World Philosophy Day

21 November, 2024 – 3rd Thursday of November

World Philosophy Day is celebrated on the third Thursday of November, this year on the 21st of November.

Click to Read More: It was established by UNESCO to underline “the enduring value of philosophy for the development of human thought, for each culture and for each individual”.

Moreover they emphasise that “Philosophy is an inspiring discipline as well as an everyday practice that can transform societies. By enabling to discover the diversity of the intellectual currents in the world, philosophy stimulates intercultural dialogue. By awakening minds to the exercise of thinking and the reasoned confrontation of opinions, philosophy helps to build a more tolerant, more respectful society. It thus helps to understand and respond to major contemporary challenges by creating the intellectual conditions for change”.

Read more from the UNESCO World Philosophy Day page here.

In the spirit of this day, we have compiled some of our Philosophy Studies titles below.


Where is the Good in the World?

Ethical Life between Social Theory and Philosophy

Edited by David Henig, Anna Strhan and Joel Robbins

“This is a highly commendable piece of literature that will surely enrich the understanding of the intersection of social theory and philosophy as it relates to the good, and its interdisciplinary approach makes a complex topic both approachable and applicable for a diverse readership.” • Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute

Volume 12, WYSE Series in Social Anthropology

Read freely available introduction.

Against Better Judgment

Akrasia in Anthropological Perspectives

Edited by Patrick McKearney and Nicholas H. A. Evans

“These anthropological perspectives in akrasia do well to illustrate both the ubiquity of the phenomenon and the need to continue to collect cases of akratic human behaviour. Most normative approaches toward akrasia include aspiring toward its elimination, but collections like this give credence to the idea that akrasia is a mental phenomenon that greases the wheels of daily life.” • LSE Review of Books

Volume 14, WYSE Series in Social Anthropology

Read freely available introduction.

Of Jaguars and Butterflies

Metalogues on Issues in Anthropology and Philosophy

Geoffrey Lloyd and Aparecida Vilaça

“This is a work of outstanding interest and originality, both in form and in content.” • Nicholas Jardine, Cambridge University

Read freely available introduction.

The Origins of German Self-Cultivation

Bildung and the Future of the Humanities

Edited by Jennifer Ham, Ulrich Kinzel, and David Tse-chien Pan

Recent devaluations of a liberal arts education call the formative concept of Bildung, a defining model of self-cultivation rooted in 18th and 19th century German philosophy and culture, into question and force us to reconsider what it once meant and now means to be an “educated” individual. This volume uses an arc of interdisciplinary scholarship to map both the epistemological origins and cultural expressions of the pivotal notion of Bildung at the heart of pursuit in the humanities. From its intriguing original historical manifestations to its continuing resonance in current ongoing debates surrounding the humanities, the editors urge us to ask and discover how the classical concept of Bildung, so central to humanistic inquiry, was historically imagined and applied in its original German context.

Volume 27, Spektrum: Publications of the German Studies Association

Read freely available introduction.

Open Access

Cyborg Mind

What Brain–Computer and Mind–Cyberspace Interfaces Mean for Cyberneuroethics

Calum MacKellar

“Calum MacKellar wrote a stimulating book which can be read as a primer covering most aspects of the complex and rapidly growing field of man-computer interactions. The technology will continue to develop, but the ethical problems outlined here will probably remain the same.” • Anthropos

Read freely available introduction, and more with open access.

Beyond Posthumanism

The German Humanist Tradition and the Future of the Humanities

Alexander Mathäs

“Beyond Posthumanism is a timely intervention into a high-stakes debate on the value of humanist education today. The book situates this debate in a wider historical framework, thereby demonstrating the often overlooked complexity of humanistic concepts. Highlighting literature’s unique ability to serve as a meta-sphere for reflection, this is a comprehensive and thoughtful consideration of one of the great questions of contemporary education.” • Christine Lehleiter, University of Toronto

Volume 22, Spektrum: Publications of the German Studies Association

Read freely available introduction.

Berghahn Journals

SARTRE STUDIES INTERNATIONAL

Executive Editors:
For the UKSS
John Gillespie, Ulster University
Katherine Morris, Mansfield College Oxford

For the NASS
T Storm Heter, East Stroudsburg University
Constance Mui, Loyola University

Sartre Studies International is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal which publishes articles of a multidisciplinary, cross-cultural and international character reflecting the full range and complexity of Sartre’s own work. It focuses on the philosophical, literary and political issues originating in existentialism, and explores the continuing vitality of existentialist and Sartrean ideas in contemporary society and culture. Each issue contains a reviews section and a notice board of current events, such as conferences, publications and media broadcasts linked to Sartre’s life, work and intellectual legacy.

Current Issue: Volume 29, Issue 2

View more from Berghahn Journals and receive free access to relevant articles!

Spotlight: Hannah Arendt

Hannah Arendt (14 October 1906 – 4 December 1975), German-American philosopher and political theorist, was the first to argue that there were continuities between the age of European imperialism and the age of fascism in Europe. In her pivotal work The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951), she established that theories of race, notions of racial and cultural superiority, and the right of ‘superior races’ to expand territorially were themes that connected the white settler colonies, the other imperial possessions, and the fascist ideologies of post-Great War Europe.

Continue reading “Spotlight: Hannah Arendt”

Hot Off the Press – New Journal Issues Published in February

 

Sartre Studies International

An Interdisciplinary Journal of Existentialism and Contemporary Culture

Volume 21, Issue 2

This is a special issue on the Diverse Lineages of Existentialism conference held in St. Louis from June 19 to 21, 2014. This conference featured a number of panels devoted to the work of eminent Sartre scholars: Ronald Aronson, David Detmer, Thomas R. Flynn and Ronald Santoni. We are pleased to present articles based on the papers presented at those panels in this issue.

Continue reading “Hot Off the Press – New Journal Issues Published in February”

Reading Hannah Arendt

Hannah Arendt

“There are no dangerous thoughts; thinking it-self is dangerous.” ― Hannah Arendt

 

Hannah Arendt (1906–1975) was one of the most influential political philosophers of the twentieth century. Born into a German-Jewish family, she was forced to leave Germany in 1933 and lived in Paris for the next eight years, working for a number of Jewish refugee organisations. In 1941 she immigrated to the United States and soon became part of a lively intellectual circle in New York. She held a number of academic positions at various American universities until her death in 1975. Read more about her life here.

Below, we’ve curated a reading list related to Hannah Arendt and her political philosophy from a selection of our books and journals.

 

 


 

 

The Legacy of Liberal JudaismThe Legacy of Liberal Judaism:
Ernst Cassirer and Hannah Arendt’s Hidden Conversation
Ned Curthoys

 

“Most readers will finish this work with a renewed appreciation of the continuing significance of the moral vision articulated by these exemplars of liberal Judaism.” · Choice

 

“The book then provides various interesting challenges to scholarship on Arendt, as well as the material on thinkers brought together here as part of the tradition of Liberal Judaism. All this make The Legacy of Liberal Judaism of relevance beyond an exclusively scholarly debate.” · Patterns of Prejudice

Continue reading “Reading Hannah Arendt”

A Philosopher Discusses Design Rhetoric

Below is an electronic interview between the Berghahn blog editor and Annina Schneller, contributor to the latest issue of the journal Nature and Culture. Annina Schneller is a contributor to the article titled “Design Rhetoric: Studying the Effects of Designed Objects” which appears in Volume 10, Number 3.

 

 

Annina Schneller, how come a philosopher does research about design?

Philosophy is a highly theoretical science and I always felt a lack of sensuality, a detachment from real experience and the problems we encounter in everyday life. I am interested in the practical aspects of ordinary life and in grasping‚ the bigger picture’, which also means to transcend disciplinary borders. In my research, conceptual, theoretical questions merge with practice-based questions of creation and effect in design.

 

 

You are following a rhetorical approach to design. What does that mean?

In analogy to rhetorics – the art of speech – I try to define a system that enables us to analyse design, but also to instruct designers for practice. Both rhetoric and design are intrinsically effect oriented. Their success lies in creating a certain reaction in a public. In my research, I try to find out which elements of design – colour, shape, material, composition etc. – are apt to create effects in the beholder or user and how this interrelation can be purposefully shaped. My article in Nature and Culture presents a design rhetorical view by referring to different practice-based research projects I have been working on. I particularly focus on the methodological problems that have occurred in identifying design effects and pinning down design rules.

 

 

How does this kind of design research link to the issues of Nature and Culture?

The impact of design is of concern for cultural studies, since design objects constitute a large part of human culture. Most of the things that surround us, we work with, we enjoy or that stand in our way are products of design. The boundary between natural and artificial objects can be questioned by reference to design: Many of the seemingly natural things such as plants or rivers can nowadays be seen as infiltrated by human design endeavours. So, if the apple in the supermarket has been designed to look fresh and crisp, does it belong to nature or culture now?

 

 

 

 

ANNINA SCHNELLER is a Philosopher and Researcher in Communication Design

at Bern University of the Arts, responsible for the research field of Design

and Rhetoric.

 

 

 

 

International Day of Democracy 2015

 

In 2007 the United Nations General Assembly resolved to observe 15 September as the International Day of Democracy—with the purpose of promoting and upholding the principles of democracy—and invited all member states and organizations to commemorate the day in an appropriate manner that contributes to raising public awareness. Read more about this special day at the UN website.

In honor of this year’s observance, we’ve highlighted select books and journals below.

Continue reading “International Day of Democracy 2015”

Q&A for Democratic Theory: An Interdisciplinary Journal

Democratic TheoryBerghahn is pleased to announce the launch of an exciting new journal in 2014, Democratic Theory – An Interdisciplinary Journal. The first issue has been published this month!

Democratic Theory is a peer-reviewed journal that encourages philosophical and interdisciplinary contributions which critically explore democratic theory – in all its forms. Below is the transcript of an electronic interview between the Berghahn blog editor and the journal’s editors, Mark Chou and Jean-Paul Gagnon.

Continue reading “Q&A for Democratic Theory: An Interdisciplinary Journal”

Marx is the New Black

HosfeldKarlWere he still alive, the philosopher behind The Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital would be celebrating his 196th birthday today.

Marx has made a comeback recently, with new books on his life and ideas popping up more frequently, and a new wave of “Millennial Marxists” taking to social media to discuss the original socialist’s ideas in a more modern light.

In honor of the undeniable influence Karl Marx has had on economic and political discourse over the years, we invite you to take a look at our intellectual biography of the philosopher himself.

 

 

Here’s what the critics are saying about Karl Marx: An Intellectual Biography by Rolf Hosfeld:

“…an elegant compact study [that] explores Marx’s ideas in all their messy complexity.” —Times Literary Supplement

“This 200 page compendium is a deftly written biography offering an informed and informative presentation of Marx’s turbulent personal and professional life. A seminal work of impressive scholarship, [this book] is enhanced by the inclusion of an extensive bibliography making it an especially useful and highly recommended contribution to academic library reference collections and Marxist Studies supplemental reading lists.” —The Midwest Book Review

“This book is a delightful gain: biography, theory, revolutionary history, modern history—altogether convincing and gripping. The lively portrait of a brilliant, eternally radical, and strictly speaking rather apolitical, philosopher is illustrated here by Rolf Hosfeld—A great achievement.” —DeutschlandRadio

 

Click here to learn more!