LITMIR.BIZ

In this book, nine thought-leaders engage with some of the hottest moral issues in science and ethics. Based on talks originally given at the annual «Purdue Lectures in Ethics, Policy, and Science,» the chapters explore interconnections between the three areas in an engaging and accessible way. Addressing a mixed public audience, the authors go beyond dry theory to explore some of the difficult moral questions that face scientists and policy-makers every day. The introduction presents a theoretical framework for the book, defining the term «bioethics» as extending well beyond human well-being to wider relations between humans, nonhuman animals, the environment, and biotechnologies. Three sections then explore the complex relationship between moral value, scientific knowledge, and policy making. The first section starts with thoughts on nonhuman animal pain and moves to a discussion of animal understanding. The second section explores climate change and the impact of «green» nanotechnology on environmental concerns. The final section begins with dialog about ethical issues in nanotechnology, moves to an exploration of bio-banks (a technology with broad potential medical and environmental impact), and ends with a survey of the impact of biotechnologies on (synthetic) life itself. Contents: Part 1: Animals: Moral agency, moral considerability, and consciousness (Daniel Kelly) and From minds to minding (Mark Bernstein); Animal Pain: What is it and why does it matter? (Bernard Rollin). Part 2: Environment: The future of environmental ethics (Holmes Rolston III); Climate change, human rights, and the trillionth ton of carbon (Henry Shue); Ethics, environment, and nanotechnology (Barbara Karn). Part 3: Biotechnologies: Nanotechnologies: Science and society (James Leary); Ethical issues in constructing and using bio-banks (Eric Meslin); Synthetic life: A new industrial revolution (Gregory Kaebnick).

Подробнее

"The order of history emerges from the history of order" is the sentence that opens Eric Voegelin's multivolume work, Order and History. A search for an understanding of the order that can be found in history, and within the human being who is the subject of history, has resulted in a large and complicated body of work by this contemporary philosopher. Eugene Webb offers a full illumination and assessment of that work.

Подробнее

William James' «Pragmatism» is a collection of lectures that were delivered at the Lowell Institute in Boston in November and December, 1906, and in January, 1907, at Columbia University, in New York. «Pragmatism» outlines the principles of the pragmatic philosophical movement, which was greatly furthered by the writings and speeches of William James. In this book you will find the following lectures: I. The Present Dilemma in Philosophy, II. What Pragmatism Means, III. Some Metaphysical Problems Pragmatically Considered, IV. The One and the Many, V. Pragmatism and Common Sense, VI. Pragmatism's Conception of Truth, VII. Pragmatism and Humanism, and VIII. Pragmatism and Religion.

Подробнее

Perhaps one of the most controversial and inflammatory philosophers in western civilization, Friedrich Nietzsche summarized his extraordinary ideas in «The Twilight of the Idols.» This work is a lightning strike on many of the prevalent ideas of his day, especially what he describes as the 'The Problem of Socrates' and 'The Four Great Errors.' Overall, Nietzsche attacks our system of evaluating life, the confusion of cause and effect, self-deception, accountability and free will, and the concepts of vice and morality. The alternative title of this work is, appropriately, «How One Philosophizes with a Hammer.» This work, written in just over a week, prepares readers for the ideas found in «The Anti-Christ.» Also written in 1888, it expands on Nietzsche's blatant disagreements with institutional Christianity. Though written to deliberately rouse anyone who reads them, these works are perhaps most shocking not in their frank negativity concerning nearly all aspects of humanity, but in the profound depth of their understanding of human nature and the actual optimism subtly affirming man's capabilities and possibilities.

Подробнее

"Thus Spake Zarathustra" is the fictional account of the travels and teachings of Zarathustra, known also as Zoraster, the Persian prophet and founder of Zoroastrianism. What Nietzsche is portraying here is a new or different Zarathustra though, one with a morality alternate to that of the traditional. Utilizing a unique and experimental style, «Thus Spake Zarathustra» contains the famous Nietzsche phrase «God is dead» and is one of Nietzsche's classic philosophical works.

Подробнее

Leading figures at the dawn of the sixteenth-century Reformation commonly faced the charge of “judaizing”: 72 In His Name concerns the changing views of four such men starting with their kabbalistic treatment of the 72 divine names of angels. Johann Reuchlin, the first of the four men featured in this book, survived the charge; Martin Luther’s increasingly anti-semitic stance is contrasted with the opposite movement of the French Franciscan Jean Thenaud whose kabbalistic manuscripts were devoted to Francis I; Philipp Wolff, the fourth, had been born into a Jewish family but his recorded views were decidedly anti-semitic. 72 In His Name also includes evidence that kabbalistic beliefs and practices, such as the service for exorcism recorded by Thenaud, were unwittingly recorded by Christians. Although the book concerns early modern Europe, the religious interactions, the shifting spiritual attitudes, and the shadows cast linger on.

Подробнее

While he is widely acknowledged as the most important Russian thinker of the nineteenth century, Vladimir Soloviev’s place in the landscape of world philosophy nevertheless remains uncertain. Approaching him through a single synoptic lens, this book foregrounds his unique envisioning of the interaction between humanity and the material world. By investigating the development of a single theme in his work—his idea of the “spiritualization of matter”, the “task” of humanity—Smith constructs a rounded picture of Soloviev’s overall importance to an understanding. If nineteenth-century thought, as well as to modern theology and philosophy. The picture that emerges is of a writer whose contribution to a Christian philosophy of matter resonates with many of the religious debates of modernity.

Подробнее

Greeks were history's great men of thought. John Haaren has collected stories from the lives of thirty famous Greek Men, detailing the rise, Golden Age, and fall of Greece. Among these men are Aristotle, Ptolemy, Ulysses, Pericles, and Alexander the Great. Your children will be delighted to read and understand why the scope of Greek accomplishment is still known today as «The Greek Miracle.»

Подробнее

Do men have a stake in the abortion debate? Modern culture says no but author Brian Fisher shows why men are very much an interested party. Men led the campaign to legalize abortion–harming and exploiting women in the process. Now, he says, men must lead the effort to end the exploitation by ending abortion. And he presents a plan to do so. This revised and expanded second edition presents a more complete picture of how men target and exploit women globally, how this oppression is deeply connected to abortion, and how men can be, are, and should be a part of the solution.

Подробнее

This publication investigates how Karl Barth’s doctrine of time and eternity can contribute to the continued understanding of the relationship of divine eternity to time or temporality. Examining from a theological, philosophical and physical perspective, with deep emphasis on the Trinity, as well as Barth’s Christology and pneumatology, the author helps us to understand his theory on time and eternity. Barth’s contribution to the subject is significant, with his doctrine of time and eternity being relational in ontology, Trinitarian in background and concrete in character.

Подробнее