Ethics and moral philosophy Books

Book SynopsisIn the West, humans tend to separate themselves from nature, valuing nature only as a means of meeting their own needs and happiness. This domination of nature often fosters human oppression instead of freedom and progress, as those who ignore abuses of nature tend to disregard human injustice as well. Peter S. Wenz argues that this oppression involves such destructive forces as sexism, ethnic strife, and political repression, including repression of the nuclear power industry's victims. Catastrophes like the Holocaust and the Gulf War are the result. In contrast to the destructive "separate from nature" attitude, Wenz looks to various indigenous peoples as an example of societies where human beings revere nature for itself - societies where human beings flourish as individuals, in families, and in communities. Unlike societies dependent on commerce and industry, many indigenous peoples consider themselves part of a circle of life, reaping benefits far greater than the technological advances of the West. Wenz considers how to adopt the perspective of some indigenous cultures and how to make it work in our fast-food world. Additionally, he uses a trip to the World Uranium Hearings in Salzburg as a vehicle for understanding complex philosophical issues from consumerism to anthropocentrism. Author note: Peter S. Wenz, Professor of Philosophy and Legal Studies at the University of Illinois at Springfield, is the author of Environmental Justice, Abortion Rights as Religious Freedom (Temple), and co-editor with Laura Westra of Faces of Environmental Racism.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Flying on Faith * A Call to Hear * People against Nature * An Indigenous Perspective * The Paradoxical Thesis * The Intellectual Journey 1. Our Christian Heritage Plague and Passion Play * Anthropocentrism and Original Sin * Insecurity Breeds Concentration of Power * Medieval Repression of People * Secularizing Jeopardy and Power * The Separation of Mind from Body 2. Commercialism The Five-Part Pattern in Commercialism * Comparative Advantage and the Promised Future 3. Industrialism Standardization and Centralization * Industrialism and Commercialism * The Industrial Revolution, Colonialism, and Slavery * Faith in Progress * Class Stratification * Skepticism about Darwin's Theory * The Industrial Evolutionary Theory * Social Darwinism's Justification of Inequality * Sociobiology and the Subordination of Women * Suppressing Individuality 4. Nationalism, Bureaucracy, and the Holocaust The Importance of Government * The Importance of Nationalism * Dachau and Anti-Semitism * The Inadequacy of Hate * The Nature of Bureaucracy * The Importance of Bureaucracy * Moral Progress * Departure 5. Nuclear Power and Radiation Exposure The Hearing Begins * Dangers of Radiation * Uranium Miners * Uranium Mining as a Radiation Pump * Impact on Indigenous Communities * Creating Radioactivity * International Conspiracy * The Politics of Nuclear Waste * Unjust Distribution of Risks 6. Nuclear Power and Human Oppression Government Subsidies and Financial Failures * Borrowing from Future Generations * The Scarcity of Uranium * Plutonium as a Military Threat * The Global Warming Rationale * The Gulf War * Rejecting Responsibility 7. Indigenous Peace and Prosperity Why Discuss Indigenous Cultures? * Stateless, Egalitarian Indigenous People * Statelessness and Violence * Food Abundance and Population Control * Poverty and Exchange * Industrial Poverty 8. Indigenous World Views Natural Sufficiency and Cyclical Time * Meaning, Security, and Individualism * Rootedness and the Expansion of Society * The Noncommercial and Sacred * Indigenous World Views Are Nature-Friendly 9. Implications Promoting Change * Family Values * Crime, Pornography, Drug Abuse, and the Work Ethic * Creating Jeopardy Is Good Business * Rejecting Utopian Thinking * Invention Is the Mother of Necessity * New Faith and Values 10. Practical Suggestions An Alternative Politics * Agriculture * International Trade * Transportation * Energy, Equity, and Population Control * Living with Nature The Flight Home Smoke in the Cabin * Choosing What to Believe * Denial Sources Index

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Book SynopsisChallenging the basic assumptions of a meat-eating society, Deep Vegetarianism is a spirited and compelling defense of a vegetarian lifestyle. Considering all of the major arguments both for and against vegetarianism and the habits of meat-eaters, vegetarians, and vegans alike, Michael Allen Fox addresses vegetarianism's cultural, historical, and philosophical background; details vegetarianism's impact on one's living and thinking; and relates vegetarianism to classical and recent defenses of the moral status of animals. Demonstrating how a vegetarian diet is related to our awareness of the world and our ethical outlook on life, Fox looks at the different kinds of vegetarian commitments people make and their reasons for making them. In chapters that address such issues as the experiences, emotions, and grounds that are part of choosing vegetarianism, Fox discusses not only good health, animal suffering, and the environmental impacts of meat production, but such issues as the meaning of food, world hunger, religion and spirituality, and, significantly, the links share between vegetarianism and other human rights movements and ideologies, particularly feminism. In an extensive chapter that addresses arguments made by advocates of meat-eating, Fox speaks to claims of humans as natural carnivores, animals as replaceable, and vegetarians as anti-feminist. He also addresses arguments surrounding the eating habits of indigenous peoples, eating free-range animals, and carnivorous behavior among animals. The most complete examination of the vegetarian outlook to date, Deep Vegetarianism reveals the broad range of philosophical views that contribute to such a choice. It recognizes, and calls for, a conscious awareness of -- and an individual responsibility to -- the issues that exist in the moral, political, and social spheres of our existence. With its lively and controversial discussion, Deep Vegetarianism promises to appeal to anyone looking to explore the relationship between dietary choice, lifestyle, the treatment of animals and the environment, and personal ethical responsibility. It will also be particularly useful for students and teachers of moral philosophy, ethics, religion, comparative cultures, ecology, and feminism.Trade Review"Detailed, thorough, and wide-ranging, this is the most comprehensive, original work on philosophical vegetarianism to date. Deep Vegetarianism addresses the cultural, historical and philosophical backgrounds for vegetarianism, details the impact to vegetarianism on one's thinking and living, relates vegetarianism to recent defenses of the moral status of animals, and very ably considers all the significant arguments for and against vegetarianism." -Evelyn B. Pluhar, author of Beyond Prejudice: The Moral Significance of Human and Nonhuman AnimalsTable of ContentsCONTENTS Series Foreword Preface Acknowledgments 1 A Historical-Philosophical Overview 1. Learning from the History of Vegetarianism 2. Antiquity and the Special Case of Porphyry 3. From Medieval Times to the Modern Era 2 You Are What You Eat (Almost): The Meaning of Food 1. Food Symbolism 2. The Meaning of Meat 3. Vegetarian Meanings 3 Compartmentalization of Thought and Feeling -- and the Burden of Proof 1. The Compartmentalization Phenomenon 2. Inconsistency 3. Failing to See Connections 4. A Brief Case Study: Environmental Ethicists 5. Reversing the Burden of Proof 4 Vegetarian Outlooks 1. Types of Vegetarianism 2. Experiences, Emotions, and Vegetarianism 3. Grounds for Vegetarianism 4. The Moral Status of Animals 5 Arguments for Vegetarianism: I 1. An Overview 2. Good Health 3. Animal Suffering and Death 4. Impartiality, or Disinterested Moral Concern 6 Arguments for Vegetarianism: II 1. The Environmental Impact of Meat Production 2. The Manipulation of Nature 3. World Hunger and Injustice 4. Interconnected Forms of Oppression 5. Common Threads 7 Arguments for Vegetarianism: III 1. Wisdom Traditions and Modern Parallels 2. Interspecies Kinship and Compassion 3. Universal Nonviolence (Ahimsa) 4. Earthdwelling: Native Peoples' Spirituality 5. Major Religions and Minority Voices 6. Vegetarian Building Blocks 8 Arguments Against Vegetarianism 1. The Consequences of Vegetarianism 2. Humans as Natural Carnivores 3. Animals as Replaceable 4. An Ecological Objection 5. The Necessity of Killing 6. A Feminist Critique of Killing 7. Indigenous Peoples, Cultural Imperialism, and Meat-Eating 8. Preventing Carnivorous Behavior in Nature 9. Eating Shmoos and Other Consenting or Indifferent Animals 10. Why Not Eat Free-Range Animals? 11. The Requirement of Moral Sainthood 12. Some Observations 9 Conscience and Change 1. The Vegetarian Conscience 2. Vegetarianism or Veganism? 3. New Directions and Creative Thinking 4. A Way of Life Notes Select Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn The Christian Idea of Man Josef Pieper brings off an extraordinary feat. He acknowledges that whoever introduces the theme of “virtue” and “the virtues” can expect to be met with a smile – of various shades of condescension. He then proceeds to single out “prudence” as the fundamental virtue on which the other cardinal virtues are based. In defining it, he does away with the shallow connotations which have debased it in modern times. Similarly, he manages to divest it of all traces of “moralism,” which, to a large extent has become identified with the Christian idea of virtue and has made it fall into general disrepute. For Pieper, prudence is fundamentally based on a clear perception of reality – of things as they are – and the prudent person is the one who acts in accordance with this perception. It has nothing to do with knowing how to avoid decisions which might be to one’s disadvantage. Similarly, justice, which is based on prudence, involves acting toward other persons according to one’s perception of the truth of the circumstances – again, a perception of things “as they are.” This is not a reference to any “status quo,” but to the reality as constituted by the Creator. In referring to courage [fortitude], Pieper discusses the overcoming of fear. This does not imply having no fear but, precisely, overcoming it. With regard to the fundamental fear of death, Pieper rejects the approaches which contend that there is nothing to fear in death. On the contrary, there is everything to fear in death: it concerns the question of possible absolute annihilation! Here Pieper introduces the consideration of the “theological” virtues of faith, hope, and love [charity]. When confronted with the question of possible annihilation, the Christian’s faith is paramount. Belief in God lets him confront danger and overcome even the most radical fear – through hope in God. His love of God does not wipe out fear but gives him courage. Moderation is seen as the last in the hierarchy of the cardinal virtues. Through its manifestation, in recent Christian thinking, with chastity and abstinence, it became in the Christian mind the most prominent characteristic of the Christian idea of man and one that dominated everything else. It has been reduced to the status of the most private of the virtues and is combined with a moralistic conception of the good. Pieper’s analysis of moderation shows how this virtue needs to be rethought, although, even then, it will remain the last in the hierarchy of virtues.

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Book SynopsisA new edition of the classic book on what constitutes moral behavior during wartimeTrade Review"For those who relish ethical debate or for others who merely wish to take a deeper look at the moral values that underpin their profession, Axinn provides a rich commentary." -Military ReviewTable of ContentsPreface to the 2008 edition Preface to the original edition 1. Introduction 2. Morality: Why Sacrifice Myself? What are moral questions? 3. Military Honor and the Laws of Warfare: When Can I Lie to the Enemy? 4. Hostilities: All Is Not Fair 5. Prisoners of War 6. Spies 7. Non-Hostile Relations with the Enemy 8. War Crimes, Remedies, and Retaliation (Dirty Warfare) 9. The Dirty-Hands Theory of Command 10. Torture 11. Nuclear Devices and Low-Intensity Conflicts 12. Conclusions Appendix 1. Are the Hague and Geneva Conventions Obsolete? Appendix 2. Topics Not Considered in the Text Appendix 3. Test on the Laws of Land Warfare Notes Brief Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisA new edition of the classic book on what constitutes moral behavior during wartimeTrade Review"For those who relish ethical debate or for others who merely wish to take a deeper look at the moral values that underpin their profession, Axinn provides a rich commentary." -Military ReviewTable of ContentsPreface to the 2008 edition Preface to the original edition 1. Introduction 2. Morality: Why Sacrifice Myself? What are moral questions? 3. Military Honor and the Laws of Warfare: When Can I Lie to the Enemy? 4. Hostilities: All Is Not Fair 5. Prisoners of War 6. Spies 7. Non-Hostile Relations with the Enemy 8. War Crimes, Remedies, and Retaliation (Dirty Warfare) 9. The Dirty-Hands Theory of Command 10. Torture 11. Nuclear Devices and Low-Intensity Conflicts 12. Conclusions Appendix 1. Are the Hague and Geneva Conventions Obsolete? Appendix 2. Topics Not Considered in the Text Appendix 3. Test on the Laws of Land Warfare Notes Brief Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn his second book for adults, the perennial New York Times bestselling author helps readers discover how to put money in its place and use wealth-building as a tool for joy and fulfillment.Hill Harper is uniquely poised to guide readers through tough times and offers bestselling advice for reaping the rewards of a truly happy life. With The Wealth Cure, he does more than that: He presents a revolutionary new definition of wealth; motivating readers to not only build financial security but to achieve wealth in every aspect of their lives. Applying a parable approach, Harper instills practical nuts-and-bolts explanations for laying a sound financial foundation and also focuses on how to recognize the worth of your relationships and increase the value of your interactions with the people in your life.Drawing on personal recollections and true stories from family and friends, Harper has created an inspiring guide. Readers will begin to see money as energy and a freedom for following their passions. Far from a get-rich-quick primer, The Wealth Cure brims with inspired wisdom for building a lasting bounty from the experiences, loved ones, and achievements that really matter.

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Book Synopsis If there was a new wonder drug on the market that got kids to behave better, improve their grades, feel happier, and avoid risky behaviors, many parents around the world would be willing to empty their bank accounts to acquire it. Amazingly, such a product actually does exist. It’s not regulated by the FDA, it has no ill side-effects, and it’s absolutely free and available to anyone at any time. This miracle cure is gratitude. Over the past decade, science has shown that gratitude is one of the most valuable and important emotions we possess, and it is a virtue that anyone can cultivate. In fact, researchers have developed many different methods people can use to foster an attitude of gratitude, and the science shows that many of them really work. In Making Grateful Kids, two of the leading authorities on gratitude among young people, Jeffrey J. Froh and Giacomo Bono, introduce their latest and most compelling research, announce groundbreaking findings, and share real-life stories from adults and youth to show parents, teachers, mentors, and kids themselves how to achieve greater life satisfaction through gratitude. Most importantly perhaps, they expand on this groundbreaking research to offer practical and effective common-sense plans that can be used in day-to-day interactions between kids and adults to enhance success and wellbeing. Their unique, scientifically-based approach for producing grateful youth works whether these kids are very young elementary school students or troubled teenagers. Not only does the purposeful practice of gratitude increase their happiness, but the research indicates that grateful kids also report more self-discipline, fulfilling relationships, and engagement with their schools and communities when compared to their less grateful counterparts. After reading Making Grateful Kids, parents, teachers, and anyone who works with youth will be able to connect more meaningfully with kids so that all parties can focus on the things that matter most and, in turn, create a more cooperative and thriving society.Trade Review “Of the key virtues that make for a successful life, gratitude is one that is often overlooked in child-rearing and education today. In Making Grateful Kids, Jeffrey Froh and Giacomo Bono have given us the most valuable kind of guide to child development: one that is full of compelling examples and backed up by state-of-the-art research findings. Parents, educators, students, and practitioners will benefit greatly from this book.” — William Damon, professor of education, Stanford University, director, Stanford Center on Adolescence, and author of The Path to Purpose: Helping Our Children Find Their Calling in Life “In their thoughtful, engaging, and informative book, Froh and Bono contribute mightily to science and to families around the world. Making Grateful Kids explains the significance of the burgeoning scientific study of character development among youth, provides parents with evidence-based ideas for enhancing an essential facet of thriving among adolescents, and offers practitioners and policy makers a positive, hopeful vision for promoting positive development among present and future generations of young people. All readers will be grateful for this timely and important book. — Richard M. Lerner, PhD, Bergstrom Chair in Applied Developmental Science, director, Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development, Tufts University, and author of The Good Teen: Rescuing Adolescence from the Myths of the Storm and Stress Years “This book provides scientifically-based answers to the question that every parent asks: How can I get my kids to be more grateful? Froh and Bono, pioneers in the field of youth gratitude, point to specific practices and principles that can be used by parents, teachers, and kids alike. They make a compelling case for why, when it comes to future generations, gratitude is the single best investment we can make. My hope is that this book will help give rise to “Generation G”—Young adults that recognize the transforming power of gratitude.” — Robert A. Emmons, editor-in-chief, The Journal of Positive Psychology, author of Gratitude Works! and Thanks! How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier “Making Grateful Kids is the book that parents have been waiting for. Chock-full of engaging examples and stories, reams of supportive empirical evidence, and clear, easy-to-follow recommendations for how to instill gratitude starting today, Froh and Bono impart a really valuable message: Gratitude matters and it matters most in kids.“ — Sonja Lyubomirsky, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside and author of The How of Happiness and The Myths of Happiness.“Amid a generation of entitled young people, gratitude seems to be a lost – but much missed – character quality. School psychologist Jeffrey Froh and social science professor Giacomo Bono have conducted dozens of psychological studies to identify the components which help to build gratitude into children and young adults… . This book would be especially useful in supplementing studies on child and adolescent development (whether in psychology or education), Christian education of children (youth and family ministry), and family studies. Though it is not written from a faith-based point of view, there are direct and scholarly connections with Christian values and disciplines that provide easy application for believers. Questionnaires, extensive notes, and a strong index continue the scholarly approach to the topic. However, the book is both readable and inspirational.” —Carol Reid, Welch College, The Christian LibrarianTable of Contents Introduction: What Drives a Child Who Thrives? / 3 Chapter 1: Orienting Your Family toward Gratitude / 15 Chapter 2: Raising Grateful Children from the Beginning / 35 Chapter 3: Growing Gratitude One Goal at a Time / 61 Chapter 4: Building Strengths and Resilience by Staying Positive and Learning to Cope / 87 Chapter 5: Valuing Others Develops Character and Gratitude / 113 Chapter 6: Dealing with Consumerism, Media, and Materialism / 141 Chapter 7: Nurturing Relationships / 163 Chapter 8: Developing Community, Connection, and a Sense of Purpose / 189 Chapter 9: How the World Could Be with Generation G /219 Acknowledgments / 231 Appendix: Measuring Gratitude in Youth / 239 Notes / 247 Index / 263

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Book SynopsisThe Tanner Lectures on Human Values, founded July 1, 1978, at Clare Hall, Cambridge University, was established by the American scholar, industrialist, and philanthropist Obert Clark Tanner. Lectureships are awarded to outstanding scholars or leaders in broadly defined fields of human values and transcend ethnic, national, religious, or ideological distinctions. Volume 34 features lectures given during the academic year 2013 to 2014 at the University of Oxford; Stanford University; the University of Utah; and Yale University.Shami Chakrabarti, Liberty Organization (formerly National Council for Civil Liberties) “Human Rights as Human Values”Paul Gilroy, King’s College London “The Black Atlantic and Re-enchantment of Humanism”Bruno Latour, Institut d’etudes politiques (Sciences Po) Paris “How Better to Register the Agency of Things”Nicholas Lemann, Columbia University School of Journalism“The Turn Against Institutions” and “What Transactions Can’t Do”Andrew Solomon, Author “Love, Acceptance, Celebration: How Parents Make Their Children”Trade Review“I hope these lectures will contribute to the intellectual and moral life of mankind. I see them simply as a search for a better understanding of human behavior and human values. This understanding may be pursued for its own intrinsic worth, but it may also eventually have practical consequences for the quality of personal and social life.”—Obert Clark Tanner

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Book SynopsisThe Tanner Lectures on Human Values, founded July 1, 1978, at Clare Hall, Cambridge University, was established by the American scholar, industrialist, and philanthropist Obert Clark Tanner. Lectureships are awarded to outstanding scholars or leaders in broadly defined fields of human values, and transcend ethnic, national, religious, or ideological distinctions. Volume 27 features lectures given by Ruth Reichl, James Q. Wilson, Marshall Sahlins, David Brion Davis, Allan Gibbard, and Margaret H. Marshall.Table of ContentsDanielle Allen, Director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics and Professor of Government, Harvard University “Education and Equality” Elizabeth Anderson, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor and John Dewey Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy and Women’s Studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor “Liberty, Equality, and Private Government” Margaret Atwood, award-winning poet and novelist “Human Values in an Age of Change” Dipesh Chakrabarty, Lawrence A. Kimpton Distinguished Service Professor of History, South Asian Languages and Civilizations, The University of Chicago “The Human Condition in the Anthropocene” Ruth Bader Ginsburg “A Conversation with Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court” Philip Pettit, L.S. Rockefeller University Professor of Politics and Human Values at Princeton University “The Birth of Ethics” Eric L. Santner, Philip and Ida Romberg Distinguished Service Professor in Modern Germanic Studies at the University of Chicago “The Weight of All Flesh: On the Subject-Matter of Political Economy” Peter Singer, Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics in the University Center for Human Values “From Moral Neutrality to Effective Altruism: The Changing Scope and Significance of Moral Philosophy”

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Book SynopsisWestern thought has often dismissed shadows as fictional, but what if fictions reveal original truths? Drawing on an anti-Platonic tradition in critical theory, Lawtoo adopts ethical, anthropological, and philosophical lenses to offer new readings of Joseph Conrad’s novels and the postcolonial and cinematic works that respond to his oeuvre.He argues that Conrad’s fascination with doubles urges readers to reflect on the two sides of mimesis: one side is dark and pathological, and involves the escalation of violence, contagious epidemics, and catastrophic storms; the other side is luminous and therapeutic, and promotes communal survival, postcolonial reconciliation, and plastic adaptations to changing environments. Once joined, the two sides reveal Conrad as an author whose Janus-faced fictions are powerfully relevant to our contemporary world of global violence and environmental crisis.

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