Ethics and moral philosophy Books

Book SynopsisThe emergence of the Fall-Realms and their degeneration. Deep insights into creation, how the Eternal Kingdom developed and how the Fall of some inhabitants

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Book SynopsisA very clear and unclouded view of the activities of humankind in a world created by them on this

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Book SynopsisVirginia Held assesses the ethics of care as a promising alternative to the familiar moral theories that serve so inadequately to guide our lives. The ethics of care is only a few decades old, yet it is by now a distinct moral theory or normative approach to the problems we face. It is relevant to global and political matters as well as to the personal relations that can most clearly exemplify care. This book clarifies just what the ethics of care is: what its characteristics are, what it holds, and what it enables us to do. It discusses the feminist roots of this moral approach and why the ethics of care can be a morality with universal appeal. Held examines what we mean by care, and what a caring person is like. Where other moral theories demand impartiality above all, the ethics of care understands the moral import of our ties to our families and groups. It evaluates such ties, focusing on caring relations rather than simply on the virtues of individuals. The book proposes how such values as justice, equality, and individual rights can fit together with such values as care, trust, mutual consideration, and solidarity. In the second part of the book, Held examines the potential of the ethics of care for dealing with social issues. She shows how the ethics of care is more promising than Kantian moral theory and utilitarianism for advice on how expansive, or not, markets should be, and on when other values than market ones should prevail. She connects the ethics of care with the rising interest in civil society, and considers the limits appropriate for the language of rights. Finally, she shows the promise of the ethics of care for dealing with global problems and seeing anew the outlines of international civility.Trade Review"Virginia Held's theory of care is no less substantial than John Rawls' theory of justice. Her probing and engaging analysis of caring values, virtues, actions, and attitudes will become a classic in moral theory."--Rosemarie Tong, The University of North Carolina at CharlotteTable of ContentsPart I. Care and Moral Theory 1: The Ethics of Care as a Moral Theory 2: Care as Practice and Value 3: The Caring Person 4: Justice, Utility, and Care 5: Liberalism and the Ethics of Care 6: Caring Relations and Principles of Justice 7: Care and the Extension of Markets 8: Civil Society, Rights, and the Presumption of Care 9: Power, Care and The Reach of Law 10: Care and Justice in the Global Context

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Book SynopsisBlack Existentialism and Decolonizing Knowledge collects key philosophical writings of Lewis R. Gordon, a globally renowned scholar whose writings cover liberation struggles across the globe and make field-defining contributions to the philosophy of existence, philosophy of race, Africana philosophy, philosophy of human sciences, aesthetics, and decolonization. Gordon's expansive output ranges across phenomenology, anti-Blackness, activist thinkers, sexuality, Fanon, Jimi Hendrix, Black Jewish struggles, critical pedagogy, psychoanalysis, and Ubuntu philosophy. Edited by Rozena Maart and Sayan Dey, two decolonial thinkers from South Africa and India, this reader shifts attention away from colonial centres of power, encouraging global dialogue across students, scholars, and activists. Featuring a foreword by the celebrated novelist and postcolonial thinker, Ngugi wa Thiong''o, this reader includes a mixture of research articles, short critical essays, reflections, intervTrade ReviewProfound and authoritative essays by one of the leading contemporary Black philosophers of existence. As a towering figure in Black Existentialism Lewis Gordon weaves through a variety of contemporary issues such as antiblack racism, decolonization, bad faith, jazz, and the human sciences, from an Africana existential philosophical perspective. A must-read collection of essays. * Mabogo P. More, Research Associate, University of Limpopo, South Africa *Lewis R. Gordon’s written words—along with his music, love, compassion, and interconnected humanity— teaches us to end “cruelty” and dehumanizing of the Damned of the Earth by “open[ing] our hearts to the freedom and possibility of life” and thereby making the world more livable for all humans and more-than-humans. * Jaspal Kaur Singh, Professor of English Literature, Northern Michigan University, USA *A dive into these selected writings by Lewis R. Gordon is a dive into an alternative conceptual scheme. That scheme is informed by existentialism and an epistemology that faces reality – especially the reality of those that Gordon calls the Damned. This is not an epistemology paraded as pure knowledge void of human agency. It hears victims and the rising tide of new voices. It shifts, in effect, the geography of reason, and thereby, what ‘reason’ itself means. The reader of Black Existentialism and Decolonizing Knowledge is in for a swim within new knowledge for a new world. * Leonard Harris, Professor of Philosophy, Purdue University, USA *Table of ContentsPreface by Lewis R. Gordon (University of Connecticut, USA) Foreword by Ngugi wa Thiong’o (University of California, Irvine, USA) Introduction by Sayan Dey (Royal University of Bhutan, Bhutan) and Rozena Maart (University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa) Black Existentialism and Africana Philosophy 1. Africana Philosophy 2. Reasoning in Black: Africana Philosophy Under the Weight of Misguided Reason 3. Race in the Dialectics of Culture 4. Racism as a Form of Bad Faith 5. Critical Reflections on Three Popular Tropes in the Study of Whiteness 6. Phenomenology of Biko’s Black Consciousness 7. Theory in Black: Teleological Suspensions in Philosophy of Culture 8. Sex, Race and Matrices of Desire in an Anti-Black World 9. Racialization and Human Reality 10. Letter to a Grieving Student 11. Rockin’ It in Blue: A Black Existential Essay on Jimi Hendrix Decolonizing Knowledge 12. Disciplinary Decadence and the Decolonization of Knowledge 13. Disciplining as a Human Science 14. The Problem of History in African American Theology 15. Rarely Kosher: Studying Jews of Color in North America 16. Jews Against Liberation: An Afro-Jewish Critique 17. Lewis Gordon’s Statement for Jacqueline Walker’s Dossier 2019 18. Shifting the Geography of Reason in an Age of Disciplinary Decadence 19. Decolonizing Philosophy 20. A Pedagogical Imperative of Pedagogical Imperatives 21. Justice Otherwise: Thoughts on Ubuntu 22. Teleological Suspensions for the Sake of Political Life 23. Labor, Migration and Race: Toward a Secular Model of Citizenship Interviews 1. Are Reparations Possible? Lessons to the United States from South Africa 2. Thinking Art in a Decolonial Way 3. Gordon and Da Silva on Brazil and Africana Philosophy 4. Dougla: Intersections between Dalitness and Afro-Blackness 5. Freedom, Oppression, and Black Consciousness in ‘Get Out’ Bibliography of Gordon’s writings from 1993–2023 Index

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Book SynopsisChris Kaposy reflects on parenting his son with Down syndrome in the midst of a supposed disappearance of people with this condition. Writing from a pro-choice, disability-positive perspective, Kaposy presents decades-old bioethical controversies, revealing the prehistory that has shaped current attitudes toward intellectual disability.Trade Review“The Beautiful Unwanted is wide-ranging in its discussion, covering historical terrain and past bioethical controversies, but doing so by interweaving personal experiences and continually linking up these discussions with the present day. Since Kaposy doesn’t follow a linear, temporal narrative, he effectively shows how we’ve inherited deeply rooted beliefs and attitudes that inform choices today.” Thomas W. Pearson, author of An Ordinary Future: Margaret Mead, the Problem of Disability, and a Child Born Different

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Book SynopsisWhy Veganism Matters presents the case for the personhood of nonhuman animals and for veganism in a clear and accessible way that does not require any philosophical or legal background. This book offers a persuasive and powerful argument for all readers who care about animals but are not sure whether they have a moral obligation to be vegan.Trade ReviewThe arguments in Gary Francione's Why Veganism Matters are directed at those who think that animals matter. That is not a niche audience. Many—perhaps most—people agree that animals are not things that may be treated in any way one pleases. Given that starting point, Professor Francione argues that veganism is a moral imperative. In doing so, he argues against other prominent defenders of animal interests who reach lesser conclusions. He does so in the clear, accessible manner befitting the broad intended audience. The book contains many engaging arguments that advance our understanding of just how much animals are owed. -- David Benatar, author of The Human Predicament: A Candid Guide to Life's Biggest QuestionsProfessor Francione offers a clear and compelling argument that animals, not being merely 'things,' have the same essential right as other 'persons': namely, the right not to be treated as property and used merely as means to others' ends. This goes far beyond both the 'welfarist' view that animals should be spared undue suffering and the more recent 'animal liberationist' accounts associated with Singer and Regan that those animals that are (probably) self-aware and 'subjects of a life' have the same right as human persons not to be treated merely as means. This revolution in human understanding, he contends, must outlaw both the more obvious forms of oppression and even our enjoyment of our 'pets' and 'animal companions.' No-one who admits that animals merit moral consideration should ignore the force of his argument, however difficult it may be to accept so radical a disarrangement of our lives together. -- Stephen R. L. Clark, author of Can We Believe in People?: Human Significance in an Interconnected CosmosIf the suffering and death of 70 billion land animals and 1 trillion sea animals, weighs no more to you than a sack of feathers, read no further. Veganism is not extreme. What is extreme is the mental daily effort required to be indifferent to the senseless violence inflicted onto the innocent, because they are 'only animals.' Abolition of all animal exploitation, is now a global movement, thanks to Gary Francione’s vision. He saw animals truly as persons, not things, not property, when so few others did. -- Sue Coe, artistGary Francione argues with great force and clarity for radical change in our relations with animals. Why Veganism Matters is especially noteworthy for its sharp critique of current approaches to animal ethics. This is a gripping and deeply challenging book, every page of which conveys the significance of the moral stakes. -- Cora Diamond, author of Reading Wittgenstein with Anscombe, Going On to EthicsIn this inspiring work, Professor Gary Francione, one of the most powerful voices against the oppression of nonhuman animals of our time, provides a compelling argument for recognizing the moral status of nonhuman animals. A profound and critical call for ending the institutionalized commodification of nonhuman animals and abolishing all forms of their oppression. -- David A. Nibert, author of Animal Oppression and Human Violence: Domesecration, Capitalism, and Global ConflictTable of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Our Conventional Wisdom—Animals as Quasi-Persons2. Two Contemporary Approaches to Animal Personhood3. Animals as Persons—a Matter of Sentience Alone4. The Right Not to Be Property5. Veganism as a Moral ImperativeConclusionNotesReference/Study Guide

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Book SynopsisHas Hobbesian moral and political theory been fundamentally misinterpreted by most of his readers? Since the criticism of John Bramhall, Hobbes has generally been regarded as advancing a moral and political theory that is antithetical to classical natural law theory. Kody W. Cooper challenges this traditional interpretation of Hobbes in Thomas Hobbes and the Natural Law. Hobbes affirms two essential theses of classical natural law theory: the capacity of practical reason to grasp intelligible goods or reasons for action and the legally binding character of the practical requirements essential to the pursuit of human flourishing. Hobbes's novel contribution lies principally in his formulation of a thin theory of the good. This book seeks to prove that Hobbes has more in common with the Aristotelian-Thomistic tradition of natural law philosophy than has been recognized. According to Cooper, Hobbes affirms a realistic philosophy as well as biblical revelation as the ground of hiTrade Review"Kody Cooper’s reinterpretation of Hobbes is original and persuasive. It effectively upends most received opinions about Hobbes’s philosophy, political doctrines, relationship to preceding thought, and relevance to contemporary liberal democracies. This is a new and improved Hobbes—one sure to inspire new and improved inquiry into the natural law foundations of liberalism." —S. Adam Seagrave, University of Missouri“Kody W. Cooper’s thesis is that Thomas Hobbes’s moral and civil philosophy sits squarely within the Aristotelian-Thomistic tradition of natural law theorizing. . . . His is that sort of ‘Empire Strikes Back’ book that . . . seeks to contain the damage of the rebel by recasting him as no rebel at all.” —Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews“Kody W. Cooper’s book, Thomas Hobbes and the Natural Law, provides a clear, scholarly account of the relationship between Hobbes’s natural law and the Aristotelian-Thomistic tradition of the theory of good. A brilliantly lucid work of analysis, the book introduces Hobbes’s ideas and his concern throughout his life with the traditional natural law theory.” —Reading Religion"Cooper has made an admirable contribution to understanding better what Hobbes intended, but also to the debates in modern legal and moral philosophy." —The Review of Politics"Cooper offers his take on Hobbes as belonging to, though an internal critic of, the scholastic natural law tradition. What follows is a dazzling read into the mind of one of England’s greatest political thinkers." —VoegelinView

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Book SynopsisWhat is civility, and why has it disappeared? Ann Hartle analyzes the origins of the modern project and the Essays of Michel de Montaigne to discuss why civility is failing in our own time.In this bold book, Ann Hartle, one of the most important interpreters of sixteenth-century French philosopher Michel de Montaigne, explores the modern notion of civilitythe social bond that makes it possible for individuals to live in peace in the political and social structures of the Western worldand asks, why has it disappeared? Concerned with the deepening cultural divisions in our postmodern, post-Christian world, she traces their roots back to the Reformation and Montaigne's Essays. Montaigne's philosophical project of drawing on ancient philosophy and Christianity to create a new social bond to reform the mores of his culture is perhaps the first act of self-conscious civility. After tracing Montaigne's thought, Hartle returns to our modern society and argues thaTrade Review“The insistent point of What Happened to Civility—that civility is collapsing as enlightenment ideology’s relentless advance swamps the premodern, traditional sources of nobility and mercy that Montaigne relied upon to create civility in the first place—is new, true, and significant.” —Benjamin Storey, co-author of Why We Are Restless“No other book-length treatment of Montaigne’s notion of civility exists. Hartle succeeds admirably well in showing that Montaigne’s conception of civility helped to shape modern self-understanding in significant ways.” —John C. McCarthy, editor of Modern Enlightenment and the Rule of Reason"Time spent with this book will be rewarded, both with a heightened sense of the importance of civility to human happiness and wonder for the artistry of a great essayist like Montaigne." —The American Conservative"The book is a good contribution to a troubling debate, and one with which Montaigne himself would have been pleased." —Church Times“Ann Hartle analyzes the reasons for the contemporary decay of civility, which was given its modern formulation 'out of the fragments of the shattered classical-Christian tradition' in Montaigne’s Essays. She goes on to consider 'what has been lost in the movement from sacred tradition as the social bond' to its secular form, notably a 'public standard of moral virtue.'" —ChoiceAnn Hartle’s What Happened to Civility offers an inviting proposition: civility should be understood as a human invention and therefore is ultimately doomed to failure. -Perspectives on PoliticsTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. The New Adam: The Philosopher’s Sleight-of-Hand 2. The New Order: Hidden Mastery 3. Authenticity: The Greatest Thing in the World 4. Civility: Suppressing the Human Self 5. The Deterioration of Civility: When Everything Becomes Political 6. Living among the Ruins: The Disintegration of the Social Bond Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThis clear, readable introduction to philosophy presents a traditional theistic view of the existence of God.There are many fine introductions to philosophy, but few are written for students of faith by a teacher who is sensitive to the intellectual challenges they face studying in an environment that is often hostile to religious belief. Many introductory texts present short, easy-to-refute synopses of the traditional arguments for God's existence, the soul, free will, and objective moral value rooted in God's nature, usually followed by strong objections stated as if they are the last word. This formula may make philosophy easier to digest, but it gives many students the impression that there are no longer any good reasons to accept the beliefs just mentioned.Philosophy, Reasoned Belief, and Faith is written for philosophy instructors who want their students to take a deeper look at the classic theistic arguments and who believe that many traditional viTrade Review“This book is a well-written introduction to philosophy that has a systematic approach informed by the history of philosophy. There are many introductory philosophy books available, but I am not aware of one with quite this approach and spin on the issues.” —Christopher Kaczor, author of Disputes in Bioethics“Philosophy, Reasoned Belief, and Faith is a solid, well-written, well-organized, theistic-leaning introduction to philosophy.” —Gregory Bassham, co-author of Critical Thinking: A Student’s IntroductionTable of ContentsTo The Instructor To The Student Acknowledgements Dedication Unit One. Three Things to Know before You Dive into Philosophy 1. How Philosophy Began 2. The Socratic Method 3. And a Little Bit of Logic Unit Two. Philosophy of Religion 4. The Design Argument 5. Design and Evolution 6. The Cosmological Argument Interlude 1: A Survey of Modern Cosmology 7. The Problem of Evil Unit Three. Epistemology 8. What Can We Know? 9. C. S. Lewis and the Argument from Reason Unit Four. Philosophy of the Human Person 10. The Mind-Body Problem 11. Do We Have Free Will? Unit Five. Philosophical Ethics 12. Is It Reasonable to be Moral? Interlude 2: Or Should We All Become Moral Relativists? 13. Moral Reasoning Applied to the State 14. God and Morality

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Alasdair MacIntyre is one of the most influential and widely read moral philosophers of the last three or four decades. This remarkably erudite and comprehensive book is an indispensable guide for anyone who has a serious interest in twentieth-century moral and political philosophy.” —Richard Kraut, author of The Quality of Life“The book is a sympathetic treatment of the ideas that have consistently run through MacIntyre’s complicated career, but it doesn’t hesitate to pose to MacIntyre tough-minded intellectual challenges. It is a genuine philosophical dialogue between two serious thinkers.” —Ronald Beiner, author of Dangerous Minds"Provides a penetrating overview of the ideas of 20th-century moral philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre. . . . Perreau-Saussine proves a talented historian of ideas, cogently elucidating how such diverse traditions as Marxism, Catholicism, and Aristotelianism come together in MacIntyre’s writings." —Publishers Weekly"[The book's] treatment of MacIntyre’s religious struggles and his journey to the Catholic Church is perhaps its strongest part and will be a revelation to anyone accustomed to a more narrowly philosophical approach to MacIntyre’s ideas." —Current"MacIntyre stands in the modern intellectual landscape as one of tradition’s great champions, but he was never a particularly happy warrior, even though he had a great deal to say about what makes men happy. Anyone who is intrigued by these puzzles will find this book of considerable interest." —Law & Liberty"Alasdair MacIntyre: An Intellectual Biography by Émile Perreau-Saussine seeks to defend the Scottish philosopher’s standing as one of the most profound theorists of capitalist modernity on either side of the Atlantic. . . . [A]long the way we do learn a great deal about MacIntyre’s life and how it informed his unique blend of Marxist-Catholic Scholasticism." —Jacobin"Alasdair MacIntyre is a moral philosopher of the first rank. . . . May our contemporaries be receptive to the wisdom and moderation that informs this splendid and timely book." —Claremont Review of Books"On the whole, this is a[n] . . . insightful essay in intellectual history. Or rather, it is three essays, dealing respectively with MacIntyre’s politics, philosophy, and theology. The first covers MacIntyre’s early involvement with the British New Left. . . . A second chapter deals with the philosophy of action and ethics. . . . A last chapter, on theology, sees Perreau-Saussine return to safer ground." —First Things"Perreau-Saussine makes a valuable contribution for those looking to understand the context and nature of Alasdair MacIntyre’s thought. He strikes a balance by pulling together biographical details, intellectual influences, and a variety of publications to craft a portrait of one of the twentieth century’s most influential philosophers." —The University Bookman"[F]or those who would like to consider the merits and demerits of liberal democracy in a judicious way, Émile Perreau-Saussine’s critical study of one of antiliberalism’s éminence grise is now available. It is both a specimen and a model of the sort of political philosophizing sorely needed in our trying times." —Law & Liberty“Alasdair MacIntyre: An Intellectual Biography, by the philosopher Émile Perreau-Saussine, is less an academic study than an essay on MacIntyrean themes. . . It’s engaging and accessible.” —The Nation"The real value of Perreau-Saussine’s biography lies less in its exposition of MacIntyre’s intellectual development than in its extended clarification of what is at stake in the questions MacIntyre explores. . . . For Perreau-Saussine, political progress will come when we better navigate these tensions within the liberal order, not when we seek to resolve them entirely outside it. Whether his eminent case proves his point is worth our careful reflection." —The Hedgehog Review"In this book, Perreau-Saussine traces the complex intellectual development of Scottish American philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre (b. 1924) with a view to showing the underlying unity of his life’s work. ...Recommended." —Choice“Émile Perreau-Saussine has produced an interesting and provocative interpretation of Alasdair MacIntyre and Nathan Pinkoski’s translation has provided the English-speaking world access to the work....Any university library with a serious politics, philosophy, or theology program should procure a copy.” —The American Journal of Jurisprudence"The scholarship behind the book—the volume of Anglophone philosophy Perreau-Saussine had to absorb, inside and outside MacIntyre’s corpus—is hugely impressive. And we owe Pinkoski a debt for doing the unglamorous kind of work Perreau-Saussine himself did first." —CommonwealTable of ContentsPreface by Pierre Manent Introduction 1. Politics 2. Philosophy 3. Theology Epilogue

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisStanley Cavell was one of the most distinguished and wide-ranging philosophers of his time. This posthumous volume assembles an array of writings that Cavell left behind, synthesizing into a cohesive intellectual vision unpublished works on modernity, music, skepticism, psychoanalysis, anthropology, tragedy, and the human voice.Trade ReviewThe writings gathered here are sparkling examples of Stanley Cavell’s claim that a philosophical puzzle can arise anywhere in the weave of life. Originally composed for different occasions, collectively they now seem like a letter from beyond, addressing each reader as if Cavell were speaking directly to them. -- Veena Das, author of Life and WordsIn this collection’s essays on music, we find Cavell listening closely, hearing the ways that music works with philosophy to help us understand the world. Quoting Wittgenstein, he also aptly evokes the spirit of Here and There itself: ‘Who can understand my philosophical work who does not know what music has meant in my life?’ -- John Harbison, Pulitzer Prize–winning composer and Institute Professor of Music, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyStanley Cavell was the most searingly brilliant and original philosopher of his generation. Again and again, these occasional essays, reviews, and lectures remind us why: sentences that take one’s breath away with their ethical urgency and existential precision, their baroque energy and lacerating honesty. Gratitude has to be one’s first response to the appearance of this collection. -- J. M. Bernstein, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, The New School for Social ResearchWhat comes across most powerfully…is Cavell’s attentive listening, throughout his long and distinguished career, for what one might call the hum of humanity. -- Christopher Benfey * New York Review of Books *Filled with situated insights into the academic debates of the end of the last century and the beginning of our own…Readers will find it worthwhile to tune in. Nowhere else will one encounter the sounds one encounters in Stanley Cavell’s mixtapes. -- Michael S. Roth * Los Angeles Review of Books *Cavell’s prose is suffused by the influence of the techniques and ethos of ordinary language philosophy—by its invitation to ask yourself what you would want or be tempted or inclined to say when. The auto-narrating trail Cavell leaves in his prose—his tendency to voice, even dramatize, his promptings or temptations to certain utterances—bears the unmistakable imprint of Austin’s and Wittgenstein’s methods. -- Lola Seaton * The Point *

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Book SynopsisEconomists investigate the workings of markets and tend to set ethical questions aside. Theologians often dismiss economics, losing insights into the influence of market incentives on individual behavior. Mary L. Hirschfeld bridges this gap by showing how a humane economy can lead to the good life as outlined in the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas.Trade Review[An] outstanding book about economics and ethics…If we can better order our lives—and in Hirschfeld’s account, most of us need to—then we can achieve better markets and create more just market systems. -- Jonathan Tran * Christian Century *For those seeking succinct, clear and accurate accounts of the Thomist understanding of the human person and the presuppositions of economics, this book could hardly be bettered. -- Frank Litton * Irish Catholic *[Hirschfeld] integrates economic research into a ‘philosophic and theological discussion about the human good and human happiness.’ This knowledge may not be quantified in pie charts, by Wall Street, or within algorithms, but Hirschfeld insists that wisdom lies beyond the labs and the think-tanks…Aquinas and the Market begins a necessary conversation between economic and theological sectors, in the academy and, one hopes, outside the ivory towers and seminaries, to calculate our ultimate worth. -- John L. Murphy * PopMatters *Excellent…Hirschfeld offers an attractive and sophisticated model for how theology should approach economics. -- Derek S. Jeffreys * Journal of the American Academy of Religion *We are not lacking in Christian critiques of neoclassical economics. Rarely do these come from a Harvard-trained economist turned Catholic theologian. In order to diagnose just how the rational choice model frustrates, rather than facilitates, the pursuit of happiness, we must get clear on the nature of genuine human flourishing. In a book both acute and winsome, pragmatic and visionary, Hirschfeld turns to Thomas Aquinas for inspiration. Only with an adequate anthropology in hand can we understand both why economic analysis works as well as it does, and why it ultimately leads us astray. Freed from the pursuit of maximal utility, we can begin to build a humane economy. A wise and urgently-needed contribution! -- Jennifer Herdt, Yale UniversityIn Aquinas and the Market, Mary Hirschfeld takes on the demanding task of relating religion—particularly Christianity—and the discipline of economics. Uniquely qualified, she accomplishes the task with insight and elegance. The book is well-written, timely, and a ‘must-read’ for both scholars and students interested in the relation of faith and economics. -- Daniel Finn, Saint John’s UniversityWhile most theological reflections and critiques of the economy are often sorely deficient in economic understanding, Aquinas and the Market fills this void, offering careful analysis of the moral thought of Aquinas and its relevance to economics. Hirschfeld writes with clarity, providing a foundation upon which to better understand Aquinas’s project on its own terms. -- Andrew Yuengert, Pepperdine UniversityHirschfeld shows that the rational choice model of economists is too weak to make coherent sense of human well-being, even in matters economic. She proposes that we take the best insights of the economists and embed them in a more comprehensive account of practical reason, such as that of Thomas Aquinas. This kind of thought experiment is long overdue. -- Russell Hittinger, University of TulsaExcellent…Lays out a Thomistic approach to mainline economics. -- John Ehrett * Between Two Kingdoms *Deeply researched, carefully argued, and provides an important perspective on the prospects of bringing theology and economics into a productive dialogue. Hirschfeld represents an important voice in seeking to bring these two distinct fields together in an interdisciplinary manner. -- James Brumbaugh * Reading Religion *

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Book SynopsisLiz Bucar navigates the thorny terrain of religious appropriation, from yoga classes to non-Muslims who signal allyship by donning hijabs. Exploring the ethics of alleged appropriations, Bucar argues that borrowing isn’t itself a problem, as long as we are invested in our enthusiasms—committed to understanding their roots and diverse meanings.Trade ReviewLively in style and backed by solid, unobtrusive scholarship…In her call for responsibility in borrowing, Liz Bucar singles out for criticism forms of exploitation close to her own identity as privileged and religiously unaffiliated. -- Jonathan Benthall * Times Literary Supplement *So finely written, so intelligent and fair, and laced with such surprising discoveries that it deserves a reader’s full attention…As the act of walking a religious pilgrimage does invite greater self-awareness…Stealing My Religion is now an essential part of that worthy endeavor. -- Kurt Caswell * Los Angeles Review of Books *Injects new life into what has become a stale discourse on the concept of ‘cultural appropriation.’ Bringing together three disparate case studies, Bucar brilliantly demonstrates how definitions of religion fuse with practices of capitalism and ownership…Stealing My Religion accomplishes what it sets out to do and then some. -- Rumya S. Putcha * The Revealer *Stealing My Religion not only deftly grapples with fascinating case studies to name and center the ethical challenges of religious appropriation, but also models how to use this knowledge to reassess our relationship to practices of religious appropriation that we all collude with in various ways. The book also invites us to pause to (re)assess our participation in these complicated spheres of praxis—as educators and scholars, or just everyday folks—and ultimately our responsibilities to the communities we have harmed along the way. -- Shobhana Xavier * Reading Religion *Inspiring and admirable…This book is highly recommended not only for scholars of religion in general, but especially for anthropologists and ethnographers of religion in particular. It not only offers new insights into religious practices and the appropriation of these practices by both religious and non-religious people, but also addresses fundamental methodological and epistemological challenges within the study of religion. -- Eline Huygens * Material Religion *Undoubtedly a stimulating and challenging investigation of appropriation…Bucar perhaps offers some of the best the field of religious studies has to offer as an analytic and ethical enterprise. She forces her readers to examine the interconnections of individual and structural religious exploitation in our classrooms and beyond. -- Amanda H. Dominique * Teaching Theology & Religion *Stealing My Religion offers a careful meditation on the problems of religious appropriation in the contemporary world. -- Sophia Arjana * Journal of Contemporary Religion *At a time when discussions about cultural appropriation too often feel overheated and imprecise, Liz Bucar points to a way forward by asking us to consider the stolen stuff of faith—religious ideas, practices, and objects repurposed by those outside the fold. But who owns religion? Who is outside and inside the fold? Bucar’s sharp insights, shot through with humor and self-awareness, are exactly what we need the next time we reach over to borrow from someone else’s religion for our own therapeutic, political, or educational needs. -- Gene Demby, cohost and correspondent for NPR’s Code SwitchUsing hijab to sell soda, the Buddha to market vegan food, or crucifixes to make pop music pop can feel edgy or celebratory for those embracing the visuals without the credos behind them. But, as Liz Bucar reveals in this thoughtful work, the faithful may not appreciate seeing their heart on your sleeve. A welcome and necessary reminder that all of us, ultimately, are unreliable narrators when we weave ourselves into others’ stories. -- Jeff Yang, coauthor of Rise: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now and cohost of They Call Us BruceWith interpretive subtlety and ethical vision, Liz Bucar explores the moral risk of intercultural theft. Stealing My Religion is a powerful intervention by a leading scholar of religion into the illiberal results of everyday religious exploitation. Highly recommended. -- Kathryn Lofton, author of Consuming ReligionA sharp and courageous book that claims religion can also be culturally appropriated. With provocative and timely examples, Liz Bucar challenges our understandings about race, culture, and religion when we think about appropriation. -- Tahseen Shams, author of Here, There, and Elsewhere: The Making of Immigrant Identities in a Globalized WorldWhen do religious borrowings cause harm? When do they function as meaningful exchanges? In this brilliant study, Liz Bucar skillfully wrestles with these difficult questions and brings race, religion, and commodification into conversation. -- Shenila Khoja-Moolji, author of Sovereign Attachments: Masculinity, Muslimness, and Affective Politics in Pakistan

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Book SynopsisEvil threatens human reason, for it challenges our hope that the world makes sense. For eighteenth-century Europeans, the Lisbon earthquake was manifest evil. Today we view evil as a matter of human cruelty, and Auschwitz as its extreme incarnation. Examining our understanding of evil from the Inquisition to contemporary terrorism, Susan Neiman expTrade ReviewWinner of the 2002 Award for Best Professional/Scholarly Book in Philosophy, Association of American Publishers Winner of the 2003 Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion, American Academy of Religion One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2003 "Evil has become the subject of one book after another, but [this] is one book unlike any other--by a philosopher unlike any other."--Bill Moyers, NOW "Scintillating-- a very rare thing in a philosopher."--Jonathan Ree, Times Literary Supplement "Provocative and profound."--Damon Linker, The Wall Street Journal "The American philosopher Susan Neiman has written the book for this world-political hour."--Neue Zuricher Zeitung "A brilliant new book... No summary can convey the intellectual firepower of Neiman's book. Within her field of interest, she seems not only to have read everything but to have understood it at the deepest level."--William C. Placher, Christian Century "Eloquent... [Neiman argues that] evil is not just an ethical violation, it disrupts and challenges our interpretation of the world."--Edward Rothstein, The New York Times "Neiman follows the argument like a sleuth, and, indeed, her book is a kind of thriller: What is it that menaces us? Will we find what evil is? And how may we escape it? The path leads from a God found absent past a Nature that's indifferent till it fetches up at the house of a man himself... Neiman leads the reader through a careful analysis of the relation of intention, act, and consequence to kinds of useful knowledge and degrees of awareness."--William H. Gass, Harper's Magazine "This great work...looks into these abysses with astonishing fearlessness."--Die Zeit "An erudite and compelling intellectual treatise that is profoundly interesting, often witty, and constructed without resorting to jargon or obfuscation... In reorienting the history of philosophy, she has made it come alive... This is a fine, even elegant book."--Choice "This is an accessible work of philosophy in the best sense, sharply focused on matters of vital human concern and free of the domain tics that mar even allegedly popular works by Anglo-American philosophers."--Mark Lilla, The New York Review of Books "Clear, elegant and inviting...suddenly, (philosophy) is again a matter of life and death."--Die Welt "We badly need alternative histories of philosophy. The story told (by me, among others) cries out for supplementation... Neiman's snazzy prose makes this book a pleasure to read, as well as an immensely welcome change from the sort of history of philosophy to which we have become accustomed."--Richard Rorty, Common Knowledge "A deeply moving and scholarly book that will interest many general readers."--Library Journal "Neiman's book is a welcome contribution to a philosophical conversation too long neglected."--Barry Allen, Toronto Globe and Mail "Neiman argues that when we ask why the world is the way it is, rather than the way it ought to be, that's the same as thinking about evil... If there is only a single standard of good behavior, then no matter how honestly we believe in our causes--in democracy, for instance, as opposed to tyranny or religious totalitarianism--we are never allowed to stop worrying about our own morality when we march forth to defend them."--Judith Shulevitz, New York Times Book Review "Neiman argues that, confronted with the enormity of the Holocaust, 20th-century thinkers found new grounds to conclude that what we call evil reflects nothing so much as the unintelligibility of the world... [Her] conclusion is that we should neither abandon reason nor demand the impossible from it but rather rely on it as much as we can to identify the forms of suffering and acts of cruelty that we have the power to prevent, remedy or diminish."--Peter Berkowitz, Washington Post Book World "Superb... Neiman's claim to have written an alternative history is not an empty boast."--First Things "Neiman's audacity and occasionally morbid wit are a welcome addition to contemporary philosophy. If there is any hope after Auschwitz, we may find it in the fact that human minds will not stop trying to make some kind of meaning out of it."--Alan Wolfe, Books & Culture "Neiman's narrative ... sheds light not just on the writings of particular thinkers, but also on their relation to one another. And it helps us begin to understand certain facts about the modern period that current philosophers find baffling."--Thomas Hibbs, The Weekly Standard "Neiman's book is written with considerable flair, as many critics have already noted, but it possesses a far rarer and more valuable quality: moral seriousness. Her argument builds a powerful emotional force, a sense of deep inevitability... It is not often that a work of such dark conclusions has felt so hopeful and brave."--Mark Kingwell, Wilson QuarterlyTable of ContentsPreface to the Paperback Edition xi Acknowledgments xix Introduction 1 Chapter One: Fire From Heaven 14 God's Advocates: Leibniz and Pope 18 Newton of the Mind: Jean-Jacques Rousseau 36 Divided Wisdom: Immanuel Kant 57 Real and Rational: Hegel and Marx 84 In Conclusion 109 Chapter Two: Condemning the Architect 113 Raw Material: Bayle's Dictionary 116 Voltaire's Destinies 128 The Impotence of Reason: David Hume 148 End of the Tunnel: The Marquis de Sade 170 Schopenhauer: The World as Tribunal 196 Chapter Three: Ends of an Illusion 203 Eternal Choices: Nietzsche on Redemption 206 On Consolation: Freud vs. Providence 227 Chapter Four: Homeless 238 Earthquakes: Why Lisbon? 240 Mass Murders: Why Auschwitz? 250 Losses: Ending Modern Theodicies 258 Intentions: Meaning and Malice 267 Terror: After September 11 281 Remains: Camus, Arendt, Critical Theory, Rawls 288 Origins: Sufficient Reason 314 Afterword to the Princeton Classics Edition 329 Notes 351 Bibliography 361 Index 369

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"One of The Australian Review’s 2017 Books of the Year""One of The Guardian’s Best Books of 2017""Selected for Bloomberg View’s “Must-Reads of 2017: From Space to Chinese Noir”""One of Project Syndicate’s Best Reads in 2017 (chosen by Kaushik Basu)""Shortlisted for the 2018 Ralph Waldo Emerson Award, Phi Beta Kappa Society"

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Nadler and Shapiro do an excellent job of showing off philosophy's tools for better reasoning. For anyone not already skilled in using those tools, their book is a clear and readable primer. . . . [A] heartfelt and lucid advocacy of a more reasoned approach to life."---Julian Baggini, Wall Street Journal"Approaching the topic from a logical and argument-based position, [Nadler and Shapiro] show how to avoid flawed arguments and unreliable information. . . . Clearly written and well organized, this is a valuable examination of why bad thinking occurs and what people can do to make themselves better thinkers." * Choice *

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Nadler and Shapiro do an excellent job of showing off philosophy's tools for better reasoning. For anyone not already skilled in using those tools, their book is a clear and readable primer. . . . [A] heartfelt and lucid advocacy of a more reasoned approach to life."---Julian Baggini, Wall Street Journal"Approaching the topic from a logical and argument-based position, [Nadler and Shapiro] show how to avoid flawed arguments and unreliable information. . . . Clearly written and well organized, this is a valuable examination of why bad thinking occurs and what people can do to make themselves better thinkers." * Choice *

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Kaster creates a meaningful and original tapestry of Senecan thought. . . . His translations are precise, stylistically appealing, and incredibly clever in reproducing the readability and affective impact of the original—a model to emulate. He allows himself the freedom to give Seneca an English voice that speaks to modern readers."---Jula Wildberger, Bryn Mawr Classical Review"Drawing widely on Seneca’s Dialogues (i.e. essays) and his 120 Moral Epistles, [Kaster] discusses the question of fairness under five headings, each with a brief introduction…all beautifully elucidated."---Susan S. Meyer, Classics For All"Excellent."---David Lorimer, Paradigm Explorer

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"A profoundly insightful and indeed magisterial new book. . . . [The Two Greatest Ideas] is a wild and informative ride through the centuries and up to what may intellectually come next in the human adventure. It was a marvel of an experience."---Tom V. Morris, Plato's Lemonade Stand: Stirring Change into Something Great"Zagzebski offers a fascinating meta-level view of these two foundational ideas, taking readers on a journey that includes the many connections between cultural developments, not least the current politically polarized situation in the US. The book is well written and should be accessible to intelligent lay readers." * Choice *"A brilliant, panoramic and original contribution to the history of ideas, providing a new framework that sheds light on many of our current social and political tensions."---David Lorimer, Paradigm Explorer"[A]n ambitious essay in intellectual history. . . . [Zagzebski] has written a highly original study of what it is that makes the modern world modern."---John Crosby, American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"A Financial Times FT Critics' Book of the Year""A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year""This book found me at just the right time. . . . [The Good-Enough Life] offers a bit of an antidote or a countercultural approach to designing communities and systems. . . [It’s a] philosophical, semi-political, pro-social, contemplative approach to designing a new way forward."---Alyson Stoner, New York Magazine"[Alpert’s] vision of a good-enough world is energizing."---Lily Meyer, The Atlantic"The Good-Enough Life leaves no meritocracy standing. . . . [A] jolt of reorientation."---Emily Ogden, Los Angeles Review of Books"[W]e should bestow social recognition . . . .on common moral qualities, not on uncommon talent. It should be good enough just to be good enough . . . . [This is] Alpert’s case, and he makes it well."---Andrew Stark, Times Literary Supplement"Read this book, breathe a sigh of relief, and then go take a nap."---Rana Foroohar, Financial Times"This is an amazing and deeply inspiring book. Alpert employs a prose style that is wrought like fine gold jewelry. There is scarcely a page from which this reader does not wish to quote and share Alpert's wisdom with others." * Choice *

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Dupuy approaches the philosophical question at the very heart of today's social and economic crisis: how is self-transcendence possible? How is it that, although we all know that market is just the result of the interaction of millions of individual acts, it appears to all of them as a foreign autonomous power? Through a close reading of Christian theology, Hegel, Heidegger, and Rene Girard, Dupuy provides a unique answer which shatters all our common wisdoms. The Mark of the Sacred is one of those rare books that cannot simply be measured by academic standards because they themselves set new standards–a book which, in an enlightened well-organized state, should be printed and freely distributed in all schools!"—Slavoj Žižek"This book explores the relation between violence and religion, but not to endorse the common opinion that we can escape the first by abandoning the second. On the contrary, Dupuy argues that there is a dimension of religion and of the sacred which is inescapable even in a secular age. He challenges us to question the complacency of our received wisdom and forces us to reexamine some of our most cherished self-images of modern liberal democratic societies."—Charles Taylor"I'd recommend that all Californians — as citizens of a global hub for apocalyptic and utopian thinking — read [this] most accessible book."—Joe Mathews, LA Daily News

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Book SynopsisBecause research in psychology helps us assess the feasibility of cultivating virtue in ourselves and those we influence, Ethical Excellence focuses on combining sound philosophical analysis of ethical virtue and related concepts with relevant empirical research on how these concepts are manifested and developed in everyday practice.

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsPrelude | 1 Timothy J. Huzar Introduction: Adriana Cavarero, Feminisms, and an Ethics of Nonviolence | 7 Timothy J. Huzar and Clare Woodford Scenes of Inclination | 33 Adriana Cavarero Leaning Out, Caught in the Fall: Interdependency and Ethics in Cavarero | 46 Judith Butler How to Do Things with Inclination: Antigones, with Cavarero | 63 Bonnie Honig Scherzo Thinking Materialistically with Locke, Lonzi, and Cavarero | 93 Olivia Guaraldo Études Cavarero, Kant, and the Arcs of Friendship | 109 Christine Battersby Bad Inclinations: Cavarero, Queer Theories, and the Drive | 121 Lorenzo Bernini Querying Cavarero’s Rectitude | 131 Mark Devenney From Horrorism to the Gray Zone | 141 Simona Forti Violence, Vulnerability, Ontology: Insurrectionary Humanism in Cavarero and Butler | 151 Timothy J. Huzar Queer Madonnas: In Love and Friendship | 161 Clare Woodford Coda | 177 Adriana Cavarero Bibliography | 187 List of Contributors | 199 Index | 203

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Book SynopsisThe possibility of a nuclear war that could destroy civilization has influenced the course of international affairs since 1945, suspended like a sword of Damocles above the heads of the world's leaders. The fact that we have escaped a third world war involving strategic nuclear weapons—indeed, that no atomic weapon of limited power has yet been used under battlefield conditions—seems nothing short of a miracle. Revisiting debates on the effectiveness and ethics of nuclear deterrence, Jean-Pierre Dupuy is led to reformulate some of the most difficult questions in philosophy. He develops a counterintuitive but powerful theory of apocalyptic prophecy: once a major catastrophe appears to be possible, one must assume that it will in fact occur. Dupuy shows that the contradictions and paradoxes riddling discussions of deterrence arise from the tension between two opposite conceptions of time: one in which the future depends on decisions and strategy, and another in which every occurring event is one that could not have failed to occur. Considering the immense destructive power of nuclear warheads and the almost unimaginable ruin they are bound to cause, Dupuy reaches a provocative conclusion: whether they bring about good or evil does not depend on the present or future intentions of those who are in a position to use them. The mere possession of nuclear weapons is a moral abomination.Trade Review"A stimulating read, essential for understanding the remaining options afforded to our civilization, now that we live with the irreversibility of the nuclear bomb."—Diane Delaurens, Nonfiction"We all live under the shadow of a forthcoming catastrophe: pandemic, ecological disaster, nuclear war. Our reactions to such threats are often irrational, and Dupuy provides a superbly readable rational analysis of all these irrationalities: why the logic of nuclear MAD (mutually assured destruction) is really mad, why nuclear threats are never just rhetoric but can trigger an actual catastrophe, why sometimes to be taken seriously one has to act as if one is mad, why the only rational strategy is to accept that things can at any moment go wrong. Dupuy is our best theorist of catastrophes and his new book is a book for all of us—in a well-organized state, it would be massively printed and freely distributed to all families. So it is vulgar and trivial to say that this is an excellent book—it is rather a book that we all need like ordinary daily bread."—Slavoj Žižek, author of Surplus-Enjoyment"This is a provocative exploration of the paradoxes of nuclear deterrence. If we are to postpone nuclear catastrophe indefinitely, Dupuy argues, we must understand that nuclear war is not merely possible but bound to occur."—David Holloway, author of Stalin and the Bomb"Dupuy provides an extremely important service by bringing much-needed attention to the existential risk that society largely ignored prior to the war in Ukraine and, even now, does not take seriously enough. Highly recommended."—Martin E. Hellman, winner of the Turing Award"Dupuy, one of the most incisive thinkers of our times, allows us to rethink history while it is in the making. This book is mandatory reading for anyone who seeks to understand our present."—Frank Ruda, coauthor of Reading Hegel"Most of us navigate our private joys and woes without thinking about collective nuclear annihilation. This is not because the threat has vanished. It is because it is unthinkable. In this compelling work of rational doomsaying, Dupuy models how to think the unthinkable. The result is a challenging and urgent book."—Alison McQueen, author of Political Realism in Apocalyptic TimesTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. One Minute from Apocalypse and Why (Almost) No One Gives a Damn 2. MAD: The Birth of a Structure 3. The Pure Theory of MAD 4. Metaphysical MAD Appendix

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Book SynopsisIn this provocative and interdisciplinary work, Michael J. Hyde develops a philosophy of communication ethics in which the practice of rhetoric plays a fundamental role in promoting and maintaining the health of our personal and communal existence. He examines how the force of interruption—the universal human capacity to challenge our complacent understanding of existence—is a catalyst for moral reflection and moral behavior.Hyde begins by reviewing the role of interruption in the history of the West, from the Big Bang to biblical figures to classical Greek and contemporary philosophers and rhetoricians to three modern thinkers: Søren Kierkegaard, Martin Heidegger, and Emmanuel Levinas. These thinkers demonstrate in various ways that interruption is not simply a heuristic tool, but constitutive of being human. After developing a critical assessment of these thinkers, Hyde offers four case studies in public moral argument that illustrate the applicability of his findings regarding our interruptive nature. These studies feature a patient suffering from heart disease, a disability rights activist defending her personhood, a young woman dying from brain cancer who must justify her decision, against staunch opposition, to opt for medical aid in dying, and the benefits and burdens of what is termed our “posthuman future” with its accelerating achievements in medical science and technology. These improvements are changing the nature of the interruption that we are, yet the wisdom of such progress has yet to be determined. Much more public moral argument is required.Hyde’s philosophy of communication ethics not only calls for the cultivation of wisdom but also promotes the fight for truth, which is essential to the livelihood of democracy.

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Book SynopsisOffering a compendium of case studies in bioethics, Choosing Well demonstrates real ethical dilemmas that can occur in health care settings. Instructors can draw upon the scenarios in this concise and highly effective resource to encourage analysis, critique, discussion, and debate of hot-button ethical issues.The authors present a diverse selection of complex case studies in bioethics to stimulate in-depth analysis on topics ranging from distributive justice, research ethics, reproductive technologies, abortion, and death and dying, to the health care professional–patient relationship and ethics in the workplace. The text also features case studies that move through time to reflect real-life decision making and cases that present multiple perspectives to illustrate the challenges that can arise from disputes in health care settings. Utilizing the DECIDED strategy for analyzing case studies, instructors can guide students through the steps needed to work through a wide variety of ethical dilemmas and encourage reflection on their own ethical assumptions.Accessible, practical, and highly engaging, Choosing Well offers a helpful and interesting way to explore central issues in contemporary bioethics, making it an indispensable resource for instructors and students of bioethics, biomedical ethics, and health care ethics.Table of Contents Preface Chapter 1: An Introduction to Ethics, Case Studies, and Bioethical Principles Chapter 2: The DECIDED Strategy for Working Through Case Studies in Bioethics Chapter 3: Case Studies on Ethics in the Workplace Chapter 4: Case Studies on Distributive Justice Chapter 5: Case Studies on the Health Care Professional–Patient Relationship Chapter 6: Case Studies on Research Ethics Chapter 7: Case Studies on Reproductive Technologies Chapter 8: Case Studies on the Genetic Revolution Chapter 9: Case Studies on Abortion and Maternal–Fetal Conflicts Chapter 10: Case Studies on Death and Dying Chapter 11: Case Studies on Organs and Tissues: Procurement and Transplantation Chapter 12: Case Studies on Medical Paradigms and Non-Standard Treatment Chapter 13: Case Studies That Move Through Time Chapter 14: Case Studies Told from Multiple Perspectives Appendix A: Alternative Case Study Guidelines Appendix B: The Role of Codes of Ethics, Codes of Conduct, and the Law in Bioethics Appendix C: Two Case Studies Analyzed Using the DECIDED Strategy Glossary

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Book SynopsisThis book closely examines texts from Chinese and Western traditions that hold up ethics as the inviolable ground of human existence, as well as those that regard ethics with suspicion. The negative notion of morality contends that because ethics cannot be divorced from questions of belonging and identity, there is a danger that it can be nudged into the domain of the unethical since ethical virtues can become properties to be possessed with which the recognition of others is solicited. Ethics thus fosters the very egoism it hopes to transcend, and risks excluding the unfamiliar and the stranger. The author argues inspirationally that the unethical underbelly of ethics must be recognised in order to ensure that it remains vibrant.

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Book SynopsisIn this much-needed account of what has gone wrong in our thinking about the environment, Val Plumwood digs at the roots of environmental degradation. She argues that we need to see nature as an end itself, rather than an instrument to get what we want. Using a range of examples, Plumwood presents a radically new picture of how our culture must change to accommodate nature.Trade Review'It will ... stand as a key, thoughtful work on the ecological crisis ... an excellent choice for a graduate seminar on environmental thought ... rich and provocative.' - Environmental Politics'This text is an important development of Plumwood's earlier works underlining the dualistic separation of humanity from nature as a key factor in our collective lack of enviromental ethics ... a nuanced and convincing analysis.''... this is an excellent book, which I would wholeheartedly recommend to anyone interested in environmental debate, political philosophy and feminist analysis.' - Susan Board, Open University, UKTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. The Ecological Crisis of Reason 2. Rationalism and the Ambiguity of Science 3. The Politics of Ecological Rationality 4. Inequality and Ecological Rationality 5. Human-Centredness and its Blindspots 6. Philosophy, Prudence and Anthropocentrism 7. The Ethics of Commodification 8. Towards a Dialogical Interspecies Ethics 9. Unity, Solidarity and Deep Ecology 10. Towards a Spirituality of Place

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Book SynopsisThis book uses the concept of âœlearning disabilityâ to explore what it means to be human. It argues that we need to learn with rather than from or about learning disability. This crucial distinction means being open to what learning disability can teach us about what it means to be human. This approach comes from recognizing learning disability as an organizing concept - a concept which radically transforms our sense of what it means to be - or not be - a person.After reflecting on the authorâs relationship to learning disability, the book explores relationships and tensions between conceptualisations of learning disability and of the human. Through historical ontology, the book initially examines how the phenomenon of âœlearning disabilityâ came into being. It then explores ways in which the concept of learning disability has, over the course of the 20th and 21st-Centuries, radically transformed our sense not only of education and learning, but also of who is or is not deemed entitled to full citizenship and the associated rights, and so who is or is not fully human. Each chapter of the book exposes tensions and contradictions apparent in the ways we tend to think about personhood and learning disability, illuminating them through a series a binary oppositions: human and not fully human; menacing and vulnerable; controlled and abandoned; capable and incapable; human and posthuman. The book concludes by drawing together these tensions and contradictions to challenge the prevailing metanarrative of disability and make the case for a more inclusive conceptualization of what it means to be human. It will be of interest to all scholars and students of disability studies, the history of learning disability, humanism and posthumanism, and learning disability advocacy.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Excellent and thought-provoking... More important, by putting forth a bold, clearly formulated hypothesis, Morris has done a great service to the budding field of scientific history."--Peter Turchin, Science "A provocative explanation for the evolution and divergence of ethical values... In the hands of this talented writer and thinker, [this] material becomes an engaging intellectual adventure."--Kirkus "A very good and enjoyable read."--Diane Coyle, Enlightened Economist "Stimulating."--Russell Warfield, Resurgence & EcologistTable of ContentsList of Figures and Tables ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction by Stephen Macedo xiii Chapter 1 Each Age Gets the Thought It Needs 1 Chapter 2 Foragers 25 Chapter 3 Farmers 44 Chapter 4 Fossil Fuels 93 Chapter 5 The Evolution of Values: Biology, Culture, and the Shape of Things to Come 139 Comments Chapter 6 On the Ideology of Imagining That "Each Age Gets the Thought It Needs," Richard Seaford 172 Chapter 7 But What Was It Really Like? The Limitations of Measuring Historical Values, Jonathan D. Spence 180 Chapter 8 Eternal Values, Evolving Values, and the Value of the Self, Christine M. Korsgaard 184 Chapter 9 When the Lights Go Out: Human Values after the Collapse of Civilization, Margaret Atwood 202 Response Chapter 10 My Correct Views on Everything, Ian Morris 208 Notes 267 References 305 Contributors 341 Index 343

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Book SynopsisSelected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time A book about romantic love, Eros the Bittersweet is Anne Carson's exploration of the concept of "eros" in both classical philosophy and literature. Beginning with, "It was Sappho who first called eros 'bittersweet.' No one who has been in love disputes her," Carson examines her subject from numerous points of view, creating a lyrical meditation in the tradition of William Carlos Williams's Spring and All and William H. Gass's On Being Blue. Epigrammatic, witty, ironic, and endlessly entertaining, Eros is an utterly original book.Trade Review"Anne Carson is a rare talent, brilliant and full of wit, passionate and also deeply moving."—Michael Ondaatje "What we learn from Eros the Bittersweet while being spun alive by its brilliance is that its author is a philosopher of much cunning and an agile reader, a scholar with a mind as fresh as a spring meadow, no dust anywhere on her."—Guy Davenport

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Book SynopsisComposed while its author was imprisoned, this book remains one of Western literature’s most eloquent meditations on the transitory nature of earthly belongings, and the superiority of things of the mind. Slavitt’s translation captures Boethius’s energy and passion. Seth Lerer places Boethius’s life and achievement in context in his introduction.Trade ReviewThis is a sensitive and readable translation, whose poetic merits place it beyond other translations of Boethius's great text. -- Henry TaylorA remarkable translation of one of the great masterpieces of philosophical literature. -- Gail Holst-Warhaft, Cornell UniversityA springboard for personal reflection and a source of literate pleasure. -- Steven Chabot * Library Journal *It's a remarkable book (though a short one), and its latest edition, rendered into fluid, compellingly immediate English by veteran translator David R. Slavitt, is very markedly the best one it's ever had...Slavitt presents the reader with Boethius brought to vibrant, vigorous life, to a degree that makes all previous English versions seem pedantic and irrelevant. Harvard University Press has crafted a physically beautiful volume, sturdy and small enough to fit in your pocket--an extremely fitting format for a book that's meant to be a comfort against life's ills. Reading this edition, even readers who've never encountered Boethius before will see at once why his book has meant so much to so many people for the last 1,500 years. -- Steve Donoghue * openlettersmonthly.com *This is a beautifully made little book that I have taken with me on a number of trips, partly just for the pleasure of holding it. At any time I would be glad to have it. -- John Wilson * Books and Culture *Table of Contents* Acknowledgments * Introduction by Seth Lerer * Book I * Book II * Book III * Book IV * Book V

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Book SynopsisThis translation is the first volume of Schopenhauer's major work, which was highly influential on subsequent thinkers including Nietzsche, Freud and Beckett.Trade Review"...This book will be of interest to general readers, undergraduates, graduates, and scholars in the field." --George Lăzăroiu, PhD, Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, New York, Analysis and MetaphysicsTable of ContentsGeneral editor's preface; Editorial notes and references; Introduction; Notes on text and translation; Chronology; Bibliography; The World as Will and Representation: Volume 1: Preface to the first edition; Preface to the second edition; Preface to the third edition; First Book. The world as representation, first consideration. Representation subject to the principle of sufficient reason: the object of experience and science; Second Book. The world as will, first consideration. The objectivation of the will; Third Book. The world as representation, second consideration. Representation independent of the principle of sufficient reason: the Platonic Idea: the object of art; Fourth Book. The world as will, second consideration. With the achievement of self-knowledge, affirmation and negation of the will to life; Appendix: critique of the Kantian philosophy; Variants in different editions; Glossary of names; Index.

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Book SynopsisAlasdair MacIntyre explores some central philosophical, political and moral claims of modernity and argues that a proper understanding of human goods requires a rejection of these claims. In a wide-ranging discussion, he considers how normative and evaluative judgments are to be understood, how desire and practical reasoning are to be characterized, what it is to have adequate self-knowledge, and what part narrative plays in our understanding of human lives. He asks, further, what it would be to understand the modern condition from a neo-Aristotelian or Thomistic perspective, and argues that Thomistic Aristotelianism, informed by Marx''s insights, provides us with resources for constructing a contemporary politics and ethics which both enable and require us to act against modernity from within modernity. This rich and important book builds on and advances MacIntyre''s thinking in ethics and moral philosophy, and will be of great interest to readers in both fields.Trade Review'For readers of Alasdair MacIntyre who have wondered how the views of his After Virtue, Whose Justice? Which Rationality? and Dependent Rational Animals hang together, this book is as good a response as we could have hoped for. In Ethics in the Conflicts of Modernity, we see the fundamental continuity of the ideas that MacIntyre has developed and defended over the past forty years. It is a canonical statement of MacIntyre's mature views in moral, political, and social philosophy.' Mark Murphy, Georgetown University, Washington DC'Alasdair MacIntyre is one of the greatest living philosophers and any new book by him is bound to raise the highest expectations. Readers will not be disappointed by a book that represents the culmination of MacIntyre's life long project to situate ethical thought in its historical and political context. Beginning with academic discussions in meta-ethics, the work develops into a general theory of modernity from MacIntyre's Thomistic perspective. The range of reference is remarkable: from the work of Oscar Wilde and D. H. Lawrence to that of Aquinas and Marx. MacIntyre's scholarship and insight are evident on every page. Everyone – from moral and political philosophers to the reflective general reader – will greatly benefit from reading it.' Alan Thomas, Universiteit van Tilburg, The Netherlands'It's as important a work of philosophy as there has been in some time and a must-read for MacIntyre's followers, detractors, and everyone in between.' Christian Century'… astonishingly wide-ranging work …' Marx and Philosophy Review of Books'… especially where the misdeeds of the powerful are at issue, MacIntyre writes with great trenchancy; and one detects, underneath a cool and measured argumentative surface, the heart of an Amos or Isaiah, burning with righteous anger.' Commonweal'Ethics in the Conflicts of Modernity is an essential addition to MacIntyre's distinguished body of work.' Richard Kraut, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews'[Ethics in the Conflicts of Modernity] is a rich and nuanced text that provides a foundational restatement of Thomistic practical philosophy for the 21st Century. It links moral philosophy, business ethics, and political philosophy in a way that contrasts with standard academic practice.' Caleb Bernacchio, Acta Philosophica'For over three decades, Alasdair MacIntyre has been arguing that Thomistic Aristotelianism offers the best path forward for contemporary politics and ethics. While his philosophical career began in the 1950s, it has been this project … that has established his reputation as one of the most significant philosophers of the twentieth century.' Jennifer A. Herdt, Studies in Christian EthicsTable of ContentsPreface; 1. Desires, goods, and 'good', the philosophical issues; 2. Theory, practice, and their social contexts; 3. Morality and modernity; 4. Neo-Aristotelian ethics and politics developed in contemporary Thomistic terms: issues of relevance and rational justification; 5. Four narratives; Index.

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Book SynopsisThis book explores in detail the relation between ontology and ethics in the early work of Ludwig Wittgenstein, notably the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and, to a lesser extent, the Notebooks, 1914-1916. Requiring no prior knowledge of Wittgenstein's thought, it is the first book-length argument that his views on ethics decisively shaped his ontological and semantic thought.Trade Review"This is an outstanding book. Owing to its broad and balanced scope, I know of no better book on the Tractatus. It is unique in covering in depth both the ontological-technical aspects and the ethical parts of that work." -- Göran Sundholm * Leyden University *

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Book SynopsisThe essays in this collection grew out of a series of invited lectures given in France on the nature of justice and the law. They represent a reflection on the relationship of the juridical and the philosophical concept of right, situated between moral philosophy and politics.

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