Bloomsbury Philosophy News

Upcoming event - Why Philosophy Matters, Rd. 3

Why Philosophy Matters is a series of events at the Ashmolean Museum, organised by the Royal Institute of Philosophy branch at Oxford Brookes University, and in association with Bloomsbury Publishing.

Keep up to date with events by liking the Why Philosophy Matters Facebook page

THIRD EVENT: Why a Philosophy of Punishment Matters, with Professor. Martin McQuillan (Kingston University)

Ashmolean Museum Education Centre (nearest entrance from St Giles), Oxford. Wednesday April 2 2014, 18.00 (drinks and nibbles from 17.45). All Welcome – Free Admission – No Registration Required!

In Association with the Royal Institute of Philosophy, Oxford Brookes University & Bloomsbury Publishing.

This will be our last event until the autumn term!

Abstract: Why the Philosophy of Punishment matters? The question of punishment runs like a red thread through the philosophical canon from the dialogue between Socrates and Polus in the Gorgias to the imprisonment of Boethius, from Foucault's work on prison reform to Derrida's seminar on the death sentence, from Gramsci's prison diaries to the autobiographies of Angela Davis and Bernard Steigler. This lecture will examine why the idea of punishment remains such an issue in philosophy and what philosophy might have to say to our present regimes of incarceration and capital punishment.

Professor Martin McQuillan is Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences at Kingston University where he is also Professor of Literary Theory and Cultural Analysis. He has written monographs on Roland Barthes, Paul de Man, and Deconstruction and is the editor of numerous books in critical theory and continental philosophy.

Upcoming event - Why Philosophy Matters, Rd. 2

Why Philosophy Matters is back for 2014, and better than ever!

Why Philosophy Matters is a series of events at the Ashmolean Museum, organised by the Royal Institute of Philosophy branch at Oxford Brookes University, and in association with Bloomsbury Publishing.

Keep up to date with events by liking the Why Philosophy Matters Facebook page

SECOND EVENT: Why Philosophy Matters, with Dr. James Garvey (Royal Institute of Philosophy)

Ashmolean Museum Education Centre (nearest entrance from St Giles), Oxford.

Wednesday March 12 2014, 18.00 (drinks and nibbles from 17.45)

In Association with the Royal Institute of Philosophy, Oxford Brookes University & Bloomsbury Publishing

All Welcome – Free Admission – No Registration Required!

Abstract: Philosophy has had a hard time in the press lately. It's said that philosophy is dead, that is is without content, that it has made no progress in nearly two and a half thousand years. Philosophy departments have been closed by those who say it's an unjustifiable expense. Philosophers, memorably, have been called the gym teachers of academia. Philosophical chestnuts like the problem of free will are said to have scientific solutions, not philosophical ones. Is this criticism justified? Does philosophy still matter?

Dr. James Garvey works for the Royal Institute of Philosophy and is editor of The Philosophers’ Magazine. He is the author of The Great Philosophers and The Story of Philosophy: A History of Western Thought (both with Jeremy Stangroom), The Twenty Greatest Philosophy Books, The Ethics of Climate Change, and is currently writing book on Why Philosophy Matters for our new Bloomsbury series. James is also editor of The Continuum Companion to the Philosophy of Mind and co-editor of the Think Now series of books on social and political philosophy. See http://jamesgarveyactually.wordpress.com/ for more information.

Upcoming Events – Why Philosophy Matters.

Why Philosophy Matters is back for 2014, and better than ever!

Why Philosophy Matters is a series of events at the Ashmolean Museum, organised by the Royal Institute of Philosophy branch at Oxford Brookes University, and in association with Bloomsbury Publishing.

Keep up to date with events by liking the Why Philosophy Matters Facebook page

FIRST EVENT – ‘Why Feminist Philosopher Matters’ - this week, Wednesday 5th February, 2014. 6pm, Ashmolean Museum Education Centre (nearest entrance from St Giles). 

Free admission - all welcome - no need for registration. Drinks and nibbles from 17.40 - please arrive early to secure a seat.

To mark the event, on the Friday, 7th of February, we will be running a Female Philosopher Quotes competition, to redress the drastic lack of female philosophers in the submissions to our previous continental philosophy quotes competition. MORE TO FOLLOW ON WEDNESDAY!

Why Feminist Philosophy Matters: Pamela Sue Anderson & Beverley Clack in conversation with Liza Thompson

This conversation will explore the significance of feminist philosophy both within and outside of the academy. Liza Thompson will ask Pamela Anderson and Beverley Clack about the relation of feminist philosophy to feminism, and the role which the former has played in their research and working life at large. Together they will explore different ways in which feminist thinking can reformulate the relationship between the factual, theoretical, and practical, thereby providing a template for how a socially and politically engaged philosophy might work.

Pamela Sue Anderson is a philosopher who specialises in feminist philosophy, continental philosophy, and philosophy of religion. She is Reader in Philosophy of Religion, University of Oxford and Fellow in Philosophy, Regent’s Park College. Anderson is the author of several books including Ricoeur and Kant, A Feminist Philosophy of Religion, Re-visioning Gender in Philosophy of Religion: Reason, Love, and Epistemic Locatedness, & In Dialogue with Michèle Le Doeuff (forthcoming), and the editor of New Topics in Feminist Philosophy of Religion and co-editor of Feminist Philosophy of Religion; Critical Readings (with Beverley Clack).

Beverley Clack is Professor of the Philosophy of Religion at Oxford Brookes University. She specialises in feminism, continental philosophy of religion, and psychoanalysis. Clack is the author of numerous books including Freud on the Couch, Sex and Death, Misogyny in the Western Philosophical Tradition: A Reader, & Philosophy of Religion: A Critical Introduction, and co-editor of Feminist Philosophy of Religion (with Pamela Anderson). She is currently writing a book on Failure for Bloomsbury Academic.

Liza Thomspon is the Senior Commissioning Editor for Philosophy at Bloomsbury and co-organiser of the Why Philosophy Matters series at the Ashmolean Museum.

American Philosophy Association - 2013 Eastern Division Meeting

The American Philosophical Association promotes the discipline and profession of philosophy, both within the academy and in the public arena. The APA supports the professional development of philosophers at all levels and works to foster greater understanding and appreciation of the value of philosophical inquiry.

This week's 2013 Eastern Division Meeting (12/27/2013 to 12/30/2013, in Baltimore) will be one of the foremost annual gatherings of philosophers in the world this year, and a number of Bloomsbury authors will be in attendance, including: John R. Shook, Jeffery Hanson, Alexus McCleod, Sami Pihlström, Eric Weber.

Alexus McCleod’s Understanding Asian Philosophy is due to publish in September 2014. Understanding Asian Philosophy introduces the four major Asian traditions through their key texts and thinkers: the Analects of Confucius, the Daoist text Zhuangzi, the early Buddhist Suttas, and the Bhagavad Gita. Approached through the central issue of ethical development, this engaging introduction reveals the importance of moral self-cultivation and provides a firm grounding in Asian thought.

John R. Shook’s The Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Philosophers in America: From 1600 to the Present is due to publish in September 2015. Selecting over 700 figures from the Dictionary of Early American Philosophers and the Dictionary of Modern American Philosophers, this condensed edition includes key contributors to philosophical thought, and will be an indispensable reference work for scholars.

Bloomsbury’s Commissioning Editor for Philosophy, Colleen Coalter, will be in attendance, so feel free to contact Colleen ([email protected]) during the conference to discuss our exciting list and arrange a meeting.

Ernst Bloch London Symposium

Make sure to visit Central Saint Martins on Thursday, 12th December, for the London Graduate School’s Ernst Bloch London Symposium.

The work of Ernst Bloch posits a utopian impulse that Fredric Jameson has described as ‘governing and encompassing everything, from games to patent medicines, from myths to mass entertainment, from iconography to technology, from architecture to Eros, from tourism to jokes and the unconscious’.

This one-day event, organized by the London Graduate School, with the support of CRMEP, revisits Bloch’s work in four themed panels on materialism, atheism, time & aesthetics, and political economy of hope. The event will be followed by a drinks reception.

This is a free event but booking is essential. See the CRMEP webpage to book your place: http://fass.kingston.ac.uk/activities/item.php?updatenum=2653

Bloomsbury is also publishing Ernst Bloch and His Contemporaries: Locating Utopian Messianism, by Ivan Boldyrev, in early 2014.

Ernst Bloch and His Contemporaries is a much needed comprehensive overview of Ernst Bloch's early and later thought. It fills an important gap in research on the history of German thought in the 20th century by reconstructing the contexts of Bloch's philosophy, while focusing on his contemporaries - Georg Lukács, Walter Benjamin, and Theodor Adorno. Ernst Bloch's influential ideas include his theory of utopian consciousness, his resolute inclination to merge aesthetics and politics, rehabilitation of hope, and atheistic conception of Christianity. Although Bloch's major early texts, Spirit of Utopia and Traces, have recently been translated into English, and there has been renewed interest in Bloch over the last 15 years, he is still relatively unknown compared to other left German-Jewish intellectuals. Ivan Boldyrev places Bloch's often enigmatic prose within contexts more familiar to English-speaking readers, and outlines the most important messages in Bloch's legacy still relevant today to European intellectual discourse, in particular aesthetics and philosophy of history.

‘This is arguably the most comprehensive English-language study of Bloch’s intellectual evolution and his philosophy of utopia. Boldyrev’s book is wide-ranging and knowledgeable; it weighs Bloch’s originality and significance through sustained comparison with his distinguished contemporaries.’ - Galin Tihanov, George Steiner Professor of Comparative Literature, Queen Mary, University of London, UK

Conference Announcement: American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting 2013, Baltimore, November 23–26.

The American Academy of Religion (AAR) brings thousands of professors and students, authors and publishers, religious leaders and interested persons to its Annual Meeting each year. The Annual Meetings are the largest events of the year in the fields of religious studies and theology, and is also an important event for the discussion of ideas in the philosophy of religion.

More than 10,000 people attended the 2012 Annual Meetings, enjoying access to some 900 academic sessions and additional meetings. Bloomsbury’s Senior Commissioning Editor for the Philosophy of Religion, Haaris Naqvi, will be in attendance, alongside the Religious Studies team – feel free to contact Haaris ([email protected]) during the conference to discuss our exciting list and arrange a meeting.

Make sure to visit the Bloomsbury booth (#328, Exhibition Hall) to see all our latest range of titles, including:

David Pleins’ The Evolving God: Charles Darwin on the Naturalness of Religion, is a major new book on Darwin’s underappreciated contributions as a religious thinker.

“This book is the most nuanced discussion of Darwin’s religious views that I have seen. At a time when studies of Darwin’s ideas and even devotion to Darwin are at a high point, this particular work calmly, methodically, insightfully and without polemic treats Darwin’s religious sensibilities in such a way as to overcome countless biases and inaccuracies in many previous discussions.” - John F. Haught, Senior Fellow, Science & Religion, Georgetown University, USA.

Patrick Masterson Approaching God: Between Phenomenology and Theology, explores the ways in which phenomenology, metaphysics and theological enquiry can throw light upon each other.

“Approaching God contributes a new and compelling voice to the current debate on the return of religion, bringing together three different discourses, the phenomenology of Marion, the ontology of Aquinas and the theology of Barth. It is a brilliant triangulation of these three voices.” - Richard Kearney, Charles Seelig Chair of Philosophy, Boston College, USA.

AAR is a particularly strong venue for comparative philosophy of religion. A key scholar in this area, and Bloomsbury author, is Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad. Ram-Prasad’s new book, Divine Self, Human Self will be on display at our booth.

Divine Self, Human Self is an exploration of philosophically competing commentaries on the Bhagavad-Gita.

“It is a major contribution to all interested in the conversation between Christian and Hindu thinking, taking us well beyond the conventional characterisations of this encounter.” - Rowan Williams, Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge University, UK, and formerly the Archbishop of Canterbury.

In Living Forms of the Imagination Douglas Hedley explores how the role of imagination in psychology, ethics and aesthetics provides a good analogy for thinking about the imagination in religious belief.

"This book is essential reading for those interested in the imagination, epistemology, naturalism, and the philosophy of religion." - Charles Taliaferro, Professor of Philosophy, St. Olaf College, Minnesota, USA.

In Sacrifice Imagined Hedley explores the idea of sacrifice against traditional conceptions of violence, and instead presents sacrifice as a renunciation of the will.

"Douglas Hedley calls on the resources of philosophy, theology, poetry, and art to look into the deep and difficult subject of sacrifice, suffering, and atonement. This is a remarkable, profound, and erudite new study, which no one who wants to think hard about these issues should ignore." --Timothy Chappell, Professor of Philosophy, The Open University, UK.

Look out for Douglas Hedley’s third volume in the trilogy on the religious imagination, which Bloomsbury will publish in 2015, entitled The Iconic Imagination.

 

SPEP Conference 2013

Bloomsbury is excited to share the news that the 52nd SPEP conference (the Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy) starts this week in Eugene, Oregon (Oct 24-26th). SPEP is one of the world’s leading organizations devoted to supporting and furthering the study, research and thinking of philosophical inquiry inspired by the continental tradition.

This year’s conference covers a wide range of themes, issues and areas of debate, including Speculative Realism, the legacy of Mealeau-Ponty and phenomenology, new critical theories of the Middle East, philosophy, Judaism and Ernst Bloch, Ethics, Animals and the Environment, Visual Aesthetics, Pragmatism and Post-Humanism, re-thinking Heidegger, and the relationship between Continental and Analytic Philosophy.

SPEP attracts a world-renowned pool of attendees and participants, including a variety of inspiring Bloomsbury authors. A number of Bloomsbury’s authors are discussing the topics above, and have contributed, or are about to contribute, innovative and significant new publications with Bloomsbury. Here are a selection from a total of 30 Bloomsbury authors attending!:

Peter Gratton’s ‘Speculative Realism’ (early 2014) promises to be among the most comprehensive and engaged overviews of this exciting new strand of contemporary philosophy. Gratton surveys the contexts out of which speculative realism arose, and provides an extensive elucidation of the key figures and latest developments in the field. It interrogates the crucial questions these thinkers have raised, and concludes with a look toward the future of speculative realism.

Scott Davidson’s translation of Michel Henry’s seminal ‘From Communism to Capitalism’ (early 2014) is set to make a radical intervention in the continental engagement with social, political and economic critique in the Anglophone world. The influence of Michel Henry's revision of phenomenological thought is only now beginning to be felt in full force, and this edition is the first English translation of his major work.

Dermot Moran and Joseph Cohen’s ‘The Husserl Dictionary’, recently published by Bloomsbury, continues to build on the success of our informative and accessible ‘Dictionary’ series by providing a key tool for scholars, and the general reader, interested in the most important figure in the discipline of phenomenology. To understand Husserl – the founder of phenomenology - is to unlock the tradition of continental philosophy itself; from Martin Heidegger to Jacques Derrida and beyond.

“The Husserl Dictionary should be welcomed by all those interested in Husserl and phenomenology. Novices will find its entries helpful in providing clear orientation in Husserl's difficult thought, while specialists will appreciate especially the numerous cross-references to Husserl's Collected Works that support the accounts of central terms.” Steven Crowell, Joseph and Joanna Nazro Mullen Professor of Philosophy, Rice University, USA and Editor of Husserl Studies.

Lucian Stone and Jason Bahbak Mohaghegh’s ‘Suspension Series’ is about to be bolstered by each authors soon-to-be-published contributions on Iranian identity and violence in the Middle East, respectively.

Stone’s ‘Iranian Identity and Cosmopolitanism: Spheres of Belonging’ (2014) constitutes a highly original study of the relevance of the Enlightenment notion of cosmopolitanism in so-called non-Western cultural territory. Stone also uses the Iranian and Islamic contexts to shed an important new light on advancements and obstacles to cosmopolitan praxis.

Jason Bahbak Mohaghegh’s ‘The Writing of Violence in the Middle East’ presents an intriguing and timely account of the writing of violence from the domains of contemporary Middle Eastern literature. By exploring the most abrasive writings of this vast cultural front, the book reveals how such captivating outsider texts could potentially redefine our understanding of violence and its now-unstoppable relationship to a dangerous age.

 

Azucena Cruz-Pierre and Donald A. Landes'  ‘Exploring the Work of Edward S. Casey; Giving Voice to Place, Memory, and Imagination’ is a major contribution to the emerging study of the significant American philosopher. In this first book dedicated to his rich body of work, distinguished scholars from philosophy, urban studies and architecture as well as artists engage with Casey's research and ideas to explore the key themes and variations of his contribution to the humanities.

“It is no exaggeration to say that Edward Casey is an extraordinary philosopher. And this book, consisting of an excellent introduction surveying the entirety of Casey’s work, a deeply probing interview, and thoughtful essays on Casey’s philosophical contributions by colleagues and former students, is much more than testimony to Casey’s influence. Exploring the remarkable range of his thought as the most creative, most exciting, most provocative inheritor of Husserlian phenomenology, the contributions to this volume take the reader on an unforgettable journey. To describe the significance and reward of his thought, I will borrow a concept that he has investigated with impressive rigor and simply say that he is one of the very few whose writing is on the cutting edge.” - David Kleinberg-Levin, Professor Emeritus, Northwestern University, USA, author of 'Gestures of Ethical Life' and 'Before the Voice of Reason'

The Bloomsbury team will also be in attendance, so if you’re there make sure to drop by our stand to find out more!

The Charles S. Peirce International Centennial Congress

Charles S. Peirce was one of the most creative and versatile intellectual figures of the last two centuries. Although his genius went largely unrecognized during his lifetime, his work has exerted a considerable influence on the development of philosophy and many other disciplines. In addition to his acknowledged role as one of the pioneers of pragmatism, formal logic, and philosophical sign theory, Peirce made groundbreaking contributions to mathematics, experimental psychology, cosmology, cartography, historiography, and the emerging field of computer science.

In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the death of C. S. Peirce, The Charles S. Peirce Society and The Peirce Foundation are inviting the submission of new papers, posters, and short contributions for The Charles S. Peirce International Centennial Congress, to be held on July 16-19, 2014 at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

The theme of the Congress is Invigorating Philosophy for the 21st Century, and its aim is to advance scholarship on all aspects of Peirce’s philosophy and biography, and on the influence and contemporary relevance of his thought. Interdisciplinary submissions, and contributions from researchers in disciplines other than philosophy, are welcome (details below).

This year Bloomsbury is publishing several important titles on Peirce’s thought, and we’d like to take a moment to recommend two titles on Peirce coming out this year:

Introduction to Peircean Visual Semiotics, by Tony Jappy, is a work that offers a powerful system of semiotics quite distinct from the Saussurean structuralist tradition.

‘Peirce's scholarly life was one dedicated to understanding the nature and rhetorical function of both verbal and pictorial representation. Jappy's book clearly demonstrates how the powerful - and often poorly understood - framework of Charles S. Peirce's semiotics may be applied successfully to the analysis of pictorial documents. This book is a milestone in the centennial of Peirce's death that we are commemorating in 2014.’

- Jaime Nubiola, University of Navarra, Spain

Contemporary culture is as much visual as literary. This book explores an approach to the communicative power of the pictorial and multimodal documents that make up this visual culture, using Peircean semiotics. It develops the enormous theoretical potential of Peirce's theory of signs of signs (semiotics) and the persuasive strategies in which they are employed (visual rhetoric) in a variety of documents.

Unlike presentations of semiotics that take the written word as the reference value, this book examines this particular rhetoric using pictorial signs as its prime examples. The visual is not treated as the 'poor relation' to the (written) word. It is therefore possible to isolate more clearly the specific constituent properties of word and image, taking these as the basic material of a wide range of cultural artefacts. It looks at comic strips, conventional photographs, photographic allegory, pictorial metaphor, advertising campaigns and the huge semiotic range exhibited by the category of the 'poster'. This is essential reading for all students of semiotics, introductory and advanced.

Peirce, James, and a Pragmatic Philosophy of Religion, by John W. Woell, which we will be publishing this November.

‘In this important book, Woell carefully demonstrates why interpreting Peirce and James against the background supplied by contemporary debates about realism is a serious mistake. Preoccupation with those debates is blocking the road to inquiry concerning the real nature and significance of pragmatism. His painstaking analysis early in the book is designed to remove that obstacle, enabling him, in succeeding chapters, to offer a remarkably fresh reading of these two thinkers. This book demands the attention of any scholar who is interested in understanding pragmatism on its own terms, or in developing the prospects for a philosophy of religion articulated in a genuinely pragmatic idiom.’

- Professor Michael L. Raposa, Department of Religion Studies, Lehigh University, USA

John W. Woell shows us how contemporary readings of American Pragmatism founded on mistakenly used categories of the Analytic tradition have led to misreadings of Peirce and James. By focusing on terms drawn largely from Descartes and Kant, contemporary debates between metaphysical realists, antirealists, Realists and Nonrealists, have, argues Woell, failed to shed great light on pragmatism in general and a pragmatic philosophy of religion in particular.

Woell contends that paying close attention to the internal relationships among inquiry, belief and their objects in the respective works of Peirce and James provides a means for fully appreciating pragmatism's richness as a resource for philosophy of religion. By taking account of a pragmatic point of view in philosophy of religion, this book incites a more productive discussion of the metaphysical status of religious objects and of the epistemic status of religious belief.

These two titles are a great reference points for any Peircean scholar interested in preparing a paper of panel submission for the Charles S. Peirce International Centennial Congress next year. The conference is sure to be a landmark event in the study of Peirce, and several Bloomsbury authors have already been confirmed as plenary speakers, including:

Nicholas Rescher, author of Reality and its Appearance.

In Reality and Its Appearance, Nicholas Rescher aims to address the conceptual and analytical question: how does the concept of reality function and how should we think with regard to the issue of reality's relations to appearances? Rescher argues that the distinction between reality and its appearance is not a substantive distinction between two types of being, but rather relates to different ways of understanding one selfsame mode of being. Rescher defends a substantive realism that itself rests on a justificatory rationale of a decidedly pragmatic orientation.

Christopher Hookway, who wrote the essay ‘American Pragmatism: Fallibilism and Cognitive Progress’ for Epistemology: The Key Thinkers.

‘There has long been a serious need for a systematic look at the history of epistemology. This volume, written by experts on the various figures who have done so much to shape epistemology as it now is, will go a long way toward filling that gap. It should be essential reading for epistemologists and historians alike.'

- Baron Reed, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Northwestern University, USA

Epistemology: The Key Thinkers tells the story of how epistemological thinking has developed over the centuries, through the work of the finest thinkers on the topic. Chapters by leading contemporary scholars guide readers through the ideas of key philosophers, beginning with Plato and Aristotle, through Descartes and the British empiricists, to such twentieth-century thinkers such as Wittgenstein, Quine, Goldman, and beyond. The final chapter looks to the future, highlighting some of the very latest debates that energise philosophical writing today about knowledge.

Fernando Zalamea will also be speaking. He is the author of ‘Albert Lautman and the Creative Dialectic of Modern Mathematics’ in Mathematics, Ideas and the Physical Real.

Mathematics, Ideas and the Physical Real presents the first English translation of Lautman's published works between 1933 and his death in 1944. Rather than being preoccupied with the relation of mathematics to logic or with the problems of foundation, which have dominated philosophical reflection on mathematics, Lautman undertakes to develop an understanding of the broader structure of mathematics and its evolution. This collection of his major writings offers readers a much-needed insight into his influence on the development of mathematics and philosophy.

If you are interested in submitting a paper or panel submission to the Peirce conference, email the organisers here. If you’d like to learn more about Peirce, or pragmatist philosophy in general, have a browse of the many titles available via our website.

The 23rd World Congress of Philosophy

This Sunday the 23rd World Congress of Philosophy kicks off in Athens!

The World Congresses of Philosophy are organized every five years in order to inquire into and compare the world’s philosophical traditions, reflect on the tasks and functions of philosophy in the contemporary world and emphasise the importance of philosophical reflection for public discourse on global issues affecting humanity.

This year’s conference runs from August 4th – 10th, and its main theme, ‘Philosophy as Inquiry and Way of Life’, recalls the declaration of Socrates that the unexamined life is not worth living. The 2013 Congress invites discussion of the nature, roles and responsibilities of philosophy and philosophers today, and is committed to paying heed to the problems, conflicts, inequalities, and injustices connected with the development of a planetary civilization that is at once multicultural and techno-scientific.

Some of the most talented authors, editors and translators on the Bloomsbury Philosophy list will be attending, so keep an eye out for their talks, which will no doubt be among the highlights of the congress.

Eric Nelson, one of the editors of the newly released The Bloomsbury Companion to Heidegger will be speaking on ‘Reconsidering Buddhism, morality, and ethical life’ this Sunday.

The Bloomsbury Companion to Heidegger is the definitive reference guide to Heidegger's life and work, and includes fifty-eight original essays that cover all the key aspects of his thought. The volume also includes comprehensive coverage of Heidegger life and contexts, sources, influences and encounters, key writings, major themes and topics, and reception and influence. An ideal research tool for anyone studying or working in the field of Heidegger Studies today.

Manuel García-Carpintero, co-editor of The Continuum Companion to the Philosophy of Language, will be discussing ‘Fictional objects’ on Monday, and ‘De se contents - problems and motivations’ on Thursday.

‘Manuel García-Carpintero and Max Kölbel have succeeded in compiling a set of eleven wonderfully clear and highly accessible overview articles on philosophy of language...this is a terrific collection with a couple of real gems, for example Josh Dever's wonderful introduction to formal semantics... I am convinced that even experts in philosophy of language will benefit from working through the volume...García-Carpintero and Kölbel have assembled an extremely impressive lineup of contributors...I am sure I will revisit the Continuum Companion many times in the future.’

- Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

Chris Lawn, co-author of The Gadamer Dictionary, will be discussing ‘The philosophy of the history of philosophy’ on Monday.

'This alphabetical guide to key terms in philosophical hermeneutics… should serve as a valuable reference work for the many English speakers around the world who want to understand key dimensions of Gadamer's philosophy'

- Choice

Meticulously researched and extensively cross-referenced, The Gadamer Dictionary covers all of Gadamer's major works, ideas and influences and provides a firm grounding in the central themes of Gadamer's thought. A-Z entries include clear definitions of all the key terms used in Gadamer's writings and detailed synopses of his key works, including his magnum opus, Truth and Method. The Dictionary also includes entries on Gadamer's major philosophical influences, from Plato to Heidegger, and his contemporaries, including Derrida and Habermas – it covers everything that is essential to a sound understanding of Gadamer's ‘philosophical hermeneutics'.

The authors of The Husserl Dictionary will also be attending the congress: Dermot Moran is organising a discussion of ‘Current issues in phenomenological ontology’ on Tuesday, and Joseph Cohen will be chairing a discussion of ‘Critical theology’ on Wednesday.

‘The Husserl Dictionary should be welcomed by all those interested in Husserl and phenomenology. Novices will find its entries helpful in providing clear orientation in Husserl's difficult thought, while specialists will appreciate especially the numerous cross-references to Husserl's Collected Works that support the accounts of central terms.’

- Steven Crowell, Professor of Philosophy, Rice University, USA and Editor of Husserl Studies

The Husserl Dictionary is a comprehensive and accessible guide to the world of Edmund Husserl, the founder of phenomenology. Students will discover a wealth of useful information, analysis and criticism, as well as clear definitions of all the key terms used in Husserl's writings and detailed synopses of his key works, along with discussions of Husserl's major philosophical influences, including Brentano, Hume, Dilthey, Frege, and Kant, and those he influenced, such as Gadamer, Heidegger, Levinas, Sartre and Merleau-Ponty. The Husserl Dictionary is the ideal resource for anyone reading or studying Husserl, Phenomenology or Modern European Philosophy.

Other Bloomsbury authors, editors and translators presenting this year include Richard Kearney, author of Hosting the Stranger: Between Religions, who will be discussing the ‘Centenaire de Paul Ricœur’ in a French session to be held on Wednesday; Dale Jacquette, author of The Philosophy of Mind: the Metaphysics of Consciousness, who will be speaking about ‘Wittgenstein and Therapy’ on Thursday; Jesús Adrián Escudero (Heidegger and the Emergence of the Question of Being) on ‘Heidegger: Being and Time as a way of life’ this Sunday; and Andrew Ward (Starting with Kant) on the question ‘Has Kant answered Hume’s causal scepticism?’ this Monday.

Craig Vasey (translator of Jean-Paul Sartre’s The Last Chance will also be attending, and is speaking with the ‘North American Sartre Society’ on Monday. ‘The ethics of geo-engineering,’ a paper by Robin Attfield, the author of Ethics: An Overview, will be presented by a friend on Monday in order to reduce his carbon footprint.

We hope that all of you attending the conference this year will have the chance to hear some of these fine presentations, and for those of you who can’t make it, we'd like to extend to you the solace of philosophy at home, always available on-order from our website.

The 30th International Hegel Congress all for Submissions

The 30th International Hegel Congress of the International Hegel-Society and the University of Vienna takes place in Vienna from April 23-26 2014. Organisers are currently calling for presentations for the event (details below), which will be centered on the theme of Hegel's Response to Kant.

Hegel and Kant are undoubtedly the most important thinkers in 19th Century thought, and the influence each had on the other certainly merits further thought. Hegel attributes the establishment of a philosophy of speculative reason to himself whereas Kant, according to Hegel, did not get beyond intellectual thinking. Hegel’s philosophy often refers to Kant implicitly and explicitly, and numerous contexts of Hegel’s thinking become more easily accessible when the Kantian subtext is revealed. By the same token, Hegel’s speculative thinking is useful in illuminating features of speculative thinking in Kant’s works, facets which one would not have expected otherwise.

Hegel is notoriously difficult, and Bloomsbury has recently released two outstanding guides for those who aren’t yet experts in his thought and those who are interested in staying abreast of the best approaches to the philosopher's most challenging and rewarding works.

The Bloomsbury Companion to Hegel, edited by Allegra de Laurentiis and Jeffrey Edwards, is a comprehensive reference guide to the key themes, major writings, context and influence of Hegel.

‘An artfully-organized and exceptionally well-chosen collection of essays by leading North American and European experts in the field. An ideal source and reliable guide for anyone undertaking a study of "the whole Hegel."’

- Dan Breazeale, Professor of Philosophy at University of Kentucky, USA

‘This is a complete introduction and systematic discussion of Hegel’s system written by competent and renowned Hegel scholars from many countries. The chapters treat each part of the system – Phenomenology, Logic, Philosophy of Nature and Spirit, State, Art and Religion – in a lucid and truly enlightening way. Hegel’s revolutionary insights are shown to be of high relevance for many modern questions in epistemology and ontology, rational theology or social philosophy. Clearly among the best and most helpful introductions and discussions of Hegel ever published.’

- Ludwig Siep, Professor at Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Germany

This international collaborative project on G. W. F. Hegel's philosophy includes contributions by eighteen scholars of 18th to 20th century philosophy, and it is an essential reference tool. The first part of the volume examines Hegel's early writings up to and including the 1807 Phenomenology of Spirit, and the second part is devoted to Hegel's major mature works and lectures as well as to the primary themes of his system of philosophy.

The Bloomsbury Companion to Hegel opens with a comprehensive account of Hegel's Science of Logic, which is followed by detailed treatments of the Philosophy of Nature and the Philosophy of Spirit from the Encyclopaedia of Philosophical Sciences. Three further parts of the volume investigate key concepts and interpretive issues, paradigmatic forms of Hegelian argumentation, and main lines of Hegel's influence since the mid-19th century. The book also contains chronologies of Hegel's life and works, a bibliography of primary and secondary sources and an analytical index.

Price: £100.00 / $190.00

Another useful avenue into Hegel’s thought is Stephen Houlgate’s Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit: A Reader's Guide:

'Stephen Houlgate is one of the best and most respected Hegel scholars, and this is one of his best books: it is clear, helpful, and shows a deep understanding of Hegel's notoriously difficult text. For anyone seeking to get to grips with the Phenomenology, this will be an indispensable resource.'

– Robert Stern, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Sheffield, UK.

Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit is his most famous and influential work. First published in 1807, it has exercised considerable influence on subsequent thinkers from Feuerbach and Marx to Heidegger, Kojève, Adorno and Derrida. The book contains many memorable analyses of, for example, the master / slave dialectic, the unhappy consciousness, Sophocles' Antigone and the French Revolution, and it remains one of the most important works in the Western philosophical tradition. It is, however, a difficult and challenging book and needs to be studied together with a clear and accessible secondary text. Stephen Houlgate's Reader's Guide is the best available, and offers guidance on philosophical and historical context, key themes, reading the text, reception, influence and further reading.

Price: £11.99 / $16.95 (Paperback) £50.00 / $75.00 (Hardback)

The Hegel Congress is calling for papers until August 31, 2013, and the official languages of the congress are English, German and French. The organisers request those interested to send 1500-2500 character exposés of their proposed lectures, as well as a 600-800 character abstract for the congress booklet, to Prof. Dr. Violetta L. Waibel, or Sophie Gerber.

For those of you interested in keeping up to date on the latest scholarship on Kant and Hegel, have a browse of the latest titles Bloomsbury has on offer at our website.

Film-Philosophy Conference 2013: Beyond Film

It’s film and philosophy week, as the Film-Philosophy Conference 2013: Beyond Film has kicked off to a great start in Amsterdam. Established in 2008, the Film-Philosophy Conference reflects the growing importance of film philosophy within the fields of both film studies and philosophy. It brings together scholars and filmmakers from all over the world to present their research on a broad range of topics within the subject area.

This year’s conference sets out to reflect the synergy of filmmakers and philosophers within the field of film-philosophy. One of the highlights of this year’s conference will undoubtedly be the screening of a preview of Claire Denis’ new film, Les Salauds. The other highlights are, of course, the incredible talks being given by some of Bloomsbury Philosophy’s most compelling and innovative authors.

Robert Sinnerbrink, author of New Philosophies of Film, is presenting "Reasons to Believe in this World": On The Tree of Life and Melancholia with John Caruana and Mark Cauchi. If you can’t make his talk, we’d highly recommend reading his critical exploration of analytic and Continental philosophies of film instead:

‘Robert Sinnerbrink's New Philosophies of Film is a captivating, challenging, smart, and highly readable exploration of the aesthetic encounter between cinema and philosophy. As an introduction to the recent philosophical turn in film studies, the book offers a rich and insightful critical perspective on many influential developments in film theory such as cognitivism. As a contribution to the emerging field of philosophical engagement with film New Philosophies of Film shows that films can do more than just illustrate or serve as metaphors for philosophical ideas. Films are philosophically valuable in themselves insofar as they can engage in philosophizing as ‘thinking agents'. Furthermore, films can invite us to invest in them philosophically, to meet them in dialogue as philosophical discussion partners. This idea comes alive in Sinnerbrink's exceptionally vivid examples, in which he analyzes the philosophical-aesthetic receptivity to the work of such filmmakers such as David Lynch, Lars von Trier and Terrence Malick. This book is a ‘must read' not only for philosophers and film scholars, but also for anyone seriously enthusiastic about cinema.’

- Tarja Laine, Assistant Professor, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Dan C. Shaw is also giving a talk: Mirror Neurons and Simulation Theory: A Neurophysiological Foundation for Cinematic Empathy. Shaw is the author of Morality and the Movies, an introduction to ethical theories and contemporary moral issues through film.

‘Shaw makes morality go down as easily as a bag of popcorn. No more will philosophy be dull. I can only wish that I had had a text like Morality and the Movies when I was a student just encountering ethics. This book is certain to engage students, as they discover they were already thinking about morality when they were watching movies.’

- Thomas Wartenberg, Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts, USA

Morality and the Movies is the ideal introduction to philosophical ethics for film lovers. Dan Shaw uses a series of sixteen popular films, including Hotel Rwanda, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, A Clockwork Orange, Dead Man Walking and Full Metal Jacket, to illustrate major ethical theories and key contemporary moral issues. This is a crucial companion for anyone interested in the field of ethics.

Richard Rushton is giving a presentation on Politics, Society, Minority: The Films of the Dardenne Brothers. Rushton’s book, Cinema after Deleuze, is one of the crucial texts on our Deleuze Encounters series, which we wrote about in greater detail last month.

Cinema After Deleuze offers a clear and lucid introduction to Deleuze's writings on cinema. The book provides explanations of the many categories and classifications found in Deleuze's two landmark books on cinema and offers assessments of a range of films, including works by John Ford, Sergei Eisenstein, Alfred Hitchcock, Michelangelo Antonioni and Alain Resnais. Contemporary directors such as Steven Spielberg, Lars von Trier, Martin Scorsese and Wong Kar-wai are also examined, thus bringing Deleuze's writings on cinema right up to date. Cinema After Deleuze demonstrates why Deleuze is rightly considered today to be one of the great philosophers of cinema.

Another fantastic Bloomsbury author who will be speaking is John Mullarkey. His talk is ‘For We Will Have Shown it Nothing’: On Film Philosophy-Without-Words. Mullarkey is the editors of The Bloomsbury Companion to Continental Philosophy.

‘This book teaches us that there is a good deal going on today under the banner of 'continental philosophy' that neither starts with Kant nor ends with post-structuralism. Without looking over its shoulder at every turn, it provides an overview of the thematic areas that belong to 'continental philosophy' as it is actually conceived and practiced today, highlighting especially that it is no longer a matter of applying philosophical 'theory' to other disciplines, but more and more a distinctive way of engaging in those other disciplines themselves.’

- Simon Glendinning, Reader in European Philosophy, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK

The Bloomsbury Companion to Continental Philosophy offers the definitive guide to contemporary Continental thought. Twelve specially commissioned essays from an international team of experts reveal where important work continues to be done in the field and, valuably, how the various topics intersect. Featuring a series of indispensable research tools, including an A to Z of key terms and concepts, a chronology, and a guide to practical research in the field, this is the essential reference tool for anyone working in and studying Continental Philosophy.

David Martin-Jones, one of the editors of the Thinking Cinema series (which we wrote about last week) is presenting on Archiving Nonhuman Histories in Landscapes. Martin-Jones is the author of Deleuze and World Cinemas, which was shortlisted for the British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies Annual Book Award

‘This monograph is an ambitious, yet well executed project... Martin-Jones makes an important and precise contribution to Deleuzian scholarship, despite the broad and expansive nature of the topic at hand. As the global film industry has evolved and become more interconnected since the 1980s, we must refresh our ideas about the de/ reterritorialised flows of this global rhizome... Rather than letting Deleuzian scholarship remain confined in Eurocentric boundaries, Martin-Jones is allowing a morphogenetic response from the Cinema books criticism to a wider, global range of films... My final thought on this book is that it is lucid, well structured, simple and effective... Martin-Jones has written a thought-provoking and provocative monograph.’

- Avello, 1: 1 (2011)

Deleuze's Cinema books continue to cause controversy. Although they offer radical new ways of understanding cinema, his conclusions often seem strikingly Eurocentric. Deleuze and World Cinemas explores what happens when Deleuze's ideas are brought into contact with the films he did not discuss, those from Europe and the USA (from Georges Méliès to Michael Mann) and a range of world cinemas - including Bollywood blockbusters, Hong Kong action movies, Argentine melodramas and South Korean science fiction movies. These encounters demonstrate the need for the constant adaptation and reinterpretation of Deleuze's findings if they are to have continued relevance.

We hope that all of you at the conference are having a reel good time. Whether you attend or not,  remember that David Martin-Jones and Sarah Cooper are currently reviewing proposals for our Thinking Cinema series. If you’d like to learn more about our great film and philosophy titles, have a look at our website.

Just landed on my desk: Morality and the Movies

I tweeted a while back saying how excited I was for this book, so I was thrilled this week when I came in to work to find an advanced copy of Dan Shaw's Morality and the Movies sitting on my desk.

 

This fantastic new book presents the ideal introduction to philosophical ethics for film lovers. Dan Shaw uses a series of sixteen popular films to illustrate all the major ethical theories and key contemporary moral issues. The book provides a brief summary and philosophical interpretation of each film, with reference throughout to primary philosophical sources. A unique pedagogical feature is that each chapter begins with a five-step summary of the theoretical position in question and a critical evaluation of its strengths and weaknesses through a specific film.

Topics covered include:

 

• divine authority
• the social contract
• moral relativism
• virtue ethics
• freedom and determinism
• euthanasia
• capital punishment
• war and terrorism
• abortion
• business ethics

 

Ideal for undergraduate students coming to philosophical ethics for the first time, this book utilises popular film to introduce a central topic in the study of philosophy.

 

If that's not enough to get you excited, take a look at some of the films covered:

 

 

Some absolute classics there!

 

There's also tips after each chapter for further films on the topic covered, for example in the chapter 'The Ethics of Business in Wall Street', Shaw also recommends Blue Collar, The Social Network and, of course, the sequel to the main film covered, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. (Personally though, I wouldn't recommend the last one. It's pretty terrible. Even Shia LaBeouf's face can't save it.) These handy extra features really do make Morality and the Movies an accessible and truly invaluable tool for students.

 

You don't have to just trust me though, Thomas Wartenberg from Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts had this to say:

 

"Shaw makes morality go down as easily as a bag of popcorn.No more will philosophy be dull.I can only wish that I had had a text like Morality and the Movies when I was a student just encountering ethics.This book is certain to engage students, as they discover they were already thinking about morality when they were watching movies."

 

So, be sure to take a look at the exclusive preview above and send for your inspection copy today. What other films do you think would fit with ethical analysis? Tweet me your ideas to @ContinuumPhilos or comment here, I'd love to hear them!

 

Finally, and because I just can't let it go unmentioned, how cool is the cover?! I love it - one of my favourites of the year so far. Definitely one to show off at the Film-Philosophy conference in September!

 

Charlotte Hoare

Marketing Executive UK and Rest of World

SEP-FEP 2011

I'm off up to York this afternoon for SEP-FEP 2011, the joint conference of the Society for European Philosophy and the Forum for European Philosophy, which is being held at York St John University from today until Saturday (3rd September). If you'll be at the conference, please do drop in at the Continuum stand, where we'll have a range of our latest and key backlist titles in European philosophy available for sale at the usual conference discount. I'll be there today and all day tomorrow, while Charlotte Hoare (Marketing Executive) and Colleen Coalter (Commissioning Editor) will be holding the fort on Friday and Saturday. Come and say hello!

Sarah

And we'll also be at the Joint Session!

I've barely unpacked my bag from the Deleuze Studies conference in Copenhagen last week and on Friday will be off to the Joint Session of the Aristotelian Society and the Mind Association at the University of Sussex (8th-10th July). If you'll be at the Joint Session, please do come to the Continuum stand, where we'll have a range of our recent and key backlist titles on display and available for sale (at the usual conference discount). If you're already a Continuum author, or have a project you would like to discuss with us, by all means drop me a line this week to arrange an appointment ([email protected]).

Look forward to seeing you there!

Sarah

Philosophy in the City festival & competition to win £100 worth of books

An exciting new philosophy event is taking place during October in Liverpool (UK) and I'm happy to finally be able to tell everyone about it and link to the new website!  I have to warn readers not based in the UK that unless you can make a trip over here, you might want to look away!

Master-minded by the Philosophy Department at the University of Liverpool, with one of the driving forces being Continuum author Clare Carlisle, the Philosophy in the City festival runs between 9-24 October and will see a series of events that aim to 'de-mystify philosophy, raise awareness of what philosophers do and how philosophy happens, and provide local people with new opportunities to engage in philosophical reflection and debate.'

The full programme of events can be viewed at http://philosophyinthecity.info/festival/programme-of-events/ with highlights including a talk from The Philosopher's Magazine co-founder and editor Julian Baggini and 'Philosophy in Pubs' socials.

And if you do manage to attend any of the events, you might be pleased to hear that you can then enter a competition to win £100 worth of philosophy books, which we are co-sponsoring with another publisher.  To enter:

Write a report on one (or more) of the festival events, describing what the issues are and saying what you think. Entries should be no longer than 1000 words.

For further details on how to enter, please visit this webpage and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Carly

Summer conferences 2010

Conference season is pretty much upon us and with this in mind, here's news of the conferences we will be attending this summer and the discounts we'll be offering...

SEP-FEP 2010

The SEP-FEP (Society for European Philosophy-Forum for European Philosophy) Conference, 7th-10th July 2010 is being held this year at Loyola University Chicago, John Felice Rome Centre, Italy.  The organisers have put up the full programme details here.

Tom Crick (who commissions the Continuum Studies in Continental Philosophy series), is attending for us and will be manning a bookstand where we will be displaying our latest publications in continental philosophy - and some of our favourite backlist too.  We will be offering books at a reduced price for delegates of 35% off hardbacks and 20% off paperbacks.

Joint Session 2010

The Joint Session of The Aristotelian Society and The Mind Association is this year at University College Dublin, Ireland from 9-11 July and their programme is online here.

David Avital (Acting Senior Commissioning Editor for Philosophy) will be manning our stand where we'll again be selling books at the above discount.

Deleuze Studies 2010

The 3rd International Deleuze Studies Conference is in Amsterdam between 12-14 July and they've also put their programme online.

Tom will be heading to this one from Rome (he will be having a lovely time in July!) where we'll again have a bookstand and the above special conference prices.

If you want to get in touch with either David or Tom, refer to their email addresses on our Contacts page.  They will be happy to meet and talk with you about any ideas for book proposals etc.

Carly

Book launch for '101 Great Philosophers'

Yesterday evening, Carly and I enjoyed refreshments and good conversation at St Stephen’s Club, Westminster, courtesy of Dr Madsen Pirie.  Madsen’s book was published by Continuum just last month and it was a real treat to launch it in such elegant surroundings, and in such esteemed company.  Joining us on the night were Matthew Parris of The Times, who gave a very stimulating speech on the place of philosophy in public life and in politics, as well as Dr John Campbell, the historian and biographer, who entertained us with a more personal introduction, before Madsen himself said a few words.

 

We hope everyone in attendance enjoyed the event as much as we did.

 

 

Tom Crick,

Assistant Editor,

Philosophy and Religious Studies

 

 

Deleuze conference @ Cologne

If you are attending the Second International Deleuze Conference at the University of Cologne, Germany, we look forward to seeing you at the Continuum stand. Our representative, Tom Crick (Assistant Editor - Philosophy), will be selling a varied selection of our titles at a special conference discount (30% off HB and 20% off PB) on both days of the conference (10th-12th August).  Further details of the event are available on the conference's website. 

Ricoeur conference @ Kent

I am looking forward to attending the UK-Ireland Society for Ricoeur Studies conference, 'From Ricoeur to Action', at the University of Kent later this month (23-24 June 2009). For more information on the conference, visit the conference website. We will have a small stand at the conference, with a selection of our latest philosophy titles available at the usual conference discount (30% off hardbacks, 20% off paperbacks). If you are attending the conference, please stop by the stand where I will be pleased to discuss any forthcoming projects you think we might be interested in. Alternatively, feel free to contact me in advance to arrange an appointment.

IAPL conference @ Brunel

If you are attending the IAPL conference at Brunel University, London, next week (1st-7th June), be sure to visit the Continuum stand, where a selection of our titles will be available at the usual conference discount (30% off hardbacks, 20% off paperbacks). My colleague, Anna Fleming (Publisher, Literary Studies and Education), will be in attendance on Monday 1st and Tuesday 2nd June; I will be there from Wednesday 3rd to Friday 5th June. We both look forward to meeting you there. Further details of the conference are available at the IAPL website.