Philosophy & Religion
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by Dan Ariely. (Get the Book)
The author of Predictably Irrational (rev. ed., 2009) again turns his keen mind to the realm of irrational decision-making, this time in an effort to understand the causes of and reveal interesting ways to limit our seemingly intrinsic capacity for dishonesty. Through a remarkable series of experiments, Ariely presents a convincing case that while we all want to view ourselves as honest, we have a strong desire to reap the benefits cheating brings while continuing to view ourselves as honest, wonderful people. We rationalize our misbehaviors by chalking them up to lack of willpower, the what-the-hell effect, creativity, or even a blatant desire for retribution. Ariely argues that in so doing, however, we increase the fudge factor, a process that produces further dishonesty that can quickly lead to future actions and even become contagious to those around us. Lucid and succinct as always, Ariely ably identifies the primary reasons for dishonesty and adds a few pointers, such as moral reminders, to help us curb future actions. Required reading for politicians and Wall Street executives. --Booklist
by Michael J. Sandel (Find the Book)
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?In What Money Can't Buy , Michael J. Sandel takes on one of the biggest ethical questions of our time: Is there something wrong with a world in which everything is for sale? If so, how can we prevent market values from reaching into spheres of life where they don't belong? What are the moral limits of markets?In recent decades, market values have crowded out nonmarket norms in almost every aspect of life--medicine, education, government, law, art, sports, even family life and personal relations. Without quite realizing it, Sandel argues, we have drifted from having a market economy to being a market society. Is this where we want to be?In his New York Times bestseller Justice , Sandel showed himself to be a master at illuminating, with clarity and verve, the hard moral questions we confront in our everyday lives. Now, in What Money Can't Buy , he provokes an essential discussion that we, in our market-driven age, need to have: What is the proper role of markets in a democratic society--and how can we protect the moral and civic goods that markets don't honor and that money can't buy? --Summary
by Huangbo. (Get the Book)This complete translation of the original collection of sermons, dialogues, and anecdotes of Huang Po, the illustrious Chinese master of the Tang Dynasty, allows the Western reader to gain an understanding of Zen from the original source, one of the key works in its teachings; it also offers deep and often startling insights into the rich treasures of Eastern thought. Nowhere is the use of paradox in Zen illustrated better than in the teaching of Huang Po, who shows how the experience of intuitive knowledge that reveals to a man what he is cannot be communicated by words. With the help of these paradoxes, beautifully and simply presented in this collection, Huang Po could set his disciples on the right path. It is in this fashion that the Zen master leads his listener into truth, often by a single phrase designed to destroy his particular demon of ignorance. --Summary
by James Barrett.
(Find the Book)
From the assessment of one's capability of working with abstract visual objects to the measurement of practical verbal skills, this book includes 21 specific psychometric tests. Each of the 8 sections includes a one or two page introduction. The book closes with five pages on calculating one's IQ, including a chart enabling the translation of one's score on the 21 aptitude tests and their integration into a total. --Summary
by Brett C. Hoover. (Find the Book) We begin our lives, Hoover points out, in the comfort of the womb, where everything we need is provided for us. And, to a certain extent, we spend the rest of our lives seeking comfort. Drawing on his own experiences and those of others, Hoover explores the notion of comfort from a variety of angles: comfort food, creature comforts, the rise of comfort as a lifestyle (which roughly coincided with the rise of technologies such as running water and indoor heating), the idea of intellectual comfort, and the seemingly paradoxical idea that comfort can be a restraint on us (because, in seeking comfort, we may turn away from challenge). He also explores the cultural relativity of comfort, the idea that different societies place different values on some comfort: some cultures derive comfort from being paid attention to (say, in a hospital setting) whereas others derive it from being left alone. Comfort is one of those concepts that has far more depth and variety than we realize; thankfully, there's this insightful, engaging book to set us straight. --Booklist
