Author: Gershom Scholem File Type: pdf A collection of lectures on the features of the movement of mysticism that began in antiquity and continues in Hasidism today. From the Trade Paperback edition. **htmlReview A crucially vital work in the long history of Jewish esoteric spirituality. Aside from its intrinsic importance, the books influence has been enormous, and is likely to continue all but indefinitely.--Harold Bloom, Yale University Major Trends [is] the canonical modern work on the nature and history of Jewish mysticism. For a sophisticated understanding, not only of the dynamics of Jewish mysticism, but of the exquisite complexities of Jewish history and tradition, Major Trends is a major port of entry through which one must pass.--Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi, Columbia University From the Trade Paperback edition. From the Inside Flap A collection of lectures on the features of the movement of mysticism that began in antiquity and continues in Hasidism today. html
Author: Dick Howard
File Type: epub
The conflict between politics and antipolitics has replayed itself throughout Western history and philosophical thought. Platos quest for absolute certainty led him to denounce political democracy, an anti-political position later challenged by Aristotle. This back-and-forth exchange came to a head at the time of the American and French revolutions. Through this wide-ranging narrative, Dick Howard throws new light on a recurring philosophical dilemma, proving our political problems are not as unique as we think.Howard begins with democracy in ancient Greece and the rise and fall of republican politics in Rome. In the wake of Romes collapse, political thought searched for a new medium, and the conflict between politics and antipolitics reemerged through the contrasting theories of Saint Augustine and Saint Thomas. During the Renaissance and the Reformation, the emergence of the modern individual again shifted the terrain. Even so, politics vs. antipolitics dominated the period, frustrating even Machiavelli, who sought to reconceptualize the nature of political thought. Hobbes and Locke, theorists of the social contract, then reenacted the conflict, which Rousseau sought (in vain) to overcome. Adam Smith and the growth of modern economic liberalism, the radicalism of the French revolution, and the conservative reaction of Edmund Burke subsequently marked the triumph of antipolitics, and the American Revolution may have offered the potential groundwork for a renewal of politics. Taken together, these historical examples, viewed through the prism of philosophy, reveal the roots of todays political climate and suggest the trajectory of the battles yet to come.
Author: G. R. Hawting
File Type: pdf
Why and under what circumstances did the religion of Islam emerge in a remote part of Arabia at the beginning of the seventh century? Traditional scholarship maintains that Islam developed in opposition to the idolatrous and polytheistic religion of the Arabs of Mecca and the surrounding regions. In this study of pre-Islamic Arabian religion, G. R. Hawting adopts a comparative religious perspective to suggest an alternative view. By examining the various bodies of evidence which survive from this period, the Koran and the vast resources of the Islamic tradition, the author argues that in fact Islam arose out of conflict with other monotheists whose beliefs and practices were judged to fall short of true monotheism and were, in consequence, attacked polemically as idolatry. The author is adept at unravelling the complexities of the source material, and students and scholars will find his argument both engaging and persuasive.
Author: F. Haverfield
File Type: mobi
Francis John Haverfield was a British historian and archaeologist British historian and archaeologist. Educated at the University of Oxford, he also worked under Theodor Mommsen.
Author: Lilya Kaganovsky
File Type: pdf
As cinema industries around the globe adjusted to the introduction of synch-sound technology, the Soviet Union was also shifting culturally, politically, and ideologically from the heterogeneous film industry of the 1920s to the centralized industry of the 1930s, and from the avant-garde to Socialist Realism. In The Voice of Technology Soviet Cinemas Transition to Sound, 19281935, Lilya Kaganovsky explores the history, practice, technology, ideology, aesthetics, and politics of the transition to sound within the context of larger issues in Soviet media history. Industrialization and centralization of the cinema industry greatly altered the way movies in the Soviet Union were made, while the introduction of sound radically influenced the way these movies were received. Kaganovsky argues that the coming of sound changed the Soviet cinema industry by making audible, for the first time, the voice of State power, directly addressing the Soviet viewer. By exploring numerous examples of films from this transitional period, Kaganovsky demonstrates the importance of the new technology of sound in producing and imposing the Soviet Voice.
Author: David H. Caldwell
File Type: epub
A hoard of ivory chessmen and other gaming pieces was found buried on the Isle of Lewis in the early 19th century. The pieces are now divided between National Museums Scotland and the British Museum, and fascinate all who see them. Experts agree that they are medieval and of Scandinavian origin. This illustrated celebration of the hoard looks at its origins, its discovery and, using the skills of a forensic anthropologist, its craftsmanship.**
Author: Diogenes Laertius
File Type: pdf
Everyone wants to live a meaningful life. Long before our own day of self-help books offering twelve-step programs and other guides to attain happiness, the philosophers of ancient Greece explored the riddle of what makes a life worth living, producing a wide variety of ideas and examples to follow. This rich tradition was recast by Diogenes Laertius into an anthology, a miscellany of maxims and anecdotes, that generations of Western readers have consulted for edification as well as entertainment ever since theLives of the Eminent Philosophers, first compiled in the third century AD, came to prominence in Renaissance Italy. To this day, it remains a crucial source for much of what we know about the origins and practice of philosophy in ancient Greece, covering a longer period of time and a larger number of figures-from Pythagoras and Socrates to Aristotle and Epicurus-than any other ancient source.This new edition of the Lives, in a faithful and eminently readable translation by Pamela Mensch, is the first rendering of the complete text into English in nearly a century. Lavishly illustrated with a vast array of artwork that attests to the profound impact of Diogenes on the Western imagination, this edition also includes detailed notes and a variety of newly commissioned essays by leading scholars that shed light on the works historical and intellectual contexts as well as its rich legacy. The result is a capacious, fascinating, and charming compendium of ancient inspirationand instruction.
Author: John Hirst
File Type: mobi
A wise, illuminating little book Sydney Morning Herald An entertaining, learned piece of historical compression The Age Great stuff . . . the book as a whole is constantly thought-provoking Courier Mail Beautifully and sparely constructed, yet rich in fact, feeling and detail – sweeping, challenging and funny James Button The balance of analysis and description, generalisation and specific instance, is beautifully maintained ABR Describing the birth of European civilisation from an unlikely mixture of three elements - classical learning, Christianity and German warrior culture - The Shortest History of Europe begins with a rapid historical overview from the ancient Greeks to the dawn of the modern era. In each later chapter, the author returns to explore in more detail one aspect of Europes remarkable history its political evolution its linguistic boundaries and their defining influence the crucial role played by power struggles between Pope and Emperor and...
Author: Penry Williams
File Type: pdf
The Later Tudors, the second volume to be published in Oxfords authoritative series The New Oxford History of England, tells the story of England between the accession of Edward VI and the death of Elizabeth I. The second half of the sixteenth century was a period of intense conflict between the nations of Europe, and between competing Catholic and Protestant beliefs. These struggles produced acute anxiety in England, but the nation was saved from the disasters that befell her neighbors and, by the end of Elizabeths reign, achieved a remarkable sense of political and religious identity. In this masterly and comprehensive study, Penry Williams explains how this process came about. He begins by weaving together the political, religious, and economic history of the nation, setting out the workings and development of the English state. Later chapters establish the broader perspective, with a thorough analysis of English society, family relations, and culture, focusing on the ways in which art and literature were used to uphold--and sometimes to subvert--the social and political order. The final chapter looks to Europe and across the seas at Englands part in the shaping of the New World. **