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tr Robert Hurley ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Book is not for everyone
If you are familiar with philosophy, and if you are interested in Sponiza, than this book is a must.But it is not easy or light reading.What is amazing is how this book let's you into the philosopher's soul.Spinoza is the voice of reason and logic.Of course, he paid a horrible price for his belief that God can be sought out through reason and logic, as opposed to emotion and gut level feelings.

We are born with the fear of death.I wonder how Spinoza ever found the inner strength to keep on searching for God without the dual crutches of myth and the belief that there is a reward in the afterlife.

One last thing, and that is that most of the great and fearless men who signed the Constitution were diests.Without Spinoza's insights, the underlying belief in democracy, which is than men can discover TRUTH through reasoning and logic, would have never happened. ... Read more

Product Description
Food & Philosophy offers a collection of essays which explore a range of philosophical topics related to food; it joins Wine & Philosophy and Beer & Philosophy in in the "Epicurean Trilogy." Essays are organized thematically and written by philosophers, food writers, and professional chefs.

• Provides a critical reflection on what and how we eat can contribute to a robust enjoyment of gastronomic pleasures
  
• A thoughtful, yet playful collection which emphasizes the importance of food as a proper object of philosophical reflection in its own right

Customer Reviews (3)

Thinking too much
This book was written by professors who should eat more and think less.I own a restaurant and have a degree in philosophy, so I thought this would be very interesting.It's not.It's pedantic and boring.Don't waste your time.

Both approachable and thoughtprovoking
If you enjoy reading and thinking about the many philosophical issues surrounding food this is the book for you.I picked it up on a whim and was pleasanly surprised by how much I enjoyed the content.

There were a few things that I appreciated about the book.The first was how diverse the different essays were.It covered everything from eating disorders to vegetarianism to food criticism and picky eating.Because of this I found myself thinking of food from so many different perspectives that I hadn't considered before.This book started many conversations between me and other foodies and I really appreciate how much it forced me to think.I love when a book leads me to ponder new things and ask new questions and that was definitely the case with this book.

I also appreciated how approachable this was.With a title like Food and Philosophy it could have easily become lofty and hard to digest, but this was not the case.I found it to be very enjoyable to read and something that even having only taken one philosophy course, was very accessible to me.

I also appreciated how well written the book was.It was clear they got quite articulate people from various perspectives which made it easy and enjoyable to read.Even when I didn't agree with an author's central point I still thought that the arguments were well written and supported.

Overall this was a great book.I appreciated not only that it was enjoyable and approachable to read but that it really made me think and question my attitudes around food.

If you enjoy thinking about what you eat...
...you must buy this book! Food & Philosophy will be a welcome addition to anyone who enjoys intelligent discussion of food tasting and enjoyment. The book covers philosophical topics ranging from ethics to aesthetics and from food culture to food criticism. Though it provides the reader with a full plate of philosophical discussion, it does so in an accessible and enjoyable way.

My favorite section of the book is the section entitled "Second Course:Edible Art and Aesthetics." In this section, the contributors tackle topics that consider the relationship between food enjoyment and aesthetics. I found the essay by noted philosopher (who works mostly in aesthetics) Carolyn Korsmeyer especially interesting.

Another notable section of the book is the section entitled "First Course:Taste & Food Criticism." Anyone who regularly reads reports and reviews from food critics will find this section interesting. I found Michael Shaffer's essay "Taste, Gastronomic Expertise, and Objectivity" particularly insightful.

I highly recommend this book! ... Read more

Product Description

An introduction to the standard material of ethics.

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Customer Reviews (4)

Great Book if You're Not an Idiot
I'm sure this book is great if you're really smart. And if you're not really smart, Frankena will be sure to let you know that you aren't. Why can't phisophical books be written without the underlying, condescending voice that keeps telling you that you're of only average intelligence? The concepts in the book are good but it is difficult to under. It's also not much of a discussion piece for your book club.

wonderful introduction
I have read many introductory texts on ethics and moral theory.In my opinion, this is by far the clearest and most helpful of them all.Short and sweet.

An oldie, but a good one..
This small (98 pages) introductory volume to Ethics dates back to 1963. Frankena gives a good overview of a wide array of topics in a clear, simple and compact style. You can read the book in 2-3hrs. The chapter about the nonmoral good is the best one, but the others are good as well. But if you read it, you better supplement it with newer books as well since moral philosophy has come a long way since the publication of this. (This predates Rawls, Mackie, reappearence of naturalism and realism etc.)

A small gem
I had the good fortune to study ethics with Professor Frankena at the University of Michigan.Later I used this book as a text when I taught college ethics.This book is a model of brevity and clarity in a philosophical world that seems to prize obfuscation.Although it cannot answer every question in the allotted space, this volume is an excellent introduction to ethics. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume brings together much of the most influential work undertaken in the field of virtue ethics over the last four decades. The ethics of virtue predominated in the ancient world, and recent moral philosophy has seen a revival of interest in virtue ethics as a rival to Kantian and utilitarian approaches to morality. Divided into four sections, the collection includes articles critical of other traditions; early attempts to offer a positive vision of virtue ethics; some later criticisms of the revival of virtue ethics; and, finally, some recent, more theoretically ambitious essays in virtue ethics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Solid Collection
Virtue Ethics edited by Roger Crisp and Michael Slote is an installment in the Oxford Readings in Philosophy Series.The text includes a collection of contemporary essays on the theme on virtue ethics.
The field of normative ethics is centered on questions of moral behavior.In particular, it is concerned with "ought-type" questions.How ought individuals behave, and, what factors or principles ought to guide these actions?With regard to this latter question, there have traditionally been three broad opinions as to the appropriate determinants of moral behavior; the nature of the action (deontological ethics), the anticipated outcome of the action (consequentialist ethics) and the character of the actor (virtue ethics).

Deontological ethics is a rule-based approach wherein behavior is seen to be guided by obligations to perform, or to abstain from performing certain acts as a result of their intrinsic value.In this view an action such as truth telling would be prescribed on the basis that truthfulness is perceived as being inherently good.Similar to the deontological model, consequentialism is also a rule-based methodology, the key difference being that in this case the appropriateness of actions are assessed in light of their anticipated outcomes rather than their inherent quality.From a consequentialist standpoint, truth telling would be prescribed on the basis of its expected results.Finally, in contrast to these externally validated approaches, virtue ethics places the onus for ethical behavior on the agent as opposed to the action.In this view a person would tell the truth because truth telling is an integral aspect of good moral character.

Although a handy compilation, most of the essays in this collection have been previously published - potential purchasers may wish to look at the on-line table of contents prior to buying.A few comments from my perspective, the contributions by Anscombe, Crisp, MacIntyre and Schneewind are particularly valuable and well done.The essay by Slote was weaker, and the pieces by Husthouse and Baier have too narrow a western feminist approach to suit an introductory text. On a more trivial point, although I have enjoyed this series by Oxford, the texts (paperbacks) would be more appealing in a slightly larger font - it is a bit of an eye test as is.

Overall, I recommend this text for readers seeking and introduction to modern virtue ethics.The book may be most enjoyable to readers with some knowledge of normative ethics.


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Product Description
This timely and passionate book is the first to address itself to Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz’s controversial arguments for the limited use of interrogational torture and its legalisation.

• Argues that the respectability Dershowitz's arguments confer on the view that torture is a legitimate weapon in the war on terror needs urgently to be countered
• Takes on the advocates of torture on their own utilitarian grounds
• Timely and passionately written, in an accessible, jargon-free style
• Forms part of the provocative and timely Blackwell Public Philosophy series

Customer Reviews (3)

Dershowitz is going to be pissed!
I read the book "Torture: a Collection" which has Dershowitz's argument for torture warrents in it.The problem that I had was why if we knew everything why did we not know where the bomb was located.The tickingbomb question was one that did not make sense with my experience in intellegence.At the time I almost bought into the logic, but something still nagged at me, it just did not make sense.This book takes the ticking bomb analogy apart and examines it word by word and piece by piece to determine the logic and reasoning.Dershowitz is the most well known of the proponentsof this argument, so he is going to have to deal with the burden of carring the majority of the criticism due to his not0riedty. I have to say that wether you agree with torture under certain conditions, or you believe that torture is not justifiable under any condition, this book is a must read to completely understand what the logic of the ticking bomb scenereo is.There is no other work out there that I have seen that equals this book in its analysis.

Essential reading
Brecher's timely and powerfully argued book deserves the widest possible circulation.His convincing demolition of Dershowitz's and others' arguments for interrogational torture or its legalisation should help to save the U.S. from descending further into the barbarism entailed by the acceptance of torture.

William Podmore's review below gives an accurate sketch of Brecher's main lines of argument.I would only emphasize that Brecher, like the defenders of interrogational torture or its legalisation, argues entirely on utilitarian grounds. He makes no question-begging appeal to Kantian ethics or human rights.Furthermore, Brecher not only refutes Dershowitz and his ilk but helps his readers to fully appreciate the moral horror that torture is.

Brecher's book is thoroughly documented and includes a rich bibliography.

Brilliant demolition of the argument for torture
Bob Brecher, Reader in Moral Philosophy in the School of Historical and Critical Studies, the University of Brighton, has written a splendid attack on the appalling idea of legalising torture. The American civil rights lawyer Alan Dershowitz proposed introducing a torture warrant, giving intellectual respectability to the practice of torture. He suggested that torture would be justified if it forced a terrorist to divulge the location of a ticking bomb.

But the ticking bomb scenario is incoherent. The more the urgency, the less the chance of getting the warrant in time. So, in practice, the legalisation, not the torture, would not happen. There are no examples of this scenario in reality. Yet torture's apologists cynically use the scenario to justify mass systematic torture.

However, Dershowitz's rule-utilitarianism does not lead towards the conclusion he wants. The presumed utilitarian argument that torture would save lives does not work. All experience shows that legalising the torture of suspects increases not diminishes terrorist bombings. For utilitarianism, what makes torture wrong is the total of all its consequences, including the unacceptable wider social consequences of instituting torture. Every moral code, including utilitarianism, condemns torture.

Yet interrogational torture is practised in all counter-insurgency wars, by the British in Malaya, Kenya and Northern Ireland, the USA in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, the Israelis in the Occupied Territories. Zvi Aharoni, head of interrogation in the Israeli security service in the 1950s, said in 1997, "Let me tell you one thing, when I was head of the interrogation department, nobody could touch a prisoner. Sure, you could do all kinds of tricks, you could bug them, listen in on their conversation. But beating them? Torturing them? And today not only is it being done, it's legal, Arabs can be tortured. It's legal and in my country."

Brecher writes, "The proposal to legalize interrogational torture is so appalling because - for all that it is presented as a radical challenge - it in fact serves to justify what we are doing." And it doesn't even work. US Field Manual 34-52, the rulebook for US military interrogators, "prohibits the use of coercive techniques because they produce low quality intelligence."

Brecher sums up, "In the case of torture, though, inaction is right. The very occasional catastrophe (and remember that legalizing interrogational torture might, just possibly, prevent only a tiny fraction even of real terrorist actions) is a price we have to pay to avoid creating a torturous society. We need to do what we can to eliminate the conditions which give rise to bombs, ticking or not. If we fail, then it is too late." Occasional catastrophes "really are unavoidable on pain of the greater catastrophe of a torturous society."
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Product Description
This textbook looks at the main ethical questions that confront the criminal justice system - legislature, law enforcement, courts, and corrections - and those who work within that system, especially police officers, prosecutors, defence lawyers, judges, juries, and prison officers. John Kleinig sets the issues in the context of a liberal democratic society and its ethical and legislative underpinnings, and illustrates them with a wide and international range of real-life case studies. Topics covered include discretion, capital punishment, terrorism, restorative justice, and re-entry. Kleinig's discussion is both philosophically acute and grounded in institutional realities, and will enable students to engage productively with the ethical questions which they encounter both now and in the future - whether as criminal justice professionals or as reflective citizens. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Fabulous!
This book was in great condition when I received it and it has a lot of relevant information for class, it's a great book for Criminal Justice majors. ... Read more

Product Description
As with the first edition, Utilitarian, Kantian, and Aristotelian viewpoints are all well represented here, and this second edition features updated sections throughout—including eighteen new readings—and an entirely new section on multiculturalism.

• Presents students with a unique focus on three main challenges to ethics: feminism, environmentalism, and multiculturalism
• Pedagogical focus on the 'big questions' motivates student interest
• Collects readings on all key traditional theoretical and practical questions in ethics

Customer Reviews (3)

For everyone to read unless you're a human bean
This is one of the best collections of various philosophical works in the ethical field of that subject and unless you are a delusional 13 year old boy who pretends to live in Tokyo, you will understand that when college professors choose this book to teach students in a class at UNCC called Ethical Theory, then you look like an idiot giving it a 1 star review.Reading these articles in their entirety is fine if you have that amount of time, but these excerpts are the best parts of the entire article anyway and the chapter introductions do a nice job of summarizing the articles.

Great Authors Mutilated
The collection of essays would be awesome if it wasn't for the editor's arbitrary chop-chop. I'd highly recommend reading the essays in unabridged form.

*Good* selection of articles but *terrible* book design
This book provides a wide selection of articles, 43 in all, on the philosophy of ethics -- covering diverse viewpoints and timeperiods. Important thinkers from Plato to Alasdair MacIntyre are represented, withheavier emphasis on modern concerns. The articles are arranged nicely, inthat one can often read consecutive articles as part of a running debate. None of the articles is very long or very technical; hence the book issuitable for an introduction or for bed-side reading as well as for anundergraduate seminar.

There is, on the other hand, a serious problemwith the physical design (page layout) of the book. The articles have beentypeset in two columns, which makes reading unneccesarily painful. Giventhat the book is *not* extraordinarily wide, a regular page layout wouldhave been much preferable. As it stands, the book is *not* a pleasure toread, but it still contains valuable information. ... Read more

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This book analyses the response of the classic texts of Jewish tradition to Plato's 'Euthyphro dilemma': does God freely determine morality, or is morality independent of God? ... Read more

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Edited by leading experts in contemporary environmental philosophy, this anthology features the best available selections that cover the full range of positions within this rapidly developing field. Divided into four sections that delve into the vast issues of contemporary Eco-philosophy, the Fourth Edition now includes a section on Continental Environmental Philosophy that explores current topics such as the social construction of nature, and eco-phenomenology. Each section is introduced and edited by a leading philosopher in the field. For professionals with a career within the environmental field including law, politics, conservation, geography, and biology.

Customer Reviews (6)

Good book
I bought this book USED (for a friend) and it came in much worse condition than I thought it would so be careful.

Perfect
Correct item shipped expeditiously with great follow up. You are a wonderful asset to this community.

Kind regards

Bazyli

** GREAT BOOK **

Excellent Breadth
This book was assigned reading for a college class on Sustainable Development.I'd already had some exposure to the philosophies & theories presented.It seems to be a good collection representing a wide range of ideas; a great piece for my reference shelf.In other words: a keeper!

a splendid collection of leading eco thinkers and writers....
....ably assembled and edited by Michael E. Zimmerman.This anthology spans the spectrum from animal rights to environmental protection to deep ecology, and by doing so provides a superb introduction to environmental studies as well as important supplementary reading reaching forward into the present.

An Excellent Introduction to Environmental Philosophy
Regardless of whether you are interested in deep ecology, animal rights, envirnmental ethics,eco-feminism or political ecology, this excellently edited edition will have something of interest for you. Those who are looking for a more scientific approach to examing our relationship with nature, as oppossed to the more philosophical writings of Muir, Thoreau and Abbey, this book will be especially appreciated.
Published primarily for use in environmetal philosophy/science courses at the university level, this book is very useful in providing a well researched, diversen sampling from some of the most important theorists in the field. Essays by J. Baird Calicott, Tom Regan, author of the revolutionary work "The Case Animal Rights", Holmes Rolston III, author of the seminal text "Environmetal Ethics", the Norweigan philosopher Arne Naess and , the so-called founder of the deep Ecology movement, Aldo Leopold, author of the famous "Sand County Almanac", as well as works by other important scholars such as George Sessions, Warick Fox, the famous eco-feminist historian Carolyn Merchant, John Clark and Gary Snyder along with many others.
Although the essays contianed in this text can be challenging at times, in the end the payoff definitely makes it worth the effort. This difficulty is, at least, in part due to the fact that what this book requires is a new way of examining our relationship with nature and a willingness to examine problems from a more holistic perspective, which can sometimes be a hard thing for those taught that the world is here simply for man's exploitation (gender specificity intended). This volume is particularly effective in giving students a well-rounded introduction to many of the most important issues in environmental writing today. As the seriousness of our ecological problems persist and even worsen, this book will continue to be a highly informative source of information for students and instructors for years to come. ... Read more

Product Description
Nursing ideals and analytical philosophy rarely overlap. As a result, existing nursing codes fail to define key terms clearly enough to enable nurses to apply them. David Seedhouse tackles this problem by looking at nine key concept, explains their meaning and shows how they can be applied in everyday situations. The result is a precise yet compassionate framework which enables nurses to reflect deeply about the importance of their work, and can suipport them as they strive to make ethically sound decisions.

• Provides a practical approach to traditionally intangible health care issues
• Includes an array of accessible case studies and diagrams
• Offers sensible strategies for nurses to implement philisophical insights in their daily care

... Read more

Product Description
This second edition of A Companion to Bioethics, fully revised and updated to reflect the current issues and developments in the field, covers all the material that the reader needs to thoroughly grasp the ideas and debates involved in bioethics.

• Thematically organized around an unparalleled range of issues, including discussion of the moral status of embryos and fetuses, new genetics, life and death, resource allocation, organ donations, AIDS, human and animal experimentation, health care, and teaching
• Now includes new essays on currently controversial topics such as cloning and genetic enhancement
• Topics are clearly and compellingly presented by internationally renowned bioethicists
• A detailed index allows the reader to find terms and topics not listed in the titles of the essays themselves

Customer Reviews (3)

bioethics
decent read for class. almost too much material, but efficient in explaining details of bioethics

Expensive, but well worth the price!!
As source material for the bioethics student, this anthology is a joy to read and refer back to.After a laconic introduction by Helga Kuhse, the book begins to situate bioethics as a discipline with articles contrasting it to law, ethics, and religion.The diverse approaches are next examined, each by an expert (Arras on the case approach, Childress on the prnciple approach, etc).Especially informative and provocative are the articles on personhood by Michael Tooley and brain death by Jeff McMahan.A sanity check is provided for bioethics teachers who wonder if they are approaching the discipline correctly in the critical review on how bioethics is taught by Catherine Myser.The book is a gold mine by experts who dispassionately present their topics cogently and clearly.

Excellent compendium of bioethical issues
This anthology, like all other Blackwell philosophy anthologies, is a keeper.This text is comprehensive, and presents multiple viewpoints on each issue, unlike many texts, which present primarily one viewpoint. ... Read more

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The Blackwell Guide to Business Ethics, written by international experts in the field, acquaints the reader with theoretical and pedagogical issues, ethical issues in the practice of business and exciting new directions in the field. ... Read more

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In Ethics: The Essential Writings, philosopher Gordon Marino skillfully presents an accessible, provocative anthology of both ancient and modern classics on matters moral. The philosophers represent 2,500 years of thought—from Plato, Kant, and Nietzsche to Alasdair MacIntyre, Susan Wolf, and Peter Singer—and cover a broad range of topics, from the timeless questions of justice, morality, and faith to the hot-button concerns of today, such as animal rights, our duties to the environment, and gender issues. Featuring an illuminating preamble, concise introductory essays on the giants of ethical theory, and incisive chapter headnotes to the modern offerings, this Modern Library edition is a perfect single-volume reference for students, teachers, and anyone eager to engage in reflection on ethical questions, including “What is the basis for our ethical views and judgments?”
 
Gordon Marino is professor of philosophy and director of the Hong Kierkegaard Library at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. A recipient of the Richard J. Davis Ethics Award for excellence in writing on ethics and the law, he is the author of Kierkegaard in the Present Age, co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to Kierkegaard, and editor of the Modern Library’s Basic Writings of Existentialism. His essays have appeared in The New York Times. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Essential for any ethicist or philosopher
This book is exactly what it says it includes, the basic (and essential) writings of moral philosophy.It offers the most central and important articles/books/arguments for ethical theories such as Utilitarianism, Deontological Ethics, Cultural Relativism, etc.It ranges from Plato to Peter Singer and beyond.Normally, you'd have to buy numerous books to get all this philosophy, but it's all compiled together for a very low price.This book could easily be used for an introductory ethics class since it offers so much, and even more advance classes since many works can be exhaustively studied in their own courses.Once I saw this in my campus bookstore I knew I had to purchase it. ... Read more

Product Description
The Ethics Toolkit provides an accessible and engaging compendium of concepts, theories, and strategies that encourage students and advanced readers to think critically about ethics so that they can engage intelligently in ethical study, thought, and debate.

• Written by the authors of the popular The Philosophers’ Toolkit (Blackwell, 2001); Baggini is also a renowned print and broadcast journalist, and a prolific author of popular philosophy books
• Uses clear and accessible language appropriate for use both inside and beyond the classroom
• Enlivened through the use of real-world and hypothetical examples
• Cross-referencing of entries helps to connect and contrast ideas
• Features lists of prominent ethics organizations and useful websites
• Encourages readers to think critically about ethics and teaches them how to engage intelligently in ethical study, thought, and debate

Product Description
Since its publication in 1677, Spinoza's Ethics has fascinated philosophers, novelists, and scientists alike. It is undoubtedly one of the most exciting and contested works of Western philosophy. Written in an austere, geometrical fashion, the work teaches us how we should live, ending with an ethics in which the only thing good in itself is understanding. Spinoza argues that only that which hinders us from understanding is bad and shows that those endowed with a human mind should devote themselves, as much as they can, to a contemplative life. This Companion volume provides a detailed, accessible exposition of the Ethics. Written by an internationally known team of scholars, it is the first anthology to treat the whole of the Ethics and is written in an accessible style. ... Read more

Product Description
Through a series of multidisciplinary readings, Environmental Ethics: The Big Questions contextualizes environmental ethics within the history of Western intellectual tradition and traces the development of theory since the 1970s.

• Includes an extended introduction that provides an historical and thematic introduction to the field of environmental ethics
• Features a selection of brief original essays on why to study environmental ethics by leaders in the field
• Contextualizes environmental ethics within the history of the Western intellectual tradition by exploring anthropocentric (human-centered) and nonanthropocentric precedents
• Offers an interdisciplinary approach to the field by featuring seminal work from eminent philosophers, biologists, ecologists, historians, economists, sociologists, anthropologists, nature writers, business writers, and others
• Designed to be used with a web-site which contains a continuously updated archive of case studies

Customer Reviews (1)

Essential book
It arrived a few days after I had hoped it would, but still in time. It's a fabulous book, combining esoteric philosophical underpinnings of ethics with justifications for and arguments against direct action, and addressing pragmatic consequences of ethical positions. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume collects a wealth of articles covering a range of topics of practical concern in the field of ethics, including active and passive euthanasia, abortion, organ transplants, capital punishment, the consequences of human actions, slavery, overpopulation, the separate spheres of men and women, animal rights, and game theory and the nuclear arms race. The contributors are Thomas Nagel, David Hume, James Rachels, Judith Jarvis Thomson, Michael Tooley, John Harris, John Stuart Mill, Louis Pascal, Jonathan Glover, Derek Parfit, R.M. Hare, Janet Radcliffe Richards, Peter Singer, and Nicholas Measor. ... Read more

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Can philosophy enable us to lead better lives through a systematic understanding of our human nature? John Cottingham's thought-provoking study examines three major philosophical approaches to this problem. Starting with the attempts of Classical philosophers to cope with the recalcitrant forces of the passions, he moves on to examine the moral psychology of Descartes, and concludes by analyzing the insights of modern psychoanalytic theory into the human predicament. His study provides a fresh and challenging perspective on moral philosophy and psychology for students and specialists alike. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

How To Live The Good Life.
Four theories for acquiring and living the good life include the active lifestyle where life is to be lived, not just thought about.Great heroes don't think of themselves as heroies; "it was my job" -- saving others, utterly selfless.There is a pleasure of accomplishing something but sometimes actions may be misperceived.There's a long overdue justice coming your way today -- perhaps someone who wronged you will get their comeuppance, or perhaps all your honesty will finally be valued. You have satisfaction and great joy because you are dealing with real life, real people, real music of the soul.The active life is that of the survivor.If you have been overactive, apologies may be in order. Not only are people more receptive to what you have to say, but that any headway you make actually leads to enduring improvements.Get out there and do it; happiness will occur when one is flourishing.The esteem in which oneholds oneself, as perceived by others who have pride you are one of them.If you find that something you thought you really wanted no longer seems to desirable, this is the day to admit that to yourself and let the old dream go.

Contemplative is an unexamined life some would feel is not worth living. Your empathy skills are strong and will be key in helping you connect with the people around you. Ideas are as intoxicating as first love.Specify the sort of life you wish you were living somewhere down the road.Love God himself.You often think "if I were as good as that person;" some people think they are Jesus and get all emotional with delusions of grandeur.There is such a thing as programming wherby life's experiences and cultural resources aid in becoming comtemplative.You want to be magnificant, but you wonder "what is this music all about?"Some dream of doing things which they haven't yet experienced.

Sometimes fatalistic is thinking that your future is already known and uninterrupted, that you are going to lose no matter what and things won't work out anyway.You feel that your time on earth is transitory, just for the moment and have to be given back.The inevitabilities guide you through the perils and sadness; you forfeit the good life as your desires can never be acquired and you are not responsible for the outcome.You reject sentimentality.You feel like there is an irrelevance and put on God-like behavior.It is resignation that your search for happiness is not fated and you are unable to obtain it.Your nervous system defeats aims and ambitions due to problems of stress.

Hedonist people have unrequited desires, wanting what you cannot have.You live in a state of security which lessens anxiety and have some peace that you are helping others.Be realistic because most of us can't reach the level of saints who are continually working for others to justify one's existence.Hedonism is pleasing themselves at the expense of others and up to no actual good.You have pain along with the well-earned pleasure.You're not morally at fault for not living in poverty by being sacrificial and saying "I am not a saint."These individuals want to be praised and adored for their good works.

Using philosophy to show the way people do and can live makes things understandable and easier to handle.It is best to live the good life and bloom in the place God has placed you.We are here for a purpose but finding it takes time and effort.Hiding behind closed doors never accomplished anything.There will always be the poor who don't know how to get on; thus, we are burdened by the homeless and less fortunate.That is life.Jesus' misson on earth was to care for the poor.We are not etheral, and must do what we can and let that be enough.Due to circumstances and background, they were not able to become educated or trained vocationally.They will always be among us to show compassion for and to look down on, but trying to do too much will backfire.They must learn to fend for themselves to the best of their abilities.

Review of philosophy's struggle with "what is the good life"
This book is a wonderful resource for someone interested in philosophical discourse about the good life, and more specifically about how the tension between reason and passion enters into that discourse. Cottingham also sets out a way to integrate psychoanalytic thought into the philosophical discourse about the good life. But I wish Cottingham had provided more insight into what the good life is once one accepts the psychoanalytic "working through" he prescribes.

In "Philosophy and The Good Life" John Cottingham starts with the question: "can philosophy enable us to lead better lives?" In the first section of the book, he chronicles why this challenge to "provide an authentic blueprint for human flourishing", seemingly the most basic of philosophical endeavors, had mostly been ignored in recent philosophical discourse. What an encouraging way for a senior professor of philosophy to start.

In the second section of the book, Cottingham details how classical philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics and Epicureans defined the good life as "inextricably intertwined" with rationality. But, Cottingham argues, these thinkers did not adequately address the fact that emotions could obscure the tools of reason or acknowledge the essential role that emotions play in "making us human."

In the third section, Cottingham examines the moral psychology of Descartes, on whom Cottingham has written extensively. First, he notes that Descartes rejected the dominant Aristotelian notion of an ends or teleological based morality, and that instead Descartes argues "we are in the important respects on our own." Next, Cottingham details how Descartes, along with Hume and Kant, became increasingly focused on the anthropology of morality. From this study Descartes came to view the passions as an integral part of the human experience. "Life's greatest pleasures are reserved for "those whom the passions can move most deeply"." To Aristotle's concept of habituation Descartes thus adds the eerily modern notion of a "therapy" for the passions.

The last section of the book brings us fully to modern times. Cottingham addresses modern concerns about the superiority of rationality in ethical discourse, highlighted for example by existentialist philosophers such as Heidegger. To address these concerns Cottingham takes psychoanalysis as a starting point. With psychoanalysis Cottingham wants to find a way to incorporate the tools of reason even if the human psyche does not follow the rules of deliberative rationality assumed by Aristotle, Kant and Bentham in their ethical analysis. He looks to the psychoanalytic process of "recovery and rehabilitation" to better "know thyself." These tools, Cottingham argues, provide a superior way to understand the relationship between reason and passion, and so are necessary elements in following the path to the good life. But, as I said above, this feels to me as if we are left by Cottingham at just the start of the process of discovering the good life.

Not for beginners!
This book provides a general overview of three major philosophical systems and how they relate to what is referred to as the "good life". However, it does not try to give advice on how we should live the goodlife, it is trying to explain how philosophy has developed over time inrelation to its goal of helping humans lead fulfilling lives. Specifically,Cottingham contrasts the ratiocentric systems of the early Greeks, themoral philosophy of Descartes, and modern psychoanalytic theory in anattempt to show how philosophy has progressed in helping us lead the goodlife.

As a philosophical neophyte, this book was a bit too academic forme, assuming a basic knowledge of the key names in philosophy (Jung, Kant,Descartes) and their systems. Fortunately, however, Cottingham revistsearlier conclusions in later chapters, allowing the reader to better graspthe differences between the philosophical systems under review.

Overall,this book is not recommended for those just starting to investigatephilosophy, but for those with a basic understanding of the subject mayfind this book a good overview of philosophy in relation to its goal ofhelping us achieve a complete life. For me, it was like starting a race inthe middle, not knowing where the course had started or where it was going.But this book is interesting enough to encourage me to go back to thestarting line to begin a more serious study of philosophy. ... Read more

Product Description
Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, based on lectures that he gave in Athens in the fourth century BCE, is one of the most significant works in moral philosophy, and has profoundly influenced the whole course of subsequent philosophical endeavor. Topics covered include the role of luck in human wellbeing, responsibility, courage, justice, friendship and pleasure. This accessible new translation follows the Greek text closely and also provides a non-Greek reader with something of the flavor of the original. The volume also includes a historical and philosophical introduction and notes on further reading. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (55)

Good Book But...
This is a very good book, it was delivered in a prompt manor as advertised, but I could not use it for my philosophy class. This edition does not come with the Bekker numbers that are required to keep up with the class discussions, and to complete the assignments. If you need a copy of Nicomachean Ethics to read, this is great, but for acedemic work this is not the edition for you, because of the exclusion of the Bekker numbers. My professor recommends this edition for class: Nicomachean Ethics: Aristotle you won't find a better edition than the Martin Ostwald translation of Aristotle's work!

Sachs' Translation.
Sachs' translation is by far the best I have come across. Not that others are not good but overcoming the mistakes of the Latin tradition and translation is invaluable for reading Aristotle and understanding his challenging and insightful views. You cannot go wrong with this translation for both price and accuracy. Sachs has rendered what is beautiful in the Greek, beautiful in English, though Aristotle is not striving for beauty in the same manner as a poet in traditional terms. The Nicomachean Ethics should be reread every year. It is that foundational a work of philosophy.

Eudaimonic!
This book is excellent. Although my ethics professor authorized us to use any translation, this is the one he really recommended. Irwin's notes are robust and very helpful.

Amazing Condition, clean, and just Perfect!
Clean, nicely packaged, and overall wonderful condition!
Came right on the time mentioned, no late or too early, perfect timing!
This seller is a secure purchase and dose meets all standards!

Basis for scientific and Christian ethics
To the reviewer above who managed to simulataneously disparage Plato and all religions in one fell swoop, please keep in mind that Aristotle was the basis for Thomas Aquinas, who in turn is the basis for almost the entire Roman Catholic teaching orthdox teaching. Don't let your eagerness to rid the world of religion interfere with your critical faculties!! ... Read more