Large city fires were a huge threat in premodern Central European every-day life; only quite late, institutional forms of fire insurances emerged as a post-disaster instrument of damage recovery. During the nineteenth century, insurance agencies spread through the World forming a plurality of modernities, safe or unsafe.

This volume brings together Seth Benardete’s studies of Hesiod, Homer, and Greek tragedy, eleven Platonic dialogues, and Aristotle’s Metaphysics. The Argument of the Action spans four decades of Seth Benardete’s work, documenting its impressive range. Benardete’s philosophic reading of the poets and his poetic reading of the philosophers share a common ground, guided by the key he found in the Platonic dialogue: probing the meaning of speeches embedded in deeds, he uncovers the unifying intention of the work by tracing the way it unfolds through a movement of its own. Benardete’s original interpretations of the classics are the fruit of this discovery of the “argument of the action.”

All human beings are born with equal dignity and possess equal rights. This statement appears normatively just as irrefutable as it is empirically refuted every day. But what are the grounds of this principle, and how should we think about its realization? Its philosophical truth can best be explained by going back to (and beyond) Kant’s notion of a ‘noumenal republic’ in which every person is an equal co-author of the laws that bind all. At the same time, a critical analysis of society and politics must show the extent to which the reality of power and ideology makes a mockery of this constructivist conception of dignity. To bridge the gap between unworldly idealism and practical hopelessness, we need a critical theory after Kant. Rainer Forst, one of the world’s most influential political philosophers, works to develop just such a theory in this powerful and illuminating volume. It contains no less than a new systematic account of concepts such as alienation, progress and regression, solidarity, human rights, justice, power and non-domination.

Build a Deep, Contemporary Practice Rooted in Ancient Greek Traditions Presenting more than seventy exercises, rites, pathworkings, and prayers, Gwendolyn Reece ingeniously revitalizes fundamental concepts from ancient Greece for today's practitioner. Whether you're a Pagan or simply drawn to the Greek pantheon, Reece helps you build relationships with the Theoi (Olympians, Titans, and other deities) and create a truly vibrant spirituality. The Waters of Mnemosyne provides conceptual, theological, and philosophical information that enriches your practice and worldview. Discover rites of passage, healing traditions, and sacred spaces both personal and public. Explore Greek civic duty, heroes, magic, and the Mysteries. With its essential strategies for spiritual development, this book will, as Consorting with Spirits author Jason Miller praises, "be the definitive text for Hellenic-inspired practice for years to come."

An analysis of Shelley's fiction, poetry, and letters covers the topics of narcissism, gender identity, and self-idolotry.

An investigation of the complex image-text relationships between frontispieces and illustrated title pages with the following texts in European books published between 1500 and 1800.