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Fathoms: The World in the Whale
By Rebecca Giggs. 2020
Winner of the 2021 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction * Finalist for the 2020 Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction…
* Finalist for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing AwardA &“delving, haunted, and poetic debut&” (The New York Times Book Review) about the awe-inspiring lives of whales, revealing what they can teach us about ourselves, our planet, and our relationship with other species. When writer Rebecca Giggs encountered a humpback whale stranded on her local beachfront in Australia, she began to wonder how the lives of whales reflect the condition of our oceans. Fathoms: The World in the Whale is &“a work of bright and careful genius&” (Robert Moor, New York Times bestselling author of On Trails), one that blends natural history, philosophy, and science to explore: How do whales experience ecological change? How has whale culture been both understood and changed by human technology? What can observing whales teach us about the complexity, splendor, and fragility of life on earth?In Fathoms, we learn about whales so rare they have never been named, whale songs that sweep across hemispheres in annual waves of popularity, and whales that have modified the chemical composition of our planet&’s atmosphere. We travel to Japan to board the ships that hunt whales and delve into the deepest seas to discover how plastic pollution pervades our earth&’s undersea environment.With the immediacy of Rachel Carson and the lush prose of Annie Dillard, Giggs gives us a &“masterly&” (The New Yorker) exploration of the natural world even as she addresses what it means to write about nature at a time of environmental crisis. With depth and clarity, she outlines the challenges we face as we attempt to understand the perspectives of other living beings, and our own place on an evolving planet. Evocative and inspiring, Fathoms &“immediately earns its place in the pantheon of classics of the new golden age of environmental writing&” (Literary Hub).A Great Place to Have a War: America in Laos and the Birth of a Military CIA
By Joshua Kurlantzick. 2017
The untold story of how America&’s secret war in Laos in the 1960s transformed the CIA from a loose collection…
of spies into a military operation and a key player in American foreign policy.January, 1961: Laos, a tiny nation few Americans have heard of, is at risk of falling to communism and triggering a domino effect throughout Southeast Asia. This is what President Eisenhower believed when he approved the CIA&’s Operation Momentum, creating an army of ethnic Hmong to fight communist forces there. Largely hidden from the American public—and most of Congress—Momentum became the largest CIA paramilitary operation in the history of the United States. The brutal war lasted more than a decade, left the ground littered with thousands of unexploded bombs, and changed the nature of the CIA forever.With &“revelatory reporting&” and &“lucid prose&” (The Economist), Kurlantzick provides the definitive account of the Laos war, focusing on the four key people who led the operation: the CIA operative whose idea it was, the Hmong general who led the proxy army in the field, the paramilitary specialist who trained the Hmong forces, and the State Department careerist who took control over the war as it grew.Using recently declassified records and extensive interviews, Kurlantzick shows for the first time how the CIA&’s clandestine adventures in one small, Southeast Asian country became the template for how the United States has conducted war ever since—all the way to today&’s war on terrorism.The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Existentialism (Routledge Handbooks in Philosophy)
By Kevin Aho, Megan Altman, Hans Pedersen. 2024
Of the philosophical movements of the twentieth century existentialism is one of the most powerful and thought-provoking. Its engagement with…
the themes of authenticity, freedom, bad faith, nihilism, and the death of God captured the imagination of millions. However, in the twenty-first century existentialism is grappling with fresh questions and debates that move far beyond traditional existential preoccupations, ranging from the lived experience of the embodied self, intersectionality, and feminist theory to comparative philosophy, digital existentialism, disability studies, and philosophy of race.The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Existentialism explores these topics and more, connecting the ideas and insights of existentialism with some of the most urgent debates and challenges in philosophy today. Eight clear sections explore the following topics: methodology and technology social and political perspectives environment and place affectivity and emotion death and freedom value existentialism and Asian philosophy aging and disability. As well as chapters on key figures such as Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre, and Beauvoir, the Handbook includes chapters on topics as diverse as Chicana feminism, ecophilosophy and the environment, Latina existentialism, Black nihilism, the Kyoto school and southeast Asian existentialism, and the experiences of aging, disability, and death.Essential reading for students and researchers in the areas of existentialism and phenomenology, The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Existentialism will also be of interest to those studying ethics, philosophy and gender, philosophy of race, the emotions and philosophical issues in health and illness as well as related disciplines such as Literature, Sociology, and Political Theory.Film as a Medium of Seduction: Introduction to the Seduction-Theory of Film
By Marcus Stiglegger. 2024
The seduction-theory defines film in a broader sense as a medium of seduction, based on the French concept of séduction.…
It is a theoretical approach influenced by continental philosophy and classical film theory, linked to a three-stage analytical model. The book introduces the theoretical foundations and, using various classical and contemporary examples from film history, presents a genuine method of film analysis.Yoga – Anticolonial Philosophy: An Action-Focused Guide to Practice
By Shyam Ranganathan. 2024
Providing a decolonial, action-focused account of Yoga philosophy, this practical work from Dr. Shyam Ranganathan, pioneering scholar in the field…
of Indian moral philosophy, focuses on the South Asian tradition to explore what Yoga was like prior to colonization. It challenges teachers and trainees to reflect on the impact of Western colonialism on Yoga as well as understand Yoga as the original decolonial practice in a way that is accessible. Each chapter takes the reader through a journey of sources and traditions, beginning with an investigation into the colonial -Platonic and Aristotelian- approaches to pedagogy in colonized yoga spaces, through contrary, ancient philosophies of South Asia, such as Jainism, Buddhism, Sankhya, and various forms of Vedanta, to sources of Yoga, including the Upanisads, Yoga Sutra, Bhagavad Gita and Hatha Yoga Pradipika. With discussions of the precolonial philosophy of Yoga, its relationship to social justice, and modern postural yoga's relationship with colonial trauma, this is a comprehensive guide for any yoga teacher or trainee to activate and synergize their practice. Supplementary online resources bring the text to life, making this the perfect text for yoga teacher trainings.Songs of Malantor: The Arcturian Star Chronicles Volume Three (The Arcturian Star Chronicles)
By Patricia Pereira. 1998
In 1987, medical transcriptionist Patricia Pereira suddenly started receiving telepathic communications from the star Arcturus and was requested to begin…
a series of galactically inspired manuscripts. The mission of this series of books is to awaken us to our individual and collective spiritual obligation for the health and well-being of our planet and all creatures who live upon her. Philosophical in cope, the essays in these books provide pragmatic, practical suggestions for emotional, mental physical, and spiritual transformation. They remind us of our familial relationships to beings of light who inhabit the great star nations. Songs of Malantor offers cosmic information of expanded complexity to assist humans in the times of change and to prepare them for citizenship in the greater galactic community. Malantor is best describes as a fifth- and sixth-dimensional being of light from Arcturus, the primary star of the Boötes system. Malantor is a creator of melodious lyrics, an Arcturian poet and intergalactic counselor-teacher who volunteered for Earth assignment. He resides on board the Intergalactic Brotherhood’s principal mother ship, Marigold—City of Lights.Dedicated: The Case for Commitment in an Age of Infinite Browsing
By Pete Davis. 2021
A profoundly inspiring and transformative argument that purposeful commitment and civic engagement can be a powerful force in today&’s age…
of restlessness and indecision.Most of us have had this experience: browsing through countless options on Netflix, unable to commit to watching any given movie—and losing so much time skimming reviews and considering trailers that it&’s too late to watch anything at all. In a book inspired by an idea first articulated in a viral commencement address, Pete Davis argues that this is the defining characteristic of the moment: keeping our options open. We are stuck in &“Infinite Browsing Mode&”—swiping through endless dating profiles without committing to a single partner, jumping from place to place searching for the next big thing, and refusing to make any decision that might close us off from an even better choice we imagine is just around the corner. This culture of restlessness and indecision, Davis argues, is causing tension in the lives of young people today: We want to keep our options open, and yet we yearn for the purpose, community, and depth that can only come from making deep commitments.In Dedicated, Davis examines this quagmire, as well as the counterculture of committers who have made it to the other side. He shares what we can learn from the &“long-haul heroes&” who courageously commit themselves to particular places, professions, and causes—who relinquish the false freedom of an open future in exchange for the deep fulfillment of true dedication. Weaving together examples from history, personal stories, and applied psychology, Davis&’s &“insightful without being preachy…guide to commitment should be on everyone&’s reading list&” (Booklist, starred review).The Idea of Decline in Western History
By Arthur Herman. 1997
Historian Arthur Herman traces the roots of declinism and shows how major thinkers, past and present, have contributed to its…
development as a coherent ideology of cultural pessimism.From Nazism to the Sixties counterculture, from Britain's Fabian socialists to America's multiculturalists, and from Dracula and Freud to Robert Bly and Madonna, this work examines the idea of decline in Western history and sets out to explain how the conviction of civilization's inevitable end has become a fixed part of the modern Western imagination. Through a series of biographical portraits spanning the 19th and 20th centuries, the author traces the roots of declinism and aims to show how major thinkers of the past and present, including Nietzsche, DuBois, Sartre, and Foucault, have contributed to its development as a coherent ideology of cultural pessimism.How to Break a Terrorist: The U.S. Interrogators Who Used Brains, Not Brutality, to Take Down the Deadliest Man in Iraq
By Matthew Alexander, John R. Bruning. 2008
Finding Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, had long been the U.S. military's top priority…
-- trumping even the search for Osama bin Laden. No brutality was spared in trying to squeeze intelligence from Zarqawi's suspected associates. But these "force on force" techniques yielded exactly nothing, and, in the wake of the Abu Ghraib scandal, the military rushed a new breed of interrogator to Iraq. Matthew Alexander, a former criminal investigator and head of a handpicked interrogation team, gives us the first inside look at the U.S. military's attempt at more civilized interrogation techniques -- and their astounding success. The intelligence coup that enabled the June 7, 2006, air strike onZarqawi's rural safe house was the result of several keenly strategized interrogations, none of which involved torture or even "control" tactics. Matthew and his team decided instead to get to know their opponents. Who were these monsters? Who were they working for? What were they trying to protect? Every day the "'gators" matched wits with a rogues' gallery of suspects brought in by Special Forces ("door kickers"): egomaniacs, bloodthirsty adolescents, opportunistic stereo repairmen, Sunni clerics horrified by the sectarian bloodbath, Al Qaeda fanatics, and good people in the wrong place at the wrong time. With most prisoners, negotiation was possible and psychological manipulation stunningly effective. But Matthew's commitment to cracking the case with these methods sometimes isolated his superiors and put his own career at risk. This account is an unputdownable thriller -- more of a psychological suspense story than a war memoir. And indeed, the story reaches far past the current conflict in Iraq with a reminder that we don't have to become our enemy to defeat him. Matthew Alexander and his ilk, subtle enough and flexible enough to adapt to the challenges of modern, asymmetrical warfare, have proved to be our best weapons against terrorists all over the world.Give War and Peace a Chance: Tolstoyan Wisdom for Troubled Times
By Andrew D. Kaufman. 2014
“This lively appreciation of one of the most intimidating and massive novels ever written should persuade many hesitant readers to…
try scaling the heights of War and Peace sooner rather than later” (Publishers Weekly).Considered by many critics the greatest novel ever written, War and Peace is also one of the most feared. And at 1,500 pages, it’s no wonder why. Still, in July 2009 Newsweek put War and Peace at the top of its list of 100 great novels and a 2007 edition of the AARP Bulletin included the novel in their list of the top four books everybody should read by the age of fifty. A New York Times survey from 2009 identified Warand Peace as the world classic you’re most likely to find people reading on their subway commute to work. What might all those Newsweek devotees, senior citizens, and harried commuters see in a book about the Napoleonic Wars in the early 1800s? War and Peace is many things. It is a love story, a family saga, a war novel. But at its core it’s a novel about human beings attempting to create a meaningful life for themselves in a country torn apart by war, social change, political intrigue, and spiritual confusion. It is a mirror of our times.Give War and Peace a Chance takes readers on a journey through War and Peace that reframes their very understanding of what it means to live through troubled times and survive them. Touching on a broad range of topics, from courage to romance, parenting to death, Kaufman demonstrates how Tolstoy’s wisdom can help us live fuller, more meaningful lives. The ideal companion to War and Peace, this book “makes Tolstoy’s characters lively and palpable…and may well persuade readers to finally dive into one of the world’s most acclaimed—and daunting—novels” (Kirkus Reviews).How to Think About God: A Guide for the 20th-Century Pagan
By Mortimer J. Adler. 1991
Dr. Adler, in his discussion, extends and modernizes the argument for the existence of God developed by Aristotle and Aquinas.…
Without relying on faith, mysticism, or science (none of which, according to Dr. Adler, can prove or disprove the existence of God), he uses a rationalist argument to lead the reader to a point where he or she can see that the existence of God is not necessarily dependent upon a suspension of disbelief. Dr. Adler provides a nondogmatic exposition of the principles behind the belief that God, or some other supernatural cause, has to exist in some form. Through concise and lucid arguments, Dr. Adler shapes a highly emotional and often erratic conception of God into a credible and understandable concept for the lay person.At last, you can grasp the most difficult concepts of thought!If you&’ve always wanted to learn about philosophy but were…
too intimidated to get past the first word ending in &“ism,&” The Everything Philosophy Book provides simple explanations guaranteed to make philosophic ideas and concepts easy to understand.This entertaining book offers a broad overview of many diverse schools of thought—from antiquity up through the present day. In plain English, author James Mannion explains all of the great philosophies—and even provides contemporary examples to put them in perspective. Interspersed are fascinating sidebars that offer helpful hints toward understanding complex concepts and little-known facts about the lives of great philosophers.The Everything Philosophy Book delves into the minds of such philosophers as: -Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle -Augustine and Aquinas -Buddha and Confucius -Spinoza and Descartes -Locke and Hume -Voltaire and Rousseau -Mill and Nietzsche -Russell and SartreEndlessly fascinating—and always clear and concise—The Everything Philosophy Book will be welcomed by anyone who wants to broaden his or her outlook on life.Beckett Ongoing: Aesthetics, Ethics, Politics (New Interpretations of Beckett in the Twenty-First Century)
By Michael Krimper, Gabriel Quigley. 2024
“You must go on. I can’t go on. I’ll go on.” These are some of the most quoted lines written…
by Samuel Beckett, which speak to the impulse of persevering in times of crisis and impossibility. Yet few readers of Beckett agree about what this paradoxical formula could mean, let alone what mode of engagement it would seem to indicate, be it committed, autonomous, or something else entirely. This volume of essays explores what that mode of engagement could be, all the while elucidating the ethical and political stakes of the “ongoing” in both Beckett’s life and work. Across multiple disciplines in the humanities, the authors delve into questions of political subjectivity and representation, the ethics of powerlessness and refusal, the aesthetics of syncopation and destitution, multimedia experiments between genre, as well as Beckett’s wider impact on transnational itineraries of modernism and philosophy up to the contemporary.The Ethics and Economics of Liberal Democracies: Foundations for PPE
By Carl Cavanagh Hodge, Andrew David Irvine. 2024
Rarely in the short history of liberal-democratic government has a primer on basic liberal-democratic values and institutions been more needed…
than now. Popular discontent, even anger, with democratic governments has grown steadily over the past twenty years. Not since the 1930s have citizens and their elected officials been so baffled about their respective roles in the maintenance of both democratic governments and liberal economies. This book attempts to address this growing need. Especially written as a primer for courses in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE), it has introductory chapters on all three main disciplines. It also has chapters on the rule of law and on three important public-policy areas – Corruption, Climate and Civil Society. Individual topics discussed include free and fair elections, populism, responsible government, republican and Westminster systems of government, regulated free markets, the Great Recession of 2008, globalization, greenwashing, identity politics, academic freedom, utilitarianism, social contract theory, positive and negative liberty, and the good life.Historically informed, The Ethics and Economics of Liberal Democracies: Foundations for PPE is sure to be of interest to students who are interested in public-policy work, as well as those who are interested in both the theory and practice of democratic government.Key Features: Written especially for PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics) courses and students Focuses on the key values and institutions of modern democracies Includes chapters on both the theory and practice of democratic government and public-policy work Provides a comprehensive glossary of relevant terms from all three disciplinesWe Got Him!: A Memoir of the Hunt and Capture of Saddam Hussein
By Steve Russell. 2011
From retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Steve Russell comes a compelling firsthand account of the blow-by-blow plays of the actual…
raids that led to the capture of Saddam Hussein in 2003.When U.S. forces exterminated Osama bin Laden in Pakistan on May 1, 2011, the world witnessed a brilliantly fruitful example of history repeating itself; less than a decade earlier, the capture of Saddam Hussein, a triumph of military strategy in and of itself, opened the door for the more recent and essential victory in the War on Terror. At the center of the six-month manhunt were Lt. Col. Steve Russell and his men of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. With his extensive journal notes, combat reports, and painstaking research, Russell has preserved the story as only someone who lived the experience can do. His narrative chronicles the daily successes and dead ends, and describes, blow-by-blow, the actual raids that netted Saddam, culminating in the electrifying quote heard around the globe, &“We Got Him!&”Philosophy and Life: Exploring the Great Questions of How to Live
By A. C. Grayling. 2023
'Grayling brings satisfying order to daunting subjects' Steven Pinker'An enthusiastic thinker who embraces humour, common sense and lucidity' Independent_______________From the…
eminent philosopher, an authoritative exploration of the great questions of how to live'There is a question everyone has to ask and answer - in fact, has to keep on asking and keep on answering. It is, 'How should I live my life?' meaning, 'What values shall I live by? 'What sort of person should I be? What shall I aim for?' The great majority of people do not ask this question, they merely answer it unthinkingly, by adopting conventional views of life and what matters in it...'From Stoics to existentialists, in philosophy and literature, discussion of the philosophy of life -- of love and death, of courage, fortitude and wisdom -- challenges us all to think about what kinds of life are truly worth living. In this summation of a lifetime thinking and writing about this great question, A. C. Grayling explores with clarity and depth the ideas that each of us must use in answering it for ourselves.Drawing on the lives, experiences and works of a fantastically eclectic range of thinkers -- taking in not only philosophers such as Confucius, Seneca and Nietzsche, but also authors from Shakespeare to Ursula LeGuin, and modern thinkers such as Martha Nussbaum and Bernard Williams - Philosophy and Life brings together wisdom from across eras and continents in a tour de force on the philosophy of being human in a complicated world.Mediocracy: The Politics of the Extreme Centre
By Alain Deneault. 2018
There was no Reichstag fire. No storming of the Bastille. No mutiny on the Aurora. Instead, the mediocre have seized…
power without firing a single shot. They rose to power on the tide of an economy where workers produce assembly-line meals without knowing how to cook at home, give customers instructions over the phone that they themselves don’t understand, or sell books and newspapers that they never read. Canadian intellectual juggernaut Alain Deneault has taken on all kinds of evildoers: mining companies, tax-dodgers, and corporate criminals. Now he takes on the most menacing threat of all: the mediocre.No-Nonsense Guide to Global Surveillance (No-Nonsense Guides #10)
By Robin Tudge. 2011
Spying, once solely the domain of the KGB, CIA, CSIS, and MI5, has become part of everyday life. Governments routinely…
trawl our emails, closed-circuit security cameras follow us in malls, office buildings, and on street corners, while databases of our DNA and other personal details become larger all the time. This No-Nonsense Guide provides a well-researched look into the history of surveillance and how the process is carried out today with the aid of technology and often, lack of express consent.Conform, Fail, Repeat: How Power Distorts Collective Action
By Christopher Samuel. 2017
Anti-globalization activists have done little to slow capitalism’s global march. Many of the gains made by decades of identity-based movements…
have been limited to privileged subgroups. The lesson of these movements is clear: struggle for change is essential, but the direction of change matters considerably. Like movements of the past, current social movements such as Black Lives Matter, Idle No More, and the growing anti-Trump movement, must navigate a path between reformism and radicalism, pragmatism and idealism, capture and independence. In Conform, Fail, Repeat, Christopher Samuel uses Pierre Bourdieu’s central “thinking tools” to show how power and domination force movements into a no-win choice between conformity and failure. With special attention to North American LGBTQ politics and the G20 protests in Toronto, Conform, Fail, Repeat shows how Bourdieu’s work can give movement observers as well as participants new tools for tracking and avoiding the pitfalls of conformity and failure.The Ursula Franklin Reader: Pacifism as a Map
By Ursula Franklin. 2006
Feminist, educator, Quaker, and physicist, Ursula Franklin has long been considered one of Canada’s foremost advocates and practitioners of pacifism.…
The Ursula Franklin Reader: Pacifism as a Map is a comprehensive collection of her work, and demonstrates subtle, yet critical, linkages across a range of subjects: the pursuit of peace and social justice, theology, feminism, environmental protection, education, government, and citizen activism. This thoughtful collection, drawn from more than four decades of research and teaching, brings readers into an intimate discussion with Franklin, and makes a passionate case for how to build a society centered around peace.