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The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements
By Jonah S Rubin. 2017
Eric Hoffer’s The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements is one of the most widely read works…
of social psychology written in the 20th-century. It exemplifies the powers of creative thinking and critical analysis at their best, providing an insight into two crucial elements of critical thinking. Hoffer is likely to go down in history as one of America’s great creative thinkers – a writer not bound by standard frameworks of thinking or academic conventions, willing to beat his own path in framing the best possible answers to the questions he investigated. An impoverished, largely unschooled manual laborer who had survived the worst effects of the Great Depression in the United States, Hoffer was a passionate autodidact whose philosophical and psychological education came from omnivorous reading. Working without the help of any mentors, he forged the fearsomely creative and individual approach to problems demonstrated in The True Believer. The book, which earned him his reputation, examines the different phenomena of fanaticism – religious or political – and applies Hoffer’s analytical skills to reveal that, deep down, all ‘true believers’ display the same needs and tendencies, whatever their final choice of belief. Incisive and persuasive, it remains a classic.Utilitarianism
By Tom Patrick, Sander Werkhoven. 2017
John Stuart Mill’s 1861 Utilitarianism remains one of the most widely known and influential works of moral philosophy ever written.…
It is also a model of critical thinking – one in which Mill’s reasoning and interpretation skills are used to create a well-structured, watertight, persuasive argument for his position on core questions in ethics. The central question, for Mill, was to decide upon a valid definition of right and wrong, and reason out his moral theory from there. Laying down valid, defensible definitions is a crucial aspect of good interpretative thinking, and Mill gets his in as early as possible. Actions are good, he suggests, if they increase happiness, and bad if they reduce happiness. But, vitally, it is not our own happiness that matters, but the total happiness of all those affected by a given action. From this interpretation of moral good, Mill is able to systematically reason out a coherent framework for calculating and judging overall happiness, while considering different kinds and qualities of happiness.Like any good example of reasoning, Mill’s argument consistently takes account of possible objections, building them into the structure of the book in order to acknowledge and counter them as he goes.The Prince
By Ben Worthy, Riley Quinn. 2017
How should rulers rule? What is the nature of power? These questions had already been asked when Niccolò Machiavelli wrote…
The Prince in 1513. But what made his thinking on the topic different was his ability to interpret evidence: to look at old issues and find new meaning within them. Many of Machiavelli’s contemporaries thought that God would make sure morality was rewarded. To these people, it was inevitable that ethical individuals would enjoy success in this world and attain paradise in the next. Machiavelli was not so sure. He used the evidence of history to prove that people who can lie, cheat and murder tend to succeed. Machiavelli concluded that three main factors affect a political leader’s success or failure. In doing so, he reached an entirely new understanding of the meaning of his evidence. Machiavelli argued that behaving in a moral way actually hinders a ruler. If everyone acted morally, he reasoned, then morals would not be a disadvantage. But in a world in which leaders are willing to be ruthless, a moral leader would make both themselves and their state vulnerable. Machiavelli’s novel interpretation posits that morals can make a leader hesitate, and this could cost them – and the citizens they are responsible for – everything.Gleaned from more than fifty years of SGI President Ikeda’s works, The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace provides a…
window into the SGI president’s thought and philosophy. His works are a boundless source of inspiration. They embody a universal message of hope and courage for a world increasingly beset with sorrow and suffering. Contents include: What is true happiness?; The Principles for Transforming Our Lives; The Practice for Transforming Our Lives; Transforming Suffering Into Joy; Happiness for Both Ourselves and Others; Facing the All-Important Questions of Life and Death.Retreat and Its Consequences
By Robert J., Lieber. 2016
What are the consequences of retreat and retrenchment in foreign policy? In recent years, America has pulled back from its…
long-time role of international leadership. In doing so the Obama administration has sought to conciliate adversaries, shown indifference to allies; called upon the international community to step in; proclaimed and then disavowed 'red lines'; and preferred to lead from behind in the face of catastrophic civil war in Syria, ISIS barbarism in the Middle East and North Africa, Russia's predatory behavior in Eastern Europe, and China's muscle-flexing in East Asia. The consequences of this 'realist' experiment have been costly and painful, and it has caused the US to lose credibility with friends and foes. America retains the capacity to lead, but unless it resumes a more robust role, the world is likely to become a more dangerous place, with mounting threats not only to regional stability and international order, but to the national interests of America itself.Governmental Forms and Economic Development
By Maria Brouwer. 2016
This book investigates the performance of economic development under different forms of government, ranging from autocratic states to liberal democracies.…
Starting with a critical review of the literature on social and economic development, including the works of Frank Knight, Max Weber, Joseph Schumpeter and Peter Drucker, it offers a historical analysis of the expansion of markets, cities and trade in medieval Europe, and the monopolization of trade by the emerging European nation states. The book also presents a case study on the rise and decline of the Dutch Republic, discusses topics such as the disadvantages of the central direction of economic organizations, and federal decentralization as a model for promoting growth and investment, and illustrates how successful companies like Semco and Google are building on centuries-old management principles.The New Human Revolution, Volume 1, Revised Edition
By Daisaku Ikeda. 2017
Through this novelized history of the Soka Gakkai-one of the most dynamic, diverse, and empowering Buddhist movements in the world…
today-readers will discover the organization’s goals and achievements even as they find inspiring and practical Buddhist wisdom for living happily and compassionately in today’s world. The book recounts the stories of ordinary individuals who faced tremendous odds in transforming their lives through the practice of Nichiren Buddhism and in bringing Buddhism’s humanistic teachings to the world. This 1st volume looks at events that occurred in 1960 when Soka Gakkai was first brought to North and South America from Japan. This inspiring narrative provides readers with the principles with which they can positively transform their own lives for the better and realize enduring happiness for themselves and others.The End of History and the Last Man
By Jason Xidias, Ian Jackson. 2017
Francis Fukuyama’s controversial 1992 book The End of History and the Last Man demonstrates an important aspect of creative thinking:…
the ability to generate hypotheses and create novel explanations for evidence. In the case of Fukuyama’s work, the central hypothesis and explanation he put forward were not, in fact, new, but they were novel in the academic and historical context of the time. Fukuyama’s central argument was that the end of the Cold War was a symptom of, and a vital waypoint in, a teleological progression of history. Interpreting history as “teleological” is to say that it is headed towards a final state, or end point: a state in which matters will reach an equilibrium in which things are as good as they can get. For Fukuyama, this would mean the end of “mankind’s ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government”. This grand theory, which sought to explain the end of the Cold War through a single overarching hypothesis, made the novel step of resurrecting the German philosopher G.W.F. Hegel’s theory of history – which had long been ignored by practical historians and political philosophers – and applying it to current events.Selbstbestimmung oder Geschlechtergerechtigkeit
By Karin B. Schnebel. 2015
Selbstbestimmung und Gerechtigkeit sind zwar allgemeine Wertvorstellungen, die jedoch in Konflikt zueinander geraten können. Auch das Ziel einer geschlechtergerechten Gesellschaft…
berührt dieses Spannungsfeld, da die Strategie gescheitert ist, Geschlechtergerechtigkeit über eine Ausblendung geschlechtlicher Unterschiede zu erreichen. Zwar ist es gelungen, Frauen stärker in der öffentlichen Sphäre zu verankern, doch kann ihre zivilisationsgeschichtlich starke Einbindung in das Private nicht übergangen werden. Die andere denkbare Möglichkeit Geschlechtergerechtigkeit herzustellen, ist die Anerkennung und Aufwertung der privaten, weiblich dominierten Sphäre. Hier wird gezeigt, dass eine Aufwertung des Privaten nur über eine stärkere Einmischung des Öffentlichen, also der Politik, in das Private geschehen kann, was zu einem Verlust von Autonomie führt. Es wird herausgearbeitet, dass die derzeitige Politik dabei ist, Frauen wieder stärker zu diskriminieren. Damit stellt sich die Frage: Wie kann ein liberaler Staat Geschlechtergerechtigkeit erreichen, ohne Werte wie Freiheit, Autonomie oder Selbstbestimmung zu gefährden?Not for the Faint of Heart: Lessons in Courage, Power, and Persistence
By Wendy R. Sherman. 2018
Distinguished diplomat Ambassador Wendy Sherman brings readers inside the negotiating room to show how to put diplomatic values like courage,…
power, and persistence to work in their own lives. Few people have sat across from the Iranians and the North Koreans at the negotiating table. Wendy Sherman has done both. During her time as the lead US negotiator of the historic Iran nuclear deal and throughout her distinguished career, Wendy Sherman has amassed tremendous expertise in the most pressing foreign policy issues of our time. Throughout her life-from growing up in civil-rights-era Baltimore, to stints as a social worker, campaign manager, and business owner, to advising multiple presidents-she has relied on values that have shaped her approach to work and leadership: authenticity, effective use of power and persistence, acceptance of change, and commitment to the team. Not for the Faint of Heart takes readers inside the world of international diplomacy and into the mind of one of our most effective negotiators-often the only woman in the room. She shows why good work in her field is so hard to do, and how we can learn to apply core skills of diplomacy to the challenges in our own lives.Politics as a Vocation
By Jason Xidias, William Brett, Tom McClean. 2017
German sociologist Max Weber’s 1919 lecture Politics as a Vocation is widely regarded as a masterpiece of political theory and…
sociology. Its central strength lies in Weber’s deployment of masterful interpretative skills to power his discussion of modern politics. Interpretation involves understanding both the meaning of evidence and the meaning of terms – questioning definitions, clarifying terms and processes, and supplying good, clear definitions of the author’s own. As a sociologist accustomed to working with historical evidence, Weber based his own work on precisely these skills, solidly backed up by analytical acuity. Politics as a Vocation, written in a Germany shocked by its crippling defeat in World War I, saw Weber turn his eye to an examination of how the modern nation state emerged, and the different ways in which it can be run – interpreting and defining the different types of rule that are possible. It is testament to Weber’s interpretative skills that Politics is famous above all in sociological circles for its clear definition of a state as an institution that claims “the monopoly of legitimate physical violence” in a given territory.Politics Among Nations
By Ramon Pacheco Pardo. 2017
Hans Morgenthau’s Politics Among Nations is a classic of political science, built on the firm foundation of Morgenthau’s watertight reasoning…
skills. The central aim of reasoning is to construct a logical and persuasive argument that carefully organizes and supports its conclusions – often around a central concept or scheme of argumentation. Morgenthau’s subject was international relations – the way in which the world’s nations interact, and come into conflict or peace – a topic which was of vital importance during the unstable wake of the Second World War. To the complex problem of understanding the ways in which the post-war nations were jostling for power, Morgenthau brought a comprehensive schema: the concept of “realism” – or, in other words, the idea that every nation will act so as to maximise its own interests. From this basis, Morgenthau builds a systematic argument for a pragmatic approach to international relations in which nations seeking consensus should aim for a balance of power, grounding relations between states in understandings of how the interests of individual nations can be maximized. Though seismic shifts in international politics after the Cold War undeniably altered the landscape of international relations, Morgenthau’s dispassionate reasoning about the nature of our world remains influential to this day.Politics
By Riley Quinn, Katherine Berrisford. 2017
Aristotle remains one of the most celebrated thinkers of all time in large part thanks to his incisive critical thinking…
skills. In Politics, which can be considered one of the foundational books of the western political tradition, the focus is on problem-solving, and particularly on the generation and evaluation of alternative possibilities Aristotle’s aim, in Politics, is to determine how best to organize a society. He looks in turn at several different type of organization – kingship, oligarchy and the polity, or rule in the hands of many – and evaluates the arguments for each in turn. But he takes the exercise further than his predecessors had done. Having concluded that rule by the aristocracy would be preferable, since it would mean rule by citizens capable of taking decisions on behalf of the society as a whole, Aristotle subjects his solution to a further checking process, asking productive questions in order to make a sound decision between alternatives. Politics was ground-breaking in its approach. Unlike previous thinkers, Aristotle based all his ideas on a practical assessment of how they would play out in the real world. Ultimately, Aristotle argues, the problem of self-interest means that the adoption of a mixed constitution – one based on carefully considered laws which aims at a balance of power between the people and the elite – is most likely to bring eudaemonia (happiness). It’s a conclusion firmly based on careful evaluation (not least the process of judging the adequacy of arguments) and the product of outstanding problem-solving skills.Democracy in America
By Elizabeth Morrow. 2017
Alexis de Tocqueville’s 1838 Democracy in America is a classic of political theory – and of the problem-solving skills central…
to putting forward political ideas. Problem-solving has several aspects: identifying problems, finding methodologies to deal with them, and applying the right criteria to work out how to solve them. Indeed, offering solutions is only the last stage in a developed process of problem solving. For Tocqueville, the problem at hand was how best to run a democratic state. In the early 19th century, it seemed clear that Europe was headed in the direction of democracy, but in the wake of the French Revolution, it was unclear how to avoid the many pitfalls on that road. Tocqueville therefore turned to America, then point the most established democracy in the world, to investigate the institutions that allowed it to run as a successful state – allowing people their say while preventing both the possible “tyranny of the majority” and the uncontrolled growth of government. Tocqueville’s careful analysis of the strengths of American democracy was then applied to the problems of instituting democracy in France, providing a range of solutions that proved deeply influential in European political thought.China Rising: Peace, Power and Order in East Asia
By Matteo Dian, Jason Xidias. 2017
David C. Kang’s China Rising is a fine example of an author making use of creative thinking skills to reach…
a conclusion that flies in the face of traditional thinking. The conventional view that the book opposed, known in international relations as ‘realism,’ was that the rise of any new global power results in global or regional instability. As such, China’s development as a world economic powerhouse worried mainstream western geopolitical scholars, whose concerns were based on the realist assumption that individual countries will inevitably compete for dominance. Evaluating these arguments, and finding both their relevance and adequacy wanting, Kang instead turned traditional thinking on its head by looking at Asian history without preconceptions, and with analytical open-mindedness. Producing several novel explanations for existing evidence, Kang concludes that China’s neighbors do not want to compete with it in the way that realist interpretations predict. Rather than creating instability by jockeying for position, he argues, surrounding countries are happy for China to be acknowledged as a leader, believing that its dominant position will stabilize Asia, and give the whole region more of a hand in international relations. ¶Though critics have taken issue with Kang’s conclusions, his paradigm-shifting approach is nevertheless an excellent example of developing fresh new conclusions through creative thinking.Capital
By Macat Team. 2017
Marx’s Capital is without question one of the most influential books to be published in the course of the past…
two centuries. Controversial in its politics, and arriving at conclusions that are passionately debated to this day, it is nonetheless a fine example of the creative combination of a philosophical method (the dialectic) with historical and economic information to produce a new interpretation of history. Marx's belief that he had arrived at a scientific way of describing the present and predicting the future may not be shared by many of his modern interpreters. But his ability to connect things together in new ways is not in doubt – and nor is the influence of the new hypotheses that he generated as a result of so much careful analysis.Civil Disobedience
By Jason Xidias, Mano Toth. 2017
In Civil Disobedience, Henry David Thoreau looks at old issues in new ways, asking: is there ever a time when…
individuals should actively oppose their government and its justice system? After a thorough review of the evidence, Thoreau comes to the conclusion that opposition is legitimate whenever government actions or institutions are unacceptable to an individual’s conscience. What is particularly interesting is that Thoreau’s creative mind took him deeper into the argument, as he concluded that this legitimate opposition really wasn’t enough. In Thoreau’s opinion, anyone who believed something to be wrong had a duty to resist it actively. These ideas were completely at odds with the prevailing opinions of the day – that it was the duty of every citizen to support the state. Thoreau connected ideas and notions in a novel manner and went against the tide, generating new hypotheses so that people could see matters in a new light. It is a mark of the success of his creative thinking that his views are now considered mainstream, and that his arguments are still deployed in defence of the principle of civil disobedience.Bowling Alone
By Elizabeth Morrow, Lindsay Scorgie-Porter. 2017
American political scientist Robert Putnam wasn’t the first person to recognize that social capital – the relationships between people that…
allow communities to function well – is the grease that oils the wheels of society. But by publishing Bowling Alone, he moved the debate from one primarily concerned with family and individual relationships one that studied the social capital generated by people’s engagement with the civic life. Putnam drew heavily on the critical thinking skill of interpretation in shaping his work. He took fresh looks at the meaning of evidence that other scholars had made too many assumptions about, and was scrupulous in clarifying what his evidence was really saying. He found that strong social capital has the power to boost health, lower unemployment, and improve life in major ways. As such, any decrease in civic engagement could create serious consequences for society. Putnam’s interpretation of these issues led him to the understanding that if America is to thrive, its citizens must connect.The Story of the Nineteenth Amendment (Cornerstones of Freedom)
By R. Conrad Stein. 1982
A history of the movement to grant women the right to vote in the United States, which culminated in the…
nineteenth amendment to the Constitution in 1920 that permitted them to do so.A Disquisition on Government
By Etienne Stockland, Jason Xidias. 2017
Nineteenth-century American politician John C. Calhoun occupies a paradoxical place in the history of political thought – and of critical…
thinking. On one hand, he is remembered as a committed advocate of slavery, consistently espousing views that are now considered indefensible and abhorrent. On the other, the political theories that Calhoun used to defend the social injustice of slavery have become the basis of the very systems by which modern democracies defend minority rights. Despite being crafted in defence of a system as unjust as slavery, the arguments that Calhoun expressed about minority rights in democracies in A Disquisition On Government remain an excellent example of how problem solving skills and reasoning can come together. The problem, for Calhoun, was both specific and general. As matters stood in the late 1840s, the majority of American states were anti-slavery, with only the minority, Southern states remaining pro-slavery. This boiled down to a crucial issue with democracy: the US government should not, Calhoun argued, only respect the wishes of the majority. Instead, democratic government must aim to harmonize diverse groups and their interests – governing, in so far as possible, for everyone. His analysis of how the Southern states could protect what he saw as their right to keep slaves led Calhoun to formulate solutions to the problem of ‘the tyranny of the majority’ that have since helped defend far worthier minority views.