In this 1989 book Rorty argues that thinkers such as Nietzsche, Freud, and Wittgenstein have enabled societies to see themselves as historical contingencies, rather than as expressions of underlying, ahistorical human nature or as realizations of suprahistorical goals. This ironic perspective on the human condition is valuable on a private level, although it cannot advance the social or political goals of liberalism. In fact Rorty believes that it is literature not philosophy that can do this, by promoting a genuine sense of human solidarity. A truly liberal culture, acutely aware of its own historical contingency, would fuse the private, individual freedom of the ironic, philosophical perspective with the public project of human solidarity as it is engendered through the insights and sensibilities of great writers. The book has a characteristically wide range of reference from philosophy through social theory to literary criticism. It confirms Rorty's status as a uniquely subtle theorist, whose writing will prove absorbing to academic and nonacademic readers alike.
The essence of this article happens to be the art of moral criticism amidst the Jewish tradition. Moral criticism, or as the Torah puts it rebuke (tokhehah), is a necessary activity for social learning and improvement. Moral criticism is part of a give and take among individuals who must necessarily share, at least, a minimal set of core values, including most importantly respect for one another, a common ethical vocabulary, and a basic moral grammar. Each one of us, simply by virtue of being human, inherits a moral tradition. As we grow and mature we slowly become its spokespersons. Rebuke or moral criticism is one of the many moral responsibilities that come with advancing maturity and wisdom. It can take on many different forms. A series of discussions, mostly rhetorical in nature follows. Introspecting questions along such as what are my motives along with substantial analysis concludes this article.
In an effort to understand the transformative potential of adult play, this article explores a developmental model that outlines the unfolding complexity of play in light of the evolution of consciousness. It correlates specific play forms with developmental stages and shows how forms of play can both instigate and support transitions between stages. It further outlines how characteristics intrinsic to play support the evolution of consciousness.
178 p. Finite games are the familiar contests of everyday life, the games we play in business and politics, in the bedroom and on the battlefield-games with winners and losers, a beginning and an end. Infinite games are more mysterious-and ultimately more rewarding. They are unscripted and unpredictable; they are the source of true freedom. In this elegant and compelling work, James Carse explores what these games mean, and what they can mean to you. He offers stunning new insights into the nature of property and power, of culture and community, of sexuality and self-discovery. He takes you down a road you have never traveled before, and he opens the door to a world of infinite delight and possibility.
This paper is divided into two sections. In the first section, I discuss “what is spirituality?â€\x9D and in the section that follows, I examine some of the implications of my definition to the teaching of spirituality in an undergraduate business ethics course. For the purposes of this paper, spirituality is defined as the planned experience (the inner feeling) of blending integrity and integration through 1 – acceptance (of the past), 2 – commitment (to the future), 3 – reasonable choice, 4 – mindful action, and 5 –continuous dialog (both internal and external). This definition is a work-in-progress and offered mainly as a point of departure rather than a final destination. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2007
Teaching Spirituality In (and Out) of the Classroom