This chapter identifies prominent Jewish thinkers as “theorealists,” a position that defends the reality of God but denies our ability to speak truthfully about the divine. The chapter argues that while theorealists sought to preserve Jewish theology, their contradictory position in which they routinely violate their own strictures stifles contemporary theological reflection.

Is mind a proper topic of investigation in Aristotle’s science of nature? The question is surprisingly vexed. Although some evidence suggests that mind should be studied by natural philosophy as well as first philosophy (metaphysics), Parts of Animals I.1 (641a32−b23) presents a series of arguments often construed as decisive evidence that he excludes mind from natural philosophy. This chapter goes through the relevant text and argues that Aristotle presents three arguments to exclude mind from nature but all in the voice of an opponent. Then in a final argument (641b23−642a1) he responds directly to the third argument, with indirect implications for the second argument as well.

This coda takes the form of a sample judgment that rewrites Baron and Others v Claytile (Pty) Limited and Another [2017] to tangibly illustrate the promise of Alter-Native Constitutionalism. Contrasted with the real-life judgment issued by the Constitutional Court, which relied on liberal approaches, the Alter-Native ‘judgment’ gives willing courts the necessary tools to enforce the ‘property’ rights of ‘non-owners’ and thus highlights the opportunities for equitable solutions the Court has missed, including in its real-life judgment. Emphasizing the importance of robustly applying Ubu-Ntu (rather than the insipid ‘ubuntu’ that scholars and the Court have substituted for it) and applying Ntu Constitutionalism’s jurisprudential framework for constitutional and statutory interpretation developed earlier in the book, the opinion demonstrates existing possibilities for recognising shared rights and promoting housing as a relational, spatiotemporal ‘existence’. By reinterpreting constitutional and legislative provisions to respect indigenous onto-epistemological perspectives on land-as-housing, the Alter-Native opinion demonstrates a transformative approach to ‘property law’ that inherently critiques the Constitutional Court’s interpretation of the ‘property’ and ‘housing’ clauses largely to the exclusion of vernacular law. This Alter-Native opinion thus presents a literally embodied argument for the need for broadening restitution, addressing both enduring injustices and future possibilities over multiple generations.

This response details how curricula can be developed that position sustainability as central to children’s learning, illustrated through three diverse case studies. The University of Cambridge Primary School designed a curriculum around transdisciplinary knowledge categories, incorporating experiential learning and local issues. The “Pani Pahar” curriculum uses experiential learning to teach Indian children about water resources and the effects of climate change, encouraging student reflection and activism. Lastly, the Harmony Project incorporates the seven principles of nature’s harmony into its curriculum to promote a holistic understanding of sustainability and the interconnectedness of the natural world.

Arthurian romance is quintessentially a literature of mobility; not only a literature of the transportive and ephemeral nature of love, but also an apex of unnamed long-distance economic networks. These networks provided an understructure for the Arthurian corpus, one that reinforced an appetite for global luxury goods and that fuelled an economy of pleasure. While narrating the physical mobility of knights and the emotional mobility of the desire for, attainment and loss of love, Arthurian romance also celebrated and accelerated the exchange of prestige goods through the networks of the Global Middle Ages. The acquisition and ephemerality of material objects and literary motifs from diverse cultures links the local and imaginative spaces of Arthurian narratives with global commerce.

This response provides a practical guide to incorporating philosophical discourse in classrooms to help children grapple with life’s big questions. It outlines three approaches to integrating philosophy into curricula: firstly, launching units of learning on any subject with philosophical discussions based on overarching themes such as power, freedom or eternity; secondly, designating a half term as a period for focusing on philosophy and ethics, using an overarching question to guide exploration; and thirdly, a project whereby each week a member of the school community poses a big question for discussion. Implementation of these approaches can improve students’ oracy skills, self-esteem and overall well-being.

Sarah Wambaugh was technical advisor to the Peruvian delegation during the 1925-26 Tacna-Arica plebiscite, contested between Chile and Peru. Although the United States was to lead the plebiscite as a neutral arbiter, the fact that the territory was under the control of Chile, which had seized the region several generations earlier, would ultimately lead to the plebiscite being abandoned. Wambaugh would witness first-hand the violence and futility of the attempted plebiscite, made more galling because women were not allowed to vote, all of which fired her with determination to ensure that future plebiscites would not suffer the same results. Consequently, it was in Tacna-Arica that she began to systematically analyse the post-war plebiscites and distil normative conclusions for their future use. These normative prescriptions would be honed by her in the coming years, culminating in a list of eighteen points contained in her important 1933 work on the post-war plebiscites.

Chapter 5 explores the complex relationship between Indigenous traditional knowledge (TK) and intellectual property (IP) concerning genetic resources. It begins by examining the challenges of distinguishing TK from IP and presents the Munzer Model as a potential compromise for addressing TK within the IP framework. The chapter then delves into national efforts to protect and recognize TK, focusing on US and Canadian cases, including the Cowichan Sweater example from the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games. Furthermore, it details the evolving landscape of TK in international trade agreements, highlighting its increasing recognition and integration as a ‘new norm’. By analysing these historic and current developments in TK recognition, this chapter emphasizes the need for a balanced approach that respects the unique nature of TK while navigating the complexities of IP frameworks. It underscores the importance of preserving and utilizing TK and genetic resources for the benefit of Indigenous communities and for advancing sustainable development.

Having documented the opposition to Jewish theology in the previous two chapters, Chapter 6 identifies a powerful countertrend in modern Jewish thought that has boldly fought to defend our ability to speak truthfully about God and the place of theology in Jewish life.

On a standard approach, love’s proper object is construed in terms of personhood or rational agency. Some philosophers in this broadly Kantian tradition deny that love has a proper aim: specifically, they reject the idea that love properly aims at the good of the beloved. They worry about paternalism and encroachment. In this chapter, we show how Kierkegaard’s Works of Love advances a rival approach: one which provides an account of how love can properly aim at the good of the beloved, without thereby becoming objectionably paternalistic or encroaching, together with an alternative conception of love’s object. We bring out the significant advantages of this approach, which emphasizes our human interdependence and mutual vulnerability. Through a comparison with the ethical thought of K. E. Løgstrup, whose philosophy of love we present as standing in significant continuity with Kierkegaard’s, we further show how the expressly theological framework advanced in Works of Love may also be developed in a more secular direction.

According to Dazai Shundai, celebrations of deities and worship at ancestral temples are key aspects of the government of the sages, but these are not practiced properly in Japan. People in Japan neglect the methods for these established by the ancient Chinese sages and instead hold such erroneous beliefs as that Japan is a “divine country” that should adhere to its own native traditions of worship, or that Buddhist services are sufficient to honor one’s ancestors. The promotion of learning is also a crucial element of government. Confucian learning should occupy the primary place, but military learning and various types of literary and artistic learning are also valuable. The Tokugawa bakufu is praiseworthy for its promotion of learning, but it should make more effort to reward officials for their learning, as well as to recognize the accomplishments of skilled individuals rather than leaving arts to families of hereditary practitioners.