Showing titles in Ethics & Morality

Is it right to eat a pig that wants to be eaten...? Thought experiments are short scenarios that pose a moral or philosophical problem in a vivid and concrete way. In this book Julian Baggini presents 100 of the most intriguing thought experiments from the history of philosophy and ideas.

When The Stone Reader—a landmark collection of 133 essays from the New York Times’ award-winning philosophy column—first published, in 2015, the world urgently needed insight and wisdom, and for many, the book served as a bulwark of reason against the rising tide of post-fact rhetoric. Now, as disinformation continues to run rampant and our rights are increasingly called into question, editors Peter Catapano and Simon Critchley contend that philosophy in the public sphere is more crucial than ever.

How to Argue With a Meat Eater (and Win Every Time) is an essential companions for all vegans helping them to remain cool and calm (and win) even in the most heated debate. It comprehensively breaks down every argument used against veganism, providing listeners with impressive rebuttals to these arguments. Covering topics such as ethics, the environment, health and nutrition, as well as providing tips on how to have 'healthy' debates, this book will leave listeners feeling confident and empowered knowing that, not matter what the argument, they can win every time.

What are the limits of language? How to bring philosophy closer to everyday life? What is a good human being? These were among the questions that philosophers wrestled with in mid-twentieth century Britain, a period shadowed by war and the rise of fascism. In response to these events, thinkers such as Gilbert Ryle, J. L. Austin, Elizabeth Anscombe and Iris Murdoch aspired to a new level of watchfulness and self-awareness about language. Being vigilant about their words was their way to keep philosophy true to everyday experience.

In Thomas Ligotti's first nonfiction outing, an examination of the meaning (or meaninglessness) of life through an insightful, unsparing argument that proves the greatest horrors are not the products of our imagination but instead are found in reality. "There is a signature motif discernible in...

Iris Murdoch once observed: 'philosophy is often a matter of finding occasions on which to say the obvious'. What was obvious to Murdoch, and to all those who read her work, is that Good transcends everything—even God. Throughout her distinguished and prolific writing career, she explored questions of Good and Bad, myth and morality. The framework for Murdoch's questions—and her own conclusions—can be found here.

Everywhere we hear talk of decline, of a world that was better once, maybe fifty years ago, maybe centuries ago, but certainly before modernity drew us along its dubious path. While some lament the slide of Western culture into relativism and nihilism and others celebrate the trend as a liberating sort of progress, Charles Taylor calls on us to face the moral and political crises of our time, and to make the most of modernity’s challenges.

Most of us want to make a difference. We donate to charity, buy Fairtrade coffee, or try to cut down on our carbon emissions. Rarely do we know if we're really helping, and despite our best intentions, our actions can have ineffective -- and sometimes downright harmful - outcomes. Confronting this problem, William MacAskill developed the concept of effective altruism, a practical, data-driven approach which shows that each of us has the power to do an astonishing amount of good, given the right information.

Shannon Vallor makes a wide-ranging, prophetic, and philosophical case for what AI could be: a way to reclaim our human potential for moral and intellectual growth, rather than lose ourselves in mirrors of the past. Rejecting prophecies of doom, she encourages us to pursue technology that helps us recover our sense of the possible, and with it the confidence and courage to repair a broken world. Vallor calls us to rethink what AI is and can be, and what we want to be with it.

Listen to this complete and easy-to-follow, explanatory edition of Cicero's On Duties, an unmatched practical guide to conduct.

Artfully compiling a selection of Nietzsche’s timeless philosophy and intellectual musings, this book seeks to dispel the mystery and unravel the profound ideas behind this 19th-century intellectual giant. Exploring the driving forces behind Nietzsche’s philosophy, the Friedrich Nietzsche Collection draws on four of his most influential works, painting a rich and compelling picture of his immense legacy. This collection breaks down Nietzsche’s most impactful reflections, ranging from poignant questions about the nature of morality to a passionate call for self-discovery.

This urgent and eye-opening book makes the case that protecting humanity's future is the central challenge of our time. If all goes well, human history is just beginning. Our species could survive for billions of years - enough time to end disease, poverty, and injustice, and to flourish in ways unimaginable today. But this vast future is at risk. With the advent of nuclear weapons, humanity entered a new age, where we face existential catastrophes - those from which we could never come back.

A passionate, provocative and blisteringly smart interrogation of how we experience art in the age of #MeToo, and whether we can separate an artist's work from their biography. What do we do with the art of monstrous men? Can we love the work of Roman Polanski and Michael Jackson, Hemingway and...

One of the great fears many of us face is that despite all our effort and striving, we will discover at the end that we have wasted our life. In A Guide to the Good Life, William B. Irvine plumbs the wisdom of Stoic philosophy, one of the most popular and successful schools of thought in ancient Rome, and shows how its insight and advice are still remarkably applicable to modern lives. In A Guide to the Good Life, Irvine offers a refreshing presentation of Stoicism, showing how this ancient philosophy can still direct us toward a better life.

In his essay The Over-Soul, Ralph Waldo Emerson outlines his belief in a God that resides in each of us and whom we can communicate with, without membership in a church or the assistance of an intermediary church official.

Brought to you by Penguin. A moving exploration of the solace and power of listening in an unjust world, from the author of The Feminist Killjoy Handbook ‘Behind many disasters are unheard complaints’ To complain is an intimate, dangerous act. Whether it’s speaking up about racism in the...

The unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Michael J Sandel's, Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do? Read by the author himself. Considering the role of justice in our society and our lives, Michael Sandel reveals how an understanding of philosophy can help to make sense of politics...

Nietzsche never recovered from his mental breakdown in 1889 and therefore was unable to further any plans he had for the ‘magnum opus’ he had once intended, bringing together in a coherent whole his mature philosophy. It was left to his close friend Heinrich Köselitz and his sister Elizabeth Förster-Nietzsche to go through the remaining notebooks and unpublished writings, choosing sections of particular interest to produce The Will to Power, giving it the subtitle An Attempted Transvaluation of All Values. 

Living and dying with bravery and honor is at the heart of Hagakure, a series of texts written by an 18th-century samurai, Yamamoto Tsunetomo. It is a window into the samurai mind, illuminating the concept of bushido (the Way of the Warrior), which dictated how samurai were expected to behave, conduct themselves, live, and die.

Penguin presents the unabridged downloadable, audiobook edition of The Road to Character by David Brooks, read by Arthur Morey and David Brooks. #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER In The Road to Character David Brooks, best-selling author of The Social Animal and New York Times columnist, explains why...