James Giles – författare

This book is a exploration of the notion of personal identity. Here it is shown how the various attempts to give an account of personal identity are all based on false assumptions and so inevitably run aground. One of the first Western thinkers to realize this was David Hume, the 18th century empiricist philosopher who argued that self was a fiction. A new interpretation of Hume's no-self theory is put forward by arguing for an eliminative rather than a reductive point of view of personal identity, and by approaching the problem in terms of phenomenology, Buddhist critiques of the notion of the self, and the idea of a constructed self-image. No Self to Be Found explores the problem of personal identity from the most basic level by raising the question of the existence of personal identity itself.

Although there has been much discussion about things like the causes, loss, and maintenance of sexual desire, there has been little research into the nature of sexual desire itself. Consequently, most of the discussions on these topics have gone on without any clear idea about what it is that is being discussed. Readers will be interested that at last there is a full-length book that attempts to say what sexual desire is. Further, this book takes an interdisciplinary and intercultural approach, drawing on a wide range of texts and research. Drawing on such diverse sources as psychology, philosophy, and biology, a thorough discussion of sexual desire is presented. Also presented are new accounts of the sexual process, gender, romantic love, and love's relation to sexual desire.

Sexuality is a basic feature of human life. Gender, sexual and romantic attraction, sexual excitement, and sexual desire and fantasies all move in various degrees through our daily awareness. However, despite this pervasiveness, there is much disagreement surrounding the nature of such things and experiences. This book explores just these issues in an attempt to get clear about this enigmatic aspect of our existence. Through a series of interrelated essays, internationally acclaimed philosopher James Giles takes the reader on a fascinating journey to the depths of experiential, social, biological, and evolutionary aspects of sexual life. Presenting his arguments and ideas in a clear and easy to follow language, Giles criticizes several popular views, clearing the way for his own unique vision of human sexuality. Often controversial, always engaging, these pages will prove to be absorbing reading for anyone who has ever pondered the nature of sexuality and why it fills our lives in the way it does.

In The Spaces of Violence, James R. Giles examines ten contemporary American novels for the unique ways in which they explore violence and space as interrelated phenomena. These texts are Russell Banks’s Affliction, Cormac McCarthy’s Outer Dark and Child of God, Lewis Nordan’s Wolf Whistle, Dorothy Allison’s Bastard Out of Carolina, Don DeLillo’s End Zone, Denis Johnson’s Angels, Sherman Alexie’s Indian Killer, Robert Stone’s Dog Soldiers, and Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho.A concluding chapter extends the focus to texts by Jane Smiley, Toni Morrison, Edwidge Danticat, and Chuck Palahniuk, who treat the destructive effects of violence on family structures.

“One of a kind – very few scholars, surprisingly, have written so engagingly on the nature and varieties of sexual attraction.” Elaine Hatfield, Professor of Psychology, University of Hawaii, USA“Illuminating.” Terri L. Orbruch, Professor of Sociology, Oakland University, USA “Will make you think deeply about this rarely explored phenomenon.” Robert Scott Stewart, Professor of Philosophy, Cape Breton University, Canada“Highly recommended reading for those who want a smart, articulate, and engaging investigation of the diverse body of sexual attraction research.” Heidi Reeder, Associate Professor of Communication, Boise State University, USAWe all experience it but exactly how and why does sexual attraction happen? Expert James Giles explores the universal yet highly individualized experience of being sexually attracted to another person.Incorporating interviews, research findings, and excerpts from romantic and erotic literature, lyrics, and film, Sexual Attraction: The Psychology of Allure explores a subject that is central to the human experience and highly relevant in not only personal, intimate interactions but also other relationships. Although the causes and effects of sexual attraction have been studied, sexual attraction itself—how we experience others in terms of their sexual attractiveness—remains a neglected, rarely researched topic. Philosopher and psychologist Dr. James Giles presents jargon-free information that is accessible and fascinating to the everyday reader as well as highly useful and informative to students and researchers in social psychology, sexology, sex and marital therapy, and relationship counselling.The book explores subjects and types of relationship including: · How sexual attraction is fundamentally different from other forms of interpersonal attraction · How at the heart of sexual attraction lies the experience of allure—something that makes one feel helplessly drawn toward an intimate physical joining with the sexually attractive person· Cross-sex friendships and whether women and men can ever be ‘just friends’? Can sexual relations actually enhance and strengthen the friendship without turning it into a romantic relationship? · Can you be in love with someone you don’t actually like? · Friends with benefits · Romantic partnerships

This book explores ancient Daoist philosophy and argues against interpretations that paint the early Daoist philosophers as mystics or cosmologists. It claims that Dao is best understood as awareness and that Daoist concerns are primarily with the nature of human experience, meditation, and our relation to the world. The Dao of Awareness starts by placing Daoist philosophy within the context of ancient Chinese thought. It then proceeds by critically engaging each of the major Daoist thinkers, works, or schools: Laozi, Yang Zhu, Zhuangzi, the Inward Training, Liezi, and Neo-Daoism. It concludes by pointing to ways in which Daoist thought can offer insights into contemporary Western philosophy. Throughout the book, comparisons are drawn with Western thinkers, psychological research, and Buddhist thought. The book is both a scholarly examination of Chinese and cross-cultural philosophy as well as an original work on ethics, metaphysics, and the philosophy of mind.