2011 University Press Books
Selected for Public and Secondary School Libraries
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2011 University Press Books |
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Selected for Public and Secondary School Libraries |
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100-199 Philosophy, Psychology, and Ethics 129 Beyond: On Life after Death 240 pp., 5 3/4” x 9 1/4”, $29.95 cloth, CIP included March 2010 University Press of Kansas A critical survey of the evidence for life after death that is reflective, wide-ranging, and witty in its exploration of one of the most engrossing and vital topics in human experience. “Frohock brings a fresh, unique perspective to the age-old question of life after death. All who are interested in the possibilities and limits of scientific and critical thinking will find much to weigh and ponder in this thoughtful and probing study....This is a rewarding book for those who have questions about life’s meaning and scope. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers.”—Choice LC 2009043736, ISBN 9780700617012 (c.) AASL: S/P PLA: G 130.973 Paranormal America: Ghost Encounters, UFO Sightings, Bigfoot Hunts, and Other Curiosities in Religion and Culture 264 pp., 6” x 9”, 11 illustrations, 65 tables, $70.00 cloth, $20.00 paper, CIP included October 2010 New York University Press Paranormal America provides the definitive portrait of Americans who believe in or have experienced such phenomena as ghosts, Bigfoot, UFOs, psychic phenomena, astrology, and the power of mediums. Unlike many books on the paranormal, this volume does not focus on proving or disproving the paranormal, but rather on understanding the people who believe and how these beliefs shape their lives. Drawing on the Baylor Religion Survey—a multi-year national random sample of American religious values, practices, and behaviors—the authors provide an entertaining yet authorized look at a growing segment of American religious culture. LC 2010016525, ISBN 9780814791349 (c.), ISBN 9780814791356 (p.) AASL: G/HS PLA: G, S 153.35 The Lab: Creativity and Culture 224 pp., 5 1/2” x 8 1/4”, 10 b&w halftones, index, $22.95 cloth, CIP included September 2010 Harvard University Press The Lab explains the idea of the “culture lab,” Edwards’ concept for experimental art and design centers like those he recently founded in Paris and at Harvard. He presents the lab as a new kind of educational art studio based on a contemporary science lab model, and he shows how students learn by translating ideas alongside experienced creators by exhibiting risky experimental processes in gallery settings. The Lab is the first detailed description of this “emerging cultural phenomenon.” Simply put, the book is really about a new and interesting approach to the innovation process. LC 2010014196, ISBN 9780674057197 (c.) AASL: G/HS PLA: S 153.733 Distraction 184 pp., 5 1/2” x 7 1/2”, index, $18.95 paper June 2010 McGill-Queen’s University Press In Distraction, the philosopher Damon Young argues that distraction is not simply too many stimuli but a confusion about what to attend to and why. If we are “dying already,” as Heidegger cheerily put it, then we only have so many days to invest. To commit to this job, this spouse, this leisure, this gadget means taking time, energy and wherewithal away from other possibilities. In an age of innumerable, intense diversions, we need to be clearer than ever about what is important. LC 2010478022, ISBN 9781844652549 (p.) PLA: G 171.9 The Solitary Self: Darwin and the Selfish Gene 160 pp., 5 1/2” x 7 1/2”, index, $19.95 paper December 2010 McGill-Queen’s University Press Renowned philosopher Mary Midgley explores the nature of our moral constitution to challenge the view that human motivation can be reduced to self interest. Midgley argues cogently and convincingly that simple, one-sided accounts of human motives, such as the “selfish gene” tendency in recent neo-Darwinian thought, may be illuminating but are always unrealistic. Such neatness, she shows, cannot be imposed on human psychology. She returns to Darwin’s original writings to show how the reductive individualism now presented as Darwinism does not derive from Darwin but from a wider, Hobbesian tradition in Enlightenment thinking. ISBN 9781844652532 (p.) PLA: G 174.295 White Coat, Black Hat: Adventures on the Dark Side of Medicine 224 pp., 6” x 9”, $24.95 cloth September 2010 Beacon Press Carl Elliott ventures into the uncharted dark side of medicine, shining a light on the series of social and legislative changes that have sacrificed old-style doctoring to the values of consumer capitalism. Along the way, he introduces us to the often shifty characters who work the production line in Big Pharma: from the professional guinea pigs who test-pilot new drugs and the ghostwriters who pen “scientific” articles for drug manufacturers to the PR specialists who manufacture “news” bulletins....Are there certain things that should not be bought and sold?....And what is wrong with medical consumerism anyway? Elliott asks all these questions and more as he examines the underbelly of medicine. LC 2010006119, ISBN 9780807061428 (c.) PLA: O 179.9 Forgiveness 144 pp., 5 1/2” x 7 1/2”, index, $18.95 paper December 2010 McGill-Queen’s University Press Our culture is saturated with self-help books and television shows about forgiveness and reconciliation and nearly all of them convey one message: forgiveness is good for everyone. But for those who have suffered terrible wrongs and carry a heavy burden of understandable resentment and hostility towards their tormentors, such widespread advocacy of forgiveness is irritatingly glib and facile. Forgiveness explores what it is we are doing when we forgive, and why that might be a good thing in itself. It shows that learning to forgive should not be seen as simply a goal of self-development...but is more difficult, more complex, and more troubling than it is often portrayed. ISBN 9781844652266 (p.) PLA: G 179.9 Perfection: Coming to Terms with Being Human 322 pp., 6” x 9”, $29.95 cloth, CIP included February 2010 Baylor University Press Prize-winning author and noted rhetorician Michael J. Hyde leads a fascinating excursion through philosophy, religion, science, and art. Eloquently and engagingly he delves into the canon of Western thought, drawing on figures from St. Augustine and John Rawls to Leonardo da Vinci and David Hume to Kenneth Burke and Mary Shelley. On the journey, Hyde expounds on the workings of daily existence, the development of reason, and the bounds of beauty. In the end, he ponders the consequences of the perfection-driven impulse of medical science and considers the implications of the burgeoning rhetoric of “our posthuman future.” It is a triumphant examination of the human quest for significance. LC 2009029959, ISBN 9781602582446 (c.) PLA: G 179.9 Integrity: Doing the Right Thing for the Right Reason 204 pp., 6” x 9”, $19.95 paper, CIP included February 2010 McGill-Queen’s University Press Drawing on her clinical practice and pioneering efforts in workaholism Dr. Killinger describes the personality traits and psychological, philosophical, historical, and familial influences that help develop and maintain integrity. She also looks at how integrity is undermined and lost as a result of obsession, narcissism, and workaholism. Richly illustrated with personal stories, Integrity offers a positive “how to” perspective on safeguarding personal and professional integrity and on encouraging our children to develop this vital character trait. Killinger concludes that integrity is not possible without compassion and makes it clear that doing the right thing includes doing it for the right reason. LC 2010655105, ISBN 9780773537521 (p.) PLA: G 190.903 Philosophers of the Renaissance 323 pp., 6” x 9”, index, $35.95 paper, CIP included April 2010 The Catholic University of America Press Introduces readers to philosophical thinking from the end of the Middle Ages through the sixteenth century. International specialists portray the thought of twenty-one individual philosophers. “A very useful guide, particularly valuable because of its inclusion of figures often slighted by surveys of Renaissance philosophy. It serves to highlight the broad diversity of Renaissance philosophical interests, ranging from ethics, metaphysics, and epistemology to science, history, language, religion, painting, architecture, and poetry.”—Choice LC 2009045342, ISBN 9780813217260 (p.) PLA: S 191 The Heart of William James 368 pp., 6 1/8” x 9 1/4”, 1 line illustration, index, $29.95 cloth, CIP included August 2010 Harvard University Press William James made what are called “contributions” to the fields of psychology, philosophy, and religious studies. But, as editor Robert Richardson explains, just as we do not read Thoreau, Whitman or Emerson for their professional “contributions,” but for their continuing power to motivate and inspire our individual personal lives, so we can read William James to learn how to live a better life. Richardson...presents a chronological collection of some of James’ most notable writing....The short introductions to each essay provide context for the piece and reflect on its impact and continuing relevance. LC 2010009406, ISBN 9780674055612 (c.) PLA: S 194 Conversations with Emmanuel Levinas, 1983-1994 175 pp., 9” x 5 1/2”, index, $18.95 paper, CIP included June 2010 Duquesne University Press An ardent admirer of Levinas during the last decade of the philosopher’s life, Saint Cheron met with his mentor for these interviews in 1983, 1992 and 1994. Their conversations provide insight into the concepts of responsibility, transcendence, holiness, and the hostage for understanding Levinas’s notion of ethics as first philosophy. LC 2009053838, ISBN 9780820704289 (p.) PLA: S |