Books published by Imprint Academic

This book examines the change management strategies and processes employed to ensure that the Labour Government's commitment to devolution became a reality in Wales.

A volume dedicated to the life and work of Francisco Varela, this is an issue of the journal "Cybernetics and Human Knowing".

The essays in this book criticise the new positivism in education policy, whereby education is systematically reduced to those things that can be measured by so-called ''objective'' tests. School curricula have been narrowed with an emphasis on measurable results in the 3 R''s and the ''qualityΓÇÖ of university departments is now assessed by managerial exercises based on commercial audit practice. As a result, the traditional notion of liberal arts education has been replaced by utilitarian productivity indices.

This book uncovers the philosophical foundations of a tradition of ethical socialism best represented in the work of R.H. Tawney, tracing its roots back to the work of T.H. Green. Green and his colleagues developed a philosophy that rejected the atomistic individualism and empiricist assumptions that underpinned classical liberalism and helped to found a new political ideology based around four notions: the common good; a positive view of freedom; equality of opportunity; and an expanded role for the state. The book shows how Tawney adopted the key features of the idealists'' philosophical settlement and used them to help shape his own notions of true freedom and equality, thereby establishing a tradition of thought which remains relevant in British politics today.

In this book Andrew Sullivan examines Oakeshott''s transition from his original emphasis on philosophy as providing what was ultimately satisfactory in experience to his later emphasis on practical life. This satisfaction is best achieved by a fusion of the modes of poetry and practice, leading the author to examine OakeshottΓÇÖs view of religious life as the consummation of practice in its most poetic incarnation. The book also examines how the conception of practice is applied in OakeshottΓÇÖs political writings, focusing on the notion of civil association.

In this new and entirely revised edition of his study of Green's theory of positive freedom, Ben Wempe argues that the far-reaching and beneficial influence of Green's political doctrine, on public policy as well as in the field of political theory, was founded on a misinterpretation of his philosophical stand.

Adams sets out a new reasoned argument, based on his experience as a cognitive psychologist and as a human being, to show why Socrates was right: the purpose of life is to recognize ourselves - in each other and in all things.

The book describes Sir Alfred Sherman's early relationship with Sir Keith Joseph and his own role in the formation of the Centre for Policy Studies in 1974. Sherman examines the origins and development of 'Thatcherism', but concludes that the Conservative administrations of the 1980s were, for the most part, an 'interlude'.

''Plain'' persons tend to accept that free will exists and is inconsistent with determinism, but this commonsense position is widely debunked by professional philosophers and cognitive scientists. In this special issue of the Journal of Consciousness Studies David Hodgson defends a simple, robust account of the plain person''s position on free will, and intends it to support equally robust views of personal responsibility for conduct. In a lively debate his ideas are discussed and challenged by ten philosophers and scientists of varying opinions, including Robert Kane, Henry Stapp, and veteran philosopher of mind J.J.C. Smart, with a response by the principal author.

The State of the Nations 2001 is the ssecond publication of a major research programme into devolution in the United Kingdom, published on behalf of the Constitution Unit at University College London.

Gregory Bateson's work continues to touch others in fields as diverse as communication, ecology, anthropology, philosophy, family therapy, education, and mental/spiritual health. The authors in this special issue of Cybernetics & Human Knowing celebrate the Bateson Centennial.

R G Collingwood''s philosophy of history reflected his historical practices and his moral philosophy. Reflection on historical practice provided him with a theory of knowledge; his moral philosophy provided him with a theory of the object of history. This study shows how Collingwood''s concepts of action and history developed together.

Essays dedicated to J.H. Burns from F.Rosen, Joseph Canning, Francis Oakley, David Lieberman, Robert Wokler, and others.

Second of a three-volume series of the "Journal of Consciousness Studies", which asks if it is possible to take a natural science approach to art and uncover general laws of aesthetic experience, or is that taking reductionism too far?What is art? What is beauty? How do they relate? Where does consciousness come in? What about truth? And can science help us with issues of this kind? Because such questions go to the very heart of current conflicts about Western value systems, they are unlikely to receive definitive answers. But they are still very much worth exploring - which is precisely the purpose of this collection of papers (Journal of Consciousness Studies, 7, No.8/9), with particular attention to the relationships between art and science.

Analytic philosophers and cognitive scientists have long argued that the mind is a computer-like syntactical engine, and that all human mental capacities can be described as digital computational processes. This book presents an alternative, naturalistic view of human thinking, arguing that computers are merely sophisticated machines. Computers are only simulating thought when they crunch symbols, not thinking. Human cognitionΓÇösemantics, de re reference, indexicals, meaning and causationΓÇöare all rooted in human experience and life. Without life and experience, these elements of discourse and knowledge refer to nothing. And without these elements of discourse and knowledge, syntax is vacant structure, not thinking.

Essays dedicated to Herbert Dean from Peter Pouncy, George Klosko, Morimichi Watanabe, Ross Rudolph, Cheryl Welch, Thomas A. Horne, and others.

Provides an analysis of the relationship between the UK and the EU, treating the key overarching issues in the 1975 referendum and looking ahead to the prospect (eventually) of further referendums on the subjects of EMU and a European...

Provides an analysis of the relationship between the UK and the EU, treating the key overarching issues in the 1975 referendum and looking ahead to the prospect (eventually) of further referendums on the subjects of EMU and a European...

Third of a three-volume series of the "Journal of Consciousness Studies", which asks if it is possible to take a natural science approach to art and uncover general laws of aesthetic experience, or is that taking reductionism too far?

Human beings have an evolved but highly adaptable nature. This book sets out to establish a new framework for understanding human nature, from an evolutionary perspective but drawing on existing social sciences.

This volume brings together and provides contextual introductions to the most significant 18th century writing on the philosophy of art.

The Science, Consciousness and Ultimate Reality project was set up with the support of the John Templeton Foundation in order to examine critical issues at the interface between science, religion and the field of 'consciousness studies'.

This collection of readings, the first of its kind, has been chosen with a view to displaying the variety, richness and strength of the Scottish Idealist tradition.

The philosophy of John Macmurray is only now receiving the attention it deserves. It is in the contemporary climate of dissatisfaction with individualism that Macmurray's emphasis on the relations of persons has come to the fore.

The first part of this selection - the first ever made from Beattie's prose writings - includes several key chapters from the Essay on Truth, along with extracts from all of Beattie's other works on moral philosophy. The second part of the selection is devoted to Beattie's contributions to literary criticism and aesthetics.

The mind is the brain. Each mental state -- each hope, fear, thought -- can be identified with a particular physical state of the brain, without remainder. So argues Nicholas Humphrey in this highly readable yet scholarly essay.