Moral Philosophy

The Book of Eternal Wisdom Truth endures across generations, spoken in many voices yet pointing to the same eternal source. The Book of Eternal Wisdom is a meditation on that truth, drawing from the well of ancient wisdom to offer guidance for those who seek clarity, virtue, and understanding. Through twelve chapters, this work speaks in the tradition of sacred texts, philosophical inquiry, and poetic reflection. It calls upon the reader to consider the weight of justice, the quiet strength of humility, the measure of true leadership, and the light found in patience and mercy. Each page ...

We are living in the most moral period of our species’ history. Best-selling author Michael Shermer’s most accomplished and ambitious book to date demonstrates how the scientific way of thinking has made people, and society as a whole, more moral. Ever since the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment thinkers consciously applied the methods of science to solve social and moral problems.

In this Very Short Introduction audiobook, Christopher Taylor explores the life of Socrates and his philosophical activity, before looking to the responses his philosophical doctrines have evoked in the centuries since his betrayal and execution at fellow Athenian hands.

Just and Unjust Wars has forever changed how we think about the ethics of conflict. In this modern classic, political philosopher Michael Walzer examines the moral issues that arise before, during, and after the wars we fight. Reaching from the Athenian attack on Melos, to the Mai Lai massacre, to the war in Afghanistan and beyond, Walzer mines historical and contemporary accounts and the testimony of participants, decision makers, and victims to explain when war is justified and what ethical limitations apply to those who wage it.

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?

All social groups have ideals for behavior, even though ethics vary among different cultures and among individuals within each culture. In trying to understand why, Churchland brings together an understanding of the influences of nature and nurture. She looks to evolution to elucidate how, from birth, our brains are configured to form bonds, to cooperate, and to care. Conscience delves into scientific studies, particularly the fascinating work on twins, to deepen our understanding of whether people have a predisposition to embrace specific ethical stands.

This complete collection brings together the full scope of Nietzsche's radical and transformative philosophy in a single, meticulously curated work.

Luke Russell discusses why some philosophers think that evil is a myth or a fantasy, while others think that evil is real. Along the way he asks whether evil is always horrific and incomprehensible or if it can be banal. Considering if there is a special psychological hallmark that sets the evildoers apart from the rest of us, Russell also engages with ongoing discussions over psychopathy and empathy, analyzing the psychology behind evildoing.

La genealogía de la moral de Friedrich Nietzsche no es un libro de autoayuda en el sentido clásico, pero puede convertirse en una poderosa herramienta de transformación personal si se lee con una mirada introspectiva. En esta obra, Nietzsche cuestiona el origen de nuestros valores morales y nos impulsa a examinar si vivimos bajo principios propios o simplemente heredados.

Revolutionary War officer Nathan Hale, one of America's first spies, said, "Any kind of service necessary to the public good becomes honorable by being necessary." A statue of Hale stands outside CIA headquarters, and the agency often cites his statement as one of its guiding principles. But who decides what is necessary for the public good, and is it really true that any kind of service is permissible for the public good? These questions are at the heart of James M. Olson's book, Fair Play: The Moral Dilemmas of Spying.

A protocol is a formally or informally set of agreed upon steps about what is to be done and how is to be done in a given situation. They serve several functions. In medicine they establish standard procedures in the light of decades or even centuries of experience. In political meetings and discussions they establish parity between the two sides. In dangerous situations protocols keep people safe. People who advocate Moral Relativism directly and indirectly attack social and moral protocols because the protocols generally tend to preserve morality, whereas moral relativism can reign only ...

In What It Means to Be Moral: Why Religion Is Not Necessary for Living an Ethical Life, Phil Zuckerman argues that morality does not come from God. Rather, it comes from us: our brains, our evolutionary past, our ongoing cultural development, our social experiences, and our ability to reason, reflect, and be sensitive to the suffering of others.

“In the rugged terrains of Afghanistan, a unique battle brews—one not just of bullets and strategies but of beliefs and soul-stirring revelations. Major Arjuna, a skilled combatant with the coalition forces, faces an inner turmoil as he prepares to engage with insurgents in a remote village. The stakes are personal—leading the insurgents is his very own mentor, a man who once taught him the profound verses of the Bhagavad-Gita. Amid the chaos, Arjuna grapples with haunting questions of duty, righteousness, and morality. When the divine intervenes, taking the form of an unexpected ...

What do Chinese religions and Christianity have in common? More than you might think! For centuries, Chinese religions like Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism have been practiced alongside Christianity, each with their own unique beliefs and traditions. But despite their differences, these two ancient faiths share a surprising number of commonalities. In "The Tao of Christ", we embark on a fascinating journey to explore the unexpected similarities between Chinese religions and Christianity. From the concept of the Tao and the Logos to the importance of compassion and selflessness, we'll ...

Francis Bacon (1561-1626), 1st Viscount St Albans, Attorney General and then Lord Chancellor of England, was an immensely learned, clever and ambitious man, with considerable political influence. However, he was also a philosopher with a wide interest in science, medicine and the classification of knowledge. Throughout his life he wrote a series of essays - following the manner set particularly by Montaigne, though extending back to Aristotle and others - the first 10 of which appeared in 1597.

In the wake of the dissolution of the Soviet empire in 1989, many believed that we had arrived at the ‘End of History’—that the global dominance of liberal democracy had been secured forever. Now, however, with Russia rattling its sabre on the borders of Europe and China rising to challenge the post-1945 world order, the liberal West faces major threats. These threats are not only external. Especially in the Anglosphere, the ‘decolonisation’ movement corrodes the West’s self-confidence by retelling the history of European and American colonial dominance.

Adam Smith (1723-1790) was a Scottish social philosopher and a pioneer of political economy. One of the key figures of the Scottish Enlightenment, Smith is the author of The Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations, his magnum opus and the first modern work of economics. It earned him an enormous reputation and would become one of the most influential works on economics ever published. Smith is widely cited as the father of modern economics and capitalism. Smith studied social philosophy at the University of Glasgow and the University of Oxford.

In this groundbreaking book, the philosopher Martin Hägglund challenges our received notions of faith and freedom. The faith we need to cultivate, he argues, is not a religious faith in eternity but a secular faith devoted to our finite life together. He reveals that all spiritual questions of freedom are inseparable from economic and material conditions. What ultimately matters is how we treat one another in this life, and what we do with our time together.

Should we pay children to read books or to get good grades? Should we allow corporations to pay for the right to pollute the atmosphere? Is it ethical to pay people to test risky new drugs or to donate their organs? What about hiring mercenaries to fight our wars? Auctioning admission to elite universities? Selling citizenship to immigrants willing to pay?

Why did I write this book, and why did I call it EGOnomics? I believe you need to defend your ego against countless efforts to diminish it. Anti-ego ideologies often equivocate between egoism and narcissism and treat both concepts as if they were the same. The proponents of “anti-ego” do not like to witness a person expressing pride and self-regard, or when he is praised for having done something good or beneficial for himself. “Who does he think he is?” they ask. In this book I want to straighten out our understanding of the human ego and I want to give you tools to help you feel ...