Irwin was skeptical of paranormal claims. In 1907-1908, for the Colliers Weekly, he published four installments of "The Medium Game: Behind the Scenes with Spiritualism" to cover fraud and trickery associated with spiritualism. Psychical researcher Hereward Carrington described Irwin as a well-known "exposer of fraudulent mediums.
Don Jenkins wants a divorce from the United States. He’s tired of a government that can't balance its budget but thinks it can dictate how much soda he should drink. Combining political intrigue and political theory, Free Dakota explores the new possibilities when Don follows the call of a charismatic diner owner who promises a libertarian paradise on the prairie. After years of struggle they have the votes for a peaceful secession, but the feds say it's 'til death do us part. Stopping the feds may cost more in integrity than in blood, however, when Don has to decide whether to stay after an assassination changes everything.
Uncertainty is the essence of the human condition, and nothing is more uncertain than God. Yet passions run hot when it comes to God, both among believers and non-believers. God is a Question, Not an Answer aims to unsettle readers on both sides of the issue. William Irwin argues that because belief occurs along a continuum of doubt and we can never reach full certainty, believers and non-believers can find common ground in uncertainty. Beginning with the questions of what we mean when we talk about God and faith, Irwin shows that from a philosophical perspective, the tendency to doubt is a virtue, and from a religious perspective there is no faith without doubt. Rather than avoid uncertainty as an uncomfortable state of emotional despair, we should embrace it as an ennobling part of the human condition. We do not have to agree about the existence of God, but we do need to practice intellectual humility and learn to see doubt as a gift. By engaging in civil discourse we can see those who disagree with us as not only fully human but capable of teaching us something.
Inspired by Daoism, this collection of playful poems depicts the peace of going with the flow and the pain of going against it. In deceptively simple, spare language, these poems guide us on the road of recovery. With impish paradox and winking wisdom, these brief verses impart hope and encourage joy.
Education is currently a foremost concern for many Americans. Education, however, is about more than teaching children skills for earning a living and how to function in life. It is really a means of transmitting both a culture and a heritage. William Irwin Thompson, one of today's most innovative interdisciplinary thinkers, talks about how to transform a cultural legacy in the course of transmitting it. His visionary approach takes education far beyond the bland, watered-down curricula so many students face today in public and private schools. Thompson offers us a mind-rattling tour of our potential as human beings, from the Gilgamesh epic of 2000 B.C.E. to Disney, popular music, current politics and social crises, and beyond. He not only presents a far-reaching system of knowledge and teaching, but also suggests how we can stimulate the best and healthiest patterns of development in our children and teenagers. Transforming History will enlighten today's educators and anyone concerned with improving our legacy and our children's place in it. CONTENTS: Foreword One: Cultural History and Complex Dynamical Systems Two: Transforming History Notes Appendix: An Outline of the Curriculum Index
Incisive and engaging, The Free Market Existentialist proposes a new philosophy that is a synthesis of existentialism, amoralism, and libertarianism. Argues that Sartre’s existentialism fits better with capitalism than with Marxism Serves as a rallying cry for a new alternative, a minimal state funded by an equal tax Confronts the “final delusion” of metaphysical morality, and proposes that we have nothing to fear from an amoral world Begins an essential conversation for the 21st century for students, scholars, and armchair philosophers alike with clear, accessible discussions of a range of topics across philosophy including atheism, evolutionary theory, and ethics
NEW BLOOD EDITION: Contains three new chapters from Season 3. This new edition is available as an E-BOOK ONLY and contains three chapters not found in the print book! The first look at the philosophical issues behind Charlaine Harris's New York Times bestsellers The Southern Vampire Mysteries and the True Blood television series! Teeming with complex, mythical characters in the shape of vampires, telepaths, shapeshifters, and the like, True Blood, the popular HBO series adapted from Charlaine Harris's bestselling The Southern Vampire Mysteries, has a rich collection of themes to explore, from sex and romance to bigotry and violence to death and immortality. The goings-on in the mythical town of Bon Temps, Louisiana, where vampires satiate their blood lust and openly commingle with ordinary humans, present no shortages of juicy metaphysical morsels to sink your teeth into. Now True Blood and Philosophy calls on the minds of some of history's great thinkers to perform some philosophical bloodletting on such topics as Sookie and the metaphysics of mindreading; Maryann and sacrificial religion; werewolves, shapeshifters and personal identity; vampire politics, evil, desire, and much more. The first book to explore the philosophical issues and themes behind the True Blood novels and television series Adds a new dimension to your understanding of True Blood characters and themes The perfect companion to the start of the third season on HBO and the release of the second season on DVD Smart and entertaining, True Blood and Philosophy provides food -- or blood -- for thought, and a fun, new way to look at the series.
We know from our literary histories that there was a movement called the Irish Literary Renaissance, and that Yeats was at its head. We know from our political histories that there is now a Republic of Ireland because of a nationalistic movement that, militarily, began with the insurrection of Easter Week, 1916. But what do these two movements have to do with one another?... Because I came to history with literary eyes, I could not help seeing history in terms and shapes of imaginative experience. Thus Movement, Myth, and Image came to be the way in which the nature of the insurrection appeared to me. This method of analyzing historical event as if it were a work of art is not altogether as inappropriate as it might seem when the historical event happens to be a revolution. The Irish revolutionaries lived as if they were in a work of art, and this inability to tell the difference between sober reality and the realm of imagination is perhaps one very important characteristic of a revolutionary. The tragedy of actuality comes from the fact that when, in a revolution, history is made momentarily into a work of art, human beings become the material that must be ordered, molded, or twisted into shape. (from the preface)
The studies in this volume concern cultural history. They grew out of the author's work over the last two decades with colleagues in the Lindisfarne Association, and especially his eighteen-year collaboration with the chaos mathematician Ralph Abraham.
In this volume of poems written over thirty-five years, William Irwin Thompson presents a remarkable range of work--from the personal and lyrical, through the narrative and mythological, to the scientific and cosmological--that traces many of the major themes that have affected contemporary culture for the past half century. His book opens with a mythological sequence on Quetzalcoatl, "Blue Jade from the Morning Star," which john Bierhorst has called "a fresh reading." In the words of Kathleen Raine: "There is a great difference between merely academic translation and the imaginative participation which Dr. Thompson has brought to these 'versions' and verse commentaries on the great vision of Quetzalcoatl." Books Two and Three contain mostly lyrical work, while Book Four concludes with a vision of the evolution of life that extends the lyrical into the cosmological in a sequence built on and addressed to the work of his four scientific friends: Ralph Abraham, James Lovelock, Lynn Margulis, and Francisco Varela.
A series of essays on the evolution of culture, dealing with topics including the city and consciousness, evolution of the afterlife, literary and mathematical archetypes, machine consciousness and the implications of 9/11, and the invasion of Iraq. The enlarged new edition contains extra essays and brings the author's comments on current affairs up to date with coverage of the election of Barak Obama as US President.
How is Jerry like Socrates? Is it rational for George to ''do the opposite? '' Would Simone de Beauvoir say that Elaine is a feminist? Is Kramer stuck in Kierkegaard's aesthetic stage? Seinfeld and Philosophy is both an enlightening look at the most popular sitcom of the decade and an entertaining introduction to philosophy via Seinfeld's plots and characters. These fourteen essays, which explore the ideas of Plato, Aristotle, Lao-Tzu, Heidegger, Kant, Marx, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Sartre, and Wittgenstein, will show readers how to be masters of their philosophical domain.
Join Professor Irwin as he traces the lyrical development of the “thinking man’s” metal band and uses the themes in Metallica’s work to illuminate topics such as truth, identity, questions of life and death, the mind-body problem, justice, and more…. More than 40 years since their formation, and 125 million album sales later, Metallica is as relevant as ever. Much has been written about the band, but The Meaning of Metallica is the first book to focus exclusively on their lyrics. Their mighty guitar riffs and pounding drums are legendary, but Metallica’s words match the intensity of their tunes. Lead singer James Hetfield writes rock poetry dealing with death, war, addiction, alienation, corruption, freedom, religion, and other weighty topics. Painting a rainbow of emotions with a deft palette, subtle but not obscure, Hetfield’s lyrics deserve careful attention. A master of narrative, Metallica makes listeners care about a vast array of characters, from a vengeful God, to a suicidal teenager, to a man in mid-life crisis. The Meaning of Metallica is like a riveting conversation with a close friend. A thematic tour de force that traces Hetfield’s lyrical development across the decades, this companion examines everything from deep cuts like “Confusion” to megahits like “Enter Sandman.” Sure to spark debate and discussion, The Meaning of Metallica provides a close reading of lyrics dense with details and rich with allusions.
First released in 1922, Hesse's classic novel Siddhartha has delighted and inspired generations of readers and seekers. In the sequel, Little Siddhartha, the search for meaning continues. Each one of us must follow a unique path toward wisdom. The constants, though, of love, forgiveness, family, and nature provide the enduring backdrop to the journey. Despite our differences, we can all see ourselves in the character of little Siddhartha, and we can hear the resounding Om that concludes this beautiful and timeless story of spiritual hunger and fulfillment.
When a cultural historian writes a memoir it is likely to be interesting. When that person is William Irwin Thompson, author of numerous book and articles including the best selling At the Edge of History, it is guaranteed to be both intriguing and thought provoking. From 1972 and for 40 years thereafter Dr. Thompson brought together a who's who of leading scientists, avant-garde artists, forward looking philosophers, environmental architects, spiritual innovators and other top-notch thinkers into a free-wheeling dialog. This he called the Lindisfarne Association and with his tireless energy, cool wit, loving heart, and multi-tasking mind he fashioned a vessel aimed at seeding and cross fertilizing a new culture. History will record the impact of his work. With this 260 page book you can bear witness to these events through numerous photos and participate in the goals of this unique endeavor.
In a demythologized world, William Thompson finds that the power of myth is ironically being restored at the leading edge of science. This book surveys the present, from Post-Modern theory to a science encompassing Chaos theory and the Gaia hypothesis, and finds in it the threads out of which a future conceptual landscape might be woven.
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