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The four loves
By C. S Lewis. 1960
The four loves C.S. Lewis distinguishes here are Affection, Friendship, Eros and Charity. He observes how each merges into another,…
without losing sight of the necessary and real difference between them. 1960.Systems of survival: a dialogue on the moral foundations of commerce and politics
By Jane Jacobs. 1994
In the form of a Platonic dialogue, Jacobs identifies two distinct moral syndromes - one governing commerce, the other, politics…
- and explores what happens when these two syndromes collide. She investigates such examples as business fraud, government subsidies to agriculture and criminal enterprise. She provides a new way of seeing our public transactions and encourages us towards the best use of our natural inclinations. 1994.Nous, les vieux: dialogue sur la vie et ses choses
By Marguerite Lescop, Benoît Lacroix, François Lescop. 2006
Ayant franchi allègrement le cap des 90 ans, c'est avec sagesse et humour que Marguerite Lescop et Benoît Lacroix abordent…
les grandes questions de la vie, celles que tous se posent et auxquelles on voudrait tant trouver des réponses satisfaisantes. Nous, les vieux met en présence deux êtres hors du commun que la vie a rapprochés : une mère de famille qui a publié à 80 ans un ouvrage devenu un best-seller, Le tour de ma vie en 80 ans, et un prêtre dominicain qui a consacré sa vie à l'étude de la religion populaire, à qui on doit plusieurs ouvrages remarquables, La foi de ma mère, notamment. De leur singulière amitié sont nés des échanges empreints d'espérance dont François Lescop, le fils de Marguerite, a rapidement perçu toute la richesse et l'à-propos. 2006.On equilibrium
By John Ralston Saul. 2001
Explains how different human qualities give us intelligence, self-confidence and practical ability to think and act as responsible individuals, and…
argues that when certain qualities are worshipped in isolation they become ideologies. Saul explores the essential qualities of humanity and suggests how they can be used to achieve equilibrium for the self and to foster an ethical society. 2001.Made for happiness: discovering the meaning of life with Aristotle
By Kathryn Spink, Jean Vanier. 2001
What is the meaning of happiness? Is the quest for happiness the true purpose of our lives? Jean Vanier considers…
these questions by examining Aristotle's best-known works in order to map a possible road to happiness. Vanier focuses on Aristotle's belief that a desire for happiness is an innate human drive and involves a virtuous intellectual and spiritual quest. 2001.Dark age ahead
By Jane Jacobs. 2004
Architectural and city-planning scholar Jacobs argues that Western civilization in general and North American society in particular are headed for…
a period of reconfiguration, chaos, and lost cultural memory. She credits this to the erosion of five key pillars of Western civilization: community and family, higher education, scientific advancement, taxation, and self-policing by learned professions, as well as changes in agriculture and transportation. 2004.The myth of Sisyphus, and other essays: And Other Essays (Vintage international)
By Albert Camus. 1991
In the title essay, the French philosopher and writer develops an affirmative attitude towards life, even though life is regarded…
as meaningless and absurd. The other essays also deal with the theme of affirmation in the face of absurdity. 1991. Uniform title: Mythe de Sisyphe.Le rire de la grenouille: petit traité de philosophie artisanale
By Henri Gougaud. 2008
Nous sommes aujourd'hui, face à notre avenir incertain, comme nos ancêtres qui craignaient de ne plus voir le soleil. La…
réponse à cette peur qui parfois nous agite réside dans les contes et leur sagesse immémoriale. Eux seuls savent transformer les menaces en miracles. Mais encore faut-il les écouter. Fais comme moi, disent ces simples récits. Ne sois rien qu'une conscience éveillée, capable de capter tout ce qui peut la nourrir. La grosse patte du lion ne peut capturer le papillon. Face à la mort, aux pouvoirs, à tout ce qui enferme, sclérose ou pétrifie, sois un papillon. Schéhérazade invente et dit des contes pour tenir la mort à distance. Et la vie prend le dessus. Ainsi les contes ont traversé les pestes, les guerres ou les révolutions. De page en page, Henri Gougaud les interroge et ils lui répondent : Imite-moi et tu survivras. N'aie pas peur de te transformer sans cesse. À la fois drôle et apaisant, ce récit singulier, truffé d'histoires, est un vrai livre de sagesse. -- 4e de couv.Une chambre à soi
By Virginia Woolf, Clara Malraux. 1980
Un classique de la pensée féministe. Sujet-prétexte: les femmes et le roman. Point de départ (et point d'arrivée): si une…
femme veut écrire une oeuvre de fiction elle doit disposer de quelque argent et d'une chambre à soi (à soi seule). 1980.In the name of identity: violence and the need to belong
By Amin Maalouf, Barbara Bray. 2001
A study of the dangers of personal, religious, ethnic and national identities. Arguing that these identities allow and often encourage…
people to engage in acts of violence upon those with different identities, Maalouf offers a philosophical exploration of what a culture without entrenched identities would be like. He addresses issues such as how we judge religious traditions that have embraced violence and how language facilitates nationalism, and recommends identities remaining intact while accepting a multiplicity of allegiances as equally legitimate. 2001. Uniform title: Identités meurtrières.Voltaire's bastards: the dictatorship of reason in the west
By John Ralston Saul. 1992
What happens when I die?: a promise of the afterlife
By Brian C Stiller. 2001
Invites the reader, through stories, postulations and intrigue, to wonder about what happens when life as we know it ends.…
From a discussion on the primary world views on life after death, including explorations of reincarnation, materialism, Christianity, Judaism and Islam, he gives the reader a clear and understandable range of beliefs.Faire la morale aux robots: une introduction à l'éthique des algorithmes (Documents #17)
By Martin Gibert. 2020
Les véhicules autonomes, assistants virtuels et autres systèmes d'intelligence artificielle sont conçus pour prendre eux-mêmes des décisions. Alors qu'ils sont…
appelés à occuper une place grandissante dans nos vies, nous devons nous demander en fonction de quels principes moraux nous voulons les programmer, ce qui soulève des questions inédites. Qu'est-ce qu'un agent moral artificiel ? Existe-t-il de bons et de mauvais robots ? Et s'il est vrai que les machines reflètent les valeurs de ceux qui les conçoivent, comment éviter de reproduire certains biais et préjugés? S'intéresser à l'éthique des algorithmes, c'est ainsi se demander avec quelle sorte de robots nous souhaitons vivre. C'est faire de la philosophie appliquée. Car il ne s'agit plus simplement de spéculer confortablement assis dans un fauteuil, mais de répondre à des enjeux concrets qui auront une incidence bien réelle sur notre monde.Restoring Democracy in an Age of Populists and Pestilence
By Jonathan Manthorpe. 2020
“This global affairs veteran has carved out a solid, mature path, including for ‘flawed democracies’ like the U.S. We’d all…
be wise to follow.” — Vancouver SunFrom the author of the Globe and Mail bestseller, Claws of the Panda, comes a book quite literally for our times. Restoring Democracy in an Age of Populists and Pestilence is a thoughtful account of how we can save democracies from the despots and populists who provide easy answers to complicated situations, dumbing political discourse down to sandbox antics. Manthorpe argues that democracy is more resilient than it appears, and is capable of overcoming the attacks from within and without that have sapped its vigour since the end of the Cold War. He begins with a description of the events of 1989, one of the seminal years in modern history. This saw the end of the Cold War, and the apparent conclusive victory of democracy and its civic values. But the view of these changes as a triumph of democracy — as summed up in Francis Fukuyama’s essay "The End of History" — was short-lived. Russia, shorn of its Soviet empire, and the Chinese Communist Party, re-examining its survival after the Tiananmen Square Massacre, began devising ways to counter-attack the West’s triumphalism and these met with considerable success. Internal pressures and contradictions — wealth disparity being chief among them — threaten the survival of many democratic systems. Abandoned industrial workers turn to the repeated platitudes designed to appeal to those left behind without actually offering them the ways and means to catch up. Immigrants, refugees, and the reformist fixations of isolated liberal elites have provided ammunition for would-be despots. Adding to the pressures building on the political norms of our democracies, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought economic and social stand-still for which no country is prepared.On Consolation: Finding Solace in Dark Times
By Michael Ignatieff. 2021
Timely and profound philosophical meditations on how great figures in history, literature, music, and art searched for solace while facing…
tragedies and crises, from the internationally renowned historian of ideas and Booker Prize-finalist Michael Ignatieff.When someone we love dies, when we suffer loss or defeat, when catastrophe strikes--war, famine, pandemic--we go in search of consolation. Once the province of priests and philosophers, the language of consolation has largely vanished from our modern vocabulary, and the places where it was offered, houses of religion, are often empty. Rejecting the solace of ancient religious texts, humanity since the sixteenth century has increasingly placed its faith in science, ideology, and the therapeutic.How do we console each other and ourselves in an age of unbelief? In a series of lapidary meditations on writers, artists, musicians, and their works--from the books of Job and Psalms to Albert Camus, Anna Akhmatova, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross and Primo Levi--esteemed writer and historian Michael Ignatieff shows how men and women in extremity have looked to each other across time to recover hope and resilience. Recreating the moments when great figures found the courage to confront their fate and the determination to continue unafraid, On Consolation takes those stories into the present, movingly contending that we can revive these traditions of consolation to meet the anguish and uncertainties of our precarious twenty-first century.Civil wars: a history in ideas
By David Armitage. 2017
Historian's analysis of what defines a war as "civil." Discusses how the identity of those fighting plays a role and…
how calling a conflict a civil war can affect whether outside powers choose to involve themselves and the very outcome of events. Examines specific conflicts, such as the American Revolutionary War. 2017How to survive the Apocalypse: zombies, cylons, faith, and politics at the end of the world
By Robert Joustra, Alissa Wilkinson. 2016
Using lessons provided by television shows like Battlestar Galactica, Game of Thrones, and The Walking Dead, the author discusses ways…
to navigate the intersection of religion and politics while retaining a Christian identity. Examines philosophy, linguistics, and theology. 2016Homer
By Barbara Graziosi. 2016
A classicist analyzes the literary, historical, cultural, and archaeological issues surrounding Homer's epic poems The Iliad (DB 66356) and The…
Odyssey (DB 72052). Discusses the world of Homer, his potential influences, the impact of ancient and historical criticism on translations, and ways to interpret the poems. 2016The givenness of things: essays
By Marilynne Robinson. 2015
Collection of seventeen essays exploring contemporary society by the author of Gilead (DB 59561). Examines questions of humanism, grace, servanthood,…
fear, memory, value, theology, experience, and more, through the lens of her Christian faith. 2015Grandma Gatewood's walk: the inspiring story of the woman who saved the Appalachian Trail
By Ben Montgomery. 2014
Biography of Emma Gatewood (1887-1973), who left her family in Ohio in May 1955, saying only that she was going…
for a walk. Four months later she completed a solo hike of the Appalachian Trail, from south to north--the first woman to do so. Details her trip and subsequent celebrity. 2014