This book challenges the common assumption that the predominant focus of the history of science should be the achievements of Western scientists since the so-called scientific revolution. The conceptual frameworks within which the members of earlier societies and of modern indigenous groups worked admittedly pose severe problems for our understanding. But rather than dismiss them on the grounds…
"This book discusses the vital importance of including indigenous knowledges in the sustainable development agenda. In the wake of colonialism and imperialism, dialogue between indigenous knowledges and Western epistemology has broken down time and again. However, in recent decades the broader indigenous struggle for rights and recognition has led to more understanding of indigenous knowledges,…
Both sides of a sensitive problem are assessed by Professor Gellhorn in this penetrating analysis of national security and its effect upon scientific progress. The costs and advantages of secrecy in certain areas of science and the conflict between national safety and individual rights in the administration of our federal loyalty program are presented; all the arguments are objectively weighed.…
This open access book reflects on matters of social and ethical concern raised in the daily practices of those working in and around precision oncology. Each chapter addresses the experiences, concerns and issues at stake for people who work in settings where precision oncology is practiced, enacted, imagined or discussed. It subsequently discusses and analyses bioethical dilemmas, scientific c…
"Language is a human universal reflecting our deeply social nature. Among its essential functions, language enables us to quickly and efficiently share information. We tell each other that many things are true—that is, we routinely make assertions. Information shared this way plays a critical role in the decisions and plans we make. In Knowledge and the Norm of Assertion, a distinguished phil…
Should people hardwire computers into their brains, enabling their minds to directly access cyberspace? What advantages and risks would this represent? Would this create a new humanity? These questions have been considered and discussed in science fiction for decades, but technology is beginning to make such developments seem remarkably plausible. This book examines what is currently taking pla…
Vietnam as if… follows five young people who have moved from the countryside to the city. Their dramatic everyday lives illuminate some of the most pressing issues in Vietnam today: ‘The Sticky Rice Seller’ explores gender roles; ‘The Ball Boy’ is all about the struggles of sexual and ethnic minorities; ‘The Professional’ examines relations between rich and poor; ‘The Goalkeeper…
This book covers the missionary activity in Australia conducted by non-English speaking missionaries from Catholic and Protestant mission societies from its beginnings to the end of the mission era. It looks through the eyes of the missionaries and their helpers, as well as incorporating Indigenous perspectives and offering a balanced assessment of missionary endeavour in Australia, attuned to …
This open access volume makes an important contribution to the ongoing research on hope theory by combining insights from both its long history and its increasing multi-disciplinarity. In the first part, it recognizes the importance of the centuries-old reflection on hope by offering historical perspectives and tracing it back to ancient Greek philosophy. At the same time, it provides novel per…
The writings of Thomas Pynchon have spawned more critical commentary than almost any other American author of the last fifty years. Pynchon’s texts are perhaps most famed for their ‘difficulty and apparent unfriendliness’, as works that require, as Inger H. Dalsgaard, Luc Herman and Brian McHale put it, ‘a collective enterprise of reading wherein none of us could succeed without the hel…