Nancy T. Ammerman (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195305418
- eISBN:
- 9780199785094
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195305418.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Life at the beginning of the 21st century is something the social theory of the last century would have found hard to explain. Science, capitalism, and politics are pervasive and powerful in the ...
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Life at the beginning of the 21st century is something the social theory of the last century would have found hard to explain. Science, capitalism, and politics are pervasive and powerful in the everyday lives of ever-expanding layers of the world’s population. But so is religion. This book is an attempt to let “everyday religion” raise critical questions about how we understand the role of religion in society. We take pluralism and choice as givens, for instance, but we find “rational choice” theories too thin to explain the religious expressions we document. We look for religion in both “private” and “public” spaces, and ask about the social circumstances of religion’s presence and absence. In the end, we find that no simple theory of secularization or revival can explain how modern religious lives unfold.Less
Life at the beginning of the 21st century is something the social theory of the last century would have found hard to explain. Science, capitalism, and politics are pervasive and powerful in the everyday lives of ever-expanding layers of the world’s population. But so is religion. This book is an attempt to let “everyday religion” raise critical questions about how we understand the role of religion in society. We take pluralism and choice as givens, for instance, but we find “rational choice” theories too thin to explain the religious expressions we document. We look for religion in both “private” and “public” spaces, and ask about the social circumstances of religion’s presence and absence. In the end, we find that no simple theory of secularization or revival can explain how modern religious lives unfold.
John Marenbon (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780197265499
- eISBN:
- 9780191760310
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265499.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
The usual division of philosophy into ‘medieval’ and ‘modern’ obscures the continuities in philosophy up until 1700. This book examines three areas where these continuities are particularly clear: ...
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The usual division of philosophy into ‘medieval’ and ‘modern’ obscures the continuities in philosophy up until 1700. This book examines three areas where these continuities are particularly clear: knowledge, the mind, and language. It does so through three chapters, by different authors, each followed by a detailed response. The first chapter shows how Descartes attacked faculty psychology and thus separated himself from one strand of the medieval tradition, represented by Suárez. At the same time, Descartes was closely following another strand, found in Ockham. Thus, the discontinuity between medieval and modern may not be as sharp as first appears. The second chapter considers discussions of whether knowledge should be kept for the elite. In the Christian world medieval and seventeenth-century thinkers alike rarely advocated esotericism, but Jewish and Muslim scholars such as al-Ghazâlî, Averroes, and Maimonides strongly defended it. The main chapter of Part III argues that a version of such esotericism may be a defensible philosophical position today. The main chapter of Part II shows how Locke's philosophy of language fits into a long medieval tradition of thought based on Aristotle's On Interpretation. Locke introduced the requirement that a word be linked to an idea in the speaker's mind, but the chapter argues that this does not mean that Locke was proposing that we each have a private language.Less
The usual division of philosophy into ‘medieval’ and ‘modern’ obscures the continuities in philosophy up until 1700. This book examines three areas where these continuities are particularly clear: knowledge, the mind, and language. It does so through three chapters, by different authors, each followed by a detailed response. The first chapter shows how Descartes attacked faculty psychology and thus separated himself from one strand of the medieval tradition, represented by Suárez. At the same time, Descartes was closely following another strand, found in Ockham. Thus, the discontinuity between medieval and modern may not be as sharp as first appears. The second chapter considers discussions of whether knowledge should be kept for the elite. In the Christian world medieval and seventeenth-century thinkers alike rarely advocated esotericism, but Jewish and Muslim scholars such as al-Ghazâlî, Averroes, and Maimonides strongly defended it. The main chapter of Part III argues that a version of such esotericism may be a defensible philosophical position today. The main chapter of Part II shows how Locke's philosophy of language fits into a long medieval tradition of thought based on Aristotle's On Interpretation. Locke introduced the requirement that a word be linked to an idea in the speaker's mind, but the chapter argues that this does not mean that Locke was proposing that we each have a private language.
Michael Legaspi
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195394351
- eISBN:
- 9780199777211
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195394351.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
During the Enlightenment, scholars guided by a new vision of a post-theological age did not simply investigate the Bible, they remade it. In place of the familiar scriptural Bibles that belonged to ...
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During the Enlightenment, scholars guided by a new vision of a post-theological age did not simply investigate the Bible, they remade it. In place of the familiar scriptural Bibles that belonged to Christian and Jewish communities, they created a new form: the academic Bible. This book examines the creation of the academic Bible. Beginning with the fragmentation of biblical interpretation in the centuries after the Reformation, it shows how the weakening of scriptural authority in the Western churches altered the role of biblical interpretation. In contexts shaped by skepticism and religious strife, interpreters increasingly operated on the Bible as a text to be managed by critical tools. These developments prepared the way for scholars to formalize an approach to biblical study shaped by classical philology and oriented toward the statist vision of the new universities and their sponsors. Focusing on a renowned German scholar of the period, Johann David Michaelis (1717–1791) of Göttingen, this book explores the ways that critics reconceived the role of the Bible. The founders of modern biblical criticism preserved the cultural authority of the Bible, yet they did so by pushing scriptural Bibles and religious reading to the margins of academic discourse. This book offers a new account of the origins of biblical studies, illuminating the relation of the Bible to churchly readers, theological exegesis, and academic criticism. It explains why, in an age of religious resurgence, modern biblical criticism may no longer be in a position to serve as the Bible’s disciplinary gatekeeper.Less
During the Enlightenment, scholars guided by a new vision of a post-theological age did not simply investigate the Bible, they remade it. In place of the familiar scriptural Bibles that belonged to Christian and Jewish communities, they created a new form: the academic Bible. This book examines the creation of the academic Bible. Beginning with the fragmentation of biblical interpretation in the centuries after the Reformation, it shows how the weakening of scriptural authority in the Western churches altered the role of biblical interpretation. In contexts shaped by skepticism and religious strife, interpreters increasingly operated on the Bible as a text to be managed by critical tools. These developments prepared the way for scholars to formalize an approach to biblical study shaped by classical philology and oriented toward the statist vision of the new universities and their sponsors. Focusing on a renowned German scholar of the period, Johann David Michaelis (1717–1791) of Göttingen, this book explores the ways that critics reconceived the role of the Bible. The founders of modern biblical criticism preserved the cultural authority of the Bible, yet they did so by pushing scriptural Bibles and religious reading to the margins of academic discourse. This book offers a new account of the origins of biblical studies, illuminating the relation of the Bible to churchly readers, theological exegesis, and academic criticism. It explains why, in an age of religious resurgence, modern biblical criticism may no longer be in a position to serve as the Bible’s disciplinary gatekeeper.
Eyal Ben-Eliyahu, Yehudah Cohn, and Fergus Millar
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780197265222
- eISBN:
- 9780191771873
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265222.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
From major seminal works such as the Mishnah or the Palestinian and Babylonian Talmuds, to Biblical commentaries, translations of Biblical books into Aramaic or relatively little-known mystical, ...
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From major seminal works such as the Mishnah or the Palestinian and Babylonian Talmuds, to Biblical commentaries, translations of Biblical books into Aramaic or relatively little-known mystical, liturgical, or apocalyptic writings, this book is a complete guide to the rich tradition of Jewish literature in the second to seventh centuries of the Common Era. Each work is described in a way that covers its contents, dating, language, and accessibility (or otherwise) in print or online. The aim throughout is to cover all of this literature and to answer the following questions: What Jewish literature, written either in Hebrew or Aramaic, has survived? What different genres of such literature are there? What printed texts or translations into any modern language, or commentaries (either in Hebrew or a European language) are there? And, for those who want to enquire further, what are the manuscripts on which modern editions are based?Less
From major seminal works such as the Mishnah or the Palestinian and Babylonian Talmuds, to Biblical commentaries, translations of Biblical books into Aramaic or relatively little-known mystical, liturgical, or apocalyptic writings, this book is a complete guide to the rich tradition of Jewish literature in the second to seventh centuries of the Common Era. Each work is described in a way that covers its contents, dating, language, and accessibility (or otherwise) in print or online. The aim throughout is to cover all of this literature and to answer the following questions: What Jewish literature, written either in Hebrew or Aramaic, has survived? What different genres of such literature are there? What printed texts or translations into any modern language, or commentaries (either in Hebrew or a European language) are there? And, for those who want to enquire further, what are the manuscripts on which modern editions are based?
John Marenbon
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780197265499
- eISBN:
- 9780191760310
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265499.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
This introductory chapter explains how medieval philosophy has hardly made an appearance before in this series of philosophy lectures, and why the author decided on a theme that brings together ...
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This introductory chapter explains how medieval philosophy has hardly made an appearance before in this series of philosophy lectures, and why the author decided on a theme that brings together thinkers from the Middle Ages and the early modern period. It then briefly summarizes the arguments of the three main chapters and of the responses to them.Less
This introductory chapter explains how medieval philosophy has hardly made an appearance before in this series of philosophy lectures, and why the author decided on a theme that brings together thinkers from the Middle Ages and the early modern period. It then briefly summarizes the arguments of the three main chapters and of the responses to them.
T. J. Crow (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263112
- eISBN:
- 9780191734885
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263112.001.0001
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
This volume addresses the question of the speciation of modern Homo Sapiens. The subject raises profound questions about the nature of the species, our defining characteristic (it is suggested it is ...
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This volume addresses the question of the speciation of modern Homo Sapiens. The subject raises profound questions about the nature of the species, our defining characteristic (it is suggested it is language), and the brain changes and their genetic basis that make us distinct. The British Academy and the Academy of Medical Sciences have brought together experts from palaeontology, archaeology, linguistics, psychology, genetics and evolutionary theory to present evidence and theories of our understanding of these issues. Palaeontological and genetic work suggests that the transition from a precursor hominid species to modern man took place between 100,000 and 150,000 years ago. Some chapters discuss what is most characteristic of the species, focussing on language and its possible basis in brain lateralization. This work is placed in the context of speciation theory, which has remained a subject of considerable debate since the evolutionary synthesis of Mendelian genetics and Darwinian theory. The timing of specific transitions in hominid evolution is discussed, as also is the question of the neural basis of language. Other chapters address the possible genetic nature of the transition, with reference to changes on the X and Y chromosomes that may account for sex differences in lateralization and verbal ability. These differences are discussed in terms of the theory of sexual selection, and with reference to the mechanisms of speciation.Less
This volume addresses the question of the speciation of modern Homo Sapiens. The subject raises profound questions about the nature of the species, our defining characteristic (it is suggested it is language), and the brain changes and their genetic basis that make us distinct. The British Academy and the Academy of Medical Sciences have brought together experts from palaeontology, archaeology, linguistics, psychology, genetics and evolutionary theory to present evidence and theories of our understanding of these issues. Palaeontological and genetic work suggests that the transition from a precursor hominid species to modern man took place between 100,000 and 150,000 years ago. Some chapters discuss what is most characteristic of the species, focussing on language and its possible basis in brain lateralization. This work is placed in the context of speciation theory, which has remained a subject of considerable debate since the evolutionary synthesis of Mendelian genetics and Darwinian theory. The timing of specific transitions in hominid evolution is discussed, as also is the question of the neural basis of language. Other chapters address the possible genetic nature of the transition, with reference to changes on the X and Y chromosomes that may account for sex differences in lateralization and verbal ability. These differences are discussed in terms of the theory of sexual selection, and with reference to the mechanisms of speciation.
Uwe Steinhoff
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199547807
- eISBN:
- 9780191720758
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199547807.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics, Political Theory
The introduction explains the position and status of Habermas' theory in modern philosophy as well as the reasons for the significant interest it has generated. It also informs the reader how the ...
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The introduction explains the position and status of Habermas' theory in modern philosophy as well as the reasons for the significant interest it has generated. It also informs the reader how the analysis will proceed.Less
The introduction explains the position and status of Habermas' theory in modern philosophy as well as the reasons for the significant interest it has generated. It also informs the reader how the analysis will proceed.
Constanze Guthenke
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199231850
- eISBN:
- 9780191716188
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199231850.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
This book offers a fresh look at one of the most tenacious features of Romantic Hellenism: its fascination with modern Greece as material and ideal alike. It suggests that literary representations of ...
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This book offers a fresh look at one of the most tenacious features of Romantic Hellenism: its fascination with modern Greece as material and ideal alike. It suggests that literary representations of modern Greece, by both foreign and Greek writers, run on notions of a significant landscape. Landscape, as a critical term, is itself the product of the period when Greece assumed increasing importance as a territorial, political and modern entity. The implied authority of nature, in turn, follows its own dynamic and highly ambivalent logic of representation. Greece operated as a material symbol, one that shared the brittle structure of the Romantic image. To explicate this enabling structure this study draws on the critical writings of Herder, Schiller and the early Romantics, while grounding mainly German philhellenic writing in its cultural and political context. Main authors discussed are Friedrich Hölderlin and Wilhelm Müller, but also the first generation of Greek writers in the new nation state after 1821: Alexandros Rizos Rangavis, Panagiotis Soutsos, Andreas Kalvos and Dionysios Solomos. To enlist authors challenged to write from within the place of Greece allows not only a new take on the problematic imagery of Greece, but also gives a new dimension to the study of Hellenism as a trans-national movement.Less
This book offers a fresh look at one of the most tenacious features of Romantic Hellenism: its fascination with modern Greece as material and ideal alike. It suggests that literary representations of modern Greece, by both foreign and Greek writers, run on notions of a significant landscape. Landscape, as a critical term, is itself the product of the period when Greece assumed increasing importance as a territorial, political and modern entity. The implied authority of nature, in turn, follows its own dynamic and highly ambivalent logic of representation. Greece operated as a material symbol, one that shared the brittle structure of the Romantic image. To explicate this enabling structure this study draws on the critical writings of Herder, Schiller and the early Romantics, while grounding mainly German philhellenic writing in its cultural and political context. Main authors discussed are Friedrich Hölderlin and Wilhelm Müller, but also the first generation of Greek writers in the new nation state after 1821: Alexandros Rizos Rangavis, Panagiotis Soutsos, Andreas Kalvos and Dionysios Solomos. To enlist authors challenged to write from within the place of Greece allows not only a new take on the problematic imagery of Greece, but also gives a new dimension to the study of Hellenism as a trans-national movement.
Mark Connelly
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199278602
- eISBN:
- 9780191707056
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199278602.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Military History
This book fully revises standard regimental history by establishing the framework and background to the regiment's role in the Great War. It tests the current theories about the British Army in the ...
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This book fully revises standard regimental history by establishing the framework and background to the regiment's role in the Great War. It tests the current theories about the British Army in the war and some of the conclusions of modern military historians. In recent years, a fascinating reassessment of the combat performance of the British Army in the Great War has stressed the fact that the British Army ascended a ‘learning curve’ during the conflict resulting in a modern military machine of awesome power. Research carried out thus far has been on a grand scale with very few examinations of smaller units. This study of the battalion of the Buffs has tested these theoretical ideas. The central questions addressed in this study are: the factors that dominated the officer-man relationship during the war; how identity and combat efficiency was maintained in the light of heavy casualties; the relative importance of individual characters to the efficiency of a battalion as opposed to the ‘managerial structures’ of the BEF; the importance of brigade and division to the performance of a battalion; the effective understanding and deployment of new weapons; the reactions of individual men to the trials of war; and the personal and private reactions of the soldiers' communities in Kent. This book adds a significant new chapter to our understanding of the British army on the Western Front, and the way its home community in East Kent reacted to experience. It reveals the way in which the regiment adjusted to the shock of modern warfare, and the bloody learning curve the Buffs ascended as they shared the British Expeditionary Force's march towards final victory.Less
This book fully revises standard regimental history by establishing the framework and background to the regiment's role in the Great War. It tests the current theories about the British Army in the war and some of the conclusions of modern military historians. In recent years, a fascinating reassessment of the combat performance of the British Army in the Great War has stressed the fact that the British Army ascended a ‘learning curve’ during the conflict resulting in a modern military machine of awesome power. Research carried out thus far has been on a grand scale with very few examinations of smaller units. This study of the battalion of the Buffs has tested these theoretical ideas. The central questions addressed in this study are: the factors that dominated the officer-man relationship during the war; how identity and combat efficiency was maintained in the light of heavy casualties; the relative importance of individual characters to the efficiency of a battalion as opposed to the ‘managerial structures’ of the BEF; the importance of brigade and division to the performance of a battalion; the effective understanding and deployment of new weapons; the reactions of individual men to the trials of war; and the personal and private reactions of the soldiers' communities in Kent. This book adds a significant new chapter to our understanding of the British army on the Western Front, and the way its home community in East Kent reacted to experience. It reveals the way in which the regiment adjusted to the shock of modern warfare, and the bloody learning curve the Buffs ascended as they shared the British Expeditionary Force's march towards final victory.
Vernon Bogdanor (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263334
- eISBN:
- 9780191734564
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263334.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
Drawing together work presented at a conference held at the British Academy, this book provides a broad overview of one of the most significant aspects of modern government. Joined-up government is a ...
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Drawing together work presented at a conference held at the British Academy, this book provides a broad overview of one of the most significant aspects of modern government. Joined-up government is a key theme of modern government. The Labour government, first elected in 1997, decided that intractable problems such as social exclusion, drug addiction and crime could not be resolved by any single department of government. Instead, such problems had to be made the object of a concerted attack using all the arms of government — central and local government and public agencies, as well as the private and voluntary sectors. This book seeks to analyse ‘joined-up government’, to consider its history, and to evaluate its consequences for British institutions such as the Cabinet, the civil service and local authorities. Is joined-up government a new idea, or merely a new label for a very old idea? What lessons can be learnt from previous attempts at joined-up government? How does it affect our traditional constitutional conceptions relating to Cabinet government, a politically neutral and non-partisan civil service, and an independent system of local government? Will it lead to the concentration of power in 10 Downing Street or is it compatible with a political system based on checks and balances?Less
Drawing together work presented at a conference held at the British Academy, this book provides a broad overview of one of the most significant aspects of modern government. Joined-up government is a key theme of modern government. The Labour government, first elected in 1997, decided that intractable problems such as social exclusion, drug addiction and crime could not be resolved by any single department of government. Instead, such problems had to be made the object of a concerted attack using all the arms of government — central and local government and public agencies, as well as the private and voluntary sectors. This book seeks to analyse ‘joined-up government’, to consider its history, and to evaluate its consequences for British institutions such as the Cabinet, the civil service and local authorities. Is joined-up government a new idea, or merely a new label for a very old idea? What lessons can be learnt from previous attempts at joined-up government? How does it affect our traditional constitutional conceptions relating to Cabinet government, a politically neutral and non-partisan civil service, and an independent system of local government? Will it lead to the concentration of power in 10 Downing Street or is it compatible with a political system based on checks and balances?
Allyson M. Poska
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199265312
- eISBN:
- 9780191708763
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199265312.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Early Modern History
While scholars have marveled at how accused witches, mystical nuns, and aristocratic women understood and used their wealth, power, and authority to manipulate both men and institutions, most early ...
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While scholars have marveled at how accused witches, mystical nuns, and aristocratic women understood and used their wealth, power, and authority to manipulate both men and institutions, most early modern women were not privileged by money or supernatural contacts. They led the routine and often difficult lives of peasant women and wives of soldiers and tradesmen. However, a lack of connections to the typical sources of authority did not mean that the majority of early modern women were completely disempowered. In fact, in many peripheral areas of Europe, like Galicia, local traditions and gender norms provided them with extensive access to and control over economic resources and community authority. This book is an ethnohistorical examination of how peasant women in Northwestern Spain came to have significant social and economic authority in a region characterized by extremely high rates of male migration. Using a wide array of archival documentation, including Inquisition records, wills, dowry contracts, folklore, and court cases, this book examines how peasant women asserted and perceived their authority within the family and the community and how the large numbers of female-headed households in the region functioned in the absence of men. From sexual norms to property acquisition, Galician peasant women consistently defied traditional expectations of women's behavior.Less
While scholars have marveled at how accused witches, mystical nuns, and aristocratic women understood and used their wealth, power, and authority to manipulate both men and institutions, most early modern women were not privileged by money or supernatural contacts. They led the routine and often difficult lives of peasant women and wives of soldiers and tradesmen. However, a lack of connections to the typical sources of authority did not mean that the majority of early modern women were completely disempowered. In fact, in many peripheral areas of Europe, like Galicia, local traditions and gender norms provided them with extensive access to and control over economic resources and community authority. This book is an ethnohistorical examination of how peasant women in Northwestern Spain came to have significant social and economic authority in a region characterized by extremely high rates of male migration. Using a wide array of archival documentation, including Inquisition records, wills, dowry contracts, folklore, and court cases, this book examines how peasant women asserted and perceived their authority within the family and the community and how the large numbers of female-headed households in the region functioned in the absence of men. From sexual norms to property acquisition, Galician peasant women consistently defied traditional expectations of women's behavior.
Nils Jansen
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199588763
- eISBN:
- 9780191723315
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199588763.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Philosophy of Law
Accounts of the nature of legal authority typically focus on the authority of officially sanctioned rules issued by legally recognised bodies — legislatures, courts, and regulators — that fit ...
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Accounts of the nature of legal authority typically focus on the authority of officially sanctioned rules issued by legally recognised bodies — legislatures, courts, and regulators — that fit comfortably within traditional state-centred concepts of law. Such accounts neglect the more complex processes involved in acquiring legal authority. Throughout the history of modern legal systems, texts have come to acquire authority for legal officials without being issued by a legislature or a court. From Justinian's Institutes and Blackstone's Commentaries, to modern examples such as the American Law Institute's Restatements and the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts, academic codifications have come to be seen as legally authoritative, and their norms applied as such in courts and other contexts. How have such texts acquired legal authority? Does their authority undermine the orthodox accounts of the nature of legal systems? Drawing on examples from Roman law to the present day, this book offers a comparative analysis of non-legislative codifications. It offers a contribution to the debates surrounding the harmonisation of European private law, and the growth of international law.Less
Accounts of the nature of legal authority typically focus on the authority of officially sanctioned rules issued by legally recognised bodies — legislatures, courts, and regulators — that fit comfortably within traditional state-centred concepts of law. Such accounts neglect the more complex processes involved in acquiring legal authority. Throughout the history of modern legal systems, texts have come to acquire authority for legal officials without being issued by a legislature or a court. From Justinian's Institutes and Blackstone's Commentaries, to modern examples such as the American Law Institute's Restatements and the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts, academic codifications have come to be seen as legally authoritative, and their norms applied as such in courts and other contexts. How have such texts acquired legal authority? Does their authority undermine the orthodox accounts of the nature of legal systems? Drawing on examples from Roman law to the present day, this book offers a comparative analysis of non-legislative codifications. It offers a contribution to the debates surrounding the harmonisation of European private law, and the growth of international law.
Toshimasa Yasukata
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195144949
- eISBN:
- 9780199834891
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195144945.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–81) is held in high esteem as one who marks the cutting edge of the German Enlightenment. He was the very first German to achieve a spiritually and intellectually ...
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Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–81) is held in high esteem as one who marks the cutting edge of the German Enlightenment. He was the very first German to achieve a spiritually and intellectually mature state of being, the hallmark of which is independent and responsible use of one's own reason. He also stands as a key figure in German intellectual history, a bridge joining Luther, Leibniz, and German idealism. Yet despite his well‐recognized importance in the history of thought, and despite a substantial body of in‐depth studies, Lessing as theologian or philosopher of religion remains an enigmatic figure. Even today, his theology or philosophy of religion is a subject of dispute. With regard to the genuine core of his theological or religious‐philosophical thought, researchers hold diametrically opposed interpretations. It is not without reason that scholars refer to the “riddle” or “mystery” of Lessing, a mystery that has proved intractable because of his reticence on the subject of the final conclusions of his intellectual project. Confronted with this perplexity in Lessing studies, this book seeks to resolve the enigma. On the basis of intensive study of the entire corpus of Lessing's philosophical and theological writings as well as the extensive secondary literature, it leads the reader into the systematic core of Lessing's highly elusive religious thought. From a detailed and thoroughgoing analysis of Lessing's developing position on Christianity and reason, there emerges a fresh image of Lessing as a creative modern mind, both shaped by and giving shape to the Christian heritage.Less
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–81) is held in high esteem as one who marks the cutting edge of the German Enlightenment. He was the very first German to achieve a spiritually and intellectually mature state of being, the hallmark of which is independent and responsible use of one's own reason. He also stands as a key figure in German intellectual history, a bridge joining Luther, Leibniz, and German idealism. Yet despite his well‐recognized importance in the history of thought, and despite a substantial body of in‐depth studies, Lessing as theologian or philosopher of religion remains an enigmatic figure. Even today, his theology or philosophy of religion is a subject of dispute. With regard to the genuine core of his theological or religious‐philosophical thought, researchers hold diametrically opposed interpretations. It is not without reason that scholars refer to the “riddle” or “mystery” of Lessing, a mystery that has proved intractable because of his reticence on the subject of the final conclusions of his intellectual project. Confronted with this perplexity in Lessing studies, this book seeks to resolve the enigma. On the basis of intensive study of the entire corpus of Lessing's philosophical and theological writings as well as the extensive secondary literature, it leads the reader into the systematic core of Lessing's highly elusive religious thought. From a detailed and thoroughgoing analysis of Lessing's developing position on Christianity and reason, there emerges a fresh image of Lessing as a creative modern mind, both shaped by and giving shape to the Christian heritage.
Theodore Ziolkowski
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195336917
- eISBN:
- 9780199868353
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195336917.003.0005
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
The conclusion summarizes the manners in which the economic, aesthetic, psychological, and anthropological re-visions enabled precisely these three myths to be taken up as a mirror of the modern ...
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The conclusion summarizes the manners in which the economic, aesthetic, psychological, and anthropological re-visions enabled precisely these three myths to be taken up as a mirror of the modern consciousness and suggests the essential modernity of myth as a vehicle for such ideas as sexual liberation, alienation, totalitarianism, technology, and personal liberation. It reviews the many forms and genres assumed from case to case by the three Cretan myths and concludes that their permeation of so many defining works of 20th-century literature, art, and musical drama convincingly demonstrates the remarkable resilience and modernity of ancient myth.Less
The conclusion summarizes the manners in which the economic, aesthetic, psychological, and anthropological re-visions enabled precisely these three myths to be taken up as a mirror of the modern consciousness and suggests the essential modernity of myth as a vehicle for such ideas as sexual liberation, alienation, totalitarianism, technology, and personal liberation. It reviews the many forms and genres assumed from case to case by the three Cretan myths and concludes that their permeation of so many defining works of 20th-century literature, art, and musical drama convincingly demonstrates the remarkable resilience and modernity of ancient myth.
Roger Teichmann
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199299331
- eISBN:
- 9780191715068
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199299331.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
One of the most important philosophers of recent times, Elizabeth Anscombe wrote books and articles on a wide range of topics, including the ground-breaking monograph Intention. This book studies ...
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One of the most important philosophers of recent times, Elizabeth Anscombe wrote books and articles on a wide range of topics, including the ground-breaking monograph Intention. This book studies Anscombe's philosophical oeuvre. It presents Anscombe's main ideas, bringing out their interconnections, elaborating and discussing their implications, pointing out objections and difficulties, and aims to give a unified overview of her philosophy. Many of Anscombe's arguments are relevant to contemporary debates, and on a number of topics, what Anscombe has to say constitutes a powerful alternative to dominant or popular views. Among the writings discussed are Intention, ‘Modern Moral Philosophy’, ‘Rules, Rights and Promises’, ‘On Brute Facts’, ‘The First Person’, ‘The Intentionality of Sensation’, ‘Causality and Determination’, An Introduction to Wittgenstein's Tractatus, ‘The Question of Linguistic Idealism’, and a number of other pieces, including some that are little known or hard to obtain. A complete bibliography of Anscombe's writings is also included. Ranging from the philosophy of action, through ethics, to philosophy of mind, metaphysics, and the philosophy of logic and language, this book is a study of one of the most significant bodies of work in modern philosophy, spanning more than fifty years, and one which is as pertinent today as ever.Less
One of the most important philosophers of recent times, Elizabeth Anscombe wrote books and articles on a wide range of topics, including the ground-breaking monograph Intention. This book studies Anscombe's philosophical oeuvre. It presents Anscombe's main ideas, bringing out their interconnections, elaborating and discussing their implications, pointing out objections and difficulties, and aims to give a unified overview of her philosophy. Many of Anscombe's arguments are relevant to contemporary debates, and on a number of topics, what Anscombe has to say constitutes a powerful alternative to dominant or popular views. Among the writings discussed are Intention, ‘Modern Moral Philosophy’, ‘Rules, Rights and Promises’, ‘On Brute Facts’, ‘The First Person’, ‘The Intentionality of Sensation’, ‘Causality and Determination’, An Introduction to Wittgenstein's Tractatus, ‘The Question of Linguistic Idealism’, and a number of other pieces, including some that are little known or hard to obtain. A complete bibliography of Anscombe's writings is also included. Ranging from the philosophy of action, through ethics, to philosophy of mind, metaphysics, and the philosophy of logic and language, this book is a study of one of the most significant bodies of work in modern philosophy, spanning more than fifty years, and one which is as pertinent today as ever.
Ceren Özpinar and Mary Kelly (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- May 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780197266748
- eISBN:
- 9780191938146
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197266748.003.0001
- Subject:
- Art, Art History
This chapter discusses the aim and objectives of the volume by way of addressing the recent debates in the discipline of art history. The two main themes that comes through from this discussion are ...
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This chapter discusses the aim and objectives of the volume by way of addressing the recent debates in the discipline of art history. The two main themes that comes through from this discussion are the current efforts of decolonising the curriculum of art history and the discipline itself, and the ongoing challenges to art history and its canon particularly coming from the perspectives of transnational feminism and postcolonialism. This introductory chapters draws upon scholars whose studies have been key to these discussions, including Okwui Enwezor, Nada Shabout, James Elkins and Chandra Talpade Mohanty, providing a comprehensive overview of the current state and relevance of them to the volume. This chapter ends with an explanation of how each section and chapters contribute to these debates and what novelties they bring into art historical scholarship.Less
This chapter discusses the aim and objectives of the volume by way of addressing the recent debates in the discipline of art history. The two main themes that comes through from this discussion are the current efforts of decolonising the curriculum of art history and the discipline itself, and the ongoing challenges to art history and its canon particularly coming from the perspectives of transnational feminism and postcolonialism. This introductory chapters draws upon scholars whose studies have been key to these discussions, including Okwui Enwezor, Nada Shabout, James Elkins and Chandra Talpade Mohanty, providing a comprehensive overview of the current state and relevance of them to the volume. This chapter ends with an explanation of how each section and chapters contribute to these debates and what novelties they bring into art historical scholarship.
Nils Brunsson and Bengt Jacobsson
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199256952
- eISBN:
- 9780191716508
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199256952.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Knowledge Management
In the modern world, there is no shortage of people who know what is best for others. Self-appointed experts, consultants, and organizations try to convince states, corporations, and individuals that ...
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In the modern world, there is no shortage of people who know what is best for others. Self-appointed experts, consultants, and organizations try to convince states, corporations, and individuals that they would be better off if they only followed some specific rules about what to do. These rules are presented as being voluntary and advisory. They are standards, not mandatory directives, and they abound in modern life. Standards may concern what characteristics a telephone should have, how a company should report its financial transactions, how organizations should be managed, how states should treat their citizens, how children should be raised, and so forth. Even organizations as powerful as states and large corporations follow standards on how to organize, which policies to pursue, what kinds of services to provide, or how their products should be designed. Standards enable a higher degree of global order in the modern world than would exist without them. They facilitate coordination and cooperation even among people and organizations that are far apart. The book states that standardization is a much neglected area of social science — an area that has by no means received the attention it deserves in view of its importance to society. This book redresses the balance by providing an in-depth examination of a number of aspects of standardization, how it is formed, and what effects it has on the world in which we live.Less
In the modern world, there is no shortage of people who know what is best for others. Self-appointed experts, consultants, and organizations try to convince states, corporations, and individuals that they would be better off if they only followed some specific rules about what to do. These rules are presented as being voluntary and advisory. They are standards, not mandatory directives, and they abound in modern life. Standards may concern what characteristics a telephone should have, how a company should report its financial transactions, how organizations should be managed, how states should treat their citizens, how children should be raised, and so forth. Even organizations as powerful as states and large corporations follow standards on how to organize, which policies to pursue, what kinds of services to provide, or how their products should be designed. Standards enable a higher degree of global order in the modern world than would exist without them. They facilitate coordination and cooperation even among people and organizations that are far apart. The book states that standardization is a much neglected area of social science — an area that has by no means received the attention it deserves in view of its importance to society. This book redresses the balance by providing an in-depth examination of a number of aspects of standardization, how it is formed, and what effects it has on the world in which we live.
Michael North
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195173567
- eISBN:
- 9780199787906
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195173567.003.0009
- Subject:
- Literature, Film, Media, and Cultural Studies
Modern writers value modern recording media because of the novelty these have incorporated into the sensory experience of modern times. Yet, it is interesting to note that for many American writers, ...
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Modern writers value modern recording media because of the novelty these have incorporated into the sensory experience of modern times. Yet, it is interesting to note that for many American writers, race seems to set a limit to the innovation such media can bring. There is a reminder, even in the most experimental of these writers, of the deadliness of recording, and the retrograde force it exerts even as recording media accelerate the pace of change in the modern world.Less
Modern writers value modern recording media because of the novelty these have incorporated into the sensory experience of modern times. Yet, it is interesting to note that for many American writers, race seems to set a limit to the innovation such media can bring. There is a reminder, even in the most experimental of these writers, of the deadliness of recording, and the retrograde force it exerts even as recording media accelerate the pace of change in the modern world.
Michael Ostling
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199587902
- eISBN:
- 9780191731228
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199587902.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Early Modern History, Social History
Witches are imaginary creatures. But in Poland as in Europe and its colonies in the early modern period, people imagined their neighbours to be witches, with tragic results. This book tells the story ...
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Witches are imaginary creatures. But in Poland as in Europe and its colonies in the early modern period, people imagined their neighbours to be witches, with tragic results. This book tells the story of the imagined Polish witches, showing how ordinary peasant women got caught in webs of suspicion and accusation, finally confessing under torture to the most heinous crimes. Through a close reading of accusations and confessions, the book also shows how witches imagined themselves and their own religious lives. Paradoxically, the tales they tell of infanticide and host desecration reveal to us a culture of deep Catholic piety, while the stories they tell of diabolical sex and the treasure-bringing ghosts of unbaptized babies uncover a complex folklore at the margins of Christian orthodoxy. Caught between the devil and the host, the self‐imagined Polish witches reflect the religion of their place and time, even as they stand accused of subverting and betraying that religion. Through the dark glass of witchcraft the book attempts to explore the religious lives of early modern women and men: their gender attitudes, their Christian faith and folk cosmology, their prayers and spells, their adoration of Christ incarnate in the transubstantiated Eucharist and their relations with goblin-like house demons and ghosts.Less
Witches are imaginary creatures. But in Poland as in Europe and its colonies in the early modern period, people imagined their neighbours to be witches, with tragic results. This book tells the story of the imagined Polish witches, showing how ordinary peasant women got caught in webs of suspicion and accusation, finally confessing under torture to the most heinous crimes. Through a close reading of accusations and confessions, the book also shows how witches imagined themselves and their own religious lives. Paradoxically, the tales they tell of infanticide and host desecration reveal to us a culture of deep Catholic piety, while the stories they tell of diabolical sex and the treasure-bringing ghosts of unbaptized babies uncover a complex folklore at the margins of Christian orthodoxy. Caught between the devil and the host, the self‐imagined Polish witches reflect the religion of their place and time, even as they stand accused of subverting and betraying that religion. Through the dark glass of witchcraft the book attempts to explore the religious lives of early modern women and men: their gender attitudes, their Christian faith and folk cosmology, their prayers and spells, their adoration of Christ incarnate in the transubstantiated Eucharist and their relations with goblin-like house demons and ghosts.
Ashwani Deshpande
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198072034
- eISBN:
- 9780199081028
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198072034.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This book examines the contemporary nature of caste disparities in India by using a framework that integrates discussions on caste from other social science disciplines with those from within ...
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This book examines the contemporary nature of caste disparities in India by using a framework that integrates discussions on caste from other social science disciplines with those from within economics. It brings together quantitative evidence on different dimensions of caste disparities based on two large national-level data sets, in order to analyse the degree of change in the caste system over the last two decades. Offering evidence based on economic analysis, it questions commonly-held views and challenges traditional wisdom. The chapter uses the latest methods that allow researchers to gauge discrimination and shows how some of these methods have been used in the Indian context and what the quest has yielded. The chapter constructs a multifaceted ‘Caste Development Index’ that allows a broader assessment and comparison of the standard of living of caste groups across states and time. Finally, the book also discusses policy responses to disparities and discrimination by reviewing the existing quota system.Less
This book examines the contemporary nature of caste disparities in India by using a framework that integrates discussions on caste from other social science disciplines with those from within economics. It brings together quantitative evidence on different dimensions of caste disparities based on two large national-level data sets, in order to analyse the degree of change in the caste system over the last two decades. Offering evidence based on economic analysis, it questions commonly-held views and challenges traditional wisdom. The chapter uses the latest methods that allow researchers to gauge discrimination and shows how some of these methods have been used in the Indian context and what the quest has yielded. The chapter constructs a multifaceted ‘Caste Development Index’ that allows a broader assessment and comparison of the standard of living of caste groups across states and time. Finally, the book also discusses policy responses to disparities and discrimination by reviewing the existing quota system.
