Realizing Autonomy

This book is a major contribution to the study of the philosophy of action, moral philosophy, and political philosophy. Its central idea is a radically unorthodox theory of rational action. Most contemporary Anglo-American philosophers believe that action is motivated by desire. Professor Benn rejects the doctrine and replaces it with a reformulation of Kant's ethical and political theory, in which rational action can be determined simply by principles, regardless of consequences. The book analyzes the way in which value conflicts can be rationally resolved, the objectivity of value, the concept of moral personality, the principles of non-interference and respect of persons, the ideals of autonomy and community and various aspects of individual rights - focusing on the rights to freedom, welfare, and privacy.

This book provides a comprehensive guide to the conceptual methodological, and epistemological problems of biology, and treats in depth the major developments in molecular biology and evolutionary theory that have transformed both biology and its philosophy in recent decades. At the same time the work is a sustained argument for a particular philosophy of biology that unifies disparate issues and offers a framework for expectations about the future directions of the life sciences. The argument explores differences between autonomist and anti-autonomist views of biology. The result is a vindication of reductionism, but one that is unexpectedly hollow. For it leaves the exponents of the autonomy of biology from physical science with as much as their view of biology really requires - and rather more than the reductionist might comfortably concede. Professor Rosenberg shows how the problems of the philosophy of biology are interconnected and how their solutions are interdependent, However,

The papers collected in this volume present important information on the history and culture of contemporary gathering and hunting peoples from Canada, India, Africa, Australia and the Philippines. The volume focuses on two themes: first, on the techniques which band-living foraging peoples employ to organise their social and economic lives; and second, on their fight for the right to their own lands and for a measure of cultural and political autonomy. The contributors maintain that gatherer-hunters are not examples of a disappearing way of life, but peoples who have maintained their social and economic practices through long periods of contact with stratified societies. The aim of this volume it to make known to as wide an audience as possible the daily lives, the patterns of relations between the sexes and the political orientations of the world's contemporary foragers.

Human ecology is ultimately part of a general theory of society. This is the argument developed here by Roy Ellen, whose exploration of the interplay between social organization and ecology in small-scale subsistence systems has direct bearings both on the investigation of human environmental relations in general and on contemporary social theory. He argues that while ecological study of non-industrial societies cannot be elevated to the status of theory, domain or discipline, it can be represented as a single 'problematic' that historically has acquired some degree of autonomy and which continues to make a significant contribution to a wider anthropology. Dr Ellen introduces his subject matter through an extended and systematic discussion of some major frameworks developed within the last hundred years to examine and explain facets of the relationship between culture, social organization and the environment: determinism, possibilism, cultural ecology, systems theory and ideas derived

Deep and detailed research into the workings of corporate enables Professor Herman to throw considerable light on how the board of directors operates, how important outside directors are, how new members are selected, and how multiple directorships interlock the large corporations. Throughout the book the author contrasts the power of the managers with that of other interest groups - bankers, family - and he concludes that power lies with the managers. But this has not changed the basic objectives of the corporation - the pursuit of growth and profits - nor has it enhanced social responsibility. After thorough investigation Edward Herman concludes that government regulation has done surprisingly little to reduce the autonomy of the corporation. Just as the influence of bankers and investors has been resisted, so has the effect of regulation. Improved communications and controls, geographic dispersion, and the enhanced adaptability and mobility of the large corporation have all played a

Since the Second World War, the world has witnessed a remarkable efflorescence of ethnic feeling and nationalist aspirations. Among Bretons, Basques, Scots, Welsh, Flemish, Quebecois, Catalans, Kurds, Ibo, Somali, and a host of other communities, ethnic movements demanding much greater autonomy, or even independence, have sprung up. Originally published in 1981, this book explores the ethnic separatisms and 'neo-nationalisms' that, at the time, threatened to undermine the fragile stability of the world order and to annul liberal and cosmopolitan dreams of world government and a universal scientific culture. What were the underlying causes of this ethnic revival? Why did it assume worldwide proportions? Anthony D. Smith claims that to uncover the cultural root and mental spring of the ethnic renaissance we must look to the development of a sense of history that first arose in eighteenth-century Europe.

近年來的「台灣研究」，因為新國家主義(Neo-statism)的倡行，而有了相當獨特的界說。有關台灣發展經驗的理論適用，從以往的現代化理論、依賴理論，有逐漸轉移到新國家主義的趨勢。新國家主義對於台灣發展經驗，所指涉的國家自主性(state autonomy)與國家能力(state capacity)兩個主要概念，以及所形塑出的強國(strong state)與弱國(weak state)模型相當值