Discourses on Bodhicharyavatara


Book Description

Bodhicharyāvatāra, composed in the 8th century A.D. by the Indian scholar Śāntideva, is one of the most celebrated texts of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Its Tibetan translation is included in the Tengyur. Āchārya Śāntideva himself was a bodhisattva and a realized tantric adept and his writings have a universal, timeless appeal. Many ancient scholars wrote Sanskrit commentaries on Bodhicharyāvatāra, prominent among them being Vibhutichandra, Krishnapāda, Kamalśila, Vairochan and Prajnākaramati. Besides its Tibetan translation by such masters as Sarvajnadeva, Dharmasŕibhadra and Sumatikirti, this great classic was also translated into Chinese, French, German, English and Italian languages. The present work is an English translation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s discourses on Bodhicharyāvatāra given to the Himalayan devotees from Lahaul, Spiti, Kinnaur and the Tibetan residents at Kullu-Manali, Himachal Pradesh in 1981. His Holiness himself has received this teaching from the great Himalayan master Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen of Kinnaur.




The Pragmatics of Humour Across Discourse Domains


Book Description

Brings together a range of contributions on the linguistics of humour. This title elucidates the whole gamut of humorous forms and mechanisms, such as surrealist irony, incongruity in register humour, mechanisms of pun formation, as well as interpersonal functions of conversational humour




Pragmatism, Spirituality and Society


Book Description

This book explores the dynamics of interaction between pragmatism and spirituality in the constitution and working of consciousness, freedom and solidarity. This book is cross-cultural and transdisciplinary in nature and brings critical and transformative perspectives from different philosophical and spiritual traditions of the world. It discusses the works of seminal thinkers such as William James, Rudolf Steiner, John Dewey, Swami Vivekananda, Martin Heidegger, Claude Levi-Strauss, Jordan Peterson, Slavos Zizek, Paul Valeri and O.V. Vijayan. It also explores dialogues between pragmatism and other philosophical and intellectual traditions such as Semiotics, Saiva Siddhanta, Vedanta, Trika Shaivism and Tantra. It explores themes such as pragmatism and belief, evolution of consciousness and happiness, spiritual pragmatism and economics of solidarity, value levels democracy, the perforamtive as an aspect of spirituality and transformation of political theology from Kingdom of God to Gardens of God.




Coloniality in Discourse Studies


Book Description

The volume examines the discourse-based critique of coloniality. It brings together an extensive interdisciplinary dialogue that reveals what different research fields – such as sociology of language, social psychology, history and political science, among others – have to say about discourse criticism and de/coloniality. In doing so, it also invites a critique of critical thinking, acknowledging the relevance of dissonant voices that arise from this debate. The essays in this volume discuss possibilities to decolonize discursive studies without losing sight of its contradictions. The book delves into how one can, as an intellectual who enjoys the privileges of coloniality in academic environments of the Global North, deal with the limitations and paradox of a radical critique through discourse. It discusses how ideas, entrenched in privilege, can be extracted, shared and applied while ensuring the radicality of their local contextualization. These ideas then must not only make sense within themselves but also resonate with other contexts, readings and peoples, in the South, without repeating the mistakes of hermetic scholarly lexicons. A key reading on decoloniality, critical thinking, methodologies, ideas, ideologies, language and critical discourse analysis, this volume will be of immense interest to scholar and researchers of language and literature, political science, the social sciences and Global South Studies.




Language, Discourse and Power in African American Culture


Book Description

African American language is central to the teaching of linguistics and language in the United States, and this book, in the series Studies in the Social and Cultural Foundations of Language, is aimed specifically at upper level undergraduates and graduates. It covers the entire field - grammar, speech, and verbal genres, and it also discusses the various historical strands that need to be identified in order to understand the development of African American English. The first section deals with the social and cultural history of the American South, the second with urban and northern black popular culture, and the third with policy issues. Morgan examines the language within the context of the changing and complex African American and general American speech communities, and their culture, politics, art and institutions. She also covers the current heated political and educational debates about the status of the African American dialect.




Speech Communities


Book Description

What makes a speech community? How do they evolve? Speech communities are central to our understanding of how language and interactions occur in society. In this book readers will find an overview of the main concepts and critical arguments surrounding how language and communication styles distinguish and identify groups.




The Discourse of Kingship in Classical Greece


Book Description

This book examines how ancient authors explored ideas of kingship as a political role fundamental to the construction of civic unity, the use of kingship stories to explain the past and present unity of the polis and the distinctive function or status attributed to kings in such accounts. It explores the notion of kingship offered by historians such as Herodotus, as well as dramatists writing for the Athenian stage, paying particular attention to dramatic depictions of the unique capabilities of Theseus in uniting the city in the figure of the ‘democratic king’. It also discusses kingship in Greek philosophy: the Socratics’ identification of an ‘art of kingship’, and Xenophon and Isocrates’ model of ‘virtue monarchy’. In turn, these allow a rereading of explorations of kingship and excellence in Plato’s later political thought, seen as a critique of these models, and also in Aristotle’s account of total kingship or pambasileia, treated here as a counterfactual device developed to explore the epistemic benefits of democracy. This book offers a fascinating insight into the institution of monarchy in classical Greek thought and society, both for those working on Greek philosophy and politics, and also for students of the history of political thought.




Presocratic Reflexivity: The Construction of Philosophical Discourse C. 600-450 B.C.


Book Description

In this third volume of Logological Investigations Sandywell continues his sociological reconstruction of reflexive thought with reference to pre-Socratic philosophy and science and their socio-political context.




The Hip Hop & Obama Reader


Book Description

Offers an analysis of hip hop and politics in the Obama era and beyond, with new perspectives on hip hop's role in political mobilization, grassroots organizing, campaign branding, and voter turnout.




Managing Electronic Resources


Book Description