Encountering Others Understanding Ourselves In Medieval And Early Modern Thought

Recent research has challenged our view of the Abrahamic religious traditions as unilaterally intolerant and incapable of recognizing otherness in all its diversity and richness; but a diachronic and comparative study of how these traditions deal with otherness is yet to appear. This volume aims to contribute to such a study by presenting different treatments of otherness in medieval and early modern thought. Part I: Altruism deals with attitudes and behaviors that benefit others, regardless of its motives. We deal with the social rights and emotions as well as the moral obligations that the very existence of other human beings, whatever their characteristics, creates for a community. Part II: Religious recognition and toleration considers identity, toleration and mutual recognition created by the existence of religious or ethnic otherness in a given social, religious or political community. Part III: Evil deals with religious otherness that is considered evil and rejected such as heretics and malevolent, demonic entities. The volume will ultimately inform the reader on the nature of religious toleration (including beliefs and doctrines, even emotions) as well as of the self-definition of religious communities when encountering and defining otherness in different ways.

This timely Advanced Introduction explores federalism as a subject of intellectual inquiry, discussion and debate. Alain-G. Gagnon and Arjun Tremblay examine the role federalism can play in achieving fairness, justice and equality, as well as the impact it can have on the survival of political systems.

This book is a collection of studies on topics related to subjectivity and selfhood in medieval and early modern philosophy. The individual contributions approach the theme from a number of angles varying from cognitive and moral psychology to metaphysics and epistemology. Instead of a complete overview on the historical period, the book provides detailed glimpses into some of the most important figures of the period, such as Augustine, Avicenna, Aquinas, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz and Hume. The questions addressed include the ethical problems of the location of one's true self and the proper distribution of labour between desire, passion and reason, and the psychological tasks of accounting for subjective experience and self-knowledge and determining different types of self-awareness.

"Vermin are not only pestering; they shape the way people look at each other and are a way that some people get to feel superior to others"--

Encountering Crises of the Mind offers social and cultural historical perspectives to mental illness from late medieval times to modern age.

Rights at the Margins explores the ways rights were available to those on the margins and their relationship with social justice in medieval and early modern thought. It also elaborates the relevance of some historical ideas in the contemporary context.