Alan Thomas – författare

The first book length study of property-owning democracy, Republic of Equals argues that a society in which capital is universally accessible to all citizens is uniquely placed to meet the demands of justice. Arguing from a basis in liberal-republican principles, this expanded conception of the economic structure of society contextualizes the market to make its transactions fair. The author shows that a property-owning democracy structures economic incentives such that the domination of one agent by another in the market is structurally impossible. The result is a renovated form of capitalism in which the free market is no longer a threat to social democratic values, but is potentially convergent with them. It is argued that a property-owning democracy has advantages that give it priority over rival forms of social organization such as welfare state capitalism and market socialist institutions. The book also addresses the currently high levels of inequality in the societies of the developed West to suggest a range of policies that target the "New Inequality" of our times. For this reason, the work engages not only with political philosophers such as John Rawls, Philip Pettit and John Tomasi, but also with the work of economists and historians such as Anthony B. Atkinson, François Bourguignon, Jacob S. Hacker, Lane Kenworthy, and Thomas Piketty.

The first book length study of property-owning democracy, Republic of Equals argues that a society in which capital is universally accessible to all citizens is uniquely placed to meet the demands of justice. Arguing from a basis in liberal-republican principles, this expanded conception of the economic structure of society contextualizes the market to make its transactions fair. The author shows that a property-owning democracy structures economic incentives such that the domination of one agent by another in the market is structurally impossible. The result is a renovated form of capitalism in which the free market is no longer a threat to social democratic values, but is potentially convergent with them. It is argued that a property-owning democracy has advantages that give it priority over rival forms of social organization such as welfare state capitalism and market socialist institutions. The book also addresses the currently high levels of inequality in the societies of the developed West to suggest a range of policies that target the "New Inequality" of our times. For this reason, the work engages not only with political philosophers such as John Rawls, Philip Pettit and John Tomasi, but also with the work of economists and historians such as Anthony B. Atkinson, François Bourguignon, Jacob S. Hacker, Lane Kenworthy, and Thomas Piketty.

In Extravagance and Misery: The Emotional Regime of Market Societies, Alan Thomas, Alfred Archer, and Bart Engelen investigate the extensive and growing economic inequalities that characterize the affluent market societies of the West. Drawing on insights from political philosophy and the new science of happiness, they show the damaging impact that existing inequalities have on our well-being, and offer an explanation for what went wrong in our highly unequal and frequently unhappy societies. Combining the approaches of philosophy and political economy, the authors expose the economic, social and political mechanisms that create and perpetuate economic inequalities. They employ research from the new science of happiness to assess the impact of those mechanisms on the well-being of the poor, the middle class and the rich. They scrutinize the role of key emotions, such as shame (amongst the poor), envy and admiration (towards and for the rich) as well as discussing which emotional narratives serve to justify and entrench excessive inequalities in income and wealth. The result is an explanation of the emotional regime that characterizes our capitalist societies and that perpetuates the unfair gap between the extravagance of the rich and the misery of the poor. Extravagance and Misery concludes with a proposal of how to re-shape this emotional regime in the interests of justice and solidarity.

Alan Thomas presents an original study of the status of value and its relation to the contexts in which evaluative claims are justified. He articulates and defends the view that human beings do possess moral and political knowledge, but that it is historically and culturally contextual knowledge in ways that, say, mathematical or chemical knowledge is not. His exposition of a 'cognitivist contextualism' in ethics and politics builds upon contemporary work in epistemology, moral philosophy, and political theory to fashion an argument that is relevant to current debates about culture, modernity, and relativism.

The Oxford Textbook of Old Age Psychiatry, Third Edition, has been thoroughly updated to keep pace with the developments that have taken place in old age psychiatry since publication of the Second Edition in 2013, including the publication of the DSM-5/ICD-11 classification criteria. The Third Edition also includes new chapters on the ageing brain; the experience of dementia; carers' issues; biomarkers; and old age psychiatry in low- and middle-income countries. This new edition introduces two new co-editors, Robert Stewart, Professor of Psychiatric Epidemiology & Clinical Informatics at King's College London (and a Co-Editor of Practical Psychiatric Epidemiology), and John-Paul Taylor, Professor of Translational Dementia Research at Newcastle University.Part of the authoritative Oxford Textbooks in Psychiatry series, this comprehensive resource is an essential reference for old age psychiatrists, geriatricians, and other clinicians who are interested in the mental health care of older people.

Poverty & Development in the 21st Century provides a fully updated, interdisciplinary overview of one of the world's most complex and pressing social problems. The book analyses and assesses key questions faced by practitioners and policy makers, ranging from what potential solutions to world poverty are open to us to what form development should take and whether it is compatible with environmental sustainability.The third edition considers the complex causes of global poverty and inequality, introducing major development issues that include hunger, disease, the threat of authoritarian populism, the refugee crisis and environmental degradation.Three new chapters illustrate the impact of climate, refugee and health crises on development by drawing on accounts of lived experience to explore the real-world implications of theory.Refreshed student-centred learning features include boxes outlining key concepts, definitions and cases that explore contested issues in greater depth. These case studies encourage critical reflection on key issues, from refugees' personal accounts of containment to the Ebola epidemic to indigenous perspectives on climate change. Questions posed at the start of each chapter provide a framework for critical reflection on key assumptions and theories within the field of development. Each chapter also clearly unpacks figures and tables, supporting students to develop a nuanced understanding of economic arguments and key skills of data interpretationDigital formats and resourcesThe third edition is available for students and institutions to purchase in a variety of formats, and is supported by online resources. - The e-book offers a mobile experience and convenient access along with functionality tools, navigation features, and links that offer extra learning support: www.oxfordtextbooks.co.uk/ebooks- Students and lecturers are further supported by online resources to encourage deeper engagement with content. For students: Web links organised by chapter to deepen students' understanding of key topics and explore their research interests For lecturers:Customisable PowerPoint slides support effective teaching preparationFigures and tables from the book allow clear presentation of key data and support students' data analysis

Alan Thomas presents an original study of the status of value and its relation to the contexts in which evaluative claims are justified. He articulates and defends the view that human beings do possess moral and political knowledge, but that it is historically and culturally contextual knowledge in ways that, say, mathematical or chemical knowledge is not. His exposition of a 'cognitivist contextualism' in ethics and politics builds upon contemporary work in epistemology, moral philosophy, and political theory to fashion an argument that is relevant to current debates about culture, modernity, and relativism.

This book examines the conditions under which non-governmental organisations (NGOs) may exert influence on policies to conserve and sustainably use natural resources in sub-Saharan Africa. The book is unique in bringing together NGO campaigners in three African countries with academics specialising in development studies, systems and environmental policy.

This volume provides a systematic overview and comprehensive assessment of Bernard Williams' contribution to moral philosophy, a field in which Williams was one of the most influential of contemporary philosophers. The seven essays, which were specially commissioned for this volume, examine his work on moral objectivity, the nature of practical reason, moral emotion, the critique of the 'morality system', Williams' assessment of the ethical thought of the ancient world, and his later adoption of Nietzsche's method of 'genealogy'. Collectively, the essays not only engage with Williams' work, but also develop independent philosophical arguments in connection with those topics that have, over the last thirty years, particularly reflected Williams' influence.

This volume provides a systematic overview and comprehensive assessment of Bernard Williams' contribution to moral philosophy, a field in which Williams was one of the most influential of contemporary philosophers. The seven essays, which were specially commissioned for this volume, examine his work on moral objectivity, the nature of practical reason, moral emotion, the critique of the 'morality system', Williams' assessment of the ethical thought of the ancient world, and his later adoption of Nietzsche's method of 'genealogy'. Collectively, the essays not only engage with Williams' work, but also develop independent philosophical arguments in connection with those topics that have, over the last thirty years, particularly reflected Williams' influence.

Schooling is so much a part of our culture that we have come to believe that education cannot exist without it. Yet the number of children being educated at home is rapidly growing . Moreover, the number looks set to grow further, with more people opting to work from home coupled with the great increase in educational software and knowledge available via the internet. This new book covers the issues involved in home education. Most importantly, Alan Thomas conducts a systematic inquiry in to how parents actually go about teaching their children at home. Based on the experiences of a hundred home educating families, the book assesses parents' motives and the ways in which they are forced to adapt conventional methods of education and learning, often challenging basic assumptions about the nature of children's learning. This book's findings, including an extended focus on informal learning, not only permit a long overdue assessment of educating in the home but also have tremendous implications for wider educational thinking. Dr Alan Thomas is Visiting Fellow at the University of London Institute of Education and was formerly at the Northern Territory University, Darwin, Australia.He is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society.

More parents than ever are choosing to educate their children at home. Educating Your Child at Home provides an authoritative guide for all those thinking about home education. This book explains: - what home education is and how it could work for your family - methods of teaching, subjects and the curriculum - how to adapt home education for special circumstances - how to discover what suits your child best An informative handbook, Educating Your Child at Home provides a clear and positive way of approaching home education. Jane Lowe is a founder trustee of the Home Education Advisory Service, the national home education charity. Dr Alan Thomas has researched home education extensively in the UK and Australia. He is Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Education, University of London and a Fellow of the British Psychological Society.

In his "Educating Children at Home", Alan Thomas found that many home educating families chose or gravitated towards an informal style of education, radically different from that found in schools. Such learning, also described as unschooling, natural or autonomous, takes place without most of the features considered essential for learning in school. At home there is no curriculum or sequential teaching, nor are there any lessons, textbooks, requirements for written work, practice exercises, marking or testing. But how can children who learn in this way actually achieve an education on a par with what schools offer? In this new research, Alan Thomas and Harriet Pattison seek to explain the efficacy of this alternative pedagogy through the experiences of families who have chosen to educate their children informally.Based on interviews and extended examples of learning at home the authors explore: the scope for informal learning within children's everyday lives; the informal acquisition of literacy and numeracy; the role of parents and others in informal learning; and, how children proactively develop their own learning agendas.Their investigation provides not only an insight into the powerful and effective nature of informal learning but also presents some fundamental challenges to many of the assumptions underpinning educational theory. This book will be of interest to education practitioners, researchers and all parents, whether their children are in or out of school, offering as it does fascinating insights into the nature of children's learning.

In his "Educating Children at Home", Alan Thomas found that many home educating families chose or gravitated towards an informal style of education, radically different from that found in schools. Such learning, also described as unschooling, natural or autonomous, takes place without most of the features considered essential for learning in school. At home there is no curriculum or sequential teaching, nor are there any lessons, textbooks, requirements for written work, practice exercises, marking or testing. But how can children who learn in this way actually achieve an education on a par with what schools offer? In this new research, Alan Thomas and Harriet Pattison seek to explain the efficacy of this alternative pedagogy through the experiences of families who have chosen to educate their children informally.Based on interviews and extended examples of learning at home the authors explore: the scope for informal learning within children's everyday lives; the informal acquisition of literacy and numeracy; the role of parents and others in informal learning; and, how children proactively develop their own learning agendas.Their investigation provides not only an insight into the powerful and effective nature of informal learning but also presents some fundamental challenges to many of the assumptions underpinning educational theory. This book will be of interest to education practitioners, researchers and all parents, whether their children are in or out of school, offering as it does fascinating insights into the nature of children's learning.

Excavations in advance of the construction of the Gloucester Business Park Link Road, Hucclecote, in 1998 revealed alluvium deposited by the Horsbere Brook, in places up to 2m deep. Radiocarbon dating demonstrates that the alluvium had been deposited by the 12th century BC. Three or four Middle Bronze Age cremation burials were probably part of a flat cemetery, the site subsequently occupied by a Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age settlement which contained in excess of four post-built roundhouses. In the 1st century AD a settlement that contained a number of probable mass-walled roundhouses was constructed. It was extensively reorganised in the early 2nd century when a series of ditched enclosures were linked to Ermin Street by a 320m-long trackway. A small cemetery of 12 inhumations is noteworthy as it demonstrates that the Late Iron Age tradition of burial by crouched inhumation persisted into the 2nd century AD. Several of the burials were accompanied by grave goods, and one of the males suffered from a very rare form of dwarfism to his forearms, a condition that would have been obvious to his contemporaries. The settlement continued in use until the late 3rd or early 4th century, although the trackway ditches continued to accumulate material into the later 4th century. The trackway and enclosures appear to have survived as visible earthworks into the medieval period as their orientation influenced the alignment of medieval field systems.

This Element surveys the main claims of Bernard Williams's ethical philosophy. Topics include ethical scepticism, virtue, reasons for action, the critique of the Morality System, moral realism and the nature of theorising in ethics.

This Element surveys the main claims of Bernard Williams's ethical philosophy. Topics include ethical scepticism, virtue, reasons for action, the critique of the Morality System, moral realism and the nature of theorising in ethics.

First published in 1978. In this title, Alan Thomas examines the invention of photography in the early nineteenth century. How the members of this first "visual" generation used photography and how it changed their perceptions of the world are the subjects of this lavishly illustrated book. As the author convincingly shows, the camera’s presence was felt nearly everywhere during the course of the nineteenth century. Approaching the subject topically, Thomas surveys the work of the early photographers in terms of its motivation, insights, and impact on society. The book is rounded out with sections on other genres of photography – theatrical, landscape, and social realism – that amply document the far-reaching impact of this phenomenon on nineteenth-century sensibilities.

First published in 1978. In this title, Alan Thomas examines the invention of photography in the early nineteenth century. How the members of this first "visual" generation used photography and how it changed their perceptions of the world are the subjects of this lavishly illustrated book. As the author convincingly shows, the camera’s presence was felt nearly everywhere during the course of the nineteenth century. Approaching the subject topically, Thomas surveys the work of the early photographers in terms of its motivation, insights, and impact on society. The book is rounded out with sections on other genres of photography – theatrical, landscape, and social realism – that amply document the far-reaching impact of this phenomenon on nineteenth-century sensibilities.

This book is a critical guide to conducting investigations under time- and resource-pressured conditions, equipping readers with the key skills and approaches for research designed to influence or inform development policies. Unlike a simple 'how to' guide, Research Skills for Policy and Development also provides a critique of various methods and situates these approaches within 'real life' organisational settings, enabling those working in or studying development to locate, evaluate and use relevant information quickly but rigorously.

The successor to Finding Out Fast (SAGE, 1998) it reflects the changes in development management theories and practice over the last seven years, and includes new material and advice on critical use of the web as a resource and research tool. It is essential reading for development managers in NGOs and public sector agencies as well as students of development management and development studies more generally.

This book is a critical guide to conducting investigations under time- and resource-pressured conditions, equipping readers with the key skills and approaches for research designed to influence or inform development policies. Unlike a simple 'how to' guide, Research Skills for Policy and Development also provides a critique of various methods and situates these approaches within 'real life' organisational settings, enabling those working in or studying development to locate, evaluate and use relevant information quickly but rigorously.

The successor to Finding Out Fast (SAGE, 1998) it reflects the changes in development management theories and practice over the last seven years, and includes new material and advice on critical use of the web as a resource and research tool. It is essential reading for development managers in NGOs and public sector agencies as well as students of development management and development studies more generally.

A biblical framework for understanding mental illness and helping the mentally ill. Synthesises the relevant biblical material with our scientific understanding of mental illness.Equips the reader to deal wisely, intelligently and compassionately with issues of mental health in churches and the community. Helps us discern between bad behaviour which is a result of illness and that which results from sin- How do we deal wisely, intelligently and compassionately with those who suffer from mental illness?- Can we really make a difference if we aren’t professionals?- Is it possible to discern between bad behaviour due to illness and that caused by sinDiscover how your church can become a safe, encouraging and healing place.'The next-best thing to spending a week shadowing Professor Thomas.' Sinclair Ferguson'Rational, readable and relevant, this book confirms that all involved in pastoral work can help tackle mental illness.' Andrew Fergusson'The go-to resource for those who want to know more: the wisdom of reliable clinical experience laced with academic rigour and good common sense, all grounded in God’s word. I recommend it highly.' Glynn Harrison'Empowers us all to play our part.' Debbie Hawker'An accessible, practical, sensible and biblically grounded resource to help us navigate this challenging terrain.' Sharon James'Presented in a way that will instil confidence that we can work with mental health professionals.' Nick Pollard'Alan Thomas has shared his own important insights in what will become a standard book on the subject, accessible and wise.' Geoff Thomas

In the first systematic study of the philosophy of Thomas Nagel, Alan Thomas discusses Nagel's contrast between the "subjective" and the "objective" points of view throughout the various areas of his wide ranging philosophy. Nagel's original and distinctive contrast between the subjective view and our aspiration to a "view from nowhere" within metaphysics structures the chapters of the book. A "new Humean" in epistemology, Nagel takes philosophical scepticism to be both irrefutable and yet to indicate a profound truth about our capacity for self-transcendence. The contrast between subjective and objective views is then considered in the case of the mind, where consciousness proves to be the central aspect of mind that contemporary theorising fails to acknowledge adequately. The second half of the book analyses Nagel's work on moral and political philosophy where he has been most deeply influential. Topics covered include the contrast between agent-relative and agent-neutral reasons and values, Nagel's distinctive version of a hybrid ethical theory, his discussion of life's meaningfulness and finally his sceptical arguments about whether a liberal society can reconcile the conflicting moral demands of self and other.

In the first systematic study of the philosophy of Thomas Nagel, Alan Thomas discusses Nagel's contrast between the "subjective" and the "objective" points of view throughout the various areas of his wide ranging philosophy. Nagel's original and distinctive contrast between the subjective view and our aspiration to a "view from nowhere" within metaphysics structures the chapters of the book. A "new Humean" in epistemology, Nagel takes philosophical scepticism to be both irrefutable and yet to indicate a profound truth about our capacity for self-transcendence. The contrast between subjective and objective views is then considered in the case of the mind, where consciousness proves to be the central aspect of mind that contemporary theorising fails to acknowledge adequately. The second half of the book analyses Nagel's work on moral and political philosophy where he has been most deeply influential. Topics covered include the contrast between agent-relative and agent-neutral reasons and values, Nagel's distinctive version of a hybrid ethical theory, his discussion of life's meaningfulness and finally his sceptical arguments about whether a liberal society can reconcile the conflicting moral demands of self and other.