David Lay Williams's Books

The Greatest of All Plagues

How Economic Inequality Shaped Political Thought from Plato to Marx

By: David Lay Williams

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The Greatest of All Plagues

How Economic Inequality Shaped Political Thought from Plato to Marx

By: David Lay Williams

How the great political thinkers have persistently warned against the dangers of economic inequality Economic inequality is one of the most daunting challenges of our time, with public debate often turning to questions of whether it is an inevitable outcome of economic systems and what, if anything, can be done about it. But why, exactly, should inequality worry us? The Greatest of All Plagues demonstrates that this underlying question has been a central preoccupation of some of the most eminent political thinkers of the Western intellectual tradition. David Lay Williams shares bold new perspectives on the writings and ideas of Plato, Jesus, Thomas Hobbes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, and Karl Marx. He shows how they describe economic inequality as a source of political instability and a corrupter of character and soul, and how they view unchecked inequality as a threat to their most cherished values, such as justice, faith, civic harmony, peace, democracy, and freedom. Williams draws invaluable insights into the societal problems generated by what Plato called “the greatest of all plagues,” and examines the solutions employed through the centuries. An eye-opening work of intellectual history, The Greatest of All Plagues recovers a forgotten past for some of the most timeless books in the Western canon, revealing how economic inequality has been a paramount problem throughout the history of political thought.

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424

Publisher

Princeton University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0691171971

ISBN 13

9780691171975

Rousseau's Platonic Enlightenment

By: David Lay Williams

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Rousseau's Platonic Enlightenment

By: David Lay Williams

In this sterling, deeply researched study, Williams explores how thinkers ranging from Hobbes to d'Holbach highlight various sets of ideas that Rousseau combated in developing his philosophical teaching. The account of Rousseau's predecessors who might be called Platonists is especially interesting, as is the account of those who qualify as materialists. Moreover, Williams provides a good overview of Rousseau's teaching, demonstrates a commendable grasp of the relevant secondary literature, and argues ably for the superiority of his own interpretations ... Clearly written and superbly organized, this book contributes much to Rousseau studies. An indispensable book for Rousseau scholars, this volume also will appeal to general readers and students at all levels."--C.E. Butterworth, CHOICE.

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306

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Penn State University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0271029978

ISBN 13

9780271029979

The Greatest of All Plagues

How Economic Inequality Shaped Political Thought from Plato to Marx

By: David Lay Williams

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The Greatest of All Plagues

How Economic Inequality Shaped Political Thought from Plato to Marx

By: David Lay Williams

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424

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Princeton University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0691255512

ISBN 13

9780691255514

Rousseau's Platonic Enlightenment

By: David Lay Williams

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Rousseau's Platonic Enlightenment

By: David Lay Williams

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356

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Penn State Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0271045515

ISBN 13

9780271045511

Rousseau's Social Contract

An Introduction

By: David Lay Williams

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Rousseau's Social Contract

An Introduction

By: David Lay Williams

If the greatness of a philosophical work can be measured by the volume and vehemence of the public response, there is little question that Rousseau's Social Contract stands out as a masterpiece. Within a week of its publication in 1762 it was banished from France. Soon thereafter, Rousseau fled to Geneva, where he saw the book burned in public. At the same time, many of his contemporaries, such as Kant, considered Rousseau to be 'the Newton of the moral world', as he was the first philosopher to draw attention to the basic dignity of human nature. The Social Contract has never ceased to be read and debated in the 250 years since its publication. Rousseau's Social Contract: An Introduction offers a thorough and systematic tour of this notoriously paradoxical and challenging text. David Lay Williams offers readers a chapter-by-chapter reading of the Social Contract, squarely confronting these interpretive obstacles. The book also features a special extended appendix dedicated to outlining Rousseau's famous conception of the general will, which has been the object of controversy since the Social Contract's publication in 1762.

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329

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1107511607

ISBN 13

9781107511606

Education, Liberal Democracy and Populism

Arguments from Plato, Locke, Rousseau and Mill

By: David Sullivan

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Education, Liberal Democracy and Populism

Arguments from Plato, Locke, Rousseau and Mill

By: David Sullivan

Education, Liberal Democracy and Populism: Arguments from Plato, Locke, Rousseau and Mill provides a lucid and critical guide shedding light on the continuing relevance of earlier thinkers to the debates between populists and liberals about the nature of education in democratic societies. The book discusses the relationship Rousseau and Plato posited between education and society, and contrasts their work with the development of liberal thinking about education from John Locke, and John Stuart Mill’s arguments for the importance of education to representative democracy. It explores some of the roots of populism and offer a broader perspective from which to assess the questions which populists pose and the answers which liberals offer. The book makes a substantial contribution to the current debate about democracy, by emphasising the central importance of education to political thought and practice, and suggests that only an education system based on liberal democratic principles can offer the possibility of a genuinely free society. This book is ideal reading for researchers and post-graduate students in education, politics, philosophy and history. It will also be of great interest to Educational practitioners and policy makers.

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281

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1351337718

ISBN 13

9781351337717

Battle above the Clouds

Lifting the Siege of Chattanooga and the Battle of Lookout Mountain, October 16 - November 24, 1863

By: David Powell

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Battle above the Clouds

Lifting the Siege of Chattanooga and the Battle of Lookout Mountain, October 16 - November 24, 1863

By: David Powell

In October 1863, the Union Army of the Cumberland was besieged in Chattanooga, all but surrounded by familiar opponents: The Confederate Army of Tennessee. The Federals were surviving by the narrowest of margins, thanks only to a trickle of supplies painstakingly hauled over the sketchiest of mountain roads. Soon even those quarter-rations would not suffice. Disaster was in the offing. Yet those Confederates, once jubilant at having routed the Federals at Chickamauga and driven them back into the apparent trap of Chattanoogas trenches, found their own circumstances increasingly difficult to bear. In the immediate aftermath of their victory, the South rejoiced; the Confederacys own disasters of the previous summerVicksburg and Gettysburgwere seemingly reversed. Then came stalemate in front of those same trenches. The Confederates held the high ground, Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, but they could not completely seal off Chattanooga from the north. The Union responded. Reinforcements were on the way. A new man arrived to take command: Ulysses S. Grant. Confederate General Braxton Bragg, unwilling to launch a frontal attack on Chattanoogas defenses, sought victory elsewhere, diverting troops to East Tennessee. Battle above the Clouds by David Powell recounts the first half of the campaign to lift the siege of Chattanooga, including the opening of the cracker line, the unusual night battle of Wauhatchie, and one of the most dramatic battles of the entire war: Lookout Mountain.

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Page Count

193

Publisher

Savas Beatie

Published Date

ISBN 10

1611213789

ISBN 13

9781611213782

The Episcopalians

By: David Hein,Gardiner H. Shattuck

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The Episcopalians

By: David Hein,Gardiner H. Shattuck

The story of Episcopalians in America is the story of an influential denomination that has furnished a large share of the American political and cultural leadership. Beginning with the Episcopal Church's roots in sixteenth-century England, The Episcopalians offers a fresh account of its rise to prominence. Chronologically arranged, it traces the establishment of colonial Anglicanism in the New World through the birth of the Episcopal Church after the Revolution and its rise throughout the nineteenth century, ending with the complex array of forces that helped shape it in the 20th century and the consecration of Gene Robinson in 2003. The authors focus not only on the established leadership of the church but also to the experience of lay people, the form and function of sacred space, the evolution of church parties and theology, relations with other Christian communities, and the evolving ministries of women and minorities.

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377

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Church Publishing, Inc.

Published Date

ISBN 10

0898697832

ISBN 13

9780898697834

The Intellectual Origins of Modernity

By: David Ohana

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The Intellectual Origins of Modernity

By: David Ohana

The Intellectual Origins of Modernity explores the long and winding road of modernity from Rousseau to Foucault and its roots, which are not to be found in a desire for enlightenment or in the idea of progress but in the Promethean passion of Western humankind. Modernity is the Promethean passion, the passion of humans to be their own master, to use their insight to make a world different from the one that they found, and to liberate themselves from their immemorial chains. This passion created the political ideologies of the nineteenth century and made its imprint on the totalitarian regimes that arose in their wake in the twentieth. Underlying the Promethean passion there was modernity—humankind's project of self-creation—and enlightenment, the existence of a constant tension between the actual and the desirable, between reality and the ideal. Beneath the weariness, the exhaustion and the skepticism of post-modernist criticism is a refusal to take Promethean horizons into account. This book attests the importance of reason, which remains a powerful critical weapon of humankind against the idols that have come out of modernity: totalitarianism, fundamentalism, the golem of technology, genetic engineering and a boundless will to power. Without it, the new Prometheus is liable to return the fire to the gods.

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371

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1351110497

ISBN 13

9781351110495

Religious Pluralism and Political Stability

Obligations in Agreement

By: David Golemboski

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Religious Pluralism and Political Stability

Obligations in Agreement

By: David Golemboski

This book argues that the principles and institutions of political liberalism are necessary conditions for achieving reliable stability amid conditions of pluralism. Only a political system of this sort can bring citizens’ moral, religious, and political loyalties into robust agreement. Through an analysis that encompasses normative political theory and American constitutional law, David Golemboski illustrates the implications of this conclusion by examining contemporary legal debates in law and religion. By developing a fresh perspective on how legal frameworks for religious exercise and establishment can ameliorate conflict and enhance the stability of a liberal constitution, this book demonstrates that political systems need not subordinate or sacrifice important liberal priorities in favor of stability. Rather, those liberal priorities are themselves necessary components of a stable order. Religious Pluralism and Political Stability will be of interest to scholars across the fields of political philosophy, legal theory, and constitutional law who have an interest in religion.

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Page Count

203

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Published Date

ISBN 10

1000618234

ISBN 13

9781000618235

Lacuna: The Requiem of Steel

By: David Adams

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Lacuna: The Requiem of Steel

By: David Adams

Peace in our time. The Toralii guns are silent. Humanity’s home of Velsharn is secure. There are no more battles. No more wars. The machinations of a dying man have traded a single life for a species; Captain Melissa Liao’s world is four iron walls and pain, but her suffering buys life for mankind. Her legacy is one of struggle, selflessness, and sacrifice. Held in the grasp of the Toralii Alliance, she takes little comfort in this. Is this the swansong for war, for steel and blood and gunpowder? Is this the price of peace? Amongst the crew of the TFR Beijing, the TFR Tehran, and the TFR Washington, a chorus rings: No one gets left behind. The climactic sixth, and final, book of the Lacuna series. Lacuna Lacuna: The Sands of Karathi Lacuna: The Spectre of Oblivion Lacuna: The Ashes of Humanity Lacuna: The Prelude to Eternity (coming soon!) Don't miss these short stories set in the Lacuna universe: Magnet Magnet: Special Mission Magnet: Marauder Magnet: Scarecrow (new release!) Magnet Omnibus I (new release!) Imperfect Faith

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153

Publisher

David Adams

Published Date

ISBN 10

1370898045

ISBN 13

9781370898046

Imperialism and Idealism

American Diplomats in China, 1861-1898

By: David L. Anderson

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Imperialism and Idealism

American Diplomats in China, 1861-1898

By: David L. Anderson

Combining biography with foreign-policy analysis, David L. Anderson provides a fresh interpretation of Sino-American relations in the nineteenth century. The book focuses on the eight Americans who occupied the chief U.S. diplomatic post in China from 1861 to 1898 and personally shaped American policy toward China in the forty years before Secretary of State John Hay's Open Door Notes. Their policies, as Anderson explains, were as varied as the eight individuals, and yet at the same time were characteristically American—expressing both idealistic altruism and imperialistic self-interest. Ultimately, John Hay merged the altruism and the self-interest in the Open Door Notes of 1899 and 1900, which influenced much of America's twentieth-century conduct in Asia. Anderson reemphasizes Hay's role in bridging the differences that have plagued U.S. policy in China.

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262

Publisher

Indiana University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0253329183

ISBN 13

9780253329189

Rāgs Around the Clock

A Handbook for North Indian Classical Music, with Online Recordings in the Khayāl Style

By: David Clarke

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Rāgs Around the Clock

A Handbook for North Indian Classical Music, with Online Recordings in the Khayāl Style

By: David Clarke

Rāgs Around the Clock is a rich and vibrant compendium for the discovery and study of North Indian classical music. The theory and practice of rāg are explored through two interlinked resources: a handbook of essays and analyses offering technical, historical, cultural and aesthetic perspectives; and two online albums – Rāg samay cakra and Twilight Rāgs from North India – featuring khayāl singer Vijay Rajput and accompanists. Extracts from the albums are also embedded into the text to enhance learning and understanding. Each rāg is accompanied by a description of its chief characteristics and technical features, a notation of the song (bandiś) on which the performance is based, and a transliteration and translation of the song text. Distinctively, Rāg samay cakra also includes spoken renditions of each of the texts, helping non-Hindavi speakers to achieve the correct pronunciation. Sharing insights from both theory and practice, this collection draws on recent scholarship while also showcasing the vocal idiom – the gāyakī – of Vijay Rajput, a disciple of the late Pandit Bhimsen Joshi. It offers invaluable reading for students and researchers of Indian classical music, world music and ethnomusicology, and a rich repository for teacher and student practitioners of the khayāl vocal style. The combination of an aural and written exploration of rāg will appeal to anyone drawn to this form of music – whether newcomer, student (śiṣyā) or aficionado (rasika).

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Page Count

306

Publisher

Open Book Publishers

Published Date

ISBN 10

1800648103

ISBN 13

9781800648104

Book's by David Lay Williams

The Greatest of All Plagues

The Greatest of All Plagues

Rousseau's Platonic Enlightenment

Rousseau's Platonic Enlightenment

The Greatest of All Plagues

The Greatest of All Plagues

Rousseau's Platonic Enlightenment

Rousseau's Platonic Enlightenment

Rousseau's Social Contract

Rousseau's Social Contract

Education, Liberal Democracy and Populism

Education, Liberal Democracy and Populism

Battle above the Clouds

Battle above the Clouds

The Episcopalians

The Episcopalians

The Intellectual Origins of Modernity

The Intellectual Origins of Modernity

Religious Pluralism and Political Stability

Religious Pluralism and Political Stability

Lacuna: The Requiem of Steel

Lacuna: The Requiem of Steel

Imperialism and Idealism

Imperialism and Idealism

Rāgs Around the Clock

Rāgs Around the Clock

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