1. Origins and legacies
Charles Foster
in Medical Law: A Very Short Introduction
‘Origins and legacies’ outlines the background of medical law. Until World War II the Hippocratic Oath had been the law regulating the medical profession for two and a half millennia. The ...
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20. Descartes’s Ghost
Tom Sorell
in Descartes: A Very Short Introduction
‘Descartes's Ghost’ considers his influence. His writings were placed on the Index by the Roman Catholic Church in 1663. Some decades later, Newton's physics superseded Descartes', and ...
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7. Ethics: seeing the world aright
Christopher Janaway
in Schopenhauer: A Very Short Introduction
‘Ethics: seeing the world aright’ examines freedom and determinism in Schopenhauer. Schopenhauer believes that actions are caused by a combination of one's unchanging character and a ...
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7. Righteousness by faith and being in Christ: Romans
E. P. Sanders
in Paul: A Very Short Introduction
‘Righteous by faith and being in Christ: Romans’ considers the interpretation of ‘being righteoused by faith’, ‘being in Christ Jesus’, ‘dying with Christ’, ‘dying to the law or the Flesh’, ...
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Introduction: the Greek way
J. L. Heilbron
in The History of Physics: A Very Short Introduction
The Introduction explains that Greek physics—physica—with its eye to ethics, its indifference to mathematics and experiment, and its independence of states and courts, is noticeably ...
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8. Ethics
Damien Keown
in Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction (2nd edn)
‘Ethics’ explores the moral aspects of Buddhism. Buddhists live in accordance with the Dharma: a universal law of both physical and moral order. Dharma is manifest in the law of karma. ...
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10. Epidemiology between ethics and politics
Rodolfo Saracci
in Epidemiology: A Very Short Introduction
Epidemiological studies pose ethical problems, particularly concerning the confidentiality of identifiable personal data and the use of stored samples to carry out genetic and other tests. ...
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4. Are leaders born or bred?
Keith Grint
in Leadership: A Very Short Introduction
Nature or nuture? ‘Are leaders born or bred?’ considers four types of leadership — individual and natural leadership; a nurtured individualist approach seen in Athens; the Spartans' ...
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6. Existentialism in the 21st century
Thomas Flynn
in Existentialism: A Very Short Introduction
‘Existentialism in the 21st century‘ explores the continued influence of existentialism. Although existentialism had its heyday between the liberation of France and the student risings of ...
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Ethics: A Very Short Introduction
Simon Blackburn
Our self-image as moral, well-behaved creatures is dogged by scepticism, relativism, hypocrisy, and nihilism, by the fear that in a Godless world science has unmasked us as creatures fated ...
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18. The ‘Other Sciences’
Tom Sorell
in Descartes: A Very Short Introduction
‘The Other Sciences’ focuses on Descartes' work on mechanics, medicine, and morals. By ‘mechanics’ he meant the study of the ways in which matter composes particular kinds of bodies, ...
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6. Discourse ethics I: the discourse theory of morality
James Gordon Finlayson
in Habermas: A Very Short Introduction
Discourse ethics is the normative heart of Habermas's philosophy. In it he develops themes of publicity, inclusiveness, equality, solidarity, justice in terms of the pragmatic meaning ...
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7. Discourse ethics II: ethical discourse and the political turn
James Gordon Finlayson
in Habermas: A Very Short Introduction
Habermas revised his original programme of discourse ethics in the 1990s. Here he drew a distinction between moral, ethical, and practical reason. The significance of the revision lies in ...
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2. Hobbes's work
Richard Tuck
in Hobbes: A Very Short Introduction
Hobbes began his philosophical enquiries from interest in the philosophical problems raised by modern natural science, and the idea of replacing late Renaissance scepticism with a ...
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5. Ethics
Brad Inwood
in Stoicism: A Very Short Introduction
Ethics is the part of the Stoics’ legacy that is most prominent and influential today. Their theory of the good life for human beings falls into the family of theories associated with ...
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Stoicism: A Very Short Introduction
Brad Inwood
Stoicism: A Very Short Introduction introduces Stoic philosophy, and explains how ancient Stoicism survived and evolved into the movement we see today. Exploring the roots of ...
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8. Man and animal
Simon Glendinning
in Derrida: A Very Short Introduction
Derrida's work of deconstruction always challenged ‘the opposition of nature and culture, animality and humanity’, but it was in his discussion of ethics and politics that the question of ...
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4. Politics and society
A. C. Grayling
in Russell: A Very Short Introduction
‘Politics and society’ considers Russell's thinking about morality, politics, ethics, and society as outlined in Human Society in Ethics and Politics and the shocking Marriage and Morals, a ...
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2. Ethics East and West
Damien Keown
in Buddhist Ethics: A Very Short Introduction
How should we classify Buddhism as an ethical system? To what extent does it resemble or differ from Western ethics? What are the methodological issues in trying to draw comparisons between ...
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7. The ethics of thought
Tim Bayne
in Thought: A Very Short Introduction
Under what circumstances are we responsible for our thoughts? How can that responsibility be exercised? ‘The ethics of thought’ examines what lies at the heart of the nature of thought and ...
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