Oxford Readers – serie

Human beings live together in societies which, by their very nature, give rise to institutions governing the behaviour and freedom of individuals. This raises important questions about how these institutions ought to function, and the extent to which actual systems of government succeed or fail in meeting these ideals. This Oxford Reader contains 140 key writings on political thought, covering issues about human nature and its relation to society, the extent to which the powers of the State are justified, the tension between liberty and rights, and the way resources should be distributed. Topics such as international relations, minority rights, democracy, socialism, and conservatism are also discussed, by contributors ranging from Plato and Aristotle to Foucault, Isaiah Berlin, and Martin Luther King.

Sexuality has always been an obsessive human concern; it has often been the real subject of cultural, religious, and political discourses that did not dare to mention it or did not have the language for addressing it directly. We now possess both the language and the cultural temerity to discuss sexuality as straightforwardly as we like, and with a frankness that would have shocked people a few decades ago. It now seems impossible to contemplate human happiness without some measure of sexual fulfilment, although that remains a notoriously elusive and negotiable ideal. Nor is it possible now to think about our identities or the identities of others without factoring in sexual tastes and orientation. The central message of this book is that we are unlikely to understand the promise or the limits of our contemporary sexualities unless we understand those of the past. Robert A. Nye's Oxford Reader is intended to be used on the wide ranges of undergraduate courses which address issues of human sexuality: courses taught in departments of history, women's studies, medical history, sociology, gay and lesbian studies, anthropology, religion, and literary studies, as well as in professional programmes such as medicine, public health, clinical psychology, social work, and law. Part I of the Reader forms a chronological narrative of the development of thinking about sexuality from the ancient Greeks to the present. Part II discusses nineteenth-century investigation of phenomena such as hysteria, prostitution, fetishism, and exhibitionism. Part III brings together contemporary conceptions of the sexual body, and Part IV addresses the issue of whether the sexual revolution of the late sixties and seventies has brought about a profound and permanent change in the sexual landscape of western civilization.

This book is not a conventional reader in moral philosophy. To capture the essentials of what we know about the origins and nature of ethics, Peter Singer has drawn on anthropology, history, observation of non-human animals, the theory of evolution, game theory, and works of fiction, in addition to moral philosophy. By choosing some of the finest pieces of writing, old and new, in and about ethics, he conveys the intellectual excitement of the search for basic questions about how we ought to live.

Fascism as a political ideology is a product of the modern age. It is an ideology which has been identified with totalitarianism, state terror, social engineering, fanaticism, orchestrated violence, and blind obedience. Yet once again fascism is in the ascendant, suggesting that it is time for us to renew our understanding of its ideas, ideals, and inhumanities.What is fascism? Why does it still hold such strong appeal? Why does it create charismatic and dangerous movements? To what may these lead?This Reader offers a wide selection of texts written by fascist thinkers and propagandists both inside and outside Europe, before and after the Second World War. There are extracts on fascism in Italy and Germany, on the abortive pre-1945 fascisms, on reactions to fascism, and on post-war and contemporary fascism. With contributions from writers as diverse as Benito Mussolini and Primo Levi, Joseph Goebbels and George Orwell, this Reader provides a fascinating insight into the depths and breadths of fascism, prompting the student and general reader alike to give greater consideration to this expanding political force.

In recent years, the concept of class has come under increasing scrutiny, as a means of explaining both the present and the past. The post-industrial class has superceded the manual working class, and new forms of industrial management have broken up more traditional hierarchies and outlooks. Furthermore, feminism has now brought into question the whole concept of a class identity.Can class viably explain the present? Did it ever provide an adequate explanation of the past? How did concepts of class develop? What is the language of class? A variety of writings are drawn upon here to suggest answers to these questions, to provide a balanced survey of thought on class, from Marx and Weber to the present day, and to look beyond this towards the very future of class.

This Oxford Reader seeks to introduce some of the main philosophical questions raised by the Greek and Roman philosophers of classical antiquity. Selections from the writings of ancient philosophers are interspersed with Terence Irwin's incisive commentary, and sometimes with contributions from modern philosophers expounding relevant philosophical positions or discussing particular aspects of classical philosophy. The arrangement of the book is thematic, rather than chronological, allowing the reader to focus on philosophical problems and ideas, but a general introduction places philosophers and schools within their historical context. Irwin brings together contributions which shaped debates about knowledge, freedom, ethics, politics, and religious belief - debates which continue to be contested today, 2500 years from their conception.

War has shaped the international system, prompted social change, and inspired the arts. The ubiquitous and multi-faceted character of war is fully reflected in this new Oxford Reader. It addresses the causes of war, the experience of war, and the moral and strategic principles behind war through a variety of academic viewpoints, and first-hand accounts by generals, soldiers, historians, strategists, and poets.

Nationalism is one of the most powerful forces in the modern world, yet its study has only recently gained popularity. This reader gives historical depth to the recent debates on nationalism and traces the development of thought on nationalism across a wide range of issues with reference to texts spanning from Ernest Renan's What is a Nation? in the 1880s to current views given in the 1990s.Issues covered include the definitions of the nation and of nationalism, theories of nationalism, the origins of nations, nationalism in Europe, the Third World and within the International System, and the future of nationalism itself.

`A feminist is a woman who does not allow anyone to think in her place.' Michele Le DoeuffSpanning nearly two decades (1980-1996), the six sections of this reader investigate the debates which have most characterized feminist theory to date.Including articles such as `Pornography and Fantasy', `The Body and Cinema', `Nature as Female', and `A Manifesto for Cyborgs', the extracts in Feminisms explore thoughts on sexuality as a domain of exploration, the visual representation of women, what being a feminist means, and why feminists are increasingly involved in political struggles to negotiate the context and meaning of technological development. With writing by bell hooks, Alice Jardine, and Andrea Dworkin, this multi-cultural Oxford Reader reflects the dynamic nature of feminist debates and the genuine diversity within current feminist theory.

Although the term `ethnicity' is recent, the sense of kinship, group solidarity, and common culture to which it refers is as old as the historical record. Ethnic communities have been present in every period and continent, and have played an important role in all societies. The sense of a common ethnicity remains a major focus of identification by individuals. Ethnic community and identity are often associated with conflict, particularly with political struggles in various parts of the world. However, there is no essential connection between ethnicity and conflict, and relations may in fact be peaceful and cooperative.This Oxford Reader includes extracts by all the major contributors to debates on ethnicity, including Weber, Brass, Hechter, and Horowitz. The articles offer explanations for the contentious nature of ethnicity, its worldwide effects, and the possible means for overcoming conflicts.

This new Reader offers an important new resource, combining classic accounts of the nature of aesthetics with the latests methods of approaching the subject. With its valuable multicultural approach, not confined to the consideration of fine art, it focuses on questions that examine why art and the aesthetic matter to us and how perceivers participate in and contribute to the experience of appreciating a work of art. Why have people thought it important to separate out a group of objects and call them `art'? Is it inappropriate to think of something as art when its creator would not have considered it in that way? Are the concepts of art and the aesthetic elitist? Can we ever understand an artwork or be objective about it? Including articles ranging from Aristotle and Xie-He to Jun'ichiro Tanizaki, Michael Baxandall and Susan Sontag, this Reader is unique in providing both Western and non-Western responses to aesthetics.

The Nazi regime was a regime of unparalleled destructiveness. Nazism presents both key texts from some of the most innovative and challenging of more recent studies and extracts from the older historiography of the origins, nature, impact, and legacy of the National Socialist regime. It suggests both the need to re-read and re-consider much forgotten or ignored texts from earlier generations of commentators and the possibility of considering afresh the structure, style of rule, and consequences of National Socialism in the context provided by the end of the cold war. The texts connect the experiences of the Jewish and non-Jewish victims of Nazi aggression and genocide; links the fates of the victims with analysis of the perpetrators; and stresses the consequences of this unprecedented collapse in civilised values for post war Germany and the world.

The philosophy of religion is an intrinsic part of the richness of western philosophy. This Oxford Reader displays in historical perspective some of the rich dialogue between religion and philosophy over two millennia, beginning with Greek reflections about God and the gods, and ending with twentieth-century debate about faith in a world which tends to reserve its reverence for science. Paul Helm takes as a case study the question of whether the world is eternal, or whether it was created out of nothing, and follows this theme from Plato, through medieval thought, to modern scientific speculation about the beginnings of the universe. The Reader also includes discussion of many other fundamental issues raised by the juxtaposition of faith and reason and, including arguments for and against the existence of God, the relation between religion and ethics, the contrast between reason and revelation as sources of knowledge, and the implications of religious belief for freedom of the will.

The phenomenon of imperialism has never been under such intense scrutiny, by such a wide range of academic disciplines, as it is today. From cultural studies to the history of science, academics are engaged in a series of debates about empire which move far beyond traditional preoccupations with metropolitan strategy, economics, and rivalry.Using primary and secondary documentary sources, this reader negotiates the many trends and concerns in recent debates to provide a broad-based, comparative history of the British Empire. Selected readings are presented within a chronological framework, from the origins of empire to decolonization and beyond. Samson adopts a theme of identity to explore different perspectives through the sources, including metropolitan, colonial, and indigenous responses. General and section introductions explore such issues as the role of economics and religion in imperial expansion and rule; how indigenous and Creole populations constructed and expressed their own identities; and what changes were wrought by the process of decolonization. Bringing together a wide range of documentary evidence, this volume allows the varied and vital debates on aspects of imperialism and identity to be seen in the context of the broad history of the British Empire.

W. E. B. DuBois wrote in 1903 that `the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the colour line - the relation of the darker to the lighter races in Asia and Africa, in America and in the islands of the sea'. As the century draws to its close, this remains true; if anything the salience of race and racism in all its manifestations has grown in the recent past. The last few years have witnessed a growth in academic interest in racism, and in related issues such as nationalism and ethnicity, as well as an increasing general awareness of various kinds of racial conflict and violence in a range of countries and regions across the globe. This Reader provides a critical overview of the historical development and contemporary forms of racist ideas and institutions. It brings together material from different theoretical perspectives in an attempt to make sense of the way in which racism has exerted such a powerful influence on the history of humanity.

This new Reader draws on a range of documentary sources to show the origins, history, and realities of slavery and the slave trade. Exploring the economic, cultural, and political role of slavery, the volume shows the similarities as well as the differences in different times and places. While focusing primarily on the Americas, the volume extends to a consideration of slavery in other societies in the classical world, Africa, Asia, and the contemporary world. With over 150 selections, varying from one paragraph to several pages in length, the volume ranges widely, from international slave trade regulations and the individual records of slaveowners, to legislative debate concerning the emancipation of slaves. The volume aims to show the diversity of human experiences of slavery, and explains the causes of both the ending as well as the origins of slavery. Covering many aspects of slavery, the volume considers the ways in which slavery has been justified and attacked, the operations of slave societies, and the experiences of those living in them. Selections are drawn from a wide variety of sources, such as biblical and philosophical discussions, the writings of slaves, slaveowners, abolitionists, economists, lawyers, and historians. In addition, the volume includes selections from many leading historians and economists studying slavery and emancipation.

This Oxford Reader encompasses the two-thousand year history of responses to Jesus of Nazareth. The selected readings are arranged into seven chronological chapters, which are in turn organized thematically. More than 340 extracts are included, with familiar materials from key texts in the history of doctrine presented alongside a diverse sample of devotional, popular, liturgical, historical-critical, philosophical, and mystical texts. There are extracts from poems, songs, and plays, as well as polemics, commentaries, manifestos, treatises, letters, novels, liturgies, and creeds. The full range of responses to Jesus are represented in texts from Eastern and Western Christianity, both Catholic and Protestant, and additionally Jewish, Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist, and Zoroastrian texts. Spanning heterodoxy and radical thinking, this Reader presents an absorbing and many-sided picture of the wealth of responses to Jesus.