Richard Rorty is one of the most provocative figures in recent philosophical, literary and cultural debate. This collection brings together those of his writings aimed at a wider audience, many published in book form for the first time. In these eloquent essays, articles and lectures, Rorty gives a stimulating summary of his central philosophical beliefs and how they relate to his political hopes; he also offers some challenging insights into contemporary America, justice, education and love.

Few reference works in philosophy have articles on hope. Few also are systematic or large-scale philosophical studies of hope. Hope is admitted to be important in people's lives, but as a topic for study, hope has largely been left to psychologists and theologians. For the most part philosophers treat hope en passant. My aim is to outline a general theory of hope, to explore its structure, forms, goals, reasonableness, and implications, and to trace the implications of such a theory for atheism or theism. What has been written is quite disparate. Some see hope in an individualistic, often existential, way, and some in a social and political way. Hope is proposed by some as essentially atheistic, and by others as incomprehensible outside of one or another kind of theism. Is it possible to think consistently and at the same time comprehensively about the phenomenon of human hoping? Or is it several phenomena? How could there be such diverse understandings of so central a human experience? On what rational basis could people differ over whether hope is linked to God? What I offer here is a systematic analysis, but one worked out in dialogue with Ernst Bloch, Immanuel Kant, and Gabriel Marcel. Ernst Bloch of course was a Marxist and officially an atheist, Gabriel Marcel a Christian theist, and Immanuel Kant was a theist, but not in a conventional way.

"Schumacher looks at hope as a virtue, one opposed by vices such as despair and presumption, particularly as they are treated in existentialism and Marxism. He also explores Pieper's treatment of hope in relation to the ideas of death and immorality, and in the philosophy of history. Using the idea of hope to examine such themes as dignity, ethics, the good, and the just, Schumacher provides a valuable, wide-ranging introduction to a shaper of contemporary Christian thought against a richly drawn intellectual background."--BOOK JACKET.

The Method of Hope examines the relationship between hope and knowledge by investigating how hope is produced in various forms of knowledge - Fijian, philosophical, anthropologtical. The book participates in on-going debates in social theory about how to reclaim the category of hope in progressive thought.

This open access volume makes an important contribution to the ongoing research on hope theory by combining insights from both its long history and its increasing multi-disciplinarity. In the first part, it recognizes the importance of the centuries-old reflection on hope by offering historical perspectives and tracing it back to ancient Greek philosophy. At the same time, it provides novel perspectives on often-overlooked historical theories and developments and challenges established views. The second part of the volume documents the state of the art of current research in hope across eight disciplines, which are philosophy, theology, psychology, economy, sociology, health studies, ecology, and development studies. Taken together, this volume provides an integrated view on hope as a multi-faced phenomenon. It contributes to the further understanding of hope as an essential human capacity, with the possibility of transforming our human societies.

The first systematic exploration of Deweyan pedagogy in an actual classroom since studies of Dewey’s own Laboratory School at the turn of the century! In Part I, using accessible language, Stephen Fishman discusses Dewey’s educational theory in the context of Dewey’s ideology and process philosophy. In Part II, Fishman joins composition specialist Lucille McCarthy to examine his own Introduction to Philosophy class. In doing so, the authors model a collaborative form of practitioner inquiry and bring to life such complex Deweyan concepts as student-curriculum integration, interest and effort, and continuity and interaction.

The present book is no ordinary anthology, but rather a workroom in which anthropologists and philosophers initiate a dialogue on trust and hope, two important topics for both fields of study. The book combines work between scholars from different universities in the U.S. and Denmark. Thus, besides bringing the two disciplines in dialogue, it also cuts across differences in national contexts and academic style. The interdisciplinary efforts of the contributors demonstrate how such a collaboration can result in new and challenging ways of thinking about trust and hope. Reading the dialogues may, therefore, also inspire others to work in the productive intersection between anthropology and philosophy.

Presents the story of Plenty Coups, the last great Chief of the Crow Nation. This title contains a philosophical and ethical inquiry into a people faced with the end of their way of life.

How do we remain optimistic when the world seems to be falling apart around us? In these intimate essays, the author leads the reader on an inspirational journey to find answers and hope in troubled times. The book includes incisive commentaries on terrorism, good and evil, and aging and death that provide a new perspective on approaching the world with hope. The lyrical reflections on poetry and friendship highlight how such spiritual pursuits are the wellsprings of hope in dark times. Each essay suggests ways in which anyone can connect their personal search for strength, wisdom, and hope to the collective desire to bring about a just, humane, and caring society.

Discusses the philosophical problem of how that which is different is to be understood. Thinking the "incomplete" outside the oscillation between the complete and its opposite demands the introduction of another conceptual apparatus. Differing conceptual moments can be clarified by allowing them to be conceptually present; what becomes essential is tracing the effect of their work. Relating to the Shoah, contends that while there is an imperative to know it, it can never really be known. Ch. 3 (pp. 56-74), "Shoah, Remembrance and the Abeyance of Fate: Walter Benjamin's 'Fate and Character'", discusses how the themes in Benjamin's work (e.g. hope, remembrance), written in 1919, can be applied to the Shoah. Ch. 5 (pp. 103-118), "The Architecture of Hope: Daniel Libeskind's Jewish Museum" (part of the Berlin Museum), relates to the question of how Christian Europe has inscribed its Jews in art and architecture, giving two examples: the medieval sculpture of the Synagogue on the Strasbourg Cathedral and Libeskind's museum. Discusses how these two works raise the question of the distinction between the identity of Jewish being and of being a Jew.