1–16 di 27 risultati

Thinking the Twentieth Century

The final book of the brilliant historian and indomitable public critic Tony Judt, *Thinking the Twentieth Century* unites the conflicted intellectual history of an epoch into a soaring narrative.
The twentieth century comes to life as an age of ideas – a time when, for good and for ill, the thoughts of the few reigned over the lives of the many. Judt presents the triumphs and the failures of prominent intellectuals, adeptly explaining both their ideas and the risks of their political commitments. Spanning an era with unprecedented clarity and insight, *Thinking the Twentieth Century* is a tour de force, a classic study of modern thought by one of the century’s most incisive thinkers.
The exceptional nature of this work is evident in its very structure – a series of intimate conversations between Judt and his friend and fellow historian Timothy Snyder, grounded in the texts of the time and focused by the intensity of their vision. Judt’s astounding eloquence and range are on display here as never before. Traversing the complexities of modern life with ease, he and Snyder revive both thoughts and thinkers, guiding us through the debates that made our world. As forgotten ideas are revisited and fashionable trends scrutinized, the shape of a century emerges. Judt and Snyder draw us deep into their analysis, making us feel that we too are part of the conversation. We become aware of the obligations of the present to the past, and the force of historical perspective and moral considerations in the critique and reform of society, then and now.
In restoring and indeed exemplifying the best of intellectual life in the twentieth century, *Thinking the Twentieth Century* opens pathways to a moral life for the twenty-first. This is a book about the past, but it is also an argument for the kind of future we should strive for: *Thinking the Twentieth Century* is about the life of the mind – and the mindful life.

A Little Bit of Shamanism

**In the popular “Little Bit of” series: a fresh, accessible introduction to shamanism—with a global view.**

Drawing from decades of training in Brazil and the United States, Ana Campos has written a history of shamanism that’s both personal and global. She creates a methodology for bringing shamanic wisdom into our daily practices, and explains why it’s important to establish a relationship with our helping spirits to heal ourselves and our communities. Through this incisive discussion of shamanism, we can become the vehicle for change our world so desperately needs right now.

For the New Intellectual

**Here is Ayn Rand’s first non-fiction work—a challenge to the prevalent philosophical doctrines of our time and the “atmosphere of guilt, of panic, of despair, of boredom, and of all-pervasive evasion” that they create.**
As incisive and relevant today as it was sixty years ago, this book presents the essentials of Ayn Rand’s philosophy “for those who wish to acquire an integrated view of existence.” In the title essay, she offers an analysis of Western culture, discusses the causes of its progress, its decline, its present bankruptcy, and points the road to an intellectual renaissance.
One of the most controversial figures on the intellectual scene, Ayn Rand was the proponent of a moral philosophy—and ethic of rational self-interest—that stands in sharp opposition to the ethics of altruism and self-sacrifice. The fundamentals of this morality—”a philosophy for living on Earth”—are here vibrantly set forth by the spokesman for a new class,  *For the New Intellectual*. **

The Ayn Rand reader

SUMMARY: The Fountainhead, which became one of the most influential and widely read philosophical novels of the twentieth century, made Ayn Rand famous. An impassioned proponent of rational self-interest, individualism, and laissez-faire capitalism, she expressed her unique views in numerous works of fiction and non-fiction that have been brought together for the first time in this one-of-a-kind volume. The Fountainhead, which became one of the most influential and widely read philosophical novels of the twentieth century, made Ayn Rand famous. An impassioned proponent of reason, rational self-interest, individualism, and laissez-faire capitalism, she expressed her unique views in numerous works of fiction and non-fiction that have been brought together for the first time in this one-of-a-kind volume. Containing excerpts from all her novels–including Atlas Shrugged, Anthem, and We The Living–The Ayn Rand Reader is a perfect introduction for those who have never read Rand, and provides teachers with an excellent guide to the basics of her viewpoint.

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking

p>Our lives are driven by a fact that most of us can’t name and don’t understand. It defines who our friends and lovers are, which careers we choose, and whether we blush when we’re embarrassed.

That fact is whether we’re an introvert or an extrovert.

The introvert/extrovert divide is the most fundamental dimension of personality. And at least a third of us are on the introverted side. Some of the world’s most talented people are introverts. Without them we wouldn’t have the Apple computer, the theory of relativity and Van Gogh’s sunflowers.

Yet extroverts have taken over. Shyness, sensitivity and seriousness are often seen as being negative. Introverts feel reproached for being the way they are.

In Quiet, Susan Cain shows how the brain chemistry of introverts and extroverts differs, and how society misunderstands and undervalues introverts. She gives introverts the tools to better understand themselves and take full advantage of their strengths.

Passionately argued, superbly researched, and filled with real stories, Quiet will permanently change how we see introverts – and how you see yourself.
**Recensie(s)**

A startling, important, and readable page-turner * Naomi Wolf, author of The Beauty Myth * I can’t get Quiet out of my head. It is an important book – so persuasive and timely and heartfelt it should inevitably effect change in schools and offices — Jon Ronson * The Guardian * Susan Cain’s Quiet has sparked a quiet revolution. In our booming culture, hers is a still, small voice that punches above its weight. Perhaps rather than sitting back and asking people to speak up, managers and company leaders might lean forward and listen — Megan Walsh * The Times * Quiet is a very timely book, and Cain’s central thesis is fresh and important. Maybe the extrovert ideal is no longer as powerful as it was; perhaps it is time we all stopped to listen to the still, small voice of calm — Daisy Goodwin * The Sunday Times * Marvellous. The most important book published for a decade — Lynne Truss * Sunday Telegraph *
(source: Bol.com)

Practical Ethics

For thirty years, Peter Singer’s Practical Ethics has been the classic introduction to applied ethics. For this third edition, the author has revised and updated all the chapters and added a new chapter addressing climate change, one of the most important ethical challenges of our generation. Some of the questions discussed in this book concern our daily lives. Is it ethical to buy luxuries when others do not have enough to eat? Should we buy meat from intensively reared animals? Am I doing something wrong if my carbon footprint is above the global average? Other questions confront us as concerned citizens: equality and discrimination on the grounds of race or sex; abortion, the use of embryos for research and euthanasia; political violence and terrorism; and the preservation of our planet’s environment. This book’s lucid style and provocative arguments make it an ideal text for university courses and for anyone willing to think about how she or he ought to live.
**

Food Of The Gods

A journey to some of the Earth’s most endangered people in the remote Upper Amazon. . . . a look at the rituals of the Bwiti cults of Gabon and Zaire. . . . . a field watch on the eating habits of ‘stoned’ apes and chimpanzees – these adventures are all a part of ethnobotanist Terence McKenna’s extraordinary quest to discover the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. He wonders why, as a species, we are so fascinated by altered states of consciousness. Can they reveal something about our origins as human beings and our place in nature?

As an odyssey of mind, body and spirit, Food of the Gods is one of the most fascinating and surprising histories of consciousness ever written. And as a daring work of scholarship and exploration, it offers an inspiring vision for individual fulfilment and a humane basis for our interaction which each other and with the natural world.

‘Brilliant, provocative, opinionated, poetic and inspiring. . . . . Essential reading for anyone who ever wondered why people take drugs.’ Rupert Sheldrake

(source: Bol.com)

The Wild and the Wicked

**A brief foray into a moral thicket, exploring why we should protect nature despite tsunamis, malaria, bird flu, cancer, killer asteroids, and tofu.**Most of us think that in order to be environmentalists, we have to love nature. Essentially, we should be tree huggers–embracing majestic redwoods, mighty oaks, graceful birches, etc. We ought to eat granola, drive hybrids, cook tofu, and write our appointments in Sierra Club calendars. Nature’s splendor, in other words, justifies our protection of it. But, asks Benjamin Hale in this provocative book, what about tsunamis, earthquakes, cancer, bird flu, killer asteroids? They are nature, too.
For years, environmentalists have insisted that nature is fundamentally good. In *The Wild and the Wicked*, Benjamin Hale adopts the opposite position–that much of the time nature can be bad–in order to show that even if nature is cruel, we still need to be environmentally conscientious. Hale argues that environmentalists needn’t feel compelled to defend the value of nature, or even to adopt the attitudes of tree-hugging nature lovers. We can acknowledge nature’s indifference and periodic hostility. Deftly weaving anecdote and philosophy, he shows that we don’t need to love nature to be green. What really ought to be driving our environmentalism is our humanity, not nature’s value.
Hale argues that our unique burden as human beings is that we can act for reasons, good or bad. He claims that we should be environmentalists because environmentalism is right, because we humans have the capacity to be better than nature. As humans, we fail to live up to our moral potential if we act as brutally as nature. Hale argues that despite nature’s indifference to the plight of humanity, humanity cannot be indifferent to the plight of nature.

The Why of Things

Why was there a meltdown at the Fukushima power plant? Why do some people get cancer and not others? Why is global warming happening? Why does one person get depressed in the face of life’s vicissitudes while another finds resilience?
Questions like these—questions of causality—form the basis of modern scientific inquiry, posing profound intellectual and methodological challenges for researchers in the physical, natural, biomedical, and social sciences. In this groundbreaking book, noted psychiatrist and author Peter Rabins offers a conceptual framework for analyzing daunting questions of causality. Navigating a lively intellectual voyage between the shoals of strict reductionism and relativism, Rabins maps a three-facet model of causality and applies it to a variety of questions in science, medicine, economics, and more.
Throughout this book, Rabins situates his argument within relevant scientific contexts, such as quantum mechanics, cybernetics, chaos theory, and epigenetics. A renowned communicator of complex concepts and scientific ideas, Rabins helps readers stretch their minds beyond the realm of popular literary tipping points, blinks, and freakonomic explanations of the world.

What’s Your Worldview?

2014 Popular Theology Book of the Year – World Magazine

How do you view the world?

It’s a big question. And how you answer is one of the most important things about you.

Not sure what you’d say? Join James Anderson on an interactive journey of discovery aimed at helping you understand and evaluate the options when it comes to identifying your worldview. Cast in the mold of a classic “Choose Your Own Adventure” story, *What’s Your Worldview? *will guide you toward finding intellectually satisfying answers to life’s biggest questions—equipping you to think carefully about not only what you believe but why you believe it and how it impacts the rest of your life.

(source: Bol.com)

Seventeen Contradictions and the End of Capitalism

Seventeen Contradictions and the End of Capitalism by David Harvey
“*What I am seeking here is a better understanding of the contradictions of capital, not of capitalism. I want to know how the economic engine of capitalism works the way it does, and why it might stutter and stall and sometimes appear to be on the verge of collapse. I also want to show why* *this economic engine should be replaced, and with what.*” —from the Introduction
To modern Western society, capitalism is the air we breathe, and most people rarely think to question it, for good or for ill. But knowing what makes capitalism work—and what makes it fail—is crucial to understanding its long-term health, and the vast implications for the global economy that go along with it.
In* Seventeen Contradictions and the End of Capitalism*, the eminent scholar David Harvey, author of *A Brief History of Neoliberalism*, examines the internal contradictions within the flow of capital that have precipitated recent crises. He contends that while the contradictions have made capitalism flexible and resilient, they also contain the seeds of systemic catastrophe. Many of the contradictions are manageable, but some are fatal: the stress on endless compound growth, the necessity to exploit nature to its limits, and tendency toward universal alienation. Capitalism has always managed to extend the outer limits through “spatial fixes,” expanding the geography of the system to cover nations and people formerly outside of its range. Whether it can continue to expand is an open question, but Harvey thinks it unlikely in the medium term future: the limits cannot extend much further, and the recent financial crisis is a harbinger of this.
David Harvey has long been recognized as one of the world’s most acute critical analysts of the global capitalist system and the injustices that flow from it. In this book, he returns to the foundations of all of his work, dissecting and interrogating the fundamental illogic of our economic system, as well as giving us a look at how human societies are likely to evolve in a post-capitalist world.

The Revolution

The Revolution: A Manifesto by Ron Paul
**#1 *NEW YORK TIMES *BESTSELLER
This much is true: You have been lied to.
**
The government is expanding.
Taxes are increasing.
More senseless wars are being planned.
Inflation is ballooning.
Our basic freedoms are disappearing. The Founding Fathers didn’t want any of this. In fact, they said so quite clearly in the Constitution of the United States of America. Unfortunately, that beautiful, ingenious, and revolutionary document is being ignored more and more in Washington. If we are to enjoy peace, freedom, and prosperity once again, we absolutely must return to the principles upon which America was founded. But finally, there is hope . . .
In THE REVOLUTION,* *Texas congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul has exposed the core truths behind everything threatening America, from the *real *reasons behind the collapse of the dollar and the looming financial crisis, to terrorism and the loss of our precious civil liberties. In this book, Ron Paul provides answers to questions that few even dare to ask.
Despite a media blackout, this septuagenarian physician-turned-congressman sparked a movement that has attracted a legion of young, dedicated, enthusiastic supporters . . . a phenomenon that has amazed veteran political observers and made more than one political rival envious. Candidates across America are already running as “Ron Paul Republicans.”
“Dr. Paul cured my apathy,” says a popular campaign sign. THE REVOLUTION may cure yours as well.

Return of the Primitive

The Return of the Primitive: The Anti-Industrial Revolution by Ayn Rand
In the tumultuous late 60s and early 70s, a social movement known as the “New Left” emerged as a major cultural influence, especially on the youth of America. It was a movement that embraced “flower-power” and psychedelic “consciousness-expansion,” that lionized **Ho Chi Minh** and **Fidel Castro** and launched the Black Panthers and the Theater of the Absurd.In **Return Of The Primitive** (originally published in 1971 as **The New Left**), **Ayn Rand**, bestselling novelist and originator of the theory of Objectivism, identified the intellectual roots of this movement. She urged people to repudiate its mindless nihilism and to uphold, instead, a philosophy of reason, individualism, capitalism, and technological progress.Editor **Peter Schwartz**, in this new, expanded version of **The New Left**, has reorganized Rand’s essays and added some of his own in order to underscore the continuing relevance of her analysis of that period. He examines such current ideologies as feminism, environmentalism and multiculturalism and argues that the same primitive, tribalist, “anti-industrial” mentality which animated the New Left a generation ago is shaping society today.

Ominous Parallels

Ayn Rand chose Leonard Peikoff to be her successor as the spokesman for Objectivism. And in this brilliantly reasoned, thought-provoking work we learn why, as he demonstrates how far America has been detoured from its original path and led down the same road that Germany followed to Nazism. Self-sacrifice, Oriental mysticism, racial ”truth,” the public good, doing one’s duty—these are among the seductive catch-phrases that Leonard Peikoff dissects, examining the kind of philosophy they symbolize, the type of thinking that lured Germany to its doom and that he says is now prevalent in the United States. Here is a frightening look at where America may be heading, a clarion call for all who are concerned about preserving our right to individual freedom.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

**Recensie(s)**

Praise for Leonard Peikoff Offers a truly revolutionary idea…The book is clear, tight, disciplined, beautifully structured, and brilliantly reasoned. Its style is clear and hard as crystal–and as sparkling… As to my personal reaction, I can express it best by paraphrasing a line from Atlas Shrugged ‘It’s so wonderful to see a great, new, crucial achievement which is not mine!’ –Ayn Rand Extraordinarily perceptive…frightening insights…Everyone concerned with the collectivist trend in today’s world should read this book. –Alan Greenspan A fascinating weave of German history, philosophic determinism, and Objectivist polemic. –Chicago Tribune A revelation…Peikoff is an extraordinary communicator…He brings the most difficult intellectual ideas within the grasp of the general reader. –Detroit Free Press Praise for Leonard Peikoff -Offers a truly revolutionary idea…The book is clear, tight, disciplined, beautifully structured, and brilliantly reasoned. Its style is clear and hard as crystal–and as sparkling… As to my personal reaction, I can express it best by paraphrasing a line from Atlas Shrugged ‘It’s so wonderful to see a great, new, crucial achievement which is not mine!’—Ayn Rand -Extraordinarily perceptive…frightening insights…Everyone concerned with the collectivist trend in today’s world should read this book.—Alan Greenspan -A fascinating weave of German history, philosophic determinism, and Objectivist polemic.—Chicago Tribune -A revelation…Peikoff is an extraordinary communicator…He brings the most difficult intellectual ideas within the grasp of the general reader.—Detroit Free Press Praise for Leonard Peikoff Offers a truly revolutionary idea…The book is clear, tight, disciplined, beautifully structured, and brilliantly reasoned. Its style is clear and hard as crystal–and as sparkling… As to my personal reaction, I can express it best by paraphrasing a line from Atlas Shrugged ‘It’s so wonderful to see a great, new, crucial achievement which is not mine!’ –Ayn Rand Extraordinarily perceptive…frightening insights…Everyone concerned with the collectivist trend in today’s world should read this book. –Alan Greenspan A fascinating weave of German history, philosophic determinism, and Objectivist polemic. –Chicago Tribune A revelation…Peikoff is an extraordinary communicator…He brings the most difficult intellectual ideas within the grasp of the general reader. –Detroit Free Press Praise for Leonard Peikoff Offers a truly revolutionary idea The book is clear, tight, disciplined, beautifully structured, and brilliantly reasoned. Its style is clear and hard as crystal and as sparkling As to my personal reaction, I can express it best by paraphrasing a line from Atlas Shrugged It s so wonderful to see a great, new, crucial achievement which is not mine! Ayn Rand Extraordinarily perceptive frightening insights Everyone concerned with the collectivist trend in today s world should read this book. Alan Greenspan A fascinating weave of German history, philosophic determinism, and Objectivist polemic. Chicago Tribune A revelation…Peikoff is an extraordinary communicator…He brings the most difficult intellectual ideas within the grasp of the general reader. Detroit Free Press
(source: Bol.com)

The Ode Less Travelled

*I have a dark and dreadful secret. I write poetry… I believe poetry is a primal impulse within all of us. I believe we are all capable of it and furthermore that a small, often ignored corner of us positively yearns to try it.*
—Stephen Fry, *The Ode Less Travelled*
Stephen Fry believes that if one can speak and read English, one can write poetry. Many of us have never been taught to read or write poetry and think of it as a mysterious and intimidating form. Or, if we have been taught, we remember uncomfortable silence when an English teacher invited the class to “respond” to a poem. In *The Ode Less Travelled*, Fry sets out to correct this problem by giving aspiring poets the tools and confidence they need to write poetry for pleasure.
Fry is a wonderfully engaging teacher and writer of poetry himself, and he explains the various elements of poetry in simple terms, without condescension. His enjoyable exercises and witty insights introduce the concepts of Metre, Rhyme, Form, Diction, and Poetics. Aspiring poets will learn to write a sonnet, on ode, a villanelle, a ballad, and a haiku, among others. Along the way, he introduces us to poets we’ve heard of, but never read. *The Ode Less Travelled* is a lively celebration of poetry that makes even the most reluctant reader want to pick up a pencil and give it a try. BACKCOVER: **Advanced Praise:**
“Delightfully erudite, charming and soundly pedagogical guide to poetic form… Fry has created an invaluable and highly enjoyable reference book.”
—*Publishers Weekly*
“A smart, sane and entertaining return to the basics… If you like Fry’s comic manner… this book has a lot of charm… People entirely fresh to the subject could do worse than stick with his cheerful leadership.”
—*The Telegraph* (UK)
“…intelligent and informative, a worthy enterprise well executed.”
—*Observer* (UK)
“If you learn how to write a sonnet, and Fry shows you how, you may or may not make a poem. But you will unlock the stored wisdom of the form itself.”
—Grey Gowrie, *The Spectator* (UK)
“…intelligent and informative, a worthy enterprise well executed.”
—*Observer* (UK)

Fire to Fire

Fire to Fire: New and Selected Poems by Mark Doty
Mark Doty’s *Fire to Fire* collects the best of Mark Doty’s seven books of poetry, along with a generous selection of new work. Doty’s subjects—our mortal situation, the evanescent beauty of the world, desire’s transformative power, and art’s ability to give shape to human lives—echo and develop across twenty years of poems. His signature style encompasses both the plainspoken and the artfully wrought; here one of contemporary American poetry’s most lauded, recognizable voices speaks to the crises and possibilities of our times.