The Continuing Legacy of Simone Weil analyzes the core work of Simone Weil and her views on the nature of the human condition, humanity’s relationship with God, and the objective state of our world.

Commiserating with Devastated Things: Milan Kundera and the Entitlement of ThinkingWIRTHJASON M.fordham university press. 2016. pp. 227227. £54.00..

David Pollard's previously unpublished poem 'Francesca da Rimini'.

ABSTRACT A review of Songs of Nature, a study by John Sallis of the landscapes of the modern Chinese artist Cao Jun, with philosophical emphases on the notion of landscape, this analysis widens out to a relevance to all creative work. It homes in on the comparative or intercultural overlap between Western and Eastern traditions. as well as that between painting and music and the other senses. The focus is on the elemental. Art is at base a return to nature (...) with earth and sky as the horizons of what it means to be human. (shrink)

Toward the end of the eighteenth century, the scholar and wit Ji Xiaolan published five collections of anecdotes and discourses on the interaction between the mundane and the spirit worlds, incorporating earthly life stories and happenings. Containing Ji's thoughts and others' experiences, these tales concern peasants, servants, merchants, governors, and ministers; take place throughout the Qing empire; and recount comedy and tragedy, cruelty and kindness, corruption and integrity, and erudition and ignorance. Some stories use ghosts to satirize men and manners; (...) others straightforwardly examine beliefs and practices. Altogether, they draw a portrait of the time unmatched in scope and variety. Selections are organized thematically and include a contextualizing preface. An introduction appraises Ji's own career and the atmosphere in which he lived. (shrink)