Wijsgerig-antropologische verkenning van de betekenis van het groteske aan de hand van voorbeelden uit de westerse literatuur en (volks)cultuur.

This comparative study of management reforms in the United Kingdom and in Belgium between 1982 and 1985, focuses on the incentives to these reforms, on the objectives pursued by the governments of both countries in undertaking them and on the results which have been already obtained.The need to reduce severely public expenditure by improving efficiency and effectiveness in government is recognized in both countries, but the governments diverse on the contents of the reforms and on the methods used to realize (...) them. The British opted for a radical reform conducted with much politica! backing, white the Belgians preferred to apply a strategy of gradual improvements of the budgetary process. (shrink)

The author draws attention to a modern technique of narration that inverts the meaning of ancient myths and stories. This practice creates a new type of story that conveys the anxieties and problems of contemporary life. Kafka's story inverts the meaning of the ancient parable of the Prodigal Son. It presents us with a wayward son who cannot find his way back home and with a father who does not see, embrace, kiss, or welcome his son. The essay explores the (...) connection between entering a human community and sharing a secret. It probes the relationships between homecoming and making sense of one's life. The essay also draws attention to a specifically feminine dimension of hospitality, domesticity and reciprocity. (shrink)

A la recherche du temps perdu van Proust lezen is binnen een reflectie op de zintuiglijkheid niets minder dan een feest. We raken via de rijke evocaties en metaforen in de werkelijkheid van oorden en plekken ondergedompeld. Dat wil zeggen dat we zelf deel gaan uitmaken van hun lijfelijkheid en bijgevolg van hun eigen tijd. In de reflectie genieten we van een ‘ont-plooiing’ van het sensuele, van een verlangen naar wereldlijkheid. Een tegenpool vinden we in het latere werk van Beckett. (...) Zijn wereld schijnt af te sterven, het lichaam-subject vergaat, de oorden en plekken verschrompelen, de dingen vervreemden en de gebeurtenissen zijn nog slechts accidenten waarvan de reikwijdte niet meer te verwoorden valt. Er is een ‘in-plooiing’ van het sensuele. De woorden sterven. De wereld ‘ontwereldlijkt’. (shrink)

Dat in het rituele gedrag symbolen geen lege vormen zijn die buiten alle werkelijkheid zouden staan, is een uitdaging aan de moderniteit die in natuurwetenschappelijkheid haar hoogste kenniseisen vervuld ziet. In dit artikel nemen we een oud dispuut over de transsubstantiatie of wezensverandering in het ritueel of sacrament van de christelijke avondmaalsviering of eucharistieviering als uitgangspunt. Dit dispuut gaat over de werkelijkheidswaarde van brood en wijn als het lichaam en bloed van Christus. Als we het symbool in zijn oorspronkelijke betekenis (...) van het verbindende nemen en de notie ‘werkelijkheid’ niet uitsluitend aan de criteria van de natuurwetenschappelijkheid onderwerpen, dan kunnen we inzien hoe rituelen, juist omdat ze symboliseren, werkelijkheid op het oog hebben. (shrink)

L'édition de L'Esprit des lois de Robert Derathé, parue en 1973, est considérable par la qualité du travail éditorial qu'elle met en oeuvre et par les informations qu'elle met à la disposition des lecteurs. Elle est complétée par une mise à jour bibliographique qui témoigne de l'importance quantitative et de la richesse des travaux effectuées depuis sur le grand ouvrage de Montesquieu. Ce volume contient l'introduction de Robert Derathé, les trois premières parties de L'Esprit des lois et la mise à (...) jour bibliographique. (shrink)

The Spirit of the Laws is, without question, one of the central texts in the history of eighteenth-century thought, yet there has been no complete, scholarly English-language edition since that of Thomas Nugent, published in 1750. This lucid translation renders Montesquieu's problematic text newly accessible to a fresh generation of students, helping them to understand quite why Montesquieu was such an important figure in the early enlightenment and why The Spirit of the Laws was, for example, such an influence upon (...) those who framed the American constitution. Fully annotated, this edition focuses attention upon Montesquieu's use of sources and his text as a whole, rather than upon those opening passages towards which critical energies have traditionally been devoted, and a select bibliography and chronology are provided for those coming to Montesquieu's work for the first time. (shrink)

"Dans ses conférences annuelles à l'Université du Québec à Montréal, le philosophe flamand Jacques De Visscher dessine des figures de l'hospitalité à partir de lectures phénoménologiques d'oeuvres littéraires (Samuel Beckett, Albert Cohen, Franz Kafka, Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio, Paul van Ostaijen, Georges Perec, Marcel Proust) dans lesquelles il porte une attention particulière à la mise en scène architecturale, à la corporéité et à l'enracinement des choses dans notre monde ambiant. Il tente ainsi de nous prémunir d'une aliénation et d'un (...) déracinement qui appauvrissent nos relations avec autrui et notre être-au-monde."--From publisher's website. (shrink)

Of laws in general -- Of laws directly derived from the nature of government -- Of the principles of the three kinds of government -- That the laws of education ought to be relative to the principles of government -- That the laws given by the legislator ought to be relative to the nature of government -- Consquences of the principles of different governments, with respect to the simplicity of civil and criminal laws, the form of judgements, and inflicting of (...) punishments -- Consquences of the different principles of the three governments, with respect to sumptuary laws, luxury, and the condition of women -- Of the corruption of the principles of the three governments -- Of the laws in the relation they bear to defensive force -- Of laws, in the relation they bear to offensive force. (shrink)

A classic work of the European Enlightenment--and one of the most popular, if scandalous, in its day--the Persian Letters captures, in an engaging epistolary format, the transformational spirit of the era. Amid an ongoing tale rife with sex, violence, and wit, the work addresses a diverse range of topics from human nature and the origins of society, to the nature and role of religious belief, the role of women, statecraft, justice, morality, and human identity. With skill and artistry, Raymond MacKenzie’s (...) stunning new translation accurately reflects the mood and character of the work. In his richly conceived Introduction, MacKenzie seamlessly weaves together an overview of the period with details of Montesquieu’s life, including the influences that inspired the _Persian Letters_, the character and power of the book, and its reception. This edition also includes a Calendar of the _Persian Letters_, a Bibliography of Works in English, and a Bibliography of Works in French. Related texts provide insight into the legacy of the _Persian Letters_. They include selections from works by George Lyttelton, Voltaire, Oliver Goldsmith, and Maria Edgeworth. (shrink)

El libro que estableció la teoría de la separación de poderes -afirmando la independencia del poder judicial con respecto al ejecutivo y el legislativo, para asegurar la libertad del pueblo- es una de las obras clave del pensamiento político, jurídico, sociológico e histórico de todos los tiempos.Aquella teoría enunciada por Charles-Louis de Secondat, barón de La Brède y de Montesquieu -"No hay libertad si el poder judicial no está separado del legislativo y executivo"- es tan sólo uno de los (...) momentos cumbres de este libro{ probablemente, el más importante de todo el siglo XVIII y un verdadero clásico desde que se publicó en Ginebra en 1748.Montesquieu tardó cerca de viente años en escribir "Del espíritu de las leyes"{ obra ingente que "empecé y dejé" en numerosas ocasiones, entregando "mil veces á los vientos las hojas que había escrito" y que, finalmente, concluyó, con más de 1.000 páginas -hojas perennes- que le ofrecen una lectura imprescindible.Lex Nova pone ahora a su disposición, por primera vez, este cuidado facsímil que reproduce, en tres tomos, la edición que publicó el anónimo licenciado M.V.M. en Madrid, París y Londres -respectivamente- en 1821, traduciendo aquella obra "libremente al español".Un verdadero lujo a su alcance. (shrink)

What emerges as the overarching theme in the extensive work of the Dutch philosopher Cornelis Verhoeven is our relationship to reality. Being appealed to by thousands of things in our existence makes us realize that we cannot avoid reality. The most meaningful forms of reality are symbols, which lead us, through radical astonishment and contemplation to the metaphysical insight that something exists rather than nothing. This renders Verhoeven sceptical as the weakness of our ability to know and understand hampers our (...) vision of hard reality, and also ironical because so many forms of speaking and writing display a reality which is being taken for granted. Thinking symbolically, metaphysical reflection and scepsis towards thoughdess assumptions are the instruments of a contemplation which, in Verhoeven's work, leave room for the lyrical prevalence of reality. In his later writings he gradually and more insistently draws attention to the theme of truth, while at the same time not denying our epistemological incapacity towards understanding and explaining reality. (shrink)

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