Ethics & Morality

Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive, this piercing work distills 3,000 years of the history of power into 48 well-explicated laws....

The fate of the world is in our hands. Humanity’s written history spans only five thousand years. Our yet-unwritten future could last for millions more—or it could end tomorrow. Astonishing numbers of people could lead lives of great happiness or unimaginable suffering....

It’s a belief that unites the left and right, psychologists and philosophers, writers and historians.... 

Written in Greek by an intellectual Roman emperor without any intention of publication, the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius offer a wide range of fascinating spiritual reflections and exercises developed as the leader struggled to understand himself and make sense of the universe....

For anyone who has ever dreamed of love, sex, and companionship beyond the limits of traditional monogamy, this groundbreaking guide navigates the infinite possibilities that open relationships can offer....

As it was in Anna Karenina, Madame Bovary, and Othello, so it is in life....

Engaging, incisive and acute, The New Puritans is a deeply necessary exploration of our current cultural climate and an urgent appeal to return to a truly liberal society....

Every time we eat, we have the power to radically transform the world we live in....

Experience the world of a curious boy, a greedy mole, a wary fox and a wise horse who find themselves together in sometimes difficult terrain, sharing their greatest fears and biggest discoveries about vulnerability, kindness, hope, friendship and love.... 

In 1944, 16-year-old Edith Eger was sent to Auschwitz. There she endured unimaginable experiences, including being made to dance for the infamous Josef Mengele....

Attacking the notion of morality as nothing more than institutionalised weakness, Nietzsche criticises past philosophers for their unquestioning acceptance of moral precepts....

Few ancient works have been as influential as the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. Filled with wisdom, practical guidance and profound understanding of human behaviour, it remains one of the greatest works of spiritual and ethical reflection ever written....

Being a stoic means embracing positivity and self-control through the ability to accept the uncertainty of outcomes. With this stoicism guide, the beginner stoic will learn how to take charge of their emotions on the path to sustained happiness and satisfaction....

Do you feel as though something is missing in your life? Do you often feel like your emotions get the best of you? Do you run into trouble within relationships with people at home, at work, in a business, or whatever because you feel like you need to control the situation? Find out more....

In The Righteous Mind, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt explores the origins of our divisions and points the way forward to mutual understanding....

Composed in four parts between 1883 and 1885, Thus Spoke Zarathustra is the most famous and influential work of German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche....

In Lessons in Stoicism, philosopher John Sellars weaves together the key ideas of the three great Roman Stoics - Seneca, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius - with snapshots of their fascinating lives, to show us how their ideas can help us today.... 

Sam Harris has discovered that most people, from secular scientists to religious fundamentalists, agree on one point....

The world tells us that we should pursue our self-interest: career wins, high status, nice things. These are the goals of our first mountain. But at some point in our lives we might find that we're not interested in what other people tell us to want....

While politicians, entrepreneurs, and even school children could tell you that sustainability is an important and nearly universal value, many of them, and many of us, may struggle to define the term, let alone trace its history....

This urgent and eye-opening book makes the case that protecting humanity's future is the central challenge of our time....

As a young man in Glasgow’s underworld, Ian "Blink" MacDonald earned a reputation for fighting and stabbing his enemies. After refusing to work for Arthur "The Godfather" Thompson, he attempted to steal £6 million in a high-risk armed bank robbery.... 

Life is hard, messy and complex; our friends will probably let us down; most of what has got us here is blind luck and a series of false starts.... 

In seven mind-bending and hilarious chapters, Gregg highlights features seemingly unique to humans—our use of language, our rationality, our moral systems, our so-called sophisticated consciousness—and compares them to our animal brethren....

Say 'philosopher', and someone grand, old and bearded might come to mind. But, as philosophy professor Scott Hershovitz shows in this delightful debut, some of the best philosophers in the world are better described as nasty, brutish and short—that is to say, they're children....

What if human intelligence is actually more of a liability than a gift? After all, the animal kingdom, in all its diversity, gets by just fine without it. At first glance, human history is full of remarkable feats of intelligence, yet human exceptionalism can be a double-edged sword. With our unique cognitive prowess comes severe consequences, including existential angst, violence, discrimination and the creation of a world teetering towards climate catastrophe. What if human exceptionalism is more of a curse than a blessing?

The world is changing so fast that it's hard to know how to think about what we ought to do. David Edmonds has put together a philosophical task force to get to grips with these challenges. Twenty-nine philosophers present provocative and engaging pieces about aspects of life today, and life tomorrow—birth and death, health and medicine, brain and body, personal relationships, wrongdoing and justice, the internet, animals, and the environment. The future won't look the same when you've finished this book.

Marcus Aurelius was a Roman Emperor who ruled from 161 to 180 AD. He left a lasting legacy, not only through his many political and military accomplishments, but also through his philosophical writings. The Meditations are a collection of Marcus Aurelius' personal thoughts and reflections, which offer insight into his wisdom as a thinker and leader. The work has been translated and read by people throughout the centuries, and it still offers valuable perspectives on how to live a good life.

Meditations is a collection of private thoughts of the great Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, who reflected daily on the essential tenets of philosophy by writing personal notes to himself. In this way, he persuaded himself every night to stay on the right path by repeating to himself his observations and the lessons he learned touching on the core principles and beliefs of Stoic philosophy. 

Are contemporary soldiers exploited by the state and society that they defend? More specifically, have America's professional service members disproportionately carried the moral weight of America's war-fighting decisions since the inception of an all-volunteer force? In this volume, Michael J. Robillard and Bradley J. Strawser examine the question of whether and how American soldiers have been exploited in this way. Robillard and Strawser offer an original theory of "moral exploitation".

You see this, and then you look at the stone busts of Stoicism’s leading proponents: Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius. All seem dour and foreboding. They may have been stern-faced gentlemen, but the fact remains, many who have incorporated Stoicism into their daily lives report that they can face life’s challenges with greater equanimity. Your Daily Dose of Stoic Wisdom is a 30-day guide to practicing the foundational tenets of Stoicism. Without being a primer on Stoic philosophy, the book is here to help you integrate its basic principles into your everyday experiences.

In the deeply accessible mode of his international best seller How to Be an Antiracist, Ibram X. Kendi combines a century of scientific research with a vulnerable and compelling personal narrative to argue that it is only by teaching our children about the reality of racism and the myth of race from the earliest age that we can actually protect them and preserve their innocence and joy. Along the way, he shows that an antiracist society is one that safeguards all children. 

Long regarded as the most accurate rendering of Plato's Republic that has yet been published, this widely acclaimed translation by Allan Bloom was the first to take a strictly literal approach. In addition to the annotated text, there is also a rich and valuable essay—as well as indices—which will enable listeners to better understand the heart of Plato's intention.

From nineteenth-century abolitionism to Black Lives Matter today, progressive social movements have been at the forefront of social change. Yet it is seldom recognized that such movements have not only engaged in political action but also posed crucial philosophical questions about the meaning of justice and about how the demands of justice can be met. Michele Moody-Adams argues that anyone who is concerned with the theory or the practice of justice—or both—must ask what can be learned from social movements. 

This booklet contains arguments regarding the original evil of mankind: the concept of division. Intended for use by realists who wish to see the world changed into something better, it has everything that a thinker may need in order to see the road ahead toward a better tomorrow.

In On Decline, Potter surveys the current problems and likely future of Western civilization (spoiler: it’s not great). Economic stagnation and the slowing of scientific innovation. Falling birth rates and environmental degradation. The devastating effects of cultural nostalgia and the havoc wreaked by social media on public discourse. Most acutely, the various failures of Western governments in their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. If the legacy of the Enlightenment and its virtues—reason, logic, science, evidence—has run its course, how and why has it happened?

Mathematician and philosopher Bertrand Russell was prompted to write and publish Why Men Fight (in 1917) as he and the world were experiencing the Great War. Russell shares his thoughts on how to end war - not just between states, but also between classes and individuals.

Why It’s OK to Ignore Politics argues that you’re under no obligation to be politically active. Freiman addresses new objections to political abstention as well as some old chestnuts ("But what if everyone stopped voting?"). He also synthesizes recent empirical work showing how our political motivations distort our choices and reasoning. Because participating in politics is not an effective way to do good, Freiman argues that we actually have a moral duty to disengage from politics and instead take direct action to make the world a better place. 

Finger-wagging moralizers say the love of money is the root of all evil. They assume that making a lot of money requires exploiting others, and that the best way to wash off the resulting stain is to give a lot of it away. 

The author offers wisdom gleaned from many years of experience in spiritual and organizational environments. Do you have questions about life? Does your family think you question too much—or even “think” too much? Have you ever had a discussion about ethics and religion? Have you ever said or thought that, while you are ethical, you’re not so sure about your friends and relatives? If so, then Ethics Without Scripture will help you in your search.