Thinking Impossibilities

Intellectuals rarely make a significant impact on one field of scholarship let alone several, yet Amos Funkenstein (1937-1995) displayed an intellectual range that encompassed several disciplines and broke new ground across seemingly impenetrable scholarly boundaries. The philosophy of history from antiquity to modernity, medieval and early modern history of science, medieval scholasticism, Jewish history in all of its periods - these are all areas in which he made lasting contributions. Thinking Impossibilities brings together Funkenstein's colleagues, friends, and former students to engage with important aspects of his intellectual legacy. Funkenstein's diverse interests were bound together by common figures of thought, especially the search for pre-modern intellectual groundings of modern ideas and how the seeming 'impossibilities' of one historical moment might become positive resources of conceptual construction and development in another. The essays in this volume take up major themes in European intellectual history, and examine them through the unique lens that Funkenstein himself employed during his career. Of particular interest are ways in which topics of Jewish history are engaged with the larger field of the history of ideas in the West. Richly interdisciplinary and full of fresh insights, Thinking Impossibilities is a fitting tribute to an important twentieth-century scholar.

Gary Gutting tells the story of the remarkable flourishing of philosophy in France in the last four decades of the 20th century. He examines what it was to 'do philosophy', what this achieved, and how it differs from the Anglophone tradition. His key theme is that French philosophy in this period was mostly concerned with thinking the impossible.

Intellectuals rarely make a significant impact on one field of scholarship let alone several, yet Amos Funkenstein (1937-1995) displayed an intellectual range that encompassed several disciplines and broke new ground across seemingly impenetrable scholarly boundaries. The philosophy of history from antiquity to modernity, medieval and early modern history of science, medieval scholasticism, Jewish history in all of its periods - these are all areas in which he made lasting contributions. Thinking Impossibilities brings together Funkenstein's colleagues, friends, and former students to engage with important aspects of his intellectual legacy. Funkenstein's diverse interests were bound together by common figures of thought, especially the search for pre-modern intellectual groundings of modern ideas and how the seeming 'impossibilities' of one historical moment might become positive resources of conceptual construction and development in another. The essays in this volume take up major themes in European intellectual history, and examine them through the unique lens that Funkenstein himself employed during his career. Of particular interest are ways in which topics of Jewish history are engaged with the larger field of the history of ideas in the West. Richly interdisciplinary and full of fresh insights, Thinking Impossibilities is a fitting tribute to an important twentieth-century scholar.

This volume, first published in 2000, is about the development of human thinking that stretches beyond the ordinary boundaries of reality. Various research initiatives emerged in the decade prior to publication exploring such matters as children's thinking about imaginary beings, magic and the supernatural. The purpose of this book is to capture something of the larger spirit of these efforts. In many ways, this new work offers a counterpoint to research on the development of children's domain-specific knowledge about the ordinary nature of things that has suggested that children become increasingly scientific and rational over the course of development. In acquiring an intuitive understanding of the physical, biological or psychological domains, even young children recognize that there are constraints on what can happen. However, once such constraints are acknowledged, children are in a position to think about the violation of those very same constraints - to contemplate the impossible.

50,000 copies sold, now in paperback... If you can think impossible thoughts, then you can do impossible things!! The power of change: create new thinking for new solutions! Includes a new introduction demonstrating the "power of impossible thinking," plus access to exclusive book summary and authors' interview at the book's companion Web site. The Power of Impossible Thinking is about getting better at making sense of what's going on around you so you can make decisions that respond to reality, not inaccurate or obsolete models of the world. This bestseller reveals how mental models stand between you and the truth and how to transform them into your biggest advantage! Learn how to develop new ways of seeing, when to change to a new model, how to swap amongst a portfolio of models, how to understand complex environments and how to do "mind R and D," improving models through constant experimentation. Jerry Wind and Colin Crook review why it's so hard to change mental models and offer practical strategies for dismantling "hardened missile silos". Finally they show how to access models quickly through intuition, and assess the effectiveness of any mental model. Purchasers of this book gain access to audio summaries on a companion web site, along with a new half-hour interview with the authors.

Because of desire to experience and explore what we really are capable of. — D. Piątkowski Inside each one of us lies the incredible potential that gives us a gift of unlimited possibilities. By discovering it, you will be on the horns of dilemma – who you would like to be and what you want to achieve. Is the inner voice whispering you that it’s impossible to have any chosen personality, and keep full control over emotions and create your future? Live unbound. Break the mould and defeat Ego consciously – self-destructive thoughts, emotions and habits. By winning with yourself you will understand that you can be whoever you want to. By changing yourself, you will change your future. Life can be an amazing adventure and it depends only on you if it is so. If you are ready to discover, and then reach the top – this book is tailored for you. What is this book about? If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right. — Henry Ford The book you are holding in your hands is a multidimensional guide of personal and spiritual development. It tells about my journey to awakening and shows how to live the life of your dreams, in practice, not only in theory. It is an immensely personal story, however, I opened up despite Ego internal resistance. I believe it will help many people to solve problems and it will teach how to become a self-possessed person controlling emotions and as a result – the future. What can you learn and achieve by taking over the control of your mind? Imagine that... 1. You can choose any of the features of characters you know and – you can be self-confident, full of energy and motivated... 2. You do not send yourself mechanically into the negative emotional state – the end of stress, being sulky, lack of motivation and overwhelming problems. 3. You are happy regardless all of the experiences you have had, the circumstances and other people – you are the one who decides how to feel in every single moment. 4. Your relationship is just perfect – you have built it on values, and not on emotions. 5. You love your job, develop your passions and inborn talents. You achieve any objectives you set for yourself. You turn dreams into objectives and fulfill them one by one. You can lead the horse to water but can’t make it drink. — American Indian proverb Ego – an inner voice can whisper you that it is impossible to have a chosen personality and to be happy for ever. If you believe in negative thoughts – it will be impossible for you. However, if only curiosity and desire to change yourself for a better person wins – you can achieve it and become whichever personality you wish. Changing yourself you will change your future. Taking total control of your character, emotions and future, I guarantee that your life will change beyond the recognition. Dawid Piątkowski a visionary, a coach, a teacher, a motivator. The author of “The impossible” and “Obsession for Perfection”, which have been translated into five languages. A prominent athlete himself – he has collected more than 20 medals in national tennis championships and has been victorious on national and international podium 150 times in his career. Driven by the desire to improve the quality of life in all possible aspects, he has created a unique method for multidimensional development and self-improvement. The impressive internal metamorphoses of his athletes (even after one session) have inspired him to write “The impossible”, “Obsession for Perfection” and “Ego vs I”, which he willingly shares with the rest of the world.

Mark Jago presents an original philosophical account of meaningful thought: in particular, how it is meaningful to think about things that are impossible. We think about impossible things all the time. We can think about alchemists trying to turn base metal to gold, and about unfortunate mathematicians trying to square the circle. We may ponder whether god exists; and philosophers frequently debate whether properties, numbers, sets, moral and aesthetic qualities, and qualia exist. In many philosophical or mathematical debates, when one side of the argument gets things wrong, it necessarily gets them wrong. As we consider both sides of one of these philosophical arguments, we will at some point think about something that's impossible. Yet most philosophical accounts of meaning and content hold that we can't meaningfully think or reason about the impossible. In The Impossible, Jago argues that we often gain new information, new beliefs and, sometimes, fresh knowledge through logic, mathematics and philosophy. That is why logic, mathematics, and philosophy are useful. We therefore require accounts of knowledge and belief, of information and content, and of meaning which allow space for the impossible. Jago's aim in this book is to provide such accounts. He gives a detailed analysis of the concept of hyperintensionality, whereby logically equivalent contents may be distinct, and develops a theory in terms of possible and impossible worlds. Along the way, he provides a theory of what those worlds are and how they feature in our analysis of normative epistemic concepts: knowledge, belief, information, and content.