Philosophy Ethics

Although Roe v. Wade identified abortion as a constitutional right 45 years ago, it still bears stigma - a proverbial scarlet A. In public discussion, both proponents and opponents of abortion's legality tend to focus on extraordinary cases. This tendency keeps the national debate polarized and contentious. Professor Katie Watson focuses instead on the cases that happen the most, which she calls "ordinary abortion". Scarlet A gives the reflective listener a more accurate impression of what the majority of American abortion practice really looks like.

Martha C. Nussbaum turns her attention to the political crisis that has polarized American since the 2016 election. Although today’s atmosphere is marked by partisanship and divisive rhetoric, Nussbaum focuses on what so many pollsters and pundits have overlooked: The political is always emotional. Globalization has produced feelings of powerlessness in millions in the West. That sense of powerlessness bubbles into resentment and blame. While this politics of blame is exemplified by the election of Trump and the Brexit vote, Nussbaum argues it can be found on the left and the right.

Aristotle was the first philosopher to write ethical treatises. His best-known work in this field, The Nicomachean Ethics, consists of 10 books addressing the question of how the individual should best live. For Aristotle, ethics seeks to determine what makes a virtuous character possible, which is essential for a state of well-being. He describes a sequence of necessary steps to achieve this, such as righteous actions that promote the development of the right habits. He examines the moral virtues and their corresponding vices, like courage versus fear.

You’ve seen the memes and quotes everywhere—from Reddit to TikTok—but what is stoicism really about? Stoicism 101 teaches you everything you need to know about this influential philosophy—from its key figures (including Epictetus, Seneca the Younger, and Marcus Aurelius), to its key principles (virtue, mindfulness, and the dichotomy of control). This easy-to-digest guide uses engaging, straightforward lessons to teach you all the important stoic concepts.

One of the most influential Roman perspectives on religion came from a nonreligious belief system that is finding new adherents even today: Stoicism. How did the Stoics think about religion? In How to Think About God, Philip Freeman presents vivid new translations of Cicero's On the Nature of the Gods and The Dream of Scipio. In these brief works, Cicero offers a Stoic view of belief, divinity, and human immortality, giving eloquent expression to the religious ideas of one of the most popular schools of Roman and Greek philosophy.

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.

Evil threatens human reason, for it challenges our hope that the world makes sense. For 18th-century Europeans, the Lisbon earthquake was manifest evil. Today we view evil as a matter of human cruelty, and Auschwitz as its extreme incarnation. Examining our understanding of evil from the Inquisition to contemporary terrorism, Susan Neiman explores who we have become in the three centuries that separate us from the early Enlightenment. In the process, she rewrites the history of modern thought and points philosophy back to the questions that originally animated it.

This book is an introduction to the field of theological ethics with a Trinitarian perspective that guides pastors, ministry leaders, and students about how to think in a gospel way about the moral formation of persons and communities, about ethical inquiry and action, and about the tone and content of engagement in the public square.

Robin Attfield introduces environmental ethics, exploring the values involved in issues, such as pollution, habitat loss, and climate change. Considering the different groups involved in environmental ethics and the attitudes of the world's religions to environmental stewardship, he calls for action from us all to manage our environment ethically.

The Dalai Lama, at his most compassionate and outspoken, here elaborates and deepens his vision for the nonreligious way. Transcending the mere "religion wars", he outlines a system of secular ethics that gives tolerant respect to religion, those that ground ethics in a belief in God and an afterlife, and those that understand good actions as leading to better states of existence in future lives. And yet, with the highest level of spiritual and intellectual authority, the Dalai Lama makes a claim for what he calls a third way.

The Voluntaryists are libertarians who have organized to promote non-political strategies to achieve a free society. We reject electoral politics, in theory and in practice as incompatible with libertarian goals. Governments must cloak their actions in an aura of moral legitimacy in order to sustain their power, and political methods invariably strengthen that legitimacy. Voluntarists seek instead to delegitimize the state through education, and we advocate withdrawal of the cooperation and tacit consent on which state power ultimately depends.

How to Say No is a delightful collection of brief ancient writings about Cynicism that captures all the outrageousness, wit, and wisdom of its remarkable cast of characters—from Diogenes in the fourth century BCE to the column-stander Symeon Stylites in late antiquity.

In this short book, Roger Scruton presents an original and radical defense of human uniqueness. Confronting the views of evolutionary psychologists, utilitarian moralists, and philosophical materialists such as Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett, Scruton argues that human beings cannot be understood simply as biological objects.

In Sacrifice, Rene Girard interrogates the Brahmanas of Vedic India, exploring coincidences with mimetic theory that are too numerous and striking to be accidental. The Bible reveals collective violence, similar to that which generates sacrifice everywhere, but instead of making victims guilty, the Bible and the Gospels reveal the persecutors of a single victim. Instead of elaborating myths, they tell the truth absolutely contrary to the archaic sense.

Aristotle is by far one of the most renown philosophers of all time. His philosophy has stood the test of time and his works have been analyzed and read around the world. This Aristotle collection contains four of Aristotle's most remarkable works: Nicomachean Ethics, Politics, Rhetoric, and Poetics.

When Moral Politics was first published two decades ago, it redefined how Americans think and talk about politics through the lens of cognitive political psychology. Today, George Lakoff's classic text has become all the more relevant, as liberals and conservatives have come to hold even more vigorously opposed views of the world, with the underlying assumptions of their respective worldviews at the level of basic morality.

There is no cure for the human condition: life is hard. But Kieran Setiya believes philosophy can help. He offers us a map for navigating rough terrain, from personal trauma to the injustice and absurdity of the world.

Do you wonder what your true path in life is? We each have a purpose and a mission. However, uncovering this purpose can be challenging, and often daunting. If you are like most, you have probably asked yourself, "Why am I here?" But where do you turn for answers? Religion? Psychology? Spirituality? This book will help you dismantle tired, old traditions that tell us that we should avoid pain and seek pleasure or pursue power, and shows us that even pain can play an important part in how we choose to live.

Figura capital del pensamiento filosófico de Grecia junto con Platón, su maestro, Aristóteles (384-322 a.C.) fue autor de una vasta obra que abarcó desde la lógica y la metafísica a la biología y las ciencias naturales, pasando por la retórica, la poética, la política y la ética. Conjunto de recomendaciones dirigidas en un principio a la educación de su hijo, su Ética a Nicómaco plantea y trata esencialmente la cuestión de cómo debe el ser humano ordenar su conducta para alcanzar la felicidad.

Las anotaciones autobiográficas, las reflexiones y sentencias que Marco Aurelio fue escribiendo para sí mismo, durante sus últimos años de vida, componen un texto singular en la literatura antigua. Ningún otro gran personaje del mundo antiguo nos ha legado un testimonio personal tan sincero, tan hondo y tan patéticamente filosófico. Marco Aurelio tuvo que vestir la púrpura y la coraza del guerrero al frente de un inmenso y amenazado imperio.