De hominis dignitate

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Allen W. Wood

This is one of the most respected books on Marx's philosophical thought. Wood explains Marx's views from a philosophical standpoint and defends Marx against common misunderstandings and criticisms of his views. All the major philosophical topics in Marx's work are considered: the central concept of alienation; historical materialism and Marx's account of social classes; the nature and social function of morality; philosophical materialism and Marx's atheism; and Marx's use of the Hegelian dialectical method and the Marxian theory of value.The second edition has been revised to include a new chapter on capitalist exploitation and new suggestions for further reading. Wood has also added a substantial new preface which looks at Marx's thought in light of the fall of the Soviet Union and our continued ambivalence towards capitalism, exploring Marx's continuing relevance in the twenty-first century.

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Josef van Ess

Observations in Islamic Heresiographical Texts. A History of the Literary Genre from the 8th to the 19th c. AD. In this volume the history of Islamic sects is analysed as a literary genus in its own right. It consists of three sections: the first deals with structural constants in the texts such as the arrangement, or the number and classification of the 'sects.' The main section describes the most important works and authors from the 8th to the 19th century. Finally, the central concepts - 'religion,' 'sects,' 'orthodoxy,' etc. - are considered and the historical background of the literary development examined in more detail. It turns out that the 'heresies' were rather 'confessions' which can be understood as proof of the pluralistic structure of the Islamic community.

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Ashton Nichols

Nichols chronicles the Enlightenment view of 'Nature' as static and separate from humans as it moved towards the Romantic 'nature' characterized by dynamic links among all living things. Engaging Romantic and Victorian thinkers, as well as contemporary scholarship, €he draws new conclusions about€21st-century ideas of nature.

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Cicero

We know more of Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BCE), lawyer, orator, politician and philosopher, than of any other Roman. Besides much else, his work conveys the turmoil of his time, and the part he played in a period that saw the rise and fall of Julius Caesar in a tottering republic.