Reshaping Philosophy: Michael Boylan’s Narrative Fiction

Reshaping Philosophy: Michael Boylan’s Narrative Fiction
Author: Wanda Teays
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 270
Release: 2022-05-25
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 3030992659

This volume offers original essays exploring what ‘fictive narrative philosophy’ might mean in the research and teaching of philosophy. The first part of the book presents theoretical essays that examine Boylan’s recent books: Teaching Ethics with Three Philosophical Novels and Fictive Narrative Philosophy: How Literature can Act as Philosophy. The second and third part offer essays on how Boylan executes his theory in the practice within his novels from his two series De Anima and Archē. The book clearly shows the unique aspects of the fictive narrative philosophy approach. First, it makes story-telling accessible to wide audiences. Second, story-telling techniques invoke devices that can set out complicated existential problems to the reader that offer an additional approach to thorny problems through the presentation of lived experience. Third, the discussion of these devices is a way to explore philosophical problems in a way that many can profit from. The book concludes with an essay in which Boylan responds to the critical challenges set out in Part One and the practical criticism set out in Parts Two and Three. Boylan addresses the key claims made by his objectors and defends his position. He engages with the authors in the way his theory is matched against his actual novels. This is useful reading for both philosophers and professors of literature teaching introductory as well as upper-level courses in the fields of philosophy, literature and criticism.

The Ethical University

The Ethical University
Author: Wanda Teays
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 299
Release: 2022-09-01
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1538154404

Universities and colleges across the United States have become hotbeds of administrative, academic, financial, and sexual scandals. Each new case erodes the societal recognition of the value of higher education systems. It is clear that in order for these institutions to reclaim their respected status requires an examination and rebuilding of the ethical foundations of higher education. This book gathers faculty and administrators from highly respected schools to examine the current situation and mark directions for change. Chapters address such topics as privacy, shared governance, grievance procedures, accountability, adjunct instructors, student athletes, campus policing, pedagogy and rubric review, libraries and access to information, aging faculty, international students, secrecy and public relations, and the corporatization of universities. Reviewing the challenges and opportunities that face higher education, this book argues that what holds institutions together over time are the values, principles, and traditions that contribute to moral character and lay a foundation for institutional integrity. Contributors: Michael Boylan, Cher Weixia Chen, Zenon Culverhouse, Darin Dockstader, Cora Drozd, Robert Labaree, Jonathan Liljeblad, Matthew Mahrt, Rita Manning, Glen Miller, Melissa L. Miller, Charles P. Milne Jr., Laura Nader, Alison Dundes Renteln, Paul Renteln, Steve Sanders, Wanda Teays, Rosemarie Tong

The Long Fall of the Ball from the Wall

The Long Fall of the Ball from the Wall
Author: Michael Boylan
Publisher: R. R. Bowker
Total Pages: 286
Release: 2020-01-02
Genre:
ISBN: 9780578556956

This is the fourth volume of the Archē series which explores various structures in which a novel might present itself. This novel examines a hypothetical 2nd gunman behind the grassy knoll who shot at John Kennedy in Dallas in 1963, It details how his personal struggles mirror the larger themes of individual liberty and perceived government/social oppression. The novel is told via the presentation mode of discontinuous narrative. The overarching philosophical position concerns the dialectical interactions between the role of a given individual and the society at large. How do these interactions affect free will and determinism? How strong are environmental factors in shaping us?

Public Health Policy and Ethics

Public Health Policy and Ethics
Author: Michael Boylan
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2006-05-17
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1402022077

Public Health Policy and Ethics brings together philosophers and practitioners to address the foundations and principles upon which public health policy may be advanced. What is the basis that justifies public health in the first place? Why should individuals be disadvantaged for the sake of the group? How do policy concerns and clinical practice work together and work against each other? Can the boundaries of public health be extended to include social ills that are amenable to group-dynamic solutions? These are some of the crucial questions that form the core of this volume of original essays sure to cause practitioners to engage in a critical re-evaluation of the role of ethics in public health policy. This volume is unique because of its philosophical approach. It develops a theoretical basis for public health and then examines cutting-edge issues of practice that include social and political issues of public health. In this way the book extends the usual purview of public health. Public Health Policy and Ethics is of interest to those working in public health policy, ethics and social philosophy. It may be used as a textbook for courses on public health policy and ethics, medical ethics, social philosophy and applied or public philosophy.

Good Boy

Good Boy
Author: Jennifer Finney Boylan
Publisher: Celadon Books
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2020-04-21
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1250261864

From bestselling author of She’s Not There, New York Times opinion columnist, and human rights activist Jennifer Finney Boylan, Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs, a memoir of the transformative power of loving dogs. This is a book about dogs: the love we have for them, and the way that love helps us understand the people we have been. It’s in the love of dogs, and my love for them, that I can best now take the measure of the child I once was, and the bottomless, unfathomable desires that once haunted me. There are times when it is hard for me to fully remember that love, which was once so fragile, and so fierce. Sometimes it seems to fade before me, like breath on a mirror. But I remember the dogs. In her New York Times opinion column, Jennifer Finney Boylan wrote about her relationship with her beloved dog Indigo, and her wise, funny, heartbreaking piece went viral. In Good Boy, Boylan explores what should be the simplest topic in the world, but never is: finding and giving love. Good Boy is a universal account of a remarkable story: showing how a young boy became a middle-aged woman—accompanied at seven crucial moments of growth and transformation by seven memorable dogs. “Everything I know about love,” she writes, “I learned from dogs.” Their love enables us to pull off what seem like impossible feats: to find our way home when we are lost, to live our lives with humor and courage, and above all, to best become our true selves.

Monoculture

Monoculture
Author: F. S. Michaels
Publisher: Red Clover Press
Total Pages: 204
Release: 2011-04-25
Genre: History
ISBN: 098685381X

Winner of the George Orwell Award. One of The Atlantic's best books of the year. As human beings, we've always told stories: stories about who we are, where we come from, and where we're going. Now imagine that one of those stories is taking over the others, narrowing our diversity and creating a monoculture. Because of the rise of the economic story, six areas of your world - your work, your relationships with others and the environment, your community, your physical and spiritual health, your education, and your creativity - are changing, or have already changed, in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. And because how you think shapes how you act, the monoculture isn't just changing your mind - it's changing your life. In Monoculture, F.S. Michaels draws on extensive research and makes surprising connections among disciplines to take a big-picture look at how one story is changing everything. Her research and writing have been supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Killam Trusts, and regional and municipal arts councils. Michaels has an MBA, and completed five years of PhD studies in Organizational Analysis. She lives in British Columbia, Canada. "A single lucid narrative that's bound to first make you somewhat uncomfortable and insecure, then give you the kind of pause from which you can step back and move forward with more autonomy, authenticity and mindfulness than ever." - The Atlantic "A thin, enrapturing gem. It's accessible, sensible--exactly the sort of book that should have (and still could + should!) take off and create a tiny little dent in books." - Kenyon Review "A smart and realistic guide to first recognizing the monoculture and the challenges of transcending its limitations." - Maria Popova, BrainPickings.org "I found myself reading non-stop, underlining like crazy...an astute explanation about what I've been feeling recently, something I couldn't put my finger on...[Michaels] writes in clear, energetic prose that's thoughtful, engaging and unforced. She defines and analyzes without judgment or insistence...a breath of fresh air." - NPR "...a singularly brilliant and accessible analysis of some of the fundamental assumptions and driving principles of our time." - Comment Magazine "5 stars: The cause and effect of our world is more surprising than you'd think. With intriguing notions about the driving ideas of stories in every shape of our life, "Monoculture" is an incredibly fascinating way about how the mind works and today's consumer culture." - Midwest Book Review "If you just read one book this year, read this one." - BuriedInPrint.com

At the Edge of Uncertainty

At the Edge of Uncertainty
Author: Michael Brooks
Publisher: Abrams
Total Pages: 219
Release: 2015-02-10
Genre: Science
ISBN: 146831159X

“Engaging . . . touches on advanced computing, essential differences between men and women, the power of the will to live, mysteries of the cosmos and more.” —The Washington Post The atom. The Big Bang. DNA. Natural selection. All are ideas that revolutionized science—and all were dismissed out of hand when they first ap­peared. The surprises haven’t stopped in recent years, and in At the Edge of Uncertainty, bestselling author Michael Brooks investigates the new wave of radical insights that are shaping the future of scientific discovery. Brooks takes us to the extreme frontiers of what we understand about the world. He journeys from the observations that might rewrite our story of how the cosmos came to be, through the novel biology behind our will to live, and on to the physi­ological root of consciousness. Along the way, he examines the gender im­balance in clinical trials, explores how merging hu­mans with other species might provide a solution to the shortage of organ donors, and finds out whether the universe really is like a computer or if the flow of time is a mere illusion. “Absorbing . . . scintillating . . . the edgy edge of scientific investigation presented with verve.” —Kirkus Reviews “Mind-bending . . . Brooks handily works his way through these thorny problems, highlighting current research and researchers along the way.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Teaching Ethics with Three Philosophical Novels

Teaching Ethics with Three Philosophical Novels
Author: Michael Boylan
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 779
Release: 2019-09-04
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 3030248720

This book offers a unique method for teaching ethics and social/political philosophy by combining primary texts and resource material along with three philosophical novels so that students can apply the abstract principles to real-life situations. A sample syllabus and sample assignments are provided. This second edition contains an additional teacher's manual, guiding instructors in how to effectively put together a course in ethics using fiction. Students often turn-off when confronted with abstract ethical principles, alone. This book allows interaction with philosophical novels that provide real-life situations that mirrors applying normative principles to lived experience. Students will be drawn into this realism and their engagement with the material will be significantly enhanced. This is an innovative textbook for teachers and students of general philosophy, ethics, business ethics, social and political philosophy, as well as students of literature and philosophy.