This book traces one exegetical, interpretative principal, divine accommodation, in Jewish and Christian thought from the first to the nineteenth century. The focus is upon major figures and the place of accommodation in their work. Divine accommodation, the idea that divine revelation had to be attuned to the human condition, is a vital interpretive device in the history of both Judaism and Christianity. Accommodation is present not only in the language, style, and tone of Scripture but in all of human history. This is the first systematic study of the concept of accommodation, and shows how both religions employed the same interpretative tool for different purposes and to different ends.

This fourth instalment of Harry Redner's tetralogy on the history of civilization argues that intellectuals have a brilliant past, a dubious present, and possibly no future. He contends that the philosophers of the seventeenth century laid the ground for the intellectuals of the eighteenth century, the Age of Enlightenment. They, in turn, promoted a fundamental transformation of human consciousness: they literally intellectualized the world. The outcome was the disenchantment of the world in all its cultural dimensions: in art, religion, ethics, politics, and philosophy.In this fascinating study, Redner demonstrates how secularization took the sting out of both the dread and promise of an afterlife and intellectuals learned to die without the hope of immortality popularized by philosophy and religion. Ultimately, they produced the ideologies that generated the totalitarian regimes of the twentieth century, which subsequently exterminated these intellectuals through mass murder on a scale never before experienced. The book traces the sources of this fatal entanglement and goes on to examine the contemporary condition of intellectuals in America and the world.Wherein lies the future of the intellectuals? Redner suggest that in the present state of globalization, dominated by technocrats, experts, and professionals, their fate remains uncertain.

In this book, the author presents an interpretation of four thinkers: Nietzsche, Heidegger, Foucault, and Derrida. In an attempt to place these thinkers within the wider context of the crisis-oriented modernism and postmodernism that have been the source of much of what is most original and creative in twentieth-century art and thought.

From the Introduction: The present essay provides an introduction to the treatment of human existence and individuality in Marxist thought. The work will be primarily concerned with two related topics: the evaluation by Marxists of individual emancipation and their assessment of subjective factors in social theory. By taking up these taking up these topics within a systematic and historical framework, I hope to generate some fresh light on several familiar issues. First, I pursue a reading of Marx focused on his treatment of subjectivity, individuation, and related methodological and practical matters; second, I apply this interpretation to analyzing the dispute between Marxist orthodoxy and heterodoxy over such matters as class consciousness and the philosophy of materialism; finally, I employ this historical context to clarify the significance of "existential Marxism," Maurice Merleau-Ponty's and Jean-Paul Sartre's contribution to Marxist thought. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1979. From the Introduction: The present essay provides an introduction to the treatment of human existence and individuality in Marxist thought. The work will be primarily concerned with two related topics: the evaluation by Marxists of individual emancipation

Sharpening the debate over the values that formed America's founding political philosophy, Barry Alan Shain challenges us to reconsider what early Americans meant when they used such basic political concepts as the public good, liberty, and slavery. We have too readily assumed, he argues, that eighteenth-century Americans understood these and other terms in an individualistic manner. However, by exploring how these core elements of their political thought were employed in Revolutionary-era sermons, public documents, newspaper editorials, and political pamphlets, Shain reveals a very different understanding--one based on a reformed Protestant communalism. In this context, individual liberty was the freedom to order one's life in accord with the demanding ethical standards found in Scripture and confirmed by reason. This was in keeping with Americans' widespread acceptance of original sin and the related assumption that a well-lived life was only possible in a tightly knit, intrusive community made up of families, congregations, and local government bodies. Shain concludes that Revolutionary-era Americans defended a Protestant communal vision of human flourishing that stands in stark opposition to contemporary liberal individualism. This overlooked component of the American political inheritance, he further suggests, demands examination because it alters the historical ground upon which contemporary political alternatives often seek legitimation, and it facilitates our understanding of much of American history and of the foundational language still used in authoritative political documents.

Rebirth: A History of Europe Since World War II examines the transition of Europe from a period of crisis to an era of political confidence and economic strength. As the title suggests, the pervasive theme of the book is that of rebirth. The most recent decades are set in the context of modern European history as a whole. The authors trace the disillusionment and uncertainty that overcame Europe at the turn of the twentieth century and that culminated in the devastation of the Second World War. In their analysis of the political and economic causes of the renaissance that has followed the demise of the Cold War, the authors highlight the themes of national integration and economic modernization.The chapters are uniquely organized to present both international and domestic developments in Europe as coherent wholes as well as the importance of their interaction. The initial analysis of key international developments in the twentieth century helps students to understand the relationship between foreign and domestic events and provides background for the substantial discussion of the major European countries that follows in chapters devoted to each national experience. The political and economic histories of these nation-states are considered in terms of their individual traditions and challenges, and the authors explore difficult issues such as the overall costs and benefits of the scientific-technological revolution, the pursuit of social justice, the proper role of the state and of political parties, and contrasting national paths of economic and political development.Rebirth is designed as a text for use in courses on modern European history ? especially twentieth-century Europe ? and for students of comparative politics who are seeking a substantial consideration of the historical factors of European politics. In this revised edition, the authors have updated the text with an analysis of developments since 1991 and added recent scholarship to the lists of Suggested Readings.

Reviews subjects on the test, offers tips on test-taking strategies, and includes two full-length practice exams with answers and explanations.

Reviews subjects on the test, offers tips on test-taking strategies, and includes two full-length practice exams with answers and explanations.