Louis Kronenberger

If there is such a thing as reason, it has to be universal. Reason must reflect objective principles whose validity is independent of our point of view - principles that anyone with enough intelligence ought to be able to recognize as correct. But this universality of reason is what relativists and subjectivists deny in ever-increasing numbers. And such subjectivism is not just an inconsequential intellectual flourish or badge of theoretical chic. It is exploited to deflect argument and to belittle the pretensions of the arguments of others. The continuing spread of this relativistic way of thinking threatens to make public discourse increasingly difficult and unproductive. . In The Last Word, Thomas Nagel, one of the most influential philosophers writing in English, presents a sustained defense of reason against the attacks of subjectivism, delivering systematic rebuttals of relativistic claims with respect to language, logic, science, and ethics. He shows that the last word in disputes about the objective validity of any form of thought must lie in some unqualified thoughts about how things are - thoughts that we cannot regard from outside as mere psychological dispositions. His work sets a new standard in the debate on this crucially important question and should generate intense interest both within and outside the philosophical community.

Oscar Wilde's reputation has shifted dramatically during the twentieth century from outcast in the wake of his trials for homosexual offences, to martyr to the gay cause in the 1980s and '90s, to important figure in the history of writing in English. Ruth Robbins introduces Wilde through a focus on his manipulations of genre and sets Wilde's life and work in its literary and cultural context.

"The goal of Kings and Desperate Men is to provide a picture of eighteenth-century England up to the French Revolution. Kronenberger's work lies much closer to a social chronicle than an orthodox history, and is more concerned with manners and tastes than with treaties and wars. Kings and Desperate Men reveals what life was like for both aristocrats and commoners: their family lives, experience of larger society, habits, diet, fashions, religion, and artistic tastes. In tracing these topics for both city and country dwellers, he artfully communicates the very real division between the vivacity of London and the regular, fixed, and monotonous character of country life. The division is vital to understanding the age and the transformations it would experience. Yet Kronenberger does not ignore the more traditional historical landmarks. Kroenberger treats the characters of the leading political actors: Walpole, Bolingbroke, Burke, Fox, and Pitt, while providing the reader with a sweeping account of the formation of political parties and constitutional shifts of power between the monarchy and parliament. Students of the period who despair at its political complexities will fi nd much to appreciate in Kronenberger's condensed and easy to understand formulations. As for philosophy, Kronenberger refers to thinkers and ideas as they influence English life; especially Locke and Hume. Their ideas and reputations are explained as part of the character of society. The same is true for economics. More attention is given to the social gains of middle-class shopkeepers and the eighteenth-century zeal for stock speculation than to formal schools of thought. Especially notable is Kronenberger's treatment of both the arts and the artists of the eighteenth century-theatre, opera, music, literature, architecture, and painting."--Book cover.

Spanning the centuries from Ben Jonson to John Van Druten, this sparkling procession of prose comedies is calculated to excite in the reader every expression of felicity ranging between sly-cat amusement and the most earthy of belly laughs. Louis Kronenberger, distinguished critic, scholar, and director of this cavalcade, has staunchly refused admittance to any laughless failures of merely historical interest and has included only those plays which represent a truly happy union of art and merriment. Moving through these pages is a throng of ageless comic figues with whom all adherents of literary laughter will want to renew acquaintanceship at least twice a year. Congreve's Millamant, the wittiest heroine ever to impale a Restoration blood on a subordinate clause, is here with her incomparably suave Mirabell; Wycherley's Lady Fidget, holding aloft her piece of china, once more emerges from Horner's bedroom to begin one of the funniest scenes in comic literature; Sheridan's Lady Teazle is also present, trapped behind the most famous prop in stage history; and Synge's playboy, conquering his world with an axe and a wild Irish imagination; and O'Casey's Captain Boyle, industriously eluding employment to the dismay of the unforgettable Juno; Shaw's Androcles, meekest of early Christians and the lion's best friend; Thurber and Nugent's Professor Tommy Turner, battling college trustees and discoursing with alcoholic eloquence on the sex life of some improbable animals; and others -- a sportive, colorful company of characters who are very good company indeed. Some of these plays are deliciously urbane, and some are murderously so; some are bawdy, others lyrical; some are lighter than air, and some contain elements of tragedy. Richly diverse in theme and manner, they are all wonderfully good reading. - Jacket flap.