by Gerry Spence (1995)
Never afraid to take on tough cases or tackle difficult issues, here in From Freedom to Slavery Gerry Spence comes at us uncensored, with his passions on fire. In this underground bestseller, which has come to define Spence's political philosophy, he speaks out against the destructive forces in America today - forces of government and corporate tyranny that are robbing us of our freedom - and he warns us that time is running out. In a dramatic new chapter, presented for the first time in a trade paperback edition, Spence recounts in astonishing detail the government shoot-out at Ruby Ridge and the resulting trial of separatist Randy Weaver, revealing the important lessons we must learn from this tragic case. Finally, Spence makes the eloquent case that we, as Americans, have delivered our freedoms to new masters: corporate and governmental conglomerates, our biased court system, and the censored media. From Freedom to Slavery is an urgent work that urges us to resist this tyranny, a book that must be read and discussed by all concerned citizens of our troubled land.
Maurizio Viroli
Italy is a country of free political institutions, yet it has become a nation of servile courtesans, with Silvio Berlusconi as their prince. Drawing upon the republican conception of liberty, this title shows that a people can be unfree even though they are not oppressed.
Roswitha Dörendahl
Schellings Philosophie von der „Freiheitsschrift“ bis zu den „Weltaltern“ zeigt deutlich die Spuren seiner Rezeption der theosophischen Schriften Jacob Böhmes und Christoph Oetingers sowie den Einfluss Franz von Baaders. Gleichzeitig bleibt sein idealistisches Denken weiterhin präsent. In der vorliegenden Studie werden beide Traditionslinien nicht, wie so oft, gegeneinander ausgespielt, sondern zusammengeführt. Schellings idealistischer Ansatz – so die These – lässt sich vor dem Hintergrund seiner theosophisch-kabbalistischen Spekulationen als Kritik am Konzept der Autonomie entfalten: Schelling löst den Gegensatz von Natur und Freiheit auf, und zeigt, dass diese Entgegensetzung, die Kants Autonomiebegriff kennzeichnet, eine dialektische Bewegung der Verdrängung ist, bei der das Ausgegrenzte, die Natur, im Modus der Verkehrung in den Autonomiebegriff einwandert. Mit Hilfe theosophisch-kabbalistischer Gedankenfiguren einerseits und im Horizont der von Friedrich Jacobi forcierten Kontroverse um Glauben und Wissen andererseits betreibt Schelling die Universalisierung der Freiheit. In der Metapher vom „umgekehrten Gott“ kulminiert seine negativistische Verschärfung des Kantschen Theoriestücks vom „Radikal Bösen“.
Richard Wayne Wills, Sr
Richard Wills focuses on one particular aspect of King's theology - 'Imago Dei' - the idea that human beings are made in God's image. For King, this meant that human beings have not only the right but also the power to reshape society and to build a 'Beloved Community' on earth. Wills relates this theory to King's civil rights beliefs.
Greg Moses
In a world where we continue to settle our differences with guns and bombs, many of us perceive any philosophy of nonviolence as passive, outdated, and intrinsically bound to religious beliefs. We laud one of the most famous proponents of nonviolent resistance, Martin Luther King, Jr., as an activist and orator, but seldom acknowledge him as an important intellectual. Seeking to correct these misunderstandings, Greg Moses' powerful book at last recognizes King as one of the greatest thinkers of our time - one whose philosophy has deep, unappreciated roots and lasting consequences. Identifying five fundamental concepts shaping King's philosophy - equality, structure, direct action, love, and justice - this book traces the development of a secular logic of nonviolence. Reviewing the works of abolitionist Frederick Douglass, activist-scholar W. E. B. Du Bois, labor leader A. Philip Randolph, mystic theologian Howard Thurman, and Nobel laureate Ralph J. Bunche, Moses argues against the popular notion that King's principles of nonviolence were imported to black America from elsewhere. He situates these principles instead within African American intellectual history, showing how King's comprehensive and disciplined approach to liberation builds upon a rich legacy of militant struggle against oppression and offers a sturdy framework for critical activity in our complex world.