Showing titles in Ethics & Morality

Scientists have long counseled against interpreting animal behavior in terms of human emotions, warning that such anthropomorphizing limits our ability to understand animals as they really are. Yet what are we to make of a female gorilla in a German zoo who spent days mourning the death of her baby? Or a wild female elephant who cared for a younger one after she was injured by a rambunctious teenage male?

"It's the animal in us," we often hear when we've been bad. But why not when we're good? Primates and Philosophers tackles this question by exploring the biological foundations of one of humanity's most valued traits: morality.In this provocative book, primatologist Frans de Waal argues that modern-day evolutionary biology takes far too dim a view of the natural world, emphasizing our "selfish" genes.

This Is Water: Booktrack Edition adds an immersive musical soundtrack to your audiobook listening experience! * Only once did David Foster Wallace give a public talk on his views on life, during a commencement address given in 2005 at Kenyon College. The speech is reprinted for the first time in...

In this refreshing and eye-opening audiobook, James Mumford, a public thinker and independent commentator, questions the basic assumptions of our political groups. His challenge is simple: ‘Why should believing strongly about one topic mean the automatic adoption of so many others?’ Vexed is an essential and provocative account that will appeal to anyone of independent thought, and a welcome call for new reflection on the moral issues most relevant to our modern way of life.

If you sometimes ask yourself "Why am I here?" or "Is there always a clear right and wrong?", you're drawn to the big questions of life, which is what philosophy is all about! Its goal is to explore life's mysteries, to see if universal truths are discoverable through logical reasoning.

If you’ve always wanted simple and proven stoic exercises for you to be more resilient and maintain optimum performance despite drowning in a sea of difficult emotions and circumstances, but it feels impossible, then keep reading...Take a second now to imagine how you’ll feel once you conquer your fears, and how your family and friends will react when you are at your highest levels at all times! So even if you’ve tried every self help program on the market, you can stop fearing and start living with Stoicism!

In this sensitive and probing book, Matthew Ichihashi Potts explores the complex moral terrain of forgiveness, which he claims has too often served as a salve to the conscience of power rather than as an instrument of healing or justice. Though forgiveness is often linked with reconciliation or the abatement of anger, Potts resists these associations, asserting instead that forgiveness is simply the refusal of retaliatory violence through practices of penitence and grief.

Described by Jeffrey Masson as "the single best introduction to animal rights ever written," this new book by Tom Regan will structure the animal rights debate for generations to come. In a style at once simple and elegant, Regan dispels the negative image of animal rights advocates perpetrated by the mass media, unmasks the fraudulent rhetoric of "humane treatment" favored by animal exploiters, and explains why existing laws function to legitimize institutional cruelty.

While exploring Shakespeare's plays with her students, Paula Marantz Cohen discovered that teaching and discussing his plays unlocked a surprising sense of compassion in the classroom. In this short and illuminating book, she shows how Shakespeare's genius lay with his ability to arouse empathy, even when his characters exist in alien contexts and behave in reprehensible ways.

In this incredible audiobook, you will learn the secret to applying Stoicism into your everyday life. After a quick and easy walk-through into Stoic history, theology, and psychology, you will dive deep into learning key methods of Stoicism that you can implement today to give you real results.

In this eye-opening account of "metaphysical blindness" in the West, Watts accents the dense exploration of religious philosophy with wry wit that will engage inquiring minds in search of spiritual power and wisdom.

Woher kommt Moral und wie zeigt sie sich heute? Moderne Gesellschaften sind Krisengesellschaften: Universelle Werte sind erodiert, eine allgemeingültige Moral scheint für immer der Vergangenheit anzugehören. Doch der Schein trügt: Tatsächlich gibt es universelle Werte, die alle Menschen miteinander teilen.

In this new kind of introduction to ethical theory, Daniel Muñoz and Sarah Stroud present fifty of the field's most exciting puzzles, paradoxes, and thought experiments. Over the course of eleven chapters, the authors cover a huge variety of topics, starting with the classic debate between utilitarians and deontologists and ending on existential questions about the future of humanity.

Freedom is a psychological accomplishment. Only truthfulness will set us free. Many of us already know that in our bones, but we don't always muster the courage to do it - or remember the incredible rewards! From the simple, intensely moving stories in the beginning to the profound and hilarious essays in the end, this audiobook is the best reminder of that reward you will ever come across. Honesty is the source of the ongoing renewal of love. We have the evidence.

Many contemporary political thinkers are gripped by the belief that their task is to develop an ideal theory of rights or justice for guiding and judging political actions. But in Philosophy and Real Politics, Raymond Geuss argues that philosophers should first try to understand why real political actors behave as they actually do. Far from being applied ethics, politics is a skill that allows people to survive and persue their goals.

Gaius Musonius Rufus was a Roman Stoic philosopher of the first century AD. He has been referred to as the Roman Socrates and is also remembered for being the teacher of Epictetus. He taught philosophy in Rome during the reign of Nero and so was sent into exile in 65 AD, returning to Rome only under Galba. Twenty-one of his lectures survive together with a few fragmentary notes from others, all of which are contained in this narration.

All social groups have ideals for behavior, even though ethics vary among different cultures and among individuals within each culture. In trying to understand why, Churchland brings together an understanding of the influences of nature and nurture. She looks to evolution to elucidate how, from birth, our brains are configured to form bonds, to cooperate, and to care. Conscience delves into scientific studies, particularly the fascinating work on twins, to deepen our understanding of whether people have a predisposition to embrace specific ethical stands.

Myths, as Mary Midgley argues in this powerful audiobook, are everywhere. In political thought they sit at the heart of theories of human nature and the social contract; in economics in the pursuit of self interest; and in science the idea of human beings as machines, which originates in the 17th century, is a today a potent force. Far from being the opposite of science, however, Midgley argues that myth is a central part of it. Myths are neither lies nor mere stories, but a network of powerful symbols for interpreting the world.

In Man for Himself, Erich Fromm examines the confusion of modern women and men who, because they lack faith in any principle by which life ought to be guided, become the helpless prey forces both within and without. From the broad, interdisciplinary perspective that marks Fromm's distinguished oeuvre, he shows that psychology cannot divorce itself from the problems of philosophy and ethics, and that human nature cannot be understood without understanding the values and moral conflicts that confront us all.

A professor emeritus of philosophy at Princeton University, Harry G. Frankfurt penned a surprise smash hit with his New York Times best seller On Bullshit, which insightfully and wittily captured the human capacity for, and tendency toward, BS. Now he examines the other side of the coin with this equally entertaining and provocative follow-up.