On Nineteen Eighty-Four:
Orwell and Our Future
Edited by Abbott Gleason, Jack Goldsmith, & Martha C. Nussbaum

Paper | 2005 | $24.95 / £14.95
336 pp. | 6 x 9

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Introduction [HTML] or [PDF]

George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four is among the most widely read books in the world. For more than 50 years, it has been regarded as a morality tale for the possible future of modern society, a future involving nothing less than extinction of humanity itself. Does Nineteen Eighty-Four remain relevant in our new century? The editors of this book assembled a distinguished group of philosophers, literary specialists, political commentators, historians, and lawyers and asked them to take a wide-ranging and uninhibited look at that question. The editors deliberately avoided Orwell scholars in an effort to call forth a fresh and diverse range of responses to the major work of one of the most durable literary figures among twentieth-century English writers.

As Nineteen Eighty-Four protagonist Winston Smith has admirers on the right, in the center, and on the left, the contributors similarly represent a wide range of political, literary, and moral viewpoints. The Cold War that has so often been linked to Orwell's novel ended with more of a whimper than a bang, but most of the issues of concern to him remain alive in some form today: censorship, scientific surveillance, power worship, the autonomy of art, the meaning of democracy, relations between men and women, and many others. The contributors bring a variety of insightful and contemporary perspectives to bear on these questions.

Review:

"In addition to furthering the dialog about the continued importance of Orwell's novel, this new collection shows how Nineteen Eighty-Four has renewed significance in a post-9/11 world."--Janine Utell, College Literature

Endorsement:

A very strong and attractive work, On Nineteen Eighty-Four is a fresh and frontal confrontation of the question of whether Orwell had it right about technology and totalitarianism--or whether the usual clichés and stereotypes about the Orwellian view are right. The result is a very engaging body of thought."--Robert Weisberg, Stanford Law School

Table of Contents

Other Princeton books by Martha C. Nussbaum:

• Aristotle's De Motu Animalium.
• Goodness and Advice.
• Hiding from Humanity: Disgust, Shame, and the Law.
• Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women?
• The Therapy of Desire: Theory and Practice in Hellenistic Ethics.

Subject Areas:

• Political Philosophy
• Political Science and International Relations
• Law
• British Literature

Shopping Cart:

For customers in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Asia, and Australia
Paper: $24.95 ISBN13: 978-0-691-11361-6

For customers in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and India
Paper: £14.95 ISBN13: 978-0-691-11361-6

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File created: 7/1/2008

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