Over the last few decades, most societies have become more repressive, their laws more relentless, their magistrates more inflexible, independently of the evolution of crime. In The Will to Punish, using an approach both genealogical and ethnographic, distinguished anthropologist Didier Fassin addresses the major issues raised by this punitive moment through an inquiry into the very foundations of punishment. What is punishment? Why punish? Who is punished? Through these three questions, he initiates a critical dialogue with moral philosophy and legal theory on the definition, the justification and the distribution of punishment. Discussing various historical and national contexts, mobilizing a ten-year research program on police, justice and prison, and taking up the legacy of Friedrich Nietzsche and Michel Foucault, he shows that the link between crime and punishment is an historical artifact, that the response to crime has not always been the infliction of pain, that punishment does not only proceed from rational logics used to legitimize it, that more severity in sentencing often means increasing social inequality before the law, and that the question, "What should be punished?" always comes down to the questions "Whom do we deem punishable?" and "Whom do we want to be spared?" Going against a triumphant penal populism, this investigation proposes a salutary revision of the presuppositions that nourish the passion for punishing and invites to rethink the place of punishment in the contemporary world. The theses developed in the volume are discussed by criminologist David Garland, historian Rebecca McLennan, and sociologist Bruce Western, to whom Didier Fassin responds in a short essay.

The Captivation of the Will provocatively revisits a perennial topic of controversy - human free will. Highly esteemed Lutheran thinker Gerhard Forde cuts to the heart of the subject by reexamining the famous debate on the will between Luther and Erasmus. Following a substantial introduction by James A. Nestingen that brings to life the historical background of the debate, Forde thoroughly explores Luther's Bondage of the Will and the dispute between Erasmus and Luther that it reflects. In the process of exposing this debate's enduring significance for Christians, Forde highlights its central arguments about Scripture, God, the will, and salvation in Christ. Luther recognized that the only solution for humans bound by sin is the forgiveness that comes from Christ alone. Convinced that this insight represents the heart of the Christian gospel, Forde concludes with ten sermons that proclaim the message of salvation through Christ alone while elegantly relating theological inquiry to everyday life. Book jacket.

New edition of a popular, biblically based guidebook exploring God's will Does the Bible teach Christians to "find" God's "special will" for their lives? No, it does not, says respected biblical scholar Bruce Waltke, contrary to much popular evangelical teaching. In this acclaimed book Waltke clearly distinguishes between pagan divination ("guessmancy") and solid, Bible-based guidance as he distills from Scripture a six-point program to help guide Jesus followers on their life journey. This expanded and extensively rewritten second edition of Waltke's Finding the Will of God incorporates the best insights from many other books on guidance that have appeared since the first edition came out (2002), and it includes an entirely new chapter on learning to protect one's heart. This edition also features thoughtful questions for reflection at the end of each chapter.

"Published for the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies at Concordia University."

First Published in 2004. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

A guide to the world of the young child, this book is an amazing resource for developing capacities for true connecting with young children as a support to their own development.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1841.

Originally published in 1910, 'The Will to Power' is the much respected work of Friedrich Nietzsche, and is highly recommended for inclusion on the bookshelf of anyone with an interest in philosophy. Many of these earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Obscure Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.