Japan is one of the most urbanized and industrialized countries in the world. Yet the Japanese continue to practise a variety of religious rituals and ceromonies that would appear to be at variance with the high-tech and highly regimented nature of Japanese society. Ceremony and Ritual in Japan focuses on the traditional and religious aspects of Japanese society from an anthropological perspective, presenting new material and making cross-cultural comparisons. The chapters in this collection cover topics as diverse as funerals and mourning, sweeping, women's roles in ritual, the division of...

When did psychology become a distinct discipline? What links the continental and analytic traditions in philosophy? Answers to both questions are found in this account of the debate surrounding psychologism in Germany at the turn of the century. The trajectory of 20th century philosophy has been largely determined by this anti-naturalist view which holds that empirical research is in principle different from philosophical inquiry, and can never make significant contributions to the latter's central issues.

Since the 1988 Education Reform Act, the education system has undergone dramatic changes and this in turn has raised a number of controversial issues and questions. This reader brings together key articles, both recently published and specially commissioned, which address these issues and place them in context. Issues covered include: the curriculum; teaching and learning; assessment; and school effectiveness and improvement.