Showing titles in Ethics & Morality

Today, human exceptionalism is the norm. Despite occasional nods to animal welfare, we prioritize humanity, often neglecting the welfare of a vast number of beings. As a result, we use hundreds of billions of vertebrates and trillions of invertebrates every year for a variety of purposes. We also plan to use animals, AI systems, and other nonhumans at even higher levels in the future. Yet as the dominant species, humanity has a responsibility to ask: Which nonhumans matter, how much do they matter, and what do we owe them in a world reshaped by human activity and technology?

Traditional economics measures the ways in which we spend our income, but doesn't attribute worth to the crucial human interactions that give our lives meaning. Clair Brown, an economics professor at U.C. Berkeley and a practicing Buddhist, has developed a holistic model, one based on the notion that quality of life should be measured by more than national income. Brown advocates an approach to organizing the economy that embraces rather than skirts questions of values, sustainability, and equity.

From New York Times bestselling author Andy Andrews comes the return of one of our favorite characters: Jones, the Noticer, whose wise stories have comforted and guided millions of readers. In this third volume of The Noticer series, navigate the hope that the impossible can come true. At 3:29 a...

They were called logs. Thousands of men, women, and children, taken from their homes and delivered to a military compound in occupied Manchuria where Japanese doctors used them as raw material for the most systematic program of human experimentation the modern world has ever seen. They were infected with deadly diseases. They were cut open without anesthesia. They were frozen, burned, and suffocated in the pursuit of data. The men who did this were not punished. They were protected.

Bloomsbury presents To Heal a Fractured World: The Ethics of Responsibility by Jonathan Sacks, read by Daniel Epstein Rabbi Sacks argues that preoccupation with self is a mistake and that ethics are concerned with the life we live together, talking with as much authority about Sigmund Freud or...

How to Have Willpower brings together two profound ancient meditations on how to overcome pressures that encourage us to act against our own best interests—Plutarch's essay On Dysopia or How to Resist Pressure and Prudentius's poetic allegory Psychomachia or How to Slay Your Demons. Challenging the idea that humans are helpless victims of vice, these works—introduced and presented in vivid, accessible new prose translations by Michael Fontaine—emphasize the power of personal choice and the possibility of personal growth, as they offer insights and practical advice about resisting temptation.

Something happens when the life you built stops working. Not a dramatic collapse—more like a slow recognition that the things you were chasing were never going to arrive, no matter how hard you tried. The money, the status, the career, the houses—they delivered everything except the one thing they promised. For What It's Worth: In Search of a Good Life is about what comes after that recognition. Not the tidy version.

A mix of philosophy, history, and journalism that illuminates individuals in closed off communities who have left society to find their own meaning—offering insight for everyone yearning to pursue a deeper, more fulfilled life When journalist and scholar Shira Telushkin was a girl, she was...

Nietzsche said: push the falling. A plush bear says: sit down. Have some tea. Boris Krige—former priest, systems theorist, and the man who may have solved the universe with one formula and zero free parameters—has spent twenty years arguing with a dead philosopher at his kitchen table. The philosopher said God is dead. Kriger yells at God regularly and considers this proof of His existence. The philosopher said pity is poison. Kriger ran a shelter for fourteen homeless people in his own house for nine years. The philosopher said the strong must overcome.

Awkwardness discusses how we ostracize and punish those who fail to fit into existing social categories, how we all depend on-and are limited by-social scripts and norms for guidance, and how these norms frequently let us down when we need them.

St. George William Joseph Stock's 'A Guide to Stoicism' is a comprehensive exploration of the principles and practices of Stoic philosophy. Delving into the ancient Greek and Roman origins of Stoicism, Stock provides a detailed analysis of key Stoic concepts such as virtue, self-control, and the nature of the universe. The book is written in a clear and accessible style, making it suitable for both beginners and advanced students of philosophy.

A heartfelt, humane, and even hilarious account of why rule-obsessed veganism fails and how a focus on flourishing can bring about an abundant future for all In Hungry Beautiful Animals, philosopher Matthew C. Halteman shows us how—despite all the forces arrayed against going vegan—we can...

Explore the mysteries of morality and the concept of right and wrong with this accessible, engaging guide featuring basic facts along with an overview of modern-day issues ranging from business ethics and bioethics to political and social ethics. Ethics 101 offers an exciting look into the...

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.

Niemand ist davor gefeit, im Laufe des Lebens aus der Bahn geworfen zu werden − sei es durch eine tiefe Erschöpfung, die sich im Alltag eingeschlichen hat oder durch eine akute psychische Krise. Alain de Botton hat einen empathischen Begleiter für diese herausfordernden Lebensabschnitte geschrieben: Wie gehen wir freundlich und fürsorglich mit uns um, wenn Besserung in weiter Ferne scheint? Welche kleinsten Veränderungen und Kniffe helfen, den entscheidenden Unterschied zu machen? Wie stärken wir unsere Resilienz? Wie finden wir unseren Weg aus der Krise?

The True, the Good, and the Beautiful are as timeless a trio of concepts as Western culture has to offer. Since before Socrates, humankind has explored these virtues in an attempt to describe and categorize them. Our definitions of these concepts, moreover, have unceasingly changed over the ages and across continents.

Friedrich Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra is a profound exploration of humanity’s potential for self-overcoming and the search for meaning in a godless world. Presented in powerful spoken form, Nietzsche’s ideas come alive through the voice of Zarathustra, delivering a poetic and provocative vision of living authentically and embracing life’s challenges with courage and creativity.

Brought to you by Penguin. Shame is being weaponized by governments and corporations to attack the most vulnerable. It's time to fight back Shame is a powerful and sometimes useful tool. When we publicly shame corrupt politicians, abusive celebrities, or predatory corporations, we reinforce...

What does it truly mean to live a meaningful life? Rather than presenting Frankl’s ideas as abstract theory, Viktor Frankl Dictionary unfolds them as living concepts rooted in freedom, responsibility, suffering, dignity, and the irreducible human search for meaning.

To the modern mind, the idea of honor is outdated, sexist, and barbaric. It evokes Hamilton and Burr and pistols at dawn, not visions of a well-organized society. But for philosopher Tamler Sommers, a sense of honor is essential to living moral lives. In Why Honor Matters, Sommers argues that our collective rejection of honor has come at great cost. Reliant only on Enlightenment liberalism, the United States has become the home of the cowardly, the shameless, the selfish, and the alienated. Properly channeled, honor encourages virtues like courage, integrity, and solidarity.