Books in the Bloomsbury Studies in Philosophy series

Providing a comprehensive examination of Leibniz's most important writings on natural right, this study argues that Leibniz, properly understood, provides a compelling account of the grounds of morality and of political institutions-an account relevant to present philosophical debates.

Applying Merleau-Ponty's figured philosophy to discussions the work of Paul Klee and Cy Twombly, Kaushik offers an original view of artwork. As the first sustained treatment into the relationship between art and language, this is an important contribution to Meleau-Ponty's philosophy and scholars of aesthetics.

"This book is an augmented and updated translation by the author of Theorie des Subjekts: Subjectiviteat und Identiteat zwischen Moderne und Postmoderne, Teubingen, Francke-UTB, 2010 (3rd ed.)"--Title page verso.

Descartes’ characterisation of the mind as a ’thinking thing’ marks the beginning of modern philosophy of mind. It is also the point of departure for Descartes’ own system in which the mind is the first object of knowledge for those who reason in an ’orderly way’. This ground-breaking book shows that the Cartesian mind has been widely misunderstood: typically treated as simply the subject of phenomenal consciousness, ignoring its deeply intellectual character. James Hill argues that this interpretation has gone hand in hand with a misreading of Descartes’ method of doubt which treats it as all-inclusive and universal in scope. In fact, the sceptical arguments of the First Meditation aim to lead the mind away from the senses and towards the intellectual ’notions’ that the mind has within it, and which are never the subject of doubt. Hill also places Descartes’ concept of mind into the wider setting of his science of nature, showing how he wished to reveal a mental subject that would able to comprehend the new physics necessitated by Copernicus’ heliocentrism.

An original study of the intrinsic significance of art, drawing on ideas, thinkers and approaches from phenomenology and analytic aesthetics.

Schelling is often thought to be a protean thinker whose work is difficult to approach or interpret. This title shows that the philosophy of art is the guiding thread to understanding Schelling's philosophical development from his early works in 1795-1796 through his theological turn in 1809-1810.