Continuum Philosophy News

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

Metaphysics: An Introduction - A major new textbook coming very soon!

 I am delighted to announce the publication of a major new textbook: Metaphysics: An Introduction by Jonathan Tallant (University of Nottingham). The book is the definitive companion to the study of metaphysics. It provides students with an accessible, comprehensive and philosophically rigorous introduction to all the key concepts, issues and debates. Ideal for use on undergraduate courses, the structure and content of this textbook closely reflect the way metaphysics is studied.

The book includes a host of student-friendly features, including chapter summaries, study questions and a comprehensive guide to further reading. Each chapter also includes a series of specially designed mind-maps to help students visualise the logical space being explored and how the arguments push in different directions. There is also a companion website with a range of resources for students and lecturers.

The book has received glowing pre-publication endorsements from three leading figures in the field:

‘Jonathan Tallant has produced a well-informed and very up-to-date survey of the "hot" topics in contemporary analytic metaphysics, nicely unified by the theme of truth-making. It should prove to be an invaluable aid to undergraduate teaching and a useful resource for anyone wanting to know what is going on in metaphysics today.’

-- Professor E.J. Lowe, Department of Philosophy, Durham University, UK

'This is an excellent introduction to metaphysics. The framework provided by truth-maker theory is helpful without unduly taking over. The selection of topics is eminently sensible. The coverage of the relevant arguments and views in each chapter is clear, illuminating and very fair. The provision in each chapter of questions for discussion, selected further readings, and mind-map is also useful. This should be a successful text book for many introductory metaphysics courses.'

-- Professor Bill Brewer, Department of Philosophy, University of Warwick, UK

'In this thorough and well-written introduction to metaphysics, Jonathan Tallant has provided students and teachers of metaphysics with an exceedingly useful book covering the major topics in metaphysics. The discussion questions and references at the end of each chapter enhance the content and make it an ideal text for a course in metaphysics.'

-- L. Nathan Oaklander, David M. French Professor and Professor of Philosophy, University of Michigan-Flint, USA

Inspection copies are available - Please contact inspection@continuumbooks.com in the UK or Kim Petit (kpetit@continuumbooks.com) in the US if you are interested in reviewing this text for your course.

New research in phenomenology and hermeneutics

 

Last month we published the second volume in a new series, Issues in Phenomenology and Hermeneutics, a collection of essays entitled Variations on Truth: Approaches in Contemporary Phenomenology. Edited by Pol Vandevelde (Marquette University) and Kevin Hermberg (Dominican College), the book presents a comprehensive survey of contemporary phenomenological research into the problem of truth. Twelve leading scholars from around the world explore and map a comprehensive and rigorous alternative to mainstream analytic discussions of truth, reality and understanding.

Also recently arrived on my desk are advance copies of Paul Fairfield's Philosophical Hermeneutics Reinterpreted, in which Fairfield (Queen's University, Canada) examines hermeneutics in relation to existentialism, pragmatism, critical theory and poststructuralism. The book brings hermeneutics into closer association with existentialism, pragmatism, critical theory, and postmodernism. Fairfield contends that there are important affinities and areas for critical exchange between hermeneutics and these four schools of thought which have, until now, remained under-appreciated. In so doing, he both clarifies some outstanding issues in hermeneutics and advances the subject beyond what Heidegger, Gadamer, and Ricoeur have given us.

Something for your students...

Looking ahead to the start of the new academic year, I'm delighted to announce the publication of Interpreting Nietzsche, a book that will help your students get to grips with the work of this compelling but often baffling thinker. Edited by Ashley Woodward (Melbourne School of Continental Philosophy) and with chapters by a host of leading scholars including Jon Roffe and Duncan Large, this introductory guide surveys the impact and continuing influence of the work of Freidrich Nietzsche on modern European thought. It explores how some of the most important thinkers of the 20th century, including Heidegger, Derrida, Deleuze, Irigaray and Vattimo, have responded to the legacy of Nietzsche's writings, encouraging students to take their studies further with annotated guides to further primary and secondary reading at the end of each chapter. The book is ideal for undergraduate students - have a closer look at the preview above and consider it for your course reading lists this year.

New research in Political Philosophy

We've recently published three new titles in the field of political philosophy that you might be interested in hearing more about. Firstly, two titles that have published in our Continuum Studies in Political Philosophy series:

Morality, Leadership, and Public Policy by Eric Thomas Weber (University of Mississippi) argues the practical benefits for public policy of a rigorous experimentalist approach to applying moral theory. Informed by the pragmatism of John Dewey, Weber begins moral inquiry by examining public problems and then makes use of the tools of philosophy and intelligent inquiry to alleviate them.

Rousseau and Revolution, which is edited by Holger Ross Lauritsen and Mikkel Thorup (both University of Aarhus, Denmark), is a collection of essays from an international team of scholars exploring Rousseau’s thinking on revolution, political violence and democracy. The book touches on such issues as citizenship, activism, terrorism and the State and in doing so reveals Rousseau to be an important source of insight into contemporary political problems.

Finally, Utilitarian Philosophy and Politics, which is by James E. Crimmins (University of Western Ontario) and published in our Continuum Studies in British Philosophy series, explores Jeremy Bentham’s political philosophy in its historical and intellectual context and in the light of his own later re-assessment of his philosophical project. By attempting to look again at the context in which Bentham was writing and his self-conscious concern with his own legacy, this book offers a new account of this major political thinker.

Previews of all three titles are available here:

And the winner is...

It's 1st August today (where is the year going?) which means our month long celebration of Rancière has come to an end. Of course, this also means it's time to announce the winner of our competition!

 

As most of you spotted, my original question was a little open ended... The Ignorant Schoolmaster (Stanford University Press, 1991) is the English translation of the original French Le Maître Ignorant (Fayard, 1987). I have, therefore, accepted both 1991 and/or 1987 as the correct answer. Those of you who sent in the correct answer were entered into a draw and the winner picked by one of my colleagues in the office.

 

So, without further ado, the winner is... Iain Campbell from Dundee, Scotland! Congratulations!

 

Commiserations to everyone else that entered but thank you so much for doing so. We've had a tremendous response to this competition and some of you said some very kind things about Continuum in your emails, which I can assure you were very much appreciated.

 

Don't forget to follow @continuumphilos on Twitter for more exclusive sneak previews of future books and all the latest news from Continuum Philosophy!

 

Charlotte Hoare

Marketing Executive UK & Rest of World