Ethics and moral philosophy Books

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Book SynopsisThe Way I Act explores thirteen ways of behaving. The friendly verses and bold illustrations convey many positive ideas of how to act in a variety of situations. In the companion book, The Way I Feel, children learned that feelings come and go and simply are. A little older now, they are ready to think about the ability they have to control how things turn out. Like The Way I Feel, this book is ideal for children with autism.(Ages 4-9)

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Book SynopsisDuring his second stint as regent master of theology at the University of Paris in 1269-1272, Thomas Aquinas fulfilled the threefold magisterial task:'legere, disputare, praedicare' - to lecture, to dispute, to preach. 'On Virtues in General' and 'On the Cardinal Virtues' are two series of disputed questions which date from this period. In them Thomas, at the height of his powers and under the pressure of the raging dispute over Aristotle, discusses the central feature of his moral doctrine, virtue. During the same period was composing his commentrary on Aristotle's 'Nicomachean Ethics' and completing the moral part of the 'Summa Theologiae'. These disputed questions are the work of a theologian for whom philosophy was the necessary prerequisite of his discipline. Thomas discusses virtue with reference to the definitions of St. Augustine and Aristotle and develops a distinction between the acquired virtues and the virtues which are infused into the soul by grace. The subtle interactions of the natural and supernatural have never been discussed with more clarity. Justice, prudence, courage, and temperance - the cardinal virtues - are shown to have both acquired and infused instances.Table of Contentsintroduction

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Book SynopsisThe concern in this essay is for our age as one suffering an intellectual severance between our response to existential reality in which the beauty of a created particular thing is divorced from the Cause of that thing's existence. The separation speaks of a deracination of homo viator - the person on his way. It is a consequence of what may be called the Modernist Ideology of the Self, by which the ideological reduction of reality usurps the mystery of soul into the concept of self. This severance of beauty from Beauty, implying the general dislocation of homo viator, is seen as the separation of grace from nature. Montgomery considers Tolstoy as representative of the Modernist man, confused by an intellectual climate that isolates the person from the self. Tolstoy, in is romancing of reality, becomes so burdened by his sense of guilt in being seduced into the scandal of beauty that he is almost overwhelmed by despair. This compared with Friedrich Schiller, whose romanticism encompasses not only the romanticism of the West but also the East, adopts Kant's philosophy to justify feeling, not as Tolstoy would (elevating it at the expense of reason), but by intensifying a severe reason as a gnostic ploy to gain power over feeling. Against these two, Montgomery casts St. Thomas as the one who would restore the givenness of reality and provide an authentic vision of the good, the true, and the beautiful, to recover an ordinate and vital intent governing homo viator in his quest for the Good, the True, and the Beautiful.

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Book SynopsisVittorio Hosle, touted as 'the' German philosopher of the coming generation, exhibits his wide range of scholarship in this, his first book published in America. "Although treating quite different subjects, these essays are linked together by a common philosophical project - the revitalization of the tradition of objective idealism. The conviction that we can have synthetic a priori knowledge, and that this knowledge discovers something that is independant of our mind, is of particular importance for practical philosophy ...The position here defended in systematic terms is also seen in the context of a philosophical history of philosophy, namely as a possible synthesis of realism and subjective idealism, enlightenment and counter-enlightenment, and as the supposition of revewing the humanities tradition." - from the Preface. Not content with merely 'telling' us how to find a way back to objective idealism, Hosle 'exhibits' his philosophy in a wide-ranging series of essays on topics ranging form the reatness and limits of Kant's practical philosophy to the moral ends and means of world population policy, from moral reflection and the decay of institutions in the Enlightenment and Counter-Enlightenment to a reflection on philosophical foundations of a future humanism in our world of overinformation.Table of Contentspreface, notes

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Book SynopsisCan there be universal moral principles in a culturally and religiously diverse world? Are such principles provided by a theory of natural law? Jacques response to both questions is 'yes.' These essays, selected from the writings of one of the most influential philosophers of the past hundred years, provide a clear statement of Maritain's theory of natural law and natural rights. Maritain's ethics and political philosophy occupies a middle ground between the extremes of individualism and collectivism. Written during a period when cultural diversity and pluralism were beginning to have an impact on ethics and politics, these essays provide a defense of natural law and natural right that continues to be timely. The first essay introduces Maritain's theory of connatural knowledge - knowledge by inclination - that lies at the basis of his distinctive views on moral philosophy, aesthetics, and mystical belief. The secondgives Maritain's principal metaphysical arguments for natural law as well as his account of how that law can be naturally known and universally held. The third explains the roots of the natural law and shows how it provides a rational foundation for other kinds of law and for human rights. In the fourth essay, reflecting his personalism and integral humanism, Maritain indicates how he extends his understanding of human rights to include the rights of the civic and of the social or working person.Trade Review"Morality is problematic - in theory as well as in practice. Perhaps because morality is inescapable, however, philosophers and others now write and talk a great deal about its nature and source. These six publications bear witness to the extent of current interest and to the range of contemporary perspectives. Most are short and are either intended for a non-academic readership or are written in styles largely intelligible to such. Natural Law by the late Jacques Maritain, and Philippa Foot's Natural Goodness, are linked by being in the tradition of Aristotle and Aquinas. As the most philosophical of the books, these are likely to be found the most difficult. Maritain, who died in 1973, was a convert to Catholicism (this book collects material mostly from the early 1950s). Foot is an admirer of Aquinas and acknowledges a great intellectual debt to her former colleague Elizabeth Anscombe, a Catholic; but her own attitude to Christianity is ambiguous.This is Foot's long-awaited first book, published in her eightieth year. The core idea animating these two slim volumes is that an agent's good consists in the realisation of one's proper nature. This does not mean that one should do just 'what comes naturally', but that one should do what pertains to one's nature as a member of a species with certain powers, most importantly that of reason. In short, one should act according to rational animal nature. To ground morality in this way presupposes that we all share in a common human nature, and can extract duties from it. This is anathema to those who insist that values have nothing to do with facts; and it is likely to seem pre-Darwinian in suggesting that human nature has a specific purpose beyond mere adaptation. Foot effectively reasserts the Aristotelian view that each species has a rationally discernible fulfilment, whether it has arisen by accident or artifice. From this defence of natural value in general, she moves to the special case of human action and its relation to the end of human happiness. Such a notion as happiness, she confesses, is 'deeply problematic' because of the diversity of views about what constitutes human happiness; and because it is easy to slip into a utilitarian way of thinking in which the end justifies the means, even to the extent of permitting harm to be inflicted. Foot's response is to insist that the focus of moral evaluation is not states of affairs or outcomes but persons and their actions. How, though, may we know what befits human flourishing? Foot writes of natural goodness largely from the standpoint of actions. In one of his essays, 'On Knowledge through Connaturality', Maritain introduces a different (and now largely neglected) perspective: because virtue is embodied in the person, 'a virtuous man may possibly be utterly ignorant in moral philosophy, and know as well - probably better - everything about virtues. . . '. Maritain argues that similar knowledge is involved in aesthetic and mystical experience. William Sweet is to be congratulated for editing this collection, which also relates natural goodness to the issues of justice and rights, and for providing a helpful introduction. Gordon Graham's Evil and Christian Ethics and Terence Penelhum's Christian Ethics and Human Nature are avowedly religious in orientation. Human nature features again in both books. Both authors are Ang-lican and invoke Christian understandings while writing as professional philosophers. Penelhum keeps furthest from moral the-ology while Graham develops an argument designed to show that our experience of good and evil is best made sense of by Christianity. Graham is a lively writer, unhesitant in expressing challenging opinions: 'if Christianity is to have anything distinctive to say about morality. . . it must do so by connecting morality with Jesus as an agent of cosmic history rather than a teacher of precepts.' In other words, Jesus is not merely another 'moral teacher' but the Incarnation of God in human history, affording us a fuller understanding of our shared human nature. Simon Blackburn and Richard Ryder, however, believe that religious ethics is undermined by the falsity of its foundational premise, namely the existence of God, and that morality must now be pursued on a secular basis. In Painism, Ryder seeks to show that you can have morality without God. Blackburn, by contrast, in Being Good, attends enthusiastically to exposing the repugnance of biblical ethics, as he sees it, and to demonstrating that appeals to divine commands are worse than irrelevant. Following Plato, he argues that moral justification for an action can never in itself be provided by appeal to its being the will of God. Both Being Good and Painism are directed towards the general reader, and each is written from and addressed to post-religious sensibilities. Both favour an account of ethics as residing in sentiment, most particularly in compassion. Reason can determine appropriate evidence and maintain ethical consistency, but ultimately what we ought to do results from feelings we have (by nature) for ourselves and others. Both authors give attention to securing what Blackburn terms 'Freedom from the bad'; but whereas for him this is only a part of morality, 'too grey and neutral to excite our ambition and admiration', for Ryder it is the very essence of ethics: 'Pain (i.e. suffering) is the only evil' and the only moral objective 'is to reduce the pain of others'. Ryder would have us adopt 'painism' as the name of the true morality. Unfortunately he supports his proposal with some dubious arguments, such as that one cannot weigh relative amounts of pain between groups and individuals because 'each individual is the boundary of its own consciousness'. Certainly one cannot pool pains in some sea of collective agony, without discrimination or quantification. But that does not show that comparative assessments cannot be made. After all, 20 single pound coins put into a scale tip the balance against a single pound coin on the other side even though each coin is 'the boundary of its own weight'. Likewise, since frustration is a form of pain as Ryder understands this, we can construct cases in which it will be justified to inflict pain on one person in order to relieve the frustrations of another. Painism all too easily slides back to utilitarianism. It is hard to assess the state of popular sentiment concerning morality, though relativism seems to be the common currency: morality is then regarded as just a matter of variable convention, with 'live and let live' being the dominant maxim. 'Live and let live', however, tends to be offered as an absolute principle leading many philosophers to regard this kind of relativism as vulgar and self-refuting. I doubt that they can easily absolve themselves from any responsibility. After all, these ideas are common among those in positions where opinions are called for and attended to, and their main sources are popular academic presentations of moral subjectivism. What emerges from this survey is that ethical theory still needs to be practised; that any adequate theory must relate good and evil to human nature; and that utilitarianism has still not gone away. Morality remains problematic." John Haldane The Tablet 28th July 2001Table of ContentsNotes, Index

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Book SynopsisThis book discusses some of those ethical and political questions that puzzled several of the great minds of the twentieth century, such as Leo Strauss, Eric Voegelin, Jaques Maritain, and John Finnis: the question of natural law and its relationship to a teaching of individual freedom and rights. The main aim of the book is to enterpret anew the relationship between law and rights in Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, two important founders of modern rights doctrines. But in order to put their teachings into the right perspective, Syse portrays and discusses other models of law and rights, form Aristotle, through Thomas Aquinas, to John Duns Scotus and William of Ockham, with detours to the teachings of Plato, Cicero and Augustine. Throughout the discussion, the role of religion and revelation is given centre stage as a complex, yet fascinating picture of the relationship between natural law, religion, and rights emerges - one which is neither as simple nor as complicated as often imagined. 'Natural Law, Religion, and Rights' should be of interest both to students struggling with the meaning and contents of the natural law tradition, as well as to teachers and researchers working on the many-faceted problems of natural law and natural rights.

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Book SynopsisThe biography of Marie-Louise Bouchard Labelle tells of a youngCanadian woman of humble background who, at the turn of the 20thcentury, discovers love with the priest of her village, a man 33 yearsolder. After three children and 15 years of happy life together, herspouse returns to the priesthood, just before the Great Depression.Trépanier narrates this brave woman's struggle to raise theirchildren alone. Her story raises questions on the mandatory celibacy ofCatholic priests and the status of women in the eyes of the CatholicChurch.Trade Review"This is the biography of an extraordinary woman who had the courage to fully embrace her love for a priest, knowing all the consequences. The author tells us the story of Marie-Louise Bouchard Labelle with respect and admiration. Thank you to Claire Trepanier for this touching narration and thank you also to Marie-Louise's children and grandchildren who told the author the story of their mother and grandmother. - Laurier L. LaPierre"Table of ContentsTable of Contents Foreword Acknowledgements Preface Family Trees Family of Georgianne Tremblay and her two spouses Family of Marie-Louise Bouchard Labelle and Joseph Ray Prologue CHAPTER ONE: From Les Escoumins to Hanmer (1891–1906) Marie-Louise Bouchard Marie-Louise Labelle Arrival in Hanmer Life of Hanmer’s First Settlers Marie-Louise’s Education Primary School Tough Love And What of the Future? Spiritual Life in the Hamlet CHAPTER TWO: The New Arrival (1858–1906) Father Joseph A. Roy The Francophone Catholic Clergy in the Canadian West Wolseley, Saskatchewan Vernon, British Columbia Hanmer, Ontario (August 1906) First Meeting with Marie-Louise CHAPTER THREE: The Turning Point (1906–1916) Regular Meetings with Marie-Louise Presbytery Maid? Against All Comers Flight Impact of Their Departure CHAPTER FOUR: Family Life (1916–1928) New Identities Ottawa Rideau Park (May 1917) Life as a Couple Daily Life Intellectual Life Spiritual Life First Return to Hanmer (November 1920) Birth of Lorne 1921–1926 Gertrude’s First Communion Facing Facts Synchronicity The Big Decision (1928) CHAPTER FIVE: “Widow” with Three Children(1928–1935) Heartbreak Unexpected Visits Living Day to Day Free to Explore Life Napoléon’s Visit The Crash, 24 October 1929 Family Ties Homeowner Impact of Joseph’s Departure Religion after Joseph’s Departure The French–English Question Life During the Great Depression Bank Street (1930–1932) and Sunnyside Street(1932–1933) Stanley Avenue (1933–1935) Social Life Convalescent Home Kiosk CHAPTER SIX: Living from Hand to Mouth (1935–1944) James Street (1935–1936) Lisgar Street (1936–1937) Nepean Street (1937–1939) Rideau Street, Corner of Chapel (1939) Slater Street (1940) Central Avenue (1941) Acquaintance Changes (1942–1944) CHAPTER SEVEN: Nanny (1944–1965) Grandmother Sewing and Knitting In the Kitchen “Breaking Camp” Mother-in-Law Jake and the Kid God Back to Ottawa (1957–1965) Ogilvy’s Cinema The Countess of Ségur A Busy Room (1962–1965) The Secret CHAPTER EIGHT: Return to Her Roots (1960–1964) Graduation (1960) The Two Gossips Inner Peace The Trip to the Yukon CHAPTER NINE: Old Age, Humour and Tenderness (1965–1970) A Time to Relax Always Keeping the Secret Reminiscences of Long Ago The Bloomers The Braid Thieves CHAPTER TEN: Living in Peace (1970–1973) Housewarming A Time to Enjoy Life Artist A Time to Die Epilogue Postscript Appendices Appendix One: Arrival in Hanmer Appendix Two: House in Hanmer Appendix Three: Landowner Appendix Four: Amour Immaculé / Immaculate Love Family Documents List of People Interviewed List of People Who Helped Me in My Research Abbreviated Chronology Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis book tells the personal story of Dugald Stewart (1753-1828), whose circular memorial monument on Calton Hill is one of Edinburgh's best known landmarks. Originally a mathematician like his father, Stewart held the Chair of Moral Philosophy at Edinburgh University for 25 years and became the most distinguished philosopher in Britain. He was a gifted teacher whose character and eloquence influenced students who were to become famous in many walks of life. Two of them became Prime Minister. A lifelong Whig, Stewart was in France at the outbreak of the French Revolution, and there knew Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. He wrote biographical memoirs of Adam Smith and two other contemporaries. He gave Britain's first course on economics, attended by all four founder members of the 'Edinburgh Review', and his political, as well as his philosophical influence extended well into the 19th century. His wife was a generous hostess whose lively and amusing letters are quoted extensively in the book, and she and Stewart are shown to have been significant figures in the cultural life of the time.Table of ContentsCONTENTS: Who was Dugald Stewart?; Family Background and Infancy; At School and University (1761-1772); The Young Stewart, Mathematician (1772-1780); Boarders, Travels, Marriage and Change (1780-1785); The Young Stewart, Philosopher (1785-1787); Stewart and Robert Burns; Revolutionary France and Remarriage (1787-1790); Liberal Philosopher in a Harsh Climate (1790-96); Students and Travels (1796-1800); The Stewarts and the Palmerstons (1800-1803); Social Life and the Leslie and Ashburton Affairs (1803-1805); Towards Retirement (1806-1810); The Teacher and the Man; The Early Years of Retirement (1810-1815); Deaths of Friends and the Final Break (1815-1820); The Last Years (1820-1828); Epilogue; Index.

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Book SynopsisBahya Ibn Pakuda was born c. 1050, and lived for some time in Saragossa in Spain. His major work was written in Arabic, but it is most well-known by its Hebrew title Hovot ha-Levavot (Duties of the Heart). It enjoyed enormous popularity and was reprinted many times. In the book Bahya investigates the motivation of Jewish practice and embarks on a philosophical enquiry into the nature of God, religion, and man. He was very much influenced by the Neoplatonism of his age, as well as by the Muslim mystics. This edition by Menahem Mansoor is the first translation of the work from the original Arabic text, and this shows a number of variations from the Hebrew version. He has added an Introduction and Notes which draw attention to the influences on Bahya’s thought and to other relevant material. ‘The accepted and normative translation . . . reliable and readable. This book belongs in even the smallest collections of Judaica, as well as of ethical literature.’ ChoiceTrade Review'This will now become the accepted and normative translation ... reliable and readable. This book belongs in even the smallest collections of Judaica, as well as of ethical literature.'ChoiceTable of ContentsPreface and Acknowledgements Translator's Introduction Notes to Translator's Introduction The Book of Direction to the Duties of the Heart Introduction 1 On the Unity of God 2 On the Explanation of the Aspects of Meditation upon Creation and God's Abundant Grace Shown in It 3 On Our Obligation of Obedience to God 4 On the Reliance upon God Alone 5 On the Pure Devotion of All Acts to God Alone 6 On Humility before God 7 The Explanation of the Aspects of Repentance, What is Essential to It and Its Consequences 8 On Self-Reckoning for God's Sake 9 On Asceticism, Its Kinds and Advantages 10 On the True Love of God Appendix (translated by David Goldsterin) Selected Bibliography General Index Index of Biblical Passages Index of Talmudic Passages

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Book SynopsisThis hard-hitting, impeccably referenced book draws on academic theories and analyses of power and the author's personal experience both as client and practitioner to critique power within the psychotherapeutic relationship and within the organisations where therapy takes place. Accessible, political and severely critical of her own profession, Proctor provides an essential reminder to student, practitioner and researcher of the imperative to remain always mindful of the values and ethics of justice and responsibility. In this revised second edition, Gillian Proctor extends her discussion to the more recent challenges presented by the IAPT programme.Trade Review'Proctor dares to take us into an honest, challenging and critically important debate around power and responsibility, helping us to think clearly about these aspects in our work, while equally pushing us to reflect on difficult areas, both as individual therapists and for the institution of therapy itself.' Dr Andrew Reeves, University of ChesterTable of ContentsIntroduction; Why does power in therapy matter to me?; Isn't therapy always dangerous or abusive?; What is power? Structural theories; How does power work? Post-structural theories; Cognitive Behaviour Therapy: the obscuring of power in the name of science; Person-Centred Therapy: equality in the therapy relationship?; The Psychodynamic Approach: isn't the power all in the transference?; Conclusions: So what can we do about power?

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Book SynopsisBased on true events, the play follows the stories of Anna, a rape complainant, and Sean, the defendant, with insight and sensitivity. This heart-breaking, multi-layered play jolts the audience into exploring the implications of consent, focussing on the impact of toxic coercive relationships, the power of social media and the need for healthy sexual boundaries, especially when alcohol or drugs blur the lines. The play deliberately takes no specific moral or legal standpoint, forcing you to question long-held beliefs and inherent prejudice. A socially provocative play, which is of particular significance in the light of recent shocking reports about the low incidence of convictions for rape and sexual assault in the UK.Trade Review‘Every teenager and student in the country should see this play. Conferences and public forums should be convened to discuss its ramifications. This is a script to raise whirlwinds.’ – Lloyd Evans, The Spectator; 'There’s a concerted effort, almost as though this production were a dissertation paper, to consider various sides of the same story. Anna McIntyre (Georgina Armfield) goes to the police to report a crime against the person. But the alleged perpetrator, Sean Jackson (Calum Wragg-Smith) did not, on the balance of probabilities, set out to wilfully do anything harmful to another person.' - London Theatre; 'This is not a glamorous West End show. Indeed, it is all the more effective for the Cockpit’s small in- the- round stage, where every change of expression, every twitch of the finger, is noticeable. The play is openly intended to provoke (and there are two post-show Q & A sessions, which promise to be more stimulating than such events usually are). It raises questions: What counts as sexual assault? What are the consequences for the complainant? What are the consequences for the perpetrator? Is it ever enough to say sorry? Because the issues are at the forefront, characters are only sketchily portrayed, with the merest hint of family background. As a result, they are almost universally relatable.' - The Reviews Hub;

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Book SynopsisOur world view frames how we see things. In today's multicultural society, one'spersonal fi lter bubble' may clash with others'. Stepping back, you can becomefascinated by where people are coming from, how they know what they know. Tohelp refl ection, Mario Betti explores twelve archetypal ways of seeing the world.He clarifi es each world view and values them within the overall context of theother lenses. He outlines a path toward gaining mutual understanding betweenthe different worldviews, showing how they are connected beyond what apparentlydivides them.

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Book SynopsisRoger Kennedy has written a masterful investigation into the concept of evil. He begins with a general view of the subject before moving into more detailed analysis. First is a review of the science of evil, including evidence from neuroscience and social psychology. This is followed by psychoanalytical studies of the individual and groups before presenting an overview of the philosophy of evil. Also included are historical and social studies which inform an understanding of evil in action. Kennedy goes on to examine the nature of genocide using a main focus on the Holocaust and of slavery. Both of these “journeys to evil” remain relevant for understanding contemporary society and issues. The Nazi past continues to disturb and resonate decades on. The politics and social fabric of Western society was reliant on slavery as a foundation of economic wealth and is haunted by its inability to process the harsh reality of slavery and its continuing after-effects. Kennedy moves from there to a discussion on the genius of Shakespeare and his encapsulation of the essential features of how evil can develop and take over a person’s inner world. The book concludes with a summary of the main themes and a look at those who have resisted evil and what we can learn from them if we are to build a society that can resist the forces of evil. The book is informed by a psychoanalytic approach, with its emphasis on the power and influence of unconscious processes underlying human actions, and on the role of inner conflicting and elemental fears and anxieties often driving individual and group behaviours. It brings fresh insight to an eternal discourse.Trade Review‘Roger Kennedy brings wide-ranging perspectives to describe and understand this very difficult and compelling subject. History, philosophy, religion, morality, neuroscience, primatology, psychology, and other disciplines are brought together as well as refracted through psychoanalytic understandings. Human destructiveness is not a direct consequence of our animal instincts, nor is it innate. Rather, evil is a consequence of being human as he observes that our species “annihilates the human subject and obliterates human agency”. This is a tough and compelling read in resisting our species’ vicious destructiveness.’ -- Dr Jonathan Sklar, training analyst, British Psychoanalytical Society‘Dr Roger Kennedy worked as a Consultant Family Psychiatrist in the NHS at the famous Cassel Hospital in London for almost thirty years and was an Honorary Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry at Imperial College London. He has written widely on psychoanalysis and families at breaking point. His new book, The Evil Imagination, is a fascinating and ambitious exploration of one of the great subjects of our time: evil. One of the most thoughtful psychoanalytic thinkers of our time, Dr Kennedy asks what leads people to commit evil acts and how can we use the latest psychoanalytic thinking to make sense of evil?’ -- David Herman, writer and former TV producer of programmes on psychoanalysis and the history of madness‘We find ourselves surrounded by such an abundance of expressed evil that our own imaginations are drowned out by the lived atrocities. Roger Kennedy alerts us to the megalomania that has permitted humans to comfortably annihilate the other – body and culture – and how this is a leitmotif of the mass atrocities of both the past and present. We find some measure of comfort in his book through his illustrating how we can transform rage into scholarship, sorrow into insight, and helplessness into teaching. The Holocaust serves as the representative evil of our species. In immersing ourselves in Kennedy’s masterful yet accessible collection of groundbreaking neuroscience, uplifting poetry, and insight-providing psychoanalytic perspectives, we are able to use the best of who we are in order to honourably encounter the worst of who we are. In reading Kennedy's book, I feel redoubled in my efforts to unpack the obstructions to the good-enough affects in each of us. This, so that we will contain a counterweight to our destructiveness and thereby perhaps, just perhaps, we may survive.’ -- Harvey Schwartz, training and supervising analyst, Psychoanalytic Association of New York; host of the IPA podcast, Psychoanalysis On and Off the CouchTable of ContentsAbout the author 1. Terrains of evil 2. The science of evil 3. Psychoanalysis and evil 4. The philosophy of evil 5. Journeys to evil: The Holocaust and British-American slavery 6. Shakespeare and evil—the dagger of the mind 7. Summary and final comments Endnotes References Index

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Book Synopsis'Veganism is not just a diet. Not just an opinion, nor a trend. It is a 21st-century revolution which began 20 centuries ago.' From the activist, scientist and animal welfare consultant whose employment tribunal changed the law forever comes a timely, personal polemic on the nature of ethical veganism. A choice many feel is the answer to today's global crises. Written with urgency, humour and a strong personal narrative, Jordi Casamitjana's book is the first to consider veganism as an ethical belief. A political engagement. Not just a 'lifestyle choice.' While the book full of the vitality and complexity of the animal kingdom he has dedicated his life to protecting, chapters are structured to cover both history, science and practicalities. Ethical veganism is about so much more than food and Jordi also explores how it possible to dress ethically, travel according to vegan principles, to work responsibly, as well as eat carefully.

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Book SynopsisWhat if you aren’t who you think you are? What if you don’t really know the people closest to you? And what if your most deeply-held beliefs turn out to be … wrong? In Stop Being Reasonable, philosopher and journalist Eleanor Gordon-Smith tells six lucid, gripping stories that show the limits of human reason. From the woman who realised her husband harboured a terrible secret, to the man who left the cult he had been raised in since birth, and the British reality TV contestant who, having impersonated someone else for a month, discovered he could no longer return to his former identity, all of the people interviewed radically altered their beliefs about the things that matter most. What made them change course? How should their reversals affect how we think about our own beliefs? And in an increasingly divided world, what do they teach us about how we might change the minds of others? Inspiring, perceptive, and often moving, Stop Being Reasonable explores the place where philosophy and real life meet. Ultimately, it argues that when it comes to finding out what’s true or convincing others about what we know, being rational might involve our hearts as well as our minds. Trade Review‘Relevant and accessible … a witty book.’ -- Jonnie Wolf * The Observer *‘I knew how piercingly smart Eleanor Gordon-Smith is, and what a curious and resolute interviewer. But I was unprepared for how entertainingly she writes! I read this with pleasure.’ -- Ira Glass‘The book is slickly written and relies for its substance on contemporary epistemology and ethics, rather than the usual well-trodden paths of nudge theory and popular psychology.’ -- Dan Brotzel * Press Association *‘Gordon-Smith has written a book that not only questions long-held philosophical belief — can Descartes’ philosophy of doubt drive us from truth? — but one that engages with life in such a way that makes the argument feel existentially urgent.’ * Sydney Morning Herald *‘It is curious and intelligent and deeply researched and genuinely thoughtful, and at the same time consistently entertaining to read … If you want to introduce someone to philosophy, give them this book.’ -- Alex Tighe * Australian Book Review *‘Gordon-Smith does not have all the answers. But she gives us the tools we need to examine our biases and choose how we approach the decisions we need to make. For those of us who suspect the time for being reasonable — and not getting emotional — has passed, this is the book we need.’ -- Astrid Edwards * The Saturday Paper *‘I’ve never read anything quite like this book; it is empathetic, sharply intelligent, and accessible.’ -- Ellen Cregan * Kill Your Darlings *'A frank and thoughtful new voice ... this is an assured and companionable guide through the wilderness of contemporary ethics.' -- Shahidha Bari'This is a funny, sharp-edged and deeply serious book about a mainstream myth: that we all know what rationality demands. A pleasure to read.' -- Amia Srinivasan

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Book SynopsisFish feel pain is the battle cry of animal rights activists who would love to see a ban on recreational fishing and all use of fish by humans. Their claim is rooted in research purporting to demonstrate beyond doubt that fish and aquatic invertebrates are capable of experiencing pain. The fish feel pain claim has gained traction over the last 20 years, and in many parts of the worldlegislation now recognises fish as sentient' beings, with some potentially dire and far-reaching consequences for the 3 billion people worldwide whose livelihoods depend on fish and fishing. This book puts the widely accepted dogma under the scientific, social and philosophical microscope.And its findings challenge the whole premise that fish feel pain.

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Book SynopsisEdited and with an introduction by Eugene Thacker, On the Suffering of the World comprises a core selection of Schopenhauer's later writings, gathered together for the first time in print. These texts, produced during the last decades of Schopenhauer's long life, reveal a unique kind of philosophy, expressed in a singular style. Eschewing the tradition of dry, totalizing, academic philosophy prevalent during the time, Schopenhauer's later writings mark a shift towards a philosophy of aphorisms, fragments, anecdotes and observations, written in a literary style that is by turns antagonistic, resigned, confessional, and filled with all the fragile contours of an intellectual memoir. Here Schopenhauer allows himself to pose challenging questions regarding the fate of the human species, the role of suffering in the world, and the rift between self and world that increasingly has come to define human existence, to this day. It is these writings of Schopenhauer that later generations of artists, poets, musicians, and philosophers would identify as exemplifying the pessimism of their era, and perhaps of our own as well. On the Suffering of the World is presented with an introduction that places Schopenhauer's thought in its intellectual context, while also connecting it to contemporary concerns over climate change, the anthropocene, and the spectre of human extinction. The book also includes a bibliography and chronology of Schopenhauer's life.Trade Review"Thacker’s introductory essay insightfully sketches the biographical and intellectual context of Schopenhauer’s distinctly zestful reflections on the vanity of life, the fear of death and humankind’s place in the universe.""Schopenhauer’s reputation as the bard of pessimism makes him the perfect philosopher for the Covid era, Thacker argues in his foreword to these aphoristic late essays."

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Book SynopsisThe pinnacle of Fuster’s essay writing, Final Judgements is a book of aphorisms that, used to teach moral and/or philosophical truths, reveal things that are relevant to the universal human experience. As Adam Gopnick of The New Yorker puts it, “the aphorism is, in its algebraic abbreviation, a micro-model of empirical inquiry.” And Fuster uses the aphoristic tradition, less to establish truths than to undermine them, to question the conceits contained in the established truism. Despite the seriousness of its subject matter, however, this book is laugh-out-loud funny, Fuster’s wit revealing that the best aphorisms are based in stripping language of its artifice and revealing its contradictions, and the cumulative effect is a quintessentially Mediterranean kind of playfulness.Trade Review‘Joan Fuster is one of Catalan literature’s most enduring voices. His sense of humour and insight into the human condition is inspiring.’ -Jordi Llavina, author of London Under Snow and Poetry & Prose ‘Catalan language’s most important essayist of the 20th century and a key figure in the culture and recent history of the Valencian region.’ -Mètode magazine ‘Without doubt, Fuster should be placed up there with Erasmus, Rabelais, Montaigne, Voltaire, Mann and Bertrand Russell.’ -Josep Ballester, Visat

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Book Synopsis‘Naked Thoughts’ is an engaging, provocative, challenging, controversial and deeply illuminating book that combines personal experiences, comments on current affairs and reflections on diverse media publications. This remarkable book provides an entertaining reflection on the human condition at all levels of the emotional scale; at times witty or highly personal, drawing on diverse philosophies, religion and ordinary human affairs, without trying to be judgemental or taking specific sides. Touching on subjects like freedom, God, anxiety, death, and all the intriguing issues of human life, Naked Thoughts does not shy away from focusing on the weaknesses of humanity, modern-day addictions and the epidemic spread of romantic illusions.

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Book SynopsisInterpreting Plato’s Dialogues introduces readers to some key problems in understanding Plato’s writings, and explores in-depth and critically the various ways of approaching Plato. The problem of how to interpret Plato’s dialogues dates back to Plato’s Academy, and Plato’s interpreters ought not to forego this important discussion. For how one approaches texts will inevitably influence how one interprets their contents. This is especially true of Plato’s writings, as they are, with few exceptions, dialogues. For the sake of historical accuracy, then, it is crucial that the most plausible interpretation of Plato’s works is articulated and well defended. And this is precisely what this book provides: an articulation and critical evaluation of the various ways to approach Plato’s dialogues, along with the articulation and defense of a plausible new way to interpret Plato.This new way of approaching Plato neither sees Plato’s words as doctrines according to which the dialogues are to be interpreted, nor does it reduce Plato’s dialogues to dramatic literature. Rather, it seeks to interpret the aim of Plato’s writings as being influenced primarily by Plato’s respect for his teacher, Socrates, and the manner in which Socrates engaged others in philosophical discourse. It places the focus of philosophical investigation of Plato’s dialogues on the content of the dialogues themselves, and on the Socratic way of doing philosophy.This book contains a comprehensive bibliography of philosophical sources on the interpretation of Plato’s corpus of writings, as well as some important works in the field of classical studies and philology. Interpreting Plato’s Dialogues provides both an analytical, scholarly, and thorough treatment of what is perhaps the most long-standing problem in Plato studies. The book serves quite well as a companion text to Plato’s dialogues and is of special interest to philosophers, classicists, and philologists.Trade ReviewEveryone reading or teaching Plato should doubtless read this book, both for what it does and for what it does not do. One important thing the book does not do is place scholarly interpretation of Plato in the social context of academic philosophy and philosophical training in the U.S. and Britain"". - The Review of Metaphysics

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Book SynopsisSentience and Sensibility is a dialogue that engages a number of issues in moral theory in a rigorous and original manner, while remaining accessible to students and other nonspecialist readers. It accomplishes this by means of the time-honored (if presently dormant) medium of philosophical dialogue, in which its characters actively challenge each other to clarify their ideas and defend their reasoning. In this manner the conversation develops and weighs some proposed solutions, in largely non-technical language, to a number of current and traditional moral problems (including the nature and origin of moral value, the moral status of nonhuman animals, problems of partiality, and other vexed topics).Moral philosophy and theory can seem as remote and intimidating as everyday ethical matters and moral intuitions are pressing. Sentience and Sensibility proposes that these two should meet. The book’s characters gently challenge each other to clarify their thinking and defend their reasoning, and in this rigorous yet personable manner explore traditional and fresh takes on morality. The conversation aims not only to discover thoughtful answers to such questions, but to do so while being respectful of both philosophical theory and ordinary moral intuitions.David Weissman of CCNY believes this “may be the best use of the very difficult medium of philosophical dialogue” he has read, and that the book “deserves a wide audience.” Kay Mathiesen of the University of Arizona compares the appeal of the book to that of Jostein Gaarder’s bestselling novel about the history of philosophy, with the difference that Sentience and Sensibility develops original ideas in moral thought: “It’s like a Sophie’s World for grownups.”Trade ReviewThis volume is a must for college libraries and an intriguing text for upper-level undergraduate philosophy courses. Silliman has resurrected the old form of philosophical dialogue to write a quirky and accessible book that both describes and moves forward the field of value theory"". - Religious Studies Review

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Book Synopsis This book describes the personal and spiritual benefits of living life in a way that matters, with an awareness that one's life can reflect a sense of higher purpose no matter what the circumstances. The book draws upon religious, philosophical, and literary writings to show how humans in many cultures and historical epochs have pursued noble purposes by answering God's call as each hears it. Noble purpose can be pursued both in heroic acts and in everyday behavior. The book shows how ordinary people—teachers, business professionals, parents, citizens—can ennoble what they do by being mindful of its deepest meaning. It also points out that humility is a necessary virtue for those who pursue a noble purpose. Great heroes are bold, courageous, and sometimes audacious in their determination to succeed; but they are also humble in their awareness of their own limitations. Moreover, a person must never violate basic moral laws while pursuing a noble purpose—the means must be as moral as the ends. Purpose brings coherence and satisfaction to people's lives, producing joy in good times and resilience in hard times. It also presents a paradox: hard work in service of noble purpose that transcends personal gain is a surer path to happiness than the self-indulgent pursuit of happiness for its own sake. The closer we come to God's purpose for us, the more satisfied our lives become. From the inspiration and examples conveyed in this book, we learn that all individuals have the capacity to discover their own God-given abilities, to learn the world's need for the services they can provide, and to experience joy in serving society and God in their special ways. As theologian Frederick Buechner writes, "The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet."

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Book SynopsisThis book reveals how through a discourse of truth-telling—calling things by their proper name—Pope John Paul II effectively exposed the corruption of language and thought fueling a death culture that is becoming increasingly embedded in medicine, human experimentation, commerce, law, and ideology. This is an indispensable guide to Pope John Paul’s profound and practical insights, meditations, principles, and actions to protect society’s most defenseless individuals.

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