Richard Mason – författare

This collection of essays by a group of leading authorities is addressed primarily to a non-specialist readership, with the aim of introducing people and achievements associated with the University of Cambridge over the past 150 years. It explains, in simple terms, what has been done in a wide variety of fields - including philosophy (Ray Monk on Russell, Peter Hacker on Wittgenstein, Robert Grant on Oakeshott); economics (Geoffrey Harcourt on Keynes); anthropology (Ernest Gellner on Frazer); the study of English (Stephen Heath on Richards and Leavis). Some who have made important contributions to Cambridge science describe their own work and discoveries - Max Perutz in molecular biology; Antony Hewish in radioastronomy; Simon Conway Morris in palaeontology. As a whole the book offers an intellectual portrait of many of modern Cambridge's most notable achievements which will be of interest to a broad range of readers within the University and far beyond.

This book is the fullest study in English for many years on the role of God in Spinoza's philosophy. Spinoza has been called both a 'God-intoxicated man' and an atheist, both a pioneer of secular Judaism and a bitter critic of religion. He was born a Jew but chose to live outside any religious community. He was deeply engaged both in traditional Hebrew learning and in contemporary physical science. He identified God with nature or substance: a theme which runs through his work, enabling him to naturalise religion but - equally important - to divinise nature. He emerges not as a rationalist precursor of the Enlightenment but as a thinker of the highest importance in his own right, both in philosophy and in religion.

A truly thrilling murder mystery set partly in Cornwall, in the tradition of Du Maurier's REBECCA: dark, English and very much a classic.At 21, James Farrell has the world at his feet. A gifted violinist, his successful career seems assured. Until a chance encounter with Ella changes everything. Ella, bewitching, irresistible, haunted by the ghosts of her family's past - James cannot help falling in love with her, and she with him. But as the power and dangerous fragility of their relationship overwhelm them, James can only watch helplessly as the most beautiful thing in his life is strangled by deception, betrayal and ultimately murder ...

Approaching the central themes of Spinoza's thought from both a historical and analytical perspective, this book examines the logical-metaphysical core of Spinoza's philosophy, its epistemology and its ramifications for his much disputed attitude towards religion. Opening with a discussion of Spinoza's historical and philosophical location as the appropriate context for the interpretation of his work the book goes on to present a non-'logical' reading of Spinoza's metaphysics, a consideration of Spinoza's radical repudiation of Cartesian subjectivism and an examination of how Spinoza wanted religion to be understood in the context of his wider thinking and the influence of his non-Christian background. Mason also assesses Spinoza's significance and importance for philosophy now.

Argues that there is an undeniable and essentially historical dimension to logic.2000 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Must logic come first? Are philosophical problems really logical? Must we think logically to think at all? Richard Mason's case is that too much comes before logic-too many choices and too much history. Logic has been formed by choices made by philosophers, not just as a subject of study, but in terms of what has mattered: the problems, and the possible solutions. Before Logic contains case studies of crucial choices: on the formation of logical possibility, on truth, on the explanation of necessity, on essentialism, and on the location of logic. For readers with interests in analytical or continental philosophy or in logic, this book shows why and how history matters to logic. Logic then, cannot be the basis for metaphysics-or an important grounding for philosophical investigations-because too many important assumptions precede it. The difficulty this position presents is that it avoids the obvious objections of relativism. This controversial topic strikes at the heart of much post-Wittgensteinian and post-Heideggerian thought.

A study of the scope and limits of understanding.How is understanding to be understood? Are there limits to understanding? What of importance, if anything, could lie beyond understanding? And do we need to understand knowledge before we can know about understanding? Richard Mason's argument is that a critical theory of understanding, modeled on past theories of knowledge, cannot be workable.Understanding may bring wisdom: an uncomfortable thought for many philosophers in the twentieth century. Yet philosophy aims at expanding understanding at least as much as knowledge. How we understand understanding affects how we understand philosophy. If we put aside a narrow view of understanding based upon a Cartesian model of knowledge, we may gain a more liberal, open understanding of philosophy.Mason's treatment of these fascinating problems offers a clear and lucid dialogue with a number of contemporary philosophical schools and with philosophy's past. His discussions include the thought of Hume, Henry James, Heidegger, Frege, Charles Taylor, Michael Oakeshott, Wittgenstein, Gadamer, James Joyce, and the Guyaki Indians. This fascinating book contributes to the work of many of these traditions as well as to the nature of understanding in areas as diverse as physics, music, and linguistics.

A study of the scope and limits of understanding.How is understanding to be understood? Are there limits to understanding? What of importance, if anything, could lie beyond understanding? And do we need to understand knowledge before we can know about understanding? Richard Mason's argument is that a critical theory of understanding, modeled on past theories of knowledge, cannot be workable.Understanding may bring wisdom: an uncomfortable thought for many philosophers in the twentieth century. Yet philosophy aims at expanding understanding at least as much as knowledge. How we understand understanding affects how we understand philosophy. If we put aside a narrow view of understanding based upon a Cartesian model of knowledge, we may gain a more liberal, open understanding of philosophy.Mason's treatment of these fascinating problems offers a clear and lucid dialogue with a number of contemporary philosophical schools and with philosophy's past. His discussions include the thought of Hume, Henry James, Heidegger, Frege, Charles Taylor, Michael Oakeshott, Wittgenstein, Gadamer, James Joyce, and the Guyaki Indians. This fascinating book contributes to the work of many of these traditions as well as to the nature of understanding in areas as diverse as physics, music, and linguistics.

Studies J. Robert Oppenheimer's choice to accept leadership of the Manhattan Project.In 1942, J. Robert Oppenheimer accepted the leadership of the Manhattan Project at the Los Alamos Laboratory, which produced the first atomic bomb three years later. This book examines the ethics of Oppenheimer's choice to take that job and our judgment of his acceptance, leading to the larger question of the meaning of moral judgment itself. Through an analysis of Oppenheimer's choice, Richard Mason explores questions of responsibility, the justification for the pursuit of scientific curiosity, the purity of research, and many other topics of interest in scientific ethics. This unique look at one man's choice brings out the necessary step from personal detail to abstract reflection-it may be easy to praise or condemn Oppenheimer's choice, but less easy to justify our praise or condemnation. Oppenheimer's Choice establishes the possibility of this kind of moral philosophy-neither "applied" nor "practical" ethics, but instead a sustained concentration on a single choice, and what it means.

Studies J. Robert Oppenheimer's choice to accept leadership of the Manhattan Project.In 1942, J. Robert Oppenheimer accepted the leadership of the Manhattan Project at the Los Alamos Laboratory, which produced the first atomic bomb three years later. This book examines the ethics of Oppenheimer's choice to take that job and our judgment of his acceptance, leading to the larger question of the meaning of moral judgment itself. Through an analysis of Oppenheimer's choice, Richard Mason explores questions of responsibility, the justification for the pursuit of scientific curiosity, the purity of research, and many other topics of interest in scientific ethics. This unique look at one man's choice brings out the necessary step from personal detail to abstract reflection-it may be easy to praise or condemn Oppenheimer's choice, but less easy to justify our praise or condemnation. Oppenheimer's Choice establishes the possibility of this kind of moral philosophy-neither "applied" nor "practical" ethics, but instead a sustained concentration on a single choice, and what it means.

Approaching the central themes of Spinoza's thought from both a historical and analytical perspective, this book examines the logical-metaphysical core of Spinoza's philosophy, its epistemology and its ramifications for his much disputed attitude towards religion. Opening with a discussion of Spinoza's historical and philosophical location as the appropriate context for the interpretation of his work the book goes on to present a non-'logical' reading of Spinoza's metaphysics, a consideration of Spinoza's radical repudiation of Cartesian subjectivism and an examination of how Spinoza wanted religion to be understood in the context of his wider thinking and the influence of his non-Christian background. Mason also assesses Spinoza's significance and importance for philosophy now.

A Book of the Year - The TimesA Book of the Year - Observer A Book of the Year - Mail on SundayAvoiding the chaos of the First World War, Piet Barol leaves the bustle of civilization and heads into Africa's greatest forest. With a business to build and secrets to escape, his only weapons are courage and intuition. His African guides have their own reasons for taking him to their ancestral lands. What he finds there changes him forever, and unleashes a chain of events he can neither predict nor control... This "gorgeous treat of a novel" (The Times, Book of the Month) is a funny, sexy, irreverent, and intensely moving portrait of what unites human beings when their sacred mysteries are blown apart.

Winner of the 1948 John Llewellyn Rhys PrizeA poignant novel of forbidden love, The Wind Cannot Read is the story of Michael Quinn, an English airman, who falls in love with Sabby, his Japanese teacher, in India during the Second World War. "Enemies" in the eyes of his friends and fellow soldiers, they must keep their romance a secret in the face of great danger. And tragedy awaits them both when Quinn is sent behind enemy lines in Burma . . .Cinematic in both its scope and depth of feeling, The Wind Cannot Read was made into a film starring Dirk Bogarde and Yoko Tani in 1958. Richard Mason's descriptive powers are at their zenith in this touching wartime romance, which is a must-read for anyone who loved his timeless bestseller, The World of Suzie Wong.

From the bestselling author of The World of Susie Wong, a breathtakingly cinematic story full of tragedy and romance, set in 1950s India.Englishman Richard Birkett lives for danger and adventure, so when he is given a perilous mission to India he jumps at the chance. Tasked with convincing a young communist to assassinate the King of Nepal, he ventures into the exotic unknown – concerned only with fulfilling his assignment and finding adventure along the way. But when he meets Lakshmi, a beautiful Indian girl trapped in an unhappy marriage, everything changes and there is suddenly far more at stake . . .A tragic story of intrigue, espionage and heady, intoxicating love, The Fever Tree is a vividly painted portrait of a lost time.

Douglas Lockwood came to Jamaica to recover from the heartbreak of a messy divorce. But instead of peace he found passion, and three women who threatened to turn the island idyll into a summer storm . . . The school at which Douglas has come to teach is perched on an isolated hilltop, and its pupils run wild while the staff are engaged in their own private wars. The headmaster's wife is trying to tempt him into an affair, but his heart lies with Judy, an air hostess he rescued from a plane crash. And in the background is Sylvia, an uncontrollable young girl who is madly in love with him and caught up in an adult world she doesn't understand.A gorgeously cinematic novel, The Shadow and the Peak is a gripping story by the bestselling author of The World of Suzie Wong. It was filmed in 1958 as Passionate Summer, starring Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers.