Oxford University Press

Something was approaching the burrow. Something deadly. Something that made Sylvan's fur bristle with fear ...Knowing their lives are under threat, Sylvan and his brother and sisters have no choice but to abandon their burrow for ever. Together they set out on an epic journey along the Great River; but with dangers lurking at every turn, will...

An Economic History of China, Russia, and the WestThe rise of the West is often attributed the presence of certain features in Western countries from the 16th century that were absent in more traditional societies: the abolition of serfdom and Protestant ethics, the protection of property rights, and free universities. The problem with this...

Understanding the mechanisms in health and diseaseOne of the most widespread words in medicine is placebo and placebo effect, although it is not always clear what it means exactly. Recent progress in biomedical research has allowed a better clarification of the placebo effect. We know that this is an active psychobiological phenomenon which takes...

The John Locke LecturesReference and Existence, Saul Kripke's John Locke Lectures for 1973, can be read as a sequel to his classic Naming and Necessity. It confronts important issues left open in that work -- among them, the semantics of proper names and natural kind terms as they occur in fiction and in myth; negative existential statements;...

Counter to popular perceptions, contemporary American sociology is and promotes a profoundly sacred project at heart. Sociology today is in fact animated by sacred impulses, driven by sacred commitments, and serves a sacred project.  Sociology appears on the surface to be a secular, scientific enterprise--its founding fathers were mostly atheists....

Japan remains one of the dominant economic powers. Yet the Japanese economy is one of the most misunderstood phenomena in the modern world. Conventionally, Japan is presented as the exception to mainstream economic theory: an exception to the standard models of modern economics. This book demolishes that notion, bringing the full analytical power...