Being Is Better Than Not Being

Author : Christopher V. Mirus
Publisher : CUA Press
Page : 345 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2022-03-18
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780813235462

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Being is Better Than Not Being by Christopher V. Mirus Pdf

In his contemplative works on nature, Aristotle twice appeals to the general principle that being is better than not being. Taking his cue from this claim, Christopher V. Mirus offers an extended, systematic account of how Aristotle understands being itself to be good. Mirus begins with the human, examining Aristotle’s well-known claim that the end of a human life is the good of the human substance as such—which turns out to be the good of the human capacity for thought. Human thought, however, is not concerned with human affairs alone. It is also contemplative, and contemplation is oriented toward the beauty of its objects. In each of the three branches of contemplative thought—mathematics, natural science, and theology—the intelligibility of being renders it beautiful to thought. Both in nature and in human life, moreover, the being that is beautiful through its intelligibility serves also as an end of motion and of action; hence it counts not only as beautiful (kalon), but also as good (agathon). The persistent concern of thought with the beautiful reveals what is at stake for human beings in Aristotle’s larger metaphysics of the good: in the connection between goodness and actuality that structures his natural science and metaphysics, in his explicit claim that being is better than not being, and in his concepts of order and determinacy, which help connect being with goodness. These in turn shed light on his concepts of the complete and the self-sufficient, on his teleological understanding of the four elements, and on the curious role of the honorable in his natural science and metaphysics.

Author : Andrew H. Miller
Publisher : Harvard University Press
Page : 233 pages
File Size : 48,6 Mb
Release : 2020-06-09
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780674238084

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On Not Being Someone Else by Andrew H. Miller Pdf

A captivating book about the emotional and literary power of the lives we might have lived had our chances or choices been different. We each live one life, formed by paths taken and untaken. Choosing a job, getting married, deciding on a place to live or whether to have children—every decision precludes another. But what if you’d gone the other way? It can be a seductive thought, even a haunting one. Andrew H. Miller illuminates this theme of modern culture: the allure of the alternate self. From Robert Frost to Sharon Olds, Virginia Woolf to Ian McEwan, Jane Hirshfield to Carl Dennis, storytellers of every stripe write of the lives we didn’t have. What forces encourage us to think this way about ourselves, and to identify with fictional and poetic voices speaking from the shadows of what might have been? Not only poets and novelists, but psychologists and philosophers have much to say on this question. Miller finds wisdom in all these sources, revealing the beauty, the power, and the struggle of our unled lives. In an elegant and provocative rumination, he lingers with other selves, listening to what they say. Peering down the path not taken can be frightening, but it has its rewards. On Not Being Someone Else offers the balm that when we confront our imaginary selves, we discover who we are.

Author : Devon Price
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 46,9 Mb
Release : 2022-01-04
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781982140113

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Laziness Does Not Exist by Devon Price Pdf

A social psychologist uncovers the psychological basis of the "laziness lie," which originated with the Puritans and has ultimately created blurred boundaries between work and life with modern technologies and offers advice for not succumbing to societal pressure to "do more."

Author : Will Durant
Publisher : Courier Dover Publications
Page : 500 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2022-04-05
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780486850801

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The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant Pdf

Pulitzer Prize–winning author Will Durant chronicles the lives and ideas of several key philosophical thinkers throughout history in this informative yet eminently readable text. An essential read for anyone fascinated by the development of Western philosophy.

Author : Bruce Larson
Publisher : New Hope Publishing (CA)
Page : 140 pages
File Size : 52,6 Mb
Release : 1991
Category : Family & Relationships
ISBN : 187998900X

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There's a Lot More to Health Than Not Being Sick by Bruce Larson Pdf

Author : Pierre Bayard
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 117 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 2010-08-10
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9781596917149

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How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read by Pierre Bayard Pdf

In this delightfully witty, provocative book, literature professor and psychoanalyst Pierre Bayard argues that not having read a book need not be an impediment to having an interesting conversation about it. (In fact, he says, in certain situations reading the book is the worst thing you could do.) Using examples from such writers as Graham Greene, Oscar Wilde, Montaigne, and Umberto Eco, he describes the varieties of "non-reading"-from books that you've never heard of to books that you've read and forgotten-and offers advice on how to turn a sticky social situation into an occasion for creative brilliance. Practical, funny, and thought-provoking, How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read-which became a favorite of readers everywhere in the hardcover edition-is in the end a love letter to books, offering a whole new perspective on how we read and absorb them.

Author : Marla Morris
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 303 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 2019-02-11
Category : Education
ISBN : 9789087907778

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On not being Able to Play by Marla Morris Pdf

Scholars and musicians from many different backgrounds will find this book helpful as it deals with psychic problems in both professions. This book might help scholars and musicians to find a way out of their psychic dilemmas. From classical musicians to rock stars, from curriculum theorists to music teachers, from anthropologists to philosophers, this book takes the reader through a rocky intellectual terrain to explore what happens when one can no longer play or work. The driving question of the book is this: What do you do when you cannot do what you were called to do? This is what the author calls The Crisis of Psyche. The theoretical framework for this book combines curriculum theory, psychoanalysis and phenomenology. Here, the author looks at issues of emotion and the working through of crisis points in the lives of both scholars and musicians. Psychoanalytic theory helps to flesh out and untangle what it means to suffer from a damaged musical psyche and a damaged scholarly psyche. How to work through psychic inertia as a scholar? How to work through through psychic inertia as a musician? From Pink Floyd to Laurie Anderson, from Marion Milner to William F. Pinar, this book draws on the work of a wide range of musicians and scholars to find a way out of psychic blocks. From Philip Glass to Pablo Casals, from Michael Eigen to Mary Aswell Doll, this book draws on the work of composers, cellists, psychoanalysts and educationists to find a way out of psychic meltdowns.

Author : Bekah Siau
Publisher : WestBow Press
Page : 106 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 2021-10-20
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781664240889

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The Journey. What If It’s Not About Being “Better”? by Bekah Siau Pdf

This book is something that emerged through countless conversations with friends and students about their own personal journey with Jesus. This book has been a response to the questions that have come up from those conversations as I have fought to find solid footing to ground me. If you are struggling with the pressure to “be a better Christian” or be better at dealing with your sin, shame, or missteps, this book is for you. It is not answers as much as it is someone coming alongside of you in your questions and journeying with you towards truth. What if it’s not about being a better Christian someday, but more about the journey and what you learn along the way?

Author : Tara Westover
Publisher : HarperCollins
Page : 406 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 2018-02-20
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781443452502

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Educated by Tara Westover Pdf

For readers of The Glass Castle and Wild, a stunning new memoir about family, loss and the struggle for a better future #1 International Bestseller Tara Westover was seventeen when she first set foot in a classroom. Instead of traditional lessons, she grew up learning how to stew herbs into medicine, scavenging in the family scrap yard and helping her family prepare for the apocalypse. She had no birth certificate and no medical records and had never been enrolled in school. Westover’s mother proved a marvel at concocting folk remedies for many ailments. As Tara developed her own coping mechanisms, little by little, she started to realize that what her family was offering didn’t have to be her only education. Her first day of university was her first day in school—ever—and she would eventually win an esteemed fellowship from Cambridge and graduate with a PhD in intellectual history and political thought.

Author : Leon Gumański
Publisher : Rodopi
Page : 356 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 1999
Category : Mathematics
ISBN : 9042004088

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To be Or Not to Be? Is that the Question? And Other Studies in Ontology, Epistemology and Logic by Leon Gumański Pdf

This volume may be of interest for all those who wish that philosophy had a scientific character. As an adherent of the Polish Lvov-Warsaw Philosophical School, the author of this collection of papers endeavours to clarify some basic notions of epistemology, ontology and psychology of cognitive acts, such as judgment, existence, being etc. In his investigations he refrains from unnecessary rejection of common-sense knowledge but at the same time searches for suitable patterns in contemporary sciences. Regarding formal logic as a fundamental tool for the precise expression and justification of thoughts, the author tries to clear logic from ontological commitments, shows how to construct logic of norms and how to use safely different definitions in research works. The book presents a new conception of antinomies and an innovatory approach to realistic epistemology. Moreover, some applications of logical methods are illustrated by examples of semantical analyses of the general notion of similarity and the biological concept of homology.

Author : David Benatar
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 250 pages
File Size : 44,5 Mb
Release : 2008
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9780199549269

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Better Never to Have Been by David Benatar Pdf

First published in paperback in 2008. Reprinted 2009, 2013.

Author : Carol S. Dweck
Publisher : Ballantine Books
Page : 322 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 2007-12-26
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 9780345472328

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Mindset by Carol S. Dweck Pdf

From the renowned psychologist who introduced the world to “growth mindset” comes this updated edition of the million-copy bestseller—featuring transformative insights into redefining success, building lifelong resilience, and supercharging self-improvement. “Through clever research studies and engaging writing, Dweck illuminates how our beliefs about our capabilities exert tremendous influence on how we learn and which paths we take in life.”—Bill Gates, GatesNotes “It’s not always the people who start out the smartest who end up the smartest.” After decades of research, world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., discovered a simple but groundbreaking idea: the power of mindset. In this brilliant book, she shows how success in school, work, sports, the arts, and almost every area of human endeavor can be dramatically influenced by how we think about our talents and abilities. People with a fixed mindset—those who believe that abilities are fixed—are less likely to flourish than those with a growth mindset—those who believe that abilities can be developed. Mindset reveals how great parents, teachers, managers, and athletes can put this idea to use to foster outstanding accomplishment. In this edition, Dweck offers new insights into her now famous and broadly embraced concept. She introduces a phenomenon she calls false growth mindset and guides people toward adopting a deeper, truer growth mindset. She also expands the mindset concept beyond the individual, applying it to the cultures of groups and organizations. With the right mindset, you can motivate those you lead, teach, and love—to transform their lives and your own.

Author : Hans Rosling,Anna Rosling Rönnlund,Ola Rosling
Publisher : Flatiron Books
Page : 353 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 2018-04-03
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781250123817

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Factfulness by Hans Rosling,Anna Rosling Rönnlund,Ola Rosling Pdf

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “One of the most important books I’ve ever read—an indispensable guide to thinking clearly about the world.” – Bill Gates “Hans Rosling tells the story of ‘the secret silent miracle of human progress’ as only he can. But Factfulness does much more than that. It also explains why progress is so often secret and silent and teaches readers how to see it clearly.” —Melinda Gates "Factfulness by Hans Rosling, an outstanding international public health expert, is a hopeful book about the potential for human progress when we work off facts rather than our inherent biases." - Former U.S. President Barack Obama Factfulness: The stress-reducing habit of only carrying opinions for which you have strong supporting facts. When asked simple questions about global trends—what percentage of the world’s population live in poverty; why the world’s population is increasing; how many girls finish school—we systematically get the answers wrong. So wrong that a chimpanzee choosing answers at random will consistently outguess teachers, journalists, Nobel laureates, and investment bankers. In Factfulness, Professor of International Health and global TED phenomenon Hans Rosling, together with his two long-time collaborators, Anna and Ola, offers a radical new explanation of why this happens. They reveal the ten instincts that distort our perspective—from our tendency to divide the world into two camps (usually some version of us and them) to the way we consume media (where fear rules) to how we perceive progress (believing that most things are getting worse). Our problem is that we don’t know what we don’t know, and even our guesses are informed by unconscious and predictable biases. It turns out that the world, for all its imperfections, is in a much better state than we might think. That doesn’t mean there aren’t real concerns. But when we worry about everything all the time instead of embracing a worldview based on facts, we can lose our ability to focus on the things that threaten us most. Inspiring and revelatory, filled with lively anecdotes and moving stories, Factfulness is an urgent and essential book that will change the way you see the world and empower you to respond to the crises and opportunities of the future. --- “This book is my last battle in my life-long mission to fight devastating ignorance...Previously I armed myself with huge data sets, eye-opening software, an energetic learning style and a Swedish bayonet for sword-swallowing. It wasn’t enough. But I hope this book will be.” Hans Rosling, February 2017.

Author : Randy Ribay
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 336 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 2019-06-18
Category : Young Adult Fiction
ISBN : 9780525554936

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Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay Pdf

A NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST "Brilliant, honest, and equal parts heartbreaking and soul-healing." --Laurie Halse Anderson, author of SHOUT "A singular voice in the world of literature." --Jason Reynolds, author of Long Way Down A powerful coming-of-age story about grief, guilt, and the risks a Filipino-American teenager takes to uncover the truth about his cousin's murder. Jay Reguero plans to spend the last semester of his senior year playing video games before heading to the University of Michigan in the fall. But when he discovers that his Filipino cousin Jun was murdered as part of President Duterte's war on drugs, and no one in the family wants to talk about what happened, Jay travels to the Philippines to find out the real story. Hoping to uncover more about Jun and the events that led to his death, Jay is forced to reckon with the many sides of his cousin before he can face the whole horrible truth -- and the part he played in it. As gripping as it is lyrical, Patron Saints of Nothing is a page-turning portrayal of the struggle to reconcile faith, family, and immigrant identity.

Author : Adam Swift
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 208 pages
File Size : 47,7 Mb
Release : 2003-12-08
Category : Education
ISBN : 9781134386925

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How Not to be a Hypocrite by Adam Swift Pdf

How not to be a hypocrite: the indispensable guide to school choice that morally perplexed parents have been waiting for. Many of us believe in social justice and equality of opportunity - but we also want the best for our kids. How can we square our political principles with our special concern for our own children? This marvellous book takes us through the moral minefield that is school choice today. Does a commitment to social justice mean you have to send your children to the local comprehensive - regardless of its academic results? Is it hypocritical to disapprove of private schools and yet send your child to one? Some parents feel guilty but shouldn't. Others should feel guilty but don't. Read How Not to be a Hypocrite, then answer the questionnaire, and work out where you stand on this crucial issue.