Essays Social

Solo integral es la modalidad más extrema de escalada. En su práctica, el escalador se juega la vida en cada uno de sus movimientos. Este conjunto de artículos (cien publicados y otros cien inéditos) reflejan el espíritu crítico y a contracorriente de Fernando Savater. El autor se pone a prueba en esta revisión de sus ideas no solo porque puede llegar a contradecirse, sino porque, al ser textos independientes, que no están adscritos a un medio de comunicación, puede pensar, escribir y opinar de una forma totalmente libre.

Words matter. They wound, they inflate, they define, they demean. They have nuance and power. "Effortless", "Sassy", "Ambitious", "Aggressive": What subtle digs and sneaky implications are conveyed when women are described with words like these? Words are made into weapons, warnings, praise, and blame, bearing an outsized influence on women's lives - to say nothing of our moods.

What was the real significance of William James's breakdown? Of the anti-Semitism in T.S. Eliot's writing? At each step in his latest journey through American cultural history, Menand has an original point to make.

Does it take faith to be a Jedi? Are droids capable of thought? Should Jar Jar Binks be held responsible for the rise of the Empire? Presenting entirely new essays, no aspect of the myth and magic of George Lucas's creation is left philosophically unexamined in The Ultimate Star Wars and Philosophy.

Dharma is our gradual awakening to the truth and the recognition of our unique path. Dharma is not something I chose; it chose me. These are some of my insights over 25 years of intensive study, practice, and teaching of yoga. Much of it centers on hatha yoga (postures and breath work) because that is the main practice in the West. Like other branches of yoga, it is a training of mind and heart so that we experience life with grace and equanimity. Insight arises from continual observation of the mind (citta).

Milan Kundera has established himself as one of the great novelists of our time with such books as The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Immortality, and The Book of Laughter and Forgetting. In Testaments Betrayed, he proves himself a brilliant defender of the moral rights of the artist and the respect due to a work of art and its creator's wishes. The betrayal of both - often by their most passionate proponents - is the principal theme of this extraordinary work. Listeners will be particularly intrigued by Kundera's impassioned attack on society's shifting moral judgments and persecutions of art and artists.

Famines are becoming smaller and rarer, but optimism about the possibility of a famine-free future must be tempered by the threat of global warming. That is just one of the arguments that Cormac Ó Gráda, one of the world's leading authorities on the history and economics of famine, develops in this wide-ranging audiobook, which provides crucial new perspectives on key questions raised by famines around the globe between the 17th and 21st centuries.

Gay culture has become a nightmare of consumerism, whether it's an endless quest for Absolut vodka, Diesel jeans, rainbow Hummers, pec implants, or Pottery Barn. Whatever happened to sexual flamboyance and gender liberation, an end to marriage, the military, and the nuclear family? As backrooms are shut down to make way for wedding vows, and gay sexual culture morphs into “straight-acting dudes hangin’ out”, what are the possibilities for a defiant faggotry that challenges the assimilationist norms of a corporate-cozy lifestyle?

American journalist, essayist, satirist, and cultural critic H.L. Mencken makes his 3-pronged case for the death penalty for those who take the lives of other people, challenging civilized order. Mencken argues the death penalty is a form of catharsis for the immediate victims of the crime, and is not solely for deterring other criminals, but also to give peace of mind to the society that has been wronged.

Everybody Loves a Good Drought is the established classic on rural poverty in India. Twenty years after publication, it remains unsurpassed in the scope and depth of reportage, providing an intimate view of the daily struggles of the poor and the efforts, often ludicrous, made to uplift them. An illuminating introduction accompanying this 20-anniversary edition reveals, alarmingly, how a large section of India continues to suffer in the name of development so that a small percentage may prosper.

The past decade has marked a shift in America's trajectory, pivoting around the monumental presidential election of 2016. Acclaimed author and leading historian Jill Lepore has been documenting the twists and turns as they unfold, beginning with the run-up to Trump's election through to the chaos and confusion left in its wake. In this incisive collection of essays published in the New Yorker, Lepore writes with wit and warmth as she reflects on the issues of our time.

During The Blitz of 1941, as Nazi bombers flew overhead, George Orwell penned this stirring analysis of England and its people. Whilst not shying away from the difficulties of the nation, and the fractuous nature of its divisions, Orwell places a premium on the country's ability to come together in a time of crisis and protect its democratic values, even in the most dire of circumstances.

Ralph Waldo Emerson's The Over-Soul isn't just an essay—it's a revelation. It speaks of a vast, unshakable presence within us all, a silent force that knows, guides, and connects. Beyond intellect, beyond ego, Emerson leads us to the infinite. The Over-Soul is the quiet voice of truth, the source of wisdom that needs no teacher. It is intuition over logic, unity over isolation. When we listen, the noise of the world fades, and something deeper takes its place—clarity, purpose, transcendence. Emerson doesn't explain; he awakens.

Paula Deitz has delighted readers for more than 30 years with her vivid descriptions of both famous and hidden landscapes. Her writings allow readers and listeners to share in the experience of her extensive travels, from the waterways of Britain's Castle Howard to the Japanese gardens of Kyoto, and home again to New York City's Central Park.

Prudence is not timidity. It is not caution for its own sake. It is the art of knowing when to act and when to wait, when to follow reason and when to trust instinct. In Prudence, Ralph Waldo Emerson reclaims this often-misunderstood virtue, not as mere carefulness but as the wisdom of navigating life with both vision and restraint. For Emerson, prudence is not the enemy of boldness but its quiet architect. It does not stifle ambition but shapes it, guiding passion with clarity and purpose. A mind without prudence rushes blindly; a mind ruled by it never moves at all.

One of the most talented and creative authors working today, Neal Stephenson is renowned for his exceptional novels - works colossal in vision and mind-boggling in complexity. Exploring and blending a diversity of topics, including technology, economics, history, science, pop culture, and philosophy, his books are the products of a keen and adventurous intellect. Stephenson ponders a wealth of subjects, from movies and politics to David Foster Wallace and the Midwestern American College Town; and more.

We treat the body as an afterthought, until it no longer can be. Until the pain or the pleasure is too great. Sinéad Gleeson's life has been marked by terrible illness, including leukemia and debilitating arthritis. As a child, she bathed in the springs of Lourdes, ever hopeful that her body would cooperate, ever looking forward to the day when she could take her body for granted. But just as she turns inward to explore her own pain, and then the marvel of recovery, and then the arrival of her greatest joys—falling in love, becoming a mother—she turns her gaze outward.

Iceland is home to only 330,000 people but more than 265 museums and public collections, ranging from the intensely physical, like the Icelandic Phallological Museum, which collects the penises of every mammal known to exist in Iceland, to the vaporously metaphysical, like the Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft, which poses a particularly Icelandic problem: how to display what can't be seen?

Today, most people are concerned about eating seasonal, organic, and local food. But we don’t think about how the choices we make about our pots, pans, and bowls can also enhance our meals and our lives. Sara Dahmen believes understanding the origins of the cookware we use to make our food is just as essential. Copper, Iron, and Clay is a beautiful photographic history of our cooking tools and their fundamental uses in the modern kitchen, accompanied by recipes that showcase the best features of various cooking materials.

A Classic Collection of Philosophical Essays: Spinoza, Immanuel Kant, Schopenhauer, Herbert Spencer, Friedrich Nietzsche, Bertrand Russell and Many Others by Will Durant offers an insightful and comprehensive anthology of essays on some of the most influential philosophers in Western thought. This collection captures the essence of each thinker's contributions to philosophy, making complex ideas accessible and engaging for a broad audience. Spinoza: Durant explores Spinoza's pantheism and his view of a universe governed by natural laws, presenting his ideas on ethics, politics, and the nature of reality.