Passion For Pulses

Nutritious pulses such as chickpeas, beans, peas and lentils are easy to prepare, versatile and economical. They are also a low-fat, high-fibre food listed in the 'eat more' category of the Australian Nutrition Foundation's healthy eating pyramid. But, best of all, they are delicious! Passion for Pulses brings together over 150 sweet and savoury recipes from around the world-old favourites like hommos, dhal and chilli con carne, along with the more exotic Brazilian croustade, lentil tom kha soup and a crab and chickpea curry. And for pure indulgence, who can go past wattleseed shortbread, lentil brownies or gluten-free chocolate cake? Whether you're looking for a quick dish to make at the end of a long day, or something to impress for a special occasion, you'll find it in Passion for Pulses.

Philosopher, alchemist, and privateer, Kenelm Digby (1603-1665) cut a striking figure across Europe in the middle of the 17th century. Digby corresponded with Galileo, Descartes, Gassendi, Gilbert and Harvey, and was one of the founding members of the Royal Society. In 1644 he published his major philosophical work, Two Treatises: Of Bodies and of Man's Soul - the first comprehensive philosophical work in the English language. In the Two Treatises Digby discussed at length a vast array of philosophical ideas: elements, matter, mechanism, motion, force and causation, as well as sensation, perception, memory, imagination, intellect, reason, and immortality. MacDonald's edition is the first scholarly edition of this great work since it went out of print in 1669: it offers a normalized text, copious annotations, and a lengthy introduction which situates Digby's ideas in the currents of 17th century philosophical thought.

Not himself a Marxist, Dr Churchich has nevertheless won plaudits for this book from those committed to the philosophy. It is, they acknowledge, thoroughly researched, well reasoned, and balanced in its argument - even if that argument is one with which Marxists are bound to disagree, being based on the premise that 'ethical theories must ultimately rest on metaphysical and psychological preconceptions rather than on some imaginary empirical facts'. The declared aim of this work is to present a full exposition of Marx's and Engels' ideas on morality and ethics, and to indicate some of their errors and weaknesses. Unlike other studies of this subject, Churchich analyses all major aspects of morality, dealing not only with the writings of Marx himself but also with the works of most writers who have commented on Marxist morality and ethics. Marx himself intended to produce a work on social morality, but did not manage to do so. This book will therefore, and without doubt, become the standard work on his view of the subject. Superior to anything else on the topic written by non-Marxists, it is clearer on some aspects of Marx's view than the work of some Marxist writers - Churchich makes obvious for instance, how great was Althusser's mistake in arguing that there is 'not a grain of normative ethics in mature Marx'. Yet the author's objectivity allows him also to find values among the ethical arguments of Marx and Engels, making this a book which both Marxists and concerned Anglicans would find useful as a criticism of some current social trends. It also sounds a cautionary note for those who argue that the collapse of bureaucratic socialism in the former Soviet Union means the end of Marxism too - this is by no means Dr Churchich's view.

Johannes Corrodi Katzenstein offers a contribution to the current debate on Kierkegaard, mostly concerning the rationality of religious belief and the presumed religious neutrality (autonomy) of philosophical and scientific thought. More specifically, his book is an attempt to relate Kierkegaard's theory of the stages of life (aesthetic, ethical, religious) to issues that have been of utmost concern to Anglo-American (analytical) philosophy, such as the nature of truth, rational knowledge, objectivity, etc. From this angle, Kierkegaard turns out to be not the irrationalist he has often been made into but rather the outspoken witness of a passion that guides all thinking, i.e. the passion to think what cannot be thought. An attempt is made to show that for Kierkegaard, anticipating some of the arguments of contemporary postsecular philosophy, the ideal of pure or autonomous reason inevitably has its basis in a pre-rational, often tacit commitment to an origin whose primary home is in religious faith. Rather than precluding dialogue, awareness of these deeper forces and starting-points of our various philosophical and scientific outlooks is a critical requirement for mutual understanding between secularist and religious perspectives and traditions competing for cultural and political dominance.