If we are material beings living in a material world -- and all the scientificevidence suggests that we are -- then we must find existential meaning, if there is such a thing, inthis physical world. We must cast our lot with the natural rather than the supernatural. ManyWesterners with spiritual (but not religious) inclinations are attracted to Buddhism -- almost as akind of moral-mental hygien…
This textbook is a systematic guide to the extensive field of spirituality. Kees Waaijman charts the multiform phenomenon of the spirituality of ordinary people, the great spiritual traditions and the force of counter-movements. From the foundation of this survey he answers questions What exactly is spirituality? What forms can a scholarly approach take? Finally, the book provides methodic acce…
Sixteen women anthropologists analyze the place of women in human societies, treating as problematic certain questions and observations that in the past have been ignored or taken for granted, and consulting the anthropological record for data and theoretical perspectives that will help us to understand and change the quality of women's lives. The first three essays address the question of huma…
Social justice has been the animating ideal of democratic governments throughout the twentieth century. Even those who oppose it recognize its potency. Yet the meaning of social justice remains obscure, and existing theories put forward by political philosophers to explain it have failed to capture the way people in general think about issues of social justice. This book develops a new theory. …