Philosophy of Religion / Epistemology

On Images, Visual Culture, Memory, and the Play Without a Script

Matthias Smalbrugge, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands Matthias Smalbrugge compares modern images to plays without a script: while they appear to refer to a deeper identity or reality, it is ultimately the image itself that truly matters. He argues that our modern society of images is the product of a destructive tendency in the Christian notion of the image in general, and Augustine of Hippo's in particular. This insight enables him to propose a new 'script'.

UK December 2021 • US December 2021 • 176 pages PB 9781501358845 • £24.99 / $34.95 • HB 9781501358852 • £75.00 / $100.00 ePub 9781501358883 • £24.54 / $31.45 ePdf 9781501358869 • £24.54 / $31.45 Series: Reading Augustine • Bloomsbury Academic

Philosophizing the Roles of Questions in Religions

Bringing Buddhas and Gods Down to Earth

Nathan Eric Dickman, University of the Ozarks, USA Focusing on three case studies of questions in divine discourse on the level of story—the god depicted in the Jewish Bible, the master Mazu in his recorded sayings literature, and Jesus as he is depicted in canonized Christian Gospels – Nathan Eric Dickman meditates on human responses to divine questions. He considers the purpose of interreligious dialogue and the provocative kind of questions that seem to purposefully decenter us, drawing on methods from confessionally-oriented hermeneutics and skills from critical thinking. This is the first step in an inclusive and diverse phenomenology of religions, grounded in the world we live in.

UK December 2021 • US December 2021 • 256 pages PB 9781350202146 • £21.99 / $29.95 • HB 9781350202153 • £65.00 / $90.00 ePub 9781350202177 • £19.79 / $26.05 ePdf 9781350202160 • £19.79 / $26.05 Bloomsbury Academic

Mimesis and Sacrifice

Applying Girard's Mimetic Theory Across the Disciplines

Edited by Marcia Pally, New York University, USA This book closely examines the part sacrifice plays in different societal settings. Inspired by Rene Girard’s premise that one must address the problems of society in order to understand the mechanisms by which it functions, chapters are organised around questions emerging from Girard’s mimetic theory. By covering gender, evolutionary, theological, military and economic sacrifice in a single volume, the book presents a new understanding of its meaning and consequences, contributing not only to mimetic theory, but to research on the social condition of contemporary human life.

UK April 2021 • US April 2021 • 264 pages PB 9781350254046 • £28.99 / $39.95 Previously published in HB 9781350057418 ePub 9781350057449 • £26.09 / $35.17 ePdf 9781350057425 • £26.09 / $35.17 Series: Violence, Desire, and the Sacred • Bloomsbury Academic

On Mystery, Ineffability, Silence, and Musical Symbolism

Laurence Wuidar, Dominican Studium, Italy Composed by one of Europe’s leading musicologists, now engaging an English-speaking audience for the first time, this book is a candid exploration of Laurence Wuidar’s expertise. Drawing on her long knowledge of music and the occult, from antiquity to modernity, Wuidar particularly focuses upon Augustine’s working methods while refusing to be distracted by questions of faith or morality. The result is an open and at times frightening vista on the powers that be, and our complex need to commune with them.

UK October 2021 • US October 2021 • 192 pages PB 9781350228788 • £24.99 / $34.95 • HB 9781350228795 • £75.00 / $100.00 ePub 9781350228825 • £22.49 / $29.96 ePdf 9781350228818 • £22.49 / $29.96 Series: Reading Augustine • Bloomsbury Academic

Why God Must Do What is Best

A Philosophical Investigation of Theistic Optimism

Justin J. Daeley, University of Northwestern - St. Paul, USA This book articulates the rationale for what Justin J. Daeley terms Theistic Optimism: the idea that God, as the most perfect being, creates the best possible world necessarily. Extending the conversation beyond the well-covered issue of divine freedom, Daeley argues that Theistic Optimism is also consistent with divine aseity, divine gratitude and our typical modal intuitions. In doing so, he provides a vigorous defence against the charge that it deviates from the Christian tradition.

UK October 2021 • US October 2021 • 224 pages HB 9781350109896 • £85.00 / $115.00 ePub 9781350109919 • £76.50 / $100.32 ePdf 9781350109902 • £76.50 / $100.32 Series: Bloomsbury Studies in Philosophy of Religion • Bloomsbury Academic

Intellectual Agency and Virtue Epistemology: A Montessori Perspective

Patrick R. Frierson, Whitman College, USA Drawing on the work of Maria Montessori and contemporary virtue epistemologists such as Linda Zagzebski and Jason Baehr, this book presents a new interpretation of the nature of intellectual agency and its associated virtues. Focusing on Montessori’s interpretation of specific virtues including sensory attentiveness, intellectual love and intellectual humility, it discusses why these are virtues, why one can be held responsible for them and the pedagogical implications of considering them as virtues. The book encourages educationalists to take seriously the cultivation of intellectual virtues as an important part of the education of children.

UK June 2021 • US June 2021 • 272 pages PB 9781350267442 • £28.99 / $39.95 Previously published in HB 9781350018860 ePub 9781350018839 • £81.00 / $106.83 ePdf 9781350018846 • £81.00 / $106.83 Bloomsbury Academic