by Daniel Deudney and Christopher Flavin (1983)
Long a dream of tinkerers and visionaries, renewable energy has now come of age. Technical innovations and successful development efforts in the last decade show that humanity can meet many of its energy needs by harnessing the inexhaustible flows of energy that come from the sun, the winds, the waters, living plants, and the earth itself. Here is a hard-nosed yet hopeful look at the global energy future. Daniel Deudney and Christopher Flavin of the Worldwatch Institute assess the advances being made in developing the major renewable sources of energy. Wood and hydropower already play crucial roles in the world energy economy. Passive solar design, wood alcohol, wind machines, and solar photovoltaic cells are among the "new" energy sources likely to grow in use most rapidly. Individual countries will pave the way with particular technologies, as has already been shown by Brazil in alcohol fuels, Japan in solar collectors, and the Philippines in geothermal energy. Renewable energy is not only an economical alternative to coal and nuclear power, the authors argue, but can help relieve unemployment, environmental degradation, and other pressing problems. The book describes what life could be like in a world powered by renewable energy, noting that differences in climate, natural resources, and economic philosophy will help determine which energy sources are used in various regions. Going beyond the generalities that have dominated recent energy policy debates, Deudney and Flavin detail a plan of action to promote sound energy development in rich and poor nations alike. They conclude that institutions and politics -- not resource limits -- constrain the use of renewable energy. - Jacket flap.
Richard Grusin
"In an era of heightened securitization, print, televisual and networked media have become obsessed with the pre-mediation of future events. In response to the shock of 9/11, socially networked US and global media work to premediate collective affects of anticipation and connectivity, while also perpetuating low levels of apprehension or fear"--Provided by publisher.
Paul R. Gross, Norman Levitt
With the emergence of "cultural studies" and the blurring of once clear academic boundaries, scholars are turning to subjects far outside their traditional disciplines and areas of expertise. In Higher Superstition scientists Paul Gross and Norman Levitt raise serious questions about the growing criticism of science by humanists and social scientists on the "academic left." As literary theorists deconstruct scientific "texts" and feminists condemn scientific "patriarchy," they argue, principles and practices that underlie 300 years of scientific achievement come under attack from scholars with little actual knowledge of science. Gross and Levitt explore the origins and history of the trend and examine examples of "science bashing" from an array of currently fashionable viewpoints - postmodernism, feminism, radical environmentalism, multiculturalism, and AIDS activism. They find the origins of antiscience attitudes not only in modern discontents but also in a long tradition of Romantic unhappiness with Rationalism. Their concerns, however, are clearly for the present and the future. They question how far the university community should go in validating nonscientific judgments of science. And they warn that the long-term consequences of these trends - for science education and for public judgment of scientific issues - may be infinitely more serious than the "political correctness" wars currently being waged on university campuses
Robert S. Taylor
How can citizens best protect themselves from the arbitrary power of abusive spouses, tyrannical bosses, and corrupt politicians? 'Exit Left' makes the case that in each of these three spheres the answer is the same: exit. By promoting open and competitive markets and providing the information and financial resources necessary to enable exit, the book argues that this can empower people's voices and offer them an escape from abuse and exploitation. This will advance a conception of freedom, viz. freedom as non-domination (FND), which is central to contemporary republican thought. Neo-republicans have typically promoted FND through constitutional means (separation of powers, judicial review, the rule of law, and federalism) and participatory ones (democratic elections and oversight), but this book focuses on economic means, ones that have been neglected by contemporary republicans but were commonly invoked in the older, commercial-republican tradition of Alexander Hamilton, Immanuel Kant, and Adam Smith. Just as Philip Pettit and other neo-republicans have revived and revised classical republicanism, so this book will do the same for commercial republicanism. This revival will enlarge republican practice by encouraging greater use of market mechanisms, even as it hews closely to existing republican theory.
Isabelle Thomas-Fogiel
"Philosophers debate the death of philosophy as much as they debate the death of God. Kant claimed responsibility for both philosophy's beginning and end, while Heidegger argued it concluded with Nietzsche. In the twentieth century, figures as diverse as John Austin and Richard Rorty have proclaimed philosophy's end, with some even calling for the advent of 'postphilosophy.' In an effort to make sense of these conflicting positions -- which often say as much about the philosopher as his subject -- Isabelle Thomas-Fogiel undertakes the first systematic treatment of 'the end of philosophy,' while also recasting the history of western thought itself. Thomas-Fogiel begins with postphilosophical claims such as scientism, which she reveals to be self-refuting, for they subsume philosophy into the branches of the natural sciences. She discovers similar issues in Rorty's skepticism and strands of continental thought. Revisiting the work of late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century philosophers, when the split between analytical and continental philosophy began, Thomas-Fogiel finds both traditions followed the same path -- the road of reference -- which ultimately led to self-contradiction. This phenomenon, whether valorized or condemned, has been understood as the death of philosophy. Tracing this pattern from Quine to Rorty, from Heidegger to Levinas and Habermas, Thomas-Fogiel reveals the self-contradiction at the core of their claims while also carving an alternative path through self-reference. Trained under the French philosopher Bernard Bourgeois, she remakes philosophy in exciting new ways for the twenty-first century."--Publisher's description.