4e de couverture: Responding to the challenges from the worlds they study and reflecting critically on their own practice, anthropologists have recently devoted new attention to ethics and morality. This masterclass brings together four of the most eminent scholars working in this field--Michael Lambek, Veena Das, Didier Fassin, and Webb Keane--to discuss, in a lecture format, the way in which anthropology faces contemporary ethical issues and moral problems. Rather than treating ethics as an object or as an isolable domain in moral theory, the authors are interested in grasping how the ethical and the moral emerge from social actions and interactions, how they are related to historical contexts and cultural settings, how they are transformed through their confrontation with the political, and how they are, ultimately, an integral part of life. Contrasting in their perspectives and methods, but developing a lively conversation, this masterclass provides four distinct voices to compose what will be an essential guide for an anthropology of the ethical and the moral in the twenty-first century.

Originally published in the 1980s, Rodefer's four long poems are milestones in American avant garde poetry. After over fifty years out of print, the master's poetic magnum opus is available again. Stephen Rodefer was one of the most innovative and singular of American poets, a student of Charles Olson’s often associated with the Language poets but whose eclectic, energetic verse defies categorization and embraces a worldly lyricism uniquely his own. Four Lectures is widely considered to be his masterpiece, a book of four long poems that explore the radical possibilities of language through a generous, intimate collage of the sights and sounds, the words and images that form the poet’s world. Making freewheeling reference to Shakespeare and Sappho, Looney Tunes and Ethel Waters, among others, Rodefer boldly reimagines the modern philosophical poem, exemplified by Four Quartets and Self Portrait in a Convex Mirror, for a new and fragmentary age. First published in 1982 by Geoffrey Young’s legendary press The Figures and long beloved by readers, these witty, playful poems have been unavailable in a single volume for nearly half a century. This new edition will reproduce the layout of the original, in which the material presentation of words on the page is integral to the meaning of the poem. Of Four Lectures, Ron Silliman writes: “Philosopher-harlequin, the poet speaks plainly, having just now invented the line. What other writer can give us this much of the real.”

Newly famous in the wake of the publication of her groundbreaking Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, Gertrude Stein delivered her Narration lectures to packed audiences at the University of Chicago in 1935. Stein had not been back to her home country since departing for France in 1903, and her remarks reflect on the changes in American culture after thirty years abroad. In Stein’s trademark experimental prose, Narration reveals the legendary writer’s thoughts about the energy and mobility of the American people, the effect of modernism on literary form, the nature of history and its recording, and the inventiveness of the English language—in particular, its American variant. Stein also discusses her ambivalence toward her own literary fame as well as the destabilizing effect that notoriety had on her daily life. Restored to print for a new generation of readers to discover, these vital lectures will delight students and scholars of modernism and twentieth-century literature. “Narration is a treasure waiting to be rediscovered and to be pirated by jolly marauders of sparkling texts.”—Catharine Stimpson, NYU

Jerome Bruner argues that the cognitive revolution, with its current fixation on mind as “information processor,” has led psychology away from the deeper objective of understanding mind as a creator of meanings. Only by breaking out of the limitations imposed by a computational model of mind can we grasp the special interaction through which mind both constitutes and is constituted by culture.

In Avatâras, Annie Besant explores the mystical concept of divine incarnations, drawing from various traditions to enrich her discourse on spiritual evolution. Avatâras, by Annie Besant, presents a series of four lectures delivered at the twenty-fourth anniversary meeting of the Theosophical Society in 1899. Besant, a prominent Theosophist, delves into the concept of avatars, divine beings aiding humanity. With profound knowledge and eloquence, she explores these divine incarnations, examining their role across cultures and their significance in the cosmic order. The lectures guide readers from general theosophical concepts to the specific missions of avatars, revealing their role as bridges between the spiritual and material worlds. "Avatâras" offers both scholarly exposition and spiritual inspiration, making it essential for those interested in theosophy, spiritual development, and religious teachings. Annie Besant's work remains a testament to her spiritual influence and teaching.