Philosophy Ethics

Epictetus, one of the greatest of the ancient thinkers, believed that the primary mission of philosophy is to help ordinary people meet the challenges of daily life and deal with losses, disappointments, and grief. His prescription for the good life: master desires, perform one's duties, and learn to think clearly about oneself and the larger community. In this accessible interpretation by Sharon Lebell, contemporary listeners will find useful advice from this ancient text. This recording also includes an interview with philosopher Jacob Needleman on the significance of Epictetus' work.

The Apology of Socrates was written by Plato. In fact, it's a defensive speech of Socrates that he said in a court noted down by Plato. The main subject of the speech is a problem of the evil. Socrates insists that neither death nor death sentence is evil. We shouldn't be afraid of the death because we don't know anything about it. Socrates proved that the death shouldn't be taken as the evil with the following dilemma: the death is either a peace or a transit from this life to the next. Both can't be called evil. Consequently, the death shouldn't be treated as evil.

Le savoir-vivre existe dans toutes les cultures et à toutes les époques. À l'heure des " incivilités ", la politesse reste une valeur phare dans les sondages. Preuve s'il en est de son utilité et de son actualité. Elle ne se réduit pas à une suite de prescriptions. Système de valeurs fondé sur le respect, la reconnaissance et la réciprocité, elle permet à chacun de trouver sa place, de défendre son image et de construire son identité.

Epictetus was one of the main voices of the philosophy of the Stoa, and as such most influentia. His "Enchiridion", or handbook, is a manual for practical philosophy. It offers carefully worded instructions for an ethical, sustained way of life. A very old text - but true to this very day and age!

Gaius Musonius Rufus was a Roman Stoic philosopher of the first century AD. He has been referred to as the Roman Socrates and is also remembered for being the teacher of Epictetus. He taught philosophy in Rome during the reign of Nero and so was sent into exile in 65 AD, returning to Rome only under Galba. Twenty-one of his lectures survive together with a few fragmentary notes from others, all of which are contained in this narration.

Shame is a powerful and sometimes useful tool: When we publicly shame corrupt politicians, abusive celebrities, or predatory corporations, we reinforce values of fairness and justice. But as Cathy O’Neil argues in this revelatory book, shaming has taken a new and dangerous turn. It is increasingly being weaponized—used as a way to shift responsibility for social problems from institutions to individuals.

Do you remember when relativism was the nemesis of Christians and all people of right reason? This idea that “you have your truth and I have mine” was so pervasive and insidious that Pope Benedict XVI warned it was a “dictatorship” that threatened all our freedoms. Then, seemingly overnight, we’re being told that it’s not a problem anymore. Why? Because in today’s “woke” world, most people are now moralists, not relativists. They impose a litany of new, seemingly absolute “commandments” to make sure we’re never racist, sexist, judgmental or bigoted.

El Libro de los Cinco Anillos (en japonés 五輪書 [Go-rin no sho]) es un tratado sobre el kentutsu escrito por Miyamoto Musashi en su vejez - durante su retiro de ermitaño en la cueva de Reignando en 1643 - y finalizado el 19 de mayo de 1645, pocas semanas antes de su muerte. El libro está dedicado a su pupilo Terao Magonojo Se considera un tratado clásico sobre la estrategia militar de Japón, en una línea semejante a El Arte de la Guerra, escrito por el estratega chino Sun Tzu.

Effective altruism is built upon the simple, but profound, idea that living a fully ethical life involves doing the "most good you can do". Such a life requires an unsentimental view of charitable giving: To be a worthy recipient of our support, an organization must be able to demonstrate that it will do more good with our money or our time than other options open to us. Singer introduces us to an array of remarkable people who are restructuring their lives in accordance with these ideas and shows how living altruistically often leads to greater personal fulfillment.

Discovering that reason is the defining feature of our species, we named ourselves the “rational animal”. But is this flattering story itself rational? In this sweeping account of irrationality from antiquity to today - from the fifth-century BC murder of Hippasus for revealing the existence of irrational numbers to the rise of Twitter mobs and the election of Donald Trump - Justin Smith says the evidence suggests the opposite.

The Analects or Selected Sayings is an ancient Chinese text comprising sayings and wisdom teachings attributed to Confucius and his contemporaries, as well as fragmentary dialogues between the philosopher and his students. The Analects has been one of the most influential books in China for the last two millennia, and continues to contribute to Chinese and East Asian culture and thought.

O filósofo alemão faz uma crítica à moral vigente, analisando os princípios ocidentais desde Sócrates; além das ideologias religiosas, como compaixão e igualdade; da filosofia; da ciência e da arte. É considerada uma das obras mais incisivas sobre a origem dos nossos conceitos morais, ao questionar o valor da moral, e representa o auge da psicologia social de Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900). Dividida em três tratados, este livro atemporal tem um significado inestimável.

Martha C. Nussbaum turns her attention to the political crisis that has polarized American since the 2016 election. Although today’s atmosphere is marked by partisanship and divisive rhetoric, Nussbaum focuses on what so many pollsters and pundits have overlooked: The political is always emotional. Globalization has produced feelings of powerlessness in millions in the West. That sense of powerlessness bubbles into resentment and blame. While this politics of blame is exemplified by the election of Trump and the Brexit vote, Nussbaum argues it can be found on the left and the right.

Life is boring: filled with meetings and traffic, errands and emails. Nothing we'd ever call fun. But what if we've gotten fun wrong? In Play Anything, visionary game designer and philosopher Ian Bogost shows how we can overcome our daily anxiety; transforming the boring, ordinary world around us into one of endless, playful possibilities. The key to this playful mindset lies in discovering the secret truth of fun and games.

Robert B. Reich makes a powerful case for the expansion of America’s moral imagination. Rooting his argument in common sense and everyday reality, he demonstrates that a common good constitutes the very essence of any society or nation. Societies, he says, undergo virtuous cycles that reinforce the common good as well as vicious cycles that undermine it, one of which America has been experiencing for the past five decades. This process can and must be reversed.

Plato's dialogue in the Symposium, which has as its topic the subject of love, explores the idea of love as a means of ascent to contemplation of the Divine. For Plato, generally, to love other human beings is to direct one's mind to love of Divinity. One proceeds from recognition of another's beauty to appreciation of Beauty as it exists apart from any individual, to consideration of Divinity, the source of Beauty, to love of Divinity.

Roger Scruton offers a fresh approach to tackling the most important political problem of our time. He contends that the environmental movement is philosophically confused and has unrealistic agendas. Its sights are directed at large-scale events and the confrontation between international politics and multinational business. But Scruton argues that no large-scale environmental project, however well intentioned, will succeed if it is not rooted in small-scale practical reasoning.

On Inhumanity is bracing and vital listen in a world lurching towards authoritarian political regimes, resurgent white nationalism, refugee crises that breed nativist hostility, and fast-spreading racist rhetoric. The book will open your eyes to the pervasive dangers of dehumanization and the prejudices that can too easily take root within us, and resist them before they spread into the wider world.

This poignant philosophy about the human capacity for love in the face of tragedy from New York Times bestselling author Erich Fromm is as relevant today as it was when it was first broadcast. Transcribed from a series of recorded conversations streamed over German public radio in 1970, the profound ideas and thoughts collected in this volume represent a lifetime of the renowned psychoanalyst and social philosopher's explorations into human emotion and behavior throughout the twentieth century.

Written in Greek by the only Roman emperor who was also a philosopher, without any intention of publication, the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius offer a remarkable series of challenging spiritual reflections and exercises developed as the emperor struggled to understand himself and make sense of the universe. While the Meditations were composed to provide personal consolation and encouragement, Aurelius also created one of the greatest of all works of philosophy: a timeless collection that has been consulted and admired by statesmen, thinkers, and readers throughout the centuries.