Incest and the Medieval Imagination

Incest and the Medieval Imagination

Incest is a remarkably frequent theme in medieval literature; it occurs in a wide range of genres, including romances, saints’s lives, and exempla. Historically, the Church in the later Middle Ages was very concerned about breaches of the complex laws against incest, which was defined very broadly at the time to cover family relationships outside the nuclear family and also spiritual relationships through baptism. Medieval writers accepted that incestuous desire was a widespread phenomenon among women as well as men. They are surprisingly open about incest, though of course they disapprove of it; in many exemplary stories incest is identified with original sin, but the moral emphasizes the importance of contrition and the availability of grace even to such heinous sinners. This study begins with a brief account of the development of medieval incest laws, and the extent to which they were obeyed. Next comes a survey of classical incest stories and their legacy; many were retold in the Middle Ages, but they were frequently adapted to the purposes of Christian moralizers. In the three chapters that follow, homegrown medieval incest stories are grouped by relationship: mother-son (focusing on the Gregorius legend), father-daughter (focusing on La Manekine and its analogues), and sibling (focusing on the Arthurian legend). The final chapter considers the very common medieval trope of the Virgin Mary as mother, daughter, sister and bride of Christ, the one exception to the incest taboo. In western society today, incest has recently been recognized as a serious social problem, and has also become a frequent theme in both fiction and non-fiction, just as it was in the Middle Ages. This interdisciplinary study is the first broad survey of medieval incest stories in Latin and the vernaculars (mainly French, English and German). It situates the incest theme in both literary and cultural contexts, and offers many thought-provoking comparisons and contrasts to our own society in terms of gender relations, the power of patriarchy, the role of religious institutions in regulating morality, and the relationship between life and literature.

Incest and the Medieval Imagination

The Implosion of Contemporary Capitalism

The Implosion of Contemporary Capitalism

Renowned political economist Samir Amin, engaged in a unique lifelong effort both to narrate and affect the human condition on a global scale, brings his analysis up to the present-the world of 2013. The key events of our times-financial crisis, the emerging nations, globalization, financialization, political Islam, Euro-zone implosion-are related in a coherent, historically based, account. Changes in contemporary capitalism require an updating of definitions and analysis of social classes, class struggles, political parties, social movements and the ideological forms in which they express their modes of action in the transformation of societies. Amin meets this challenge and lays bare the reality of monopoly capitalism in its general, global form. Ultimately, Amin demonstrates that this system is not viable and that the implosion in progress is unavoidable. Whether humanity will rise to the challenge of building a more humane global order free of the contradictions of capital, however, is yet to be seen.

The Implosion of Contemporary Capitalism

Rethinking Logic

Rethinking Logic

This volume examines the limitations of mathematical logic and proposes a new approach to logic intended to overcome them. To this end, the book compares mathematical logic with earlier views of logic, both in the ancient and in the modern age, including those of Plato, Aristotle, Bacon, Descartes, Leibniz, and Kant. From the comparison it is apparent that a basic limitation of mathematical logic is that it narrows down the scope of logic confining it to the study of deduction, without providing tools for discovering anything new. As a result, mathematical logic has had little impact on scientific practice. Therefore, this volume proposes a view of logic according to which logic is intended, first of all, to provide rules of discovery, that is, non-deductive rules for finding hypotheses to solve problems. This is essential if logic is to play any relevant role in mathematics, science and even philosophy. To comply with this view of logic, this volume formulates several rules of discovery, such as induction, analogy, generalization, specialization, metaphor, metonymy, definition, and diagrams. A logic based on such rules is basically a logic of discovery, and involves a new view of the relation of logic to evolution, language, reason, method and knowledge, particularly mathematical knowledge. It also involves a new view of the relation of philosophy to knowledge. This book puts forward such new views, trying to open again many doors that the founding fathers of mathematical logic had closed historically.

Rethinking Logic

The Post-Historical Middle Ages

The Post-Historical Middle Ages

This collection of original essays repositions medieval literary studies after an era of historicism. Analyzing the legacy of Marxist and materialist theory on medieval literary criticism, the collection offers new ways of reading texts historically. Drawing upon aesthetic, ethical, and cultural vantage points and methods, these essays demonstrate that a variety of approaches and theories are ‘historical’ and can change what it means to historicize medieval literature. By defining our post-historical moment in medieval English literary studies in terms of new possibilities, this collection will have broad appeal to those interested in the English Middle Ages, history, culture, and reading itself.

The Post-Historical Middle Ages

Essays on Reference, Language, and Mind

Essays on Reference, Language, and Mind

Keith Donnellan is one of the major figures in 20th century philosophy of language and mind, a key member of the highly influential group that altered the course of philosophy of language and mind around 1970. An innovative philosopher, Donnellan’s primary contributions were published in article form rather than books. This volume presents a highly focused collection of articles by Donnellan, beginning with his 1966 groundbreaking ‘Reference and Definite Descriptions,’ historically the first move in the direct reference direction.

Essays on Reference, Language, and Mind

International Relations Since the End of the Cold War

International Relations Since the End of the Cold War

In International Relations Since the End of the Cold War many of the world’s leading historians and historically oriented political scientists deal with the Cold War legacy and many of the new issues that have emerged since the end of the Cold War. Stewart Patrick sums up the most important developments in the post-Cold War world. John Oneal and John Mueller discuss the relationship between democracy and peace and what came first, democracy or peace. Melvyn Leffler, Jeremi Suri, and Vladimir O. Pechatnov take up the Cold War legacy as it relates to the United States and the Soviet Union/Russia. Odd Arne Westad reviews the relationship between the end of the Cold War and the end of the Third World. David Holloway and Olav Njlstad handle the role of nuclear weapons in the post-Cold War world. Paying special attention to the role of the old and new superpowers, with chapters on the United States (Jussi Hanhimki), Russia (Vladislav Zubok), the European Union (Frdric Bozo), and China (Michael Cox and Chen Jian.) The chapters see the United States and China as the leading powers, but differ considerably on the respective roles of the two leading powers. In the introduction, the editor, Geir Lundestad, discusses the post-Cold War years as a historical period compared to earlier periods in modern history; in the conclusion he speculates on what might be some dominant developments in the future.

International Relations Since the End of the Cold War

State of Exception

State of Exception

Two months after the attacks of 9/11, the Bush administration, in the midst of what it perceived to be a state of emergency, authorized the indefinite detention of noncitizens suspected of terrorist activities and their subsequent trials by a military commission. Here, distinguished Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben uses such circumstances to argue that this unusual extension of power, or ‘state of exception,’ has historically been an underexamined and powerful strategy that has the potential to transform democracies into totalitarian states.

State of Exception