The Limits Of Universal Rule

The first comparative study to explore the dynamics of expansion and contraction of major continental empires in Eurasia.

An examination of the ways in which Gower's poetry engages with contemporary law and legal questions. It has long been thought that John Gower was probably a lawyer before turning to poetry, and this study reveals his active engagement with contemporary legal debates; they include constitutional questions, jurisdictional issues, private vengeance, jurisprudential concepts (such as equity and the rigor iuris), and aspects of criminal law. The author argues that the Confessio Amantis in particular demonstrates Gower's uncertainty about how to reconcile the ideal of a just law with alternative modes of justice, such as self-help, royal discretion, and divine will. The book also examines the parallel development of the exemplum and casus in medieval literature. Exempla frequently create a sense of narrative closure by means of some form of punishment, or as Gower would put it, "vengeance". How then do we set Gower's reputation as a sympathetic writer alongside his frequent desire forclosure and punishment? What are the limits of exemplarity and law? These questions are answered by reading Gower in relation to the volatile politics of the Ricardian period, and in comparison with the poetic concerns of contemporary writers such as Chaucer and Langland. In so doing, the book provides a searching introduction to the intersection between literature and law in the late fourteenth century. Dr. Conrad van Dijk is Assistant Professor of English at Concordia University College of Alberta (Edmonton, Canada).

Interaction with religions was one of the most demanding tasks for imperial leaders. Religions could be the glue that held an empire together, bolstering the legitimacy of individual rulers and of the imperial enterprise as a whole. Yet, they could also challenge this legitimacy and jeopardize an empire's cohesiveness. As empires by definition ruled heterogeneous populations, they had to interact with a variety of religious cults, creeds, and establishments. These interactions moved from accommodation and toleration, to cooptation, control, or suppression; from aligning with a single religion to celebrating religious diversity or even inventing a new transcendent civic religion; and from lavish patronage to indifference. The volume's contributors investigate these dynamics in major Eurasian empires--from those that functioned in a relatively tolerant religious landscape (Ashokan India, early China, Hellenistic, and Roman empires) to those that allied with a single proselytizing or non-proselytizing creed (Sassanian Iran, Christian and Islamic empires), to those that tried to accommodate different creeds through "pay for pray" policies (Tang China, the Mongols), exploring the advantages and disadvantages of each of these choices.

History casts a spell on our minds more powerful than science or religion. It does not root us in the past at all. It rather flatters us with the belief in our ability to recreate the world in our image. It is a form of self-assertion that brooks no opposition or dissent and shelters us from the experience of time. So argues Constantin Fasolt in The Limits of History, an ambitious and pathbreaking study that conquers history's power by carrying the fight into the center of its domain. Fasolt considers the work of Hermann Conring (1606-81) and Bartolus of Sassoferrato (1313/14-57), two antipodes in early modern battles over the principles of European thought and action that ended with the triumph of historical consciousness. Proceeding according to the rules of normal historical analysis—gathering evidence, putting it in context, and analyzing its meaning—Fasolt uncovers limits that no kind of history can cross. He concludes that history is a ritual designed to maintain the modern faith in the autonomy of states and individuals. God wants it, the old crusaders would have said. The truth, Fasolt insists, only begins where that illusion ends. With its probing look at the ideological underpinnings of historical practice, The Limits of History demonstrates that history presupposes highly political assumptions about free will, responsibility, and the relationship between the past and the present. A work of both intellectual history and historiography, it will prove invaluable to students of historical method, philosophy, political theory, and early modern European culture.

In this book a study is presented on the attitudes of 12- to 20-year-old youngsters towards social limits, imposed by their social and educational environment by means of laws, rules, values, norms or expectations. The study is part of a research programme on the course and treatment of juvenile delinquency, which started at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen during the eighties. Young people's attitudes towards social limits are assessed by the 'Standard Reaction Instrument'. A critical incident technique is used to elicit young people's knowledge, behavioral intentions and motivations in ten hypothetical situations including social limits. The instrument was administered from youngsters in secondary schools and from same-aged detained youngsters who have committed at least one criminal offence which has been recorded by police or judicial authorities. The responses of both groups are compared in order to test the validity of the instrument. Further, the relationship is tested between the youngsters' attitudes towards social limits and self-reported delinquent and aggressive behavior. Finally, a comparison is made between the responses of Flemish and Dutch youngsters. Starting point of the empirical study is a social psychological view on juvenile delinquency. In this view, which is based on the self-presentation paradigm developed by the sociologist Ervin Goffman and the early symbolic interactionists, juvenile delinquency is considered as a means of social communication towards significant others (parents, teachers, peers, society). Special attention is paid to the development, maintenance and management of social reputation by the juvenile delinquent.

The Limits is my first work in English, with English as my second language. It dates back to1994. It has been my first intellectual attempt since I came to the U.S. in 1985. My first try in 1994 was a very hard work which, at that time, went nowhere, because of my language limitations, and because my general knowledge was not to the level of this task. However, at the beginning of 1995, I abandoned this writing as a literary work and turned toward upgrading my scientific knowledge through personal study. In 2000, I made a new attempt, and the result was the original draft of the Seven Essays on Creation, which is my second book with AuthorHouse. In 2001, I abandoned this new work and continued with my science study. A special conjecture in 2003 made me publish the first book with AuthorHouse, which was Multiple Harmonics Create the Patterns of Real World from Chaos. After publishing this at the beginning of 2004, when I threw away mountains of old papers, I discovered the Seven Essays, and I decided to give to it another chance. In three months, it became another book, which was the Seven Essays on Creation, which was also published in 2004. In September 2005, while searching among some old papers, I discovered the original draft of The Limits, and I decided to do something about it. I have to say that The Limits has been on my mind for more than ten years, and I adored this old work. However, I was afraid that I would never be again be capable of writing the way I did in 1994. In the meantime, I was happy that, at the present, I had the answer to the philosophy that I wondered about eleven years ago. It was the nonlinear thinking that changed me a lot over the years. It was real, and I decided to rewrite The Limits. I tried to preserve as much as possible from the old draft, and I inserted in each chapter some nonlinear wisdom.