Discourse on Method and Meditations

Discourse on Method and Meditations
Author: Rene Descartes
Publisher: Courier Corporation
Total Pages: 134
Release: 2003-01-01
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780486432526

Two works from the father of modern philosophy. In Discourse on Method, he formulated a scientific approach comprising four principles, including to accept only what reason recognizes as "clear and distinct." In Meditations, he explores the mind/body distinction, the nature of truth and error, the existence of God, and the essence of material things.

The Social Pathologies of Contemporary Civilization

The Social Pathologies of Contemporary Civilization
Author: Kieran Keohane
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 234
Release: 2016-03-03
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1317015630

The Social Pathologies of Contemporary Civilization explores the nature of contemporary malaises, diseases, illnesses and psychosomatic syndromes, examining the manner in which they are related to cultural pathologies of the social body. Multi-disciplinary in approach, the book is concerned with questions of how these conditions are not only manifest at the level of individual patients' bodies, but also how the social 'bodies politic' are related to the hegemony of reductive biomedical and individual-psychologistic perspectives. Rejecting a reductive, biomedical and individualistic diagnosis of contemporary problems of health and well-being, The Social Pathologies of Contemporary Civilization contends that many such problems are to be understood in the light of radical changes in social structures and institutions, extending to deep crises in our civilization as a whole. Rather than considering such conditions in isolation - both from one another and from broader contexts - this book argues that health and well-being are not just located at the level of the individual body, the integral human person, or even collective social bodies; rather, they encompass the health of humanity as a whole and our relationship with Nature. A ground-breaking analysis of social malaise and the health of civilization, this book will be of interest to scholars of sociology, social theory, social psychology, philosophy and anthropology.

Adapting Human Thinking and Moral Reasoning in Contemporary Society

Adapting Human Thinking and Moral Reasoning in Contemporary Society
Author: Yama, Hiroshi
Publisher: IGI Global
Total Pages: 330
Release: 2019-11-22
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1799818136

Studies on human thinking have focused on how humans solve a problem and have discussed how human thinking can be rational. A juxtaposition between psychology and sociology allows for a unique perspective of the influence on human thought and morality on society. Adapting Human Thinking and Moral Reasoning in Contemporary Society is an in-depth critical resource that provides comprehensive research on thinking and morality and its influence on societal norms as well as how people adapt themselves to the novel circumstances and phenomena that characterize the contemporary world, including low birthrate, the reduction of violence, and globalization. Furthermore, cultural differences are considered with research targeted towards problems specific to a culture. Featuring a wide range of topics such as logic education, cognition, and knowledge management systems, this book is ideal for academicians, sociologists, researchers, social scientists, psychologists, and students.

Coexisting Contemporary Civilizations

Coexisting Contemporary Civilizations
Author: Guy Ankerl
Publisher: INU PRESS
Total Pages: 536
Release: 2000
Genre: History
ISBN: 9782881550041

Some important questions are discussed in this book: Are there any civilisations other than the Western one living in our so-called Global-Age? 'Eastern civilisation'? Is the concept of East anything more than non-West? Or does there exist, in reality, a distinct Chinese, Indian, Arabo-Muslim, and Western civilisation? Is the construction of large civilisation-states such as China and India an unparalleled historical achievement? Do economic ties always eclipse other forms of affiliation such as those formed through kinship or between speech communities? What is the role of the 'Latin' and the Jewish Peoples in our Anglo-American-led Western world? Is English today the global language or merely an international one? Is the Chinese thought pattern closely related to its writing system? Is today's world one of (symmetrical) interdependence? Or rather one of hegemony? If the so-called North-South or East-West dialogue fails in constructing a universally accepted world civilisation, then what is the appropriate arrangement for reaching such a consensus within humankind?

Energy and Civilization

Energy and Civilization
Author: Vaclav Smil
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 564
Release: 2018-11-13
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0262536161

A comprehensive account of how energy has shaped society throughout history, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today's fossil fuel–driven civilization. "I wait for new Smil books the way some people wait for the next 'Star Wars' movie. In his latest book, Energy and Civilization: A History, he goes deep and broad to explain how innovations in humans' ability to turn energy into heat, light, and motion have been a driving force behind our cultural and economic progress over the past 10,000 years. —Bill Gates, Gates Notes, Best Books of the Year Energy is the only universal currency; it is necessary for getting anything done. The conversion of energy on Earth ranges from terra-forming forces of plate tectonics to cumulative erosive effects of raindrops. Life on Earth depends on the photosynthetic conversion of solar energy into plant biomass. Humans have come to rely on many more energy flows—ranging from fossil fuels to photovoltaic generation of electricity—for their civilized existence. In this monumental history, Vaclav Smil provides a comprehensive account of how energy has shaped society, from pre-agricultural foraging societies through today's fossil fuel–driven civilization. Humans are the only species that can systematically harness energies outside their bodies, using the power of their intellect and an enormous variety of artifacts—from the simplest tools to internal combustion engines and nuclear reactors. The epochal transition to fossil fuels affected everything: agriculture, industry, transportation, weapons, communication, economics, urbanization, quality of life, politics, and the environment. Smil describes humanity's energy eras in panoramic and interdisciplinary fashion, offering readers a magisterial overview. This book is an extensively updated and expanded version of Smil's Energy in World History (1994). Smil has incorporated an enormous amount of new material, reflecting the dramatic developments in energy studies over the last two decades and his own research over that time.

A Concise History of Western Civilization: From Prehistoric to Early Modern Times: Third Edition

A Concise History of Western Civilization: From Prehistoric to Early Modern Times: Third Edition
Author: Gary Forsythe
Publisher: Dorrance Publishing
Total Pages: 436
Release: 2020-08-03
Genre: History
ISBN: 1648040632

A Concise History of Western Civilization: From Prehistoric to Early Modern Times: Third Edition By: Gary Forsythe This volume is designed to serve as the textbook for an undergraduate college course that surveys the history of Western Civilization up to the Early Modern Period. It differs from most Western Civilization books in that it places more emphasis on the ancient world and less on the Middle Ages. It treats the ancient Near Eastern civilizations with a view to understanding the historical context of ancient Judaism and the Hebrew Bible, and it also stresses the political thought and institutions of the ancient Greeks and Romans, which have been so important in shaping the political institutions of many modern nations worldwide. The text is a straightforward textbook of basic historical information and represents the content of the author's class lectures in his course on Western Civilization.

In Pursuit of Civility

In Pursuit of Civility
Author: Keith Thomas
Publisher: Brandeis University Press
Total Pages: 378
Release: 2018-06-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 1512602825

Keith Thomas's earlier studies in the ethnography of early modern England, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Man and the Natural World, and The Ends of Life, were all attempts to explore beliefs, values, and social practices in the centuries from 1500 to 1800. In Pursuit of Civility continues this quest by examining what English people thought it meant to be "civilized" and how that condition differed from being "barbarous" or "savage." Thomas shows that the upper ranks of society sought to distinguish themselves from their social inferiors by distinctive ways of moving, speaking, and comporting themselves, and that the common people developed their own form of civility. The belief of the English in their superior civility shaped their relations with the Welsh, the Scots, and the Irish, and was fundamental to their dealings with the native peoples of North America, India, and Australia. Yet not everyone shared this belief in the superiority of Western civilization; the book sheds light on the origins of both anticolonialism and cultural relativism. Thomas has written an accessible history based on wide reading, abounding in fresh insights, and illustrated by many striking quotations and anecdotes from contemporary sources.