Why do we make things? Why do we choose the emotionally and physically demanding work of bringing new objects into the world with creativity and skill? Why does it matter that we make things well? What is the nature of work? And what is the nature of a good life? Whether you're honing your craft or turning your hand to a new skill, discover the true value in what it means to be a craftsman in a mass-produced world. Part memoir, part polemic, part philosophical reflection, this is a book about the process of creation. For woodworker Peter Korn, the challenging work of bringing something new and meaningful into the world through one's own efforts is exactly what generates authenticity, meaning, and fulfilment, for which many of us yearn. This is not a 'how-to' book in any sense, Korn wants to get at the 'why' of craft in particular, and the satisfaction of creative work in general, to understand its essential nature. How does the making of objects shape our identities? How do the products of creative work inform society? In short, what does the process of making things reveal to us about ourselves? Korn draws on four decades of hands-on experience to answer these questions eloquently in this heartfelt, personal and revealing book. 'If you are in the building trade or just love creating things as a hobby, you will find this book fascinating' The Sun

Precariousness has become a defining experience in contemporary society, as an inescapable condition and state of being. Living with Precariousness presents a spectrum of timely case studies that explore precarious existences – at individual, collective and structural levels, and as manifested through space and the body. These range from the plight of asylum seekers, to the tiny house movement as a response to affordable housing crises; from the global impacts of climate change, to the daily challenges of living with a chronic illness. This multidisciplinary book illustrates the pervasiveness of precarity, but furthermore shows how those entanglements with other agents, human or otherwise, that put us at risk are also the connections that make living with (and through) precariousness endurable.

Solitary Thoughts is a collection of passages meant to impart a narrative of the author's struggles to cope in a society that is too preoccupied with commercial self-interest. Values such as efficiency and expedience rise to the fore in a culture polarized between production and consumption. People are stereotyped and assaulted with expectations that threaten their ability to live. The author attempts to offer a glimpse of what life becomes, having been pushed to the periphery of what is acceptable.

The notions of happiness and trust as cements of the social fabric and political legitimacy have a long history in Western political thought. However, despite the great contemporary relevance of both subjects, and burgeoning literatures in the social sciences around them, historians and historians of thought have, with some exceptions, unduly neglected them. In Trust and Happiness in the History of European Political Thought, editors Laszlo Kontler and Mark Somos bring together twenty scholars from different generations and academic traditions to redress this lacuna by contextualising historically the discussion of these two notions from ancient Greece to Soviet Russia. Confronting this legacy and deep reservoir of thought will serve as a tool of optimising the terms of current debates. Contributors are: Erica Benner, Hans W. Blom, Niall Bond, Alberto Clerici, Cesare Cuttica, John Dunn, Ralf-Peter Fuchs, Gabor Gango, Steven Johnstone, Laszlo Kontler, Sara Lagi, Adriana Luna-Fabritius, Adrian O'Connor, Eva Odzuck, Kalman Pocza, Vladimir Ryzhkov, Peter Schroeder, Petra Schulte, Mark Somos, Alexey Tikhomirov, Bee Yun, and Hannes Ziegler.

He was told that his physical limitations would make the study of the martial arts an impossibility... He became a world renowned martial arts master...
He was told that he would not be able to walk past his fortieth year... And still HE STANDS...
Being a "warrior" is not just about "being able to fight well." Being a warrior is all about being willing to fight for the people and the causes you care about. Being a warrior is all about Loving people.
This is a story of the power of Will and the power of LOVE. This is Stoney's message, "We save ourselves by saving the world. We save the world by one kind word, one kind deed, one selfless act... The power of Love holds back the gates of Hell. What is Hell, if not the place where there is no LOVE?
I remember the first thing I ever said about Larry Stone... "That guy doesn't know he is handicapped does he?" That was three decades ago, and I still have not come up with a better summary of this man's life."
Mark Edward Cody
"The spirit that Stoney presents is encouraging and uplifting. His message will inspire individuals to new levels of success and to live life to its fullest."
Robert A. Rohm, Ph D
"I am amazed and deeply impacted by Stoney's remarkable life story. He has risen above his challenging circumstances with honor and with a level of determination that inspires me to do more, be more and live life for the moment. Bravo Stoney "
Casey Comden, Author and Motivational Speaker

What is art and what is its role in a China that is changing at a dizzying speed? These questions lie at the heart of Chinese contemporary art. "Subversive Strategies" paves the way for the rebirth of a Chinese aesthetics adequate to the art whose sheer energy and imaginative power is subverting the ideas through which western and Chinese critics think about art. The first collection of essays by American and Chinese philosophers and art historians, "Subversive Strategies" begins by showing how the art reflects current crises and is working them out through bodies gendered and political. The essays raise the question of Chinese identity in a global world and note a blurring of the boundary between art and everyday life.

In this clear and evocative account, John Gaskin unfolds the thinking about nature, life, death and other worlds that informed the culture and society of the Classical world, drawing out its interest for modern readers. Witty sketches and diagrams enliven the story, which runs from Homeric Greece to the banning of pagan religions in ad 391. The book concludes with a gazetteer describing notable sites and the people and ideas connected with them, making it an ideal companion for visitors to Classical ruins and for all armchair travellers curious to explore life's big questions.

Distinguished Austrian sociologist Reinhold Knoll's letters to his grandchildren, written daily during the Covid-19 pandemic, evolved into an obituary of European culture, politics, and society. They also embody a gesture of thanks to the United States, which took a different path from Europe and then saved it in World War I and World War II. Like Beethoven's piano sonatas, some of Professor Knoll's letters are light and humorous while others plumb the depths of the human psyche. But each brings the past into the present, often enhanced by Viennese ironic wit, with recondite and penetrating observations on enlightenment and revolution, art and music, social thought, the devolution of the museum, the status of the church, migration, fashions in pedagogy, and the role of technology in society. This is the remarkable work of a balanced conscience in troubled times. America owes most of its cultural and spiritual traditions to the erstwhile European stewardship of a legacy that goes back to Athens, Jerusalem, and Rome - the subject, verb, and predicate of our human story, - though Europe now finds itself in a crisis of confidence with profound warnings for the American reader.