhala, Dölpopa's insights have profoundly influenced the development of Tibetan Buddhism for more than 650 years.
Dölpopa emphasized two contrasting definitions of the Buddhist theory of emptiness. He described relative phenomena as "empty of self-nature," but absolute reality as only "empty of other,'' i.e., relative phenomena. He further identified absolute reality as the buddha nature, or eternal essence, present in all living beings. This view of an "emptiness of other," known in Tibetan as shentong, is Dölpopa's enduring legacy.
The Buddha from Dölpo contains the only English translations of three of Dölpopa's crucial works. A General Commentary on the Doctrine is one of the earliest texts in which he systematically presented his view of the entire Buddhist path to enlightenment. The Fourth Council and its Autocommentary (which was not in the first edition of this book) were written at the end of his life and represent a final summation of his teachings. These translations are preceded by a detailed discussion of Dölpopa's life, his revolutionary ideas, earlier precedents for the shentong view, his unique use of language, and the influence of his theories. The fate of his Jonang tradition, which was censored by the central Tibetan government in the seventeenth century but still survives is also examined. More 

The Emergence of Buddhist American Literature by John Whalen-Bridge and Gary Storhoff (SUNY Series in Buddhism and American Culture: State University of New Your Press) States as a spiritually dead society, Beat writers and others have shaped how Buddhism has been presented to and perceived by a North American audience. Contributors to this volume explore how Asian influences have been adapted to American desires in literary works and at Buddhist poetics, or how Buddhist practices emerge in literary works. Starting with early aesthetic theories of Ernest Fenollosa, made famous but also distorted by Ezra Pound, the book moves on to the countercultural voices associated with the Beat movement and its friends and heirs such as Ginsberg, Kerouac, Snyder, Giorno, Waldman, and Whalen. The volume also considers the work of contemporary American writers of color influenced by Buddhism, such as Maxine Hong Kingston, Charles Johnson, and Lan Cao. An interview with Kingston is included. More

Buddhist Scriptures as Literature: Sacred Rhetoric and the Uses of Theory by Ralph Flores (SUNY: State University of New Your Press) Buddhist Scriptures as Literature explores the drama, lyricism, and compelling storylines in Buddhist sacred writings, while illustrating how rhetoric and ideology are at work in shaping readers' reactions. Ralph Flores argues that the Buddha's life story itself follows an archetypal quest-romance pattern: regal surroundings are abandoned and the ensuing feats are heroic. The story can be read as an epic, but it also has a comic plot: confusions and trials until the Prince becomes utterly selfless, having found his true element--nirvana. Making use of contemporary literary theory, Flores offers new readings of texts such as the Nikayas, the Dhammapada, the Heart Sutra, Zen koans, Shantideva's Way of the Bodhisattva, and the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Understanding these works as literature deepens our sense of the unfolding of their teachings, of their exuberant histories, and of their relevance for contemporary life. More

The Library of Tibetan Classics 

Spanning more than a millennium, the literature in The Library of Tibetan Classics will eventually encompass thirty-two volumes covering such diverse fields as philosophy, psychology, spiritual practices, and ethics, as well as poetry, linguistics, plays, history, and classical Tibetan medicine. Each translated volume will include an introductory essay, annotation, and a comprehensive glossary. This unprecedented, thirty-two volume series—conceived in appearance and importance to be much like The Harvard Classics Five-Foot Shelf of Books—will be executed in close consultation with senior Tibetan masters from all major schools of the Tibetan tradition, including His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

The Crystal Mirror of Philosophical Systems: A Tibetan Study of Asian Religious Thought (Library of Tibetan Classics) by Nyima Chokyi Thuken, Roger Jackson, and Geshe Lhundub Sopa (Wisdom) The Crystal Mirror of Philosophical Systems: A Tibetan Study of Asian Religious Thought (Library of Tibetan Classics) byThuken Chökyi Nyima (1737–1802) Translated by Geshe Lhundub Sopa et al. Edited by Roger Jackson  (Wisdom)  The Crystal Mirror of Philosophical Systems (Grub mtha’ shel gyi me long), by Thuken Losang Chökyi Nyima (1737–1802) is probably the widest-ranging account of religious philosophies ever written in premodern Tibet. Thuken was a cosmopolitan Buddhist monk from Amdo, Mongol by heritage, Tibetan in education, and equally comfortable in a central Tibetan monastery or at the imperial court in Beijing. Like most texts on philosophical systems, his Crystal Mirror covers the major schools of India, both non-Buddhist and Buddhist, but then goes on to discuss in detail the entire range of Tibetan traditions as well, with separate chapters on the Nyingma, Kadam, Kagyü, Shijé, Sakya, Jonang, Geluk, and Bön. Not resting there, Thuken goes on to describe the major traditions of China—Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist—as well as those of Mongolia, Khotan, and Shambhala. The Crystal Mirror is unusual, too, in its concern not just to describe and analyze doctrines, but to trace the historical development of the various traditions. In evaluating philosophical systems, Thuken does favor his own Geluk school, but he treats the views of other traditions with considerable sympathy and respect as well—sometimes even defending them against criticisms from his own tradition. All this makes the Crystal Mirror an eloquent, erudite, and informative textbook on the religious history and philosophical systems of an array of Asian cultures—and provides evidence that serious and sympathetic study of the history of religions has not been a monopoly of Western scholarship. More

The Book of Kadam: The Core Texts (Library of Tibetan Classics) by Thupten Jinpa (Wisdom) More

Taking the Result as the Path: Core Teachings of the Sakya Lamdre Tradition (Library of Tibetan Classics) by Cyrus Stearns (Wisdom)

Ornament of Stainless Light: An Exposition of the Kalachakra Tantra (Library of Tibetan Classics) by Khedrup Norsang Gyatso (Wisdom)

Mind Training: The Great Collection (Library of Tibetan Classics) by Thupten Jinpa (Wisdom)

 

Basic Teachings of the Buddha by Buddha and Glenn Wallis (Modern Library Classics: Modern Library) In Basic Teachings of the Buddha, Glenn Wallis selects sixteen essential dialogues drawn from more than five thousand Pali-dialect suttas of the Buddhist canon. The result is a vibrant introductory guide to studying Buddhist thought, applying its principles to everyday life, and gaining a deeper understanding of Buddhist themes in modern literature. Focusing on the most crucial topics for today’s readers, Wallis presents writings that address modern psychological, religious, ethical, and philosophical concerns. This practical, inspiring, and engaging volume provides an overview of the history of Buddhism and an illuminating analysis of the core writings that personalizes the suttas for each reader.

This little book manages to introduce the general sweep of Buddhisms, while focusing upon a select number of suttas that typify for us the most germane aspects of Buddha’s basic teaching. Wallis also provides guidance in how to read critically these archaic-in-style dialogues. Useful and well-focused introductory study belongs on a short list for supplementary texts to religions of the world. More

Great Perfection: The Outer and Inner Preliminaries by Dzogchen Rinpoche, with an introduction by Dzogchen Ponlop, translated by Cortland Dahl (Heart Essence Series: Snow Lion) In the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism, the Great Perfection is consid­ered the most profound and direct path to enlightenment. The instructions of this tradition present a spiritual shortcut – a direct approach that cuts through confusion and lays bare the mind's true nature of luminous purity. For centuries, these teachings have been taught and practiced in secret by the great adepts of the Buddhist tradition. More

Hinduism & Buddhism

The Teachings of the Odd-Eyed One: A Study and Translation of the Virupaksapancasika, With the Commentary of Vidyacakravartin (S U N Y Series in Hindu Studies) by David Peter Lawrence (State University of New York Press) book offers the first published translation of the contemplative manual Virupaksapancasika written circa the twelfth century CE, and the commentary on it, Vivrti by Vidyacakravartin. These late works from the Pratyabhijna tradition of monistic and tantric Kashmiri Saiva philosophy focus on means to deindividualize and disclose the primordial, divine essential natures of the human ego and body-sense.

David Peter Lawrence situates these writings in their medieval, South Asian religious and intellectual contexts. He goes on to engage Pratyabhijna philosophical psychology in dialogue with Western religious and psychoanalytic conceptions of identity and "narcissism," and also demonstrates the Saiva tradition's strong concern with ethics. The richly annotated translation and glossary illuminate the texts for all readers. More

Bible

Snatched into Paradise (2 Cor 12:1-10): Paul's Heavenly Journey in the Context of Early Christian Experience by James Buchanan Wallace (Beihefte Zur Zeitschrift Fur Die Neutestamentliche Wissenschaft: De Gruyter) In 2 Corinthians 12:1-10, Paul claims to have been snatched into paradise but then tells how he received a ""thorn in the flesh"". Many recent scholars contend that Paul belittles ecstatic experiences such as the ascent to paradise. This monograph places 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 in the contexts of ancient ascent traditions as well as other accounts of extraordinary religious experience in Paul's letters, and it engages premodern interpretation of the ascent. This study argues that for Paul, extraordinary experiences such as the ascent enable self-transcending love for God and neighbors. More

Marriage in the Book of Tobit  by Geoffrey David Miller(Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature Studies: de Gruyter) This study examines marital elements in the Book of Tobit in light of the mores and beliefs of Ancient Israel and neighboring civilizations. After surveying key Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern texts, this monograph outlines what the Book of Tobit reveals about ancient marital practices as well as the values it seeks to inculcate in its Diaspora audience with regard to marriage. Four aspects are analyzed: 1) the qualities a man should seek in a bride, 2) the marital customs observed by ancient Jews, 3) the role of God in marriage, and 4) the nature of the marital relationship. More

The Qur'an and Its Biblical Subtext  by Gabriel Said Reynolds (Routledge Studies in the Qur'an: Routledge) This book challenges the dominant scholarly notion that the Qur'an must be interpreted through the medieval commentaries shaped by the biography of the prophet Muhammad, proposing instead that the text is best read in light of Christian and Jewish scripture. The Qur'an, in its use of allusions, depends on the Biblical knowledge of its audience. However, medieval Muslim commentators, working in a context of religious rivalry, developed stories that separate Qur'an and Bible, which this book brings back together.
In a series of studies involving the devil, Adam, Abraham, Jonah, Mary, and Muhammad among others, Reynolds shows how modern translators of the Qur'an have followed medieval Muslim commentary and demonstrates how an appreciation of the Qur'an's Biblical subtext uncovers the richness of the Qur'an's discourse. Presenting unique interpretations of thirteen different sections of the Qur'an based on studies of earlier Jewish and Christian literature, the author substantially re-evaluates Muslim exegetical literature. Thus The Qur'an and Its Biblical Subtext, a work based on a profound regard for the Qur'an's literary structure and rhetorical strategy, poses a substantial challenge to the standard scholarship of Qur'anic Studies. With an approach that bridges early Christian history and Islamic origins, the book will appeal not only to students of the Qur'an but to students of the Bible, religious studies, and Islamic history. More 

Studies in the Book of Wisdom by Geza G. Xeravits and Jozsef Zsengeller (Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism: Brill) The volume publishes papers delivered at the International Conference on the Deuterocanonical Books (Papa, Hungary). This conference dealt with the Book of Wisdom. As such, this was one of the most extended discussions of the Book of Wisdom that has ever taken place at a scholarly meeting. The volume contains articles on the traditions and theology of the Book of Wisdom, and demonstrates its relationship with the contemporary literature of early Judaism and Middle Platonic thought. More

Essays on John and Hebrews by Harold W. Attridge (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen Zum Neuen Testament: Mohr Siebeck) Harold W. Attridge has engaged in the interpretation of two of the most intriguing literary products of early Christianity, the Gospel according to John and the Epistle to the Hebrews. His essays explore the literary and cultural traditions at work in the text and its imaginative rhetoric aiming to deepen faith in Christ by giving new meaning to his death and exaltation. His essays on John focus on the literary artistry of the final version of the gospel, its playful approach to literary genres, its engaging rhetoric, its delight in visual imagery. He situates that literary analysis of both works within the context of the history of religion and culture in the first century, with careful attention to both Jewish and Greco-Roman worlds. Several essays, focusing on the phenomena connected with "Gnosticism", extend that reiligio-historical horizon into to the life of the early Church and contribute to the understanding of the reception of these two early Christian masterpieces. More

The Mystical Texts: Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice and Related Manuscripts by Philip S. Alexander(Library of Second Temple Studies: T&T Clark) This essay provides an overview of a position I have worked out at greater length in The Mystical Texts: Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice and Related Manuscripts (Companion to the Qumran Scrolls 7; London: T&T Clark International, 2005), to which the reader is referred for detailed documentation. The present article, however, is not just a summary of the book. The necessity of compressing and simplifying the case has led me, to some extent, to rethink and clarify my argument. A number of points (e.g., the anthropology behind Qumran mysticism, and the doctrine of predestination, which seems to be all over the relevant texts) now strike me as more important than I realised when I wrote the book. My purpose is to open a debate on what happens if we take certain Scrolls seriously as mysticism, and read them into the western mystical tradition. More

Deliver Us from Evil: Interpreting the Redemption from the Power of Satan in New Testament Theology (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen Zum Neuen Testament 216) by Richard H. Bell (Mohr Siebeck)

Richard H. Bell develops a theory of myth which does justice not only to the world of 'narrative' but also to the mysteries of the 'physical world'. He does this by building on the phenomenal distinction as introduced by Kant and further developed by Schopenhauer. He then applies the resulting theory of myth to two seemingly disparate examples of redemption from Satan found in the New Testament: first, the exorcisms of Jesus; secondly, the redemption of the human being from the power of Satan through the cross and resurrection of Christ as found in the Pauline tradition and in the letter to the Hebrews. Then the author makes an attempt to relate these two forms of redemption to each other and to draw some conclusions as to how these myths of deliverance from Satan can be considered true. This can lead not only to an enrichment of New Testament Theology but also to a greater understanding of the world in which we live.

The fundamental question addressed in this book is how the redemption of the human being from Satan in New Testament theology is to be interpreted. I now wish to make a number of concluding comments, first of a "theological and scientific" nature and then of a "pastoral" nature. More

Science

Archetypal Cosmos: Rediscovering the Gods in Myth, Science, and Astrology by Keiron Le Grice (Floris Books) The modern world is passing through a period of critical change on many levels: cultural, political, ecological and spiritual. We are witnessing the decline and dissolution of the old order, the tumult and uncertainty of a new birth. Against this background, Keiron Le Grice argues that the developing insights of a new cosmology could provide a coherent framework of meaning to lead us beyond the growing fragmentation of culture, belief and personal identity.
In a compelling synthesis of the ideas of seminal thinkers from depth psychology and new paradigm science, Le Grice positions the new discipline of archetypal astrology at the centre of an emerging world view that reunifies psyche and cosmos, spirituality and science, mythology and metaphysics, enabling us to see mythic gods, heroes and themes in a fresh light.
Heralding a 'rediscovery of the gods' and the passage into a new spiritual era, The Archetypal Cosmos presents a new understanding of the role of myth and archetypal principles in our lives, one that could give a cosmic perspective and deeper meaning to our personal experience.

Keiron Le Grice, Ph.D., is founder and co-editor of Archai: The Journal of Archetypal Cosmology. He is adjunct faculty in the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness programme at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. More 

The Fallen Sky by Christopher Cokinos (Tarcher) In this acclaimed volume, prizewinning poet and nature writer Christopher Cokinos takes us on an epic journey from Antarctica to outer space, weaving together natural history, memoir, and in-depth profiles of amateur researchers, rogue scientists, and stargazing dreamers to tell the riveting tale of how the study of meteorites became a modern science. In 1894, fifteen years before his storied expedition to the North Pole, Robert Peary crossed a treacherous expanse of ice in Greenland in search of another prize: a massive meteorite laden with rare metals from outer space. In this hefty, industrious book, Cokinos retraces Peary’s steps, and those of other meteor “obsessives,” in an idiosyncratic hunt of his own. The book pairs, sometimes awkwardly, exciting tales of scientific adventure and unself-conscious rumination—particularly on the subject of the author’s failed first marriage, the pain of which, he insists, is “part and parcel of the hunt, my hunt, for the meteorite hunters.” As often as not, though, the original meteorite hunters had a more prosaic view of their quests. Peary, for instance, had a simple desire for glory and riches; when he finally found that meteorite, which the local Inuits had dubbed Woman (another, nearby, they called Dog), he called it “the brown mass.” More

Handbook of Optics Third Edition, 5 Volume Set by Optical Society of America (McGraw-Hill Professional) The most comprehensive and up-to-date optics resource available

Prepared under the auspices of the Optical Society of America, the five carefully architected and cross-referenced volumes of the Handbook of Optics, Third Edition, contain everything a student, scientist, or engineer requires to actively work in the field. From the design of complex optical systems to world-class research and development methods, this definitive publication provides unparalleled access to the fundamentals of the discipline and its greatest minds.

Individual chapters are written by the world's most renowned experts who explain, illustrate, and solve the entire field of optics. Each volume contains a complete chapter listing for the entire Handbook, extensive chapter glossaries, and a wealth of references. This pioneering work offers unprecedented coverage of optics data, techniques, and applications.

  • Volume I covers geometrical and physical optics, polarized light, components, and instruments.
  • Volume II covers design, fabrications, testing, sources, detectors, radiometry, and photometry.
  • Volume III, all in full color, covers vision and vision optics.
  • Volume IV covers optical properties of materials, nonlinear optics, and quantum optics.
  • Volume V covers atmospheric optics, modulators, fiber optics, and x-ray and neutron optics.
    more

Paracelsus (Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, 1493-1541): Essential Theoretical Writings edited, introduced, translated by Andrew Weeks (Aries Book Series: Brill) The daunting writings of Paracelsus—the second largest 16th-century body of writings in German after Luther's—contributed to medicine, natural science, alchemy, philosophy, theology, and esoteric tradition. This volume provides a critical edition of essential writings from the authoritative 1589 Huser Paracelsus alongside new English translations and commentary on the sources and context of the full corpus. The Essential Theoretical Writings incorporate topics ranging from metaphyics, cosmology, faith, religious conflict, magic, gender, and education, to the processes of nature, disease and medication, female and male sufferings, and cures of body and soul. Properly contextualized, these treatises yield rich extracts of Renaissance and Reformation culture, soundings of 16th-century life, and keys to an influential but poorly understood early modern intellectual tradition. This work will supersede all other translations into English and lays an admirable foundation for future balanced and depth studies of Paracelsus.
Andrew Weeks is Professor of German at Illinois State University, with a doctorate in Comparative Literature from the University of Illinois, has published intellectual biographies of Jacob Boehme, Paracelsus, Valentin Weigel, a history of German mysticism, and translations of Weigel's writings. He is well qualified to help in the reform of this pivotal figure standing between tradition and the innovations of science.  More

Technology

Handbook of Driving Simulation for Engineering, Medicine, and Psychology edited by Donald L. Fisher, Matthew Rizzo, Jeffrey K. Caird and John D. Lee (CRC Press) This is an exciting time for researchers using driving simulators. In the 1970s there were in the neighborhood of 20 research driving simulators throughout the US and Europe including many small, part-task devices used for training and licensing. Today there are hundreds if not thousands of driving simulators spread around the globe. International conferences have become well established, including, most notably the Driving Assessment (held in the United States) and the Driving Simulation Conference (held in Asia, Europe, North America), with many others drawing large audiences as well. Governments and industry around the world are much more aggressively funding simulator research. More

Juran's Quality Handbook: The Complete Guide to Performance Excellence 6/e edited by Joseph Defeo and J.M. Juran (McGraw-Hill Professional) The definitive quality management compendium--revised for the first time in a decade.

For more than 50 years, Juran's Quality Handbook has been the singular essential reference to quality management and engineering. The Sixth Edition--the first revision of the Handbook in 10 years--forges a new standard in tools for quality. Bringing leaders, managers, master and black belts, and engineers the most up-to-date methods, research, and tools, under the guidance of a team of the world's top experts, this authoritative resource shows how to apply universal methods for delivering superior results and organizational excellence in any organization, industry, country, or process.

Juran's Quality Handbook, sixth edition covers:

  • Leadership--what everyone needs to know about managing for superior quality and results
  • Methods--the most effective methods and tools for attaining superior results, such as Lean, Six Sigma, Root Cause Analysis, Continuous Innovation, and more
  • Industry applications--effectively applying quality management
  • The roles of key functions--such as quality professionals, research and development, supply chain, and governance--and what they must carry out to attain superior results in an organization
  • Performance excellence--pragmatic roadmaps, templates, and tools to aid in developing an effective and sustainable performance excellence system More

Tools of Engagement: Presenting and Training in a World of Social Media by Tom Bunzel (Pfeiffer) Times are rapidly changing in the presentation field in the early twenty-first century. Travel constraints, budget concerns, and the advent of new technology have mandated that many individuals who might have in the past addressed their audiences directly and personally need to do so electronically, across large distances.
In addition, the instantaneous nature of the Internet has made it possible for individuals and businesses to connect with each other in new and amazing ways, forging online communities and networks that commingle personal and professional issues.
The software and technology that enables this process is continually changing and is quite complex. While Fortune 500 corporations may still avail themselves of proprietary broadband networks that support sophisticated and expensive videoconferencing, more and more organizations are using reasonably priced software over the Internet to reach out to customers, clients, colleagues, students, constituencies, and other audiences. More 

Mathematics

Elementary Statistics in Social Research (11th Edition) by Jack A. Levin (Author), James Alan Fox (Author), David R. Forde (MySocKit Series: Allyn and Bacon) The Eleventh Edition of Elementary Statistics in Social Research provides an introduction to statistics for students in sociology and related fields, including political science, criminal justice, and social work. This book is not intended to be a comprehensive reference for statistical methods. On the contrary, our first and foremost objective has always been to provide an accessible introduction for a broad range of students, particularly those who may not have a strong background in mathematics. More

Handbook of Granular Computing by Witold Pedrycz, Andrzej Skowron, and Vladik Kreinovich (Wiley) Although the notion is a relatively recent one, the notions and principles of Granular Computing (GrC) have appeared in a different guise in many related fields including granularity in Artificial Intelligence, interval computing, cluster analysis, quotient space theory and many others. Recent years have witnessed a renewed and expanding interest in the topic as it begins to play a key role in bioinformatics, e-commerce, machine learning, security, data mining and wireless mobile computing when it comes to the issues of effectiveness, robustness and uncertainty.  More

Bayesian Methods: A Social and Behavioral Sciences Approach, Second Edition by Jeff Gill (Statistics in the Social and Behavioral Sciences: Chapman and Hall/CRC) The first edition helped pave the way for Bayesian approaches to become more prominent in social science methodology. While the focus remains on practical modeling and basic theory as well as on intuitive explanations and derivations without skipping steps, this second edition incorporates the latest methodology and recent changes in software offerings. More

Artificial Intelligence with Uncertainty by Deyi Li, Yi Du (Chapman & Hall/CRC) The information deluge currently assaulting us in the 21st century is having profound impact on our lifestyles and how we work. We must constantly separate trustworthy and required information from the massive amount of data we encounter each day. Through mathematical theories, models, and experiment. computations, Artificial Intelligence with Uncertainty explores the uncertainties of knowledge and intelligence that occur during the cognitive processes of human beings. The authors focus on the importance of natural language—the carrier of knowledge and intelligence—for artificial intelligence (Al) study. More

Monte Carlo Methods For Applied Scientists by Ivan T. Dimov (World Scientific Publishing Company) Stochastic optimization refers to the minimization (or maximization) of a function in the presence of randomness in the optimization process. The randomness may be present as either noise in measurements or Monte Carlo randomness in the search procedure, or both. The study of random geometric structures. Stochastic geometry leads to modelling and analysis tools such as Monte Carlo methods.
Common methods of stochastic optimization include direct search methods (such as the Nelder-Mead method), stochastic approximation, stochastic programming, and miscellaneous methods such as simulated annealing and genetic algorithms.  

The Monte Carlo method is inherently parallel and the extensive and rapid development in parallel computers, computational clusters and grids has resulted in renewed and increasing interest in this method. At the same time there has been an expansion in the application areas and the method is now widely used in many important areas of science including nuclear and semiconductor physics, statistical mechanics and heat and mass transfer. More

Physics

Consciousness and Quantum Mechanics: Life in Parallel Worlds: Miracles of Consciousness from Quantum Reality by Michael B. Mensky (World Scientific Publishing Company) The phenomenon of consciousness includes mysterious aspects providing a basis for many spiritual doctrines (including religions) and psychological practices. These directions of human knowledge are usually considered to contradict the laws of science. However, quantum mechanics — in a sense, the mysterious direction of science — allows us to include the phenomena of consciousness and life as well as the relevant phenomena in the sphere of science.
Wolfgang Pauli, one of the pioneers of quantum mechanics, together with great psychologist Carl GustavJung, guessed about the relation between quantum mechanics and consciousness in the beginning of the twentieth century. However, only "many-worlds" interpretation of quantum mechanics, proposed in 1957 by Hugh Everett Ill, gave the real basis for the systematic investigation of this relation.
Roger Penrose, one of the apologists of the relation between quantum mechanics and consciousness, claimed in his Last book "The Road to Reality" that the Everett's interpretation may be estimated only after creating the theory of consciousness. There against, the author has proposed in 2000 and further elaborates in this book, the so-called Extended Everett's Concept, that allows one to derive the main features of consciousness and super-consciousness (intuition, or direct vision of truth) from quantum mechanics. This is exposed in this book in a form intelligible for a wide audience. More

New Directions in Linear Acoustics and Vibration: Quantum Chaos, Random Matrix Theory and Complexity by Matthew Wright and Richard Weaver (Cambridge University Press) The field of acoustics is of immense industrial and scientific importance. The subject is built on the foundations of linear acoustics, which is widely regarded as so mature that it is fully encapsulated in the physics texts of the 1950s. This view was changed by developments in physics such as the study of quantum chaos. Developments in physics throughout the last four decades, often equally applicable to both quantum and linear acoustic problems but overwhelmingly more often expressed in the language of the former, have explored this. There is a significant new amount of theory that can be used to address problems in linear acoustics and vibration, but only a small amount of reported work does so. This book is an attempt to bridge the gap between theoreticians and practitioners, as well as the gap between quantum and acoustic. Tutorial chapters provide introductions to each of the major aspects of the physical theory and are written using the appropriate terminology of the acoustical community. The book will act as a quick-start guide to the new methods while providing a wide-ranging introduction to the physical concepts. More

The Poetry of Physics and the Physics of Poetry by Robert L. Logan (World Scientific Publishing Company) is a textbook for a survey course in physics taught without mathematics, that also takes into account the social impact and influences from the arts and society. It combines physics, literature, history and philosophy from the dawn of human life to the 21st century. It will also be of interest to the general reader. More

Quantum Invariants of Knots and 3-Manifolds by Vladimir G. Turaev (De Gruyter Studies in Mathematics: De Gruyter) Due to the strong appeal and wide use of this monograph, it is now available in its second revised edition. The monograph gives a systematic treatment of 3-dimensional topological quantum field theories (TQFTs) based on the work of the author with N. Reshetikhin and O. Viro. This subject was inspired by the discovery of the Jones polynomial of knots and the Witten-Chern-Simons field theory. On the algebraic side, the study of 3-dimensional TQFTs has been influenced by the theory of braided categories and the theory of quantum groups.

The book is divided into three parts. Part I presents a construction of 3-dimensional TQFTs and 2-dimensional modular functors from so-called modular categories. This gives a vast class of knot invariants and 3-manifold invariants as well as a class of linear representations of the mapping class groups of surfaces. In Part II the technique of 6j-symbols is used to define state sum invariants of 3-manifolds. Their relation to the TQFTs constructed in Part I is established via the theory of shadows. Part III provides constructions of modular categories, based on quantum groups and skein modules of tangles in the 3-space.

This fundamental contribution to topological quantum field theory is accessible to graduate students in mathematics and physics with knowledge of basic algebra and topology. It is an indispensable source for everyone who wishes to enter the forefront of this fascinating area at the borderline of mathematics and physics. More

Ecology

Greening Existing Buildings by Jerry Yudelson (McGraw-Hills Greensource Series: McGraw-Hill) This GreenSource guide explains how to transform existing buildings into more energy-efficient, resource-conserving green buildings. The book provides a clear process that guides you, step-by-step, through each phase of moving building operations and maintenance toward the goal of a green-certified building.
Greening Existing Buildings
features proven technologies and operating methods, and shows building owners and facility managers how to green buildings in a cost-effective way. This practical and insightful resource highlights the ten best practices for greening existing buildings, and includes more than 25 case studies of successful implementations and 35 insightful interviews with industry experts and building owners and managers. More

Practical Green Remodeling: Down-to-Earth Solutions for Everyday Homes by Barry Katz (The Taunton Press) Going green at home can seem like an all-or-nothing proposition. Does one sell everything (including the house) and start over, building and buying only eco-friendly, renewable goods? Or take the advice offered up in this book and remodel instead? Green building expert Barry Katz makes an argument for remodeling in Practical Green Remodeling as he guides readers through what can be a perplexing and daunting process. Katz explains how different choices impact a home's overall green quotient, as well as its bottom line. Emphasizing off-the-shelf materials, Practical Green Remodeling shows how homeowners of ordinary means can green up a remodel, resulting in less waste, more energy-efficient homes, lower maintenance costs, and more comfortable, healthful environments. A leading proponent of green building, Katz, the recipient of the 2007 HOBI Award for Best Green House from the Connecticut Association of Homebuilders, has more than 20 years experience in new home construction and remodeling. Practical Green Remodeling is not a how-to book. Unlike a lot of books about home remodeling, there are no step-by-step instructions, no tool or materials lists, no advice from the pros for the do-it-yourselfer. Instead, this is a what-to book. After all, before readers get to the how-to stage, they need a vision of what they want to do. Katz suggests new ways of thinking about what makes for a successful remodeling project. Is it enough to create more living or storage space, a more convenient floor plan, a nicer kitchen or bathroom? Is it enough simply to make the home more attractive? More

Green Energy: Sustainable Electricity Supply with Low Environmental Impact by Eric Jeffs (CRC)  defines the future of the world’s electricity supply system, exploring the key issues associated with global warming, and which energy systems are best suited to reducing it.

Electricity generation is a concentrated industry with a few sources of emissions, which can be controlled or legislated against. This book explains that a green sustainable electricity system is one whose construction, installation, and operation minimally affect the environment and produce power reliability at an affordable price. It addresses the question of how to build such an electricity supply system to meet the demands of a growing population without accelerating global warming or damaging the environment.

The green argument for conservation and renewable energies is a contradiction in terms. Although they produce no emissions, because renewable systems are composed of a large number of small units, a considerable amount of energy is required to produce, erect, and maintain them. This book is a response to that conundrum, answering key questions, such as:

  • How can renewables be exploited to contribute the greatest energy input?
  • Should coal be used for clean fuel and chemical production rather than for power generation?
  • How quickly can we start to build the Green Energy system?

The author has more than forty years of experience as an international journalist reporting on power-generating technologies and on energy policies around the world. Detailing the developmental history, and current state, of the global nuclear industry, he discusses the dire, immediate need for large quantities of clean, emission-free electric power, for both domestic and industrial uses. This book details how current technologies—particularly nuclear, combined cycle, and hydro—can be applied to satisfy safely the growing energy demands in the future. More 

Water: A Way of Life:  Sustainable Water Management in a Cultural Context by A.J.M. (Lida) Schelwald-van Der Kley, Linda Reijerkerk (CRC Press) How to make water management projects more successful and sustainable? How is it that large infrastructural water works often encounter opposition? Is it perhaps, among other things, the lack of attention for the cultural context? These and other intriguing questions are dealt with in this book. The authors, having 20 years of experience on water and sanitation in an international context, have investigated the relationship between water and culture world-wide in order to find new keys to successful and sustainable water management.

This book is based on extensive research and is intended to form a cultural road towards new sustainable water management practices. Water: A Way of Life takes the reader on a water journey through time and across the world's continents. Along the way it explains the past and present ways in which different cultures around the world, both traditional and modern, view and manage water in response to the distinct environment they inhabit. As beliefs and values are at the heart of any culture, it also highlights the views of the main world religions on water and its use. A better understanding of cultural water beliefs and practices may lead to new concepts for future sustainable water management — from flood management to water supply, sanitation and irrigation management. More

The Functional Assessment of Wetland Ecosystems: Towards Evaluation of Ecosystem Services, includes CD edited by Edward Maltby, U Digby, C Baker (CRC Press)  Wetlands perform functions that deliver benefits to society, often referred to as ecosystem services. These ecosystem services include water supply, flood regulation, water purification, climate regulation, biodiversity, agriculture (e.g. grazing land), and amenity. A functional approach to wetland assessment enables a holistic view to be taken of the wide range of services that wetlands can provide. The functional assessment procedures (FAPs) in this volume translate best available scientific knowledge into reasonable predictions of how component parts of wetlands function in different landscape contexts. They can be used to indicate the potential and priorities for management options in areas such as flood control, pollution reduction and biodiversity conservation.
Functional assessment enables the user to predict the functioning of a wetland area without the need for comprehensive and expensive empirical research. The FAPs therefore provide a methodology that can be used by both experts and non-experts to assess wetland functioning relatively rapidly. The volume includes an electronic version of the FAPs on CD which automates aspects of the assessment once the initial recording stage is completed. It is anticipated that the FAPs will be used by a range of individuals or organisations concerned with wetland management who wish to gain a better understanding of the processes, functions, services or benefits and potential of the wetlands for which they have responsibility. More 

Social Science

Critical Discourse Studies in Context and Cognition edited by Christopher Hart (Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture Series: John Benjamins Publishing Company) Critical Discourse Studies (CDS), under the general editors of Ruth Wodak and Greg Myers and associate editor Johann Unger, University of Lancaster, is an exciting research enterprise in which scholars are concerned with the discursive reproduction of power and inequality. However, researchers in CDS are increasingly recognizing the need to investigate the cognitive dimensions of discourse and context if they want to fully account for any connection between language, legitimization and social action. Critical Discourse Studies in Context and Cognition, edited by Christopher Hart, Northumbria University, presents a collection of papers in CDS concerned with various ideological discourses. Analyses are firmly rooted in linguistics and cognition constitutes a major focus of attention. The chapters, which are written by prominent researchers in CDS, come from a broad range of theoretical perspectives spanning pragmatics, cognitive psychology and cognitive linguistics. More

Comprehensive Behavior Management: Individualized, Classroom, and Schoolwide Approaches, 2nd edition by Ronald C. Martella, J. Ron Nelson, Nancy E. Marchand-Martella and Mark O'Reilly (Sage Publications) One of the most critical issues facing teachers and related-services personnel today is behavior management. Behavior management consistently ranks as the most concerning issue in surveys completed by school personnel. Unfortunately, most do not feel well equipped to deal with the multitude of behavior problems they see every day in the schools. The authors say they wrote Comprehensive Behavior Management with these individuals in mind. It is critical for teachers and related personnel to receive high-quality training in behavior management; a solid textbook written by experts in the field that incorporates evidence-based best practices is an important foundational aspect of this training. More 

Re-Symbolization of the Self: Human Development and Tarot Hermeneutic by Inna Semetsky (Sense Publishers) This groundbreaking book brings depth of meaning and intellectual scholarship to the field of human development while also lifting the human spirit by offering new dimensions of self-formation through the ancient medium of Tarot. It should be of great interest to health and human service professionals. --JEAN WATSON, Distinguished Professor, University of Colorado Denver College of Nursing; author of Nursing: The Philosophy and Science of Caring and Caring Science as Sacred Science.
Semetsky's book is a timely antidote for our current crises in education. Drawing on her empirical research with Tarot and her deep knowledge of Jungian psychology, she offers an approach to education that stirs the depths of the Self as it deepens mind into soul. Her Tarot hermeneutic opens a path toward a revolutionary pedagogy that, in its commitment to the complexity, fullness and fluidity of human subjectivity, recovers the ethical and therapeutic dimensions of education. A bold book, a daring achievement, a spark of illumination! --ROBERT D. ROMANYSHYN, Senior Core Faculty, Pacifica Graduate Institute; Affiliate Member of the Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts; author of The Wounded Researcher: Research with Soul in Mind and Ways of the Heart: Essays toward an Imaginal Psychology.
This text elucidates the potential of Tarot well beyond its popular usage. It demonstrates how Tarot can become a pedagogical and counseling tool for enriching human experiences and the whole of culture with wisdom, integrity, meaning, and spirituality. A must to read! ---MARY K. GREER, author of Tarot for Your Self: A Workbook for Personal Transformation.
Bringing together popular and academic cultures, Inna Semetsky presents Tarot as a system of transformative hermeneutics for adult self-education and cultural pedagogy. Her research is a decisive and intelligent step ahead from the reductive stereotype of Tarot as fortune-telling. The fifteen life stories at the heart of the book exemplify the author's commitment to alternative modes of education and counseling that transcend individual, cultural or language barriers. Assembling a rich array of sources, from Hermeticism to Jungian depth psychology, the philosophies of Noddings, Buber, and Deleuze, and the science of self-organization, this book opens a new path to personal and social revitalization. It should be widely read across disciplinary divides by scholars, students, and professionals alike. --PHILIP WEXLER, Professor, Hebrew University of Jerusalem; author of Symbolic Movement: Critique and Spirituality in Sociology of Education and Holy Sparks: Social Theory, Education and Religion. More

The Uniqueness of Western Civilization by Ricardo Duchesne (Studies in Critical Social Sciences, 28: Brill Academic) This extensively researched book argues that the development of a libertarian culture was an indispensable component of the rise of the West. The roots of the West's superior intellectual and artistic creativity should be traced back to the aristocratic warlike culture of Indo-European speakers. Among the many fascinating topics discussed are: the ascendancy of multicultural historians and the degradation of European history; China's ecological endowments and imperial windfalls; military revolutions in Europe 1300-1800; the science and chivalry of Henry the Navigator; Judaism and its contribution to Western rationalism; the cultural richness of Max Weber versus the intellectual poverty of Pomeranz, Wong, Goldstone, Goody, and A.G. Frank; change without progress in the East; Hegel's Phenomenology of the [Western] Spirit; Nietzsche and the education of the Homeric Greeks; Kojeve's master-slave dialectic and the Western state of nature; Christian virtues and German aristocratic expansionism. More

Drugs, Society and Criminal Justice (3rd Edition) by Charles F. Levinthal (Prentice Hall) Unique in approach, Drugs, Society and Criminal Justice (3rd Edition), by Charles F. Levinthal, Hofstra University, examines drug use, drug misuse, and drug abuse from a criminal justice perspective. Building on sociological theory, it explores the social problems associated with drug use and the theoretical reasons for drug use and abuse. Moving beyond a sociological focus, it delves into the complex relationship between drug-taking behavior and crime. Discussion-starting features spotlight prominent figures, drug trafficking realities, and life-saving information as the book explores how drug use and abuse impact the criminal justice system.
This is the only general textbook on drug use and abuse with a specific orientation toward crime and criminal justice concerns. It is an adaptation of Levinthals Drugs, Behavior, and Modern Society, 5th edition, the third edition of this successful, widely-regarded, highly readable and pedagogy-oriented textbook. It is oriented to the psychological and sociological aspects of drug-taking behavior in contemporary life. More 

Questioning Gender: A Sociological Exploration by Robyn Ryle (Pine Forge Press / Sage) Questioning Gender is a one-of-a-kind text designed to launch readers into a thoughtful encounter with gender issues. Rather than providing definitive answers about gender, the book, written by Robyn Ryle, associate professor of Sociology at Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana, exposes readers to new material that leads them to question their assumptions. Ryle uses both historical and cross-cultural approaches as well as a focus on intersectionality and transgender issues to help students understand the socially-constructed nature of gender. Debunking ideas of what is normal and abnormal, this book explores the core theories and topics, including the gender of sexuality, the gender of friendship and dating, the gender of media and popular culture, and the gender of politics and power. More 

The Sociology of Childhood, 3rd edition by William A. Corsaro (Sociology for a New Century Series: Pine Forge Press) The Sociology of Childhood has been acclaimed as the best book available on the sociology of children. Author William A. Corsaro is the Robert H. Shaffer Class of 1967 Endowed Professor of Sociology at Indiana University, Bloomington where he won the Presidents Award for Distinguished Teaching in 1988.
The Sociology of Childhood presents a focus on children's relationships with peers and adults, including coverage of children's peer cultures from preschool through preadolescence. This third edition, like the first two editions, is about children and childhood from a sociological perspective. An interpretive perspective on the sociology of childhood is contrasted with more traditional socialization or outcome approaches. A special chapter reviews and evaluates different methodologies for studying children and childhood and discusses the special ethical consideration. The volume brings together Corsaros ideas and experiences gained from research and teaching in this area during the past 30 years. More

Language Documentation: Practice and Values edited by Lenore A. Grenoble and N. Louanna Furbee (John Benjamins Publishing Company) Language documentation, also often called documentary linguistics, is a relatively new subfield in linguistics which has emerged in part as a response to the pressing need for collecting, describing, and archiving material on the increasing number of endangered languages.
Language Documentation details the most recent developments in this rapidly developing field with papers written by linguists primarily based in academic institutions in North America, although many conduct their fieldwork elsewhere. More 

We Are Our Language: An Ethnography of Language Revitalization in a Northern Athabascan Community (First Peoples, New Directions in Indigenous Studies) by Barbra A. Meek (University of Arizona Press) For many communities around the world, the revitalization or at least the preservation of an indigenous language is a pressing concern. Understanding the issue involves far more than compiling simple usage statistics or documenting the grammar of a tongue it requires examining the social practices and philosophies that affect indigenous language survival.
In presenting the case of Kaska, an endangered language in an Athapascan community in the Yukon, Barbra Meek, associate professor of anthropology and linguistics at the University of Michigan, asserts that language revitalization requires more than just linguistic rehabilitation; it demands a social transformation. The process must mend rips and tears in the social fabric of the language community that result from an enduring colonial history focused on termination. These disjunctures include government policies conflicting with community goals, widely varying teaching methods and generational viewpoints, and even clashing ideologies within the language community.
We Are Our Language provides the detailed investigation of language revitalization based on more than two years of active participation in local language renewal efforts. Each chapter focuses on a different dimension, such as spelling and expertise, conversation and social status, family practices, and bureaucratic involvement in local language choices. Each situation illustrates the balance between the desire for linguistic continuity and the reality of disruption. More

War and Sex: A Brief History of Men's Urge for Battle by John Van Houten Dippel (Prometheus Books) War or sex it's never been a simple either-or choice. In fact, making war and making love have a long, tangled, intimate history.
Why young men voluntarily go off to war has long defied understanding. Eagerly risking one's life seems contrary to the innate instinct for self-preservation. Are young males notorious risk takers courting death out of some irresistible altruistic impulse to sacrifice their lives for a larger cause or, conversely, do they expect something in return? More 

Plains Indians Regalia & Customs by Bad Hand (Schiffer Publishing) This original study of Plains Indian cultures of the 19th century is presented through the use of period writings, paintings and early photography that relate how life was carried out. The author Bad Hand juxtaposes the sources with new research and modern color photography of specific replica items. Bad Hand is a Native American author, historian, lecturer and replica maker who has made the study of Plains Indian culture part of his life. More

Escape the Improvement Trap: Five Ingredients Missing in Most Improvement Recipes by Michael Bremer and Brian McKibben (Productivity Press, CRC Press) Despite performance improvement initiatives such as Lean, Six Sigma, and Supply-Chain Management, only a handful of companies actually break out of the pack to transform their enterprises. This problem is not unique to today's improvement methodologies; the same issues existed when organizations first adopted TQM, re-engineering, and other popular improvement methodologies. Providing methods and metrics for effecting true change, Escape the Improvement Trap highlights how to avoid common improvement traps that inhibit many organizations from rising above the rest. More 

Manifesto of the Critical Theory of Society and Religion by Rudolf Siebert (Studies in Critical Social Sciences: Brill Academic) A wonderful summa of an intensely lived social and religious life. Siebert provides seminal insights derived from the Social theory of the Frankfort school and grounded in neo-Kantian German idealism. This is fused with the new political theology grounded in a vision of human rights and universal justice as the legal and ethical measure human sciences and institutions. The work, though daunting at first sight, actually makes a wonderful primer for students seeking a unified vision of social order that is not antagonistic to the effect of transcendent in human relations.  The Manifesto develops further the Critical Theory of Religion intrinsic to the Critical Theory of Society of the Frankfurt School into a new paradigm of the Psychology, Sociology, Philosophy and Theology of Religion. Its central theme is the theodicy problem. The Manifesto approaches this theme in the framework of comparative religion and critical political theology in a narrative and discursive fashion. In search of a solution to the theodicy problem, the Manifesto explores , trends in civil society toward Alternative Future I (the Totally Administered Society), Alternative Future II (the Militarized Society,), and Alternative Future III (the Reconciled Society) in the horizon of the longing for the Wholly Other as perfect justice and unconditional love. Likewise trends in alternative futures of religion are characterizes as I: Religious Fundamentalism, II: Modern and Postmodern Secularism, and III: The Open Dialectic between the religious and secular, toward a possible reconciliation. Toward that goal it relies on both the critical theory of society as developed by Max Horkheimer, Ernst Bloch, Walter Benjamin, Theodor W. Adorno, and others, and on the new political theology of Johannes B. Metz, Helmut Peukert, and Edmund Arens. Students and professors who are interested in psychology and social psychology, sociology and anthropology, philosophy and theology and comparative religion in public and private, secular and religious universities and colleges. More

Human Behavior in the Social Environment: A Multidimensional Perspective 4th edition by Jose B. Ashford. Craig Winston LeCroy (Brooks / Cole) In our first edition, we tried to do something very different. We attempted to bridge the chasm between issues of application and theory by bringing together our diverse expertise—a focus on human behavior theory and a focus on social work practice. Given our different skill sets (Jose teaches human behavior and Craig teaches social work practice), we hoped to write a textbook that would link the development of assessment skills with the examination of curriculum content relevant to Human Behavior and the Social Environment (HBSE) education policy standards. With this end in view, we are pleased that our efforts in writing our first edition helped stimulate a new generation of textbooks that now include issues of assessment in the coverage of HBSE foundation knowledge. More

International Law for Humankind: Towards a New Jus Gentium  by Antônio Augusto Cançado Trindade (Mague Academy of International Law: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers / Brill Academic) Professor Cançado Trindade develops his Leitmotiv of identification of a corpus juris increasingly oriented to the fulfillment of the needs and aspirations of human beings, of peoples and of humankind as a whole. With the overcoming of the purely inter-State dimension of the discipline of the past, international legal personality has expanded, so as to encompass nowadays, besides States and international organizations, also peoples, individuals and humankind as subjects of International Law. The growing consciousness of the need to pursue universally-shared values has brought about a fundamental change in the outlook of International Law in the last decades, drawing closer attention to its foundations and, parallel to its formal sources, to its material source (the universal juridical conscience). He examines the conceptual constructions of this new International Law and identifies basic considerations of humanity permeating its whole corpus juris, disclosing the current processes of its humanization and universalization. Finally, he addresses the construction of the international rule of law, acknowledging the need and quest for international compulsory jurisdiction, in the move towards a new jus gentium, the International Law for humankind.More

An Introduction to International Human Rights Law edited by Azizur Rahman Chowdhury, Jahid Hossain Bhuiyan (Martinus Nijhoff / Brill Academic) is designed to provide an overview of the development and substance of international human rights law, and what is meant concretely by human rights guarantees, such as civil and political rights, and economic and social rights. It highlights the rights of women, globalization and human rights education. The book also explores domestic, regional and international endeavors to protect human rights. The history and role of human rights NGOs coupled with an analysis of diverse international mechanisms are succinctly woven into the text, which well reflects the scholarship and erudition of the authors. This lucidly written and timely volume will be of great help to anyone seeking to understand this area of law, be they students, lawyers, scholars, government officials, staff of international and non-international organizations, human rights activists or lay readers. More

Chomskyan (R)evolutions by Douglas A. Kibbee (John Benjamins Publishing Company) It is not unusual for contemporary linguists to claim that "Modern Linguistics began in 1957" (with the publication of Noam Chomsky's Syntactic Structures). Some of the essays in Chomskyan (R)evolutions examine the sources, the nature and the extent of the theoretical changes Chomsky introduced in the 1950s. Other contributions explore the key concepts and disciplinary alliances have evolved considerably over the past sixty years, such as the meanings given "Universal Grammar", the relationship of Chomskyan linguistics to other disciplines (Cognitive Science, Psychology, Evolutionary Biology), and the interactions between mainstream Chomskyan linguistics and other linguistic theories active in the late l8th century: Functionalism, Generative Semantics and Relational Grammar. The broad understanding of the recent history of linguistics points the way towards new directions and methods that linguistics can pursue in the future. More

Social Psychology, 7th ed. by John D. DeLamater and Daniel J. Myers (Wadsworth Publishing) This social psychology text, written by well-known sociologists, covers such topics as socialization, self, attitudes, communication, social influence, interpersonal attraction and relationships, behavior in small groups, life course, and personality and social structure. As readers move through the book, they will explore answers to a wide variety of questions, such as: What decides who someone will fall in love with? Where do aggressive, violent, and criminal behaviors come from? Why are some people more charitable than others? Why do some people obey authority and conform while others always have to buck the trend? Why are some people lazier when they work in groups? What is the source of people's stereotypes and prejudices? What causes conflict between groups? And finally, what makes us who we are? More

The Gendered Unconscious: Can Gender Discourses Subvert Psychoanalysis? by Louise Gyler (Routledge) Feminist interventions in psychoanalysis have often attempted either to subvert or re-frame the masculinist and phallocentric biases of Freud's psychoanalysis. This book investigates the nature of these interventions by comparing the status and treatment of women in two different psychoanalytic models: the Kleinian and the feminist models. It argues that, in fact, these interventions have historically tended to reinforce such biases by collapsing the distinction between the gendered minds of individuals and theories of gender.
This investigation is framed by two steps. First, in assessing the position of women and the feminine in psychoanalysis, The Gendered Unconscious explores not only the ways they are represented in theory, but also how these representations function in practice. Secondly, this book uses a framework of a comparative dialogue to highlight the assumptions and values that underpin the theory and clinical practice in the two psychoanalytic models. This comparative critique concludes with the counter-intuitive claim that contemporary Kleinian theory may, in practice, hold more radical possibilities for the interests of women than the practices derived from contemporary psychoanalytic gender theory. More

Terminology in Everyday Life by Marcel Thelen and Frieda Steurs (Terminology and Lexicography Research and Practice: John Benjamins Publishing Company) contains a selection of fresh and interesting articles by prominent scholars and practitioners in the field of terminology based on papers presented at an international terminology congress on the impact of terminology on everyday life. The volume brings together theory and practice of terminology and deals with such issues as the growing influence of European English on terminology, terminology on demand, setting up a national terminological infrastructure, the relevance of frames and contextual information for terminology, and standardization through automated term extraction and editing tools. The book wants to demonstrate that terminology is of everyday importance and is of interest to everyone interested in the theory and practice of terminology, from terminologists to computer specialists to lecturers and students. More

Living in Poverty: Developmental Poetics of Cultural Realities by Ana Cecília S Bastos and Elaine P Rabinovich (Advances in Cultural Psychology) covers the results of investigation of social realities and their public representation in Brazilian poor communities, with a particular emphasis on the use of cultural tools to survive and create psychological and social novelty under conditions of severe poverty. A relevant part of it brings together the multi-faceted evidence of a decade of research concentrated in two particular low-income areas in the city of Salvador da Bahia, Brazil. Other studies conducted in other Brazilian areas and in Cali, Colombia are included.
In contrast to most representations of poverty in the social sciences which create a "calamity story" of the lives of poor people, the coverage in this book is meant to balance the focus on harsh realities with the cultural-psychological resiliency of individuals and families under poverty. More

Tacit Knowledge in Organizational Learning by Peter Busch (IGI Publishing) Understanding the complexity of tactic knowledge has become increasingly important to the enhancement of organizational flow. This book aims to advocate the need for human factor consideration from a (tactic) knowledge capital point of view.  More

Washing the Brain - Metaphor and Hidden Ideology by Andrew Goatly (Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture: John Benjamins Publishing) What is meant by the notoriously vague term 'ideology'? Defining this could take a whole book, so Goatly provisionally adopts van Dijk's definition and description in Ideol­ogy: "the basis of the social representations shared by members of a group. This means that ideologies allow people, as group members, to organise the multitude of social beliefs about what is the case, good or bad, right or wrong, for them and to act accordingly.” One major determinant of these social representations will be "the material and symbolic interests of the group ... power over other groups (or resistance against the domination by other groups) may have a central role and hence function as a major condition and purpose for the development of ideologies". This emphasis on power is central to my use of the term, and, for brevity's sake one might adopt Thompson's definition "meaning in the service of power". More

Policing & Criminology

 

The War Against Domestic Violence edited by Lee Ross (CRC Press) Violence, including intimate partner violence, is a leading cause of death, disability, and hospitalization in the United States and other regions worldwide. Despite growing awareness, the numbers of reported and unreported incidents continue to rise. Drawing on the contributions of criminal justice practitioners and academic theorists who bring sober insight to a highly charged issue, The War Against Domestic Violence, edited by Lee Ross, associate professor of criminal justice at the University of Central Florida, offers a comprehensive, interdisciplinary study of this phenomenon. More

Computer-Aided Forensic Facial Comparison by Martin Paul Evison and Richard W. Vorder Bruegge (CRC) Countless facial images are generated everyday through digital and cell phone cameras, surveillance video systems, webcams, and traditional film and broadcast video. As a result, law enforcement and intelligence agencies have numerous opportunities to acquire and analyze images that depict persons of interest. Computer-Aided Forensic Facial Comparison is a comprehensive exploration of the scientific, technical, and statistical challenges facing researchers investigating courtroom identification from facial images.

Supported by considerable background material, research data, and prototypic statistical and applications software, this volume brings together contributions from anthropologists, computer scientists, forensic scientists, and statisticians. Topics discussed include:

  • Face database collection in 3D
  • Error and distinguishing power associated with craniofacial landmarks
  • Statistical analysis of face shape variation
  • Comparison of instrumentation
  • Court admissibility issues
  • Missing data
  • Computer applications development

Based on the quantification and analysis of more than 3000 facial images, this seminal work lays the foundation for future forensic facial comparison, computer applications development, and research in face shape variation and analysis. Using experimental and real case data, it demonstrates the influence of illumination, image resolution, perspective, and pose angle on landmark visibility. Two DVDs are included which contain the raw 3D landmark datasets for 3000 faces, additional datasets used in 2D analysis, and computer programs and spreadsheets used in analysis and in the development of prototypic applications software. More

Juvenile Delinquency: The Core 4th ed. by Larry J. Siegel, Brandon C. Welsh (Wadsworth Publishing) The study of juvenile delinquency is a dynamic, ever-changing field of scientific inquiry in which the theories, concepts, and processes are constantly evolving. We have, as such, updated this text to reflect the changes that have taken place in the study of delinquent behavior during the past few years. This new edition includes a review of recent legal cases, research studies, and policy initiatives. It aims to provide a groundwork for the study of juvenile delinquency by analyzing and describing the nature and extent of delinquency, the suspected causes of delinquent behavior, and the environmental influences on youthful misbehavior. It also covers what most experts believe are the critical issues in juvenile delinquency and analyzes crucial policy issues, including the use of pretrial detention, waiver to adult court, and restorative justice programs. And because we recognize that many students are career oriented, we have included a new feature called Professional Spotlight, which aims at giving students a glimpse of what professionals are now doing to help troubled youth.
Commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) has become a global social problem. CSEC involves youth (aged 17 years old and younger) who engage in the performance of sexual acts in return for a fee, food, drugs, shelter, clothing, gifts, or other goods. The sexual conduct may include any direct sexual contact, such as prostitution, or live or filmed performances (e.g., stripping, pornography) involving sexual acts or for the sexual gratification of others. The United States Department of Justice estimates that as many as 100,000 children are currently involved in prostitution, child pornography, and trafficking, but the true number may be in the millions. More

Bad Men Do what Good Men Dream: A Forensic Psychiatrist Illuminates the Darker Side of Human Behavior by Robert I. Simon (American Psychiatric Publishing) Dr. Simon has upgraded his classic volume on "The Dark Side of Human Behavior" with new chapters, new insights and a clear understanding of the thin line holding good men from acting on inner impulses. His illustrations and case examples shed new light on the work he has done in forensic psychiatry. This book, as most of Dr. Simon's book, is a must read for the serious student of human behavior. More

Forensic Human Identification: An Introduction edited by Tim Thompson, Sue Black (CRC Press) In philosophy, "identity" is whatever makes an entity definable and recognizable, in terms of possessing a set of qualities or characteristics that distinguish it from entities of a different type. "Identification," therefore, is the act of establishing that identity. In the 17th century, John Locke proposed his tabula rasa (blank slate) philosophy, which concluded that the newborn child is without identity and that it is entirely defined by society and circumstances after birth. While this may have some basis for discussion in the worlds of metaphysics, psychology, and social anthropology it has restricted relevance in the worlds of disaster-victim identification, biometrics, and forensic science. It is, however, true to say that, although many of our parameters of biological identity may be acquired after birth (tattoos, trauma, disease, dental intervention, etc.), many are biologically inherent and established in the period between conception and birth (DNA profile, sex, fingerprints, blood group, etc.). More

Murdering Myths: The Story Behind the Death Penalty by Judith W. Kay (Polemics: Rowman and Littlefield) (Paperback) goes beyond the hype and statistics to examine Americans' deep-seated beliefs about crime and punishment. She argues that Americans share a counter-productive idea of justice--that punishment corrects bad behavior, suffering pays for wrong deeds, and victims' desire for revenge is natural and inevitable. Drawing on interviews with both victims and inmates, Kay shows how this belief harms perpetrators, victims, and society and calls for a new narrative that recognizes the humanity in all of us. More

Law

The Software Interface Between Copyright and Competition Law by Ashwin van Rooijen (Information Law: Wolters Kluwer, Brill) The success of computer programs often depends on their ability to interoperate - or communicate - with other systems. Conversely, the extent to which interoperability between computer programs is enabled or facilitated by the law can have a significant impact on innovation and free competition in software. The two legal disciplines that primarily determine the extent to which software interoperability is enabled or facilitated are copyright law and competition law. This important book offers the first in-depth analysis of the current respective copyright and competition law approaches to interoperability. With respect to copyright law, the book offers a comprehensive analysis of how copyright law has been applied to computer programs, how this form of protection affects interoperability, and how the European Software Directive - including its interpretation by courts in Member States - aims to facilitate interoperability. With respect to competition law, the author critically analyzes the application of Article 102 of the TFEU to refusals to supply interface information, including a discussion on the tension between copyright and competition law. The author also examines the substantial body of U.S. case law and accompanying literature on the interplay between copyright law, software and interoperability. Based further on a comparison with relevant ex-ante interconnection rules in European design protection law and telecommunications law, the author advances several recommendations aimed at facilitating interoperability in software copyright law.

Three interrelated approaches combine to convey an integrated and immediately accessible understanding of the subject:

  • - how interoperability affects innovation and free competition in software;
  • - given its effects on innovation and competition, whether copyright law or competition law should primarily be concerned with regulating software interoperability; and
  • - which particular instruments are suitable to approach this problem within these respective regimes.

Because of the in-depth analysis of the software interoperability problem with related legal disciplines in both Europe and the United States, and due to the clarity of the presentation, this will be welcomed as a valuable resource by practitioners, jurists, and academics concerned with copyright protection of computer software, interoperability and the interaction between copyright and competition law. More

Private Dispute Resolution in International Business: Negotiation, Meditation, Arbitration 2nd revised edition 2 volumes by Klaus Peter Berger (Kluwer Law International: Brill) consists of two books and an interactive DVD ROM. Volume I follows the progress of a dispute between two companies, in step-by-step detail, through negotiation, mediation, and arbitration in turn. Volume II provides precise, informed solutions to the problems raised in the first volume's case study. The DVD ROM contains not only all contracts and other written documentation produced during the dispute - including all procedural orders and awards rendered by the arbitral tribunal during the arbitration, the text of legal materials such as arbitration laws and rules and international conventions, and further learning and teaching aids-but also almost 100 videos dramatising the negotiation, mediation, and arbitration proceedings described in the books, conducted by highly experienced practitioners active in the field of international dispute resolution. Subtitles in the videos refer the viewer to paragraphs in the books where each relevant legal problem is analysed. In addition, an internet home page provides regular updates. To summarise: the Case Study (Volume I) provides a realistic and highly practical approach to learning and teaching the law and practice of private dispute resolution in international business; the Handbook (Volume II) provides a comprehensive comparative study of the law of international dispute resolution; the DVD ROM allows for a highly innovative, interactive teaching and learning experience, and provides a comprehensive collection of arbitration rules and other documentary material; and, the videos on the DVD ROM clearly manifest the soft skills and advocacy skills required to successfully resolve international business disputes, including the unique opportunity to draw on-screen comparisons between the negotiation, mediation, and arbitration methods. With its concrete and highly practical approach, this innovative teaching and training tool for international dispute resolution will be of immeasurable value to students and teachers of dispute resolution, corporate counsel, international lawyers, and business people. The DVD-ROM has a large number of interactive teaching and learning features which you can use simultaneously with the books or separately. More

A Concise History of the Common Law by Theodore F.T. Plucknett (Liberty Fund) As always during its long history, English common law, upon which American law is based, has had to defend itself against the challenge of civil law's clarity and traditions. That challenge to our common law heritage remains today. A Concise History of the Common Law provides a source for common-law understanding of individual rights, not in theory only, but protected through the confusing and messy evolution of courts, and their administration as they struggled to resolve real problems. The first half of the book is a historical introduction to the study of law. Theodore F.T. Plucknett discusses the conditions in political, economic, social, and religious thought that have contributed to the genesis of law. This section is a brief but full introduction to the study of law. The second half of the book consists of chapters introducing readers to the history of some of the main divisions of law, such as criminal, tort, property, contract, and succession. Plucknett (1897-1965) was a legal historian whose lifelong passion was the investigation of early English law and society; he dedicated himself to tackling this specialized subject and was equally obsessed with explaining his findings to those less informed. He was a fellow of the British Academy and president of the Royal Historical Society from 1949 to 1953. More

Justice Brennan: Liberal Champion by Seth Stern and Stephen Wermiel (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) Justice Brennan is an insider look at court history and the life of William Brennan (1906-1997), champion of free speech and public access to information, and widely considered the most influential Supreme Court justice of the twentieth century. Brennan served as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court from 1956 to 1990 and was known during his term for being a leader of the judicially liberal wing of the Court. But the Court and all of American politics is still roiled by the 40-year long conservative backlash that Brennan's decisions about school prayer, the death penalty, and affirmative action helped fuel. While he remains a hero to two generations of progressive lawyers including Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, he is also still the symbol of judicial activism decried by conservatives.More

The Criminal Justice Student Writer's Manual, 5th Edition by William A. Johnson, Jr., Richard P. Rettig, Gregory M. Scott, and Stephen M. Garrison (Pearson Prentice Hall) is designed to help students learn how to research and write in criminal justice and improve their writing skills. The five authors, all of whom are faculty at the University of Central Oklahoma except Richard Retting who is at Easter Oregon University, take a comprehensive approach. The book discusses the writing process, the mechanics of writing, the importance of research and how to cite sources. Now expanded to six parts, this edition includes a new chapter on writing probation and parole reports. Combining both guidelines and samples, it prepares students to write a variety of criminal justice papers, from condensed presentations to complex reports. This edition includes a new writing assignment and covers record keeping, violation reports and pre-sentence investigation reports. More

The Creeping Codification of the New Lex Mercatoria, 2nd Revised Edition by Klaus Peter Berger (Kluwer Law International) This greatly revised edition of an influential 1999 book consolidates its authoritative advocacy of the New Lex Mercatoria (NLM). Since the publication of the first edition, self-regulation and private governance in international business have gained world-wide recognition. Three dynamic commercial law initiatives in particular demonstrate that, in spite of the long-lasting dispute about the nature and dogmatic underpinnings of NLM, legal theory and international practice have accepted that transnational business law is open to the 'codification' of its contents. The UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts, the Principles of European Contract Law, and (most recently and dramatically) the TransLex Principles all draw their legal conclusions from observing the real-life phenomena surrounding regional and global integration of markets and foreign direct investment. This new edition presents an advanced elaboration of the author's 'Creeping Codification' thesis based on the TransLex Principles, an Internet-based method using an ongoing, spontaneous, and dynamic codification process which is never completed. The TransLex Principles contain black-letter texts of 128 principles and rules of the NLM with comprehensive, constantly updated comparative law references from domestic statutes, court decisions, doctrine, arbitral awards, and uniform laws. An annex to this book contains a synopsis of the wealth of materials available on the TransLex web site as well as a rare personal account of one of the fathers"of the NLM, Philippe Kahn. International legal practitioners and academics alike have long complained about the inadequate legal framework for international trade and commerce. This book, with its far-reaching theoretical and methodological analysis of the doctrine of an autonomous transnational economic law, clearly opens the way to an independent and workable third legal system alongside domestic law and public international law. It offers international practitioners (contract negotiators, arbitrators, attorneys and other representatives of the parties in international arbitration proceedings) with a powerful and reliable instrument to apply transnational commercial law in daily legal practice. More

Justice in Genetics: Intellectual Property and Human Rights from a Cosmopolitan Liberal Perspective by Louise Bernier (Edward Elgar) The opposition between human rights and intellectual property concretely, between civil society and industry has left millions of I people without needed medicines and has had only limited success in encouraging research on the diseases that overwhelmingly affect the world's poor. If one truly wishes to address both the economic and health conditions in developing countries, one would need to overcome this opposition.
The analysis in Justice in Genetics offers a justification for engaging in a global and more equitable redistribution of health-related resources. Louise Bernier, Professor and Head, Law and Life Sciences Program, University of Sherbrooke, Quebec, examines if and how this theory of distribution translates into positive law and analyzes the barriers to legal compliance and global distributive justice in health. Other topics analyzed in Justice in Genetics include intellectual property and international human rights and the extent to which the philosophy and structure of each of these normative systems furthers the goal of distributing benefits equitably and globally; the use of strong and original normative landmarks to justify relying on a cosmopolitan approach to global justice based on health needs; and the social, political, economic and legal obstacles and opportunities resulting from the commercialization of the quickly evolving field of genetics.
As described in the preface, genetics is one sector in which there has been tremendous evolution and progress over the last few decades. While it is believed that genetics could offer tremendous opportunities for global health improvement, there is also a fear that existing global health inequalities will be amplified by the evolution of genetics. More

Marshall also wrote Gender and the Law: Contemporary Issues and Trends (Routledge Cavendish) Providing an essential reference point for undergraduates and postgraduates studying gender and the law, this book covers areas such as feminist jurisprudence, family law and motherhood, criminal law and international humanitarian and human rights law. Current themes including personal autonomy, liberal neutrality, identity politics and essentialism are explored.
But rather than being a purely descriptive black letter textbook the book provides scholarly analysis by references to themes, trends and theoretical perspectives in contemporary legal developments. The key strengths and weaknesses involved in highlighting gender in the law are investigated, with each chapter showing whether gender impacts on the relevant area of law, and how it does so. Primary and secondary source materials are interpreted from different perspectives to clarify trends and forecast future developments. Through this analysis the book helps the reader to critically evaluate for themselves the issues, and to obtain a more critical view of the relevant areas of law. 

Business

Shine: Using Brain Science to Get the Best from Your People by Edward M. Hallowell (Harvard Business Review Press)
Great managers serve others; they develop the shine in their people.
In Shine, bestselling author and ADD expert Edward Hallowell draws on brain science, performance research, and his own experience helping people maximize their potential to present a proven process for getting the best from their people.
The central question for all managers in these pressure-packed, confusing, unsettled times is how to draw the most from their talent. Finding the shine in someone, helping all ones people perform at their highest levels, isn't rocket science. It is brain science, but it has yet to be codified into a simple and reliable process that all managers can use. In Shine, Hallowell formulates such a code, the Cycle of Excellence. It is a process that he has created and honed over the past twenty-five years as a doctor, practicing psychiatrist, author, consultant, instructor at the Harvard Medical School and director of the Hallowell Center for Cognitive and Emotional Health. He explains peak performance and provides managers with a practical plan to bring the best from the people who work for them. More 

International Corporate Social Responsibility: The Role of Corporations in the Economic Order of the 21st Century by Ramon Mullerat (Kluwer Law International) At present, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for some may not be more than an attitude. Can it be more? What degree of commitment can we reasonably expect of corporations in the struggle to eradicate poverty, promote human rights, halt climate change, and reverse ongoing environmental destruction? It is not a question of power; more than half of the world's top 100 economies are corporations, not nation-states. Whatever can be done to 'fix' the world's problems, corporations are in the best position to do. That they should act accordingly does not seem unwarranted, and for more and more corporations CSR is in fact a stated objective.

In this impassioned work the well-known international lawyer Ramon Mullerat suggests that one of the root problems faced by CSR is one of definition. Various interested parties define the term differently, and their definitions clash. However, Dr Mullerat clearly shows in these pages that this very multiplicity of perspectives in fact enhances our ultimate comprehension of CSR. It is through an honest appreciation of the motivations and hopes behind each point of view - and of the nature of their conflict - that the way forward emerges. And as we examine these various perspectives, we inevitably come to a clear awareness of the role of corporations in the 21st century world order. More

Feminism

Theorizing Feminisms: A Reader by Elizabeth Hackett, Sally Haslanger (Oxford University Press) "What is sexist oppression?" "What should be done about it?" Organized around these questions, Theorizing Feminisms: A Reader provides an overview of theoretical feminist writing about the quest for gender justice. Incorporating both classic and cutting-edge material, the reader takes into account the full diversity of women, highlighting the effects of race, ethnicity, nationality, class, sexuality, and religion on women's experience. More

Archaeology

Opening the Tablet Box: Near Eastern Studies in Honor of Benjamin R. Foster  by Sarah C. Melville and Alice L. Slotsky (Culture and History of the Ancient Near East: Brill Academic Publishers) is a scholarly tribute to Benjamin R. Foster, Laffan Professor of Assyriology and Babylonian Literature and Curator of the Babylonian Collection at Yale University, from some of his students, colleagues, and companions, in appreciation of his outstanding achievements and in thanks for his friendship. Reflecting on the remarkable breadth of the honoree’s research interests, the twenty-six original papers in this Festschrift cover a wide range of topics in ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian literature, economic and social history, as well as art and archaeology. More

Handbook Of Archaeological Methods edited by Herbert D. G. Maschner, Christopher Chippindale (Altamira Press) comprises 37 articles by leading archaeologists on the key methods used by archaeologists in the field, in analysis, in theory building, and in managing cultural resources. The book is destined to become the key reference work for archaeologists and their advanced students on contemporary archaeological methods. More

Ethics

Plants As Persons: A Philosophical Botany by Matthew Hall and Harold Coward (SUNY Series on Religion and the Environment: State University of New York, SUNY) Plants are people too? Not exactly, but in this work of philosophical botany Matthew Hall challenges readers to reconsider the moral standing of plants, arguing that they are other-than-human persons. Plants constitute the bulk of our visible biomass, underpin all natural ecosystems, and make life on Earth possible. Yet plants are considered passive and insensitive beings rightly placed outside moral consideration. As the human assault on nature continues, more ethical behavior toward plants is needed. Hall surveys Western, Eastern, Pagan, and Indigenous thought, as well as modern science and botanical history, for attitudes toward plants, noting the particular resources for plant personhood and those modes of thought which most exclude plants. The most hierarchical systems typically put plants at the bottom, but Hall finds much to support a more positive view of plants. Indeed, some Indigenous animisms actually recognize plants as relational, intelligent beings who are the appropriate recipients of care and respect. New scientific findings encourage this perspective, revealing that plants possess many of the capacities of sentience and mentality traditionally denied them. More

Spinoza's Ethics: A Collective Commentary edited by Michael Hampe, Ursula Renz and Robert Schnepf (Brill's Studies in Intellectual History: Brill Academic) Against the background of religious wars and in full knowledge of the relevance of the new exact sciences of the seventeenth-century, Spinoza developed one of the most ambitious projects in the history of philosophy: his Ethics written in geometrical style. It is a book that deals with ontology, epistemology, human emotions, as well as with the freedom and bondage of individuals and societies, in one continuous line of argumentation. At the same time, the book combines the highest standards of conceptual and argumentative clarity with a wisdom that is saturated with the experience of life. Even today it sets a standard for enlightened theoretical and practical reasoning. This collective commentary discusses each of the five parts of Spinoza's Ethics. In the introduction, historical consequences of the Ethics are elucidated, as well as its continued philosophical relevance. More

Friendship in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Age: Explorations of a Fundamental Ethical Discourse by Albrecht Classen (Fundamentals of Medieval and Early Modern Culture: De Gruyter) Although it seems that erotic love generally was the prevailing topic in the medieval world and the Early Modern Age, parallel to this the Ciceronian ideal of friendship also dominated the public discourse, as this collection of essays demonstrates. Following an extensive introduction, the individual contributions explore the functions and the character of friendship from Late Antiquity (Augustine) to the 17th century. They show the spectrum of variety in which this topic appeared - not only in literature but also in politics and even in painting. More

The Unlikely Buddhologist: Tiantai Buddhism in Mou Zongsan's New Confucianism by Jason Clower (Modern Chinese Philosophy: Brill Academic) Mou Zongsan (1909-1995) was such a seminal, polymathic figure that scholars of Asian philosophy and religion will be absorbing his influence for at least a generation. Drawing on expertise in Confucian, Buddhist, Daoist, and modern Western thought, Mou built a system of "New Confucian" philosophy aimed at answering one of the great questions: "What is the relationship between value and being?" However, though Mou acknowledged that he derived his key concepts from Tiantai Buddhist philosophy, it remains unclear exactly how and why he did so. In response, this book investigates Mou's buddhological writings in the context of his larger corpus and explains how and why he incorporated Buddhist ideas selectively into his system. Written extremely accessibly, it provides a comprehensive unpacking of Mou's ideas about Buddhism, Confucianism, and metaphysics with the precision needed to make them available for critical appraisal. More

The Ethics of Confucius and Aristotle: Mirrors of Virtue by Jiyuan Yu (Routledge Studies in Ethics and Moral Theory: Routledge) The emergence of virtue ethics, which might be the most significant development in contemporary ethics, takes Aristotle's ethics as the most important paradigm. Aristotle's ethical thinking, in contrast to modern Western moral philosophy, starts with a reflection on human life as a whole instead of on some moral acts, and focuses on character and virtue instead of on principles and rules. This way of doing ethics is shared by Confucius. First, Confucius seeks to find the human dao, i.e. the way to become a good person. Second, to become a good person, one must cultivate de, that is, a dispositional character (indeed, de has been generally translated as "virtue" in English). Confucius calls this dispositional character ren. Ren has been generally translated as "benevolence" or "humanity," but is also widely referred to as "virtue," "complete virtue," or "cardinal virtue." More

Overcoming Our Evil: Human Nature and Spiritual Exercises in Xunzi and Augustine by Aaron Stalnaker (Moral Traditions: Georgetown University Press) Can people ever really change? Do they ever become more ethical, and if so, how? "Overcoming Our Evil" focuses on the way ethical and religious commitments are conceived and nurtured through the methodical practices that Pierre Hadot has called 'spiritual exercises'. These practices engage thought, imagination, and sensibility, and have a significant ethical component, yet aim for a broader transformation of the whole personality. Going beyond recent philosophical and historical work that has focused on ancient Greco-Roman philosophy, Stalnaker broadens ethical inquiry into spiritual exercises by examining East Asian as well as classical Christian sources, and taking religious and seemingly 'aesthetic' practices such as prayer, ritual, and music more seriously as objects of study. More specifically, "Overcoming Our Evil" examines and compares the thought and practice of the early Christian Augustine of Hippo, and the early Confucian Xunzi. Both have sophisticated and insightful accounts of spiritual exercises, and both make such ethical work central to their religious thought and practice. Yet to understand the two thinkers' recommendations for cultivating virtue we must first understand some important differences. Here Stalnaker disentangles the competing aspects of Augustine and Xunxi's ideas of 'human nature'. His groundbreaking comparison of their ethical vocabularies also drives a substantive analysis of fundamental issues in moral psychology, especially regarding emotion and the complex idea of 'the will', to examine how our dispositions to feel, think, and act might be slowly transformed over time. The comparison meticulously constructs vivid portraits of both thinkers demonstrating where they connect and where they diverge, making the case that both have been misunderstood and misinterpreted. In throwing light on these seemingly disparate ancient figures in unexpected ways, Stalnaker redirects recent debate regarding practices of personal formation, and more clearly exposes the intellectual and political issues involved in the retrieval of 'classic' ethical sources in diverse contemporary societies, illuminating a path toward a contemporary understanding of difference. More

The Politics of Peace by Te-Li Lau (Supplements to Novum Testamentum: Brill Academic) Although scholarship has noted the thematic importance of peace in Ephesians, few have examined its political character in a sustained manner throughout the entire letter. This book addresses this lacuna, comparing Ephesians with Colossians, Greek political texts, Dio Chrysostom's Orations, and the Confucian Four Books in order to ascertain the rhetorical and political nature of its topos of peace. Through comparison with analogous documents both within and without its cultural milieu, this study shows that Ephesians can be read as a politico-religious letter 'concerning peace' within the church. Its vision of peace contains common political elements (such as moral education, household management, communal stability, a universal humanity, and war) that are subsumed under the controlling rubric of the unity and cosmic summing up of all things in Christ. More

Philosophy of Science

Thomas Bradwardine, Insolubilia edition, translation and introduction by Stephen Read, series editor Philip W. Rosemann (Dallas Medieval Texts and Translations Series, 10: Peeters) Read's introduction, edition, and translation familiarize us with the roots of the medieval discussion of the insolubles in Aristotle's works, and with the more immediate context of Bradwardine's treatment, in particular his refutation of the views of contemporaries such as Walter Burley. The appendices include material that post-dates Bradwardine, yet shows clear signs of its dependence on the prince of the natural philosophers, as Ralph Strode called him half a century later. On the other hand, Professor Read's introduction brings Bradwardine's solution of the problem of insolubles into direct dialogue with modern logic, represented by the theories of figures such as Alfred Tarski, Saul Kripke, and Frederic Fitch. What is fascinating here is that the univocity of logical language, its quasi-mathematical precision, appears to render such a dialogue relatively uncomplicated. In cases where thinkers from different periods do not adopt such logical language, it is much more difficult to offer mutual translations of their systems of thought, which remain more closely tied to metaphors, literary genres, and other non-philosophical factors. Philipp W. Rosemann. More

Life Science

The Animals Reader: The Essential Classic and Contemporary Writings edited by Linda Kalof, and Amy Fitzgerald (Berg) The study of animals - and the relationship between humans and other animals - is now one of the most fiercely debated topics in contemporary science and culture.
Animals have a long history in human society, providing food, labour, sport and companionship as well as becoming objects for exhibit. More contemporary uses extend to animals as therapy and in scientific testing. As natural habitats continue to be destroyed, the rights of animals to co-exist on the planet - and their symbolic power as a connection between humans and the natural world - are ever more hotly contested.
The Animals Reader brings together the key classic and contemporary writings from Philosophy, Ethics, Sociology, Cultural Studies, Anthropology, Environmental Studies, History, Law and Science. As the first book of its kind, The Animals Reader provides a framework for understanding the current state of the multidisciplinary field of animal studies.This anthology will be invaluable for students across the Humanities and Social Sciences as well as for general readers. More 

Biology of Floral Scent edited by Natalia Dudareva, Eran Pichersky (CRC) The first book of its kind, Biology of Floral Scent provides comprehensive coverage of state-of-the-art floral scent research. This book explores the major aspects of floral scent biology including its function and significance for plants and pollinators, composition, enzymology, evolution, and commercial aspects. It employs a modern approach that incorporates molecular biology, enzymology, chemistry, entomology, genetic engineering, and functional genomics. By combining literature on plant reproduction into a single volume, this text provides an easy reference for plant biologists, natural products chemists, cell and molecular biologists, ecologists, and entomologists. More

Litchi and Longan: Botany, Production and Uses edited by C. M. Menzel , G. K. Waite (CABI Publishing) Litchi (lychee) and the related fruit longan are grown extensively in China and South-East Asia, as well as in Australia, Florida (USA), Southern Europe and Southern Africa. This book represents the only comprehensive, balanced and internationally focused publication on these fruit. It covers all aspects of production, from taxonomy and breeding, to propagation, flowering and fruit set, to diseases, pests and postharvest storage and processing. Written by leading scientists from Australia, China, India, Israel, Thailand and the USA, the book represents the standard work on its subject. As the fruit are imported to many developed countries, the book will be of interest to a wide audience. More

Medicine

Diagnostic Imaging for the Emergency Physician: Expert Consult – Online and Print by Joshua Broder, MD (Elsevier Saunders) …I have no doubt that this text is destined to become one of our specialty's landmark textbooks, a classic that will be considered a must-have resource for all emergency physicians and emergency departments. My kudos go to Dr. Broder for his tremendous work. This textbook represents a valuable addition to the emergency medicine litera­ture…. – Amal Mattu, MD, FAAEM, FACEP, Director, Emergency Medicine Residency, Director, Faculty Development Fellowship, Professor of Emergency Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore More

Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics, 19th edition: Expert Consult Premium Edition – Enhanced Online Features and Print by Robert M. Kliegman, MD, Bonita F. Stanton, MD, and Richard E. Behrman, MD; Joseph W. St. Geme III, MD, and Nina F. Schor, MD, PhD, (Elsevier Saunders) Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics has been the world's most trusted pediatrics resource for nearly 75 years. Drs. Robert Kliegman, Bonita Stanton, Richard Behrman, and two new editors – Joseph St. Geme, III, MD and Nina Schor, MD, who contribute on the key subspecialties, including pediatric infectious disease and pediatric neurology – continue to provide the most authoritative coverage of the best approaches to care. This streamlined 19th edition covers the latest on genetics, neurology, infectious disease, melamine poisoning, sexual identity and adolescent homosexuality, and psychosis associated with epilepsy. The expanded online access features the regularly updated text, case studies, new references and journal articles, Clinics articles, and exclusive web-only content. More

Pain Management, 2nd edition: Expert Consult – Online and Print by Steven D. Waldman, MD, JD (Elsevier Saunders) Pain Management allows clinicians to get the expert, evidence-based guidance they need to diagnose pain. Regarded as the premiere clinical reference in its field, Pain Management, 2nd Edition, edited by noted pain authority Steven Waldman, provides comprehensive, practical, highly visual guidance to help readers apply the most recent evidence-based advances in pain management. This popular text has been updated with 13 new chapters that include the latest information on interventional and ultrasound-guided techniques, and acute regional pain nerve blocks. A user-friendly format with lavish illustrations and complete online access enable readers to access trusted guidance quickly and apply the information easily to bring effective pain relief to patients. Author Waldman, MD, JD, is Clinical Professor of Anesthesiology, Professor of Medical Humanities and Bioethics, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, Kansas City. More

Cancer of the Skin: Expert Consult – Online and Print, 2nd edition edited by Darrell S. Rigel, MD, June K. Robinson, MD, Merrick I. Ross, MD, Robert J. Friedman, MD, MSc (Med), Clay J. Cockerell, MD, Henry W. Lim, MD, Eggert Stockfleth, MD, PhD, & John M. Kirkwood, MD (Elsevier Saunders) Skin cancer rates are rising dramatically. In the United States each year there are over 2 million newly diagnosed cases – more than all other cancers combined. The public health ramifications are profound. Skin cancer, once viewed as a relatively uncommon disease limited to dermatologists and surgeons, is now being seen on a daily basis by primary care physicians, oncologists and other healthcare professionals. The resulting need to educate all of these groups on recognizing and managing patients with this cancer is also increasing. More

Goldman's Cecil Medicine: Expert Consult Premium Edition, 24th edition – Enhanced Online Features and Print, Single Volume (Goldman, Cecil Medicine: Text W/ Continually Updated Online) edited by Lee Goldman, MD and Andrew I. Schafer, MD (Elsevier Saunders) This 24th Edition of Goldman's Cecil Medicine symbolizes a time of extraordinary advances in medicine and in technological innovations for the dissemination of information. This textbook and its associated electronic products incorporate the latest medical knowledge in formats that are designed to appeal to learners who prefer to access information in a variety of ways. More

Gastrointestinal and Liver Pathology,  2nd edition,: Excerpt Consult – Online and Print edited by Christine A. Iacobuzio-Donahue, MD, PhD and Elizabeth Montgomery, MD, series editor, John R. Goldblum (Foundations in Diagnostic Pathology Series: Elsevier Saunders) Gastrointestinal and Liver Pathology , a title in the Foundations in Diagnostic Pathology series, provides the essential information on the pathological entities encountered in practice in an easy-to-use format. Drs. Christine A. Iacobuzio-Donahue and Elizabeth Montgomery examine the full scope of neoplastic and non-neoplastic disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, including disorders of the tubular gastrointestinal tract, pancreatobiliary tree, and liver – from clinical features and ancillary studies to differential diagnoses and prognostic and therapeutic considerations. More

Energetics in Acupuncture: Five Element Acupuncture Made Easy by Radha Thambirajah (Churchill Livingstone) Energetics is an area of growing interest and importance in acupuncture. Acupuncture treatment aims to correct the imbalance of energy, or qi; energetics is a method of diagnosing which aspects of qi are out of balance. One symptom can be caused by many different imbalances of organs and it is essential for the therapist to correctly diagnose the problem before commencing treatment. More 

Atlas of Head and Neck Surgery: Expert Consult – Online and Print edited by James I. Cohen, MD, PhD, FACS and Gary L. Clayman, DMD, MD, FACS (Elsevier Saunders) Learning how to do an operation can be a daunting task, whether as a first-year resident preparing the night before a case never previously encountered or as a surgeon in a busy practice faced with incorporating a new technique or technology into his or her surgical repertoire. Atlas of Head and Neck Surgery acknowledges the realities of how this process occurs. It delivers unparalleled visual guidance and insight to help clinicians master the most important and cutting-edge head and neck procedures. Consistent black-and-white drawings and detailed text lead them through the steps of the standard operations, while commentary from leading experts presents alternative techniques – complete with explanations about the differences, nuances, pearls, and pitfalls of each approach. Both in print and online, Atlas of Head and Neck Surgery captures groundbreaking techniques such as video-assisted thyroid and parathyroid surgeries; transoral laser surgeries; and robotic surgeries. More

Head and Neck Imaging, 5th edition 2 Volume Set: Expert Consult Online and Print by Peter M. Som and Hugh D. Curtin (Elsevier Mosby) Head and Neck Imaging, 5th edition in two volumes delivers the encyclopedic and authoritative guidance readers have come to expect from this book the expert guidance they need to diagnose the most challenging disorders using today's most accurate techniques. New state-of-the-art imaging examples throughout help readers recognize the imaging presentation of the full range of head and neck disorders using PET, CT, MRI, and ultrasound. Enhanced coverage of the complexities of embryology, anatomy, and physiology, including original color drawings and new color anatomical images, help readers distinguish subtle abnormalities and understand their etiologies. Access to the complete book's contents is available online, which allows readers to compare its images onscreen with the imaging findings they encounter in practice. More

Management of Acute Obstetric Emergencies: Female Pelvic Surgery Video Atlas Series by Baha M. Sibai, Series Editor: Mickey Karram (Female Pelvic Video Surgery Atlas Series: Elsevier Saunders) Acute medical and surgical emergencies in pregnancy and postpartum are the leading cause of maternal mortality and morbidity worldwide. During the past decade there has been a substantial increase in the incidence of these emergencies. Secondary to the change in demographics of women considering pregnancy as well as a change in obstetric practice, these emergencies are expected to continue to increase. Specifically many women are delaying pregnancy until they are in their 40s. Couple this with an epidemic of obesity as well as rising cesarean section rates (with a tremendous increase in repeat cesarean section) and one can easily understand why these emergencies will continue to commonly occur. Also due to an improvement in medical and surgical care and advances in medical technology, many women with serious preexisting medical and surgical disorders are now surviving to reproductive age and are capable of pregnancy. More

Micronutrients in Health and Disease by Kedar N. Prasad (Informa, CRC Press) Increased oxidative stress due to the production of excessive amounts of free radicals along with the effects of chronic inflammation play a major role in the initiation and progression of a host of disease states, ranging from cancer to posttraumatic stress disorder. In varying doses, micronutrients, including antioxidants, B vitamins, and minerals have been shown to help ameliorate these effects. However, clinical studies using isolated micronutrients to combat these illnesses have proven that such limited therapy has produced inconsistent results. More

Total-Body Toning with Lashaun Dale DVD by Lashaun Dale [DVD, running time 89 minutes] (Human Kinetics) Total-Body Toning asks: Are you ready for a workout that produces results results you can see and feel? If so, look no further than Total-Body Toning with Lashaun Dale, your personal program for slimming, shaping, and sculpting your body. More 

Biomechanics of Human Motion: Basics and Beyond for the Health Professions by Barney F. LeVeau (Slack Incorporated) The focus of Biomechanics of Human Motion is on force. Force is always with us. Force is involved with large objects, such as the interaction among the sun, moon, and earth, or in very small objects, such as interactions among cells. The book presents a straightforward approach to the basic principles, theories and applications of biomechanics and provides numerous techniques and examples for approaching biomechanical situations enhanced by healthcare professionals. More

Food and Nutrients in Disease Management by Ingrid Kohlstadt (CRC) Food and nutrients are the original medicine and the shoulders on which modern medicine stands. But in recent decades, food and medicine have taken divergent paths and the natural healing properties of food have been diminished in the wake of modern technical progress. With contributions from highly regarded experts who work on the frontlines of disease management, Food and Nutrients in Disease Management effectively brings food back into the clinical arena and helps physicians put food and nutrients back on the prescription pad.  More

Psychology

Transforming Self and Others Through Research: Transpersonal Research Methods and Skills for the Human Sciences and Humanities by Rosemarie Anderson and William Braud (SUNY Series in Transpersonal and Humanistic Psychology: SUNY Press) Research approaches in the field of transpersonal psychology can be transformative for researchers, participants, and the audience of a project. Transforming Self and Others Through Research offers these transformative approaches to those conducting research across the human sciences and the humanities. Rosemarie Anderson and William Braud first described such methods in their book Transpersonal Research Methods for the Social Sciences (1998). Since that time, in hundreds of empirical studies, these methods have been tested and integrated with qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method research designs. Anderson, Professor of Transpersonal Psychology at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology and Braud, Professor Emeritus at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, writing with a contribution from Jennifer Clements, invite scholars to bring multiple ways of knowing and personal resources to their scholarship. While emphasizing established research conventions for rigor, Anderson and Braud encourage researchers to plumb the depths of intuition, imagination, play, mindfulness, compassion, creativity, and embodied writing as research skills. Experiential exercises to help readers develop these skills are provided. More

The Postconventional Personality: Assessing, Researching, and Theorizing Higher Development  by Angela H. Pfaffenberger, Paul W. Marko and Allan Combs (SUNY Series in Transpersonal and Humanistic Psychology: State University of New York Press, SUNY) Cutting-edge volume devoted to optimal adult development. Postconventional stages of personality development involve growth well beyond the average, and have become a rapidly growing subject of research not only in developmental psychology circles but also in areas such as executive leadership development. This book is the first to bring together many of the major researchers in the field, showcasing diverse perspectives ranging from the spiritual to the corporate. The contributors present research on essential questions about the existence and prevalence of high levels of personal growth, whether such achievement is correlated with other types of psychological growth, whether high levels of growth actually indicate happiness, what kinds of people exhibit these higher levels of development, how they may have developed this expanded perspective, and the characteristics of their viewpoints, abilities, and preoccupations. For anyone interested in Ken Wilber's integral psychology, as well as those in executive coaching, this volume is an invaluable resource and will be a standard reference for years to come. More

Primate Communication and Human Language: Vocalisation, gestures, imitation and deixis in humans and non-humans edited by Anne Vilain, Jean-Luc Schwartz, Christian Abry and Jacques Vauclair (Advances in Interaction Studies Series, Vol. 1: John Benjamins Publishing Company)
After a long period where it has been conceived as iconoclastic and almost forbidden, the question of language origins is now at the center of a rich debate, confronting acute proposals and original theories. Most importantly, the debate is nourished by a large set of experimental data from disciplines surrounding language. The editors of Primate Communication and Human Language have gathered researchers from various fields, with the common objective of taking as seriously as possible the search for continuities from non-human primate vocal and gestural communication systems to human speech and language, in a multidisciplinary perspective combining ethology, neuroscience, developmental psychology and linguistics, as well as computer science and robotics. New data and theoretical elaborations on the emergence of referential communication and language are debated by some of the most creative scientists in the world.
Editors of the volume are Anne Vilain, Universite de Grenoble and GIPSA-Lab; Jean-Luc Schwartz, CNRS GIPSA-Lab, Grenoble; Christian Abry, Stendhal University (Grenoble, 1971-2009); and Jacques Vauclair, Universite de Provence, Aix-en-Provence. More

Jung in the 21st Century Volume One: Evolution and Archetype by John Ryan Haule (Routledge) The first volume provides an original overview of Jung's work, demonstrating that it is fully compatible with contemporary views in science. It draws on a wide range of scientific disciplines including, evolution, neurobiology, primatology, archaeology and anthropology.
Divided into three parts, areas of discussion include:

  • evolution, archetype and behavior
  • individuation, complexes and theory of therapy
  • Jung's psyche and its neural substrate
  • the transcendent function
  • history of consciousness.

Jung in the 21st Century Volume One: Evolution and Archetype, is an invaluable resource for all those in the field of analytical psychology, including students of Jung, psychoanalysts and psychotherapists with an interest in the meeting of Jung and science.
Jung in the 21st Century Volume Two: Synchronicity and Science by John Ryan Haule (Routledge) The second volume explores Jung's understanding of synchronicity and argues that it offers an important contribution to contemporary science. Whilst the scientific world has often ignored Jung's theories as being too much like mysticism, Haule argues that what the human psyche knows beyond sensory perception is extremely valuable.
Divided into two parts, areas of discussion include:

  • shamanism and mastery
  • border zones of exact science
  • meditation, parapsychology and psychokinesis.

Jung in the 21st Century Volume Two Synchronicity and Science continues to be an invaluable resource for all those in the field of analytical psychology, including students of Jung, psychoanalysts and psychotherapists with an interest in the meeting of Jung and science. More 

New Dangerous Liaisons: Discourses on Europe and Love in the Twentieth Century by Luisa Passerini, Liliana Ellena, and Alexander C. T. Geppert (Making Sense of History: Berghahn) In Europe, love has been given a prominent place in European self-representations from the Enlightenment onwards. The category of love, stemming from private and personal spheres, was given a public function and used to distinguish European civilization from others. Contributors to this volume trace historical links and analyze specific connections between the two discourses on love and Europe over the course of the twentieth century, exploring the distinctions made between the public and private, the political and personal. In doing so, this volume develops an innovative historiography that includes such resources as autobiographies, love letters, and cinematic representations and takes issue with the exclusivity of Eurocentrism. Its contributors put forth hypotheses about the historical pre-eminence of emotions and consider this history as a basis for a non-Eurocentric understanding of new possible European identities.  More

New Horizons in the Neuroscience of Consciousness  by Elaine K. Perry, Daniel Collerton,  Fiona E.N. LeBeau, and  Heather Ashton (Advances in Consciousness Research: John Benjamins Publishing Company) A fascinating cornucopia of new ideas, based on fundamentals of neurobiology, psychology, psychiatry and therapy, this book extends boundaries of current concepts of consciousness. Its eclectic mix will simulate and challenge not only neuroscientists and psychologists but entice others interested in exploring consciousness. Contributions from top researchers in consciousness and related fields project diverse ideas, focused mainly on conscious nonconscious interactions:

  1. Paving the way for new research on basic scientific -physiological, pharmacological or neurochemical - mechanisms underpinning conscious experience (`bottom up' approach);
  2. Providing directions on how psychological processes are involved in consciousness (`top down' approach);
  3. Indicating how including consciousness could lead to new understanding of mental disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, dementia, and addiction;
  4. More provocatively, but still based on scientific evidence, exploring consciousness beyond conventional boundaries, indicating the potential for radical new thinking or 'quantum leaps' in neuroscientific theories of consciousness.

This is a unique book on consciousness. It is a fascinating cornucopia of new ideas on the subject, based on the fundamentals of neurobiology, psychology, psychiatry and therapy that extends the boundaries of current concepts of consciousness. Readers, not only neuroscientists and psychologists but also professionals from other quarters of the academic world with a general interest in exploring consciousness, should find this eclectic mix as stimulating and challenging as we do. More

The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human by V. S. Ramachandran (W.W. Norton) Drawing on strange and thought-provoking case studies, a neurologist in The Tell-Tale Brain offers insight into the evolution of the uniquely human brain.
Preeminent neuroscientist V. S. Ramachandran, the director of the Center for Brain and Cognition and a professor with the Psychology Department and Neurosciences Program at the University of California, San Diego, is at the forefront of his field. One of the most original and daring neuroscientists of our age, Ramachandran has spent much of his life's work expanding our understanding of the human brain. His pioneering spirit and innovative methods have resulted in Richard Dawkins dubbing him the Marco Polo of neuroscience. And Nobel laureate Eric Kandel hails Ramachandran as the modern Paul Broca, referring to the founding father of neurology. But if Ramachandran takes after anyone, it may just be Sherlock Holmes. More

Jungian Psychoanalysis: Working in the Spirit of Carl Jung by Murray Stein (Open Court) Written by 40 of the most notable Jungian psychoanalysts — spanning 11 countries, and boasting decades of study and expertise — Jungian Psychoanalysis represents the pinnacle of Jungian thought. This handbook brings up to date the perspectives in the field of clinically applied analytical psychology, centering on five areas of interest: the fundamental goals of Jungian psychoanalysis, the methods of treatment used in pursuit of these goals, reflections on the analytic process, the training of future analysts, and special issues, such as working with trauma victims, handicapped patients, or children and adolescents, and emergent religious and spiritual issues. Discussing not only the history of Jungian analysis but its present and future applications, this book marks a major contribution to the worldwide study of psychoanalysis. More

Religious and Spiritual Issues in Psychiatric Diagnosis: A Research Agenda for DSM-V by John R. Peteet, Francis G. Lu, and William E. Narrow (American Psychiatric Publishing) The relationship between spirituality and mental health has been the focus of growing interest and research over the last decade. However, the implications for psychiatric classification are only beginning to be systematically explored. Religious and Spiritual Issues in Psychiatric Diagnosis: A Research Agenda for DSM-V gathers for the first time the collective contributions of the prominent clinicians and researchers who participated in the 2006 Corresponding Committee on Religion, Spirituality and Psychiatry of the American Psychiatric Association. The symposium was an attempt to expand the current DSM text on "Specific Culture, Age, and Gender Features" and "Differential Diagnosis" to include the impact of religious/spiritual factors on phenomenology, differential diagnosis, course, outcome, and prognosis. The philosophical issues at stake in the differential diagnosis of spiritual versus psychiatric conditions are explored at length, as is the case for updating the V Code for a Spiritual or Religious Problem. Two expert commentaries follow each chapter and seek to contextualize and extend the research, analysis, and recommendations presented. Mental health clinicians who seek to practice in a more holistic, integrative manner will find in this unique and important volume the theoretical and practical foundations to support and further their work. More

The Expression of Time by Wolfgang Klein, Wolfgang Klein, and Ping Li (The Expression of Cognitive Categories: De Gruyter Mouton) Time is the most fundamental category of human cognition and action, and all human languages have developed many devices to express it. These include verbal categories, such as tense and aspect, but also adverbials, particles, and principles of discourse organisation. The book consists of what are essentially tutorials on the various notions of time, their encoding in different languages, on the formal semantics, the computer modelling and the acquisition of temporality. It also includes chapters on the mental representation and on culture-specific perspectivation of time and event structure. It concludes with a comprehensive bibliography. More

On Behalf of the Mystical Fool: Jung on the Religious Situation by John P. Dourley (Routledge) Jung's explanation of the religious tendency of the psyche addresses many sides of the contemporary debate on religion and the role that it has in individual and social life. This book discusses the emergence of a new mythic consciousness and details ways in which this consciousness supersedes traditional concepts of religion to provide a spirituality of more universal inclusion.
On Behalf of the Mystical Fool examines Jung's critique of traditional western religion, demonstrating the negative consequences of religious and political collective unconsciousness, and their consequent social irresponsibility in today's culture. The book concludes by suggesting that a new religiosity and spirituality is currently emerging in the West based on the individual’s access to the sense of ultimacy residual in the psyche, and seeking expression in a myth of a much wider compass.

This book will be of interest to scholars and students at all levels who are engaged in the expanding field of Jungian studies. It will also be key reading for anyone interested in the theoretical and therapeutic connections between the psyche and religious experience. More

The Red Book by C. G. Jung, edited by Sonu Shamdasani (W. W. Norton & Company) The Red Book, also known as Liber Novus (Latin for A New Book), is a 205-page manuscript written and illustrated by Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung between approximately 1914 and 1930, which was not published or shown to the public until 2009. Until 2001, his heirs denied scholars access to the book, which he began after a falling-out with Sigmund Freud in 1913. Jung originally titled the manuscript Liber Novus (literally meaning A New Book in Latin), but it was informally known and published as The Red Book. The book is written in calligraphic text and contains the many illuminations. More

Emotions: Their Rationality & Consistency by Marion Ledwig (Peter Lang Publishing) stands in the tradition of current emotion theorists, such as Elster, Damasio, de Sousa, Greenspan, Nussbaum, and Solomon, who advance the rationality of the emotions. Yet this book goes beyond their accounts, for it not only defends the view that emotions can be termed rational, but also considers in which different senses emotions can be termed rational. Besides discussing whether emotional intelligence and emotional consistency are forms of emotional rationality, this book makes clear how far this view on the rationality of the emotions can be generalized: whether it can, for instance, be generalized to computers having rational emotions and whether emotional responses to art can be considered to be rational. This book draws not only on knowledge from neuroscience, cognitive science, and philosophy of mind, but also on evolutionary theory and developmental psychology, to substantiate its position. More

Rational Animals? edited by Susan Hurley, Matthew Nudds (Oxford University Press) Are any nonhuman animals rational? What issues are we raising when we ask this question? Are there different kinds or levels of rationality, some of which fall short of full human rationality? Should any behaviour by nonhuman animals be regarded as rational? What kinds of tasks can animals successfully perform? From what kinds of processes does their behaviour result, and do they count as rational processes? Is it useful or theoretically justified to raise questions about the rationality of animals at all? Should we be interested in whether they are rational? Why does it matter? More

Neuropsychology: Clinical and Experimental Foundations by Lorin Elias, Deborah Saucier (Allyn & Bacon) Combining a unique organizational approach with an engaging writing style, Neuropsychology: Clinical and Experimental Foundations offers a comprehensive and reader-friendly introduction to the functions of the brain. Chapters take a functional perspective, weaving together discussions on intact and dysfunctional systems. Lorin Elias and Deborah Saucier address critical issues in the field, including neuroanatomy, sensation and perception, memory, and emotion. The text also incorporates helpful pedagogical features, including Real World and Current Controversy boxes as well as self-tests and internal previews and reviews, all of which are valuable tools for teaching and learning. Thorough and up-to-date, Neuropsychology: Clinical and Experimental Foundations is the ideal text to introduce students to the dynamic workings of the brain. More

Spiritually Oriented Psychotherapy  edited by Len Sperry, Edward P. Shafranske (American Psychological Association) Spiritually Oriented Psychotherapy is the first book to critically and coherently survey how spirituality can be incorporated into a range of psychotherapeutic approaches, including psychoanalytic, cognitive—behavioral, humanistic, interpersonal, transpersonal, and others. Volume editors Len Sperry and Edward P. Shafranske, both well recognized as outstanding scholars, bring together a stellar group of contributors to describe the theoretical and clinical basis for their approaches and to illustrate their clinical application. A uniform structure across chapters and an integrative final chapter allow for easy comparison of the approaches. The volume editors examine current and future issues as well as the legacy of the psychoanalytic and Jungian foundations of spiritually oriented psychotherapy. This volume demonstrates the utility and accessibility of examining the spiritual dimension in therapy. It is likely to become a vital resource for the experienced clinician and the standard text for graduate programs in clinical, counseling, and consulting psychology and clinical social work. More

Handbook Of Spirituality And Worldview In Clinical Practice by Allan M. Josephson, John R. Peteet (American Psychiatric Association) Unlike works that focus primarily on spiritual experience, this clearly written volume focuses on worldview - the cognitive aspects of belief - and how it affects the behavior of both patient and clinician. Also unlike other works, this remarkable volume summarizes assessment, formulation, and treatment principles, using powerful case vignettes to illustrate how these principles can be applied to any individual of any faith or "non-faith," including practical clinical information on major faith traditions and on the secular (i.e., atheist/agnostic) worldview. This refreshing text sheds much-needed light on an area too often obscure to many clinicians. Because it bridges several disciplines in a novel way, this thought-provoking volume will find a diverse audience among mental health care students, educators, and professionals everywhere concerned with religious and spiritual aspects of their patients' lives. More

Gods of the Word: Archetypes in the Consonants by Margaret Magnus (Truman State University Press) “In 1993, as part of a computer project I was working on, I found myself reading an English dictionary and dividing all the words into prefixes, suffixes and roots. I had read studies in linguists which suggested that the initial consonants of a word had a set of meanings, and the remaining rhyming part also had a set of meanings. One 'sense' of 'str-' is linearity: string, strip, stripe, street, etc. And one sense of '-ap' is flat: cap, flap, lap, map, etc. If you put them together, you get a flat line: 'strap'. The idea fascinated me, and since I was marking all these words anyway, I decided to keep an eye out for these classes which have similar meaning and pronunciation both. It turns out that it is possible by means of a series of repeatable experiments to show that certain meanings hang out with certain phonemes and others do not. More

The Greatest Dictionary ever Produced in America, Easily a Rival of the OED.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopaedia edited by William Dwight Whitney and Benjamin Smith (Gorgias Historical Dictionaries 1: Gorgias Press) 12 volumes From the 1889–1910 edition: 978-1-59333-375-1 comprises twelve volumes, including over 500,000 defined terms, and two volumes of concise encyclopedic entries. The Century Dictionary contains full, accurate, and clear definitions, and its many supporting quotations are chosen to illustrate, where helpful, the typical uses of a word or its specific sense. Whitney, who is still regarded as the greatest American linguist of his time, gathered together a remarkable staff of general and specialist editors, which included many luminaries of American scholarship, to compile this beautiful dictionary. More

History

Democratic Enlightenment: Philosophy, Revolution, and Human Rights, 1750-1790 [Hardcover] by Jonathan I. Israel (Oxford University Press) That the Enlightenment shaped modernity is uncontested. Yet remarkably few historians or philosophers have attempted to trace the process of ideas from the political and social turmoil of the late eighteenth century to the present day. This is precisely what Jonathan Israel now does.
In Democratic Enlightenment, Israel demonstrates that the Enlightenment was an essentially revolutionary process, driven by philosophical debate. The American Revolution and its concerns certainly acted as a major factor in the intellectual ferment that shaped the wider upheaval that followed, but the radical philosophes were no less critical than enthusiastic about the American model. From 1789, the General Revolution's impetus came from a small group of philosophe-revolutionnaires, men such as Mirabeau, Sieyes, Condorcet, Volney, Roederer, and Brissot. Not aligned to any of the social groups represented in the French National assembly, they nonetheless forged "la philosophie moderne"--in effect Radical Enlightenment ideas--into a world-transforming ideology that had a lasting impact in Latin America, Canada and eastern Europe as well as France, Italy, Germany, and the Low Countries. In addition, Israel argues that while all French revolutionary journals powerfully affirmed that la philosophie moderne was the main cause of the French Revolution, the main stream of historical thought has failed to grasp what this implies. Israel sets the record straight, demonstrating the true nature of the engine that drove the Revolution, and the intimate links between the radical wing of the Enlightenment and the anti-Robespierriste "Revolution of reason." More

New Perspectives on Late Antiquity by David Hernandez de la Fuente (Cambridge Scholars Publishing) Perhaps it is fully justified to think of Late Antiquity (3rd 7th centuries) as the first Renaissance of the Classical World. This period can be considered a fundamental landmark for the transmission of the Classical Legacy and the transition between the ancient and the medieval individual. During Late Antiquity the Classical Education or enkyklios paideia of Hellenism was linked definitively to the Judeo-Christian and Germanic elements that have modelled the Western World. The present volume combines diverse interests and methodologies with a single purpose unity and diversity, as a Neo-Platonic motto providing an overall picture of the new means of researching Late Antiquity. This collective endeavour, stemming from the 2009 1st International Congress on Late Antiquity in Segovia (Spain), focuses not only on the analysis of new materials and latest findings, but rather puts together different perspectives offering a scientific update and a dialogue between several disciplines. New Perspectives on Late Antiquity contains two main sections 1. Ancient History and Archaeology, and 2. Philosophy and Classical Studies including both overview papers and case studies. Among the contributors to this volume are some of the most relevant scholars in their fields, including P. Brown, J. Alvar, P. Barcela, C. Cododer, F. Fronterotta, D. Gigli, F. Lisi and R. Sanz. More

Bonaventura Vulcanius, Works and Networks: Bruges 1538-Leiden 1614 by Helene Cazes (Brill's Studies in Intellectual History: Brill Academic) One of the last Renaissance humanists, Bonaventura Vulcanius, is still a mysterious figure, even though he left a correspondence, at least two Alba amicorum, and a collection of books and manuscripts. Born in Bruges in 1538, the son of a disciple of Erasmus, he spent the troubled decades of the 1560s and 1570s wandering Europe (Burgos, Toledo, Cologne, Frankfort, Geneva, Basel, Antwerp). In 1581 Vulcanius was appointed professor of Greek and Latin Letters at the University of Leiden. He edited and translated many rare texts, composed dictionaries, wrote laudatory poems, and compiled the first chapters of a history of the Germanic languages. This volume gathers recent research on this versatile philologist, and includes the first editions of many unpublished works and documents. More

The Death of Raymond Yellow Thunder and Other True Stories from the Nebraska-Pine Ridge Border Towns by Stew Magnuson, with a foreword by Pekka Hmlinen, with Series Editor John R. Wunder (Plains Histories Series: Texas Tech University Press) The Death of Raymond Yellow Thunder engages a number of key themes of current scholarship racism, masculinity, construction of cross-cultural spaces, historical memory without the interference of a heavy theoretical apparatus. Refreshingly, Magnuson doesn't place anything between his words and readers. His stories lie bare and thoroughly accessible. Pekka Hmlinen, More

The Birth of Classical Europe: A History from Troy to Augustine by Simon Price and Peter Thonemann (Viking) An innovative and intriguing look at the foundations of Western civilization from two leading historians.
The influence of ancient Greece and Rome can be seen in every aspect of our lives. From calendars to democracy to the very languages we speak, Western civilization owes a debt to these classical societies. Yet the Greeks and Romans did not emerge fully formed; their culture grew from an active engagement with a deeper past, drawing on ancient myths and figures to shape vibrant civilizations.
In The Birth of Classical Europe, the latest entry in the Penguin History of Europe, historians Simon Price and Peter Thonemann present a fresh perspective on classical culture in a book full of revelations about civilizations we thought we knew. In this impeccably researched and immensely readable history we see the ancient world unfold before us, with its grand cast of characters stretching from the great Greeks of myth to the world-shaping Caesars. A landmark achievement, The Birth of Classical Europe provides insight into an epoch that is both incredibly foreign and surprisingly familiar. More

Contesting Realities: The Public Sphere and Morality in Southern Yemen by Susanne Dahlgren (Gender, Culture, and Politics in the Middle East Series: Syracuse University Press)

Aden, the former capital of the only Marxist republic in the Arab world, has returned to the headlines as the scene of a popular uprising against the tribal-military rule of present-day Yemen. Susanne Dahlgren in Contesting Realities traces the social and political history of Aden from the late British colonial era, exploring the evolving ways in which the society has been established in a tension between contesting normative orders. Dahlgren, academy of Finland research fellow at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies, offers a complex picture of Adeni society in which norms for propriety vary according to the contexts of social space. She stresses individual agency and power to maneuver within a traditional patriarchal Muslim community. More

The Cultural Front: The Laboring of American Culture in the Twentieth Century (New Edition) by Michael Denning (Verso) A panoramic history of the culture of Depression-era America and the Popular Front, The Cultural Front, written by Michael Denning who teaches American Studies at Yale University, charts the extraordinary upsurge of cultural activity and theory in America that began during the Great Depression. Spawned by the Popular Front of the Communist Party, it grew to encompass virtually every aspect of high and popular art in the U.S., instigating one of the most culturally rich and exciting periods in American history. More

Britain and Tibet 1765-1947: A selected annotated bibilography of British relations with Tibet and the Himalayan states including nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan, revised and updated to 2003 by Julie G. Marshall (Routledge) This bibliography is a record of British relations with Tibet in the period 1765 to 1947. As such it also involves British relations with Russia and China, and with the Himalayan states of Ladakh, Lahul and Spiti, Kumaon and Garhwal, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and Assam, in so far as British policy towards these states was affected by her desire to establish relations with Tibet. It also covers a subject of some importance in contemporary diplomacy. It was the legacy of unresolved problems concerning Tibet and its borders, bequeathed to India by Britain in 1947, which led to border disputes and ultimately to war between India and China in 1962. These borders are still in dispute today. It also provides background information to Tibet's claims to independence, an issue of current importance. The work is divided into a number of sections and subsections, based on chronology, geography and events. The introductions to each of the sections provide a condensed and informative history of the period and place the books and articles in their historical context. Most entries are also annotated. This work is therefore both a history and a bibliography of the subject, and provides a rapid entry into a complex area for scholars in the fields of international relations and military history as well as Asian history.

Julie G. Marshall is a research associate in Asian Studies at La Trobe University in Melbourne where she was formerly Head Reference Librarian. She has published numerous bibliographic works in the field of social sciences and has travelled widely in the Himalayan Region including Tibet. More

War and Revolution in the Caucasus: Georgia Ablaze by Stephen F. Jones (ThirdWorlds: Routledge) The South Caucasus has traditionally been a playground of contesting empires. This region, on the edge of Europe, is associated in Western minds with ethnic conflict and geopolitical struggles. In August 2008, yet another war broke out in this distant European periphery as Russia and Georgia clashed over the secessionist territory of South Ossetia. The war had global ramifications culminating in deepening tensions between Russia on the one hand, and Europe and the USA on the other. Speculation on the causes and consequences of the war focused on Great Power rivalries and a new Great Game, on oil pipeline routes, and Russian imperial aspirations.
This book takes a different tack which focuses on the domestic roots of the August 2008 war. Collectively the authors in this volume present a more multidimensional context for the war. They analyze historical relations between national minorities in the region, look at the link between democratic development, state-building, and war, and explore the role of leadership and public opinion. Digging beneath often simplistic geopolitical explanations, the authors give the national minorities and Georgians themselves, the voice that is often forgotten by Western analysts.
This book is based on a special issue of Central Asian Survey. More

Russian-Muslim Confrontation in the Caucasus by Muhammad Tahir al-Qarakhi and Lev Tolstoi, edited by Thomas Sanders, Ernest Tucker and Gary Hamburg (Soas/Routledge Studies on the Middle East: Routledge) This book presents two important texts, The Shining of Daghestani Swords by al-Qarakhi and a new translation for a contemporary readership of Lev Tolstoi's Hadji Murat, illuminating the mountain war between the Muslim peoples of the Caucasus and the imperial Russian army from 1830 to 1859. The editors offer a complete commentary on the various intellectual and religious contexts that shaped the two texts and explain the historical significance of the Russian—Muslim confrontation. It is shown that the mountain war was a clash of two cultures, two religious outlooks and two different worlds. The book provides an important background to the ongoing contest between Russia and indigenous people for control of the Caucasus. The two translations are accompanied by short introductions and by a longer commentary intended for readers who desire a broader introduction to the tragic conflict in the Caucasus whose effects still reverberate in the twenty-first century.
Thus, this book presents two perspectives on the Caucasus: Tolstoi's enlightened European viewpoint and al-Qarakhi's indigenous interpretation. The commentary at the end of this work analyzes the war of worlds between imperial Russia and the Islamic mountaineers. Because of the currency of the subject matter, the eminence of Tolstoi, and the privileged proximity of al-Qarakhi to Imam Shamil and to the imam's view of the conflict, we think this book is an excellent case study of cultural collision. As such we hope it will be of interest to specialists in Russian and Middle Eastern studies, to teachers of world and European history courses, and to the educated public in the English-speaking world and beyond. More

Enduring Loss in Early Modern Germany: Cross Disciplinary Perspectives edited by Lynne Tatlock, series editor Thomas Al Brady, Jr & Roger Chickering (Studies in Central European Histories: Brill)
Enduring Loss in Early Modern Germany assembles cross-disciplinary perspectives on the experience of and responses to forms of material and spiritual loss in early modern Germany. It traces how individuals and communities registered, coped with, and made sense of such events as war, religious reform, bankruptcy, religious marginalization, the death of spouses and children, and the loss of freedom of movement through a spectrum of activities including writing poetry, keeping diaries, erecting monuments, collecting books, singing, painting, repeatedly migrating, and painting, and thereby not only turned loss into gain but self-consciously made history.  More

Hearsay, History, and Heresy: Collected Essays on the Roman Republic by Richard E. Mitchell and Randall Howarth (Gorgias Press) This book features a selection of articles written be Richard Mitchell concerning the origins and development of the ancient Roman state and the modern historiography of our understanding of that history. The introduction and commentary are provided by one of his PhD students,. Randall S. Howarth, whose own work is very much concerned with the same topics. The publication of these articles in a single volume provides a comprehensive commentary on the assumptions governing modern reconstructions of the period and the problems informing those assumptions.
The social and institutional history of the Roman Republic, especially that of the earliest years, is one of the most problematic and contested areas of study in the ancient world. Modem scholars have tended to assume that we should take the broad outlines of the traditions handed to us by the Romans at face value, despite their invention hundreds of stories after the fact. The inevitable result is that the dominant modern narrative contains a core of assumptions of dubious historicity. While some scholars have made significant attempts to correct portions of the obviously flawed narrative, virtually none have gone so far as to question its most fundamental elements. Mitchell's work has always done exactly this and when originally published, the majority of his arguments were regarded as radical. Nevertheless, over the last twenty years, or so, scholarly consensus is inexorable moving toward Mitchell. This collection traces the development of Mitchell's thought processes and highlights all of the most important evidence. More

The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville translated with introduction and notes by Stephen A. Barney, W. J. Lewis, J. A. Beach, Oliver Berghof [Hardcover] (Cambridge University Press) is a complete English translation of the Latin Etymologies of Isidore, Bishop of Seville (c.560-636). Isidore compiled the work between c.615 and the early 630s and it takes the form of an encyclopedia, arranged by subject matter. It contains much lore of the late classical world beginning with the Seven Liberal Arts, including Rhetoric, and touches on thousands of topics ranging from the names of God, the terminology of the Law, the technologies of fabrics, ships and agriculture to the names of cities and rivers, the theatrical arts, and cooking utensils. Isidore provides etymologies for most of the terms he explains, finding in the causes of words the underlying key to their meaning. This book offers a highly readable translation of the twenty books of the Etymologies, one of the most widely known texts for a thousand years from Isidore's time. More and More

The Narrative Secret of Flannery O'Connor: The Trickster as Interpreter by Ruthann Knechel Johansen (University Alabama Press) "Johansen... goes a long way toward unlocking the diverse strategies employed by O'Connor. Her thoroughgoing knowledge of O'Connor's work is always impressive. It's a lively time for O'Conner criticism, and Johansen is certainly one of O'Connor's more lively readers." - South Atlantic Review "I recommend the book to readers interested in the trickster, and those who know and love O'Connor's fiction enough to relish new insights.... Johansen has earned her place in the ranks of those who continue to delight in O'Connor's fiction, to delight in attempts to explain its power over us, and to take pleasure in the certainty that her fiction will continue to elude our explanations." - Text and Performance Quarterly
Examines the structural elements and narrative methods Flannery O'Connor employs "to create her fictional landscape." Focuses on her use of the archetypal trickster as "a likely guide through [her] landscape and interpreter of her narrative secret."  More

Fiction

Journal of a UFO Investigator: A Novel by David J. Halperin (Viking) is set in the early part of 1963 and seems to have been written up around 1966. It covers of the arc of high school, the crucible of adolescent angst and alienation. On first reading it seems to be a slightly autobiographical coming of age tale of a lonely scholarly Jewish boy, living more in the Gentile world than in the comfort of a Jewish extended family. His mother is chronically ill with a heart condition which may have emerged during her pregnancy with Danny. He feels a profound guilty responsibility for his mother's illness and at the same time finds that her behavior distances him from her. Danny idealizes his slightly remembered grandfather who was a religious Jew, a Rabbi. His father is an unhappy man who is mostly remote except for his occasional excavations of his son’s pimples with a pin. At 13 Danny Schapiro is at the end of childhood and his childhood friends and at the beginning of adolescence with its sexual anxiety and naivety. Danny is confused about his Jewishness, he has been warned by his mother that it sets him apart, especially when it comes to girls and dating. It seems all adolescents share a trait of universal loneliness and disaffection where they are set apart and find no group to cling. More

Access his interview here: Right click "...save target as" download to folder to listen to MP3.

Literature

Habibi by Craig Thompson (Pantheon) Habibi is a fable of exploitation and the cruelty of the strong toward the weak. It is a love story, though the the kind of love it celebrates--maternal, platonic, erotic--remains elusive throughout. It is also a sermon complete with hell-fire and brimstone and strident pleading about the dangers of the sin of waste. Most of all it is prophecy dressed in poetry's clothing--an artful shriek announcing of the end of the world.

The story is finally an allegory of the soul as woman, and black child, as sexually exploited, enslaved and environmentally raped set in a mythically ensnared fable of extreme industrial development and oriental despotic capital wanton waste. This fable juxtaposes traditional Qur'anic folklore with its modernistic isolation of a child adoptive mother and their unconventional love and resolution. The introduction of magic squares and calligraphic symbolism offers in the end a sustained cosmological twist and depth to the tale. More

Land (3 vols.) by Pak Kyung-Ni and translated with Introduction and glossary by Agnita Tennant (Global Oriental: Brill) Acclaimed as the most powerful and important piece of Modern Korean writing, the epic sweep of Land is breathtaking in its conception and execution. Set against the background of the struggle between conservative and modernizing forces at the turn of the twentieth century, it follows the fortunes of several generations of Korean villagers during a time of unsurpassed turbulence and change. To Korean readers, upon whose imagination Land has an unparalleled hold, and for whom the characters and village have a palpable reality, it is the great national novel — the work that embodies—the many elements that make up Korea and the Koreans of today.
Beginning with the village's celebration of the Harvest Moon Festival in 1897, the plot takes place over a ten-year period and revolves around the household of Ch'oe Chisu, a rich landowner, who, though envied by many for his wealth, is embittered by the fact that his wife has not borne him a son. Characters emerge upon whom the rest of the story devolves — including the Lady Yun with her prophetic wisdom; the wilful Sohui, daughter of Ch'oe Chisu; and the tender-hearted Wolson, accepting as her due the ignominy of life as a shaman's daughter.
An enthralling saga and panorama of Korean village life in the early 20th century (roughly 1895-1925) by that country's most highly acclaimed living novelist. The story, which possesses both the formal dimensions and the high seriousness of epic, is set in a period during which Japan held strong sway over Korea, regulating its business and industry and making arbitrary land grants to Japanese settlers. At the heart of the novel is a series of conflicts between Korean conservatives too enervated to oppose Japan's acquisitive energies and radical native insurgents. Their resistance culminated in the Dong Hak rebellion, a watershed historical event that casts long shadows over the intricately interwoven fates of Kyong-Ni's vividly drawn characters--most especially Choi Chisoo, an arrogant, wealthy landowner, hated and envied by his neighbors and servants, and at continual odds with his embittered wife, whose ``failure'' to bear him a son provokes Choi's bitter displeasure and sets in motion a chain of events leading to his downfall. The author employs a kind of Upstairs, Downstairs structure, in which nondescript villagers and assorted second-class citizens observe, comment on, and in some ways parallel the lives of their "betters.'' Among the most memorable are Pyongsan, an impoverished landowner waiting patiently through half a lifetime to be revenged on the avaricious Choi; the handsome villager Yongi; and the scheming Guinyo, the ambitious housemaid whose plan to rise above her station precipitates chaos, losses, and death, and drives the story to its stunning, tragic conclusion. The energy of melodrama surges through this big novel, yet as a portrait of a culture and a knowing psychological tale of the social and personal consequences of rigidly enforced class differences, it's a work of high literary distinction as well. A much-beloved work in Korea (where it was made into an equally popular television series) that should find many grateful admirers in America as well. More

Mockingbird Passing: Closeted Traditions and Sexual Curiosities in Harper Lee's Novel by Holly Virginia Blackford (The University of Tennessee Press) How often does a novel earn its author both the Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded to Harper Lee by George W. Bush in 2007, and a spot on a list of  '100 best gay and lesbian novels'? Clearly, To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning tale of race relations and coming of age in Depression-era Alabama, means many things to many people. In Mockingbird Passing, Holly Blackford invites readers to view Lee’s beloved novel in parallel with works by other iconic American writers – from Emerson, Whitman, Stowe, and Twain to James, Wharton, McCullers, Capote, and others. In the process, she locates the book amid contesting literary traditions while simultaneously exploring the rich ambiguities that define its characters. More 

Deep Waters: The Textual Continuum in American Indian Literature by Christopher B. Teuton (University of Nebraska Press) Weaving connections between indigenous modes of oral storytelling, visual depiction, and contemporary American Indian literature, Deep Waters demonstrates the continuing relationship between traditional and contemporary Native American systems of creative representation and signification. Christopher B. Teuton, associate professor of English at the University of Denver, begins with a study of Mesoamerican writings, Din sand paintings, and Haudenosaunee wampum belts. He proposes a theory of how and why indigenous oral and graphic means of recording thought are interdependent, their functions and purposes determined by social, political, and cultural contexts. More 

Windows to the Mind: Metaphor, Metonymy and Conceptual Blending  by Sandra Handl and Hans-Jorg Schmid (Cognitive Linguistic Research; De Gruyter Mouton) Focusing on a wide range of linguistic structures, the articles in this volume explore the explanatory potential of two of the most influential cognitive-linguistic theories, conceptual metaphor and metonymy theory and conceptual blending theory. Whether enthusiastic or critical in their stance, the contributors seek to enhance our understanding of how conventional as well as creative ways of thinking influence our language and vice versa. More

I Is an Other: The Secret Life of Metaphor and How It Shapes the Way We See the World by James Geary (Harper) "It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!" This is one of Shakespeare's most famous lines and one of the most well-known metaphors in literature. But metaphor is much more than a mere literary device employed by love-struck poets when they refer to their girlfriends as interstellar masses of incandescent gas. It is also intensely yet inconspicuously present in everything from ordinary conversation and commercial messaging to news reports and political speeches. Metaphor is at work in all fields of human endeavor, including economics, business, science, and psychology.

In I Is an Other, James Geary takes readers from Aristotle's investigation of metaphor right up to the latest neuroscientific insights into how metaphor works in the brain. Along the way, he demonstrates how metaphor affects financial decision making, how metaphor lurks behind effective advertisements, how metaphor inspires learning and discovery, and how metaphor can be used as a tool to achieve emotional insight and psychological change. Geary also explores how a life without metaphor, as experienced by some people with autism spectrum disorders, significantly changes the way a person interacts with the world. As Geary demonstrates, metaphor has leaped off the page and landed with a mighty splash right in the middle of our stream of consciousness. More  

The Survival of Myth: Innovation, Singularity and Alterity Revised edition by Paul Hardwick and David Kennedy (Cambridge Scholars Publishing) What are myths and what are they for? Myths are stories that both tell us how to live and remind us the inescapability and pull of the collective past. The Survival of Myth: Innovation, Singularity and Alterity explores the continuing power of primal stories to inhabit our thinking. An international range of contributors examine a range of texts and figures from the Bible to Cormac McCarthy and from Thor to the Virgin Mary to focus on the way that ancient stories both give access to the unconscious and offer individuals and communities personae or masks. Myths translated and recreated become, in this sense, very public acts about very private thoughts and feelings. The subtitle of the book, Innovation, Singularity and Alterity, reflects the way in which the history of cultures in all genres is a history of innovation, of a search for new modes of expression which, paradoxically, often entails recourse to myth precisely because it offers narratives of singularity and otherness which may be readily appropriated. The individual contributors offer testament to the continuing significance of myth through its own constant metamorphosis, as it both reflects and transforms the societies in which it is (re)produced. More

Paul Valéry: L`Écriture en devenir by Brian Stimpson (Peter Lang) Cet ouvrage présente une analyse de l'écriture poétique de Paul Valery selon la perspective de la critique génétique. A travers l'examen des poèmes en prose de jeunesse et des manuscrits de La Jeune Parque et de La Pythie, Paul Valery: L'Écriture en euenir étudie pour la première fois la théorie et la pratique de la composition chez Valery comme processus en evolution continue. Animée par une tension soutenue entre un regard de puissance et la presence de plus en plus insistante de la musique intime du moi, la « poétique du faire » qui en ressort est envisagèe comme source d'energie créatrice et de chant. Bénéficiant de documents et manuscrits inédits, ce travail entreprend d'élucider la dynamique intime du processus créateur, manifeste dans l'autoanalyse que Valery pratique dans le miroir du feuillet manuscrit. Il sera d'intérêt pour tout lecteur fasciné par les luttes intimes de l'écrivain avec son materiel et son propre moi. More

The Cahiers/Notebooks of Paul Valéry are a unique form of writing. They reveal Valéry as one of the most radical and creative minds of the twentieth century, encompassing a wide range of investigation into all spheres of human activity. His work explores the arts, the sciences, philosophy, history and politics, investigating linguistic, psychological and social issues, all linked to the central questions, relentlessly posed: 'what is the human mind and how does it work?’, 'what is the potential of thought and what are its limits?' But we encounter here too, Valéry the writer: exploratory, fragmentary texts undermine the boundaries between analysis and creativity, between theory and practice. Neither journal nor diary, eluding the traditional genres of writing, the Notebooks offer lyrical passages, writing of extreme beauty, prose poems of extraordinary descriptive power alongside theoretical considerations of poetics, ironic aphorisms and the mast abstract kind of analysis. The concerns and the insights that occupied Valéry's inner voyages over more than 50 years remain as relevant as ever for the contemporary reader: for the Self that is his principal subject is at once singular and universal.

Cahiers: Notebooks (Volume 1) by Paul Valéry, chief editor and translations by Brian Stimpson, translations by Paul Gifford, Sian Miles, and Robert Pickering (Peter Lang)

VOLUME 1: THE NOTEBOOKS ‑ EGO ‑ GLADIATOR ‑ THE 'I'  AND THE PERSONALITY ‑ AFFECTIVITY ‑ EROS

Volume 1 introduces the enterprise of the Notebooks in its rigorously intellectual but also personal and affective dimension. Valéry's deep understanding of, and pertinence to, the limits of autobiographical presentation, which prefigure the most modem literary developments in this field, are here addressed. Writing is at once a form of ruthlessly honest self‑examination and a process of sublimation and self‑censorship. The quest for intellectual mastery through a highly complex system of mental training and conditioning is seen in the dynamic relation between the inner self and the external world. But at the same time the personal/existential dimension of Valéry's analysis of the self is reflected in the permanent and tragic struggle with the force of his own emotions. The acuity and intensity of the experience of love is paralleled by the sharpest edges of self-awareness in the quest for communion with the other.

Cahiers: Notebooks (Volume 2) by Paul Valéry, chief editor and translations by Brian Stimpson, translations by Rachel Killick, Robert Pickering, Norma Rinsler, Stephen Romer, and Brian Stimpson (Peter Lang)

VOLUME 2: ART AND IESTFIETICS ‑ POIETICS ‑ POETRY LITERATURE ‑ POEMS AND SHORT ‑ABSTRACT POEMS ‑ SUBJECTS ‑ EGO SCRIPTOR

Volume 2 focuses upon the cultural, literary and artistic dimension of the writing, both as creative, lyrical inventiveness and as reflection upon the processes involved. Here we encounter the aesthetic function, as scriptural activity, perceiving eye, listening ear explore this domain via an inner self‑language surpassing the limits of genre or school. 'the great importance of his aesthetic insights reveals Valéry's status as a forerunner of the most modem artistic concepts, prefiguring critical movements and approaches to creativity decades before their subsequent realization. The Notebooks are seen as a field of continuous literary creativity and graphic experimentation in a context of untrammeled personal freedom, favoring the constitution of a very little known corpus of creative writing ‑ notably the prose poems and the micro‑fictions. This approach to the search for meaning is a dynamic process of constant generative power, which situates the Notebooks at the heart of the 20th century concept of the 'work in progress' and invites comparison with such exemplary exponents as Proust and Musil. 

Cahiers: Notebooks (Volume 3) by Paul Valéry, chief editor and translations by Brian Stimpson, translations by (Peter Lang)

VOLUME 3: PSYCHOLOGY ‑ SOMA AND C E M ‑ SENSIBILITY ATTENTION ‑MEMORY ‑ DREAM

The understanding of mind is explored in volume 3 as linked indissolubly to a deepening reflection of the self's sensory and emotional responses and its link to its own past through the working of memory processes. Valéry's lifelong analytic fascination with dreams and dreaming runs parallel to that of Surrealism, which he fundamentally mistrusted, and of the development in France of Freud's insights, which he knew only at second hand, and often refuted violently. Yet Valéry is often closer than he thinks to the psychoanalytical explorations of the unconscious pursued by Freud and Lacan; and their insights in turn offer a fascinating counterpoint to his reworkings as thinker and as poet of the world of dream. This reflection differs greatly from the traditional view of Valéry as irrevocably asserting the primacy of the mind over the body and its responses; analysis of the functioning of the mind includes both its conscious and unconscious reflexes ‑ dream and imagination.  

Cahiers: Notebooks (Volume 4) by Paul Valéry, chief editor and translations by Brian Stimpson, translations by (Peter Lang)

VOLUME 4: LANGUAGE ‑ BIOS ‑ MATHEMATICS ‑ SCIENCE TIME ‑ HOMO ‑HISTORY‑POLITICS ‑ EDUCATION

Fully reflective of some of the most exciting scientific discoveries of the twentieth century, volume 4 reveals Valéry as an important scientific thinker and epistemologist, engaged not only with issues of the internal mental world but with the external dimension of the Body‑Mind‑World coupling. His reflections upon language date from the earliest period when he sought a language freed from its arbitrary association with reality and capable of expressing pure analytical functions, his 'Arithmeticales Universals' or algebra of the mind. The notes offer an extraordinarily rich perspective on key areas of scientific progress: modern mathematics, atomic and quantum physics, relativity, the uncertainty principle, space‑time interrelationships. But man is seen too as an organism living in an often difficult relationship with his environment. The contribution of the Notebooks to the wider contexts of historical and socio­political problems is fundamental: not only a probing analyst of political power and action, Valéry here emerges as a radical educationalist and as a social scientist concerned with the betterment of society, including on the international level.

Cahiers: Notebooks (Volume 5) by Paul Valéry, chief editor and translations by Brian Stimpson, translations by (Peter Lang)

VOLUME 5: SYSTEM ‑ PHILOSOPHY ‑ CONSCIOUSNESS ‑ THETA

Volume 5 addresses some of the most abstract issues in Valéry's project to 'make his mind' while linking back to many of the questions tackled in previous volumes. The 'System' is a theoretical extrapolation of the intensely personal experiences of the self. His attack on the intellectual patterns of traditional philosophy is linguistically motivated, and the creation of a whole new philosophical basis to experience is presented as a reinvigoration and revision of the way language relates to the world. New material included in this volume reveals a more positive approach to philosophy, and links emerge with the Vienna School, as well as the striking overlap with Wittgenstein. This volume demonstrates the importance of the dovetailing and unifying thrust towards the unknown of the self s affective, existential nature. The systematic rethinking of all theological discourses inherited from the European past reveals a search for a new spiritual identity and a radical reconfiguration of the notion of the 'divine' as a natural and necessary category of the mind. The supreme importance of a certain mystical resonance in Valéry, expressed in some of his most magnificent writing, complements the more scientific nature of volume 4, while leading us back to volume 1 through rich echoes with key themes of EROS.

Cahiers: Notebooks  (Volumes 1-5 set) by Paul Valéry, chief editor and translations by Brian Stimpson, (Peter Lang) the set of 5 volumes in English. More

The Dangerous Old Woman: Myths and Stories of the Wise Woman Archetype [6 audio CDs, running time 7 hours] by Clarissa Pinkola Ests (Sounds True)
Did you know, you were born as the first, and the last and the best and the only one of your kind, and that eccentricity is the first sign of giftedness? These are two of the crone truths I have to offer you. from the audio CD
If readers have any doubt, come to the fireside of The Dangerous Old Woman for the soul-healing wisdom that will ignite creativity and support readers highest calling in life. Three decades in the writing, The Dangerous Old Woman presents part one of Clarissa Pinkola Ests' masterwork. In six inspire 'til you're on fire sessions, Ests animates the archetypal patterns of the Wise Woman through her original stories, poetry, and blessings. More

The Longman Anthology of British Literature, Volume I: The Middle Ages through The Eighteenth Century Fourth Edition, edited by David Damrosch and Kevin J. H. Dettmar (Pearson Education)
Longman Anthology of British Literature, Volume II, The Romantics to the 20th Century and Beyond Fourth Edition,edited by David Damrosch, Kevin J. H. Dettmar, Christopher Baswell, and Clare Carroll (Pearson Education) With its first edition, The Longman Anthology of British Literature created a new paradigm for anthologies. Responding to major shifts in literary studies over the past thirty years, it became the first collection to pay detailed attention to the contexts within which these classic works of British literature were created and to highlight the full cultural diversity of the British isles. For the first time, canonical authors mingled with newly visible writers; English accents were heard next to Anglo-Norman, Welsh, and Scottish ones; female and male voices were set in dialogue; literature from the British Isles was integrated with post-colonial writing; and major works were complemented with shorter pieces and "perspectives" groupings that brought literary, social, cultural, and historical issues vividly to life. More

Poetry

Elizabeth Bishop: Poems, Prose and Letters by Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Giroux, and Lloyd Schwartz (Library of America) On the occasion this month of the 100th birthday of one of America's greatest modem poets, The Library of America wants to remind you of its recently published collection: Elizabeth Bishop: Poems, Prose and Letters. With this landmark volume, Elizabeth Bishop joins the short list of American poets whose work has been collected and preserved in The Library of America: Poe, Whitman, Longfellow, Pound, Crane, Frost, and Stevens.
This carefully edited book collects much of Bishop's poetry and prose--fiction, memoir, reportage, reviews--between two covers for the first time. This edition is the first to contain all the poetry that Bishop published in her lifetime - including the classic volumes North & South, A Cold Spring, Questions of Travel, and Geography III - and an extensive selection of unpublished poems and drafts of poems, as well as all of her published poetic translations. The volume also brings together most of her published prose writings, including fiction, reminiscences, travel writing about the places (Nova Scotia, Florida, Brazil) that so profoundly marked her poetry, and literary essays, including a number of pieces not previously collected. The book is rounded out with a selection of 49 letters written between 1933 and 1979, to such correspondents as Robert Lowell, Marianne Moore, and Randall Jarrell. The result is a single edition that offers a full-scale presentation of a writer of startling range and originality, the perfect introduction for readers new to Bishop's work, and the ultimate collector's edition for her many devoted fans. More

Nature and Science in Hellenistic Poetry by M.A. Harber, R.F. Regtuit, G.C. Wakker (Hellenistica Groningana: Peeters) contains the papers of the 'Groningen Workshop on Hellenistic Poetry 8: Nature and Science' (Groningen 2006). During the workshop, a first draft of the papers was commented on by an international group of specialists in the field of Hellenistic poetry. This volume deals with the interaction between 'nature and science' and Hellenistic poetry, particularly the ways in which poets were inspired and stimulated by the results of science and incorporated them into their work. In the Hellenistic period, the fields of nature and science on the one hand and scholarship and poetry on the other hand touch and overlap to a large extent and the boundaries between science and poetry were not as straight and clear as they are today. The articles in this volume refine the general picture somewhat further. They focus on various authors and topics, e.g. Aratus, Nicander and Callimachus, medicine, astronomy, and geography. More

Phillis Wheatley and the Romantics by John C. Shields (The University of Tennessee Press) Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784?) was the first African American to publish a book. Born in Gambia in 1753, she came to America aboard a slave ship, the Phillis. From an early age, Wheatley exhibited a profound gift for verse, publishing her first poem in 1767 her tribute to a famed pastor "On the Death of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield" followed in 1770, catapulting her into the international spotlight, and publication of her 1773 Poems on Various Subjects Religious and Moral in London made her a literary phenomenon. More 

 

 

Contents of Wordtrade



Any contributions are welcome to help us continue to bring you news and reviews of academic titles.

Wordtrade.com Reviews New Books

To find selections of interest go to Review Links

Search will find titles by key words and topic

Not all recently reviewed titles are listed on this page; go to topical indices pages to find new books listed in your subject area.

Web links will help your seach engine promotion - register for free

Guide to this Page's Contents:

About Wordtrade.com

Not all recently reviewed titles are listed on this page; go to topical indices pages to find new books listed in your subject area.

Wordtrade.com now features books stores (as an Amazon Associate) that lists bestselling books by theme. A good way to browse and see what's hot in your field of interest.

To find selections of interest go to Review LinksSearch will find titles by key words and topic

Guide to  reviewed titles featured on this page, grouped by themes:

Review Essays

Popular Topical Picks 

Wordtrade.com Mission

We review some trade books in popular sciences and humanities.

We concentrate on religious studies and philosophy

We focus on academic and scientific technical titles.

We specialize in many fields of the humanities, sciences and technology.

This includes various textbooks

Some scholarly monographs

Some special issue periodicals

Wordtrade.com  develops comprehensive review essays.

Esoteric Studies
Jean-Luc Marion

Archive Indices

Previous 2011 Index

Previous 2010b Index

Previous 2010a Index

Previous 2009 Index

Previous 2008 Index

Previous 2007 Index

Previous 2006 Index

Previous 2005 Index

Previous Archive Index Themes 2003-6

Main Links to Website

Art Book Review  Links

American Art

Activity Books

American Crafts

Art Business

Art as Conscience

Art History

Art Lives

Modern Art

Art & Philosophy

Art Reference

How-To Arts

Art Visionary

Book Design

Botero

Ceramics

Children's Art

Comedy

Art Conservation

Contemporary Art

Crafts

Cubism

Dada

Design

Drawing

Fabric Arts

Fashion

Glass

Graphic Design

Impressionism

Japanese Art

Jewelry

Media Studies

Mime

Painting

Photography

Photography as Technology

Popular Arts

Poster

Quilting

Art & Religion

Rembrandt

Restoration

Robert Frank

Rock 'n Roll

Sacred Art

Sculpture

Surrealism

Women & Arts

Woodworking

Architecture

Architectural History

Architectural Monuments

Architectural Surfaces

Architecture

Home Design

Architectural Firms

Arts and Crafts Movement

Chinese Architecture

Churches

Engineering Architecture

Gardening

History of Gardening

How-to Build

Interior Design

Japanese Architecture

Landscaping

Rooms

Schindler

Ceramic, Tile, Stone

Urban Design

Music

African American Music

American Music

Country Music

Baroque Music

Blues

Celtic Music

Classical Music

Composers

Criticism

Jazz

Meyerbeer Studies

Music References

Music Styles

Music Theory

Opera

Pianists

Psychology Music

International Music 

Lively Arts

Choreography

Dance

Erotica

Film

Media Studies

Mime

Performing Arts

Play

Television

Theatre

Link List Essays

Esotericism 2007

Tarot Meditations

Bibliography for Meditations on the Tarot

Teleconference Info on Meditations on the Tarot

Links for Meditations in the Tarot

Link Lists History

Links

History

African History

Alternate History

Civilization Cycles

Cleopatra

Dreams in History

Egypt

Historiography

History

Radical Social History

Hungary

Immigration

Military History

Naval History

Nineteenth Century

Philosophy of History

Polynesia

Prehistory

Teaching History

Travel & True Adventure

War

West Africa

Women's History

World History

World War II

American History

American Civil War

American History

American Intellectual History

American Renaissance

American South

American People Story

Amerindians

Amerindians

American Civil War

Argentina

African American Culture

Bohemians

California

Colonial Patterns

Frontier

Historic Documents of 2003

Wordtrade.com American History

Jefferson

Lincoln

Asian History

Burma

Chinese Art and Culture

Indian History

Iraq

Japan

Mesopotamia

Middle East

Mongols

Ottoman

Pakistan

Turkey

European History

Antiquities

Balkans

British History

Circus

Classical Europe

Diggers

Enlightenment

Exploration

French History

Germany

Hungary

Intellectual History

Ireland

Kosovo

Medieval History

Napoleon

Renaissance

Romantic Millenarian

Rome

Russian Culture

Spanish History

Links to Literature

African Literature

Aldous Huxley

American Literature

Ancient Literature

Aubrey Maturin Novels

Autobiography

Samuel Beckett

Bestsellers

Wm Blake Criticism

Borges

Lord Byron

Calasso

Censorship

Children

Chinese Poetry

Classics

Coleridge

Comedy

Humorous Novels

Comics

Coming of Age

Crime Fiction

Critical Studies

Detective Fiction

Emily Dickenson

Dictionaries and Other Word References

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Erotica

Essays

Fantasy

Far side

Fiction

Folklore

General Interest

Ghosts as Paranormal

Goethe

Gothic

Graphic Novels

Greek Literature

Historical Mysteries

Historical Surveys

Humor

Irish Literature

Henry James

James Joyce

Kathleen Raine

D.H. Lawrence

Literary Fiction

Literary Theory

Literature Reference

Lovecraft

Memoir

Metaphysical Poets

John Milton

Mimesis

Vladimir Nabokov

Narrative

Nibelungen Tradition

Novels

Novels

Novel Thrillers

Occult Fiction

Paul Celan

Poet Lives

Poetry Criticism

Poetry

Postmodernism

Publishing

Race

Reading

Religion and Literature

Rilke

Romance

Roman Literature

Science Fiction

Shakespeare

Short Stories

Storytelling

Suspense

Jonathan Swift

Tolkien

Tolstoy

Vampires

Vergil Poetics

Westerns

Wiccan Fiction

Women's Writing Workshops

Writing References

W. B. Yeats

Link List Philosophy

Body

Catholic Philosophy

Consciousness

Dictionaries and Other Word References

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PHENOMENOLOGY

Epistemology

Evolution

Explanation

Free Will

Gender

Gender Relationships

Philosophical Hermeneutics

Humanism

Identity

Irony

Language &

Language &

Law

Logic

Metaphysics

Mind

Modality

Modernism

Oxford Handbooks in Philosophy

Paradox

Passion

Philosophical Biography

Philosophical Logic

Philosophy General Histories

Philosophy Introductions

Philosophy of Linguistics

Philosophy of Mathematics

Philosophy of Mind

Political Philosophy

Philosophy Reference

Philosophy of Religion

Philosophy of Science

Philosophy of Religion

Physics

Political Theory

Karl R. Popper

Rational Emotion

Rationality

Realism

References in Philosophy

Representation

Rights

Russian Philosophy

Semiotics

Syntax

Teaching Philosophy

Texts

Time

Aesthetics

Aesthetics

Architecture

Architectural History

Art

Art & Philosophy

Art Reference

Kant's Aesthetics

Modern Art

Aesthetics References

American Philosophy

20th Century Philosophy American

American Intellectual History

American Philosophy

Debunking

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hocking

James, William

D. G. Leahy

Nature

Charles S. Peirce

American Pragmatism

Taylor Charles

Ancient Philosophy

Agora

Ancient Philosophy

Aristotle

Aristotle

Commentaries on Aristotle

Commentaries on Platonic Themes

Comparative Thought

Greek Literature

Hellenistic Philosophy

Heraclitus

Homer

Neoplatonism

Plato

Plato

Platonic Mathematics

Plato

Plato

Plotinus

Presocrates

Pythagoreanism

Quintilian

Rhetoric

Stoa

Terence

Why Dialogue?

Asian Philosophy

Classical Arabic Philosophy

Buddhism & Philosophy

Daoist Sexuality

Chinese Philosophy

Chinese Religion

I Ching

Taoism

Chögyam Trungpa

Confucius

Hindu Philosophy

Hindu Philosophy

Indian Theories of Self

Kashmir Shavism

Ramana Maharshi

Yoga

Kadampa Buddhism

Kama Sutra

Korean Philosophy

Persian Philosophy

Svatantrika-Prasangika

Dzogchen

Tsong-kha-pa

Contemporary Philosophy

Analytical Philosophy

Autobiography

Continental Philosophy

Critical Studies

Culture Studies

Existentialism

Feminism

Feminist Literary Theory

Feminist Philosophy

Humanism

Modernism

Paradox

Richard Rorty

Bertrand Russell

John Searle

Social Activism

Strawson

Wilber, Ken

Wittgenstein

Slavoj Zizek

Enlightenment Philosophy

Berkeley

Cavendish

Descartes

Enlightenment Thought

Fichte

Hobbes

Hume

Kant

Leibniz

John Locke

Mechanics

Rousseau

Collected Works of Newton P

Ethics

Animal Philosophy

Animal Rights

Hannah Arendt

Thomas Butler

Contract Theory

Death

Ethics

Intro to Ethics

Ethics Reference

Evil

Friendship

Gert's Morality

Girard

Human Rights

Iris Murdoch

Lying

Iris Murdoch

Political Philosophy

Values

French Philosophy

Bachelard

Alain Badiou

Bataille

Baudrillard

Simone de Beauvoir

Blanchot

Camus-Sartre

Derrida

French Philosophy

Henri Lefebvre

Levinas

Lyotard

Jean-Luc Marion

Merleau

Primo Levi

Paul Ricoeur

Sartre

Paul Valery: Cahiers

German Philosophy

Benjamin

Gadamer

German Philosophy

Habermas

Hegel Interpretation

Hegel Texts

Hegel Interpretation 2

Hegel On Religion

Heidegger

HeideggerInterpretation

Husserl

Kant

Kant's Aesthetics

Kantian Critiques

Nietzsche

Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morals

Religion

Symbolic Logic

History of Philosophy & Philosophy of History

African Philosophy

American Intellectual History

American Renaissance

Amerindians

Amerindians

Enlightenment

Intellectual History

Italian Philosophy

Jefferson

Latin American Philosophy

Philosophy General Histories

Philosophy of History

Philosophy of History

Russian Philosophy

Vico

World Philosophy

Medieval Philosophy

Al-Farabi

Thomas Aquinas

Averroes

Byzantine Philosophy

Islamic philosophy

Medieval Logic

MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY

Surveys Medieval Thought

Renaissance Philosophy

Marsilio Ficino: Platonic Theology

Ficino Letters

Ficino Platonic Commentaries

Humanism

I Tatti Renaissance Library

Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola

Paracelsus

Renaissance Philosophy

Renaissance Education

Skepticism

Links to Religion

Atheism

Buddhism

Christianity & Judaism

Conversion

E-Religion

Ethics

Gifford Lectures

Humanism

Interests

Mesopotamia

Religious Music

Mystical Society

Mysticism

Neuroscience & Religion

Philosophical Theology

Philosophy of Religion

Philosophy of Religion

Philosophical Theology

Political Theologies

Psychology & Religion

Religion and Ethics

Internet Religion

Religion

Reading Religion

References in Religion

Religion Science & Technology

Comparative Theology

Religious Geography

Religious Studies

Ritual Studies

Science & Religion

Social Science & Religion

Spiritual Anthologies

History of Spirituality

Spiritual Periodicals

Spiritual Direction

Collected Works of Newton P

Social Science and Theology

God & Time

Unbelief

Women and Religion

Judaism

American Judaism

Black Judaism

Anti-Semitism

Ethics

Grammar

Halakhah

Hasidism

Heschel

Israel

Jerusalem

Jewish Arts

Jewish and Christian

Jewish History

Jewish Mysticism

Hebrew Scriptures

Jewish Women

Jewish Philosophy

Judaism

Second

Talmud

Kabbalah

Maimonides

Mishkan T'filah

Mishnah

Moses de León

Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav

Philo

Jewish Philosophy

Historical References

Solomon Schechter

Shoah

Tanya

Zohar Pritzker Edition

Christianity

Alexandrian Theology

Amish

Anabaptist Theology

Aquinas

Mission Architecture

Asian American

Asian Theology

Atonement

Confessions

Augustine 2

Augustine

Theological Aesthetics

Introduction to von Balthasar

Balthasar Glory of the Lord

Baptists

Karl Barth

Beguine Spirituality

Benedict

Black American Church

Boehme

Bonhoeffer

Orestes A. Brownson

Byzantium

Calvin

Cassian

Canon Law

Catholic Charismatics

Catholicism

Catholic Theology

Papacy

Christian History

Christian Ethics

Globalization

General Christianity

Christian Neoplatonism

Christian Poetry

Christian Reference

Christian Spirituality

Liturgy

Christian mysticism

Christology

Cistercian

Contemplation

Copts

Course in Miracles

Dante

Devotion

Louis Dupre

Early Christian History

Eckhart

Ecumenism

Edwards, Jonathan

Evangelicalism

Faith

Feminist Theology

Fundamentalism

Gnostic Religion

Grace

Virgin of Guadalupe

Holy Spirit

Homiletics

Liturgy

History of Liturgy

Jesus

Justification

Lutheranism

Luther

Mary

Merton

Methodism

Millennium

Minyjun Theology

Missions

Molinism

Monasticism

Music

Mystical Theology

Reinhold Niebuhr

Ockham

Origen

Orthodox Mysticism

Orthodoxy

Raimon Panikkar

Paradise

Pilgrimage

Polity & Governance

Postmodern Theology

Process Theology

Process Thought

Progressive Christianity

Protestantism

Quakers

Queer Theology

Radical Orthodoxy

Rahner Karl

Reformation

Reformed Tradition

Resurrection

Saints

Schleiermacher

Shakers

Spirituality

St Francis

Swedenborg

Syraic

Theology

Theology Reference

Thomism

Tillich

Unitarian Universalism

Universalism

Vatican II

Wesleyan Tradition

Bible

Amos

Ancient Christian Commentary on the Bible

Apocrypha

Art & the Bible

Bible Acts

Christian Kabbalah

Christian Scripture

Ecclesiastes

Galatians

Genesis

Hebrew Scripture

Hebrews

Chronicles

Isaiah

James

John

Bible Judges

Bible Kings I

Bible Lamentations

Leviticus

Matthew

Midrash

New Testament Studies

New Testament Theologies

Rejection by God

Old Testament Studies

Old Testament Theology

Psalms

Bible Introductions

Bible Song of Songs

General Bible Studies

Thessalonians

Bible Translations

Wisdom

Biblical Hermeneutics

Jewish NT Commentary

Coptic Studies

Dead Sea Scrolls

Deuteronomy

Dispensational Theology

Bible Ethics

Evangelical Bible Interpretation

Extracanonical Books

Feminist Bible Interpretations

Hermeneutics

Hermetica

Jonah

Book of Judith

Luke

Magic & Bible

Mark

NT Commentaries

NT History

NT Idiomatic Translations

Prophets

Q Source

Reference

Resurrection

Romans

Saint John's Bible

Septuagint

Ugaritic Studies

Women & Bible

Islam

African Islam

Central Asia

Islamic Ethics

Idries Shah

Islam in America

Islam & Christianity

Historical Islam

Islamic Architecture

Islamic Brotherhood

Islamic Philosophy

Islam

Islam Reference

Muhammad

Quran

Isma

Jihad

Law

Islamic Philosophy

Islamic Poetry

Sainthood

Mahdi

Shi'ite

ibn Arabi

Sufism

Jilani

Kabir

Rumi

Suhrawardi

Women in Islam

Buddhisms

Abhidhamma Pitaka

Buddhist Arts

Blue Cliff Record

Buddhism

Buddhism in History

New Buddhism

Buddhism & Philosophy

Buddhism

Buddhism and Western Philosophy

Buddhist Ethics

Buddhist Meditation Practice

Buddhist Scriptures

Dogen

Gandharan Buddhist Texts

Mandala

Psychology & Buddhism

Pure Land Buddhism

Shingon Buddhism

Tendai Buddhism

Theravada Buddhism

Thich Nhat Hanh

Tipiöaka Scripture

Tripitaka in English

Varjayana Buddhism

Visuddhimagga

Yogacara

Zen Art

Zen

Chinese Buddhism

Chögyam Trungpa

Thomas Cleary

Dalai Lama

Japan

Kadampa Buddhism

Karmapa

Nāgārjuna

Pali

Pema Chodron

Svatantrika-Prasangika

Dzogchen

Tibetan Religion

Tibetan Book of Dead

Tibetan culture

Kalacakra Tantra

Tibetan Monasticism

Naropa

Nyingma

Padmasambhava

Tsong-kha-pa

Two Truth

Hinduisms

WT Hinduism

Aurobindo Ghose

Chakras

Hindu Philosophy

Hindu Religion

Gangaji

Kashmir Shavism

Kundalini Yoga

Ramana Maharshi

Vedanta

Hathayoga

Yoga

Kama Sutra

Krishnamurti

The Life Divine

Spandakarika

Temple & Worship

 

World Religion

African Religion

Alchemy

American Religion

Amerindians

Mayan Religion

Ram Dass

Rastafarian: Religion

Asian Religion

Astrology

Atlantis

Calasso

Joseph Campbell

Celts

Charisma

Children's Religion

Confucius

Comparative Thought

Postmodern Religions

Daoist Sexuality

Chinese Religion

I Ching

Taoism

Courtly Love

Crystals

Lifedeath

Death

Divination

Dream Work

Ecstasy

Egyptian Religion

Egypt Reference

Gnosis

Goddesses

God

Classical Culture

Greek Literature

Perseus Project

Greek Religion and Myths

George Gurdjieff

Human Rights and Religion

KI or CHI

Magic

Meditation

Dan Merkur

Mormons

Mysticism

Women & Mysticism

Mythology

New Religious Movements

Music and Mysticism

Masonic Symbolism

Numerology

Neopagan

Possession

Prayer

Psychedelic Religion

Reincarnation

Southeast Asia Religion

Ritual

Sacred Body

Sacred Sexuality

Saints

Santería

Satanism

Shamanism

Sikh Religion

Sophia

Religion in South America

Tarot

Theosophy

Titianism

Traditionalist theory

Urantia Book

Voodoo

Wicca

World Religion

Zoroastrianism

Link List Science

Asimov

Science Education

Scientific Experiments

Future

History of Science

Information

Innovation

Intelligent Design and Creationism

Language &

Nobel Prize

Philosophy of Mathematics

Philosophy of Science

Science as Profession

Science

Science & Art

Science and Ethics

Popular Science

General Science

References in Science

Science & Religion

History of Science

Visionary Science

Link List Chemistry

Analytical Chemistry

Biosphere and Chemicals

Chemistry

Chemistry and Physics

Chemistry

Chemistry References

Industrial Chemistry

Petrochemicals

Polymer Science

Link List Cosmology

Aerospace

Astrobiology

Astrology

Astrophysics

Cosmology

Cosmology

Dembski

Solar System

Space Flight

Link List Earth Science

Archaeology

Atlas References

Conservation

Earthquakes

Ecology

Ecology 2

Environmental Engineering

Environmentalism

Environmentalism

Farming

Forests

Fossils

Freshwater Fish

Geography

Geology

Geographic Information Systems

Human Geography

Hydrogen Science

Lakes

Maps

Nature

Physical Geography

Phytoremediation

Volcanoes

Waterways

Weather

Wind Energy

World Resources

Link List Economics

Advertising

Business

Economic History

Economic History References

Economics

Economics of Development

Economics

Globalization

Intellectual Property Rights

Investing

Property

Sustainability

Tax

Welfare Reform

Link List Life Science

Agriculture

Animals

Astrobiology

Biochemistry

Biodiversity

Bioethics

Bioinformatics

Biology

Bionanotechology

Biotechnology

Biotechnology of Food

Bioterrorism

Botany

Cat

Cloning

DINOSAURS

Emergence

Environmental Policy

Evolution

Exobiology

Frogs

Gardening

Genetics

Genome

Grzimeks Animal Life Encyclopedia

Horses

Horticulture

Insect

Microbiology

Molecular Biology

Neuroscience

Nutrition

Owls

Plants

Ranching

Snakes

Veterinary Medicine

Veterinary Science

Link List Mathematics

AI

Algebra

Algorithms

Analytics

Applications

Arithmetic

Basic Texts

Calculus

Computation

Computer Design

Computer Science

Connectionism

Content Analysis

Cryptography

Cyberspace

Differential Equations

Fractals

Frege

Functional Analysis

Geometry

Infinity

Information Science

Mathematical Logic

Mathematics

Mathematics

Mathematics

Applied Mathematics

Mathematics History

Popular Mathematics

Mathematical References

Methodology

Multivariate Statistics

Networking

Philosophy of Mathematics

Precalculus

Probability

Programming

Quantum Mathematics

Scheduling Analysis

Set Theory

Statistics

Teaching Math

Topology

Topos Theory

Virtual Reality

Wolfram

Link List Medicine

Addiction

Aging

Alimentary Tract Surgery

Alternative Healing

Alternative Therapies

Biology & Meaning

Body

Body Work

Brain Science

Cancer

Cardiology

Clinical Practice

Dentistry

Diabetes

Dieting

Disease

Drugs

Drugs

Epidemiology

Epilepsy

Exercise

Fitness

Genome

Healthcare Policy

Healthcare Policy

Healthcare Policy

Hematology

Human Anatomy

Internal Medicine

Kinesiology

Medical Lives

Medical Phenomenology

Medicinal and Aromatic Plants

Medicine

Medicine

Medicine Guides

Neuropsychology

Nursing

Ophthalmology

Orthopedics

Pediatrics

Pharmacology

Physiology

Pregnancy

Psychiatry

Radiology

Reproduction

Safety

Sensory System

Sex & Gender

Sexology

Sexuality

Skin

Stem Cell Debate

Surgery

Women's Health

Link List Physics

Acoustics

Algorithms in Physics

Cyberspace

Electromagnetism

Mass Spectrometry

Materials Science

Microarray Analysis

Nano Sciences

Optics

Particle Physics

Philosophy of Physics

Photoelectron Spectroscopy

Physics

Physics Textbooks

Quantum

Quantum Technology

Quantum Technology

Statistical Mechanics

Superconductivity

Link List Psychology

Adolescence

Aging

Anger

Behavior Therapy

Brain

Child Psychology

Clinical Interview

Cognitive theory

Cognitive Psychology

Communications Science

Comparative Psychology

Consciousness

Conversation

Counseling

Creativity

Culture

Decision Theory

Depression

Desire

Developmental Psychopathology

Dissociation

Educational Psychology

Emotion

Enneagram

Ethics

Evolutionary Psychology

Family Therapy

Fear

Viktor Frankl

Freud

Gay Lesbian Issues

Gender

Gender Relationships

Grief

Helen Luke

History of Psychology

Humours

Hypnosis

Imaginal Therapeutics

The Story Behind Inner City Books

Carl Jung

Jungian Thought

Melanie Klein

Lacan

Life-Span Development

Love

Lying

Memory

Mental Health

Music Therapy

Neuropsychology

NLP

Opinions

Passion

Pastoral Care

Pentecostalism

Personality Theory

Philosophy of Psychology

Pleasure

Prejudice

Psychiatry

Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis

Psychological Theory

Psychological Typology

Psychology

History of Psychology

Psychology and Religion

Psychology Research

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy

Rational Emotion

Schizophrenia

Shame

Spiritual Psychology

Sports

Psychology & Statistics

Suffering

Sympathy & Empathy

Toleration

Silvan S. Tomkins: Affect Imagery Consciousness

Winnicott

Hate

Play Therapy

Quantitative Analysis

Work Behavior

Good & Evil

Intelligence 

Link List Technology

Aerospace

Automobile

Aviation

Biomimetics

Cheesemaking

Food Processing

Computers

Computing

Construction

Cyberspace

Design

Electricity

Engineering

Engineering

Ergonomics

Information

Information Technology

Instrumentation & Measurements

Internet

Internet Design

Internet Implications

Knowledge Technology

Machine Design

Microwave

Optics

Personnel

Philosophy & Technology

Programming

Robots

Technical Drawing

Technology

Telecommunications

Textiles

Transportation

Video Engineering

Links to Social Science

Law

American Legal System

Capital Punishment

Clemency, Mercy, Forgiveness

Corrections

Crime

Human Rights

Law

Constitutional Law

Criminal Justice

Environmental Law

Sacred Law

History of Law

Juvenile Delinquency

Policework

Politics

Canadian Politics

Treaty Law

Human Rights

Postcolonialism

Diplomacy

Gun Control

Critical Policies

Church-State

American Foreign Policy

Violence

Marijuana

Elections

Political Theologies

Political Philosophy

Political Metaphors

Peace Work

Middle East

Law

North Carolina

Constitutions

Community Politics

Weapons of Mass Destruction

Political Theory

Police

Intelligence

Ideology

Tourism

Presidency

Politics

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Law

Death Penalty

United Nations

International Relations

Religion and Public Policy

Media Law

World Politics

Tocqueville

Liberalism

Decision Making

Counterterrorism

European Union

Death Penalty

USA Foreign Policy

Social Activism

Intellectual Property Rights

Common Law

Social Science

Anthropology

Anthropology

Anthropology

History of Anthropology

anthropology

Anthropology of Religion

Archeology

Behaviorism

Capital Punishment

Class

Community Development

Cultural Anthropology

Education

EMDR

Ethnology

Ethnology

Ethnology

Family

Feminism

Forensic Science

Gender Economics

Gender

Grammar

History of Anthropology

Radical Social History

Human Geography

Humanistic Psychology

Intellectual Property Rights

Interactionism

Kinship Studies

Language Acquisition

Leadership

Library Science

Linguistics

Marriage and Family

Media Studies

Memetics

Methodology

Migration Economics

Max Muller

Peace Work

Philanthropy

Physical Anthropology

Prejudice

Public Intellectuals

Qualitative Research

Race

Regional Geography

Religion and Social Change

Sign Language

Social Movements

Social Policy

Social Power

Social Psychology

Social Science Methodology

Social Theory

Social Work

Sociology

Sociology of Knowledge

Sociology of Law

Sociology of Religion

Sports

Statistical Methods in the Study of Society

Team Building

UFOlogy

War

Work

 

Wordtrade.com now features books stores (as an Amazon Associate) that lists bestselling books by theme. A good way to browse and see what's hot in your field of interest.

Visit Managing Editor Paul Nagy's Tarot Website: Tarothermeneutics.com for information on cutting-edge intermediate tarot teleclasses.

List of Proposed Classes

Visit  WCOM's Carrboro Book Beat for weekly local and visiting author interviews with Managing Editor Paul Nagy and Co-host Audrey Layden archived as Mp3 files free for downloading

Visit Carrboro Book Beat's Blog maintained by Audrey Layden

Visit Wordtrade.com affiliate sites for reviews of popular  and topical titles

Chapel Hill Review of Books

Sirreadalot.org

Chapel Hill Salons (community activity sponsored by SRL)