Saba Mahmood’s 2005 Politics of Piety is an excellent example of evaluation in action.
Mahmood’s book is a study of women’s participation in the Islamic revival across the Middle East. Mahmood – a feminist social anthropologist with left-wing, secular political values – wanted to understand why women should become such active participants in a movement that seemingly promoted their subjugation. As Mahmood observed, women’s active participation in the conservative Islamic revival presented (and presents) a difficult question for Western feminists: how to balance cultural...
Saba Mahmood’s 2005 Politics of Piety is an excellent example of evaluation in action.
Before the publication of Nature's Metropolis in 1991, historians generally treated urban and rural areas as distinct from one another, each following separate lines of development and maturity.
Before the publication of Nature's Metropolis in 1991, historians generally treated urban and rural areas as distinct from one another, each following...
One of the most influential books on economics ever written, Malthus' work remains one of the most controversial, too. Arguing that unchecked population growth will eventually outstrip food availability and lead to famine and disease, this 1798 work inspired naturalists Darwin and Wallace to develop the theory of natural selection.
One of the most influential books on economics ever written, Malthus' work remains one of the most controversial, too. Arguing that unchecked populati...
Up to the mid 20th century, generations of anthropologists had imported their own value systems into their work, regardless of where they were studying.
Up to the mid 20th century, generations of anthropologists had imported their own value systems into their work, regardless of where they were studyin...
Martin Luther King’s policy of non-violent protest in the struggle for civil rights in the United States during the second half of the twentieth century led to fundamental shifts in American government policy relating to segregation, and a cultural shift in the treatment of African Americans. King’s 1964 book Why We Can’t Wait creates strong, well-structured arguments as to why he and his followers chose to wage a nonviolent struggle in the fight to advance freedom and equality for black people following ‘three hundred years of humiliation, abuse, and deprivation.’...
Martin Luther King’s policy of non-violent protest in the struggle for civil rights in the United States during the second half of the twentieth ...
David Riesman’s The Lonely Crowd: A Study in the Changing American Character is one of the best-known books in the history of sociology – holding a mirror up to contemporary America and showing the nation its own character as it had never seen it before.
Its success is a testament to Riesman’s mastery of one key critical thinking skill: interpretation. In critical thinking, interpretation focuses on understanding the meaning of evidence, and is frequently characterized by laying down clear definitions, and clarifying ideas and categories for the reader. All these...
David Riesman’s The Lonely Crowd: A Study in the Changing American Character is one of the best-known books in the history of sociology ...
Reasoning is the critical thinking skill concerned with the production of arguments: making them coherent, consistent, and well-supported; and responding to opposing positions where necessary. The Better Angels of Our Nature offers a step-by-step class in precisely these skills. Author Steven Pinker's central thesis is simple: mankind has become increasingly less violent over the centuries, and will continue to do so. Pinker is aware, though, that many people instinctively believe the opposite, and Better Angels is devoted to marshalling data to support and illustrate this central...
Reasoning is the critical thinking skill concerned with the production of arguments: making them coherent, consistent, and well-supported; and respond...
In his wonderfully clear and cogent essay On Liberty, Mill contends that individuals should be as free as possible from interference by government. Proposing that individual fulfilment is the surest route to collective happiness, he argues passionately against the "tyranny of the majority," and sets out to create an alternative view of a practical politics that sets proper limits on the powers of government and society.
The result, Mill argues, will be not only greater freedom, but also improved social progress. He reached these conclusions by re-interpreting a large body...
In his wonderfully clear and cogent essay On Liberty, Mill contends that individuals should be as free as possible from interference by go...
Hegel’s 1807 Phenomenology of Spirit is renowned for being one of the most challenging and important books in Western philosophy. Above all, it is famous for laying out a new approach to reasoning and philosophical argument, an approach that has been credited with influencing Karl Marx, Jean-Paul Sartre, and many other key modern philosophers. That approach is the so-called “Hegelian dialectic” – an open-ended sequence of reasoning and argument in which contradictory concepts generate and are incorporated into a third, more sophisticated concept.
While the...
Hegel’s 1807 Phenomenology of Spirit is renowned for being one of the most challenging and important books in Western philosophy. Above ...
