Beyond the Moral Matrix

Beyond the Moral Matrix

Author: Angelo Santini

Publisher: Archway Publishing

Published: 2015-02-04

Total Pages: 90

ISBN-13: 1480813850

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Despite our many abilities, human beings have yet to harness absolute answers to the mysteries of our very existence. Over the centuries, many great thinkers have tried to make sense of it all, through the use of science, philosophy, and religion, but the big answers remain elusive. All human knowledge, at its core, is a fiction. A personal guide to freedom and spiritual awakening, Beyond the Moral Matrix explores philosophy of the mind, philosophy of science, and the philosophy of morality through an in-depth analysis of the structure of self and self-consciousness. It exposes the inadequacy of traditional organized religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The masses have been subjugated and exploited by religious morality that inflicts the social values of the elite classes upon followers, which has resulted in the present geopolitical and economic conflicts in the world. Extremism is to be blamed on the use of thought control by the clergy and its emissaries; this type of control is based on a false image of God and His will. We have taken all that we claim is good, put it up on a pedestal, and called it Godthe cause of much suffering in our past and present world. Heaven and hell are not real places; they were invented by the clergy to control the masses through fear. We are a universal brotherhood who are part of and belong absolutely to God; past, present, and future, all is God and God is all.


The Righteous Mind

The Righteous Mind

Author: Jonathan Haidt

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2013-02-12

Total Pages: 530

ISBN-13: 0307455777

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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The acclaimed social psychologist challenges conventional thinking about morality, politics, and religion in a way that speaks to conservatives and liberals alike—a “landmark contribution to humanity’s understanding of itself” (The New York Times Book Review). Drawing on his twenty-five years of groundbreaking research on moral psychology, Jonathan Haidt shows how moral judgments arise not from reason but from gut feelings. He shows why liberals, conservatives, and libertarians have such different intuitions about right and wrong, and he shows why each side is actually right about many of its central concerns. In this subtle yet accessible book, Haidt gives you the key to understanding the miracle of human cooperation, as well as the curse of our eternal divisions and conflicts. If you’re ready to trade in anger for understanding, read The Righteous Mind.


The Coddling of the American Mind

The Coddling of the American Mind

Author: Greg Lukianoff

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2018-09-04

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 0735224900

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Something is going wrong on many college campuses in the last few years. Rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide are rising. Speakers are shouted down. Students and professors say they are walking on eggshells and afraid to speak honestly. How did this happen? First Amendment expert Greg Lukianoff and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt show how the new problems on campus have their origins in three terrible ideas that have become increasingly woven into American childhood and education: what doesn’t kill you makes you weaker; always trust your feelings; and life is a battle between good people and evil people. These three Great Untruths are incompatible with basic psychological principles, as well as ancient wisdom from many cultures. They interfere with healthy development. Anyone who embraces these untruths—and the resulting culture of safetyism—is less likely to become an autonomous adult able to navigate the bumpy road of life. Lukianoff and Haidt investigate the many social trends that have intersected to produce these untruths. They situate the conflicts on campus in the context of America’s rapidly rising political polarization, including a rise in hate crimes and off-campus provocation. They explore changes in childhood including the rise of fearful parenting, the decline of unsupervised play, and the new world of social media that has engulfed teenagers in the last decade. This is a book for anyone who is confused by what is happening on college campuses today, or has children, or is concerned about the growing inability of Americans to live, work, and cooperate across party lines.


Can't We All Disagree More Constructively?

Can't We All Disagree More Constructively?

Author: Jonathan Haidt

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2016-10-04

Total Pages: 63

ISBN-13: 0525433783

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As America descends deeper into polarization and paralysis, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt has done the seemingly impossible—he has explained the origins of morality, politics, and religion in a way that speaks to everyone on the political spectrum. Drawing on twenty-five years of groundbreaking research, Haidt shows why liberals, conservatives, and libertarians have such different intuitions about right and wrong, and why we need the insights of each if we are to flourish as a nation. Here is the key to understanding the miracle of human cooperation and the eternal curse of moralistic aggression, across the political divide and around the world. A Vintage Shorts Selection. An ebook short.


Moral Imagination

Moral Imagination

Author: Mark Johnson

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2014-12-10

Total Pages: 302

ISBN-13: 022622323X

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Using path-breaking discoveries of cognitive science, Mark Johnson argues that humans are fundamentally imaginative moral animals, challenging the view that morality is simply a system of universal laws dictated by reason. According to the Western moral tradition, we make ethical decisions by applying universal laws to concrete situations. But Johnson shows how research in cognitive science undermines this view and reveals that imagination has an essential role in ethical deliberation. Expanding his innovative studies of human reason in Metaphors We Live By and The Body in the Mind, Johnson provides the tools for more practical, realistic, and constructive moral reflection.


Philosophers Explore The Matrix

Philosophers Explore The Matrix

Author: Christopher Grau

Publisher:

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 366

ISBN-13: 9780195181067

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The Matrix trilogy is unique among recent popular films in that it is constructed around important philosophical questions--classic questions which have fascinated philosophers and other thinkers for thousands of years. Editor Christopher Grau here presents a collection of new, intriguing essays about some of the powerful and ancient questions broached by The Matrix and its sequels, written by some of the most prominent and reputable philosophers working today. They provide intelligent, accessible, and thought-provoking examinations of the philosophical issues that support the films. Philosophers Explore The Matrix includes an introduction that surveys the use of philosophical ideas in the film. Topics that the contributors tackle include: how a collaborative dream could differ from hallucination, the difference between the Matrix and the "real" world; why living in the Matrix would be considered "bad"; the similarities between the Matrix and Plato's Cave; the moral status of artificially created beings, whether one can behave immorally in illusory circumstances, and the true nature of free will and responsibility. This volume also includes an appendix of classic philosophical writing on these issues by Plato, Berkeley, Descartes, Putnam, and Nozick. Philosophers Explore The Matrix will fascinate any fan of the films who wants to delve deeper into their themes, as well as any student of philosophy who desires an accessible entry into this challenging and profoundly vital world of ideas.


Celebrity

Celebrity

Author: Milly Williamson

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2016-10-18

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13: 1509511431

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It is a truism to suggest that celebrity pervades all areas of life today. The growth and expansion of celebrity culture in recent years has been accompanied by an explosion of studies of the social function of celebrity and investigations into the fascination of specific celebrities. And yet fundamental questions about what the system of celebrity means for our society have yet to be resolved: Is celebrity a democratization of fame or a powerful hierarchy built on exclusion? Is celebrity created through public demand or is it manufactured? Is the growth of celebrity a harmful dumbing down of culture or an expansion of the public sphere? Why has celebrity come to have such prominence in today’s expanding media? Milly Williamson unpacks these questions for students and researchers alike, re-examining some of the accepted explanations for celebrity culture. The book questions assumptions about the inevitability of the growth of celebrity culture, instead explaining how environments were created in which celebrity output flourished. It provides a compelling new history of the development of celebrity (both long-term and recent) which highlights the relationship between the economic function of celebrity in various media and entertainment industries and its changing social meanings and patterns of consumption.


Lack of Character

Lack of Character

Author: John M. Doris

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2002-08-15

Total Pages: 298

ISBN-13: 9780521631167

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This is a provocative contribution to contemporary ethical theory challenging foundational conceptions of character.


Moral Courage

Moral Courage

Author: Rushworth M. Kidder

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 2009-03-17

Total Pages: 361

ISBN-13: 0061749788

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Why did a group of teenagers watch a friend die instead of putting their own reputations at risk? Why did a top White House official decide to come clean and accept a prison sentence during Watergate? Why did a finance executive turn down millions out of respect for her employer? Why are some willing to risk their futures to uphold principles? What gives us the strength to stand up for what we believe? As these questions suggest, the topic of moral courage is front and center in today's culture. Enron, Arthur Andersen, the U.S. Olympic Committee, abusive priests, cheating students, domestic violence -- all these remind us that taking ethical stands should be a higher priority in our culture. Why, when people discern wrongdoing, are they sometimes unready, unable, or unwilling to act? In a book rich with examples, Rushworth Kidder reveals that moral courage is the bridge between talking ethics and doing ethics. Defining it as a readiness to endure danger for the sake of principle, he explains that the courage to act is found at the intersection of three elements: action based on core values, awareness of the risks, and a willingness to endure necessary hardship. By exploring how moral courage spurs us to strive for core values, he demonstrates the benefits of ethical action to the individual and to society -- and the severe consequences that can result from remaining morally dormant. Moral Courage puts indispensable concepts and tools into our hands, equipping us to respond to the increasingly complicated moral challenges we face at work, at home, and in our communities. It enables us to make clear, confident decisions by exploring some litmus-test questions: Is the benefit worth the risk? Am I motivated by my desire to uphold my beliefs or just to impose them on others? Will my actions create collateral damage among those with no stake in the outcome? While physical courage may no longer be a necessary survival skill or an essential rite of passage out of childhood, few would dispute the growing need for moral courage as the true gauge of maturity. Treating this subject not as an esoteric branch of philosophy but as a practical necessity for modern life, Kidder deftly leads us to a clear understanding of what moral courage is, what it does, and how to get it.


Rulers, Religion, and Riches

Rulers, Religion, and Riches

Author: Jared Rubin

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2017-02-16

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 110703681X

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This book seeks to explain the political and religious factors leading to the economic reversal of fortunes between Europe and the Middle East.