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.

From Menageries to Modern Zoos: The Epic Evolution of Captive Wildlife A sweeping history of humankind’s enduring fascination with the animal kingdom — from ancient temples and royal courts to the ethical frontiers of modern conservation. For more than five thousand years, humans have gathered wild animals into spaces of wonder, worship, and power. From Menageries to Modern Zoos traces that extraordinary journey — from the sacred crocodile pools of ancient Egypt and the pleasure gardens of imperial China, through the blood-soaked arenas of Rome and the gilded cages of the Renaissance,...

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.

What if the greatest danger facing today’s believers isn’t persecution, but compromise? In a world where moral lines are blurred, truth is traded for convenience, and faith is watered down by cultural pressure, the question is no longer whether Christians can survive—but whether they can stand with integrity. Every day, you are confronted with choices that test your convictions: decisions about relationships, money, politics, sexuality, work, technology, and faith itself. The temptation to bend the truth or blend in with the crowd feels overwhelming. Many have already surrendered ...

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.

A “marvelous” (Economist) account of how the Christian Revolution forged the Western imagination. Crucifixion, the Romans believed, was the worst fate imaginable, a punishment reserved for slaves. How astonishing it was, then, that people should have come to believe that one particular...

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.

Intellectual History for Modern Life: How Major Ideas from Philosophy, Science, and Culture Continue to Shape Contemporary Thinking BOOK 1: Ancient Foundations of Modern Thought: How Greek, Roman, and Early Eastern Ideas Still Shape Ethics, Politics, and Meaning Modern life feels fast, technical, and unprecedented, yet many of the ideas that quietly shape how we think today were formed thousands of years ago. Ancient Foundations of Modern Thought explores the intellectual roots beneath contemporary ethics, politics, psychology, and meaning, showing how ancient philosophies continue to ...

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.

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.

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,...

Unlock the ideas that shaped the modern world with Thinking in the Modern Age: An Engaging Journey Through Contemporary Philosophy. This accessible yet in-depth guide takes readers on a journey through the most influential movements and thinkers of the past three centuries, from the Enlightenment to postmodernism. Explore how rationalism and empiricism laid the foundations of modern knowledge, how existentialism grappled with freedom and meaning, and how pragmatism turned philosophy into a tool for action. Discover the analytic tradition’s search for clarity, phenomenology’s focus on ...

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.

What if law wasn’t just about rules—but about peace? Readers of all backgrounds are invited into the heart of Halacha, the Jewish legal tradition—not as a system of restrictions, but as a divine roadmap toward justice, compassion, and human dignity. With clarity and care, this book reveals how ancient Jewish laws speak to modern challenges—guiding everything from speech and commerce to community and ethics. Grounded in sacred texts but reaching far beyond them, it shows how law can become not a burden, but a blessing—a path toward a world where people flourish together. Whether ...

Discover the Mind That Made the Modern World The Victorians did not simply build an empire—they built a conscience. In an age of restraint and revelation, they turned discipline into virtue, silence into dignity, and guilt into a form of grace. The Victorian Mindset uncovers the psychological machinery behind that moral world, tracing how self-control became salvation and introspection replaced faith. From diaries and drawing rooms to asylums and deathbeds, Richard Fleischman explores how the nineteenth century transformed work into worship, desire into duty, and memory into moral order. ...

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.

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...

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.

In his essay On Anger, the Roman Stoic thinker Seneca argues that anger is the most destructive passion. This splendid new translation of essential selections from On Anger, presented with an enlightening introduction, offers listeners a timeless guide to avoiding and managing anger. Drawing on his great arsenal of rhetoric, including historical examples, anecdotes, quips, and soaring flights of eloquence, Seneca builds his case against anger with mounting intensity.

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....