The Dispossessed has been described by political thinker Andre Gorz as 'The most striking description I know of the seductions—and snares—of self-managed communist or, in other words, anarchist society.' To date, however, the radical social, cultural, and political ramifications of Le Guin's multiple award-winning novel remain woefully under explored. Editors Laurence Davis and Peter Stillman right this state of affairs in the first ever collection of original essays devoted to Le Guin's novel. Among the topics covered in this wide-ranging, international (...) and interdisciplinary collection are the anarchist, ecological, post-consumerist, temporal, revolutionary, and open-ended utopian politics of The Dispossessed. The book concludes with an essay by Le Guin written specially for this volume, in which she reassesses the novel in light of the development of her own thinking over the past 30 years. (shrink)

Charles Taylor’s Hegel is a massive, imposing volume whose bulk has doubtless daunted all but the most dedicated Hegel scholars from reading it. Charles Taylor’s Hegel and Modern Society takes material from the larger volume and, in about a quarter of its length and without its formidableness, presents the parts of Hegel necessary to comprehending Hegel’s relevance to modern society. As Taylor says in his “Preface,” the result is a book with “a quite different centre of gravity” and one well (...) fitted to the aim of the series in which the book appears: to demonstrate the intelligibility and importance of contemporary European philosophy to a wide English-speaking audience, especially “those trained in analytical philosophy.”. (shrink)

Richard Norman has written an excellent short introduction to Hegel’s Phenomenology. His book has limitations, which are inevitable given its length and the problematic nature of its subject-matter. But these are outweighed by its many strong points.

Richard Norman has written an excellent short introduction to Hegel’s Phenomenology. His book has limitations, which are inevitable given its length and the problematic nature of its subject-matter. But these are outweighed by its many strong points.