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Author: Steve Tomasula
Publisher: University of Alabama Press
Published: 2013
Total Pages: 320
ISBN-13: 1573661767
DOWNLOAD EBOOKA stunning new collection of stories by a master fictionist, Once Human shows the ways to go beyond standard maps of simple understanding
Author: Stanislaw Lem
Publisher: HMH
Published: 2012-07-18
Total Pages: 115
ISBN-13: 0544080041
DOWNLOAD EBOOKEssays by the author of Solaris: “Lem’s delightful sense of humor accentuates his essential seriousness about humanity’s possible fate” (Publishers Weekly). In One Human Minute, Stanislaw Lem takes a hard look at our world and technology—what it means now and what dire implications it could have for the future—in satirical, wise, and biting prose. With this collection of three essays, Lem targets some of the most pressing issues humanity faces, from our unsettling origins to the cybernetic future of our weaponry. “The Upside-Down Evolution” chronicles the Earth’s military evolution from nuclear stockpiles to deadly, robotic microweapons. “The World as Cataclysm” examines how humankind’s dominance on Earth is the result of the extermination of another species just as qualified to rule the world. And the title essay presents a disturbing and fascinating snapshot of every single thing happening on the planet in a sixty-second span. Effortlessly blurring the lines between fiction and nonfiction, scientific essay and fantastical short story, cynical reproach and wry humor, Lem’s One Human Minute combines the best elements of the renowned science fiction author and Kafka Prize winner’s writing into one irreverent and intellectually stimulating package.
Author: Ross Inman
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Published: 2024-10-08
Total Pages: 187
ISBN-13: 1514006812
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIn this introduction to metaphysics, Ross Inman introduces us to the tradition of metaphysics in Western philosophy, what it means to do metaphysics as a Christian, and considers timeless and universal inquiries into central topics of metaphysics: identity, necessity and possibility, properties, universals, substances, and parts and wholes.
Author: Pramod K. Nayar
Publisher: Polity
Published: 2014
Total Pages: 193
ISBN-13: 0745662412
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis timely book examines the rise of posthumanism as both a material condition and a developing philosophical-ethical project in the age of cloning, gene engineering, organ transplants and implants. Nayar first maps the political and philosophical critiques of traditional humanism, revealing its exclusionary and ‘speciesist’ politics that position the human as a distinctive and dominant life form. He then contextualizes the posthumanist vision which, drawing upon biomedical, engineering and techno-scientific studies, concludes that human consciousness is shaped by its co-evolution with other life forms, and our human form inescapably influenced by tools and technology. Finally the book explores posthumanism’s roots in disability studies, animal studies and bioethics to underscore the constructed nature of ‘normalcy’ in bodies, and the singularity of species and life itself. As this book powerfully demonstrates, posthumanism marks a radical reassessment of the human as constituted by symbiosis, assimilation, difference and dependence upon and with other species. Mapping the terrain of these far-reaching debates, Posthumanism will be an invaluable companion to students of cultural studies and modern and contemporary literature.
Author: Michael Horton
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Published: 2024-05-28
Total Pages: 438
ISBN-13: 1467467901
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe first volume of Michael Horton’s magisterial intellectual history of “spiritual but not religious” as a phenomenon in Western culture Discussions of the rapidly increasing number of people identifying as “spiritual but not religious” tend to focus on the past century. But the SBNR phenomenon and the values that underlie it may be older than Christianity itself. Michael Horton reveals that the hallmarks of modern spirituality—autonomy, individualism, utopianism, and more—have their foundations in Greek philosophical religion. Horton makes the case that the development of the shaman figure in the Axial Age—particularly its iteration among Orphists—represented a “divine self.” One must realize the divinity within the self to break free from physicality and become one with a panentheistic unity. Time and time again, this tradition of divinity hiding in nature has arisen as an alternative to monotheistic submission to a god who intervenes in creation. This first volume traces the development of a utopian view of the human individual: a divine soul longing to break free from all limits of body, history, and the social and natural world. When the second and third volumes are complete, students and scholars will consult The Divine Self as the authoritative guide to the “spiritual but not religious” tendency as a recurring theme in Western culture from antiquity to the present.
Author: Asher Seidel
Publisher: Lexington Books
Published: 2008-03-25
Total Pages: 141
ISBN-13: 0739143255
DOWNLOAD EBOOKInhuman Thoughts is a philosophical exploration of the possibility of increasing the physiological and psychological capacities of humans to the point that they are no longer biologically, psychologically, or socially human. The movement is from the human through the trans-human, to the post-human. The tone is optimistic; Seidel argues that such an evolution would be of positive value on the whole. Seidel's initial argument supports the need for a comprehensive ethical theory, the success of which would parallel that of a large-scale scientific revolution, such as Newtonian mechanics. He elaborates the movement from the improved-but-still-human to the post-human, and philosophically examines speculated examples of post-human forms of life, including indefinitely extended life-span, parallel consciousness, altered perception, a-sociality, and a-sexuality. Inhuman Thoughts is directed at those interested in philosophical questions on human nature and the best life given the possibilities of that nature. Seidel's overall argument is that the most satisfactory answer to the latter question involves a transcendence of the present confines of human nature.
Author: Monica R. Gale
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2000-11-09
Total Pages: 339
ISBN-13: 1139428470
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe Georgics has for many years been a source of fierce controversy among scholars of Latin literature. Is the work optimistic or pessimistic, pro- or anti-Augustan? Should we read it as a eulogy or a bitter critique of Rome and her imperial ambitions? This book suggests that the ambiguity of the poem is the product of a complex and thorough-going engagement with earlier writers in the didactic tradition: Hesiod, Aratus and - above all - Lucretius. Drawing on both traditional, philological approaches to allusion, and modern theories of intertextuality, it shows how the world-views of the earlier poets are subjected to scrutiny and brought into conflict with each other. Detailed consideration of verbal parallels and of Lucretian themes, imagery and structural patterns in the Georgics forms the basis for a reading of Virgil's poem as an extended meditation on the relations between the individual and society, the gods and the natural environment.
Author: Frank Lees
Publisher: Butterworth-Heinemann
Published: 2012-11-05
Total Pages: 3685
ISBN-13: 0123977827
DOWNLOAD EBOOKSafety in the process industries is critical for those who work with chemicals and hazardous substances or processes. The field of loss prevention is, and continues to be, of supreme importance to countless companies, municipalities and governments around the world, and Lees' is a detailed reference to defending against hazards. Recognized as the standard work for chemical and process engineering safety professionals, it provides the most complete collection of information on the theory, practice, design elements, equipment, regulations and laws covering the field of process safety. An entire library of alternative books (and cross-referencing systems) would be needed to replace or improve upon it, but everything of importance to safety professionals, engineers and managers can be found in this all-encompassing three volume reference instead. - The process safety encyclopedia, trusted worldwide for over 30 years - Now available in print and online, to aid searchability and portability - Over 3,600 print pages cover the full scope of process safety and loss prevention, compiling theory, practice, standards, legislation, case studies and lessons learned in one resource as opposed to multiple sources
Author: Opoku Onyinah
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Published: 2022-01-27
Total Pages: 408
ISBN-13: 1666733334
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis book is an attempt to trace and find out the role of apostles and prophets in the Bible, and then share these in a practical way to help the church of today. It distinctively goes beyond the purview of the New Testament into the Old Testament, and some ancient literature, to bring out the wealth and depth of the subject, and then makes a case for it. Among others, this book deals with the call of God, the constitution and functions of a prophet and of an apostle, Spiritual gifts, the difference between apostles and prophets, and how to test the manifestation of the Spirit. One important issue, which this book addresses, is how the leadership of the church dropped from apostles to bishops. You will enjoy reading it.
