by Frederick P. Brandauer and Chun-chieh Huang (1994)
"In traditional times, the emperor of China was assumed to be a morally upright person who, as Son of Heaven, ruled an empire that was arranged beneath him in hierarchical order and that functioned as a harmonious and self-consistent whole. His own conduct was believed to influence the working of the natural order of all "under heaven." The essays in Imperial Rulership and Cultural Change in Traditional China examine the relationship between emperors and culture, and ask how effective emperors were in generating cultural change. Collectively, they find that although an image of rulership as an ideal persisted throughout Chinese history, there is a great discrepancy between the image of the Chinese ruler as an all-powerful, benevolent, sovereign figure and the actual practice of this rulership." "Arranged chronologically by subject matter, the essays cover historical periods ranging from the third century B.C. to A.D.^ 1900, and reflect the disciplines of history, literature, religious studies, and philosophy. Jack L. Dull's essay, "Determining Orthodoxy: Imperial Roles," examines the extent to which Chinese emperors attempted to and were successful in determining orthodoxy; Stephen Durrant's "Ssu-ma Ch'ien's Portrayal of the First Ch'in Emperor" shows how the author of the Shih-chi (the first comprehensive history of China) deals with the controversial Ch'in Shih-huang; in "The Emperor and Literature: Emperor Wu of the Han," David R. Knechtges explores the important role of Han Wu-ti in actively supporting literature; Chen Jo-shui's "Empress Wu and Proto-Feminist Sentiments in T'ang China" analyzes the use of Buddhism by China's only woman ruler to legitimize the idea of a female emperor and examines the influence of her ideas on history; Thomas H.C.^ Lee's "Academies: Official Sponsorship and Suppression" explores how and when intellectuals associated with early Chinese academies sought to achieve independence from imperial rulership; in "Imperial Rulership and Buddhism in the Early Northern Sung," Huang Chi-chiang focuses on the promotion of Buddhism by the four emperors who reigned from 960 to 1063; Huang Chun-chieh, in "Imperial Rulership in Cultural History: Chu-hsi's Interpretation," discusses the great Sung Neo-Confucian philosopher's insistence on the need for education of the ruler; Frederick P.^ Brandauer's "The Emperor and the Star Spirits: A Mythological Reading of the Shui-hu chuan" shows how the earliest complete version of the novel presents a mythological frame promoting loyalty and support for the emperor (in contrast to the seventeenth-century truncated version used by Marxist critics); "Ku Yen-wu's Ideal of the Emperor: A Cultural Giant and a Political Dwarf," by Ku Wei-ying, analyzes the views on rulership of a leading seventeenth-century Chinese scholar; and R. Kent Guy's "Imperial Powers and the Appointment of Provincial Governors in Ch'ing China, 1700-1900" examines the way in which emperors used their power of appointment to impose their own vision and effect cultural change."--Jacket.
Andrew Heywood
The second edition of Andrew Heywood's introductory text to political theory covers a large range of ideas and issues. No matter how abstract the idea he always makes it intelligible and relevant to the modern world of politics.
Ronald F. Thiemann
Prayer in public schools, abortion, gay and lesbian rights - these bitterly divisive issues dominate American politics today, revealing deep disagreements over basic moral values. In a highly readable account that draws on legal arguments, political theory, and philosophy, Ronald F. Thiemann explores the proper role of religious convictions in American public life. He proposes that religion can and should play an active, positive part in our society even as it maintains a fundamental commitment to pluralist, democratic values. Arguing that both increased secularism and growing religious diversity since the 1960s have fragmented commonly held values, Thiemann observes that there has been an historical ambivalence in American attitudes towards religion in public life. He proposes abandoning the idea of an absolute wall between church and state and all the conceptual framework built around that concept in interpreting the First Amendment. He returns instead to James Madison's views and the Constitutional principles of liberty, equality, and toleration. Refuting both political liberalism (as too secular) and communitarianism (as failing to meet the challenge of pluralism), Thiemann offers a new definition of liberalism that gives religions a voice in the public sphere as long as they heed the Constitutional principles of liberty, equality, and toleration or mutual respect. . The American republic, Thiemann notes, is a constantly evolving experiment in constructing a pluralistic society from its many particular communities. Religion can act as a positive force in its moral renewal, by helping to shape common cultural values. All those interested in finding solutions to today's divisive political discord, in finding ways to disagree civilly in a democracy, and in exploring the extent to which religious convictions should shape the development of public policies will find that this book offers an important new direction for religion and the nation.
Giuliano Pontara
«Marxismo e nonviolenza: due dottrine profondamente connesse con la realtà storica in cui viviamo. Il marxismo come denuncia (oltre che analisi) delle innumerevoli forme di degradazione dell'uomo connesse con il sistema di produzione capitalistica, e come proposta di una alternativa umana ad esso, il socialismo. La nonviolenza come denuncia delle forme spaventose che la violenza ha assunto nell'era atomica, come denuncia delle condizioni disumane connesse con l'uso della violenza, anche quella rivoluzionaria al servizio del socialismo, e come proposta di alternativa ad essa: la modalità di lotta satyagraha».
Balint Vazsonyi
Is America on a slow-motion trip toward socialism even as much of the rest of the world moves away from it? Hungarian-born historian and world-renowned concert pianist Balint Vazsonyi knows first-hand what it means to live under an authoritarian regime and makes a powerful case that America is going down the same road.