Darrin M. McMahon

The definitive history of the idea of equalityand why were so ambivalent about it Equality is in crisis. Our world is filled with soaring inequalities, spanning wealth, race, identity, and nationality. Yet how can we strive for equality if we dont understand it? As much as we have struggled for equality, we have always been profoundly skeptical about it. How much do we want, and for whom? Darrin M. McMahons Equality is the definitive intellectual history, tracing equalitys global origins and spread from the dawn of humanity through the Enlightenment to today. Equality has been reimagined continually, in the great world religions and the politics of the ancient world, by revolutionaries and socialists, Nazis and fascists, and postwar reformers and activists. A magisterial exploration of why equality matters and why we continue to reimagine it, Equality offers all the tools to rethink equality anew for our own age.

In In Pursuit of Happiness, cultural historian Darrin McMahon offers a brilliant summation of the history of happiness, and its evolution from divine gift to natural human entitlement. Central to the development of Christianity, ideas of happiness assumed their modern form during the Enlightenment. McMahon follows this great search through to the present day, showing how our modern quest for the 'holy grail' of happiness continues to generate new forms of pleasure, but also, paradoxically, new forms of pain. Perfect happiness, like the holy grail, may exist only in our minds, and McMahon helps us discover that as for Cervantes' knight of sad countenance, Quixote, to travel is better than to arrive.

Actualmente, consideramos la felicidad un derecho natural al que aspiran todos losseres humanos, pero no siempre ha sido así. Como expone el historiador Darrin M.McMahon, nuestra confianza en la existencia de la felicidad es una conquistarelativamente reciente y fruto de la dramatica revolucion en las expectativas humanasque se viene produciendo desde el siglo XVIII.En las tragedias de la antigua Grecia, la felicidad se veia como un regalo de los dioses.En la epoca de los romanos, la felicitas estaba relacionada con el preciado simbolodel phallus. Pero las concepciones de la felicidad no adoptaron su forma modernahasta la Ilustracion, cuando a hombres y mujeres se les presento la novedosaposibilidad de que podian y de hecho, debian ser felices en esta vida sin esperaral mas alla, un reconocimiento de la felicidad que la Ilustracion consagro enla Declaracion de independencia y en la Declaracion de los derechos del hombre.McMahon continua su gran busqueda de la felicidad hasta el siglo XXI y demuestra queesta sigue generando nuevas formas de placer, pero tambien, paradojicamente, nuevasformas de dolor.A partir de numerosas fuentes, como el arte y la arquitectura, la musica y la teologia,la literatura y los mitos, McMahon sintetiza dos milenios de politica, cultura ypensamiento para ofrecernos una gran historia intelectual del fin humano mascotizado y esquivo: la felicidad.

Genius. With hints of madness and mystery, moral license and visionary force, the word suggests an almost otherworldly power: the power to create, to divine the secrets of the universe, even to destroy. Yet the notion of genius has been diluted in recent times. Today, rock stars, football coaches, and entrepreneurs are labeled geniuses, and the word is applied so widely that it has obscured the sense of special election and superhuman authority that long accompanied it. As acclaimed historian Darrin M. McMahon explains, the concept of genius has roots in antiquity, when men of prodigious insight were thought to possess -- or to be possessed by -- demons and gods. Adapted in the centuries that followed and applied to a variety of religious figures, including prophets, apostles, sorcerers, and saints, abiding notions of transcendent human power were invoked at the time of the Renaissance to explain the miraculous creativity of men like Leonardo and Michelangelo. Yet it was only in the eighteenth century that the genius was truly born, idolized as a new model of the highest human type. Assuming prominence in figures as varied as Newton and Napoleon, the modern genius emerged in tension with a growing belief in human equality. Contesting the notion that all are created equal, geniuses served to dramatize the exception of extraordinary individuals not governed by ordinary laws. The phenomenon of genius drew scientific scrutiny and extensive public commentary into the 20th century, but it also drew religious and political longings that could be abused. In the genius cult of the Nazis and the outpouring of reverence for the redemptive figure of Einstein, genius achieved both its apotheosis and its Armageddon. The first comprehensive history of this elusive concept, Divine Fury follows the fortunes of genius and geniuses through the ages down to the present day, showing how -- despite its many permutations and recent democratization -- genius remains a potent force in our lives, reflecting modern needs, hopes, and fears.

La critique des inégalités est un des horizons de notre époque. Mais comment la mener sans s’accorder sur ce que désigne l’égalité elle-même ? Relève-t-elle du droit naturel, de l’utopie sociale ou d

Una historia fascinante sobre la idea de igualdad y su evolución a lo largo de los siglos, desde sus raíces en la Antigüedad hasta la crisis que enfrentamos en el presente.En nuestro mundo proliferan

Una historia fascinante sobre la idea de igualdad y su evolución a lo largo de los siglos, desde sus raíces en la Antigüedad hasta la crisis que enfrentamos en el presente.En nuestro mundo proliferan