This Very Short Introduction to hermeneutics demonstrates the central role of interpretation in our daily lives. By considering the historic developments in hermeneutic theory as well as its contemporary relevance, Zimmermann explains how humans continue to draw knowledge from the world around them.

Philosophical Writing: An Introduction, 4th Edition, features numerous updates and revisions to A. P. Martinich’s best-selling text that instructs beginning philosophy students on how to craft a well-written philosophical essay.

Features an entirely new chapter on how to read a philosophical essay, new sections on quantification and modality, and rhetoric in philosophical writing, as well as more updated essay examplesIncludes many new essay examples and an accompanying website with further...

Critics have argued that comparative philosophy is inherently flawed or even impossible. What standards can we use to describe and evaluate different cultures' philosophies? How do we avoid projecting our own ways of thinking onto others? Can we overcome the vast divergences in history, language, and ways of organizing reality that we find in China, India, Africa, and the West? Doing Philosophy Comparatively is the first comprehensive introduction to the foundations, problems, and methods of ...

Pontius Pilate is one of the most enigmatic figures in Christian theology. The only non-Christian to be named in the Nicene Creed, he is presented as a cruel colonial overseer in secular accounts, as a conflicted judge convinced of Jesus's innocence in the Gospels, and as either a pious Christian or a virtual demon in later Christian writings. This book takes Pilate's role in the trial of Jesus as a starting point for investigating the function of legal judgment in Western society and the way...

This volume examines the philosophy of Avicenna, the greatest philosopher of the Islamic world. Leading scholars deal with his ideas in areas ranging from medicine to theology and his impact on the Christian, Jewish and Muslim traditions. The book is of interest to graduate students of Arabic and medieval philosophy.