Philosophy Books
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Consciousness Explained
Dennett, Daniel C.
(Paperback)
List Price: $18.00 Sale: $7.47
Consciousness Explained is a full-scale exploration of human consciousness. In this landmark book, Daniel Dennett refutes the traditional, commonsense theory of consciousness and presents a new model, based on a wealth of information from the fields of neuroscience, psychology, and artificial intelligence. Our current theories about conscious life - of people, animals, even robots - are transformed by the new perspectives found in this book.
Many Ways to Nirvana: Reflections and Advice on Right Living
Dalai Lama
(Paperback)
List Price: $15.00 Sale: $5.60
His Holiness delivers a message about the paths to "right living" and the need to overcome negative emotions in order to develop one's inner consciousness. Wise, compassionate, and always pragmatic, he offers advice on many daily issues: emotional afflictions and petty cravings, anxiety, and how to initiate and keep alive interfaith dialogue in troubled times.
Altruism: The Power of Compassion to Change Yourself and the World
Ricard, Matthieu
(Paperback)
List Price: $19.99 Sale: $7.81
"A careful, detailed, hard-nosed assessment of what is needed both for individual happiness and for the welfare of the planet.... This book is so rich, so diverse...that it is best kept as an inspiring resource to be consulted over many years." Wall Street Journal Matthieu Ricard, author of the international bestseller Happiness, makes the passionate case for altruism-genuine concern for the well-being of others. Presenting a vision based on decades of firsthand experience and scientific studies, Matthieu Ricard illuminates how altruism can answer the main challenges of our time: economic inequality, life satisfaction, and environment sustainability. In this riveting book, he champions the cultivation of altruistic love as the best means for simultaneously benefitting ourselves and our global society, and offers readers practical and inspiring ways to develop their potential for compassion. There's an altruism revolution underway, and it just may be the saving grace for the 21st century.
Why Can't We Be Good?
Needleman, Jacob
(Paperback)
List Price: $14.95 Sale: $5.17
After nearly forty years of weighing humanity's deepest dilemmas - working in settings ranging from university and high school classrooms to corporate offices and hospitals - bestselling author, philosopher, and religious scholar Jacob Needleman presents the most urgent, deeply felt, and widely accessible work of his career. In Why Can't We Be Good? Needleman identifies the core problem that therapists and social philosophers fail to see. He depicts the individual human as a being who knows what is good, yet who remains mysteriously helpless to innerly adopt the ethical, moral, and religious ideas that are bequeathed to him.
The Spiritual Teachings of Marcus Aurelius
Forstater, Mark
(Softcover)
List Price: $13.00 Sale: $5.60
Written as a personal diary for spiritual development, Marcus Aurelius's "meditations" were not meant for publication nor posterity, yet the Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher has provided inspiration and guidance for more than eighteen centuries. Now, after nearly two thousand years, Mark Forster has adapted the ideas and principles relevant to the Roman world of the second century and has made them accessible to the twenty-first-century reader.
Enlightenment 2.0
Heath, Joseph
(Paperback)
List Price: $17.99 Sale: $5.85
Over the last twenty years, the political systems of the western world have become increasingly divided - not between right and left but between crazy and non-crazy. What's more, the crazies seem to be gaining the upper hand. Rational thought cannot prevail in the current social and media environment, where elections are won by appealing to voters' hearts rather than their minds. The rapid-fire pace of modern politics, the hypnotic repetition of daily news items and even the multitude of visual sources of information all make it difficult for the voice of reason to be heard.In Enlightenment 2.0, bestselling author Joseph Heath outlines a program for a second Enlightenment. The answer, he argues, lies in a new "slow politics." It takes as its point of departure recent psychological and philosophical research that identifies quite clearly the social and environmental preconditions for the exercise of rational thought. It is impossible to restore sanity merely by being sane and trying to speak in a reasonable tone of voice. The only way to restore sanity is by engaging in collective action against the social conditions that have crowded it out.
Care of the Soul: A Guide for Cultivating Depth and Sacredness in Everyday Life (25th Anneversary Edition)
Moore, Thomas
(Paperback)
List Price: $15.99 Sale: $5.85
With a new introduction by the author and additional material, this 25th anniversary edition of the #1 New York Times bestseller by Thomas Moore provides a powerful spiritual message for our troubled times.In this special 25th anniversary edition of Thomas Moore’s bestselling book Care of the Soul readers are presented with a revolutionary approach to thinking about daily life - everyday activities, events, problems and creative opportunities - and a therapeutic lifestyle is proposed that focuses on looking more deeply into emotional problems and learning how to sense sacredness in even ordinary things.Basing his writing on the ancient model of "care of the soul" - which provided a religious context for viewing the everyday events of life - Moore brings "care of the soul" into the 21st century. Promising to deepen and broaden the reader's perspective on his or her own life experiences, Moore draws on his own life as a therapist practicing "care of the soul," as well as his studies of the world's religions and his work in music and art, to create this inspirational guide that examines the connections between spirituality and the problems of individuals and society.
On Love and Loneliness
Krishnamurti, J
(Paperback)
List Price: $13.95 Sale: $5.60
In 1950 Krishnamurti said: ''It is only when the mind is not escaping in any form that it is possible to be in direct communion with that thing which we call loneliness, the alone, and to have communion with that thing, there must be affection, there must be love''. On Love and Loneliness is a compelling investigation of our intimate relationships with ourselves, others, and society. Krishnamurti suggests that ''true relationship'' can come into being only when there is self-knowledge of the conditions which divide and isolate individuals and groups. Only by renouncing the self can we understand the problem of loneliness, and truly love.
What Is Your Dangerous Idea?: Today's Leading Thinkers on the Unthinkable
Brockman, John (Edt)
(Softcover)
List Price: $13.95 Sale: $4.75
From Copernicus to Darwin, to current-day thinkers, scientists have always promoted theories and unveiled discoveries that challenge everything society holds dear; ideas with both positive and dire consequences. Many thoughts that resonate today are dangerous not because they are assumed to be false, but because they might turn out to be true. What do the world's leading scientists and thinkers consider to be their most dangerous idea? Through the leading online forum Edge the call went out, and this compelling and easily digestible volume collects the answers. From using medication to permanently alter our personalities to contemplating a universe in which we are utterly alone, to the idea that the universe might be fundamentally inexplicable, What Is Your Dangerous Idea: takes an unflinching look at the daring, breath-taking, sometimes terrifying thoughts that could forever alter our world and the way we live in it.
Words I Wish I Wrote
Fulghum, Robert
(Softcover)
List Price: $14.95 Sale: $5.17
Robert Fulghum, one of America's most popular philosophers and author of the modern classic All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten and the recent New York Times bestseller True Love, shares with readers the worlds and wisdom of those who have inspired him throughout his life. SC, 229 pages.
The Book of Life
Krishnamurti, J.
(Softcover)
List Price: $16.00 Sale: $6.11
365 daily meditations on freedom, personal transformation, living fully, and much more, from the man the Dalai Lama described as "one of the greatest thinkers of the age."
The Power of Chowa: Finding Your Inner Strength Through the Japanese Concept of Balance and Harmony
Tanaka, Akemi
(Hardcover)
List Price: $19.99 Sale: $6.53
For fans of Hygge and Lagom comes this inspiring guide, illustrated with beautiful artwork, that introduces the Japanese wisdom of chowa—the search for balance—to help us find harmony and peace in every area of our lives.
The Last Lecture
Pausch, Randy
(Hardcover)
List Price: $21.95 Sale: $7.81
A lot of professors give talks titled "The Last Lecture." Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can't help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy? When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave - "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" - wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because "time is all you have . . . and you may find one day that you have less than you think"). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living. In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come.
Learning from the Germans: Race and the Memory of Evil
Neiman, Susan
(Hardcover)
List Price: $30.00 Sale: $10.19
As an increasingly polarized America fights over the legacy of racism, Susan Neiman, author of the contemporary philosophical classic Evil in Modern Thought, asks what we can learn from the Germans about confronting the evils of the pastIn the wake of white nationalist attacks, the ongoing debate over reparations, and the controversy surrounding Confederate monuments and the contested memories they evoke, Susan Neiman’s Learning from the Germans delivers an urgently needed perspective on how a country can come to terms with its historical wrongdoings. Neiman is a white woman who came of age in the civil rights–era South and a Jewish woman who has spent much of her adult life in Berlin. Working from this unique perspective, she combines philosophical reflection, personal stories, and interviews with both Americans and Germans who are grappling with the evils of their own national histories.Through discussions with Germans, including Jan Philipp Reemtsma, who created the breakthrough Crimes of the Wehrmacht exhibit, and Friedrich Schorlemmer, the East German dissident preacher, Neiman tells the story of the long and difficult path Germans faced in their effort to atone for the crimes of the Holocaust. In the United States, she interviews James Meredith about his battle for equality in Mississippi and Bryan Stevenson about his monument to the victims of lynching, as well as lesser-known social justice activists in the South, to provide a compelling picture of the work contemporary Americans are doing to confront our violent history. In clear and gripping prose, Neiman urges us to consider the nuanced forms that evil can assume, so that we can recognize and avoid them in the future.
Writings on an Ethical Life
Singer, Peter
(Softcover)
List Price: $15.00 Sale: $6.33
Love him or hate him, you certainly can't ignore him. For the past twenty years, Australian philosopher and professor of bioethics Peter Singer has pushed the hot buttons of our collective conscience. In addition to writing the book that sparked the modern animal rights movement, Singer has challenged our most closely held beliefs on the sanctity of human life, the moral obligation's of citizens of affluent nations toward those living in the poorest countries of the world, and much more, with arguments that intrigue as often and as powerfully as they incite. Writings On An Ethical Life offers a comprehensive collection of Singer's best and most provocative writing, as chosen by Singer himself. Among the controversial subjects addressed are the moral status of animals, environmental accountability, abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, and the ultimate choice of living an ethical life. This book provides an unsurpassed one-volume view of both the underpinnings and the applications of Singer's governing philosophy.
The Awakening of Intelligence
Krishnamurti, J.
(Softcover)
List Price: $18.00 Sale: $6.11
This comprehensive record of Krishnamurti's teaching is an excellent, wide-ranging introduction to the great philosopher's thought. Within general discussions of conflict, fear, violence, religious experience, self-knowledge, and intelligence, Krishnamurti examines specific issues, such as the role of the teacher and tradition; the need for awareness of ''cosmic consciousness''; the problem of good and evil; and traditional Vedanta methods of help for different levels of seekers. Krishnamurti discusses these themes with Jacob Needleman, Alain Naude, and Swami Venkatasananda, among others. ''The Awakening of Intelligence is indispensable for all those intent on a fuller understanding of Krishnamurti's teaching.
Discourse on Thinking
Heidegger, Martin
(Softcover)
List Price: $12.00 Sale: $4.49
Martin Heidegger's Discourse on Thinking, which is translate her, was published in 1959. It comprises a statement of the point of view of his later though. Since Heidegger's later though has evoked so much interest among philosophers and, in the last few years, theologians, it seems important to have significant examples of it available in English. Discourse on Thinking is a particularly good example for this purpose not only because it is so recent, but because of its format and style.
Being and Time
Heidegger, Martin
(Softcover)
List Price: $19.95 Sale: $8.40
"What is the meaning of being?" This is the central question of Martin Heidegger's profoundly important work, in which the great philosopher seeks to explain the basic problems of existence. A central influence on later philosophy, literature, art, and criticism—as well as existentialism and much of postmodern thought—Being and Time forever changed the intellectual map of the modern world. As Richard Rorty wrote in the New York Times Book Review, "You cannot read most of the important thinkers of recent times without taking Heidegger's thought into account."
Early Christian Doctrines
Kelly, J.N.D.
(Softcover)
List Price: $17.95 Sale: $7.64
This revised edition of the standard history of the first great period in Christian thought has been thoroughly updated in the light of the latest historical findings. Dr. Kelly organizes an ocean of material by outlining the development of each doctrine in its historical context. He lucidly summarizes the genesis of Christian thought from the close of the apostolic age to the Council of Chalcedon in the fifth century--a time teeming with fresh and competing ideas. The doctrines of the Trinity, the authority of the Bible and tradition, the nature of Christ, salvation, original sin and grace, and the sacraments are all extensively treated in these pages.
The Western Intellectual Tradition: From Leonardo to Hegel
Bronowski, Jacob
(Softcover)
List Price: $19.99 Sale: $8.40
"Messrs. Bronowski and Mazlish have done in this interesting book an admirable job of mapping the work of the minds of representatives of Western thinkers from Leonardo da Vinci to Hegel." - Crane Brinton. SC, 522 pages.
Being and Nothingness
Sartre, Jean-Paul
(Paperback)
List Price: $19.00 Sale: $7.81
A monumental work of the twentieth century, Being and Nothingness is the fullest expression of Jean-Paul Sartre's philosophy of existentialism. First published in 1943, this masterpiece still defines and expresses the modern condition, and holds great relevance for contemporary readers.
Process and Reality (Corrected Edition)
Whitehead, Alfred North
(Paperback)
List Price: $19.95 Sale: $8.40
Alfred North Whitehead, philosopher, mathematician, and prolific author, was one of the most influential scholars of his age, and Process and Reality, his magnum opus, is one of the major philosophical works of the modern world. SC, 413 pages.
Escape from Evil
Becker, Ernest
(Paperback)
List Price: $14.95 Sale: $6.33
"An urgent essay that bears all the marks of a final philosophical raging against the dying of the light. . . . The beauty - and terror - of his final testament lies in his unsparing analysis of how men from time immemorial have sought scapegoats and victims in order to bolster their intimations of immorality. . . ." - Newsweek
How To Be A Conservative
Scruton, Roger
(Paperback)
List Price: $18.00 Sale: $6.11
Presents the case for modern conservatism not in the terms of an elegy but rather as a practical example of how to live as a conservative despite the pressures to live otherwise. As he writes, this book "is not about what we have lost, but about what we have retained, and how to hold on to it."In this witty and frank account, Scruton draws on his years of experience as a counter-cultural presence in public life. He examines the truths in Nationalism, Socialism, Capitalism, Liberalism, Multiculturalism, Environmentalism, Internationalism and finally Conservatism. The book concludes on a personal note, with a "valediction forbidding mourning but admitting loss."
Fools, Frauds and Firebrands: Thinkers of the New Left
Scruton, Roger
(Paperback)
List Price: $18.00 Sale: $6.11
A devastating critique of modern left-wing thinking from a leading political philosopher.In Fools, Frauds and Firebrands, philosopher Roger Scruton, one of the leading critics of leftist orientations in modern Western civilization, examines the thinkers who have been most influential on the attitudes of the New Left. What does the Left look like today, he asks, and how has it evolved? Is there any foundation for resistance to its agenda without religious faith?Scruton begins with a ruthless analysis of New Leftism and concludes with a critique of the key strands in its thinking. He conducts a reappraisal of such major left-wing thinkers as: E. P. Thompson, Ronald Dworkin, R. D. Laing, Jurgen Habermas, Gyorgy Lukacs, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jacques Derrida, Slavoj Zizek, Ralph Milliband and Eric Hobsbawm.Scruton's exploration of these important issues is written with skill, perception and at all times with pellucid clarity. In addition to assessments of these thinkers' philosophical and political contributions, the book contains a biographical and bibliographical section summarizing their careers and most important writings.
The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination with the Most Mysterious Creature in the Natural World
Svensson, Patrik
(Hardcover)
List Price: $28.99 Sale: $9.76
The Book of Eels is both a meditation on the world’s most elusive fish - the eel - and a reflection on the human conditionRemarkably little is known about the European eel, Anguilla anguilla. So little, in fact, that scientists and philosophers have, for centuries, been obsessed with what has become known as the “eel question”: Where do eels come from? What are they? Are they fish or some other kind of creature altogether? Even today, in an age of advanced science, no one has ever seen eels mating or giving birth, and we still don’t understand what drives them, after living for decades in freshwater, to swim great distances back to the ocean at the end of their lives. They remain a mystery.Drawing on a breadth of research about eels in literature, history, and modern marine biology, as well as his own experience fishing for eels with his father, Patrik Svensson crafts a mesmerizing portrait of an unusual, utterly misunderstood, and completely captivating animal. In The Book of Eels, we meet renowned historical thinkers, from Aristotle to Sigmund Freud to Rachel Carson, for whom the eel was a singular obsession. And we meet the scientists who spearheaded the search for the eel’s point of origin, including Danish marine biologist Johannes Schmidt, who led research efforts in the early twentieth century, catching thousands upon thousands of eels, in the hopes of proving their birthing grounds in the Sargasso Sea.Blending memoir and nature writing at its best, Svensson’s journey to understand the eel becomes an exploration of the human condition that delves into overarching issues about our roots and destiny, both as humans and as animals, and, ultimately, how to handle the biggest question of all: death. The result is a gripping and slippery narrative that will surprise and enchant.
The Courage to Be Happy: Discover the Power of Positive Psychology and Choose Happiness Every Day
Kishimi, Ichiro
(Hardcover)
List Price: $25.00 Sale: $8.83
What if one simple choice could unlock your destiny?Already a major Japanese bestseller, this eye-opening and accessible follow-up to the "compelling" (Marc Andreessen) international phenomenon The Courage to be Disliked shares the powerful teachings of Alfred Adler, one of the giants of 19th-century psychology, through another illuminating dialogue between the philosopher and the young man.Three years after their first conversation, the young man finds himself disillusioned and disappointed, convinced Adler's teachings only work in theory, not in practice. But through further discussions between the philosopher and the young man, they deepen their own understandings of Adler's powerful teachings, and learn the tools needed to apply Adler's teachings to the chaos of everyday life.To be read on its own or as a companion to the bestselling first book, The Courage to Be Happy reveals a bold new way of thinking and living, empowering you to let go of the shackles of past trauma and the expectations of others, and to use this freedom to create the life you truly desire.Plainspoken yet profoundly moving, reading The Courage to Be Happy will light a torch with the power to illuminate your life and brighten the world as we know it. Discover the courage to choose happiness.
I and Thou
Buber, Martin
(Hardcover)
List Price: $23.00 Sale: $8.11
Today considered a landmark of twentieth-century intellectual history, I and Thou is also one of the most important books of Western theology. In it, Martin Buber, heavily influenced by the writings of Frederich Nietzsche, united the proto-Existentialists currents of modern German thought with the Judeo-Christian tradition, powerfully updating faith for modern times. Since its first appearance in German in 1923, this slender volume has become one of the epoch-making works of our time. Not only does it present the best thinking of one of the greatest Jewish minds in centuries, but has helped to mold approaches to reconciling God with the workings of the modern world and the consciousness of its inhabitants. This work is the centerpiece of Buber's groundbreaking philosophy. It lays out a view of the world in which human beings can enter into relationships using their innermost and whole being to form true partnerships. These deep forms of rapport contrast with those that spring from the Industrial Revolution, namely the common, but basically unethical, treatment of others as objects for our use and the incorrect view of the universe as merely the object of our senses, experiences. Buber goes on to demonstrate how these interhuman meetings are a reflection of the human meeting with God. For Buber, the essence of biblical religion consists in the fact that - regardless of the infinite abyss between them - a dialogue between man and God is possible. Ecumenical in its appeal, I and Thou nevertheless reflects the profound Talmudic tradition from which it has emerged. For Judaism, Buber's writings have been of revolutionary importance. No other writer has so shaken Judaism from parochialism and applied it so relevantly to the problems and concerns of contemporary men. On the other hand, the fundamentalist Protestant movement in this country has appropriated Buber's "I and Thou encounter" as the implicit basis of its doctrine of immediate faith-based salvation. In this light, Martin Buber has been viewed as the Jewish counterpart to Paul Tillich.
The Father of Lights: A Theology of Beauty (Theology for the Life of the World)
Johnson, Junius
(Hardcover)
List Price: $26.00 Sale: $11.12
"Every good giving and every perfect gift is from on high, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning" (James 1:17). This verse conveys a powerful image of God as the source and referent of all beauty. This book demonstrates how the experience of beauty is related to our inherent longing for the God who is reflected in such moments. Richly informed by Junius Johnson's expertise on Bonaventure and von Balthasar, the book offers a robust, full-orbed theology of beauty, showing how it has functioned as a theological concept from biblical times to the present day.
Greek Philosophy (3rd Edition Revised And Expanded)
Allen, Reginald E. (Edt)
(Paperback)
List Price: $17.95 Sale: $7.64
Widely praised for its accessibility and its concentration on the metaphysical issues that are most central to the history of Greek philosophy, Greek Philosophy: Thales to Aristotle offers a valuable introduction to the works of the Presocratics, Plato, and Aristotle. For the third edition, Professor Allen has provided new translations of Socrates' speech in the Symposium and of the first five chapters of Aristotle's Categories, as well as new selections bearing on Aristotle's Theory of Infinity, Continuity, and Discreteness. The book also contains a general introduction which sets forth Professor Allen's distinctive and now widely accepted interpretation of the development of Greek philosophy and science, along with selective bibliography, and lists of suggested readings.
Greek and Roman Philosophy After Aristotle
Saunders, Jason L. (Edt)
(Paperback)
List Price: $23.99 Sale: $9.05
This book brings together over twenty-five of the most important works of Western philosophy written from 322 B.C.E. - the death of Aristotle - to the close of the third century C.E. Eminent philosopher Jason Saunders' choices for this concise volume emphasize the range and significance of the leading philosophers of the Hellenistic Age. Supplemented by Dr. Saunders' enlightening introduction, descriptive notes, and extensive bibliography, these readings provide an essential introduction for students and general readers alike to the enormous influence of Greek philosophy on the formative years of Christianity as well as the early Christians' distrust of it.
Six Great Ideas
Adler, Mortimer J.
(Paperback)
List Price: $12.00 Sale: $5.17
Each summer, Mortimer J. Adler conducts a seminar at the Aspen Institute in Colorado. At the 1981 seminar, leaders from the worlds of business, literature, education, and the arts joined him in an in-depth consideration of the six great ideas that are the subject of this book: Truth, Goodness, and Beauty - the ideas we judge by; and Liberty, Equality, and Justice - the ideas we act on.
A Short History of Chinese Philosophy: A Systematic Account of Chinese Thought from Its Origins to the Present Day
Fung, Yu-Lan
(Paperback)
List Price: $17.95 Sale: $7.64
A chronicle of Chinese thought from the third millennium sage-kings to the 1911 overthrow of the oldest monarchical system in the world. The book illuminates the most commonly known schools of Confucianism and Taoism, and it acquaints readers with Mohism, Yin-Yang, Legalism, Neo-Taoism, Neo-Confucianism, and the introduction of Western philosophy. This adaptation of Dr. Fung's monumental History of Chinese Philosophy provides enthusiasts of philosophy and Asian studies' students at all levels with a window into ancient and contemporary Chinese ideology and philosophy.
Many Lives, Many Masters: The True Story of a Prominent Psychiatrist, His Young Patient, and the Past-Life Therapy That Changed Both Their Lives
Weiss, Brian L.
(Paperback)
List Price: $15.99 Sale: $6.70
As a traditional psychotherapist, Dr. Brian Weiss was astonished and skeptical when one of his patients began recalling past-life traumas that seemed to hold the key to her recurring nightmares and anxiety attacks. His skepticism was eroded, however, when she began to channel messages from the "space between lives," which contained remarkable revelations about Dr. Weiss' family and his dead son. Using past-life therapy, he was able to cure the patient and embark on a new, more meaningful phase of his own career.
Breakfast with Socrates: An Extraordinary (Philosophical) Journey Through Your Ordinary Day
Smith, Robert Rowland
(Paperback)
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Ever want to have a bagel with Hegel? Eggs with Bacon? Or spend a day with Socrates, Mill, Herodotus, or Kant, able to pick their brains about the most mundane moments of your life? Former Oxford Philosophy Fellow Robert Rowland Smith thought he would, and so with dry wit and marvelous invention, Smith whisks you through a typical day, injecting a little philosophy into it at every turn. Wake up with Descartes, go to work with Plato and Nietzsche, visit the gym with Kant, have sex with Ovid (or Simone de Beauvoir). As the day unfolds, Smith grounds complex, abstract ideas in concrete experience, giving you an informal introduction to applying philosophy to everyday life. Not only does Breakfast with Socrates cover the basic arguments of philosophy, it brings an irresistible, insouciant charm to its big questions, waking us up to the richest possible range of ideas on how to live. Neither breakfast, lunch, nor dinner will ever be the same again.
The Elementary Forms of Religious Life
Durkheim, Emile
(Paperback)
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Published in 1912, The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life was the last major book by the great sociologist Emile Durkheim. An early translation has remained the only English-language version available, despite many errors. Now a sociologist and religious scholar offers a much-needed new translation that will restore Durkheim's work to its original brilliance.
The Examined Life: Philosophical Meditations
Nozick, Robert
(Paperback)
List Price: $17.00 Sale: $6.33
One of this century's most original philosophical thinkers, Nozick brilliantly renews Socrates' quest to uncover the life that is worth living. In brave and moving mediations on love, creativity, happiness, sexuality, parents and children, the Holocaust, religious faith, politics, and wisdom, The Examined Life brings philosophy back to its preeminent subject, the things that matter most. SC, 308 pages.
Why I Am Not a Christian
Russell, Bertrand
(Paperback)
List Price: $16.00 Sale: $6.84
In this presentation of the freethinker's position, Lord Russell addresses the basic questions of death, morality and sexual ethics, and proposes answers different from those of religion.
Free Will
Harris, Sam
(Softcover)
List Price: $9.99 Sale: $4.24
A belief in free will touches nearly everything that human beings value. It is difficult to think about law, politics, religion, public policy, intimate relationships, morality - as well as feelings of remorse or personal achievement - without first imagining that every person is the true source of his or her thoughts and actions. And yet the facts tell us that free will is an illusion. In this enlightening book, Sam Harris argues that this truth about the human mind does not undermine morality or diminish the importance of social and political freedom, but it can and should change the way we think about some of the most important questions in life.
The Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us About the Good Life
Puett, Michael
(Paperback)
List Price: $16.00 Sale: $5.85
For the first time, an award-winning Harvard professor shares his wildly popular course on classical Chinese philosophy, showing you how ancient ideas - like the fallacy of the authentic self - can guide you on the path to a good life today.Why is a course on ancient Chinese philosophers one of the most popular at Harvard? Because it challenges all our modern assumptions about what it takes to flourish.Astonishing teachings emerged two thousand years ago through the work of a succession of Chinese scholars exploring how humans can improve themselves and their society. And what are these counterintuitive ideas? Transformation comes not from looking within for a true self, but from creating conditions that produce new possibilities. Good relationships come not from being sincere and authentic, but from the rituals we perform within them. A good life emerges not from planning it out, but through training ourselves to respond well to small moments. Influence comes not from wielding power but from holding back. Excellence comes from what we choose to do, not our natural abilities.
Take This Advice: The Best Graduation Speeches Ever Given
Bark, Sandra (Editor)
(Paperback)
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Take This Advice delivers thirty of the most powerful and inspiring commencement speeches given in the past ten years. With grace and humor, this generation's favorite artists and thinkers address graduates to celebrate an incredible achievement, and to let them know that life after school is not the end of the world -- in fact, it's the beginning.
Truth & Daring: A Journal for the Thoughtful & Bold
Burningham, Sarah O'Leary
(Softcover)
List Price: $14.99 Sale: $5.17
A journal for the thoughtful and introspective, adventurous and bold, Truth & Daring challenges you to pair self-reflection with action through questions, writing prompts, and inspiring quotes that focus on digging deep and trying new things.Discover the spark of true self-discovery that comes when you look below the surface, and embrace the confidence that comes when you push yourself just a little beyond your comfort zone. It takes grit ad courage to find your truth - and to act on it.
The Tao of Bill Murray: Real-Life Stories of Joy, Enlightenment, and Party Crashing
Edwards, Gavin
(Hardcover)
List Price: $26.00 Sale: $9.05
This collection of the most epic, hilarious, and strange Bill Murray stories, many of which have never before been reported, spotlights the star's extraordinary ability to infuse the everyday with surprise, absurdity, and wonder. No one will ever believe you. New York Times bestselling author Gavin Edwards, like the rest of us, has always been fascinated with Bill Murray--in particular the beloved actor's adventures off-screen, which rival his filmography for sheer entertainment value. Edwards traveled to the places where Murray has lived, worked, and partied, in search of the most outrageous and hilarious Bill Murray stories from the past four decades, many of which have never before been reported. Bill once paid a child five dollars to ride his bike into a swimming pool. The star convinced Harvard's JV women's basketball team to play with him in a private game of hoops. Many of these surreal encounters ended with Bill whispering, "No one will ever believe you" into a stranger's ear. But The Tao of Bill Murray is more than just a collection of wacky anecdotes. This volume puts the actor's public clowning into a larger context, as Edwards distills Murray's unique way of being into a set of guiding principles. A sideways mix of comedy and philosophy, full of photo bombs, late-night party crashes, and movie-set antics, this is the perfect book for anyone who calls themselves a Bill Murray fan--which is to say, everyone.
The Ethical Brain: The Science of Our Moral Dilemmas
Gazzaniga, Michael S.
(Softcover)
List Price: $14.95 Sale: $6.33
The rapid advance of scientific knowledge has raised ethical dilemmas that humankind has never before had to address. Questions about the moment when life technically begins and ends or about the morality of genetically designing babies are now relevant and timely. Our ever-increasing knowledge of the workings of the human brain can guide us in the formation of new moral principles in the twenty-first century. In The Ethical Brain, preeminent neuroscientist Michael S. Gazzaniga presents the emerging social and ethical issues arising out of modern-day brain science and challenges the way we look at them. Courageous and thought-provoking - a work of enormous intelligence, insight, and importance - this book explores the hitherto uncharted landscape where science and society intersect.
You Are Not Special: and Other Encouragements
McCullough. David
(Paperback)
List Price: $16.99 Sale: $5.39
David McCullough, Jr.'s now iconic high school commencement address was a tonic for children, parents, and educators alike. With wit and a perspective earned from raising four children and teaching high school students for nearly thirty years, McCullough expands on his speech, shares his insights into the lives of today's children, and advocates for a life of passionate engagement.
Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals
Kant, Immamuel
(Softcover)
List Price: $13.99 Sale: $5.85
Considered one of the most profound, influential, and important works of philosophy, Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals introduces the famous Categorical Imperative and lays down a foundation for all of Immanuel Kant's writings. In it, Kant illuminates the basic concept that is central to his moral philosophy and, in fact, to the entire field of modern ethical thought: the Categorical Imperative, the supreme principle of morality, stating that all decisions should be made based on what is universally acceptable. Featuring the renowned translation and commentary of Oxford's H. J. Paton, this volume has long been considered the definitive English edition of Kant's classic text. "Kant's Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals," Paton writes in his preface, "is one of the small books which is truly great: it has exercised on human thought an influence almost ludicrously disproportionate to its size."
Guidebook to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Pirsig, Robert M.
(Paperback)
List Price: $16.95 Sale: $5.17
When Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was first published in 1974, it cased a literary sensation. A combination of philosophical speculation and psychological tension, the book is a complex story of relationships, values, madness, and enlightenment. The guide serves as a metaphorical backpack of supplies for the reader's journey through the original work.
Who's in Charge?
Gazzaniga, Michael S.
(Paperback)
List Price: $16.99 Sale: $6.53
There is no "you" consciously making decisions. So how do we make decisions? How can we have free will if we don't pull the levers on our own behavior? What moral and legal implications follow if we don't have free will? Who's in Charge? is a primer for a new era in the understanding of human behavior that ranges across neuroscience, psychology, ethics, and the law with a light touch but profound implications.
Meister Eckhart
Eckhart, Meister
(Softcover)
List Price: $15.00 Sale: $6.33
The author translates about one-half of Eckhart's works in this volume and presents a background into Eckhart's life and work.
Bringing Yoga to Life
Farhi, Donna
(Softcover)
List Price: $12.95 Sale: $5.39
Internationally acclaimed teacher Donna Farhi restores Yoga's traditional role as a complete, practical discipline for everyday living. In this encouraging and straightforward guide, Farhi provides a blueprint for understanding the complete philosophy of Yoga. Bringing Yoga to Life offers tools to help beginners and seasoned practitioners alike navigate the ups and downs of a spiritual practice, illustrating how they can become their own teachers and obtain the deep rewards available through engagement with an authentic path. Brimming with insight gathered form over twenty years of teaching experience, this exploration of the heart of Yoga is essential reading for anyone who practices this ancient tradition.
The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements
Hoffer, Eric
(Softcover)
List Price: $14.99 Sale: $6.33
A stevedore on the San Francisco docks in the 1940s, Eric Hoffer wrote philosophical treatises in his spare time while living in the railroad yards. The True Believer - the first and most famous of his books - was made into a bestseller when President Eisenhower cited it during one of the earliest television press conferences. Completely relevant and essential for understanding the world today, The True Believer is a visionary, highly provocative look into the mind of the fanatic and a penetrating study of how an individual becomes one.
The Power of Meaning: Crafting a Life That Matters
Smith, Emily Esfahani
(Hardcover)
List Price: $28.00 Sale: $8.83
In a culture obsessed with happiness, this wise, stirring book points the way toward a richer, more satisfying life.Too many of us believe that the search for meaning is an esoteric pursuit - that you have to travel to a distant monastery or page through dusty volumes to discover life’s secrets. The truth is, there are untapped sources of meaning all around us - right here, right now.To explore how we can craft lives of meaning, Emily Esfahani Smith synthesizes a kaleidoscopic array of sources - from psychologists, sociologists, philosophers, and neuroscientists to figures in literature and history such as George Eliot, Viktor Frankl, Aristotle, and the Buddha. Drawing on this research, Smith shows us how cultivating connections to others, identifying and working toward a purpose, telling stories about our place in the world, and seeking out mystery can immeasurably deepen our lives.To bring what she calls the four pillars of meaning to life, Smith visits a tight-knit fishing village in the Chesapeake Bay, stargazes in West Texas, attends a dinner where young people gather to share their experiences of profound loss, and more. She also introduces us to compelling seekers of meaning - from the drug kingpin who finds his purpose in helping people get fit to the artist who draws on her Hindu upbringing to create arresting photographs. And she explores how we might begin to build a culture that leaves space for introspection and awe, cultivates a sense of community, and imbues our lives with meaning.Inspiring and story-driven, The Power of Meaning will strike a profound chord in anyone seeking a life that matters.
The Essence of Happiness: A Guidebook for Living
Cutler, Howard C.
(Hardcover)
List Price: $19.95 Sale: $6.96
The Dalai Lama inspired millions around the world with his wisdom and compassion in The Art of Happiness. Now, in The Essence of Happiness, moving insights from His Holiness are gathered in an elegantly designed keepsake book that makes for a handy and accessible medium for that wisdom. Offering sage advice on defeating day-to-day depression, anxiety, anger, jealousy, and other emotions that get in the way of true happiness, the pages of The Essence of Happiness contain transforming reflections on how to overcome suffering and obstacles to create a fulfilled, joyous life.
The Man Who Wasn't There
Ananthaswamy, Anil
(Hardcover)
List Price: $26.95 Sale: $6.96
*Nominated for the 2016 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award* *An NBC News's 12 Notable Science Book of 2015* *Named one of Publishers Weekly's Best Books of 2015* In the tradition of Oliver Sacks, a tour of the latest neuroscience of schizophrenia, autism, Alzheimer's disease, ecstatic epilepsy, Cotard's syndrome, out-of-body experiences, and other disorders--revealing the awesome power of the human sense of self from a master of science journalism. Anil Ananthaswamy's extensive in-depth interviews venture into the lives of individuals who offer perspectives that will change how you think about who you are. These individuals all lost some part of what we think of as our self, but they then offer remarkable, sometimes heart-wrenching insights into what remains. One man cut off his own leg. Another became one with the universe. We are learning about the self at a level of detail that Descartes ("I think therefore I am") could never have imagined. Recent research into Alzheimer's illuminates how memory creates your narrative self by using the same part of your brain for your past as for your future. But wait, those afflicted with Cotard's syndrome think they are already dead; in a way, they believe that "I think therefore I am not." Who--or what--can say that? Neuroscience has identified specific regions of the brain that, when they misfire, can cause the self to move back and forth between the body and a doppelgänger, or to leave the body entirely. So where in the brain, or mind, or body, is the self actually located? As Ananthaswamy elegantly reports, neuroscientists themselves now see that the elusive sense of self is both everywhere and nowhere in the human brain.
Sun-Tzu: The Art of Warfare
Sun-Tzu
(Hardcover)
List Price: $25.00 Sale: $9.98
The most widely read military classic in human history, this work has been the seminal guide on the philosophy of war for two millennia. But in 1972, Chinese archaeologists unearthed a cache of manuscripts, and scholars found five hitherto unknown chapters. This edition is the first English translation to take advantage of the newly discovered materials.
The Book That Changed America: How Darwin's Theory of Evolution Ignited a Nation
Fuller, Randall
(Hardcover)
List Price: $27.00 Sale: $3.39
A compelling portrait of a unique moment in American history when the ideas of Charles Darwin reshaped American notions about nature, religion, science and raceThroughout its history America has been torn in two by debates over ideals and beliefs. Randall Fuller takes us back to one of those turning points, in 1860, with the story of the influence of Charles Darwin’s just-published On the Origin of Species on five American intellectuals, including Bronson Alcott, Henry David Thoreau, the child welfare reformer Charles Loring Brace, and the abolitionist Franklin Sanborn. Each of these figures seized on the book’s assertion of a common ancestry for all creatures as a powerful argument against slavery, one that helped provide scientific credibility to the cause of abolition. Darwin’s depiction of constant struggle and endless competition described America on the brink of civil war. But some had difficulty aligning the new theory to their religious convictions and their faith in a higher power. Thoreau, perhaps the most profoundly affected all, absorbed Darwin’s views into his mysterious final work on species migration and the interconnectedness of all living things. Creating a rich tableau of nineteenth-century American intellectual culture, as well as providing a fascinating biography of perhaps the single most important idea of that time, The Book That Changed America is also an account of issues and concerns still with us today, including racism and the enduring conflict between science and religion.
The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down: How to Be Calm and Mindful in a Fast-Paced World
Sunim, Haemin
(Hardcover)
List Price: $18.00 Sale: $7.64
The world moves fast, but that doesn’t mean we have to. This bestselling mindfulness guide by Haemin Sunim (which means “spontaneous wisdom”), a renowned Buddhist meditation teacher born in Korea and educated in the United States, illuminates a path to inner peace and balance amid the overwhelming demands of everyday life.By offering guideposts to well-being and happiness in eight areas - including relationships, love, and spirituality - Haemin Sunim emphasizes the importance of forging a deeper connection with others and being compassionate and forgiving toward ourselves. The more than twenty full-color illustrations that accompany his teachings serve as calming visual interludes, encouraging us to notice that when you slow down, the world slows down with you.
The Hidden Teaching Beyond Yoga (Volume 1)
Brunton, Paul
(Paperback)
List Price: $21.95 Sale: $7.81
The Hidden Teaching Beyond Yoga is a step-by-step guide to actually experiencing the spiritual truth that reality is formed within our consciousness rather than outside us in the world of material things. Brunton's expert analysis of perception, grounded in science, is designed to awaken us to our sacred foundation and to transform our personality into a mirror of that reality. Brunton prepares us for this journey by describing the attitudes, mental disciplines, and character traits that are beneficial for success in this quest.
Beyond the Robot: The Life and Work of Colin Wilson
Lachman, Gary
(Paperback)
List Price: $26.00 Sale: $7.81
Historian Gary Lachman delivers a fascinating, rollicking biography of literary and cultural rebel Colin Wilson, one of the most adventurous, hopeful, and least understood intellects of the past century.You will embark on the intellectual ride of a lifetime in this rediscovery of the life and work of writer, rebel, and social experimenter Colin Wilson (1931-2013).Author of the classic The Outsider, Wilson, across his 118 books, purveyed a philosophy of mind power and human potential that made him one of the least understood and most important voices of the twentieth century. Wilson helped usher in the cultural revolution of the 1960s with his landmark work, The Outsider, published in 1956. The Outsider was an intelligent, meticulous, and unprecedented study of nonconformity in all facets of life. Wilson, finally, became a prolific and unparalleled historian of the occult, providing a generation of readers with a responsible and scholarly entry point to a world of mysteries. Now, acclaimed historian Gary Lachman, a friend of Wilson and a scholar of his work, provides an extraordinary and delightful biography that delves into the life, thought, and evolution of one of the greatest intellectual rebels and underrated visionaries of the twentieth century.
Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment
Fukuyama, Francis
(Paperback)
List Price: $17.00 Sale: $4.75
The New York Times bestselling author of The Origins of Political Order offers a provocative examination of modern identity politics: its origins, its effects, and what it means for domestic and international affairs of state.In 2014, Francis Fukuyama wrote that American institutions were in decay, as the state was progressively captured by powerful interest groups. Two years later, his predictions were borne out by the rise to power of a series of political outsiders whose economic nationalism and authoritarian tendencies threatened to destabilize the entire international order. These populist nationalists seek direct charismatic connection to “the people,” who are usually defined in narrow identity terms that offer an irresistible call to an in-group and exclude large parts of the population as a whole.Demand for recognition of one’s identity is a master concept that unifies much of what is going on in world politics today. The universal recognition on which liberal democracy is based has been increasingly challenged by narrower forms of recognition based on nation, religion, sect, race, ethnicity, or gender, which have resulted in anti-immigrant populism, the upsurge of politicized Islam, the fractious “identity liberalism” of college campuses, and the emergence of white nationalism. Populist nationalism, said to be rooted in economic motivation, actually springs from the demand for recognition and therefore cannot simply be satisfied by economic means. The demand for identity cannot be transcended; we must begin to shape identity in a way that supports rather than undermines democracy.Identity is an urgent and necessary book - a sharp warning that unless we forge a universal understanding of human dignity, we will doom ourselves to continuing conflict.
Hiking with Nietzsche
Kaag, John
(Paperback)
List Price: $17.00 Sale: $4.75
Hiking with Nietzsche: Becoming Who You Are is a tale of two philosophical journeys - one made by John Kaag as an introspective young man of nineteen, the other seventeen years later, in radically different circumstances: he is now a husband and father, and his wife and small child are in tow. Kaag sets off for the Swiss peaks above Sils Maria where Nietzsche wrote his landmark work Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Both of Kaag’s journeys are made in search of the wisdom at the core of Nietzsche’s philosophy, yet they deliver him to radically different interpretations and, more crucially, revelations about the human condition.Just as Kaag’s acclaimed debut, American Philosophy: A Love Story, seamlessly wove together his philosophical discoveries with his search for meaning, Hiking with Nietzsche is a fascinating exploration not only of Nietzsche’s ideals but of how his experience of living relates to us as individuals in the twenty-first century. Bold, intimate, and rich with insight, Hiking with Nietzsche is about defeating complacency, balancing sanity and madness, and coming to grips with the unobtainable. As Kaag hikes, alone or with his family, but always with Nietzsche, he recognizes that even slipping can be instructive. It is in the process of climbing, and through the inevitable missteps, that one has the chance, in Nietzsche’s words, to "become who you are."
Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?
Sandel, Michael J.
(Softcover)
List Price: $15.00 Sale: $6.33
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. 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.
The Family Gene: A Mission to Turn My Deadly Inheritance into a Hopeful Future
Linder, Joselin
(Paperback)
List Price: $16.99 Our Price: $2.89
A riveting medical mystery about a young woman’s quest to uncover the truth about her likely fatal genetic disorder that opens a window onto the exploding field of genomic medicine.When Joselin Linder was in her twenties her legs suddenly started to swell. After years of misdiagnoses, doctors discovered a deadly blockage in her liver. Struggling to find an explanation for her unusual condition, Joselin compared the medical chart of her father - who had died from a mysterious disease, ten years prior - with that of an uncle who had died under similarly strange circumstances. Delving further into the past, she discovered that her great-grandmother had displayed symptoms similar to hers before her death. Clearly, this was more than a fluke. Setting out to build a more complete picture of the illness that haunted her family, Joselin approached Dr. Christine Seidman, the head of a group of world-class genetic researchers at Harvard Medical School, for help. Dr. Seidman had been working on her family’s case for twenty years and had finally confirmed that fourteen of Joselin’s relatives carried something called a private mutation - meaning that they were the first known people to experience the baffling symptoms of a brand new genetic mutation. Here, Joselin tells the story of their gene: the lives it claimed and the future of genomic medicine with the potential to save those that remain.
One Dharma
Goldstein, Joseph
(Softcover)
List Price: $14.95 Sale: $5.60
One of America's most respected Buddhist teachers distills a lifetime of practice and teaching into a vision of the new Buddhist tradition taking root on American soil.
The Art of Living: The Classical Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectiveness
Epictetus
(Softcover)
List Price: $12.99 Sale: $5.39
Epictetus was born into slavery about 55 AD in the eastern outreaches of the Roman Empire. Once freed, he established an influential school of Stoic philosophy, stressing that human beings cannot control life, only their responses to it. By putting into practice the ninety-three witty, wise, and razor-sharp instructions that make up The Art of Living, readers learn to meet the challenges of everyday life successfully and to face life's inevitable losses and disappointments with grace.
A Manual for Living (A Little Book of Wisdom)
Epictetus
(Softcover)
List Price: $9.00 Sale: $3.81
Former Roman slave and great Stoic philosopher Epictetus spent his life outlining the path to happiness, fulfillment, and tranquillity. In aphorisms of stunning insight and simplicity, he emphasized progress rather than perfection and a day-by-day, down-to-earth life of virtue. SC, 88 pages.
The Present Age: On the Death of Rebellion (Resistance Library)
Kierkegaard, Soren
(Paperback)
List Price: $10.99 Sale: $4.24
Kierkegaard's stunningly prescient essay that foresaw the rise of twenty-four-hour news and social media, The Present Age examines the philosophical and political implications of a culture of endless, inconsequential commentary and debate.
I You We Them: Walking into the World of the Desk Killer (Volume 1)
Gretton, Dan
(Hardcover)
List Price: $40.00 Sale: $11.12
A landmark historical investigation into crimes against humanity and the nature of evilVast and revelatory, Dan Gretton’s I You We Them is an unprecedented study of the perpetrators of crimes against humanity: the “desk killers” who ordered and directed some of the worst atrocities of the modern era. From Albert Speer’s complicity in Nazi barbarism to Royal Dutch Shell’s role in the murders of the Nigerian activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and the rest of the Ogoni Nine, Gretton probes the depths of the figure “who, by giving orders, uses paper or a phone or a computer to kill, instead of a gun.”Over the past twenty years, Gretton has interviewed survivors and perpetrators, and pored over archives and thousands of pages of testimony. His insight into the psychology of the desk killer is contextualized by the journey he took to penetrate it. Woven into the narrative are his contemplative interludes - perspectives gleaned during walks in the woods, reminiscences about a lost love, and considerations of timeless moral conundrums. The result is a genre-bending work steeped as much in personal reflection as it is in literature and historical and psychological illumination.A synthesis of history, reportage, and memoir, I You We Them is the first volume of a groundbreaking journal of discovery that bears witness to and reckons with the largest and most pressing questions before humanity.
Character: The History of a Cultural Obsession
Garber, Marjorie
(Hardcover)
List Price: $32.00 Sale: $9.25
A spirited, engaging investigation into the concept of character, an enduring human obsession in literature, psychology, politics, and everyday lifeWhat is “character”? How can it be measured, improved, or built? Are character traits fixed or changeable? Is character innate, or can it be taught?Since at least the time of Aristotle, philosophers, theologians, moralists, artists, and scientists have engaged with the enigma of human character. In its oldest usage, “character” derives from a word for engraving or stamping, yet over time, it has come to mean a moral idea, a type, a literary persona, and a physical or physiological manifestation, observable in works of art and scientific experiments. It is an essential term in drama and the focus of self-help books.In Character: The History of a Cultural Obsession, Marjorie Garber points out that character seems more relevant than ever today - the term is omnipresent in discussions of politics, ethics, gender, morality, and the psyche. References to character flaws, character issues, character assassination, and allegations of “bad” and “good” character are inescapable in the media and in contemporary political debates.What connection does “character,” in this moral or ethical sense, have with the concept of a character in a novel or a play? Do our notions about fictional characters help to produce our ideas about moral character? Can character be formed, or taught, in schools, in scouting, in the home? From Plutarch to John Stuart Mill, from Shakespeare to Darwin, from Theophrastus to Freud, from nineteenth-century phrenology to twenty-first-century brain scans, the search for the sources and components of human character still preoccupies us.The question of character arises in virtually every area of modern life. And in each case, there is the same fundamental tension: is it innate or intrinsic to the individual, or something that can be learned or modeled? At a time when both the meaning and the value of this term are put in question, no issue is more important, and no topic more vital, surprising, and fascinating.With her distinctive verve, humor, and vast erudition, Marjorie Garber explores the stakes of these conflations, confusions, and heritages, from ancient Greece to the present day.
Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All
Nossel, Suzanne
(Hardcover)
List Price: $28.99 Sale: $7.47
A vital, necessary playbook for navigating and defending free speech today by the CEO of PEN America, Dare To Speak provides a pathway for promoting free expression while also cultivating a more inclusive public culture.Online trolls and fascist chat groups. Controversies over campus lectures. Cancel culture versus censorship. The daily hazards and debates surrounding free speech dominate headlines and fuel social media storms. In an era where one tweet can launch—or end—your career, and where free speech is often invoked as a principle but rarely understood, learning to maneuver the fast-changing, treacherous landscape of public discourse has never been more urgent.In Dare To Speak, Suzanne Nossel, a leading voice in support of free expression, delivers a vital, necessary guide to maintaining democratic debate that is open, free-wheeling but at the same time respectful of the rich diversity of backgrounds and opinions in a changing country. Centered on practical principles, Nossel’s primer equips readers with the tools needed to speak one’s mind in today’s diverse, digitized, and highly-divided society without resorting to curbs on free expression.At a time when free speech is often pitted against other progressive axioms—namely diversity and equality—Dare To Speak presents a clear-eyed argument that the drive to create a more inclusive society need not, and must not, compromise robust protections for free speech. Nossel provides concrete guidance on how to reconcile these two sets of core values within universities, on social media, and in daily life. She advises readers how to:• Use language conscientiously without self-censoring ideas• Defend the right to express unpopular views• And protest without silencing speech.Nossel warns against the increasingly fashionable embrace of expanded government and corporate controls over speech, warning that such strictures can reinforce the marginalization of lesser-heard voices. She argues that creating an open market of ideas demands aggressive steps to remedy exclusion and ensure equal participation.Replete with insightful arguments, colorful examples, and salient advice, Dare To Speak brings much-needed clarity and guidance to this pressing—and often misunderstood—debate.
Passionate Declarations: Essays on War and Justice
Zinn, Howard
(Softcover)
List Price: $13.95 Sale: $5.85
From the bestselling author of A People's History of the United States comes this selection of passionate, honest, and piercing essays looking at American political ideology. Howard Zinn directs his critique here to what he calls ''American orthodoxies'' - that set of beliefs guardians of our culture consider sacrosanct: justifications for war, cynicism about human nature and violence, pride in our economic system, certainty of our freedom of speech, romanticization of representative government, confidence in our system of justice. Those orthodoxies, he believes, have a chilling effect on our capacity to think independently and to become active citizens in the long struggle for peace and justice.
Religion Within the Limits of Reason Alone
Kant, Immanuel
(Softcover)
List Price: $15.50 Sale: $6.62
"Of the many attempts to interpret Christianity solely in ethical terms, Kant's effort seems to me to be the most profound and illuminating. His Religion Within the Limits of Reason Alone illuminates primarily the great philosopher's understanding of man's moral life, but also casts light, indirectly and directly, on some of the fundamental beliefs of Christian religion. The book is indispensable to students of ethics, important for theologians, and significant for all who are concerned about the human condition." --H. Richard Niebuhr. SC, 190 pages.
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