Book Description
The national bestseller that defines a new economic class and shows how it is key to the future of our cities.
The Washington Monthly 2002 Annual Political Book Award Winner
The Rise of the Creative Class gives us a provocative new way to think about why we live as we do today-and where we might be headed. Weaving storytelling with masses of new and updated research, Richard Florida traces the fundamental theme that runs through a host of seemingly unrelated changes in American society: the growing role of creativity in our economy.
Just as William Whyte's 1956 classic The Organization Man showed how the organizational ethos of that age permeated every aspect of life, Florida describes a society in which the creative ethos is increasingly dominant. Millions of us are beginning to work and live much as creative types like artists and scientists always have-with the result that our values and tastes, our personal relationships, our choices of where to live, and even our sense and use of time are changing. Leading the shift are the nearly 38 million Americans in many diverse fields who create for a living--the Creative Class.
The Rise of the Creative Class chronicles the ongoing sea of change in people's choices and attitudes, and shows not only what's happening but also how it stems from a fundamental economic change. The Creative Class now comprises more than thirty percent of the entire workforce. Their choices have already had a huge economic impact. In the future they will determine how the workplace is organized, what companies will prosper or go bankrupt, and even which cities will thrive or wither.
Customer Reviews:
The signs have been posted........2007-08-10
This is a warning that while Europe is too liberal the U.S. is too conservative. The path to success is some where in the middle. We shouls stop being reactive and start being proactive.
Hopeful rise needs a libertarian push.......2007-04-11
"If America continues to make it harder for some of the world's most talented students and workers to come here, they'll go to other countries eager to tap into their creative capabilities--as will American citizens fed up with what they view as an increasingly repressive environment."
-- Dr. Richard Florida, The Flight of the Creative Class
From this quote from his second Creatve book you can see immediately the sort of society Dr. Florida wants. Me, too. What's puzzling is he doesn't explicitly attach his shiny new cart of creativity to the thoroughbred of peace and political liberty.
In particular, you'd expect him to lambaste the Neocon Usurpers for launching expensive wars for isolated benefit of the Carlyle Group. Is he pulling his punches so Rush Bimbaugh won't accuse him of Bush-bashing? In general, why doesn't Florida boldly oppose the bonecrushing machinery of government per se?
That's my 900-pound-gorilla reservation about The Creative books. Otherwise, they provide a nice boost to the kinds of people we want to cultivate in society... or even want to be.
It appears many in public office, more semi-comatose Democrats than fully rabid Republicans, are interested in developing and retaining creative communities.
But are they willing to do what it takes?
The more political power they wield the less willing they are.
Rise shows that what Dr. Florida calls the three Ts of creative-class communities--Talent, Technology, and Tolerance--occur rarely. And when they do, it's more from the tolerance angle.
Austin, San Francisco, Seattle, Burlington (VT), Boston, the highest American cities on the creative-class list, achieve their vaunted status by spontaneous order. When governments catch up to what's going on and want to push people around, it's too late.
Tolerance is also another word for freedom. We can easily argue that liberty is fundamentally what the creative havenots have not. Talent and technology gravitate toward communities naturally when political leaders see their mission as preserving a natural order based on civil liberties.
They accomplish that mission mainly by removing government obstacles and keeping the infrastructure efficient.
Government never furthered any enterprise but by the alacrity with which it got out of its way. -- Thoreau
Libertarians need no writer from the halls of the Carnegie Mellon Institute to tell us this dear Hamlet. But it's nice that in Rise Dr. Florida makes such a good statistical case for what creativity is, where it lives, and how we can nurture it. He also makes us aware that we, too, are paid-up members of the CC.
...
For my complete review of this book and for other book and movie
reviews, please visit my site [...]
Brian Wright
Copyright 2007
Phenomenal!.......2007-01-25
Phenomenal! I heard a lot of talk about this book and thought it was all about arts and culture. After 10 pages I realized it had nothing to do with arts and culture and everything to do with fundamental shifts in our society and economy and how it is impacting our communities. Very insightful and thoughtful.
The Rise of the Creative Class.......2007-01-16
Reads like a professor's text. A very interesting concept (I heard the author speak on a TV show which is why I bought the book) but the book is loaded with statistics and how he came up with his hypothesis and is a drag to read. My book club read it on my advice and very few bothered to finish it. I made myself finish it and even though I bought the second book, it lays on my self unread.
Lots of data, not much focus.......2006-11-27
The key concept of this book is the existence of a new Creative Class. Richard throws into the Creative Class almost everybody and groups them in two categories: the Super Creative Core and the "creative professionals". These two groups include: scientists, professors, poets, novelists, artists, entertainers, actors, designers, architects, non-fiction writers, editors, cultural figures, researchers, analysts, programmers, engineers, filmmakers, financial services, legal and health care professionals, business management and the list goes on. The problem is that the definition of this class is so loose. Even Richard admits that the definition is not really clear, but he goes on discarding the importance of rigour. A class must have political alignment as an expression of a common ground in the way wealth is created and distributed. It should be reflected in the way people vote; otherwise the class does not make sense. It is difficult to convince anyone that you can put these people in the same class: engineers and artists, accountants and actors.
The book uses shocking statistics and quotes and then follows through with flashy language to wrap up a nicely packaged chapter. The problem is that the book has enough time to loose the reader after seemingly never ending debates. This book has so much information and so little structure. All those tables are useless because they do not support a coherent system of principles or story. The writing is difficult to read and very repetitive. After the first fifty pages the same arguments are being rotated again and again: creativity is important, the time of agriculture has passed, the heavy industry is not important for global leadership, there is tension between individual freedom and corporation rigidity, etc.
In describing the new class, Richard Florida observes that "Fewer than one-quarter of all Americans (23.5 percent) accounted for by the 2000 Census lived in a 'conventional' nuclear family, down from 45 percent in 1960. This is social group is mentioned many times in the book. By contrast, the family social group is almost completely ignored. I have the impression that this is actually the creative class and all these indexes (Bohemian, Single, Gay, etc) match quite well the group's dynamics.
I gave this book a two stars rating purely on style and clarity and overall coherence of the book. I think that regardless of the political affiliation, the reader will have genuine difficulty in following the book from the beginning to the end. For instance, in discussing the transformations of every day life, in a polemic with other authors Richard says:
"Juxtaposed to this view are those who believe technology and unbridled market forces are making us work harder and faster, leaving us less time to enjoy each other and out interests, destroying human connections and damaging our neighbourhoods and communities. If the techno-utopians romanticize the future, these techno pessimists glorify the past. Unfettered hypercapitalism is leading to the end of work and the demise of high paying, secure jobs, according to social critics like Jeremy Rifkin. Worse yet, the elimination of such jobs destroy an important source of social stability, argues Richard Sennett, casting people adrift, corroding our collective character and damaging the very fibre of society. The workplace is evolving into an increasingly stressful and dehumanizing "white-collar sweatshop" in Fill Fraser's view, beset by long hours and chronic overwork. In the eyes of cultural critic Tom Frank, business has become an all-powerful and hegemonic cultural force, as entities like MTV and The Gap turn alternative-culture symbols into money making devices. Neighbourhoods, cities and society as a whole are losing the strong sense of community and civic-minded spirit that were the source of our prosperity, argues Robert Putnam. In his nostalgia for a bygone era of VFW halls, bowling leagues, Cub Scout troops and Little League, Putnam contends that the demise of these repositories of `social capital' is the source of virtually all of our woes..."
If you were able to read the text above without losing your concentration and you remembered what started it, then you might be able to read the book and even like it. Otherwise you will probably find that after you read page after page you realise your thoughts were wondering somewhere else. You come back, re-read those pages, only to find you lost your thoughts again.
Book Description
Marc Hauser's eminently readable and comprehensive book Moral Minds is revolutionary. He argues that humans have evolved a universal moral instinct, unconsciously propelling us to deliver judgments of right and wrong independent of gender, education, and religion. Experience tunes up our moral actions, guiding what we do as opposed to how we deliver our moral verdicts.
For hundreds of years, scholars have argued that moral judgments arise from rational and voluntary deliberations about what ought to be. The common belief today is that we reach moral decisions by consciously reasoning from principled explanations of what society determines is right or wrong. This perspective has generated the further belief that our moral psychology is founded entirely on experience and education, developing slowly and subject to considerable variation across cultures. In his groundbreaking book, Hauser shows that this dominant view is illusory.
Combining his own cutting-edge research with findings in cognitive psychology, linguistics, neuroscience, evolutionary biology, economics, and anthropology, he examines the implications of his theory for issues of bioethics, religion, law, and our everyday lives.
Customer Reviews:
Natural Morality.......2007-09-17
Over the last decade the study of the human brain has moved out of the leafy halls of academia into many different fields, including ethics and the law. If socially unacceptable behavior is being driven by some wiring problem in the brain, is a person legally liable? Or is the brain just one part of the chain of causes with learning and experience playing a larger part? The lion's share of the evidence indicates that genes and the brain determine how we interact with the environment rather than determining how we behave, but there is still a great deal of research that needs to be done.
This book has been getting a lot of attention and for a very good reason: not only is it a well-written account by someone who is an exceptionally clear thinker, but the implications of his book stretch far beyond simple academic discussions: they have implications not only for neuroscience, but for ethics, spirituality and the law.
Marc Hauser is a biologist at Harvard and in this book he argues that the human moral sense is inbuilt and the product of evolution, much like our capacity for language. He suggests that the structure of our minds - or at least our brains - reflect our egalitarian hunter-gatherer past and reveals "left over circuitry from the cavemen."
Hauser begins by contrasting three approaches to moral thinking:
The first was espoused by the philosopher Immanuel Kant in the late eighteenth century, who proposed that we follow a categorical imperative. In Kant's view, we could and should live by the Golden Rule, treating others as we would have them treat us, and never using people merely as a means to something else.
The second approach was proposed by the eighteen century Scottish philosopher David Hume, who came to the conclusion that reason is and ought to be the slave of the passions. So if we do something because we are frustrated or angry, we should be castigated and punished because we failed to express out true nature.
The third approach is that of the political philosopher John Rawls. Rawls - like the Harvard linguist Noam Chomsky - proposed that there are deep similarities between language and morality. Chomsky believes that we are hardwired to understand and produce language, while Rawls believes that we all have an innate moral faculty. What that means is that we are all born with an ability to form moral judgments, and that we do not simply embrace the views of our family, tribe or church. The rub is this: because it is an innate ability bred of countless millennia of evolution, we often have no idea why we hold the views they we do.
The parallels between our innate morality and language are explored in this book.
When a twenty-nine year old Chomsky produced his first book in 1957 it created a firestorm of protest as well as some enthusiastic acceptance. We know that people the world over utter grammatical sentences in their own language, but it had been assumed that it began as simple mimicry: children copied the language, syntax and grammar of their parents and others. But Chomsky proposed that the ability is hardwired into the structure of the brain, and that is why we have little or no insight into how grammar works. By analogy, Hauser proposes that children and adults construct moral codes and make judgments without any insight into their reasons for doing so.
Hauser is an acclaimed academic, and it is no surprise that he supports his hypothesis with an array of thought-provoking examples, some better known than others.
One of the better known has been used in psychology and philosophy classes for years. It is the Trolley Problem, taken from a classic set of moral dilemmas proposed by the philosopher Phillipa Foot. The story goes like this. A bystander named Denise is a passenger on an out-of-control railway trolley, which is speeding down the track with an incapacitated driver. The vehicle is heading directly toward five people on the track ahead, bringing with it certain death. Denise can flip a switch that would turn the trolley onto a sidetrack with just one person on it. That one person will die, saving the other five. Should she flip the switch? Hauser's own intuition is that she should, and he marshals various moral arguments to support him.
But now comes the second part. Consider another bystander named Frank. He is on a footbridge over the same railway trolley with the same five endangered people. On the bridge is a large man whom Frank can push off the bridge and so stop the trolley and save the five. Should he do so? Should he sacrifice one man to save five?
Here Hauser's view is that he should not. But exactly why not? Is it because of Denise and Frank's intentions? Is it because Frank would be using the man as a means? In each case the result is the same, one person is killed and five are saved. This is interesting, not as an academic exercise, but because most people come up with similar responses to the dilemma.
Here is another example: what if a surgeon can save the lives of five dying people by taking organs from one perfectly healthy person? Almost no one says that this action is justified, but why not? In fact when such a thing was actually done during the Holocaust, the prosecutors at Nuremberg considered it to be one of the most egregious of all the crimes committed. The utter breakdown of agreed moral norms during those dark years and continuing depravity in some parts of the world remains a challenge for philosophers and scientists to this day; including the author of this book.
Hauser is evidently a good teacher, and he constructs a number of variations of these themes to show us that, with the kinds of exceptions that I just mentioned, the intuitions of very different people are usually much the same. Second. He shows how difficult it is to provide logical justifications for those intuitions. Like all good teachers he includes some personal disclosures, and tells an amusing tale about his own father, who, despite being an intelligent and well-educated physicist, became confused and frustrated when he tried to find logical justifications for his immediate responses.
Hauser reviews evidence from different cultures and from his own research using an online Moral Sense Test, to show how little judgments vary between people of different backgrounds and cultures.
This leads to another important similarity between language and morality. Languages are not chaotic: they follow certain constraints. All known languages follow a set of universal principles. But there are also a set of variable parameters that include the order of words, different ways of making plurals, gender attributions and all those other nuances that can frustrate anyone trying to master a foreign language. Hauser argues that it is the same with morality: there are universal principles and culture-bound parameters. He continues the parallels to point out that as with a language, once people acquire their specific moral grammar, other grammars may seem as incomprehensible as does Japanese to a native English speaker.
He illustrates his thesis with valuable discussions about murder and manslaughter, the treatment of women in different cultures, attitudes to abortion, euthanasia, pedophilia and incest, together with notions of fairness and punishment.
The book is illustrated by some delightful little drawings that do an excellent job of breaking up the narrative.
Marc Hauser if a very good writer and the book is not a difficult read, despite weighing in at over 400 closely reasoned pages. He makes many points that need to be heard. Not only by his colleagues and by people curious to understand more about themselves and those around them, but also by politicians, lawyers and ethicists.
Highly recommended.
Richard G. Petty, MD, author of Healing, Meaning and Purpose: The Magical Power of the Emerging Laws of Life
A poor collection of sophomoric philosophy.......2007-04-01
In a grand way Marc Hauser represents centuries of philosophy intermingled with anecdotes from psychological, anthropological, and economic research. Unfortunately, what he doesn't do is provide a scientific grounding for understanding moral choice.
To understand why people call things right and wrong you need to start with the biology of learning, expectation, and cognition. Given that we are just barely now scratching the surface of these topics Hauser's attempt was bound to fail. His own morals pervade the book and act as logical starting points for his arguments, but rarely does he act as a scientist and dismiss his own morality to seek out the real question which is, "How does the brain create a sense of right and wrong, and is there any definitive proof that there is a universal biological morality?"
Neuroscience tells us that there are very few things we are hardwired to do that we cannot unlearn or adapt to deal with our environments. Hauser spectacularly fails to convince that any moral code is anything other than a learned societal norm.
great idea, poor execution.......2007-03-31
I agree with Rick: great idea, poor execution. Various moral and social systems have long tried to codify and explain away through religious and other naratives what is only natural to us. Kudos to Mark Hauser for bringing our innate "moral organ" to broad attention.
His writing however is another matter. I suggest, read his introductory chapter "What Is Wrong?" and then cherry-pick from the rest of the book as much of the following material is highly repetitive. This is topic waiting to be tackled again by another, stronger writer.
Placing morals into the biological realm where they belong.......2007-03-23
This book affirms something that I have thought true for some time now - that morality is governed by instinctual paradigms in healthy individuals. Hearing from birth and from right-wing sources on the news daily that our morality can only be saved by a reversion to "biblical" mores, I had always wondered why the statistics do not back this "moral majority" up. For instance, in countries like Sweden and Iceland and many other European nations where secularism is high, they have much lower rates of crime and their citizens are just as happy if not more so than the average Sunday-bible-toting-American who thinks they have a "higher" version of morality than the "godless heathen."
Hauser cites empirical data that shows that morality is often operating at an unconscious level in human beings as evidenced by tests where subjects make a moral choice but then can offer only incoherent justifications. Hauser's parallel to our "Language Instinct" here is spot on, given that most native speakers can form perfectly grammatical sentences, but if asked about detailed grammatical structures and relationships, they fail miserably. This, I think, is one reason that religion enjoys its ascendant status (at least in America) in regards to morality. Religion is an overt manifestation of moral principles, something people otherwise have little or no conscious access to. It doesn't matter how outdated or ridiculous religious "morals" are, people will cling to them because in their minds it is the only available source of a description of morality. The faster that science can describe these principles, the better off humanity will be.
Taking in relevant topics from moral philosophy, economics, psychology, and of course, the meat of his argument, socio-biological findings from our primate and animal cousins, Hauser shows that the precursors of human morality, at least in rudimentary form, are present in many other animals. This presence gives science a strong foothold in the arena of ethics. These findings must be to the chagrin of such writers as Francis Collins who invoked the god of the gaps in "The Language of God" to explain that human morality must be due to divine fiat. Indeed it is not.
It's just not written well.......2007-03-21
I got this book after hearing Hauser give a very illluminating and fascinating interview on NPR. Sadly his book is not as nearly interesting as his interview technique is. He repeats his thesis into the ground many times. His clever examples are sometimes not so clever. The book is too long and wordy. Being a lover of philosophy, I of all people never thought I would say that about a book. That can be a good thing in capable hands, but Hauser is definitely a scientist and not a writer. Some better editing and tightening of the text would've made this book a real winner. Finally, the link to linguistics, a main theme of the book, is a turn off for me personally as the linguistics field in no way interests me. However, one refreshing aspect is that he amdits its a theory. Sometimes I feel contemporary science books are too ready to start claiming themselves to be fact. Only get it if you can find it cheap, and hopefully Hausers honesty, enthusiasm and knowledge will get you past the poor writing, sadly it wasn't the case for me.
Book Description
"It's the animal in us," we often hear when we've been bad. But why not when we're good? Primates and Philosophers tackles this question by exploring the biological foundations of one of humanity's most valued traits: morality.
In this provocative book, primatologist Frans de Waal argues that modern-day evolutionary biology takes far too dim a view of the natural world, emphasizing our "selfish" genes. Science has thus exacerbated our reciprocal habits of blaming nature when we act badly and labeling the good things we do as "humane." Seeking the origin of human morality not in evolution but in human culture, science insists that we are moral by choice, not by nature.
Citing remarkable evidence based on his extensive research of primate behavior, de Waal attacks "Veneer Theory," which posits morality as a thin overlay on an otherwise nasty nature. He explains how we evolved from a long line of animals that care for the weak and build cooperation with reciprocal transactions. Drawing on both Darwin and recent scientific advances, de Waal demonstrates a strong continuity between human and animal behavior. In the process, he also probes issues such as anthropomorphism and human responsibilities toward animals.
Based on the Tanner Lectures de Waal delivered at Princeton University's Center for Human Values in 2004, Primates and Philosophers includes responses by the philosophers Peter Singer, Christine M. Korsgaard, and Philip Kitcher and the science writer Robert Wright. They press de Waal to clarify the differences between humans and other animals, yielding a lively debate that will fascinate all those who wonder about the origins and reach of human goodness.
Customer Reviews:
Plausible.......2007-09-19
This is a very short book. The main essay has just about over 50 pages. The rest is introduction, some responses, and a closing statement.
Who says that important books need to be long? Possibly it is not all that important, but the main idea is new to me, therefore I am glad that I picked it up, after a recommendation in Der Spiegel.
Let me also say, I don't find the main hypothesis really compelling, in the sense of thoroughly thought through and explained. But I think it is plausible, and as I had been used to think in different directions and categories, this is a new paradigm for me.
Simply put, FdW challenges the conventional view that morality is part of civilization, that morality is a 'veneer' over our animal core, which is generally assumed to be selfish and immoral. He rejects the view that mankind developed as individuals and then became socialites, requiring rules for co-existence. Rather, homo evolved as a social animal and started his career on Earth with a set of rules for social life. I.o.w., the whole question how a human society without a creator can have morality, is superfluous, baseless, a waste of energy.
On the way to this hypothesis, FdW gets into arguments with the 'selfish gene' theory and with the Dawkins direction of neo-Darwinism. My suspicion is, that this conflict is as useless as a goitre (as we say in German). I don't think that Dawkins really meant the gene to be literally 'selfish', hence let's drop this linguistic bickering. (However I am too lazy to look it up in Dawkins.)
Only 4 stars, not because it is not important, but because it remains below its potential. The discussion part is not always to the point.
I am tempted to give an extra star for the foto of Georgia admiring her own reflection in the camera lens. But maybe an Oscar is more appropriate?
Welcome new perspectives on moral theorizing.......2007-09-06
This book is an interesting confrontation between primate research and professional moral philosophers. The aim is to discuss De Waal's attack on `veneer theory', the idea that moral behaviour is not really grounded in our nature but just a thin cultural overlay, but the discussion quickly becomes way more general.
In fact, we quickly see familiar dividing lines appear. Some, like Korsgaard, see morality as based on reason alone, and therefore purely human. Others, like De Waal, see it as primarily based on inborn capacities like empathy, and maintain that we share a lot of our morality with primates.
The truth is probably somewhere in between. Actually almost all the contributors confirm this in some way, but this is obscured by the fact that the authors do not seem to be able to agree on the meaning on the word`morality'.
Semantic confusion and untenable extremes: Nothing new in the world of discussions of morality then? What does make this book interesting, is that this time the discussions are informed by empirical evolutionary research, which means that even the philosophers have to keep their feet on the ground. Apart from the ape-stories being interesting to read, the result is a welcome new perspective on existing moral theories.
Critically Important Research.......2007-08-25
Teleologically oriented theologians and pompous philosophers need to read this book. New empirical research offers dramatic insights as to the how's and why's of the bilogoical origins of human values and morality. The more this book is read and digested, the faster the phony televangelists will disappear from popular and uninformed culture.
Excellent .......2007-07-29
I do not have the required background knowledge to really make a judgment as to the fundamental claim here i.e. that moral behavior, including decision-making is not an exclusively human prerogative but in fact is the natural condition of a wide variety of species for whom cooperatrive and and altruistic behavior can be collectively advantageous. De Waal's critique of what he calls 'veneer theory' the idea that human morality is a thin layer which comes over and above our fundamentally aggressive, selfish nature is I believe, even when one considers humans in isolation, quite convincing.
He brings certain evidence and examples to show that other species' outside the human, including such stereotypically cruel and mean creatures as wolves engage in mutually advantageous group behavior. The question however of the degree of conscious decision involved in this is one not really solved here. Clearly the human capacity for language- use and symbolic - communication extends not only modes of cooperation, but complexities in consciousness. One feels that deliberation and decision in human action work in ways other animals cannot come close to.
Our hertitage deepens.......2007-06-10
Succinct, quotable, accessible and scholarly ( in the best sense!)- Dr De Waal never disappoints.
Average customer rating:
- Calculations are only as good as your numbers
- Pants on fire?
- Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
- Very Interesting
- History as Science Fiction
|
History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
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History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
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History: Fiction or Science? Astronomical methods as applied to chronology. Ptolemy's Almagest. Chronology III
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Discovering the Mysteries of Ancient America: Lost History And Legends, Unearthed And Explored
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Before the Pharaohs: Egypt's Mysterious Prehistory
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They Cast No Shadows: A Collection of Essays on the Illuminati, Revisionist History, and Suppressed Technologies
ASIN: 2913621058 |
Book Description
Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.
Customer Reviews:
Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03
Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.
Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19
Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09
There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.
For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.
Very Interesting.......2007-03-07
It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.
History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10
Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.
I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.
Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.
Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.
I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.
This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.
Average customer rating:
- very interesting account
- WHAT CONTROVERSY?
- A Riveting Account Well Worth the Read
- Get the monkey off Darwin's back
- Riveting
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Monkey Girl: Evolution, Education, Religion, and the Battle for America's Soul
Edward Humes
Manufacturer: Ecco
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Similar Items:
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40 Days and 40 Nights: Darwin, Intelligent Design, God, OxyContin®, and Other Oddities on Trial in Pennsylvania
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God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything
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The Battle Over the Meaning of Everything: Evolution, Intelligent Design, and a School Board in Dover, PA
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The Counter-Creationism Handbook
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Evolution for Everyone: How Darwin's Theory Can Change the Way We Think About Our Lives
ASIN: 0060885483
Release Date: 2007-01-30 |
Book Description
What should we teach our children about where we come from?
Is evolution good science? Is it a lie? Is it incompatible with faith?
Did Charles Darwin really say man came from monkeys? Have scientists really detected "intelligent design"—evidence of a creator—in nature?
What happens when a town school board decides to confront such questions head-on, thrusting its students, then an entire community, onto the front lines of America's culture wars?
From bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize- winning journalist Edward Humes comes a dramatic story of faith, science, and courage unlike any since the famous Scopes Monkey Trial. Monkey Girl takes you behind the scenes of the recent war on evolution in Dover, Pennsylvania, the epic court case on teaching "intelligent design" it spawned, and the national struggle over what Americans believe about human origins.
Told from the perspectives of all sides of the battle, Monkey Girl is about what happens when science and religion collide.
Customer Reviews:
very interesting account.......2007-09-27
This is a well-written account of the evolution-ID battle in Dover, Pennsylvania. It is more even-handed than many accounts, and attempts to describe the personalities involved. More of a sociological and journalistic treatment than a biological or education one, but the story is well-told, gripping, and complicated nuances are explained clearly.
WHAT CONTROVERSY?.......2007-09-12
Our president was recently quoted as saying the "jury is still out" on evolution. (To which Lewis Black replied: "WHAT jury, where?")
Where, indeed?
There's no need to mince words here: evolutionary theory - Darwin's defined mechanism of change through random mutation and natural selection - has been widely confirmed by modern genetics, to say nothing of "hard" evidence in the form of transitional species in the fossil record.
Specifically, the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA as the molecular building block and instructional "codebook" of life, and human genome coding - which were unknown in Darwin's day - all tend to validate evolution.
"As the science of biochemistry has developed, as the science of cell biology, genetics, molecular biology, and other elements of science have developed, all of these have fit beautifully into the general framework described by Darwin almost 150 years ago!" says biology professor and textbook author Kenneth Miller.
Yet there are still those in our society who would have us believe that - to paraphrase Tina Fey - Adam and Eve rode dinosaurs to church! It seems that these misguided and misinformed souls, (who apparently regard The FLINTSTONES as if it were a documentary,) would presume to indoctrinate our children rather than teach them.
We can thank the Founding Fathers for their wisdom and foresight in giving us the Establishment Clause - thereby fashioning a nation in which religion and government were never to interfere with each other. Without its protection, we'd all be fighting the same Dark Age, regressive, anti-intellectual forces that the parents of Dover, Pennsylvania suddenly found themselves confronted with in 2004. (Yes, you read right - 2004. Not 1304 - or even 1804, mind you - but 2004!!)
I read Edward Humes' excellent MONKEY GIRL from cover to cover in two sittings, and I can recommend it, without reservation, to thinking adults of all walks of life. That is, people who are interested in science, reason, education, law and logic; people who care about who we really are, and how we actually came to be.
"Intelligent Design" proponents - and other children - are encouraged to wait for the comic book version.
[P.S: One amusing postscript - which isn't in the book - concerns the cretinous evangelist "Dr" Kent Hovind, a smug creationist huckster who's been spreading pseudo-scientific babble for decades, both in and out of Dover. He was sentenced in January 2007 to 10 years in Federal prison for income tax evasion. Tsk, tsk! It seems that Mr Hovind's math is just as suspect as his "science"!]
A Riveting Account Well Worth the Read.......2007-09-07
As someone who's never had issues with religion and science, including evolution, I wanted to know what all the Intelligent Design fuss was about. So I started reading books. First I read Michael Shermer's Why Darwin Matters. This peaked my interest to know more. Then I found Monkey Girl. I almost didn't buy the book, thinking that reading about a court case would be too boring. Boy was I ever wrong!
I couldn't put this book down. The author does a masterful job of painting a vivid picture of everyone involved in the case and providing helpful background information, including history sometimes going back centuries, to show how the U.S. divide between evolution and Intelligent Design came together in one school board in one high school in one small town in Pennsylvania.
Now I understand much better.
The last chapter of the book begins:
"It is humanity's unique blessing and peculiar curse to be the only species on Earth, as far as we know, that worries so obsessively and at such great expense about where we came from and why we're here."
My journey to know these things has taken me through Protestantism, Judaism, and now Buddhism. I've felt fortunate to live in a country that protects my right and everyone else's to be able to learn about and practice my chosen spiritual path. Or to choose to follow no particular path if I want.
But some Christians in this country want to do away with this right. To them, their approach to religion is the only approach. They even say it's what this country was founded on. I've read that's not the case. So now I'm reading about the faith of our founding fathers.
What bothers me the most, if the recounting of the Dover case is true, which I think it is, is that people who call themselves religious believers will lie to try to impose their beliefs on others. This seems very unChristian to me, and unJewish, unMuslim, and unBuddhist for that matter.
Given the judge's ruling in the Dover case that Intelligent Design is religion, not science, I'm hopeful that my Constitutional rights will continue to be upheld by people who understand their vital importance to our country. I have no problem with any religion, as long as I or my children or grandchildren are not required to learn about it in school or any other public or governmental place.
Get the monkey off Darwin's back.......2007-08-11
Monkey Girl, by Edward Humes, is the story about the ongoing conflict between the theory of evolution and Intelligent Design (ID). While Humes holds no official training in biology or theology, in this book he has been able to use his skills as an investigative writer to bring the conflicts of these two theories into a clearer picture than what other books have been able to achieve. According to Humes, the intent of this book was to "help dispel the larger myths about evolution theory, its relationship to religion, and the questions that science can and cannot answer." It is the goal of this author to clarify the facts of this dispute in order to allow his open-minded readers to decide what they believe to be true. I believe Humes has achieved this goal.
A major part of the appeal of this book is the style in which it is written. It allows the non-scientific reader to understand some complicated topics. As shown in the trial in Harrisburg, PA (Kitzmiller et al. v. Dover Area School District), it is very easy for people to get bogged down or even bored by the details of evolution. The greatest strength of this book is that it teaches the reader about these details inside a story that is not just easy to comprehend, but in a way that keeps the reader's attention from beginning to end. To do this, Humes ably portrays the ridiculous and shameful behavior of fundamentalist Christian groups of people who have played and who continue to play an active role in this controversy. One extremist that Humes points to is the fundamentalist speaker Kent Hovind. According to Hume, Hovind outlandishly preaches that the teaching of evolution is the cause of the moral decay in this country and is directly related to "increases in crime, premarital sex, adultery, and drug use." What is scary is that Humes never runs out of extremists to talk about, as he is able to tell the reader about death treats Judge Jones, a Republican appointed by George W. Bush and much approved of by the Intelligent Design people before the trial in Harrisburg, received when he dared to rule against their case. While the portrayal of these extremists is a strength for this book and is understandable, it also could be considered a weakness. I believe that Humes devotes too much print to these extremists. While he does say that there are mainstream Christian groups, including the Catholic Church, that have no problem with theory of evolution, much less time is given to this much larger group of people.
In leading up to the climax of this book, Humes gives the reader a history of evolution's disagreements with creationism and introduces the latest challenge, ID, being put forth by the Discovery Institute. A well-funded think tank of some very bright "scientists", the goal of the Discovery Institute is to introduce ID into the public school system. Once the stage has been set, Humes describes the scene in Harrisburg where, not only was the judge convinced that ID was essentially creationism, but also a scene where one by one, scientists convincingly showed that the theory of evolution is real science and ID is not. For example, proponents of ID dispute the evidence of decent from a common ancestor. Yet, evidence in the trial showed that the chromosomes of chimpanzees are remarkably similar to those of humans. Also, Dr. Michael Behe has argued that complex parts of an organism such as the blood-clotting cascade could not have come from evolution. His theory, irreducible complexity, is that "natural selection can't create such a complex machine all in one step, nor could it gradually assemble it in the conventional evolutionary model, one bit at a time, because the bits don't work on their own." But, much to Behe's embarrassment, his theory was proven wrong under cross-examination in a way that the judge described as "painful." Time and again, Humes describes scientists who were very able to convince the judge that the facts show that ID is not science and is religiously based and therefore should not be taught in a public school system.
Monkey Girl is a well-written and informative book that should play a crucial role in helping many legislators, judges, school officials, and average Americans understand the controversy between evolution and Intelligent Design and the true facts about each theory. In writing this book, Edward Humes has provided a valuable service to the world of science that will hopefully have a positive impact on the theory of evolution and how it relates to religious beliefs. For those mainstream Christians who believe that an intelligent designer has utilized evolution to mold the creation over the last 3.5 billion years, this book will provide some answers.
Riveting.......2007-08-10
I thought I knew a lot about the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District trial: I had read Judge Jones's decision and some of the trial testimony, I've read books written by some of the witnesses, and so forth. I expected this book to fill in around the edges of my understanding.
Instead, it showed me a whole new picture of the trial and its place in the American "culture wars." To begin with, the book is very well written and exciting. (I stayed up reading it last night four hours past my usual bedtime.) Second, it shows players on all sides as intricate, three-dimensional individuals. It would be easy to ridicule Bill Buckingham as an ignorant rube, but in this book he comes across as a man of courage and conviction, as well as a man lacking an understanding of either science or religion. Humes makes his own opinions clear, but those who disagree with him are treated with respect, while those who agree with him are not given a free pass. Finally, while Humes centers his writing on the Dover trial and the science of evolution, he also puts it into context with discussions of Scopes and Kansas, as well as the role of reason in making policy.
One specific thing I learned from this book is that Dover school board members and administrators thought that the term "origin of life" meant macroevolution, speciation, and the origin of humanity. I didn't believe anyone could be so far off base, but I looked up the trial transcripts and found that he was not exaggerating.
I found three errors: (1) Humes claims that the Revolutionary Battle of Yorktown, Virginia occurred in York, Pennsylvania. (2) He describes iron molecules (not atoms) as spin aligned. (3) He twice claims that Bill O'Reilly broadcasts for the Cable News Network. (On a third occasion Humes correctly places O'Reilly at Fox News.)
Humes's love of America, while never mentioned explicitly, comes through clearly on every page. Humes worries about our country in an environment were every complex question is reduced to a simplistic two-sided barroom brawl, and were people cannot distinguish fact from opinion.
Amazon.com
One of the best descriptions of the nature and implications of Darwinian evolution ever written, it is firmly based in biological information and appropriately extrapolated to possible applications to engineering and cultural evolution. Dennett's analyses of the objections to evolutionary theory are unsurpassed. Extremely lucid, wonderfully written, and scientifically and philosophically impeccable. Highest Recommendation!
Book Description
In a book that is both groundbreaking and accessible, Daniel C. Dennett, whom Chet Raymo of The Boston Globe calls "one of the most provocative thinkers on the planet," focuses his unerringly logical mind on the theory of natural selection, showing how Darwin's great idea transforms and illuminates our traditional view of humanity's place in the universe. Dennett vividly describes the theory itself and then extends Darwin's vision with impeccable arguments to their often surprising conclusions, challenging the views of some of the most famous scientists of our day.
Customer Reviews:
Complex and Entertaining.......2007-07-09
While Dennett comes off, at times, sounding pompous and headstrong, that may simply be because he is, in my opinion, correct about certain aspects of the human mind's ability to cope with conflicting beliefs. My personal religious beliefs aside, I do feel that, at a point, religion and evolutionary science do come into direct conflict. Some of Dennett's thoughts and ideas, in conjunction with Dawkins's ideas, can run a little wayward of what I would call science, but simply because the ideas are blended with speculation and opinion. For further reading on the evolutionary perspective of religious thought, I would recommend Scott Atran and Pascal Boyer. Again, I really enjoyed the book, my personal disagreements notwithstanding.
like good medicine.......2007-07-08
This is not an easy read. It's rocky, at times pedantic, somewhat oblique, and about as picky as a book on logic. Dennett has difficulty keeping the reader engaged in his point, as his examples tend to be somewhat obscure at times, and his verbosity often masks the clarity of his vision. I sometimes had to turn back to the beginning of the chapter to remind myself what he was trying to say. Luckily, he seems to understand this, and provides summary statements after each chapter -- good thing, because without these navigational aids, he can be difficult to follow.
However, what Dennett has achieved here will stand the test of time because it is USEFUL. He is able to look at all the objections to the theory of evolution by natural selection and take them apart logically, scientifically, and heuristically. These objections are not limited to the religious variety, but also include scientific backlashes to Darwin like those of Gould, Chomsky, and Kaufmann. In other words, if you want to understand the breadth and depth of Darwin's theory, this is a masterwork.
What it lacks is, unfortunately, what the back cover promises: a look at Darwinism in the light of ethics, morality, and culture. Sure, Dennett devotes a (delicious) chapter to the topic, invoking Nietzsche and Hobbes, and there are scattered sections in the book that are like mind candy for the intellectually thirsty reader. It's a good thing those brilliant sections are scattered randomly throughout the book, because they may be the only thing that keeps the general reader interested.
Unless you're a biologist or anthropologist, you may want to read something shorter and more to the point. This book is for scholars who want exactitude. And to those scholars, I say read this book as quickly as possible, because it's VERY hard to come back to after putting down for a week or so.
Unintelligent design explained.......2007-06-02
This book is a philosophical work rather than straight science, the author does an excellent job of looking at all the various species of darwinian theories and their mutations, from scientific,to pop culture to philosophical,and subjecting them to a harsh environment of critical thought and logic, so selecting out the fittest for survival at the end of the book.I may be a bit biased as I have come to the same conclusions as the author,that there is only one true version of natural selection that works with no god or intelligent design, nor any adaption via senses, or experience of any organism, it is pure random mutation followed by the environment killing off what is not the best,strongest or most efficient. It is certainly not the sort of touchy-feely stuff some people seem to seek to explain things, its cold and harsh,cruel and unforgiving, although the author keeps it less harsh that my own view of it, and rightly states in a way,that just because it is harsh,doesnt change the reality of how we feel it and percieve it, love is still love no matter its mechanical, survival,or other basis. If you feel that describing something like life or love in a cold hard scientific way will change your view of it ,ruin it for you, if you are that open to suggestion, dont read this book. If you want a great philosophical arguement to open your mind and cut through the B.S. and sugar coating,if you think in a scientific way, and yes it can be quite a harsh and cold look at things, then this book is an excellent read. The author has done an enormous amount of research and distilled it into one volume, and some of the arguements or view points will be unknown to most people,and quite useless in a way, but seeing so many view points is always good for anyone who likes to think deeply and be challenged. I didnt learn alot from this book that I hadnt already figured out for myself using common sense,yet really enjoyed it for its excellent arguements and insights, its enjoyable for the philosophical side even if you have no interest in the subject matter. Also highly recommended is the authors book on consciousness, although its fairly hard going as the concepts are alot harder to grasp than evolutions mechanisms.
Entertaining materialist philosophy.......2007-05-02
It is hard to imagine that a 600 plus page book on materialist philosophy could be entertaining and a fairly quick read, but it is. The tone is too dogmatic, and there is way too much space devoted to quibbling, but it is rare to find a book this informative and thought provoking.
Intellectually Stimulating.......2007-03-31
Darwin's Dangerous Idea is one of Daniel Dennett's more notable works, being a 1995 national book award finalist (as advertised on the cover). I'm not really sure why it didn't win though, because had I been on the panel of judges, I would probably have chosen it over the competition (whatever they were). The book thoroughly explains Darwin's theory of evolution with regard to biology (including its finer philosophical and technical details) and extends the theory even further to just about everything, including the universe itself. The basic premise being that complexity arises out of simplicity and this is precisely what it would take for anything in the known universe to be in existence today.
Dennett sees no contradiction for example, in how humans behave by explaining that memes (cultural elements) that influence our behaviours and which seem to have a far greater effect than genes on our future evolution are themselves merely products of genetic evolution. Think of it as many smaller cranes (tiny steps in evolution that build upon one another) building a better, bigger crane (i.e. humans capable of storing, producing and transmitting memes). As a philosopher, the man has a vast knowledge of science, biology and computer science, in particular. He is extremely well-read and explains his ideas with such lucidity, you'll be amazed at how he can actually get you to understand very complex ideas and examples.
I sometimes found myself unable to follow certain topics but every time, Dennett grabbed my hand and lifted me back into my seat of understanding with his natural flare of wanting more than anything, not to obfuscate in any way the message he is trying to get across. If only all educators were like that. He presents many examples and references from diverse fields in science and literature (e.g. Borge's Library of Babel) that will amaze and get you thinking. Dennett also critiques work by other scientists such as Stephen J. Gould and Noam Chomsky where relevant, to name just two. I learned a lot about science in general, not to mention artificial intelligence, architecture, philosophy and literature by reading this book.
The last chapter is very nice closure to his whole thesis. Despite being an atheist, Dennett does not see religion as completely evil and acknowledges the role it played (as a result of cultural evolution) that in some ways have benefitted mankind; not "spiritually" but at least in terms of comfort and artistic inspiration. At 586 pages, it is an extremely satisfying read. I'm eager to dig into his latest book, "Breaking the Spell" and one of his earlier works, "The Mind's, I" soon.
Book Description
This edition represents a thorough-going revision of what has become a classic text in biomedical ethics. Major structural changes mark the revision. The authors have added a new concluding chapter on methods that, along with its companion chapter on moral theory, emphasizes convergence across theories, coherence in moral justification, and the common morality. They have simplified the opening chapter on moral norms which introduces the framework of prima facie moral principles and ways to specify and balance them. Together with the shift of advanced material on theory to the back of the book, this heavily revised introductory chapter will make it easier for the wide range of students entering bioethics courses to use this text. Another important change is the increased emphasis on character and moral agency, drawing the distinction between agents and actions. The sections on truth telling, disclosure of bad news, privacy, conflicts of interest, and research on human subjects have also been thoroughly reworked. The four core chapters on principles (respect for autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, and justice) and the chapter on professional-patient relationships retain their familiar structure, but the authors have completely updated their content to reflect developments in philosophical analysis as well as in research, medicine, and health care. Throughout, they have used a number of actual cases to illuminate and to test their theory, method, and framework of principles.
Customer Reviews:
An Classics of Bioethics.......2007-09-07
This book is a classic book for those who`s study the principles of bioethics, because Beauchamp and Childress shows what they think in terms of good medicine and good practice
Comprehensive and Friendly Primer on Medical Ethics.......2007-05-01
Having used this volume and its previous editions for over 20 years, the latest edition provides an easier read for those not steeped in traditional, philosophical writing. While emphasizing the importance of the blended principled approach to bioethics (autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficience, justice) the authors in this latest edition invite the reader to a deeper appreciation of the widening diveristy in ethical approaches, including such approaches as the ethics of care. An important read as well as a practical tool for leaders who seek to sharpen their thinking abilities and broaden their knowledge base in the area of health care.
Dr. James Wells, NHA, D.Min
Senior Living Institute
13 Roszel Rd. C120
Princeton, NJ 08540
The bible of bioethics.......2007-04-06
Very useful for anyone interested in Bioethics. Well written and comprehensive.
Textbook only.......2004-12-10
This is an excellent book on a terribly important subject area; however, I would not recommend it as anything other than a textbook. It is not poorly written; rather, it is terribly academically written. This book will be quite enlightening if you have a class and professor with whom to discuss your reading. If you have the slightest degree of dyslexia, ADHD, or migraine aura -- you will probably spend your semester rereading and rereading until your face is the color of the cover, so I suggest asking your professor for some supplemental reading that is more easily digested. It will not make reading this book easier, but it will greatly increase your understanding of the subject matter.
Outstanding Text.......2001-10-17
This is the most recent edition of a first rate textbook on the difficult topic of medical ethics. The authors' approach is neither to attempt to derive a set of guidelines from abstract moral theory nor to be completely empirical in the sense of simply assessing what clinicians and researchers do when dealing with moral issues. The approach of this book is to extract a series of important principles from the best aspects of practice and then to generalize these principles. The 4 basic principles set out by the authors are respect for autonomy, non-maleficience, beneficience, and justice. The book is divided into a series of well written and integrated chapters covering the basic rationale for the authors' approach, each of the principles, professional-patient relations, and concluding with a set of chapters covering basic moral theories and how the authors' approach fits in with moral theory and competing approaches.
This book has many virtues. The basic approach is strong and practical. Each principle and the exposition of each principle is embedded in real clinical moral problems. The authors make the interesting and important point that none of these principles have priority over another and that balances need to be sought between these principles. This book is simultaneously an excellent exposition of a strong approach to medical ethics and useful reference source to clarify thinking. The bibliography is excellent. Some of the chapters, notably the sections on autonomy and those on justice, are outstanding. The quality of writing is clear and the sections are distinguished by clarity of thought. The authors set themselves objective of writing a book that would combine a high level of rigor and would be useful, reaching a mixed audience of physicians, researchers, and others concerned with medical ethics. They have succeeded.
Book Description
What are the two great lies of the 20th century?
Is there a solution to evil?
What matters more, blood or love?
Can a good man go to a striptease show?
Do you think you have the answers? ...Think a second time.
Dennis Prager, theologian and philosopher turned talk-show host, is one of the most brilliant and compelling voices in America today. His extraordinarily popular radio show with the signature sign-off, "Think a second time," coupled with his own biweekly newsletter, has firmly established him as a fixture in intellectual communities nationwide. In Think a Second Time, Prager blends a rigorous and scholarly education with utterly original thinking on current events. From the dangers of idealism to the roots of extremism to his thoughts on God and an afterlife, Prager offers challenging answers to up-to-the-minute questions: Should a single woman have a child? Why don't good homes always produce good children? Is America really racist? Why does the Holocaust not negate the existence of God? Now, with an entirely new section on the precedent-setting "Baby Richard" custody case and an exploration of the issue of blood versus love, Prager continues to demonstrate his ability to draw clear moral lines in the sands of our very troubled times.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting view on many casual things.......2007-05-28
I wouldn't say that this book was an eye opener, but I definately can not say that this is a waste. It's a very non-standard, maybe a little bit conservative, view on many everyday things.
I would reccomend to read it to lots of my friends.
Great Author - Great Subject.......2007-05-13
Dr. Prager is at his best and not distracted by radio show callers.
Clear Thinking.......2007-04-04
This and Dennis Prager's other book "Happiness is a Serious Problem" should be required reading for late high school and early college students!
For thinkers..........2007-02-27
Dennis Prager is not your typical talk radio host. His show is more about ideas than anything else. Like he says, "on my show we talk about everything in life." That is the impressive thing about this book--it covers a wide range of topics that will make you think, a second time. If you're a little burned out from all the political books out there--no matter if you are left or right, you should give this one a read.
A GREAT Book and Exercise for Your Mind.......2006-06-18
By thinking, and rethinking, the author is able to dissect issues and ideals to a very clear and understandable core. He then shows how many flaws enter into the rebuilding of those issues resulting in a society that likes to be followers, rather than thinkers.
If you think once, you will see the light. If you continue to think about issues in the manner in which the author does, all will be revealed. It is amazing how everything comes down to the same core principles, that most people would agree with if the took the time and made the effort to think.
This book should be required reading for every college student.
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