Author: Patricia Eichenbaum Karetzky File Type: pdf Chinese Religious Art is a broad survey of the origins and development of the various forms of artistic expression of Chinese religions. The study begins with an overview of ancient archaeology in order to identify nascent religious ideologies in various Neolithic Cultures and early Chinese historical eras including the Shang dynasty (1300-1050 BCE) and Zhou Dynasty(1000-221 BCE) up until the era of the First Emperor (221-210 BCE) Part Two treats Confucianism as a religious tradition examining its scriptures, images, temples and rituals. Adopted as the state ideology in the Han dynasty, Confucian ideas permeated society for over two thousand years. Filial piety, ethical behavior and other principles shaped the pictorial arts. Part Three considers the various schools of Daoist belief and their expression in art. The ideas of a utopian society and the pursuit of immortality characterize this religion from its earliest phase. Daoism has an elaborate pantheon and ritualistic art, as well as a secular tradition best expressed in monochrome ink painting. Part Four covers the development of Buddhist art beginning with its entry into China in the second century. Its monumentscomprised largely of cave temples carved high in the mountains along the frontiers of China and large metropolitan temples provide evidence of its evolution including the adoption of savior cults of the Buddha of the Western Paradise, the Buddha of the Future, the rise of Chan (Zen) and esoteric Buddhism. In their development, these various religious traditions interacted, sharing art, architecture, iconography and rituals. By the twelfth century a stage of syncretism merged all three traditions into a popular religion. All the religions are reviving after their extirpation during the Cultural Revolution. Using historical records and artistic evidence, much of which has not been published, this study examines their individual and shared manner of worshipping the divine forces. ** Chinese Religious Art is a broad survey of the origins and development of the various forms of artistic expression of Chinese religions. The study begins with an overview of ancient archaeology in order to identify nascent religious ideologies in various Neolithic Cultures and early Chinese historical eras including the Shang dynasty (1300-1050 BCE) and Zhou Dynasty(1000-221 BCE) up until the era of the First Emperor (221-210 BCE) Part Two treats Confucianism as a religious tradition examining its scriptures, images, temples and rituals. Adopted as the state ideology in the Han dynasty, Confucian ideas permeated society for over two thousand years. Filial piety, ethical behavior and other principles shaped the pictorial arts. Part Three considers the various schools of Daoist belief and their expression in art. The ideas of a utopian society and the pursuit of immortality characterize this religion from its earliest phase. Daoism has an elaborate pantheon and ritualistic art, as well as a secular tradition best expressed in monochrome ink painting. Part Four covers the development of Buddhist art beginning with its entry into China in the second century. Its monumentscomprised largely of cave temples carved high in the mountains along the frontiers of China and large metropolitan temples provide evidence of its evolution including the adoption of savior cults of the Buddha of the Western Paradise, the Buddha of the Future, the rise of Chan (Zen) and esoteric Buddhism. In their development, these various religious traditions interacted, sharing art, architecture, iconography and rituals. By the twelfth century a stage of syncretism merged all three traditions into a popular religion. All the religions are reviving after their extirpation during the Cultural Revolution. Using historical records and artistic evidence, much of which has not been published, this study examines their individual and shared manner of worshipping the divine forces. **

Author: Philip Bobbitt File Type: mobi Amazon.com ReviewThe scope of Philip Bobbitts The Shield of Achilles is breathtaking the interplay, over the last six centuries, among war, jurisprudence, and the reshaping of countries (states, in Bobbitts vocabulary). Bobbitt posits that certain wars should be deemed epochal--that is, seen as composed of many smaller wars. For example, according to Bobbitt the epochal war of the 20th century began in 1914 and ended with the collapse of communism in 1990. These military affairs--and their subsequent ultimate peace agreements--have caused, each in their own way, revolutionary reconstructions of the idea and actuality of statehood and, following, of relationships between these various new entities. Of these reconstructions (including the princely state, the kingly state, and the nation-state), Bobbitt is most interested in the current incarnation, which he calls the market-state one whose borders are scuffed and hazy at best (certainly compared to earlier territorial markers) and whose strengths, weaknesses, citizens, and enemies roam across cyberspace rather than plains and valleys. The Shield of Achilles is massive, erudite, and demanding--at once highly abstract and extremely detailed. There is about it an air of detached erudition, one noticeably free of the easy decline and fall hysteria too often present in contemporary historical analyses. --H. OBillovichFrom Publishers WeeklyThe world is at a pivotal point, argues Bobbitt, as the nation-state, developed over six centuries as the optimal institution for waging war and organizing peace, gives way to the market-state. Nation-states derive legitimacy from promising to improve the material welfare of their citizens, specifically by providing security and order. Market-states offer to maximize the opportunity of their people. Nation-states use force and law to bring about desired results. Market-states use various forms of market relationships. Bobbitt, who has an endowed chair at the University of Texas and has written five previous books on constitutional law and on nuclear strategy, argues in sprawling fashion that this paradigm shift is essentially a consequence of the Long War of 1914-1990, a struggle among communism, fascism and parliamentarism that, through innovation and mimicry, generated a fundamentally new constitutional and strategic dynamic that in turn generated a fundamentally new society of states. Central to Bobbitts thesis is the postulate that international order is a consequence of domestic order. In the works most stimulating section, Bobbitt discusses three possible ways of reorganizing the latter. The Meadow, essentially an extrapolation of socio-political patterns currently dominant in the U.S., features high levels of individualism around the world at the expense of collective behavior at any level. The Park, based on a European alternate, emphasizes regionalism. The Garden predicates successful market states disengaging from international affairs and emphasizing renewed internal community. None of these systems will eliminate war, but the nation-state is declining, Bobbitt argues, essentially because nonstate actors confront the nation-state with threats it cannot effectively respond to. This big book is provocative and richly textured, but too often Bobbitts arguments are obscured by his historically digressive presentation.

Author: Elsa Barker File Type: mobi Letters from the Afterlife is a hopeful, inspiring after-death communication received by a woman almost a century ago. In the early part of the twentieth century, a woman began a process of automatic writing - as though she were an instrument for someone elses words. Days later she discovered that the writer - identified as attorney and author David Patterson Hatch - died thousands of miles away, and he was telling his story of life after death through her. The resulting book, originally published as Letters from a Living Dead Man in 1914, gained widespread popularity and was hailed for helping remove the fear of dying. An eyewitness account of the afterlife, told while the storyteller was there, the book describes life after death in minute detail, including the consequences of suicide, how loved ones find each other, and the relationship with higher beings. **

Author: Paul Schollmeier File Type: pdf Many contemporary philosophers develop political theories in an attempt to justify the societies that we currently live in. But the distribution of wealth in our societies today is becoming ever more polarized. Can these philosophers offer theories that are truly just? Paul Schollmeier takes us back to ancient political philosophy in order to present an original theory of what a society in our era ought to be, and to highlight the flaws in the liberal and libertarian political theories set forth by Robert Nozick and John Rawls. Adapting the ancient principle of happiness found in Plato and Aristotle, he introduces the concept of a eudaimonic polity, which promotes engagement in political activity primarily for its own sake and not for private profit or pleasure. Schollmeier argues that we can best exercise our rational and political nature when we participate together with others in political activity without an ulterior motive. Lucid in argumentation and original in approach, this book presents a strong case for a eudaimonic polity that firmly favors public interest over private interest.Review Schollmeier offers a penetrating critique of liberal and neo-liberal paradigms of political theory and proposes instead a eudaimonic polity of rational individuals who, rather than aiming at mere satisfaction of desire, engage in rational productivity. This is an important and much-needed argument that carves out an original space between ancient and modern theories with stimulating analyses of liberty, property, community and other key conceptions of political theory. Phillip Mitsis A.S. Onassis Professor of Hellenic Civilization and Culture New York University, USA About the Author Paul Schollmeier is Barrick Distinguished Scholar and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA.