This
list of books relates to the PHILIA theme
David
Abram
The
Spell of the Sensuous
(Random
House,1997)
David Abram says,
“We
have lived 98% of our evolutionary existence as hunter-gatherers
carrying on an animistic conversation with every flapping form. This
is what we are made of!"
Read
a review of this book
Stewart
Brand
The
Clock of the Long Now
(Basic
Books, 1999)
"Civilization
is revving itself into a pathologically short attention span. The
trend might be coming from the acceleration of technology, the
short-horizon perspective of market-driven economics, the
next-election perspective of democracies, or the distractions of
personal multi-tasking. All are on the increase. Some sort of
balancing corrective to this short-sightedness is needed—some
mechanism or myth that encourages the long view and the taking of
long-term responsibility, where "the long term" is
measured at least in centuries."
- From
The Clock of the Long Now
Laurent A. Parks Daloz, Cheryl H. Keen,
James P. Keen, and Sharon Daloz Parks
Common
Fire
-
Lives
of Commitment in a Complex World
(Beacon
Press, Oct. 1997)
As society becomes ever
more global and fragmented,
the need for citizens who are able and
willing to deal with complex issues and diverse communities grows
ever greater. But how do people acquire such commitments
and skills?
And how can we nurture those qualities in the next generation?
Stephen
Jay Gould
The
Mismeasure of Man
(W.
W. Norton & Company, August 1993)
When
published in 1981, The Mismeasure of Man was immediately
hailed as a masterwork, the ringing answer to those who would
classify people, rank them according to their supposed genetic gifts
and limits.
Michael
Ignatieff
The
Rights Revolution
(The
House of Anansi Press, September 2001)
In this book Michael
Ignatieff says, “...rights are not abstractions. They are the
very heart of our community and the very core of our values. We have
them because those who went before us fought for them, and in some
cases died for them. Our commitment to rights is a commitment to our
ancestors. We owe it to them to maintain the vitality of the right
to dissent, the right to belong, and the right to be different.”
The
Needs of Strangers
(Viking
Press, June 1985)
Once
again in print, this thought-provoking book uncovers a crisis in the
political imagination, a wide-spread failure to provide a profound
sense of community "in which our need of belonging can be
met." Seeking the answers to fundamental questions, Michael
Ignatieff writes vividly both about ideas and about people who tried
to live by them-from Augustine to Bosch, Rousseau to Simone Weil.
Incisive and moving, The Needs of Strangers returns
philosophy to its proper place, as a guide to the art of being
human.
More
about Michael Ignatieff
John
McKnight
The
Careless Society
(Basic
Books, 1995)
The 17 essays
in the book were written over a span of two decades. They focus on
four "counterfeiting" aspects of society: professionalism,
medicine, human service systems, and the criminal justice system.
Each is deemed counterfeit because it attempts to produce, provide,
and manage care, which is "the only thing a system cannot
produce," says McKnight. He follows these analysis with his own
prescription for generating "authentic citizen communities of
care." - John McKnight
More
about John McKnight
Robert
Putnam
Bowling
Alone
(Simon & Schuster, 1995)
Drawing on two huge sets
of new data detailing how Americans really live, Robert Putnam shows
how we've become increasingly disconnected from family, friends,
neighbors, and the democratic process - and suggests how we may
reconnect and reinvent common enterprise in-BOWLING ALONE: The
Collapse and Revival of American Community
-
Robert Putnam
Neil
Postman
Technopoly
(Vintage Books, 1993)
From
a renowned social critic, an intriguing look at how high technology
is changing our society and culture, and what this means for our
future. Postman suggests ways in which a true democracy can use its
technical skills not to control but to enhance human endeavor and
preserve freedom and individuality.
John
Ralston Saul
On
Equilibrium
(Viking
Canada, 2001)
On Equilibrium presents us with a virtual ‘how to’
of the ways
ideas can translate to action. Saul explains
how our different
qualities give us the intelligence, self confidence and ability to
think and act as responsible individuals.
Margaret
Somerville
The
Ethical Canary
(Viking
Canada, 2000)
According to Margaret
Somerville, a leading international authority on medicine, ethics,
and the law, society must set ethically acceptable limits on
scientific advances. In this controversial, timely, and
much-anticipated book, Professor Somerville sheds light on the
urgent ethical and legal questions that vie for our attention.
Janice
Gross Stein
The
Cult of Efficiency
(House
of Anansi Press, 2001)
Efficiency
in the raging debate about public goods is often used as a code word
to advance political agendas. Stein argues that what will define the
quality of education and healthcare around the world is whether
citizens and governments can negotiate new standards of
accountability
Read
a review of this book
Jean
Vanier
Becoming
Human
(House
of Anansi Press, 2001)
In this provocative
work, Jean Vanier shares his profoundly human vision for creating a
common good that radically changes our communities, our
relationships, and ourselves. He proposes that by opening ourselves
to outsiders, those we perceive as weak, different, or inferior, we
can achieve true personal and societal freedom.
More
about Jean Vanier
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