Modern Ethics

As Elizabeth Anscombe, Philippa Foot, Mary Midgley, and Iris Murdoch labored to make a place for themselves in a male-dominated world, as they made friendships and families, and as they drifted toward and away from each other, they never stopped insisting that some lives are better than others. Drawing on a cluster of recently opened archives and extensive correspondence and interviews with those who knew them best, Benjamin Lipscomb traces the lives and ideas of four friends who gave us a better way to think about ethics, and ourselves.

In this classic work, Alasdair MacIntyre examines the historical and conceptual roots of the idea of virtue, diagnoses the reasons for its absence in personal and public life, and offers a tentative proposal for its recovery. While the individual chapters are wide-ranging, once pieced together, they comprise a penetrating and focused argument about the price of modernity.

An extraordinary account of how the Christian Revolution forged the Western imagination “A galloping tour of Christianity’s influence across the last 2,000 years.” —New York Times Crucifixion, the Romans believed, was the worst fate imaginable, a punishment reserved for slaves. How...

Sword, Spirit & Samurai presents a complete journey through the moral, spiritual, and ageless wisdom of Japan’s warrior tradition. Bringing together bold new translations of four foundational texts: The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi (including Dokkado), Bushidō: The Soul of Japan by Inazō Nitobe, Hagakure by Yamamoto Tsunetomo (including the restored fifth book), and Chūshingura (The Forty-Seven Rōnin), this modern reflective translation edition restores their clarity and depth for the modern reader. From Musashi’s disciplined awareness to Nitobe’s architecture of virtue,...

Since the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court decision in 2015, sexual identity has dominated both public discourse and cultural trends — yet no historical phenomenon is its own cause. From Augustine to Marx, various views and perspectives have contributed to the modern understanding of the self.

LEARN PHILOSOPHY IN 100 PAGES: From Ancient Philosophy to Modern Ethics—Critical Thinking, Logic, and Essential Ideas for Beginners Finally—Philosophy That Makes Sense Philosophy has a reputation for being abstract, impractical, and impossible to understand. This book proves otherwise. In just 100 pages, you'll gain a working understanding of the ideas that have shaped Western thought for 2,500 years—without the academic jargon, without the confusion, and without wasting your time on trivia that doesn't matter. This isn't a textbook. It's not a collection of famous quotes. It's a ...

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.

Practical and insightful, The Sacred Tradition of Yoga begins with a clear and deep inquiry into the human condition, reminding us of true purpose of Yoga. The second half of the book focuses on the yamas and niyamas, the personal disciplines and social ethics of yoga. Throughout, Dr. Jois’ teachings honor ancient traditions and underscore the benefits we can gain from adopting a yogic way of life in the modern world.

Camus and Existentialism: What He Agreed With, What He Rejected, and Why It Matters is a clear, engaging, and deeply readable guide to one of the most important philosophical relationships of the twentieth century. Albert Camus is often linked to Jean Paul Sartre and the existentialist movement, yet Camus spent his entire career insisting that he was not an existentialist. This book explains why. Through ten detailed chapters, readers explore Camus’ early life in Algeria, his philosophical formation, the rise of existentialism in Europe, and the dramatic public split between Camus and ...

David Hume (1711-1776) was the most important philosopher ever to write in English as well as a master stylist. This volume contains his major philosophical works. A Treatise of Human Nature (1739–1740), published while Hume was still in his twenties, consists of three books on the understanding, the passions, and morals.

Aldo Leopold Explained: Land Ethics, Ecological Consciousness, and the Foundations of Modern Environmental Thought is a deep and accessible exploration of one of the most influential thinkers in environmental history. Aldo Leopold transformed how humanity understands its relationship with the natural world by challenging the idea that land exists solely for human use. Through his groundbreaking land ethic, Leopold argued that humans are members of a living community that includes soils, waters, plants, and animals, all deserving of moral consideration. This book introduces Leopold’s life,...

Vividly written, The Infidel and the Professor is a compelling account of a great friendship of two towering Enlightenment thinkers that had great consequences for modern thought. David Hume is widely regarded as the most important philosopher ever to write in English, but during his lifetime, he was attacked as "the Great Infidel" for his skeptical religious views and deemed unfit to teach the young. In contrast, Adam Smith was a revered professor of moral philosophy and is now often hailed as the founding father of capitalism.

It has been proclaimed many times, but perhaps never more convincingly than now, when every news cycle seems to deliver further confirmation of a world gone mad. Is this the endgame? Author Spencer Klavan is a classicist, with a Ph.D. from Oxford, and a deep understanding of the West. His analysis: The situation is dire. But every crisis we face today, we have faced before. And we can surmount each one. Klavan brings to the West’s defense the insights of Plato, Aristotle, the Bible, and the Founding Fathers to show that in the wisdom of the past lies hope for the future.

Should Christians be involved in political issues? This comprehensive and readable book presents a political philosophy from the perspective that the Gospel pertains to all of life, including politics. Politics—According to the Bible is an in-depth analysis of conservative and liberal plans to...

Reason and Revolution: Understanding the Transformative Ideas of Bertrand Russell Bertrand Russell was one of the most brilliant and courageous thinkers of the twentieth century—a philosopher, mathematician, and activist who devoted his life to truth, freedom, and reason. Reason and Revolution: Understanding the Transformative Ideas of Bertrand Russell explores the extraordinary scope of his thought, from his pioneering work in logic and mathematics to his passionate defense of peace, education, and intellectual freedom. This in-depth exploration traces how Russell reshaped philosophy ...

The Geometry of God: Understanding the Revolutionary Philosophy of Baruch Spinoza is a compelling exploration of one of history’s most daring and misunderstood thinkers. Baruch Spinoza, the exiled philosopher of Amsterdam, redefined the very nature of God, freedom, and human existence. His vision of a universe governed by reason, necessity, and divine unity would influence the Enlightenment, shape modern science, and continue to inspire seekers of truth centuries later. In clear and engaging language, The Geometry of God guides readers through Spinoza’s life, ideas, and enduring legacy....

Dig deep into the plain meaning of the Bible’s stories and commandments Would you like to know what the Old Testament (Pentateuch) is all about from a Jewish point of view? This book reveals the morals, ethics, and ideas behind the stories and commandments of one of the oldest books in the history of mankind – a book that serves as the foundation of Jewish and Christian religion. Given the difficult Hebrew in which the Old Testament was written and how challenging it is to translate and to explain, the author wanted to offer to the reader the simple meaning of the text (p’shat) in ...

Benedict de Spinoza's Ethics, first published in 1677, constitutes a major systematic critique of the traditional and religious foundations of philosophical thought. In it, Spinoza follows a logical step-by-step format consisting of definitions, axioms, propositions, proofs, and corollaries to create a comprehensive inquiry into the truth about God, nature, and humans' place within the universe. From these broad metaphysical themes, Spinoza derives what he considered to be the highest principles of religion and society and lays out an ethical system in which reason is the supreme value.

This is an audiobook about the big questions in life: knowledge, consciousness, fate, God, truth, goodness, justice. It is for anyone who believes there are big questions out there, but does not know how to approach them. Think sets out to explain what they are and why they are important. Simon Blackburn begins by putting forward a convincing case for the study of philosophy and goes on to give the listener a sense of how the great historical figures such as Descartes, Hume, Kant, and Wittgenstein have approached its central themes.

Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics is one of the greatest guides to human flourishing ever written, but its length and style have left many readers languishing. How to Flourish is a colloquial new translation by Susan Sauve Meyer that makes Aristotle's timeless insights about how to lead a good life more engaging and accessible than ever before.