Ethics and moral philosophy Books

Book SynopsisThe Roman statesman and philosopher Seneca (4 BCE-65 CE) recorded his moral philosophy and reflections on life as a highly original kind of correspondence. Letters on Ethics includes vivid descriptions of town and country life in Nero's Italy, discussions of poetry and oratory, and philosophical training for Seneca's friend Lucilius. This volume, the first complete English translation in nearly a century, makes the Letters more accessible than ever before. Written as much for a general audience as for Lucilius, these engaging letters offer advice on how to deal with everything from nosy neighbors to sickness, pain, and death. Seneca uses the informal format of the letter to present the central ideas of Stoicism, for centuries the most influential philosophical system in the Mediterranean world. His lively and at times humorous expositions have made the Letters his most popular work and an enduring classic. Including an introduction and explanatory notes by Margaret Graver and A. A. Long, this authoritative edition will captivate a new generation of readers.

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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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Book SynopsisTrade Reviewadds greatly to the understanding of both the ethical thinking about human and nonhuman animals and the campaigning and claims-making that occurs on behalf of animals. -- Roger Yates SociologyTable of ContentsForeword, by Gary Steiner Acknowledgments Introduction: The Abolition of Animal Use Versus the Regulation of Animal Treatment 1. Animals-Property or Persons? 2. Reflections on Animals, Property, and the Law and Rain Without Thunder 3. Taking Sentience Seriously 4. Equal Consideration and the Interest of Nonhuman Animals in Continued Existence: A Response to Professor Sunstein 5. The Use of Nonhuman Animals in Biomedical Research: Necessity and Justification 6. Ecofeminism and Animal Rights: A Review of Beyond Animal Rights: A Feminist Caring Ethic for the Treatment of Animals 7. Comparable Harm and Equal Inherent Value: The Problem of the Dog in the Lifeboat Reference Guide to Selected Topics

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Book SynopsisTimothy Morton explores the foundations of the ecological crisis to reestablish our ties to nonhuman beings and rediscover playfulness and joy. Dark ecology puts us in an uncanny position of radical self-knowledge, illuminating our place in the biosphere and our belonging to a species in a sense that is far less obvious than we like to think.Trade ReviewIn often witty and humorous language, Timothy Morton provides a kind of affective atlas for the human era. The book calls for scholars to recognize the structures of entwinement between (the human) species and ecological phenomena and to develop modes of thought for accommodating them. -- Kate Marshall, University of Notre DameDark Ecology is a brave, brilliant interrogation of the presumptions that have driven our approach to the ecological and environmental challenges of our era. Anyone who is willing to ride the rollercoaster of ideas on which Morton takes us will reach the end brimming with new conceptual and intellectual energies with which to face up to our present limits and failures and to shape an alive and joyful future. -- Imre Szeman, University of AlbertaMorton is a master of philosophical enigma. In Dark Ecology he treats us to an obscure ecognosis, the essentially unsolvable riddle of ecological being. Prepare to be endarkened! -- Michael Marder, author of The Philosopher's Plant and PyropoliticsMorton commands readers' attention with his free-form style.... [Dark Ecology] extends his previous work to offer a seismically different vision of the future of ecology and humankind. * Publishers Weekly *With touches of humor, bits of information drawn from literature (ancient Latin and Greek), and plenty of philosophy, Morton takes readers on a strongly philosophical and semantic tour of 'the darkness and light' of human interrelatedness with the biosphere. * Choice *A playful, poetic parsing of our era's environmental crisis. * Rice Magazine *A rewarding hike. * Library Journal *Timothy Morton's new work by turns fascinates, mystifies, stuns, confuses, and excites...Readers who seek new vocabularies for thinking about the Anthropocene and the vexed relation between human society and biological life will find a lot to work with. * British Society for Literature and Science *[A] radical vision of what ecological thought can be. * Los Angeles Review of Books *Morton’s provocative book urges the reader to braid, to twist, or to play cat’s cradle with its looping logic. * Critical Inquiry *Morton disrupts the customary assumption that industrialization is the root cause of ecological crisis, such crisis being already contained in the agrilogistic drawing of a sharp boundary between human and nonhuman worlds. -- Charlene Elsby * The Canadian Society for Continental Philosophy *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsBeginning After the EndThe First ThreadThe Second ThreadThe Third ThreadEnding Before the BeginningNotesIndex

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Book SynopsisThis classic and controversial book examines the roots of the idea of virtue, diagnoses the reasons for its absence in modern life, and proposes a path for its recovery.Trade Review“After Virtue is a striking work. It is clearly written and readable. The nonprofessional will find MacIntyre perspicuous and lively. He stands within the best modern traditions of writing on such matters.” —New York Review of Books“MacIntyre’s arguments deserve to be taken seriously by anybody who thinks that the mere acceptance of pluralism is not the same thing as democracy, who worries about politicians wishing to give opinions about everything under the sun, and who stops to think of how important Aristotelian ethics have been for centuries.” —The Economist“After Virtue is a rigorous, ambitious, and original book. It is a reinterpretation of the entire history of Western moral philosophy, as decline, fall, and—possibly—rebirth.” —The Village Voice“MacIntyre has reconsidered and extended his ideas since the 1981 and 1984 editions, but retains his central thesis that it is only possible to understand the dominant moral culture of advanced modernity adequately from a standpoint external to that culture. He is still an Aristotelian, he says, but has come to believe that Thomas Aquinas expressed Aristotle's views better than the old man himself did.” —Reference and Research Book News“If MacIntyre’s admittedly bleak diagnosis of our times is not accepted, the rivalry it sparked surely has some benefit for the interface between competing traditions. And where it is accepted, it will also be because those who accept it have not give up on our capacity, despite everything else, to be virtuous.” —Catholic Books Review"Alasdair MacIntyre in After Virtue has written one of the most important books of the decade… a stunning critique of current moral philosophy and moral practice." — Commonweal MagazineMaIntyre’s After Virtue is one of the most widely read books of moral philosophy to appear in recent years. It is written with little of the technical arguments that limits the readership of many philosophy works and has drawn considerable response from readers outside academe.” —The Chronicle of Higher Education

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Book SynopsisOffers a persuasive argument of there not being rationality that is not the rationality of some tradition. MacIntyre examines the problems presented by the existence of rival traditions of inquiry in the cases of four major philosophers: Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, and Hume.Trade Review"Alasdair MacIntyre has done it again. . . . [He] delivers on his promise in After Virtue to develop an account of rationality and justice that is tradition specific. It is a long and complex book, but will repay any reader's labors. In this book MacIntyre tells the story of four traditions: the Aristotelian, the Augustinian, the Scottish, and the rise of the liberal tradition. His narrative shows the interaction of these in a manner that illumines our current intellectual and moral context. . . ." —Commonweal"It is a step in the right direction, not of returning to some Catholic version of fundamentalist bibliotary, but of reading a Christian theologian and philosopher whose immense wisdom repays careful study by Christians and non-Christians alike." —New Oxford Review“Whose Justice? Which Rationality? is a work of signal importance ... [it] is usually convincing, always provocative, and has wide-reaching implications for the way we think about our historical moment." —Commentary“MacIntyre’s rich historical exposition displays all the erudition and philosophical subtlety that his readers have come to expect from his work. . . . [T]here is much to admire in MacIntyre’s unflinching indictment of liberal modernity.” —The New Criterion“[MacIntyre’s] diagnosis of what ails recent moral philosophy is brilliant.” —Wilson Quarterly“MacIntyre is widely informed and his story of developments in the traditions that he identifies is learned, interesting, and notably well-written.” —London Review of Books

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Book SynopsisWhy do policies and business practices that ignore the moral and generous side of human nature often fail? Should the idea of economic manthe amoral and self-interested Homo economicusdetermine how we expect people to respond to monetary rewards, punishments, and other incentives? Samuel Bowles answers with a resounding no. Policies that follow from this paradigm, he shows, may crowd out ethical and generous motives and thus backfire. But incentives per se are not really the culprit. Bowles shows that crowding out occurs when the message conveyed by fines and rewards is that self-interest is expected, that the employer thinks the workforce is lazy, or that the citizen cannot otherwise be trusted to contribute to the public good. Using historical and recent case studies as well as behavioral experiments, Bowles shows how well-designed incentives can crowd in the civic motives on which good governance depends.Trade Review"In his tightly argued and illuminating book, Bowles makes the case that appeals made to our self-interest can undercut instinctive moral impulses; and that when these impulses are weakened crucial institutions work sub-optimally, if not at all."—Robert Armstrong, Financial Times"Bowles makes an appealing case that virtue has a place in the world of economics . . . adds to a tide of research (such as the work of economist Elinor Ostrom and evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wilson) showing that selfishness is not the only human virtue in the real world."—Bob Holmes, New Scientist“A welcome alternative. . . Bowles persuasively argues that when economists take as given (and thus plan for) a world of utility-maximising agents, they actually help create such a world.” —Rebecca L. Spang, Times Literary Supplement Won an Honorable Mention for the 2017 Robert Lane Award given by the Organized Political Sections of the APSA"The Moral Economy plows new ground in exploring how the actions we take are motivated by their meaning. Samuel Bowles is proposing a paradigm shift in how we think about our lives and about economics."—George Akerlof, Nobel Laureate in Economics"The Moral Economy convincingly shows that economic incentives and legal constraints alone will not produce a flourishing society because good – morally motivated – people are indispensable. A thought-provoking work!"—Ernst Fehr, Professor of Economics at the University of Zurich"The Moral Economy is a brilliant book. Rarely have such big ideas been communicated in such a compact package. This book should change the way political leaders, policy makers, and social scientists of all stripes do their work and understand the work that they do."—Barry Schwartz, author of Practical Wisdom and Why We Work"In this wonderful book, Sam Bowles explores—with intellectual breadth and analytical acuity—the importance of altruism and a sense of fairness in creating and sustaining decent societies. His prose is lucid, arguments compelling, and conclusions important. This is social science at its very best."—Joshua Cohen, Apple University"Sam Bowles is a visionary thinker who has done more than anyone else I know to unite the social sciences. In this superb book his combination of wisdom and rigor shines through, offering important lessons for anyone who hopes to motivate, govern, or even inspire actual humans."—Joshua Greene, author of Moral Tribes and director of the Moral Cognition Lab, Harvard University

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Book SynopsisA renowned Harvard professor''s brilliant, sweeping, inspiring account of the role of justice in our society--and of the moral dilemmas we face as citizens For Michael Sandel, justice is not a spectator sport, The Nation''s reviewer of Justice remarked. In his acclaimed book?based on his legendary Harvard course?Sandel offers a rare education in thinking through the complicated issues and controversies we face in public life today. It has emerged as a most lucid and engaging guide for those who yearn for a more robust and thoughtful public discourse. In terms we can all understand, wrote Jonathan Rauch in The New York Times, Justice confronts us with the concepts that lurk . . . beneath our conflicts. Affirmative action, same-sex marriage, physician-assisted suicide, abortion, national service, the moral limits of markets?Sandel relates the big questions of political philosophy to the most vexing issues of the day, and shows how a surer grasp of philosophy can help us make sense of politics, morality, and our own convictions as well. Justice is lively, thought-provoking, and wise?an essential new addition to the small shelf of books that speak convincingly to the hard questions of our civic life.

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Book SynopsisCalled The Black Pope by many of his followers, Anton La Vey began the road to High Priesthood of the Church of Satan when he was only 16 years old and an organ player in a carnival...On Saturday night I would see men lusting after halfnaked girls dancing at the carnival, and on Sunday morning when I was playing the organ for tent-show evangelists at the other end of the carnival lot, I would see these same men sitting in the pews with their wives and children, asking God to forgive them and purge them of carnal desires. And the next Saturday night they''d be back at The carnival or some other place of indulgence.I knew then that the Christian Church thrives on hypocrisy, and that man''s carnal nature will out!From that time early in his life his path was clear. Finally, on the last night of April, 1966?Walpurgisnacht,the most important festival of the believers in witchcraft?LaVey shaved his head in the tradition of Ancient executioners and announced the formation of The Church Of Satan. He had seen the need for a church that would recapture man''s body and his carnal desires as objects of celebration.Since worship of fleshly things produces pleasure, he said, there would then be a temple of glorious indulgence . . .

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Book Synopsis One of the world''s most famous and influential books, Meditations, by the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius (A.D. 121?180), incorporates the stoic precepts he used to cope with his life as a warrior and administrator of an empire. Ascending to the imperial throne in A.D. 161, Aurelius found his reign beset by natural disasters and war. In the wake of these challenges, he set down a series of private reflections, outlining a philosophy of commitment to virtue above pleasure and tranquility above happiness.Reflecting the emperor''s own noble and self-sacrificing code of conduct, this eloquent and moving work draws and enriches the tradition of Stoicism, which stressed the search for inner peace and ethical certainty in an apparently chaotic world. Serenity was to be achieved by emulating in one''s personal conduct the underlying orderliness and lawfulness of nature. And in the face of inevitable pain, loss, and death ? the suffering at the core of life ? Aurelius counsels stoic detachment from the things that are beyond one''s control and a focus on one''s own will and perception. Presented here in a specially modernized version of the classic George Long translation, this updated and revised edition is easily accessible to contemporary readers. It not only provides a fascinating glimpse into the mind and personality of a highly principled Roman of the second century but also offers today''s readers a practical and inspirational guide to the challenges of everyday life.

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Book SynopsisThe Times Biography of the YearWinner of the Hawthornden Prize 2019Shortlisted for the HWA Non-Fiction Prize 2019Longlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize 2019Longlisted for the Cundhill History Prize 2019Outstanding.' The Sunday Times A revelation.' Guardian Wonderful.' The Times Riveting.' New StatesmanFriedrich Nietzsche's work rocked the foundation of Western thinking and continues to permeate our culture, high and low yet he is one of history's most misunderstood philosophers. Sue Prideaux's myth-shattering book brings readers into the world of a brilliant, eccentric and deeply troubled man, illuminating the events and people that shaped his life and work. I Am Dynamite! is the essential biography for anyone seeking to understand Nietzsche, the philosopher who foresaw and sought solutions to our own troubled times.

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Book SynopsisHow do we judge whether an action is morally right or wrong? If an action is wrong, what reason does that give us not do it? Why should we give such reasons priority over our other concerns and values? T. M. Scanlon offers new answers to these questions, as they apply to the central part of morality that concerns what we owe to each other.Trade Review[Scanlon's] discussions are deep and honest, and they illuminate many key concepts of moral philosophy: well being, trust, friendship, loyalty, promises. It would be—and will be—the business of more than one doctoral thesis to assess his success. -- Simon Blackburn * New York Times Book Review *T. M. Scanlon is a scrupulous, astringent, relentlessly exact writer, without any of the fuss and flutter that come from the desire to please. His book is pure philosophy, unadulterated. -- Stuart Hampshire * New York Review of Books *Thomas Scanlon's understanding of [morality's] complexity and of its sources in the variety of human relations and values is one of the virtues of this illuminating book. To say that it is long awaited would be an understatement. Scanlon has been one of the most influential contributors to moral and political philosophy for years...The appearance of his first book, a complex and powerful argument for the moral theory first sketched in his essay Contractualism and Utilitarianism, is a philosophical event. -- Thomas Nagel * London Review of Books *I rejoice in the appearance of this magnificent book. It is not often that a work on ethics opens up a novel, arresting position on matters that have been debated for thousands of years. And What We Owe To Each Other does precisely that. -- Philip Pettit * Times Literary Supplement *Mr. Scanlon has produced a compelling explanation of the moral thinking behind such duties as truth-telling and promise-keeping, and for this he deserves great praise. -- Douglas A. Sylva * Washington Times *Seeks to explain how human societies might find moral authority without appealing to a deity or inherited laws. The answer comes from a sort of idealized social negotiation—the process of thinking, in good faith, with a community of other good-faith thinkers. -- Sam Anderson * New York Times *What do we owe to each other? What obligations of honesty, respect, trust and consideration exist between people? That is the deep and ancient question Harvard philosopher T. M. Scanlon attempts to illuminate in this closely argued book. Its success as an argument illustrates why moral philosophy should matter...Scanlon is a careful and precise thinker, a leading figure in contemporary philosophy, and here he is working at the height of his considerable powers. -- Mark Kingwell * Globe and Mail *Scanlon presents the most complete statement to date of his version of 'contractualism'...He treats as basic the notion that we have reason to want to live with others and are motivated to seek agreement on a set of principles for the general regulation of behavior that others similarly motivated could not reasonably reject...He carefully addresses many concerns that have been raised about his and similar versions of contractualism; anyone discussing contractualism will have to consider his account. -- D. R. C. Reed * Choice *Scanlon offers a sharp challenge to much contemporary moral philosophy. Most philosophers think that agreements between people play only a subsidiary role in moral theory. What is right or wrong is independent of what people accept. Agreements rest on morality; they do not underlie it. Scanlon dissents. In his conception, morality depends on principles it would not be reasonable for people to reject. These agreements do not derive from further moral facts. Scanlon also challenges the view that desires give reasons for action, leveling heavy artillery at the contrary position of Bernard Williams. The originality, scope, and careful argument of this work mark it as an indispensable book. -- David Gordon * Library Journal *Table of ContentsIntroduction Reasons and Values Reasons Values Well-Being Right and Wrong Wrongness and Reasons The Structure of Contractualism Responsibility Promises Relativism Appendix: Williams on Internal and External Reasons Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThe fox knows many things, the Greeks said, but the hedgehog knows one big thing. In this title, the author argues that value in all its forms is one big thing: that what truth is, life means, morality requires, and justice demands are different aspects of the same large question.Trade ReviewIn a sustained, profound, and richly textured argument that will, from now on, be essential to all debate on the matter, Ronald Dworkin makes the case for…the unity of value… Dworkin writes as an applied philosopher; the topics he discusses are matters of practical importance. They affect whether and how people can give meaning to their lives. They make a difference in legislatures and courts of law whose decisions touch hundreds of millions of lives. That is what gives the overall argument its urgency, for Dworkin's principal aim in establishing the unity of value is the familiar and central one for him: to show how law and government can be based on political morality… He completes, in [the] final chapter, a chain of reasoning that can be seen as uniting convictions of personal morality with principles of political justice, and then showing how these are all gathered together in a larger system of moral ideals that he believes lawyers and judges must deploy in discovering what the abstract principles of the American Constitution really mean and require. We are in at the birth, here, of a modern philosophical classic, one of the essential works of contemporary thought. It is bound to be a major debate-changer, because even the many who will find much to disagree with—Dworkin, after all, disagrees with them in advance, and robustly—will not be able to ignore the challenges he poses. And out of the heat to come, much light will shine. -- A. C. Grayling * New York Review of Books *The most profound legal book of the season is Justice for Hedgehogs… This book is [Dworkin's] theory of everything and rests on the notion that 'value' is the one big philosophical thing… For the first time, all pieces of Dworkin's jurisprudential thinking fall formidably into place. -- Richard Susskind * The Times *[Dworkin's arguments] display great intellectual rigour… A daring and demanding treatise… Defining morality as the standards governing how we ought to treat other people, and ethics as the standards governing how we ought to live ourselves, Dworkin argues that living morally and living ethically are inseparable. What we achieve is less important than the manner in which we live our lives, and that is judged in part by how we treat other people. To live well, Dworkin writes, is to live one's life as if it were a work of art. In a work of art the value of what is created is inseparable from the act of creating it. A painting is not only a product; it embodies a particular performance. For Dworkin, it isn't the product value of a human life that is most important but its performance value. A life should be an achievement 'in itself, with its own value in the art in living it displays.' …Justice for Hedgehogs attempts to give human beings their due, not in any spirit of self-congratulation but so that we may build a better life for all. -- Richard King * The Australian *Justice for Hedgehogs represents a powerful account of what our moral world would have to be for our moral life to be harmonious. -- William A. Galston * Commonweal *The 79-year-old professor of philosophy's grand, perhaps culminating, statement of what truth is, what life means, what morality requires and justice demands… [Dworkin] builds up a comprehensive system of value—embracing democracy, justice, political obligation, morality, liberty, equality—from his notions of dignity and self-respect. -- Stuart Jeffries * The Guardian *The first thing to strike you about this remarkable book is its ambition… In Justice for Hedgehogs all of Dworkin's great talent is on display, the themes overwhelming in their sheer bigness. The basic point is that like the hedgehog in a famous essay by Isaiah Berlin, there is one big thing Dworkin knows above all else—it is what makes sense of how we act as persons, how we relate to others and how we construct our society… The nineteen substantive chapters stand as a great statement of a life well lived (and with, it is hoped, many years still to go). -- Conor Gearty * New Humanist *Justice for Hedgehogs is Dworkin's most ambitious book to date… It is full of sustained argument and arresting observations drawn from a lifetime of thought and a great armory of knowledge. -- Jonathan Sumption * The Spectator *

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Book SynopsisThis is a primer on the Capabilities Approach, Martha Nussbaum’s innovative model for assessing human progress. She argues that much humanitarian policy today violates basic human values; instead, she offers a unique means of redirecting government and development policy toward helping each of us lead a full and creative life.Trade ReviewA remarkably lucid and scintillating account of the the human development approach seen from the perspective of one of its major architects. -- Amartya Sen, winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize in EconomicsNussbaum, who has done more than anyone to develop the authoritative and ground-breaking capabilities approach, offers a major restatement that will be required reading for all those interested in economic development that truly enhances how people live. -- Henry Richardson, Georgetown UniversityA marvelous achievement: beautifully written and accessible. With Amartya Sen, Martha Nussbaum is one of the founders of the 'capability approach' to justice; the most innovative and influential development in political philosophy since the work of John Rawls. This book, for the first time, puts in one place all the central elements of Nussbaum's systematic account of the approach, together with its sources and implications. -- Jonathan Wolff, University College LondonThe very best way to be introduced to the capability approach to international development. It is also a wonderfully lucid account of the origins, justification, structure, and practical implications of her version of this powerful approach to ethically-based change in poor and rich countries. -- David Alan Crocker, The University of Maryland School of Public PolicyOffering a forceful and persuasive account of the failings of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as an accurate reflection of human welfare, the distinguished philosopher Nussbaum provides a framework for a new account of global development based on the concept of capabilities...The author argues that human development is best measured in terms of specific opportunities available to individuals rather than economic growth figures...This small book provides a strong foundation for beginning to think about how economic growth and individual flourishing might coincide. * Publishers Weekly *Nussbaum looks at what it really means for a country to experience prosperity. Traditionally, a country's economic well-being was measured by its gross domestic product. Nussbaum takes a more personal approach by focusing on how economic prosperity plays out in ordinary citizens' lives. She analyzes the life of a woman in India by taking a close look at her situation to see what capabilities and opportunities she--and women like her--might have. The key is not to look simply at the hand they've been dealt, but whether their particular society affords them opportunities to win with it. Nussbaum calls this the "capabilities approach," and it offers a novel way to measure prosperity on a national level by seeing how well a country can provide life-changing prospects for all its citizens...By demonstrating the philosophical underpinnings of this approach and how the theory plays out in the real world, Nussbaum makes a compelling case. Not only is this a more realistic measure of wealth, but it is also a far more compassionate one. For readers who enjoy economics laced with humanity. -- Carol J. Elsen * Library Journal *In her new book, Creating Capabilities, the philosopher and legal scholar Martha Nussbaum argues that we need to refocus our ideas about development on the scale of individuals: on concrete human lives and the way they actually unfold. Quantitative measures like per capita GDP, she writes, are poor measures of development; they can't capture the shape and texture of individual lives, even though individual lives are what matter. Development isn't about how rich your nation is, on average--it's about whether people can live in a way "worthy of human dignity."...Nussbaum's book comes at an interesting time, just as growth in the rich world is slowing. That slowdown makes her ideas relevant for rich people, too. Dignified life in the rich world isn't only about being "well-fed," either...Even amid a slowdown, there are other dimensions in which life can keep improving. -- Josh Rothman * Boston Globe online *Renowned philosopher Nussbaum concisely captures the essential ideas of a new paradigm of social and political thought, the "human development and capabilities" approach to global social justice, founded on the work of Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen, and now used by the World Bank, the IMF, the Arab Human Development Report, and the United Nations Development Programme. -- S. A. Mason * Choice *

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Book SynopsisMartha Nussbaum asks: How can we sustain a decent society that aspires to justice and inspires sacrifice for the common good? Amid negative emotions endemic even to good societies, public emotions rooted in love—intense attachments outside our control—can foster commitment to shared goals and keep at bay the forces of disgust and envy.Trade Review[Nussbaum] maps out the routes by which men and women who begin in self-interest and ingrained prejudice can build a society in which what she calls ‘public emotions’ operate to enlarge the individual’s ‘circle of concern’… Those who would extend the sympathy individuals feel to include fellow citizens of whatever views, ethnicity, ability or disability must ‘create stable structures of concern that extend compassion broadly.’ Those structures cannot be exclusively rational and philosophical—as they tend to be in the work of John Rawls and other Kantian liberals—but must, says Nussbaum, be political in the sense that they find expression in the visible machinery of public life… It is one of the virtues of Nussbaum’s book that she neither shrinks from sentimentality (how could she, given her title and subtitle?) nor fears being judged philosophically unsophisticated. -- Stanley Fish * New York Times *Continuing her philosophical inquiry into both emotions and social justice, Nussbaum now makes the case for love, arguing that emotions rooted in love can foster commitment to shared goals and keep fear, envy and disgust at bay…To sustain democratic institutions, Nussbaum claims, a liberal society should cultivate the emotions that underpin imagination and sympathy for others, and the way to do this is through education and the arts. Imaginative capacities will be developed very early in the family, and should be furthered via art, poetry, music and literature. These skills enable us to see each person’s fate in every other’s, and to picture it vividly as an aspect of our own. For Nussbaum, the liberal tradition should not cede emotion to anti-liberal forces (fascism, for example, was particularly good at using emotions for political ends). But all political principles need a proper emotional basis to ensure their stability over time, and all decent societies need to guard against division by cultivating appropriate sentiments of sympathy and love. This is why political emotions, narrative imagination, and love matter for justice. -- Marina Gerner * Times Literary Supplement *Martha Nussbaum has been a productive and creative commentator on the questions raised by A Theory of Justice, and her book Political Emotions is a long and thoughtful discussion of one of them: How can we engage the citizens’ emotions…on behalf of a more just, more inclusive, gentler, and more imaginative society? …Nussbaum takes Rawls’s account of justice as her starting point, but she greatly extends its range. She wants to turn away from hypothetical and bloodless contractors behind the veil of ignorance to focus on our actual flesh-and-blood selves. -- Alan Ryan * New York Review of Books *Impressively erudite. -- Julian Baggini * Financial Times *There’s no more interesting or persuasive writer on the wider and connected subjects of emotions and social justice than Martha Nussbaum… Here she brings together strands that go back to her own The Fragility of Goodness (1986), and in the process delivers a book as important in its way as John Rawls’s definitive but slightly bloodless A Theory of Justice. Here, she draws on aesthetics as well as philosophy to make her point… It’s a great book, though, and goes straight on the shelf beside John Rawls. Political morality for the new age. -- Brian Morton * Glasgow Herald *Martha Nussbaum’s is one of the most influential and innovative voices in modern philosophy. Over the past four decades, a steady stream of books and articles has issued from her prodigious mind. She stands out among her contemporaries for insisting that philosophy must be rigorous and, above all, useful… The book demonstrates how people of different identities can be brought together around a common set of values and political principles through the power of art and symbol… As a culmination of her monumental contribution to academia, in Political Emotions she has produced an incandescent work that will not only be an inspiration to scholars and lay readers alike, but be a beacon for societies that aspire to justice and goodness. -- Govindan Nair * The Hindu *Nussbaum [is] one of the finest theorists on law and ethics… Her journey is a tour de force that travels through Greek and Indian epics, the music of Mozart in ‘The marriage of Figaro,’ the poems of Rabindranath Tagore and Walt Whitman, the rhetorical speeches of Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., the writings of John Stuart Mill, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, B.R. Ambedkar, Auguste Comte and John Rawls to make a case for establishing just societies by foregrounding emotions that can be developed through critical reasoning… Then she, with incisive brilliance, investigates three emotions that pose special problems for compassionate citizenship: fear, envy and shame and also explain that some societies instead of combating them make the situation worse… Her magnum opus. -- A. S. Panneerselvan * The Hindu *This volume is impressive for its breadth of references in liberal political philosophy to literature and art theory, but all the more impressive for the care and enthusiasm expressed for the subject matter. The heart of the book, and what makes it a rather novel contribution, is Nussbaum’s attention to the psychology of emotions, particularly in how she draws upon the lessons of attachment theory to inspire lessons for building a caring, loving society and a rich notion of political justice… Political Emotions is an exciting contribution to liberal political theory. Nussbaum’s recent forays in bridging political philosophy with attention to aesthetic affect, emotion and attachment have genuinely enriched the terrain of liberal theory. Hopefully the discussions Nussbaum introduces here will help to enrich our collective public life as well. -- Michael Larson * Metapsychology *[Nussbaum] reinstates the role of emotion in politics and draws attention to and rejects any kind of false emotionalism vis-à-vis nationalism. She examines how figures like Rabindranath Tagore and B. R. Ambedkar, through their emotional appeal on relevant issues, were able to build the right kind of nationalism. In the very contemporary context of Hindutva and its very particular link to patriotism, I would recommend this book to everyone. -- Indira Jaising * Outlook India *Genuinely bracing. -- Brian Morton * The Tablet *Political Emotions is an important work, and Nussbaum has created valuable space for love and human imperfection to be weighed more heavily in the search for justice. -- Geraldine Van Bueren * Times Higher Education *Reading [Political Emotions] has reinforced, but more importantly broadened, my understanding of love’s significance in political life and how it can be fostered there… I find much political wisdom in Nussbaum’s book. -- Walter Moss * LA Progressive *Nussbaum stimulates readers with challenging insights on the role of emotion in political life. Her provocative theory of social change shows how a truly just society might be realized through the cultivation and studied liberation of emotions, specifically love. To that end, the book sparkles with Nussbaum’s characteristic literary analysis, drawing from both Western and South Asian sources, including a deep reading of public monuments. In one especially notable passage, Nussbaum artfully interprets Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, revealing it as a musical meditation on the emotionality of revolutionary politics and feminism. Such chapters are a culmination of her passion for seeing art and literature as philosophical texts, a theme in her writing that she profitably continues here. The elegance with which she negotiates this diverse material deserves special praise, as she expertly takes the reader through analyses of philosophy, opera, primatology, psychology, and poetry. In contrast to thinkers like John Rawls, who imagined an already just world, Nussbaum addresses how to order our society to reach such a world. A plea for recognizing the power of art, symbolism, and enchantment in public life, Nussbaum’s cornucopia of ideas effortlessly commands attention and debate. * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *Justice is hard. It demands our devotion as well as our understanding. For that reason, it must grip our emotions. We must feel its absence and its presence with the depth of feeling that we associate with love. That is the compelling message in Martha Nussbaum’s remarkable—and remarkably original—account of political emotions. She explores the place of love in a decent society that aspires to be just. And she explains—with great intellectual and emotional force—how we can cultivate a political love with the kind of complexity that does justice to our humanity. -- Joshua Cohen, author of The Arc of the Moral Universe and Other EssaysIn her sweeping panorama of society and culture, Nussbaum skillfully and flexibly uses her understanding of public emotions to produce a book of considerable wisdom and merit. Her study is anchored in a well-rounded view of a complex but largely unexplored theme in the West as well as in South Asia. -- Mushirul Hasan, author of Faith and Freedom: Gandhi in HistoryPolitical Emotions is a remarkable synthesis of two of the most distinctive strands of Martha Nussbaum’s thought—a conception of the emotions as essential to our understanding of the world and a political liberalism attuned to the fostering of human capacities. Readers will not fail to be enlightened and moved. -- Charles Larmore, author of The Autonomy of MoralityMartha Nussbaum rises above all the disciplinary boundaries. This wise and engaging study of what patriotism is and how to cultivate it is written by a philosopher, a political theorist, a psychologist, a literary critic, and a historian—all of them at their best and all of them one amazing person. -- Michael Walzer, Institute for Advanced Study

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Book SynopsisIt is tempting to believe that dehumanization is an excess of rhetoric—that no one thinks his foe is truly monstrous. David Livingstone Smith argues otherwise, showing that when we dehumanize our enemies, we consider them both human and not. Dehumanization is a genuine psychological response to political manipulation, with harrowing consequences.Trade ReviewNo one is doing better work on the psychology of dehumanization than David Livingstone Smith, and he brings to bear an impressive depth and breadth of knowledge in psychology, philosophy, history, and anthropology. Making Monsters is a landmark achievement which will frame all future work on the psychology of dehumanization. -- Eric Schwitzgebel, author of A Theory of Jerks and Other Philosophical MisadventuresA fascinating and rich book that combines philosophical and historical sophistication. Even—indeed especially—those who disagree markedly with Smith’s views about dehumanization, like me, will benefit from wrestling with his lucid, important arguments. -- Kate Manne, author of Entitled: How Male Privilege Hurts WomenMaking Monsters is a wonderful book in so many ways. It is thoughtful, scholarly, and accessible, comprehensive and compelling—a tremendous accomplishment that will enrich our understanding of some of the darker part of our human condition. -- Lori Gruen, author of Entangled EmpathyMaking Monsters is a historically informed and theoretically rich exploration of how and why we dehumanize one another. Scientifically sophisticated and interdisciplinary in scope, Smith’s vivid use of examples transforms his book from a valuable scholarly treatise into an urgent and timely manifesto. -- Charlotte Witt, author of The Metaphysics of GenderIf you’ve ever wondered “How could they?” David Livingstone Smith’s brilliant Making Monsters will help you understand the callous brutality of race crimes and the psychology of dehumanization. With a steady hand, Smith leads us through a wide swath of the worst of human crimes and distills into his own insightful account the research explaining the social and psychological mechanisms that enable ordinary people to do monstrous deeds. This illuminating book is a major contribution to the urgent project of understanding the psychology of dehumanization in the hope of preventing future atrocities. -- Lynne Tirrell, University of ConnecticutIlluminating…It is cutting insights…along with thoughtful speculations on how dehumanization is nurtured—through racism, ideology, and the power of hierarchical structures—that makes this such an invaluable study, particularly at this time. -- Bill Marx * Arts Fuse *In this book, David Livingstone Smith’s concern is how human beings can come to conceive of other human beings ‘as subhuman creatures’—a phenomenon that is not limited to a single culture or a specific, isolated historical period…A very worthwhile read. -- Linda Roland Danil * Human Rights Quarterly *

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThis is an extremely worthwhile addition to the literature on the evolution of morality. It is well written and strikes an excellent balance between easy accessibility and nuanced and novel ideas. This book will appeal to students and researchers from a range of disciplines. -- Richard Joyce, author of The Evolution of MoralityThis is an important synthesis of the ideas Tomasello has been developing over a number of years, extended with an offer of a philosophically relevant genealogy of morality. Readers will learn much from this informed review of the extensive literature on the evolution of morality—a substantial part of which consists of the major contributions Tomasello and his colleagues have made. -- Philip Kitcher, author of The Ethical ProjectIf you’re after a definitive guide to explain how humans became an ultra-cooperative and, eventually, moral species, this must be it. Evolutionary anthropologist Michael Tomasello has followed his last book, A Natural History of Human Thinking, with another hard hitter. * New Scientist *Tomasello is convincing, above all, because he has run many of the relevant studies (on chimps, bonobos and children) himself. He concludes by emphasizing the powerful influence of broad cultural groups on modern humans…Tomasello also makes an endearing guide, appearing happily amazed that morality exists at all. -- Michael Bond * New Scientist *

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Book SynopsisEverywhere we hear of decline, of a world that was better before the influence of modernity. While some lament Western culture’s slide into relativism and nihilism and others celebrate the trend as a liberating sort of progress, Taylor calls on us to face the moral and political crises of our time, and to make the most of modernity’s challenges.Trade ReviewThe great merit of Taylor’s brief, non-technical, powerful book…is the vigour with which he restates the point which Hegel (and later Dewey) urged against Rousseau and Kant: that we are only individuals in so far as we are social… Being authentic, being faithful to ourselves, is being faithful to something which was produced in collaboration with a lot of other people… The core of Taylor’s argument is a vigorous and entirely successful criticism of two intertwined bad ideas: that you are wonderful just because you are you, and that ‘respect for difference’ requires you to respect every human being, and every human culture—no matter how vicious or stupid. -- Richard Rorty * London Review of Books *Charles Taylor is a philosopher of broad reach and many talents, but his most striking talent is a gift for interpreting different traditions, cultures and philosophies to one another… [This book is] full of good things. -- Alan Ryan * New York Times Book Review *Taylor’s crystalline insights rescue us from the plague on both houses in the debate over modernity and its discontents. -- Joseph Coates * Chicago Tribune *Reading Taylor’s unexpected but always perceptive judgments on modernity, one becomes forcefully aware of the critical potential of that old philosophical injunction ‘know thyself’. This little book points to the importance of public reflection and debate about who we are. It also forcefully draws attention to their absence from our public culture. -- Ben Rogers * The Guardian *Charles Taylor’s Ethics of Authenticity is a concise, clear discussion reexamining these and closely related ‘malaises’ of modernity while focusing on meaning, its importance in our lives, and why our attempts to find our identities matter—whether these identities be personal, social, political, aesthetic, or scientific. He affirms the moral ground underlying modern individualism, but challenges us to go beyond relativism to pluralism. -- Paul Roebuck * Ethics, Place and Environment *These lectures provide not only an inviting summary of [Taylor’s] recent thought but also, in many ways, a more revealing statement of his underlying convictions. Taylor’s own voice comes through clearly in this book—the voice of a philosophically reflective and hermeneutically rooted cultural critic. -- Joel Anderson * Philosophy and Social Criticism *

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Book SynopsisIs socialism desirable? Is it even possible? This book presents a moral case for socialism and argues that the obstacles in its way are exaggerated.Trade Review"Characteristically lucid, engaging and gently humorous... Cohen says things that need to be said, often better than anyone else; and his last book is especially effective as an argument against the obstacles to socialism typically ascribed to human selfishness. His style of argument is very accessible, and it is certainly a more attractive mode of persuasion than dreary analyses of how capitalism actually works."--Ellen Meiksins Wood, London Review of Books "Is socialism really such an alien way of organizing human society? In this stimulating essay titled Why Not Socialism? (just 92 pages long), the late Oxford philosopher G. A. Cohen invites us to think seriously about what socialism has to offer in comparison with capitalism."--Sanford G. Thatcher, Centre Daily Times "Beautifully written... In sublimely lucid fashion, Cohen draws up taxonomies of equality, offers ethical objection to capitalism ... and distinguishes between two questions: is socialism desirable?; and, if desirable, is it feasible? ... Tiny books are all the rage in publishing nowadays; this is one of the few that punches well above its weight."--Steven Poole, The Guardian "[A] stimulating and thoughtfully argued advocacy of the better world that we need to fight for."--Andrew Stone, Socialist Review "A quietly urgent book."--Owen Hatherley, Philosophers' Magazine "Cohen brings his characteristic clarity to his final defence of socialism."--Tim Soutphommasane, The Australian "No doubt the best forms of socialist organization will emerge, like everything else, after much trial and error. But a vast quantity of preliminary spadework is necessary to excavate the assumptions that keep us from even trying. With Why Not Socialism?, Cohen has turned over a few shovelfuls, bringing us a little nearer the end of the immemorial--but surely not everlasting--epoch of greed and fear."--George Scialabba, Commonweal "[Here] we have a renowned scholar producing an accessible, concise work addressing a vital topic from a committed, progressive standpoint: would that more of today's academic star scholars would follow this example."--Frank Cunningham, Socialist Studies "Why Not Socialism? is a lucid and accessible statement of some of Cohen's deepest preoccupations."--Alex Callinicos, Radical Philosophy "However small the package ... the problems that Cohen addresses in this slim volume are of enormous importance, and can be taken seriously by readers ranging from those with only a tangential interest in the field, to serious scholars of egalitarian and socialist thought."--Robert C. Robinson, Political Studies ReviewTable of ContentsCHAPTER I: The Camping Trip CHAPTER II: The Principles Realized on the Camping Trip CHAPTER III: Is the Ideal Desirable? CHAPTER IV: Is the Ideal Feasible? Are the Obstacles to It Human Selfishness, or Poor Social Technology? CHAPTER V: Coda Acknowledgment

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Book SynopsisFascism, communism, genocide, slavery, racism, and imperialism - the West has no shortage of reasons for guilt. And, indeed, since the Holocaust and the end of World War II, Europeans in particular have been consumed by remorse. This title argues that obsessive guilt has obscured important realities.Trade Review"The Tyranny of Guilt is one of the landmark books of our time. With humour, depth, breadth, restraint and great insight Bruckner diagnoses an infuriating era... Pascal Bruckner's short book is one of the most vital published in recent years. If the civilisation which it explains survives then I suspect his book will have played as important a part as any piece of writing could in determining that outcome."--Douglas Murray, Literary Review "That Bruckner's talents defy classification might help to account for the relatively understated reception of his work on this side of the Atlantic. This situation is likely to change soon: along with The Tyranny of Guilt, Princeton University Press will also publish Perpetual Euphoria... Bruckner is a bold and eloquent and important thinker."--Richard Wolin, New Republic "[The Tyranny of Guilt] is a work of bracing lucidity and exhilarating perception... Europe needs to rethink its attitude towards its past if it is to build a more inclusive and dynamic future. As this exceptional book so emphatically shows, guilt is a luxury we can no longer afford."--Andrew Anthony, The Observer "When it comes to the sweaty metabolism of guilt, Bruckner is perhaps the most accomplished anatomist since Nietzsche. (He is also, like Nietzsche, an extraordinary stylist, commanding a sinewy, memorably epigrammatic prose.) ... Ferociously intelligent, passionately argued, stylistically brilliant."--Roger Kimball, National Review "As a result of his literary background and immersion in the fiery French essayist tradition, he writes in a sparkling prose, captured well here by his translator, Steven Rendall. The resulting tone is redolent for Anglo-Saxon readers of an earlier era, when social critics like Marx or Nietzsche conveyed their ideas with combative gravitas. Beneath Bruckner's eloquence is a serious message: we remain prisoners of a white guilt whose victim is its supposed beneficiary... [T]his is a stirring and important book."--Eric Kaufmann, Prospect "Mr. Bruckner cites literary figures, journalists and intellectuals throughout the Western world making the case that whatever punishment the West has been made to suffer--e.g., the horrors of 9/11--are merely well deserved."--Wall Street Journal "Bruckner's book is controversial at times, but he does a wonderful job of combining passionate writing with a well-argued critique of modern Europe."--Library Journal "[Pascal Bruckner's] angry book could change a whole civilization's opinion, if only that civilization had sense enough to pay attention."--Robert Fulford, National Post "In the end, Bruckner's real theme is something deeper and broader: Western guilt and the resulting lack of self-belief. Again, he sees the origins of this in a guilty conscience, and there is an echo here of debates sixty or more years ago over Communism."--Geoffrey Wheatcroft, National Interest "[M]agnificent."--Standpoint Magazine "These provocative statements undergird Bruckner's brilliant polemic arguing that European remorse for the sins of imperialism, fascism, and racism has gripped the continent to the point of stifling its creativity, destroying its self-confidence, and depleting its optimism."--Daniel Pipes, National Review Online "Bruckner shows how selective we are about teaching history and how our media is obsessed with only one struggle (Israel/Palestine) while ignoring others (Sudan/Darfur). The essay, translated into clear American English, is provocative, scholarly and accessible."--Julia Pascal, The Independent "In Pascal Bruckner's recent essay The Tyranny of Guilt, we finally get an argument that should move those ready away from the masochistic acceptance of blame for every bad thing in the world."--Stanley Crouch, Daily Beast "Bruckner's originality lies in taking the narcissism of Western guilt and using the old distinction between repentance, where one resolves to find absolution by doing better, and remorse, where one wallows in perpetual penitence, to create a synthesis of great explanatory power."--Nick Cohen, The Australian "As the Obama administration and congressional Democrats work to make the United States a more European-style society, The Tyranny of Guilt arrives at the right time (and kudos to Princeton University Press for publishing such a bracing, politically incorrect book). Pascal Bruckner, who remains a man of the left in some sense, recognizes the true genius of the West--and the capacity of its brightest minds to forget that genius or, worse, condemn it."--Brian Anderson, New Criterion "[Bruckner's] basic thesis is that the entire western world is addicted to wallowing in guilt about the past, and that the root of it all is roughly religious--stemming from the notion of original sin. Bruckner's most vivid illustration of our addiction to guilt is that so many thinkers and commentators could greet the murder of 3,000 people on September 11, 2001, with cries of 'we had it coming.'"--Irish Independent "Bruckner, a French intellectual, argues brilliantly if controversially it's high time the West lighten up, bring historical perspective to itself, celebrate its more prosperous institutions, and stop hamstringing its relations with other groups."--Miriam Cosic, Australian "It's no put-down of Pascal Bruckner's latest book to say I enjoyed it in the same way I enjoyed the Daily Express, although his canvas is bigger and his style more literary and erudite... In this work, [Bruckner] has many shrewd insights into contemporary Europe."--Tara McCormack, Spiked "Pascal Bruckner has written a passionate meditation that many, especially on the Left, will find provocative. One might even hope that this little book will awaken European thinkers from their dogmatic slumber and lead them to consider the advantages and disadvantages of history for European civic life."--Daniel DiSalvo, SocietyTable of ContentsIntroduction 1 Chapter One: Guilt Peddlers 5 The Irremediable and Despondency 6 The Ideology That Stammers 9 The Self-Flagellants of the Western World 13 A Thirst for Punishment 22 Chapter Two: The Pathologies of Debt 27 Placing the Enemy in One's Heart 28 The Vanities of Self-Hatred 33 One-Way Repentance 40 The False Quarrel over Islamophobia 47 Chapter Three: Innocence Recovered 57 How Central Is the Near East? 59 "Zionism, the Criminal DNA of Humanity" 62 Unmasking the Usurper 67 A Delicate Arbitrage 74 America Doubly Damned 80 Chapter Four: The Fanaticism of Modesty 87 A Tardy Conversion to Virtue 88 The Empire of Emptiness 90 The Pacification of the Past 93 The Guilty Imagination 96 Recovering Self-Esteem 100 The Twofold Lesson 106 Chapter Five: The Second Golgotha 111 Misinterpretations of Auschwitz 113 Hitlerizing History 117 The Twofold Colonial Nostalgia 127 Chapter Six: Listen to My Suffering 139 On Victimization as a Career 140 Protect Minorities or Emancipate the Individual? 148 What Duty of Memory? 157 Chapter Seven: Depression in Paradise: France, a Symptom and Caricature of Europe 167 A Universal Victim? 168 The Wild Ass's Skin 176 Who Are the Reactionaries? 179 The Triumph of Fear 183 Metamorphosis or Decline? 186 Chapter Eight: Doubt and Faith: The Quarrel between Europe and the United States 193 To Be or to Have 194 The Troublemakers in History 199 The Archaism of the Soldier 203 The Swaggering Colossus 207 Conclusion 215 Postscript to the English Translation 223 Index 229

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Book SynopsisHow to live meaningfully in the face of the unknowableWe human beings had no say in existingwe just opened our eyes and found ourselves here. We have a fundamental need to understand who we are and the world we live in. Reason takes us a long way, but mystery remains. When our minds and senses are baffled, faith can seem justifiedbut faith is not knowledge. In Ultimate Questions, acclaimed philosopher Bryan Magee provocatively argues that we have no way of fathoming our own natures or finding definitive answers to the big questions we all face.With eloquence and grace, Magee urges us to be the mapmakers of what is intelligible, and to identify the boundaries of meaningfulness. He traces this tradition of thought to his chief philosophical mentorsLocke, Hume, Kant, and Schopenhauerand shows why this approach to the enigma of existence can enrich our lives and transform our understanding of the human predicament. As Magee puts it, There is a world of difference between being lost in the daylight and being lost in the dark.The crowning achievement to a distinguished philosophical career, Ultimate Questions is a deeply personal meditation on the meaning of life and the ways we should live and face death.Trade Review"Magee's writing always makes very easy reading."--Anthony Kenny, Standpoint "[Magee] writes with relaxed fluency."--Rowan Williams, New Statesman "[Bryan Magee] writes with grace and offers a thoughtful summation of human experience."--Library Journal "Living and dying in a world we accept we do not understand may not sound easy, but if Magee is any guide, the reward of doing so is endless and profound wonder."--Julian Baggini, Independent "Magee is refreshingly comfortable acknowledging the uncanniness of human experience, including the aesthetic as well as the ethical... His case for acknowledging the extent of what we do not know is a useful corrective to 'jolly hockey sticks' humanism as well as religious dogma."--Dolan Cummings, Spiked "[Ultimate Questions] is ... a deeply personal and elegant summary of [Magee's] own individual journey to and through profound philosophical questions."--ChoiceTable of Contents1 Time and Space 1 2 Finding Our Bearings 17 3 The Human Predicament 33 4 Can Experience Be Understood? 59 5 Where Such Ideas Come From 69 6 Personal Reflections 87 7 Our Predicament Summarized 105 Index 129

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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 SynopsisTrade Review"One of Michael Dirda's Best Books of 2018""Princeton University Press’s new edition of Epictetus’s Encheiridion and selected Discourses, titled How to Be Free: An Ancient Guide to the Stoic Life, is the latest entry in a wave of works, both popular and scholarly, on Stoicism. . . . How to Be Free seeks to bridge the worlds of both kinds of readers. Translated and introduced by Long, a renowned scholar of Stoicism and classics professor at UC Berkeley, the work presents the Greek text and English translation on facing pages. While the original text is, well, Greek to me, Long’s translation is sharp and straightforward — qualities always associated with Epictetus’s teachings."---Robert Zaretsky, Los Angeles Review of Books"A remarkable insight."---Ryan Holiday, Medium"Anybody who is about to go into a party or pool with people that are likely to try our patience can benefit from reading a couple of paragraphs from this book to reaffirm one’s determination to remain stoic in this disheveled wilderness." * Pennsylvania Literary Journal *"Any book that offers Stoic wisdom, whether diluted or updated, translated or condensed into bullet points, is meeting a perennial human need."---Rachel Hadas, Hudson Review

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Martha C. Nussbaum, Recipient of the 2012 Prince of Asturias Award for Social Sciences""Nussbaum writes as an advocate [of the Hellenistic philosophers], though not an uncritical one, for even while she admires the seriousness and subtlety with which these philosophers analyze the passions, she allows that there is an unresolvable conflict between the detachment and the intense engagement entailed by their philosophies. The sense that these philosophers still matter, that we can wrangle with them and learn from them, is invigorating."---Richard Jenkyns, New York Times Book Review"Few modern books have done as much as this one promises to do in raising the profile of Hellenistic philosophy. It is constantly gripping and absorbing, written with rare eloquence and containing long stretches of almost lyrical intensity. A literary as well as a philosophical tour de force."---David Sedley, Times Literary Supplement"By turns wise and witty, silly and Socratic, critical and compassionate, Nussbaum proves to be an extraordinarily addictive literary companion…. This is a book to live with."---Peter Green, New Republic"[T]his is a wonderful book, of interest to scholars of ancient philosophy, but also to those interested in medical philosophy and philosophy of mind. It would also be of great interest to those interested in the conception of philosophy as therapy that has grown from studies on Wittgenstein. I can heartily recommend it."---Michael Gillan Peckitt, Metapsychology Online Reviews

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"This book is a delight. . . . This should be in the pocket of every lover of Latin literature, and especially of Horace."---Peter Jones, Classics for All"Fantastic . . . a long and wonderfully informed conversation with [Horace]."---Steve Donoghue, Open Letters"[A]n elegant little volume."---Ron Charles, Washington Post"[How to Be Content] shines a light on the philosophical core of the great poet’s [Horace] writing. . . . Stephen Harrison translates excerpts beautifully in modern English."---Steven Gambardella, The Sophist

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“A pleasure to read. . . . Its literary qualities . . . resemble the sharp lines and bright colors of a fine Mondrian or the austere elegance of good modernist architecture. . . . [A] comprehensive statement of the mature views of one of the most creative philosophers of his generation.”—Philip L. Quinn, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews“[Frankfurt’s] little book provides the rare pleasure of witnessing an agile and sensitive mind grappling with an issue of universal importance.”—Eric Ormsby, New York Sun“Well worth reading.”—Berel Dov Lerner, Practical Philosophy“A thought-provoking work that should appeal to those interested in love, practical reasoning, and questions concerning the good life.”—Jason Kawall, Philosophy in Review

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Book SynopsisHow can we find true or reasonable moral principles to live our everyday lives by? This title presents 7 different moral theories, each of which attempts to provide the answer to the question of what we ought to do and why. It describes each theory, showing how it works in practice, assessing it and putting it into its historical perspective.

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Book SynopsisSatan is both a revealing study of the compelling figure of the Devil and an imaginative and persuasive inquiry into the forces that shape a concept and ensure its survival.Trade ReviewDrawing extensively on earlier scholarly literature, as well as his own original research in complex source materials, Russell has offered a coherent account of the development of a tradition in Christian thought that should be of great interest to specialists and nonspecialists alike. Although Russell would be the very last to claim that he can draw out leviathan with a hook, he has competently and diligently drawn out an image of leviathan that takes a respectable place in the literature of early church history. * American Historical Review *Russell has complete mastery of his material, and the book's sweep is grand: a tour of the first five centuries of Christian intellectual history with the spotlight on the villain instead of the hero.... Satan is a valuable introduction to the theological portion of the Western Devil tradition. * Speculum *Table of ContentsPreface1. The Devil2. The Apostolic Fathers3. The Apologetic Fathers and the Gnostics4. Human Sin and Redemption: Irenaeus and Tertullian5. Mercy and Damnation: The Alexandrians6. Dualism and the Desert7. Satan and Saint Augustine8. Conclusion: Satan TodayEssay on the SourcesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisRadical Hospitality addresses a timely and challenging subject for contemporary philosophy: the ethical responsibility of opening borders, psychic and physical, to the stranger. The book engages urgent moral conversations concerning identity, nationality, immigration, peace, and justice for the work of living together.Table of ContentsIntroduction: Why Hospitality Now? | 1 PART I: FOUR FACES OF HOSPITALITY: LINGUISTIC, NARRATIVE, CONFESSIONAL, CARNAL Richard Kearney 1 Linguistic Hospitality: The Risk of Translation | 17 2 Narrative Hospitality: Three Pedagogical Experiments | 24 3 Confessional Hospitality: Translating across Faith Cultures | 43 4 Carnal Hospitality: Gesturing beyond Apartheid | 49 PART II: HOSPITALITY AND MORAL PSYCHOLOGY: EXPLORING THE BORDER BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE Melissa Fitzpatrick 5 Hospitality beyond Borders: The Case of Kant | 61 6 Impossible Hospitality: From Levinas to Arendt | 75 7 Teleological Hospitality: The Case of Contemporary Virtue Ethics | 88 8 Hospitality in the Classroom | 97 Postscript: Hospitality’s New Frontier: The Nonhuman Other 105 Acknowledgments | 111 Notes | 113 Bibliography | 137 Index | 145

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Book SynopsisWhat is the secret to humanity's evolutionary success? Could it be our strength, our intellector something much nicer?Trade Review‘Brilliant, eye-opening, and absolutely inspiring – and a riveting read. Hare and Woods have written the perfect book for our time.’ -- Cass Sunstein, author of How Change Happens and co-author of Nudge‘An utterly persuasive explanation for why the human psyche has evolved to be dangerous – and what to do about it. It should be read by every politician and every school-child.’ -- Richard Wrangham, author of The Goodness Paradox: The Strange Relationship Between Virtue and Violence in Human Evolution‘Very few books even attempt to do what this book succeeds in doing. It begins in basic behavioural science, proceeds to an analysis of cooperation (or lack thereof) in contemporary society, and ends with implications for public policy. Everyone should read this book.’ -- Michael Tomasello, author of Origins of Human Communication and Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University‘Please read this beautiful, riveting, and uplifting book. You will learn the astonishing story of how and why humans evolved a deep impulse to help total strangers but also sometimes act with unspeakable cruelty. Just as importantly, you’ll learn how these insights can help all of us become more compassionate and more cooperative.’ -- Daniel E. Lieberman, author of The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health and Disease and Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do is Healthy and Rewarding‘Survival of the Friendliest is a fascinating counterpoint to the popular [mis]conception of Darwin’s ‘survival of the fittest.’ Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods offer a convincing case that it was not brute strength, raw intelligence, or ruthlessness that allowed modern humans to thrive while our hominin relatives died out. Instead, they argue that friendliness was the key to our flourishing – and that the same kind of cooperative communication is the key to freeing us from the tribalism currently threatening democratic governance around the world. Powerful, insightful, accessible – this book gives me hope.’ -- Megan Phelps-Roper, author of Unfollow‘How can a top predator like the wolf have evolved to become “man’s best friend”? Finally a book that explains in the clearest terms how friendliness and cooperation shaped dogs and humans. This book left me with a happy and optimistic view of nature.’ -- Isabella Rossellini, actress and activist

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Book SynopsisShould our priorities change when we consider all the lives yet to come?Trade Review'I was captivated by MacAskill’s rolling out of the possibilities of a longtermist approach to the now. It is vital to do as he does, to take ethics out of the safety of lecture-hall thought experiments, paradoxes and what-ifs and into the turbulent real world, where the dynamic winds of history blow and where is massing on the horizon that monstrous, swelling tsunami that we call the future. This is a book of great daring, clarity, insight and imagination. To be simultaneously so realistic and so optimistic, and always so damn readable… well that is a miracle for which he should be greatly applauded.' —Stephen Fry'MacAskill is probably one of the most influential thinkers in the world.' —The Times, Best Books of 2022‘A brilliant book that makes clear both how much is at stake when it comes to the long term, and the incredible opportunities we have to shape it. It has changed how I think about my time on earth.’ —Max Roser‘This book is a monumental event. William MacAskill is one of the most important philosophers alive today, and this is his magnum opus.’ —Rutger Bregman, author of Humankind'No living philosopher has had a greater impact upon my ethics than Will MacAskill. And much of the good I now do is the direct result of his influence. In What We Owe The Future, MacAskill has transformed my thinking once again, by patiently dismantling the lazy intuitions that rendered me morally blind to the interests of future generations. This is an altogether thrilling and necessary book.' —Sam Harris'MacAskill’s case for “longtermism” – “the idea that positively influencing the longterm future is a key moral priority of our time” – is overwhelmingly persuasive. But it’s also unapologetically optimistic and bracingly realistic: this is by some distance the most inspiring book on “ethical living” I’ve ever read… a powerful argument in favour of freedom of speech and viewpoint diversity… The overall promise of this thrilling book is of a life both less burdened by ethical guilt – by beating yourself up over every choice of groceries or transportation – and much more effective at actually helping humanity.' —Guardian'An optimistic look at the future that moved me to tears.' —Joseph Gordon-Levitt'A profoundly optimistic exploration of the opportunities our descendants might enjoy, and the steps we might take to help them… there are plenty of insights and surprises along the way… MacAskill has thrust an important and neglected argument into the spotlight, while making it vivid and fun to read. He hopes that this book will change the world, and it might.' —Financial Times'Remarkable… MacAskill’s command of factual detail is admirable. So are his lightness of prose and facility in explaining tricky arguments… Is our world better off for containing William MacAskill?... I say yes… MacAskill is a worthy heir to Derek Parfit’s philosophical legacy, adding deep factual research and accessible writing to a provocative line of thought.' —TLS

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Book SynopsisPersonal empowerment in the face of planetary despairTable of Contents Permissions Message from Dalai Lama Foreword by Matthew Fox Preface by Joanna Macy Preface by Molly Young Brown Chapter 1: To Choose Life We Can Still Opt for a Life-Sustaining World Choosing Our Story 1. Business As Usual 2. The Great Unraveling 3. The Great Turning The Great Turning 1. Holding Actions in Defense of Life 2. Transforming the Foundations of Our Common Life 3. Shift in Perception and Values Chapter 2: The Greatest Danger - The Deadening of Heart and Mind What is Pain for the World? What Deadens Heart and Mind? Fear of Pain Fear of Despair Other Spiritual Traps Fear of Not Fitting In Distrust of Our Own Intelligence Fear of Guilt Fear of Distressing Loved Ones View of Self as Separate Hijacked Attention Fear of Powerlessness Fear of Knowing - and Speaking Mass Media Job and Time Pressures Social Violence The Cost of Blocking Our Pain for the World Impeded Cognitive Functioning Impeded Access to the Unconscious Impeded Instinct for Self-Preservation Impeded Eros Impeded Empathy Impeded Imagination Impeded Feedback Coming Back to Life Chapter 3: The Basic Miracle - Our True Nature and Power Living Systems Theory How Life Self-Organizes Water, Fire and Web Gaia Theory Deep Ecology Beyond Anthropocentrism The Ecological Self Asking Deeper Questions Ancient Spiritual Teachings Abrahamic Religions Asian Traditions Indigenous Spirituality The Miracle of Mind Self as Choice Maker Positive Disintegration We Are the World The Nature of Our Power Power Over Power With Power Over Blocks Feedback The Power of Disclosure Synergy and Grace Chapter 4: What Is The Work That Reconnects? History of the Work Aims of the Work Basic Assumptions of the Work The Spiral of the Work The Shambhala Prophecy The Work That Reconnects in Corporate Settings Chapter 5: Guiding The Work That Reconnects The Value of Working in Groups Tasks of the Facilitator Foundations of Good Facilitation Capacities of an Excellent Guide Engaging Full Participation Working With Strong Emotions Guidelines for Conducting Rituals Workshop Setting and Arrangements Money Opening The Workshop Closing The Workshop Evaluation Follow-Up Ongoing Support for the Guide Chapter 6: Coming From Gratitude Gratitude: Teaching Points Practices Becoming Present through Breath, Movement,Sound and Silence Introductions with Gratitude Open Sentences Open Sentences on Gratitude Gratitude Rounds Mirror Walk Open Sentences on the Great Turning The Wheel of the Great Turning The Elm Dance The Presence of Gratitude Throughout the Work Chapter 7: Honoring Our Pain For The World Our Inner Responses to Suffering and Destruction Practices Small Groups on the Great Unraveling Open Sentences on Honoring Our Pain Breathing Through The Milling Reporting to Chief Seattle The Bestiary We Have Forgotten Who We Are "I Don't Care" Cairn of Mourning Truth Mandala Despair Ritual Bowl of Tears Spontaneous Writing Imaging with Colors and Clay Chapter 8: Seeing With New Eyes Brain Food Key Teaching Points Advice for Conveying These Concepts Practices The Systems Game Riddle of the Commons Game When I Made a Difference Widening Circles The Cradling Who Are You? Dance to Dismember the Ego Bodhisattva Check-In Council of All Beings Chapter 9: Deep Time - Reconnecting with Past and Future Generations To Reinhabit Time Practices Invoking the Beings of the Three Times Open Sentences on Time The Evolutionary Gifts of the Animals Harvesting the Gifts of the Ancestors Audio Recording to the Future Letter from the Future The Seventh Generation Field Work on the Great Turning The Storytellers Convention Chapter 10: Going Forth Discoveries Made So Far in the Spiral Practices Networking Communicating Our Concerns and Hopes Life Map Imaging Our Power The Sword in the Stone Callings and Resources Consultation Groups Corbett The Clearness Committee Dialoging with Mara to Strengthen Our Resolve Bowing to Our Adversaries Creating Study/Action Groups The Four Abodes Five Vows Circle of Blessings Two Poems for the Road Ahead Chapter 11: The Work That Reconnects with Children and Teens What Do Children Know and Feel? The Effects of Silence Suggestions for Overcoming the Fear and the Silence Using the Work That Reconnects Generation Waking Up Practices for Children and Teens Mothers and Daughters Follow the Spiral Talking Circle Gratitude The Human Camera Honoring Our Pain for the World Open Sentences Milling with Open Sentences Two Stories of the Truth Mandala with Children Boom Chicka Boom with Feelings Seeing with New Eyes The Web of Life Our Life As Gaia The Robot Game The Council of All Beings in a School Setting Going Forth Open Sentences for Going Forth Starfish Story and Ritual The Galactic Council Planning Actions Chapter 12: Learning with Communities of Color Part One by Joanna Macy Getting Started Honoring Our Ancestors The Immensity of the Pain How the Pain of People of Color is Pathologized Seeing the Industrial Growth Society with New Eyes Time for Deep Cultural Awakening Part Two by Patricia St. Onge Walking Toward the Work That Reconnects Deep Culture as a Lens Weaving the Threads Together Part Three by Adelaja Simon, Adrián Villaseñor Galarza and Andrés Thomas Conteris. Part Four: Sharing the Work That Reconnects with First Nationsby Andrea Avila Chapter 13: Meditations for the Great Turning The Web of Life Gaia Meditation Death Meditation Loving-Kindness Breathing Through The Great Ball of Merit The Four Abodes Two Litanies Appendix A: Chief Seattle's Message Appendix B: The Bestiary by Joanna Macy Appendix C: Ethics and Declarations of Rights Appendix D: Bodywork and Movement and Using the Spiral in Writing Workshops Endnotes Resources Index Acknowledgments About the Authors

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewProfessor Shirley has provided a translation which is fluent, eminently readable, and responsive to current research into Spinoza's thought. Where a particular passage is difficult or obscure, Shirley never attempts to interpose himself between the reader and Spinoza, nor to side with one or another competing school of interpretation. This makes his translation not just an ideal introduction for the reader new to Spinoza, but also a trustworthy source of insight for the more advanced reader. --Lee C. Rice, Marquette UniversityTable of ContentsContents: THE ETHICS -- Part One: Concerning God; Part Two: Of the Nature and Origin of the Mind; Part Three: Concerning the Origin and Nature of the Emotions; Part Four: Of Human Bondage, or the Nature of the Emotions; Part Five: Of the Power of the Intellect, or of Human Freedom; TREATISE ON THE EMENDATION OF THE INTELLECT; Selected Letters.

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Book SynopsisThis is an expanded edition of James Ellington's translation of Kant's essay, in which Kant replies to one of the standard objections to his moral theory as presented in the main text: that it requires us to tell the truth even in the face of harmful consequences.Trade ReviewI love teaching this edition of the Groundwork. It is highly readable while accurate, and affordable for undergraduates. --Mark LeBar, Ohio University

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Book SynopsisThis is an expanded edition of James Ellington's translation of Kant's essay, in which Kant replies to one of the standard objections to his moral theory as presented in the main text: that it requires us to tell the truth even in the face of harmful consequences.Trade ReviewI love teaching this edition of the Groundwork. It is highly readable while accurate, and affordable for undergraduates. --Mark LeBar, Ohio University

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"An excellent introduction to Confucian ethics, the book has been extensively revised for this 2nd edition with an accessible text..." -- Practical Philosophy, Autumn 2002.

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewAdding the selections from the Speech on Capital Punishment is an excellent idea. --Mark Migotti, University of Calgary

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Book SynopsisThe author challenges the scientific community's long held beliefs on the theory of evolution and gives evidence for extreme human antiquity.Forbidden Archeology's Impact offers readers an inside look at how mainstream science reacts with ridicule, threats and intimidation to any challenge to its deeply held beliefs.

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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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