'May you live in interesting times' was made famous by Sir Austen Chamberlain. The premise is that 'interesting times' are times of upheaval, conflict and insecurity - troubled times. With the growing numbers of displaced populations and the rise in the politics of fear and hate, we are facing challenges to our very 'species-being'. Papers in the volume include ethnographic studies on the 'refugee crisis', the 'financial crisis' and the 'rule of law crisis' in the Mediterranean as well as the crisis of violence and hunger in South America.

On the Genealogy of Morality, the classic three essay treatise of Friedrich Nietzsche, is considered by scholars to be one of the author's philosophic masterworks. This astounding work represents the maturity of Nietzsche's ideas, and consists of three distinct essays. In each, Nietzsche isolates and expands upon ideas he expressed in Beyond Good and Evil. Nietzsche juxtaposes ideas of weakness and strength, and notions of human preconception as generated over millenia of hierarchy inclusive of slavery, to demonstrate an evolution of ideas beyond traditional duality. This text controversially introduces the 'blond beast' - a a forebear for Nietzsche's posthumous association with Nazism and racial superiority. Nietzsche demonstrates how people with allegiance to ascetic ideals gained traction in society. He proceeds to discount science as an opposing influence, together with historians and idle thinkers, advocating for criticism of what is accepted as truth, and a replacement for flawed definitions.

This is a philosophical exploration of the moral issues raised by the use of private military contractors in war. The presence of contractors on today's battlefields is without question one of the most significant developments in modern warfare. While many contractors perform relatively benign tasks on behalf of the military, controversy rages around those contractors who offer services that involve the use of armed force. The rise of the private military industry raises some difficult issues. For example, Jeremy Scahill, one of the industry's most vociferous critics, questions whether the outsourcing of military force is not 'a subversion of the very existence of the nation-state and of principles of sovereignty'. These questions are at essence philosophical challenges to the existence of the private military industry. In "Just Warriors, Inc.", philosopher and ethicist Deane-Peter Baker argues that, contrary to popular assumptions, a compelling moral and philosophical case can be made in favour of the ongoing utilization of the services that these 'private warriors' offer. The book is a must-read for anyone interested in moving beyond the hyperbole and exploring in depth the real questions that should be asked about the privatisation of military force. "Think Now" is a new series of books which examines central contemporary social and political issues from a philosophical perspective. These books aim to be accessible, rather than overly technical, bringing philosophical rigour to modern questions which matter the most to us. Provocative yet engaging, the authors take a stand on political and cultural themes of interest to any intelligent reader.

This timely anthology brings into sharp relief the extent of violence against women. Its range is global and far reaching in terms of the number of victims. There are deeply entrenched values that need to be rooted out and laid bare. This text offers a philosophical analysis of the problem, with important insights from the various contributors. Topics range from sexual assault to media violence, prostitution and pornography, domestic violence, and sexual harassment. Each of the four parts include essays which tackle these issues and provide us with tools for bringing about change. The philosophical approaches to the topic give readers insight into the harms of interpersonal violence and its impact on the lives of its victims. Analyzing Violence Against Women calls us to examine public policies and work for systemic change. In the process, we are reminded that the concerns of the discipline of Philosophy encompasses issues with a wider scope. Students will especially benefit from seeing how the various authors grapple with this pressing issue and clarify why we need to bring about change.

Evil is a problem that will not go away. For some it is an inescapable fact of the human condition. For others "evil" is a term that should only be used to name the most horrible of crimes. Still others think that the worst problem lies with the abuse of the term: using it to vilify a misunderstood enemy. No matter how we approach it, "evil" is a concept that continues to call out for critical reflection. This volume collects the results of a two-year deliberation within the Boston University Institute for Philosophy of Religion lecture series, bringing together scholars of religion, literature, and philosophy. Its essays provide a thoughtful, sensitive, and wide-ranging consideration of this challenging problem and of ways that we might be delivered from it.

A recent trend in metaethics has been to reject the apparent choice between pure cognitivism, where moral (and other normative) judgments are understood as representational or belief-like states, and pure non-cognitivism, where they are understood as non-representational or desire-like states. Rather, philosophers have adopted views which seek in some way to combine the strengths of each side while avoiding the standard problems for each. Some such views claim that moral judgments are complexes of belief-like and desire-like components. Other views claim that normative language serves both to ascribe properties and to express desire-like attitudes. This collection of twelve new essays examines the prospects for such 'hybrid views' of normative thought and language. The papers, which focus mainly on moral thought and talk, provide a guide to this debate while also pushing it forward along numerous fronts.

No one wants to be treated merely as a means-"used," in a sense. But just what is this repugnant treatment? Audi's point of departure is Kant's famous principle that we must treat persons as ends in themselves and never merely as means. Treatment of these kinds is conduct, a complex three-dimensional notion whose central elements are action, its motivation, and the manner of its performance. He shows how the notions of treating persons as ends and, by contrast, merely as means, can be anchored outside Kant and clarified in ways that enhance their usefulness both in ethical theory and in practical ethics, where they have much intuitive force. Audi constructs an account of treatment of persons-of what it is, how it differs from mere interpersonal action, and what ethical standards govern it. In accounting for such treatment, the book develops a wider conception of ethics than is commonly implicit in utilitarian, deontological, or virtue theories. These results contribute to ethical theory, but in its discussion of diverse narrative examples of moral and immoral conduct, the book also contributes to normative ethics. Audi's theory of conduct takes account of motivational elements that are not traits of character and of behavioral elements that are not manifestations of virtue or vice. Here it goes beyond the leading virtue approaches. The theory also advances rule ethics by framing wider conception of moral behavior-roughly, of acting morally. The results advance both normative ethics and ethical theory. For moral philosophy, the book frames conceptions, articulates distinctions, and formulates principles; and for practical ethics, it provides a multitude of cases that illustrate both the scope of moral responsibility and the normative standards for living up to it.

The Reading Augustine series presents concise, personal readings of St. Augustine of Hippo from leading philosophers and religious scholars. John Rist takes the reader through Augustine's ethics, the arguments he made and how he arrived at them, and shows how this moral philosophy remains vital for us today. Rist identifies Augustine's challenge to all ideas of moral autonomy, concentrating especially on his understanding of humility as an honest appraisal of our moral state. He looks at thinkers who accept parts of Augustine's evaluation of the human condition but lapse into bleakness and pessimism since for them God has disappeared. In the concluding parts of the book, Rist suggests how a developed version of Augustine's original vision can be applied to the complexities of modern life while also laying out, on the other hand, what our moral universe would look like without Augustine's contribution to it.

This is a book for anyone who has ever paused to wonder: Will cloning ever be legal? Why it is that 'saviour siblings' and sex selection provoke such strong reactions? Will there ever be such a thing as an artificial womb? Assisted reproductive technologies are unique in their capacity to challenge our assumptions and elicit passionate responses. Looking at the moral, philosophical, and legal issues surrounding cases of surrogacy, single or same-sex parenthood, retrieval of sperm from dead or dying patients, and the insemination of post-menopausal women, this book questions whether these rapidly-developing technologies are refashioning the nature of the family. The UK has played a unique role in the development and regulation of reproductive technologies, and has been at the forefront of controversy over 'saviour siblings', designer babies, reproductive cloning, and embryo research. This book provides a clear and simple account of the techniques involved in assisted reproduction and embryo research, and discusses the legal and ethical implications of some of these technologies, illustrated by compelling descriptions of real-life cases. The book also addresses the ways in which reproductive technologies are regulated, critically examining the role of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and comparing the UK's approach with that of other countries. Finally, it contemplates the possibility that some of our most deeply-held assumptions about human nature may be called into question by further developments in stem cell research and fertility treatments.

A host of ethical questions has arisen recently in response to the development of new reproductive technologies. This text helps students of theology, philosophy, and health studies, as well as lay readers, to find answers to these questions.

In order to facilitate an informed discussion of the many delicate ethical issues, the book first provides readers with relevant medical and scientific information. It explains in a clear and simple way, for example, what is involved in human embryo and embryonic cell stem research, infertility and its treatments, and prenatal screening and diagnosis. It also explains how the metaphysical framework, in which both Christian and secular philosophers think, relates to the scientific facts and affects the ways in which they solve ethical problems.

Throughout, the author takes a balanced approach, acknowledging his loyalty to Catholicism, yet freely exploring new options indicated by advancing biological science.

Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BC - AD 65), fully Lucius Annaeus Seneca and also known simply as Seneca, was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and-in one work-humorist of the Silver Age of Latin literature. As a tragedian, he is best-known for his Medea and Thyestes.

David-Hillel Ruben mounts a defence of some unusual and original positions in the philosophy of action. Written from a point of view out of sympathy with the assumptions of much of contemporary philosophical action theory, his book draws its inspiration from philosophers as diverse as Aristotle, Berkeley, and Marx. Ruben's work is located in the tradition of the metaphysics of action, and will attract much attention from his peers and from students in the field.

I is perhaps the most important and the least understood of our everyday expressions. This is a constant source of philosophical confusion. Max de Gaynesford offers a remedy: he explains what this expression means, its logical form and its inferential role. He thereby shows the way to an understanding of how we express first-personal thinking. He dissolves various myths about how I refers, to the effect that it is a pure indexical. His central claim is that the key to understanding I is that it is the same kind of expression as the other singular personal pronouns, you and he/she: a deictic term, whose reference depends on making an individual salient. He addresses epistemological questions as well as semantic questions, and shows how they interrelate. The book thus not only resolves a key issue in philosophy of language, but promises to be of great use to people working on problems in other areas of philosophy.

Paul Ricoeur's "Pedagogy of Pardon" describes how memory is structured, in culture, civic identity and religion - and addresses central conceptual and methodological issues in his theory of forgiveness (or reconciliation). Where conflict arises from the clash of cultures, memory also becomes a tool to help resolve and heal past wounds. Ricoeur provides a hermeneutical key to examine conflicting narratives so that some shared truths can be arrived at in order to begin afresh. As the many Truth Commissions around the world illustrate; revisiting the past has a positive benefit in steering history in a new direction after protracted violence.A second deeper strand in the book is the connection between Paul Ricoeur and John Paul II. Both lived through the worst period of modern European history (Ricoeur a Prisoner of War for four years in WWII and John Paul, who suffered under the communist regime). Both have written on themes of memory and identity and share a mutual concern for the future of Europe and the preservation of the 'Christian' identity of the Continent as well as the promotion of peace and a civilization of love. The book brings together their shared vision, culminating in the award to Ricoeur by John Paul II of the Paul VI medal for theology (July 2003) - only conferred every five years - for the philosopher's fruitful research in the area of theology and philosophy, faith and reason and ecumenical dialogue.

Does God's existence make a difference to how we explain morality? Mark C. Murphy critiques the two dominant theistic accounts of morality--natural law theory and divine command theory--and presents a novel third view. He argues that we can value natural facts about humans and their good, while keeping God at the centre of our moral explanations.
The characteristic methodology of theistic ethics is to proceed by asking whether there are features of moral norms that can be adequately explained only if we hold that such norms have some sort of theistic foundation. But this methodology, fruitful as it has been, is one-sided. God and Moral Law proceeds not from the side of the moral norms, so to speak, but from the God side of things: what sort of explanatory relationship should we expect between God and moral norms given the existence of the God of orthodox theism? Mark C. Murphy asks whether the conception of God in orthodox theism as an absolutely perfect being militates in favor of a particular view of the explanation of morality by appeal to theistic facts. He puts this methodology to work and shows that, surprisingly, natural law theory and divine command theory fail to offer the sort of explanation of morality that we would expect given the existence of the God of orthodox theism. Drawing on the discussion of a structurally similar problem--that of the relationship between God and the laws of nature--Murphy articulates his new account of the relationship between God and morality, one in which facts about God and facts about nature cooperate in the explanation of moral law.

In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the philosophy of John Stuart Mill has never been more relevant. Can we reconcile individual liberty with the demands of the common good? Mill's central concern was to modify the Utilitarian ethical theory of Jeremy Bentham and his father, James Mill, in a manner that would safeguard human rights. However, many philosophers - most notably John Rawls - have argued that Mill's attempt was either inconsistent or incoherent. This new reading of Mill defends him against these charges, and shows the value of his approach to the world we live in today. John Fitzpatrick argues that, properly understood, Mill's liberal utilitarianism can indeed support a system of rights rich enough to guarantee individual liberty. Combining fresh interpretations of Mill's writings on ethics, politics, and political economy with the historical Mill that can found in his autobiography, the book will be of substantial interest to a wide audience.